King of Swords - Flash Fiction/Short story collection

Leah

She opened her eyes and she was drowning.
Violently she kicked at the water that engulfed her and sliced through it with her arms. She heard the muffled sounds ringing . Red lights flashed. Blurred outlines dashed in front of her. Reaching out she felt something cold. Glass. She was swimming in a fishbowl, an experiment in a test tube, until she saw something grey come at her. Smash!

The water rushed out from around her and pulled her down, beaching her on the concrete floor. She freed herself from the mask on her face and tried to breathe. Gasping and shaking, the alarms blared in her ears. She didn't know whether to cry or to scream. Then, she felt something touch her shoulder. She shrieked and pushed what was a hand away.
'Ssh, it's all right, it's okay' the man whom the hand belonged to said. He held her by the shoulders. 'You have to come with me now, Leah'
'How do you know my name?', she yelled choking on her tears, 'What the hell is this!'
'I can't explain now, just come with me'

He hauled her up by the waist. They staggered through what looked like a laboratory, as the alarms continued to sound all over. Lit by the stale white light were hundreds of cylindrical tanks. The floor was wet and covered with large thick shards of glass. All she could do was look on in astonishment at whatever this place was.
'Be careful, don't cut yourself' the man warned. Looking up at him she saw he was young, perhaps not much older than herself, but he looked wretched. There was no spark of life in his eyes.

The corridors winded in every direction to the point where she couldn't tell where they had been and where they were going. The flights of stairs they encountered were particularly brutal. Down, onwards, one step at a time. Her thoughts whirled in her mind as they twisted their way down the staircase.

'Please, I need to stop' she whimpered.
'We can't, we have to keep going' he said pulling her along. Leah let her body slump in protest.
'I can't - I won't go any further' She dangled on his arm.
'No, you have to push on'
'Why, you're not telling me why'
He looked away from her as he pulled her along the floor.
'Am I dreaming? Am I dead? What is this place, who are you?'
'You're asking to many questions'
'I'm asking the perfect amount of bloody questions' she remarked furiously, struggling out of his grip. He held fast.
'Tell me please' she sobbed, as her strength was letting up, 'I don't understand how I could be here' He let go of her arms and she collapsed, drained of all energy. Gently this time, he propped her up against a wide doorway and sat across from her. He sighed heavily, combing his fingers through his dark hair. Leah could see his face now clearly. The depths of the ocean were in his gaze.

'What was the last thing you remember?'
'What?'
'Just answer the question'
Quite bewildered, she obliged. 'I remember I was camping and - next to a river, I was camping next to a river and-'

'And what? he cut in abruptly.
'Well if you let me finish' she said flustered.
'Sorry' he said softly, 'Continue'
'I saw a raven, by the river. Suddenly, the ground sort of dissolved beneath me, and, and-' 'Before you go on', he interrupted once more, 'there's something you should know' 'What?' Leah asked, an uneasy feeling rising within her.
'Earth, the one you thought you were on, that Earth is a lie. Always has been'
'What do you mean?'

'I mean, that tank you were in, that's all that's left of Earth. An illusion, a memory. Welcome to the galaxy I live in, where humans are outlawed and stuffed in tanks like giant pickles'
'Earth is gone?' whispered Leah.
'Yes. Well, no. You are now in the reality where Earth was obliterated many decades before today, but the Earth we actually came from may still be out there'