I Am The Storm

Chapter Nine

 Day was light. The lights were on: they were so strong that I could barely open my eyes for my first thirty waking minutes and couldn't ever look up to them. The light penetrated every corner and made the white walls hard to look at. The mirror reflected light on the opposite wall and I couldn't look into it unless it was at an angle.

Dark was night. The lights were shut off suddenly and my eyes never adjusted to the darkness. It was dark as pitch and I was thankful nothing in my room moved unless I touched it and I wasn't afraid of the dark. It was almost suffocating, the way the darkness coated the room.

Food came three times a day. The first meal arrived before the lights were turned on, and usually consisted of oatmeal, but hot. There was also usually a glass of white liquid, but I never drank that. Second meal came around the middle of the day and consisted of a sandwich (or that was what Mark said it was called, when he came back a few days later), a round red ("Apple," Mark stressed, "It's called an apple," but I ignored that), and a glass of water. The third meal came near the end of the day, probably an hour before the lights shut off. The third meal was also a sandwich, or sometimes some meat. There was always corn, though, so that was good. I had deemed corn a safe food, which probably wasn't a good idea, but it was really good. A glass of water and some green food also came with the meal.

After the three meals, lights went out after about an hour and I was plunged into darkness once more.

I had no concept of time except for those events.

This schedule wouldn't be awful, except for the fact that my head was constantly pounding at all hours. It burned when the lights turned on, and was another reason I could barely see; my vision went blurry with pain. The headache eased slightly when the lights turned off, but my sleep was haunted by memories; memories I had lost to the hands of Hydra.

I didn't know what to think about my taken memories. I didn't remember most of them come "morning", but they scared me in my sleep. I only saw flashes, but my body reacted violently. Sometimes I would have to stumble blindly to the bathroom, vomiting up what little food I had eaten during the day, for reasons I couldn't remember.

I hated it and I don't hate many things. I wasn't allowed to feel passionately for anything, lest it get in the way of Hydra's greater good. This was definitely getting in the way of Hydra's greater good.

But for now, I was lost in thought, contemplating why I was stuck here and how I would get out. I stared down at a blank sheet of paper that I pulled out after I finished my third meal and never bothered to write on.

I flinched as the lights turned off at the end of "day" and I was plunged into darkness. I walked blindly to my cot from the desk and laid down, clutching the folded blanket to my chest. I tried closing my eyes, hoping to sleep so my headache would ease off. Then again, I hoped that I wouldn't be able to sleep at the same time, terrified of the dreams that would accompany me in the night.

Luckily, sleep could wait for a few more minutes. The intercom announced it's arrival with a wave of static that made the pain in my head more pronounced than before.

"Mission status." said the same woman who instructed my mission days ago.

I stood up and snapped into my standard posture, despite the dark and the fact that she probably would not be able to see me.

"Mission incomplete. Tools required to complete the mission are missing, and powers are insufficient," I spoke.

"You have two weeks to complete your mission. Failure will result in harsh punishment. Hail Hydra."

And with that, without giving me the chance to even respond, the intercom gave one last round of static and shut off, hopefully for the night.

I sank back down on my cot in a trance. How could I be expected to complete my mission if I had no materials to use? There was nothing inside this room and the abuse to my fingers proved it.