Michiko x Mary

Waking up is impossible

I never woke up.

It's been months.

My routine is gone, my husband is gone, my whole life has changed. For most people this wouldn't be too bad, they'd consider it a break from life but that's not something I ever wanted. My body never stopped hurting and each day feels so long.

There's nothing to keep you busy or occupied, you are stuck with the same few people and they've all lost it long ago it seems.

After awhile I got used to things around here, you can't trust anybody. Whenever you ask a question you either get a rude response or end up with more questions than before. It's never quiet around here there's always unnecessary chatter. Constantly you'll hear whispers, you'll hear gossip about newcomers and nobody seems to understand the severity of the situation.

You can't escape, I've tried.

There's no exits, the rooms go on for what seems like eternity. Even if you were to try dying it doesn't work- you just end up back where you started.

When things started to feel more manageable, it took a turn for the worst.

Recently a letter was left under my door. it was unsigned and when I opened it, inside was a newspaper clipping.

The newspaper read:
"Body found mangled and unidentifiable.
A little boy was playing by the river when he noticed a foul smell coming from something floating down the river. When he got closer he noticed what looked to be chopped meat. soon he saw a finger and quickly ran yelling for help."

I felt ill and my hands started to shake. Unidentifiable.. is that truly what happened to me? Some sort of Jane doe situation where no one will ever know where I am even though my body is in plain sight?

What kind of sick joke was this? Who sent this? Nobody in particular comes to mind when I try to think about who it could be, it's not like I've talked much with the people in this manor. There's nothing I've done to become a target of sorts, I stay out of the way for the most part. So why me?

An even better question comes to mind.

How did someone get this? Is it an old newspaper? Couldn't have been recent considering there's no way to get outside information in this manor if there's no way to get out, yet this feels freshly printed.

Another question added to the list.

I've also started to realize that everyday you don't escape this nightmare you end up forgetting things.

Just the other day when I woke up something about this felt normal, It even felt.. strangely comfortable? Like things would be okay. No thoughts of life outside came to mind and going back to Miles completely slipped my mind until I saw that hairpin on the side table.

When that feeling of dread came back there was a part of me almost wished that I couldn't remember.

These thoughts are interrupted as there's a knock at the door, a sharp loud knock. once opened, standing in front of me is a spider-like woman.

she looks up at me and says something strange.

"You aren't the last one. The competition only gets larger as time goes on." The woman smiles and for whatever reason this sours my mood.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough. We're all on edge about this new member. She should be interesting, you on the other hand were not." The spider-like woman lets out a small laugh.

Did she send me that letter? While it's unlikely I should keep my guard up.

"Can you tell me your name? I feel I have been too distant and I apologize for that." Hopefully my tone doesn't come off as fake.