Trident Trials: The Glimmer

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

You know that feeling when you first wake up from a sleep so good that you sort of forget where you are, how you got there, and not really sure exactly what to do next, well that's how I felt waking up from my nap. Then the immediate panic of what time it is, the responsibilities that you have hit you like a ton of bricks. Welcome to the rollercoaster of emotions I experienced in the first ten seconds after waking from my nap. Fortunately, it was only ten minutes after I originally fell asleep, so I wondered why my body decided it was necessary to wake up and look around the room.

Upon first glance, nothing seemed to be out of place, then I noticed a camera in the room's corner by my door. I couldn't remember that being there before. My eyes continued to travel around the room, looking for any details that would help me discover why my brain was worried enough to wake me up. I almost concluded that it was just another dream that I couldn't remember, but then I looked down at the watch on my wrist and it read 5 hours later than the clock that was on my wall. The camera and the watch were weird but didn't present danger. I sat up hoping the watch was incorrect, otherwise I was going to be very late and in huge trouble for my late, and lack of attendance in class.

My mind started racing, and panic took me over. I suddenly felt like I wasn't getting air in my lungs, even though I was breathing. It was a panic attack and the longer I let it run loose, the longer it would have a hold of me. The walls closed in, and the room went dark. I hadn't experienced a panic attack like this in years. The last time it happened was only shortly after the accident when I woke up in what my brain perceived to be the middle of nowhere. I was sure it happened again until I saw the moon shining out the window, the same place it was the night before. This didn't explain the other details that were wrong in my room. I couldn't focus on that right now. If I focused on the things that were wrong, I will continue to spiral and be in real trouble.

Not sure if it would work, I looked out the window at the moon and tried to take deep, slow breaths. It took almost a full two minutes, but eventually, my vision cleared, and my mind stopped racing as fast. I could think straight again. I felt a comfort from looking at nature. When I had my panic attack on the street, I focused on the same flower that was planted all around this facility. I couldn't find any rational explanation for why this worked, but it did. I should look into getting a screensaver or something for my computer that would display pictures of nature. At least then I could only be a step or two away from starting to calm down.

Now that I was back in a state of mind to do something about my situation, I immediately stood up and tried the door, only to find that the door was locked. Someone must've switched the lock around to the outside of the door. Panicking again a little, I tried to find anything else out of place around the room, any hints about what was going on. Then I thought about the interview with Jax today. I didn't give him anything definitive. Could this be one test that they gave you? Thinking about it more made me even more sure that this was what was happening.

Now that I knew this was a challenge to stay in the program, I could focus a little better. I couldn't figure out why I was needing to take part in it now. I should still have weeks until they expected me to move up. Still, the reason didn't really matter. What mattered was finding a way out of this horrible situation and surviving. I guess it wasn't horrible, but having a panic attack in my room while I could need to be attending class wasn't how I would choose to spend my day, either. I needed to find a way out of this room. I'm sure there would be additional challenges along the way, but for now, this would be my focus.

I never thought that knowing the details of my room would be something that would benefit me, but in this case, I was sure that it would. The small things out of place, like my light being on, let me know that someone recently was in my room. I wasn't sure how they could walk around in here without my hearing. Ever since I was a little kid, I always heard anything moving around in my room. When I was young, it was the silly kid in me hoping that my parents returned, and they weren't really dead. As I got older, it became a safety policy, living where ever with no one to watch your back was difficult and caused me to be a very light sleeper. People rarely had bad intentions, but I always thought I was better safe than sorry.