Shades of Night

Breathe in. Breathe out. Ignore the pain. Hold your breath. Let out the breath. Don't scream. Don't breathe too fast. Keep your heart steady. Breathe in. Breathe out. Slowly slip into the welcoming arms of unconsciousness.

You're not sure why, but you can't remember anything before you came to this place. This dark place, like a lab but not, full of silence and whitecoats, seemingly built entirely for you and you alone, has been your cage for as long as you can remember--you can only guess that it's about 6 years. You can read and write, barely, and by looking at your chart you know that you're twelve years old, and your identification code is SW0057210TX1. A meaningless string of numbers, followed by a little scribbled note: Shadow.

For you, you have no name, no face. You've never seen yourself in a mirror or even water, because everything is dark. It's always dark, unless you're lying in your bed, recovering from the excruciating pain they've put you through. There's nothing but the promise of more pain the next day, and a meal that you cannot name.

At least, that's until you hear them. The voices, calling you to freedom.