Trapped

Chapter One

January 7, 2060

My hands are freezing and my face feels numb as I wake up in my car. I cannot make out where I am as the windows of the car are completely fogged up. I slide my right arm across the window next to me. A single streetlight in the distance does not provide me with a lot of vision. Once my eyes have adjusted to the darkness, I realize I am at my parents' house. This explains the lack of lights, the nearest neighbour must be at least 100 metres away. Ever since I was little, the garden has never changed. The red stone path, the trees near the fence and the perfectly maintained grass have remained the same for years. There is no doubt this is the place I once grew up. I wonder why I am here, my memory is a complete blur. There must be a reason though, why else would I be here. As I open the car door, a breeze of cold air rolls in and I get shivers all over. I should've brought a jacket. I look down and follow the red path towards the house, I take large steps, but even with this pace it is taking me longer than anticipated. I reach the front door where I reach for the doorbell. It hits me just in time that it is dark, and most likely late. I should probably refrain from making noise all together. What is the time anyway, and where is my phone? My hands go over my pockets, they are empty, however. I glance back at my car and figure it must still be in there. I can't bring myself to walk back and decide that the phone can wait until tomorrow. The backdoor seems like the only viable solution since my parents used to leave the door unlocked all the time when I still lived here. I look past the side of the house: it is so dark, I can hardly see anything. My dad does not want anyone wandering around the house at night so he purposely did not invest in any outside lighting. I decide to take my chances and look for the back door - it would not be the first time I have had to come in this way. A few large steps into the darkness made me rethink my choice of not getting my phone out of the car. The silence of living in the woods can be soothing most of the time, but any sound of civilization would suit me more at the moment. I pick up the pace while softly brushing the side of the house with my hand. Finally, I reach around the corner. The door should be right here, I brush my hand up and down to search for a door handle. "Where is it?" I mumble. I move further along the wall, but the door is nowhere to be found. Either I am going crazy or they removed the door. Perhaps they have told me about it, but I cannot remember. I have no choice but to wake my parents by ringing the doorbell. I hurry back to the front of the house. The cold is really getting to me - shivers run down my spine as I reach the front door. In one final attempt to enter the house silently I turn the doorknob to the left. "You have got to be kidding me" I whisper softly. The door was unlocked this whole time, why did I not ... There is no time to frustrate myself, I open the door and gently close it behind me.

There is a note on the small cabinet next to the door. It was torn from a notebook in a hurry, leaving less than half the canvas behind. 'Be careful David, this is n' The sloppy handwriting and the unfinished sentence tell me this was written in a rush. It's hard to distinguish who wrote the note. I wonder what the note should have said, although I should be more worried about the visible part. A peculiar smell tells me it might have to do with repainting the walls or varnishing the floor. I leave the note on the cabinet, take off my shoes and make my way to the door separating the main hall from the entrance. The main hall is as cold as it ever was, a large area scarcely filled by some pieces of furniture. 'This makes it easy to change in case we want to,' my mother used to say. I have always thought this was somewhat strange, but never thought much of it. I jump up as a loud buzzer goes off on the table, "What the fuck is that?", I speed towards the table to find a phone. The buzzing stops as I pick it up. I come to realize it's my phone. That must mean I have been inside already, although I can't remember. There are no missed calls or messages on my phone, so why did it go off. I guess I will look into it later, for now I have got to find out what I am doing here.

I wander around the main hall, the floor creaking on every other step. My mind starts to wonder, trying to think of the events that led me here. Everything after my last appointment with doctor Eckhardt is a blur. A regular appointment apart from the fact that he was very driven to get me to try some new sort of medication. I felt like I was doing just fine with the prescription I had. I should visit him soon to change back to my old medication. I catch a glimpse of light from behind the glass panel in the door that leads to the kitchen. As I move closer I see a shadow walk past the door. "Mom, is that you?" I ask softly. There is no response. "Mom, is that you?" I raise my voice to make sure she can hear me. There is a moment of absolute silence. The light behind the door quickly dies out. The hall that was already dark is now pitch black, rendering me blind. I grab my phone and turn on the flashlight. The bright white light seems to illuminate the entire hall. I reach out to the kitchen door and slowly turn the handle. The door is locked. Maybe I am just seeing things that are not there. I back away from the door and sit down in one of the chairs, I must assess this rationally. The combination of my new medication and being very tired must have played tricks on my mind. I should just go and find the key to lock the front door, I do not want to be the cause of someone getting in. Some soft noises upstairs reassure me my parents are sleeping.

My heartbeat settles as I move up the stairs. I point my flashlight towards the stairs to make sure I don't trip. The first floor has two large bedrooms, of which one used to belong to me. If I left a key for myself somewhere, there would be the most likely place. I open the door and flick the light switch, everything is just as I left it years ago. There is a key on the nightstand next to my bed, that must be it. Even though I can't remember anything, my habits never fail me. I come to realize how absurd my imagination can be - it even had me afraid of my own house. With the key in my hand, I move back downstairs and approach the front door. Fortunately, it is the right key. I lock the door and return to the main hall. I have to blink a couple of times to make sure my eyes do not deceive me. The previously locked kitchen door is now wide open. I try to control my breathing as I move towards the door, the complete silence creates an eerie atmosphere. There seems to be nothing there, except for a note on the kitchen table: 'You have to trust me David.' I don't know why my parents would leave a note like this. I don't care what time it is anymore - I sprint upstairs, go down the hall and open the door to the master bedroom. I flick the light switch and gaze into the room. It's empty. I know for sure I am not alone here. The unlocked door and the muffled sounds that I heard become more and more suspicious.

Someone else must be here with me.