ROOM 211

PART SEVEN

9.

Between the three people currently and temporarily gathered in room 211 of The Mulberry Hotel, Archer's moment of waking was the most uncomfortable. No soft ground of an open field and certainly no bed beneath him greeted any second of his waking and besides the unsettling realization that he not only didn't know where it was that he so happened to be and also not knowing who it is he so happens to be, both arriving together to taunt him, there was another arrival, the arrival of that horrible brain pain.

The brain pain headache to Archer was more paralyzing to him than what it had been for either Henry or Bonnie. The near complete paralyzing pain could feel every plop of liquid falling slowly and constantly within a cold darkened indoor space and he had ached, at least temporarily, all over. Before questions and possible answers could be considered, there would be more pain to be endured when that phone close to his person began to ring.

Indeed, that almost paralyzing aching pain made it so difficult to acquire that phone to answer it and reaching out for it along a stone-cold floor did not make things any easier. No matter the fact he lay awake a matter of mere seconds and had yet to consider his circumstances, it was clear he was in a spot of bother as it was also clear he needed to answer that phone.

And as it is known he did not manage to answer that first call, though with phone in hand it would be a lot easier to answer a second time around. The invitation which came with that short call really set things off, room 211 of the Mulberry Hotel, Mulberry Hotel? He knows no Mulberry Hotel, or at least in his current state, he knows not of the place and as it would turn out there wouldn't be a whole lot more that he does know.

Who are these Doctor Archer and Henry Corbin people spoken of by a male voice coming through? Who exactly he is himself, why does he not know this? Could he be this Doctor Archer person being asked for during that call? He may not know who he is, being a doctor definitely does not fit or at least so he would imagine.

This place he woke within, is he a prisoner? Is he free to leave? Is it possible to leave, for all he sees is darkness and not much of anything else? Only one way to find out. If the pain in his head is difficult to deal with then attempting to stand will not come any easier. There are no chains or restraints of any kind, at least not on his person so in a sense he must be free to at least try and find freedom.

His legs feel like jelly and if he weren't struggling to stand then he may wonder as to if he has been put through the mill of late. It takes a few moments to gather a confidence in an ability to physically manoeuvre through his current surroundings. For a split second, he is sure he can once again hear a dog's bark. This time it sounds distant, so distant it is almost as if he were recalling something, something from before but for the life of him he can recall no more.

In this moment it could be logical to believe that he may be some kind of test subject, an unwilling or maybe even willing participant of something with horrible consequences. It could also be considered as to if he has been discarded as some sort of a failure. An unsuccessful subject to be thrown away, so if he could have been a test subject and if there was experimentation, was it unsuccessful on others? He did wake with a jacket under his head, so perhaps there had been some sort of preparation leading to unconsciousness.

With this darkness, headache, and legs like jelly any kind of experimentation, if any exists or has existed, could hardly be thought of as a success, so maybe his current set of circumstances are due to ... failure.

If he is a doctor, then is it possible to diagnose himself? Is he suffering the effects of some kind of affliction? No. No to the ability of self-diagnosis and possibly no to there being an affliction, he can offer himself no kind of understanding. This certainly feels as if something has been done to him, hopefully not by him himself, is he responsible for whatever failure has taken him?

First attempt to stand drops him onto his knees and brings an element of panic. He needs to fight the thoughts of not being physically capable of getting out of this place. Second attempt to stand and he is on his feet, a little unsteady, maybe there is enough to physically try get out of this place, indeed a physical confidence grows.

There is darkness though it is not complete. There are small oval shaped wall mounted LED lights separated by large distances. This lighting is cream coloured or a dulled white and so dull and sparsely separated that it does no more than offer the thought of how potentially large this place may be.

Walls to the left and right are quite distant and anything in between if anything is in between cannot be seen. Behind him there is darkness, no lighting at all, so it is just pick a wall with lighting, move towards it and hope it leads you to somewhere that can be considered safe. Feeling as if he is regaining himself more and more by the second, physically at least, he begins, cautiously at first, to make his way over towards the wall on the right.

It is only at this point that he considers that phone he had answered a call on. If he can answer a call, then surely, he can make one too and if he can then to whom? The police perhaps, maybe but maybe not yet for what could he tell them? Where could he tell them he is calling from? For the moment he'll see where this wall takes him. Phone will be kept at the ready if things do not go his way.

There may be just enough lighting to make his way along the wall though he can't help using his hands almost ensuring he keeps himself propped up as he moves along that wall. The ground is becoming more and more difficult to thread the further along he goes for where he had woken upon was flat, dirty but flat. The further he walks the more debris he comes in contact with, and this debris is difficult to see.

Stones and pieces of wood make it all the more difficult to walk. Physically he indeed is feeling a little stronger, however stepping on the stones and wood almost removes the strength he has gained. Fairly soon he can see an open doorway, freedom is close perhaps. A short hallway with a single flight of steps heading upwards, perhaps twenty steps in all, the handrails are loose, he uses them carefully to aid himself up those steps without falling over.

Another hallway at the top of those steps, a longer hallway than the one he came from. On he goes. Less than halfway down this hallway and on his right there a set of double doors, wooden with glass panels. He feels that going straight on may lead to a way out, for some reason however these double doors are holding his attention. There are chains with an unlocked padlock wrapped around the metal handles on the door. Someone was either trying to keep something in or keep something out.

The glass panels are dirty, making it difficult to see past those doors and into the room. His interest is peaked. The thoughts there may be a reason for the chains tells him that it may be a good idea to keep on going and leave the room be. His head pain is easing a little and his legs are much less like jelly than what they had been, so he allows his intrigue to get the better of him.

He removes the chains and holds them in his right hand no matter their weight then pushes open one of the doors with his left hand. The room he sees catches him by surprise, but he doesn't know why. It is large and rectangular stretching forwards, nowhere near as large as where he has come from; still, it is large all the same.

There are two beds about ten feet apart and against the far wall with three more beds either side of the first two, eight beds in all. This room makes him nervous as if he were finding out in this moment that the bogeyman is real. There is a smell in here too, a burning rusted kind of smell. He steps into the room but no more than two feet or so then he lets the chains fall out of his hands, backs up and out then moves on. No way is he going to spend one second more in this place than what he has to.

He feels it possible that maybe there is a Doctor Archer related to this building and if there is then that doctor fellow cannot be him. What the hell is going on? Not knowing anything at all, feelings and supposition are all he has. This is all crazy to say the least. Amnesia is surly a common thing but this, this is different, this is wrong.