Unfound

an endless white expanse

A sound similar to that of floodlights turning on was the first thing he heard once he woke.

He was lied flat on his back in the same Spongebob Squarepants pyjamas that he had left the previous place wearing. Zack lifted his head off the cold stone floor and shielded his eyes against the blinding white light that he was confronted with.

Slowly he sat up, unable to order his thoughts so far as to even know that he had just died.

But after a moment it all came back with frightful clarity.

Zack's hands immediately went to his throat. Nothing wrong.

This only added to his panic and he began to hyper-ventilate. Where am I? Zack thought frantically as his head thudded in time with his racing heartbeat.

He sprang to his feet, eyes darting in every direction. The only way to describe where Zack was now, was to call it a white expanse. The floor was smooth grey stone which was lit from above by an apparently endless ethereal and omnipresent white light. As Zack spun around in fear, he saw that there was no end to the horizon.

I died, I don't understand! Is this heaven?

Surely not heaven, Zack concluded. He assumed that if heaven existed (which Zack vehemently doubted) then it would somehow feel better than this place. This place had a distinctly neglected vibe to it.

Zack had never been somewhere that felt as hollow as this.

His breathing had slowed slightly, but he still laboured to force air in and out. He didn't know why there should be breathable air here but he didn't question it any further. The feeling that he had left Earth had begun to solidify itself within him and it made him feel very nauseous.

Crouching to touch the floor where he had woken up, he again found it to be cold and have a texture like smooth concrete. Looking up, he only saw the strange bright white fogginess, which instead of absorbing light like the fog he was used to, seemed to emanate light of a kind that wouldn't have been out of place in a hospital or dentist surgery.

Zack was mildly uncomfortable under it, but was thankful for any form of illumination. Being blind here would be no fun at all.

He rigidly walked away from his point of entry to get a better sense of the place, bare feet slapping softly against the ground as he went.

I don't think this is happening, it can't be!

Pinching himself, he registered the pain and grimly took that to mean that it was indeed happening. A flash of humour registered in his brain. A physics student pinching himself to check he isn't dreaming and taking that as solid proof. Who needs science when you have old wives' tales.

Despite the goosebumps running along his arms, the temperature felt OK and the only sound was coming from Zack's own movement. He took a moment to appreciate that this was actually kind of cool in a way.

Maybe I can make it back from here. Zack thought, stomach clenching at the possibility. But he knew that this wasn't some kind of lucid dream and therefore he was almost certainly dead.

I committed suicide.

Zack's steps grew extremely heavy and he dropped to his knees. He pushed the hair out of his eyes and rubbed them under his glasses. She'll hate me. Talia will hate me forever and I deserve it, I'm a coward. An utter disappointment.

His inner scathing wasn't exactly aimed at his actions, but rather at how he had simply run away from it all. He hated that he hadn't had the courage to talk to his sister about his problems, or at least leave a note when he died.

Legs transforming into lead, he became dizzy as all of this dawned on him. Right there and then he felt like utter scum.

Who am I thinking that I might find a way out of here? This is probably the universe torturing me and I deserve it.

He rested his forehead flat on the floor and pounded it with his fists, screaming into the endless white as he resigned himself to an eternity in this bleak place.

After a few minutes of successfully vented frustration, something made Zack stop. A feeling had popped into his head which was ludicrous to him. Especially here.

It was the feeling of being watched.

Looking ahead and to each side, a gasp escaped his lips as they parted with fear.

Craning his neck around, he turned to check behind him and saw it. His elbow joints instantly gave way and the front of his pyjama bottoms became wet with the involuntary relaxation of his bladder.

Crawling backwards with eyes glued to the thing that had appeared behind him, he screamed.