"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear." - H.P. Lovecraft
Authors Note: Hi. This is just the Prelude.
[April 2012; Sorry, I seemed to have fallen off the face of the Earth for a few years. But I'm back now and I have decided to revamp this story so I can continue it. Originally this was written in 2008. I fixed the point of view so it actually flowed and added more details to the story. Enjoy.]
A muffled voice slowly wakes me. I fight to open my eyes with slow tortuous blinks until finally I can keep them open. Only dull grey concrete walls stare back at me. I shift and roll in the bed. It's painful and I have to grip the sheets and pull with all my might just to do it. I'm panting slightly by the time I have accomplished this.
The machines I'm hooked up to begin to beep and the voices stop, which I now can see come from past the illuminated doorframe. A man rushes back into the room.
The light drifting in behind him casts most of his silhouette in shadow. I squint and try to distinguish his features but cannot. He places a hand on my shoulder and asks gently, "Would you like some water?" I nod a little too vigorously and swim in a sea of dizziness.
When the man reenters the room he switches a glaring light on and I throw desperate hands up to protect my eyes. I hear him chuckle and mumble an apology.
Eventually my eyes adjust and I slip my hands back down to rest by my sides. The man is blonde with tattoos on his cheeks. Lines, I realize, three on each side like scratches. I've been staring too long and he smiles at me for this, his cornflower blue eyes sparkling with the action.
He allows me to collect myself as he drops his eyes from mine and busies himself with getting me to a sitting position. His arm wraps around my back as he tugs to get me propped up. My whole body fights back and recoils in pain with each movement.
Once I'm up, he hands me the glass of water. My hands shake with the weight of the cup. The water sloshes back and forth spilling over the sides. I'm near tears as I fight with my own body to perform a simple task. Without a word his hand gently steadies mine. He looks me in the eyes as he helps lower the cup to my lips.
I drink greedily for my throat is so dry it's painful. "Where am I?" I asked, my voice husky and filled with grogginess.
"Underground," he says simply as if that explains everything. He sits beside me on the bed.
"What?" I ask, sitting up straighter. I wince in pain from the act.
"They found you up top. You were really injured and unconscious so they brought you here and we've been caring for you since," he smiles at me after this.
"Where did they find me?" I ask confused. I was having a hard time following any train of thought.
"What is your name," he asks softly.
I frown and try to think of the answer.
The sound of my heels clicking on the cement ground echo off the barren stonewalls as I run down the corridor. My breath comes short and ragged as I sprint with all my might. "SAKURA!" a faceless man on a platform ahead of me screams in desperation. He is on the second floor looking down at me. I don't slow as I throw myself at the latter and climb to him. I look up to him and see he's looking straight back at me with a strained expression on his face. No, not back at me. Past. He's looking past me, I realized and terror is on his face.
"Sakura," I say as if in a trance, finally answering the blonde man's question.
"Sakura," he repeats. Gently he asks me, "What is the last thing you remember?"
I frown again. Remember? What do I remember?
A smile spreads across my face so wide and large I feel silly, but I can't stop it for my joy is too great. A faceless man in a suit takes my hand and leads me through a crowd of people. I'm in a huge ball gown that makes noise as I move. Everyone around us is dressed up to, but as I look at the crowd I see they too are faceless. The man turns and faces me. His hand slides to my waist and my whole body flushes from the act. We began to move then, to dance.
"Dancing," I say. I still can see the ballroom with its wide arched ceiling and long windows that stretch the length of the walls.
"Dancing?" He is frowning at me.
"Yes," I say again, unsure if that was in fact a memory or just a dream.
"Is there anything else you remember?"
"Running," I say as I think of the first memory.
"Running?" he asks.
"Yes," I answer a bit harsher than I mean to but I am beginning to get annoyed as he repeats everything I say.
"And nothing else?" he pushes.
"No."
"Well," the man says as he sits on my bed, "sounds to me like you have amnesia?"
I just look blankly at him.
"Do you remember what you were doing last? Why you would be out up top?" he asks.
"I just told you I don't remember anything," I say angrily. My head hurts and trying to remember makes it worse.
"Besides dancing and running," he says softly.
"Yes, that's-" but I stop mid-sentence.
"They're coming!" a woman's voice shrieks.
The people around me beginning screaming and I begin to get shoved as people run past me. The whole crowd is moving now. I slide out of the panic by avoiding the stampede gushing to the exits.
A young girl has lost her mother's hand in the discord. She is sobbing, her hand raised above her, as she runs. She is crying out for her mother. Someone accidently knocks into her and she falls to the ground. I can do nothing but watch. The mob doesn't even break stride as they run her over. I turn away then and run the opposite way of the crowd.
"Did you remember something new?" the man asks gently.
"Panic. People panicked. Trying to get away," I say. My hands are sweaty and I'm panting. I know I am making little sense. I wipe my palms on the blanket.
"Trying to get away from what?" he prods.
"Them," I whisper.
"Who are they?" he asks leaning forward.
My eyes focus then and I snap back to the room with the grey concrete walls. The panic, the people, and whoever 'they' were long gone from my mind. "I don't know," I whisper.
He nods and seems to accept this. He cups my face with his hand and says, "Maybe you should go back to sleep."
I nod feeling exhausted and he helps me to lie back down. The wave of drowsiness hits and I drift quickly in and out of consciousness. I do not even hearing the door click as he leaves.