Sinister Lust

Darkness clouded my sight, nothing to see or hear. Heaviness burdened my body, so heavy I couldn’t move. I laid still. My eyelids seemed to be the only thing that didn’t weigh me down.

My eyelids fluttered open, only to find myself shutting them again as the sudden exposure of light pierced through my cornea. I gradually opened them, letting little amounts of light seep in at a time. The smell of exhaust fumes filled my lungs when I inhaled. I felt as if I had been asleep for a hundred years but at the same time felt so weak. Adjusting my pupils, I finally got a somewhat clear look of where I was.

I was in a room, but it wasn’t mine.

 Four white walls surrounded me. Nothing else occupied the room except for me and a steel cupboard in the corner. Why was this goddamn room so bright? Without even looking up, my eyes couldn’t let go of its cramming squint.

Where was I? 

I abruptly shot up, only to be forcefully jerked down. I winced as I felt a stinging pain around my wrists. I slowly shifted my head to the side. I was handcuffed. I craned my neck to the front, trembling from the weakness that travelled along my spine. My head thumped on the hard cold metal surface as my neck gave out to the weight of my head. Shaking my legs, I knew I was completely restrained as the sound of shackles reached my ears.

 I started hyperventilating as anxiety rammed into my gut. I looked around hysterically, fear denying me air. I frantically looked for an escape, violently shaking my limbs to break free. I tried focusing my vision on what seemed like a door, only to realize that my contact lenses had been removed.

I screamed. But nothing came out. Was I deaf? No, that would be impossible considering that I was able to hear the rattling of my shackles. A sharp pain sliced across my chest when I tried again.  I was mute.

How long had I been here? Days? Weeks? I racked my brain trying to fill in the blanks of the millions of questions harassing my mind. The intense throbbing in my head made it almost impossible for me to even think. I gave up. There was no use. I took in an undesirable deep breath of the foul smelling air and shoved the questions aside. Remembering wouldn’t set me free.

All I knew now was that I had to escape, fast.

I was looking around as something on the wall caught my eye. Portraits were framed all over the eerie white walls; portraits of women. Why didn’t I notice them before? I studied them, and what I realized made fear grip my throat even tighter. Something about their smiles made my heart set anchor in the pit of my stomach. Not only because they were unnervingly wide, but because it seemed deranged, like at that very moment, they just snapped. I studied them further. All of the women were standing next to the very same man. I could tell that the pictures were arranged from the oldest to the newest. The oldest one looked like it had been taken almost a hundred years ago. No matter which portrait I was looking at, the man never aged. It was always the very same man, wearing the exact same white scrub, flashing the exact same chill sending smile in each portrait.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard a door open. My head shot up, the strain not mattering anymore. A slight spark of hope lit up in me, believing that it’d be someone to rescue me, from something, I myself wasn’t even sure of.

My realization blew out that spark when I saw a man casually stroll in. His eyes being glued to a clipboard made him oblivious to me. I rattled my shackles, desperately trying to get his attention.

I now wish I didn’t.

He looked up, his eyes landing on me. I got a clear look of his face. His gelled black hair was slicked back in an unmodern fashion, cloudy grey eyes that encouraged the remaining uneasiness in my stomach. He flashed me a malicious smile, exposing a single polished gold tooth among a row of ghastly half rotting teeth.