Burning Bones

Chapter 1

The room I woke up in was blindingly bright. There was an absence of essence in the air, and as my lungs expanded, they were filled with cold air. As if a thousand miniature soldiers were stabbing into my windpipe, I struggled to keep breathing. My eyes explored what appeared to be four walls joining to form a small bedroom - the size could perhaps be compared to a spacious supply cabinet - turning out as some kind of investigation room. In the middle, there was a very simple white desk, and a white chair. On the desk rested a spanking new white laptop.

I warily walked to the machine, noticing that I was - by no coincidence, I'm sure - dressed in white to match my surroundings.

When I was close enough, I heard a quiet humming sound, coming from the computer. I pulled the laptop open and came to see an activated screen. Though I couldn't place the operating system, I recognized that what I had in front of me was a chat application, composed of two boxes.

I sat down on the shockingly comfortable white chair and placed my fingers on the keyboard.

"Welcome," a message appeared in the left box.

Despite not knowing the person on the other end of the line, the greeting somehow felt safe and emitted a sensation of familiarity. The warmth of the computer shivered through my body as I typed.

"Who are you?" I asked, pressing enter. The message appeared in the right box.

I didn't have to wait for a long time. The person on the other end replied within a minute, the black letters cutting into the white background. The meaning cut into me.

"I am Morgan Kade."

I read those words, swallowing all over again, and re-reading the name that felt like a distant childhood memory, even though I knew I'd never heard it before.

I rested my fingers on the keyboard again and typed.

"Where am I?" I interrogated the anonymous sender.

"You are in a void." Morgan Kade simply replied.

That sentence was in plain English. I knew that. The letters were familiar, no word consisted of more than four letters. And yet, it appeared to be written in a foreign language, since I didn't comprehend a single word.

"What is a void?" I asked.

"A void is a state of mind. It's the darkness you see when you close your eyes."

I shut my eyes, trying to test Morgan Kade's theory. All I saw was darkness.

"Then why is the room all white?"

"Why, indeed."

A sensation of panic rose inside of me as I kept trying to shut my eyes harder and harder. I slammed the computer screen downwards and got up from the desk, filled with rage and frustration. I looked around and dropped to the floor, cradling my face in my hands.

When I uncovered my eyes, I half expected to be met with the darkness. But I saw the same, plain, white room again. Only now the sterile whiteness seemed even more poisonous.

The longer I stared at the walls, the more the investigation room seemed like a hospital. I could almost hear the crying of babies from rooms near me, smell the disinfection soap, I could almost see the women in pink and the men in white, but I knew they weren't there. It was a fantasy. Almost an utopia, to think that I was still a part of the real world. I knew that I had been cut off from it. And Morgan Kade was my only connection to the outside.

Picking up the broken pieces of courage in myself and putting them back together, I arose from the floor and stared at the computer.

It baffled me, how wires, covered by a piece of plastic and metal could be the only weapon you had. The only protection, the only connection. The only possesion.

I flipped the screen open again, and Morgan Kade hadn't sent me any other messages.

I let the somewhat disturbing but familiar clickling sound of the keys fill my ears instead of the emptiness I was hearing.

"Where are you?" I inquired, annoyed, yet curious.

"I am in a hospital," Morgan Kade answered plainly. She almost felt like a robot, only telling me what I asked her. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Why?" I was behaving like a small child. Not satisfied until I got the full answer I was looking for.

The white box on the right hand side of my screen remained empty for a minute or so, before a message appeared in it.

"I will tell you that later. First I need to help you."

"Help me with what?" I asked myself out loud. Appalled at the sound I made, I kept repeating the sentence to accustom my ears to my own voice.

Knowing that I wouldn't get many answers from my own brain, I slouched to the keyboard again. Morgan Kade would know.

"Why are you talking to me?" I asked, as the plastic quickly vibrated below my fingers, causing my impatiance to grow.

Morgan Kade replied quickly. "Because I need to help you."

"Help me with what?" I felt like screaming, but the claustrophobic room had stuffed my vocal chords with a vacuum.

Only a few seconds had passed before a new message appeared.

"An escape," Morgan Kade replied.

Surely I didn't need help escaping. I could just walk through the door or jump through the window and I would be free.

And then it hit me. I wondered how I could not notice this before.

The four walls were whole. There was no windows.

There was no door.

I nervously rushed to the walls, knocking and kicking. They were completely solid. The hard rock wouldn't give in under the pressure of my hands and feet, and my screams were silenced by my own lips. The echo of my own voice seemed so strange and unfamiliar.

I realized I was completely alone.

I ran back to the computer. A part of me wanted to smash it against the wall. But the sane part of me knew that to be able to escape the cell, I needed Morgan Kade. And Morgan Kade was in the computer.

I took it off the desk, and slammed my back against the white wall. Slowly slipping down, I reached the floor and tears streamed down my face. I placed the device into my lap, wiping the teardrops away to clear my vision. I typed hysterically, sending and screaming words of plead and hope.

"Help!"
"Morgan, please!"
"Why won't you answer?"
"Where are you!?"

After about an hour, I accepted the fact that Morgan Kade wasn't here. She left, leaving me alone to the freezing cold of the four walls imprisoning me.

I shut the computer and placed it on the white floor next to me as gently as I possibly could. I cried silently, as if I were ashamed to hear my own sons and tears.

I had nothing. I had four walls, a floor and a ceiling. I had a desk and a chair, and a computer. I had time, I had space. I had air, which I was sure would be filled with carbon dioxide and no oxygen soon. I had a white T-shirt and white jeans. I had white socks. I had my body and I had nowhere but the floor to lie it down when I wanted to sleep. I had a lot, and yet I had nothing.

Because I didn't have Morgan Kade.