Unboxed

 

I slipped into consciousness slowly and it took a while before my eyes got adjusted to the light. The light was so bright and piercing, I felt like I was facing a white  void of space. I winced and closed my eyes, still feeling the white mass of heat on my face.

Slowly again, I opened my eyes, trying to move my face away from the source of light when I noticed that my neck was stiff. Stiff? It couldn't be! As fast as adrenaline would allow, I tried to touch my neck to know what was happening up there. That was when I realized my hands were tied to something. This made me stop and try to take in what was happening. My hands were tied to something cold, probably a metal. My legs also were tied up, all with a thick mass of rope—I guessed that, from the way my hands were feeling so uncomfortable and tight, I probably had been here for a while because I could feel welts on my skin.

I tried to free myself, which was futile by the way. I tried to scream out, probably someone would hear me, that was when I noticed the ball in my mouth, secured with something that felt like a piece of clothing. And then I realized why my neck was stiff, it was because it seemed the cloth was used to keep my head in front of the source of light. From what I sensed, I could feel that I was tied to a wide metal surface, like a bed. I couldn't be sure because I couldn't view the whole room.

Agitation started to set in as I realized I was helpless. I tried to remember where I was before all this but my brain was blank. I couldn't remember a thing! Not who I was, and obviously not where I was. Yeah, I chuckled or did an imitation of it. "I'm as helpless as they come," I thought. I closed my eyes and tried to put myself under some sort of control. I tried reciting numbers, to be rational and to keep the situation under control. While savoring the moment, I felt the cold of the metal slab I was on pierce deeper into my skin. Quickly, I opened my eyes and winced, I hadn't gotten used to the light yet. Then I realized that I must be naked. I must be, because although the light was a constant source of heat, the cold was biting into my skin, making me feel feverish.

I closed my eyes again and after a moment I felt that the light had somehow been switched off. Don't ask me how, I just knew. I opened my eyes and realized I was in darkness. Then a beam of light fell some distance in front of me and switched off as abruptly as it came on. I tried to strain my neck towards the beam of light, but the hold was tight and I couldn't make the slightest move. The light flickered on again, and now, there was a person in the middle. It was just like the theatre my dears, the theatre. The figure, in all black and hooded clothes, walked close to me and put gloved hands on me, on all parts of me.

"You definitely are acting cooler than I thought...so much for feisty Ana."

_Ana? Was that my name?_ Obviously, I couldn't ask my host but I voiced discomfort by grunting and moving away as far as the ropes permitted. I winced again as the ropes bit into my skin hard. My host laughed. He laughed! Yes, I somehow knew he was an he; and moreover he was someone I knew but my memory was really hazy. 

"I have a movie for you, and I know you would love it."

He brought out a remote-like object from his pocket and pressed a button on it. Immediately, my bed was raised to a vertical position. This way I was able to see the room in front of me. I studied the room and could see it was a large space with no walls. At least none within my sight. He then pressed another button on the remote and a horse was brought inside on wheels probably controlled by AI. The horse was placed in the middle of the room and a transparent box housed it.

"The show is about to begin!"

One more button and I could hear the whirling of engines. Something I couldn't explain was coming down from the roof of the box and lo! The moment those things came in contact with the horse, they split the horse into four. The horse neighed one last time before it was split, and then blood was seeping from the box, down to where we were. 

He pressed the remote again and the same thing controlling the wheels cleared the horse's body away.

"Here comes the moment we've been waiting for!" He announced and laughed a very evil laughter. Then he placed me back in a horizontal position and before I knew it, he was wheeling me to the spot the horse just been vacated from.

_No! no! no! Please don't do this! What do you want? Why are you doing this?_ 

I was screaming inside my head, and trying to scream past the ball in my mouth. I was scared to the bones, pulling all stunts in the book, doing everything I could to delay the inevitable.

The box closed on me and with pleading eyes I looked at him, begging him not to press the button— the button that would define my existence, that would make the most vital decision in my life. 

As soon as I heard the loud whirling, I closed my eyes, trying to think.  Was there someone who would be worried about me? What sort of person was I?  What could I had done to deserve this? Zeroing my mind, I waited for the impact. I kept waiting but it never came. I opened my eyes to see the cause of the delay and saw myself in my bed, bathed in sweat and breathing hard. Alas, it was just a bad dream, as bad as bad dreams could be.

©Tianah O.O