Deceived

Her

"Zachary Woodgreen is... Zachary Woodgreen is..." My own voice keeps repeating the same thing without finishing the sentence. I am in a nightmare dimension with swirling colors making my head spin. "Zachary-wood-green- IS!" I yell. Then I see him. Perfectly combed hair, fresh clean clothes, shiny teeth, amazing sneakers. He is coming to me. But there is a problem. He has a look of worry on his face. He has a dagger in his hand. "No," he says, "No no no no NO!" Zack is crying now. His grip on the knife strengthens. "DO IT!" tell two voices in unison. Zack looks like he is being pulled by some invisible force towards me. He is trying to hold himself back. I can see it. It isn't working. The hand with the dagger raises as I realize what is going on. I try running. I'm stuck! I try moving my hands, but the are shackled to an invisible wall. I am screaming. I am screaming to the point where my lungs feel like they are being ripped apart. Zack is screaming too. Then the dagger comes down into my chest, and everything disappears.

•••

I wake up with a sharp breath, as if I were holding it for oh so long. I stare up at the sky. I am breathing heavily. Zack Woodgreen acted like he was being forced to kill his mother. He doesn't even know me! Then I realize that gravity is not pulling my back to the ground, but my feet. I am standing and facing a wall painted to look like the sky. Then I realize I am tied to a pole with my hands crossed over. A hard rope squeezes my hands together, and it seems to get tighter the more I struggle. What scares me more is that I am on a single stone island in the middle of what looked like a pool of melted pistachio ice cream. My legs are still mobile so I touch the ice cream with my big toe. Searing pain courses through my leg. I quickly pull it out and look at it. The toenail is singed. It must be acid. Oh my glob. I'm tied to a pole and surrounded by acid that looks like ice cream. Oh my glob. Then there is cruel laughter. "Welcome to your last room Autumn Greenwood."