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Every Other Night
Eerie.
That's the first word that crossed my mind as soon as I woke up. I roamed my eyes around the obscure dusk of the shuttered room. Goose bumps travelled from the tip of my toes to the ends of my hair as the chilly wind entered from the sole window at the corner of the room. I turned to my right just to meet the bloody fingerprint marks scattered on the pale white walls of this grubby cell. Bewildered, I tried to push my scrawny body up in a sitting position as I attempted to comprehend the situation.
Then I noticed the bed was nothing but a worn out foam placed on rickety steel covered in bloody sheets. My eyes then travelled from my thin legs across my bony arms and shoulders that are filled with familiar scars. A faint memory of last night suddenly crossed my mind. It was when I was scratching my legs and arms for the unexplainable pleasure I was craving for. My long forgotten fingers have grown too long it was aching for friction.
Ring!!!!!
My ears jolted at the screeching sound of a sudden ringing. Immediately, I searched for where it came from. I covered my ears but instead, the ringing worsens. My body involuntarily bended down towards the bed. I was just there, bending down, clutching both of my ears.
After an hour or so, I was relieved that the ringing faded and I was able to sit back properly. I shudder at the sight of blood stains on my palms, it must've been from the ringing in my ears. I never seem to figure out why this is happening though I have a hunch this is not the first time. I scanned the closed room once again but this time, I felt nauseated. This feeling seems familiar and I'm guessing it's my claustrophobia attacking me. I stood up and focused on balancing myself on top of the unsteady bed as I reached for the lone window that's tiny and is perfectly secured with grills. The strange coldness of the metal bars slowly drifted as it collided with my rough warm palms.
I stared at the moon.
Somehow, it eased this strange feeling in my stomach. It gave me the serenity I desperately wanted in this baffling situation. I never realized I was staring at it so long that my legs started to numb.
After a moment, I noticed a dark silhouette slowly covering my line of sight. It took the shape of a girl with long slender arms and legs that looked like those of chickens. Actually, it looked like a little girl with mangled legs. I cannot fully fathom the strange outline though the longer that I stare, the bigger the silhouette gets. I was petrified on my feet until the shadow finally covered the whole window. Hastily, I ducked in an effort to dodge but instead, I got destabilize and was already struggling to grab a hold of whatever before I fell flat on the cold floor.
Silence.
Then hushed voices whisper simultaneously in several indefinite directions. Unfamiliar voices of people. Men. Women. Even children.
Your family is waiting for you outside.
Find a way out.
Come! Let's play!
It's their fault you're here.
You don't deserve this...
Get out!
You shouldn't be here.
What are these supposed to mean? Is what the voices saying true? How can I escape from here? What am I going to do?
I was paralyzed for a while until my head gradually pulsate with abnormal rapidity. I strive to thrusting myself up instead, I can only muster a wobbly sitting stance. I wanted to scream but my voice was nowhere to find. Subsequently, the four-walled room started to turn rapidly turning my world like a gigantic washing machine. The roof begins to dance and I waved my hand in multiple directions frantically trying to stop everything from moving as it is slowly breaking my head. Everything is in turmoil. I pushed myself and banged my head against the wall repeatedly, aiming to lessen the chaos while tightly grasping my hair, uprooting it. Desperately, I gave everything I got to let out a supposedly deafening scream but it turned out to be a mere yelp.
"This has to stop. Help me. Make this stop!"
My voice doesn't sound identical to my voice at all, like a stranger's. My breathing slowly toughens for every second that passed and I'm afraid my heart will stop beating soon. The familiarity of the whole situation is overwhelming.
Perhaps this has been going on every night, or every other night.
I heard a deafening metal clang and the heavy metal door I was unaware of until now opened like arms waiting for me to embrace. I gathered all the strength and every ounce of energy left in me to stood up amidst the instability and headed to break outside towards my freedom and independence, outside of what's beyond the compact metal that enclosed me in this dreadful place, until a pair of bulky arms met me halfway erasing any sign of my escapade.
I struggled to get released from the muscular arms that enveloped me. I kicked and I pushed firmly as if my life depended on it. As a matter of fact, my life really did depend on it. A woman, smaller than me, appeared and grab a hold of my right shoulder. I felt a sharp pain then my vision was clouded and I cannot feel my body anymore. They positioned me back in the cluttered bed and before I can fully let go of my consciousness, I caught a glimpse of the nameplate that was attached on the white uniform of the muscular guy.
