Fear. It's the only thing you can feel. It's the only sensation you can feel flowing through your body. You can't escape from it…
Ophelia woke with a start bolting upright in her bed looking around quietly. Breathing rapidly she slowly calmed down, her heartbeat going to a normal pace. Letting out a soft sigh Ophelia got up looking around the room. All she saw was white, white walls, white floor, white bed, white everything. Sighing Ophelia shook her head walking to the door and looked out the window that was in the door. Darkness was all there was. She knew just from the pitch blackness in the halls that it was still nighttime. Walking back to her bed Ophelia sat down starting to wonder once more like she always did when she woke in the middle of the night.
"When will I be free from this place?" She wondered aloud this time. Ophelia was once again greeted with a soft echo because of the empty room, but nothing followed like always. Taking in a breath she stood walking to the door and she grabbed the handle managing to grip it before letting go, her body was shaking violently within seconds. Fear. It filled her to the brim being the only thing that actually kept her from leaving the room. Taking a few steps back Ophelia shook her head saying to herself that she will try again later. Knowing it was really the only thing to pass the time Ophelia got back into bed slowly drifting back to sleep.
Everything was silent around her like always. Ophelia took a few moments adjusting to the silence quietly. Her dreams were always like this, empty, quiet, and dark. There was never sound unless it was a nightmare. It was strange since her nightmares are another thing that makes her fear leaving the room. There was sounds, they were familiar, yet so foreign to her mind. There would be flashing lights, sounds of machines, peoples voices. Voices. Ophelia didn't know them, yet at the same time she did. They sounded nice, but all the same scary. She felt pain, a sharp pain in her side. Ophelia was scared wanting to wake up, but she couldn't. Everything was black, a strange warmth soon dribbling down her side. She didn't know what it was, and it scared her. The pain dulled and Ophelia was thankful. All the sounds were slowly fading away, the warmth soon being gone. Out of nowhere she felt as if her body was laid on something soft. Soon enough she bolted awake sitting upright and breathing heavy.
"Again, it happened again…" Ophelia says looking down, her breathing calming after a few moments. She slowly put a hand to her side where she had felt the pain. It hurt, and she was confused. Sighing, Ophelia got up once more walking to the door seeing a few lights in the hall. This was a sign it was becoming day. She shook her head looking at the door knob and slowly reached for it. Ophelia jumped back in surprise watching the knob wiggle and turn. Stepping back not knowing what was happening she silently watched the door slowly open. Her eyes widened when she was met with another person. They were older than her and wore white clothes like a doctor would wear. It was clear they weren't expecting Ophelia to be awake. Ophelia was confused and stepped backwards away from the person again, her body slowly starting to shake. The person stayed still for a while before suddenly moving towards her to grab her. Ophelia was even more frightened now quickly dodging the person and looked to the open door. She was scared of leaving, but she was more scared of the person that went to grab her once again. In one swift movement Ophelia dodged the person again and ran out the door hearing a gasp from the person.
Ophelia's vision went a blinding white when she ran out of the room. Looking around and trying to figure out where to go was not an option at the moment. She heard the quick footsteps coming from the person behind her, so she ran off down a random hall. Everything was white, just like her room. Ophelia noticed a few doors here and there, but they were barely noticeable since they blended in with the walls. She ran and ran feeling like she was getting nowhere, but she was calming down as the sound of footsteps were slowly fading. Breathing in she slowed down and looked around the place now. Ophelia didn't understand why everything was white and why everything was quiet. She suddenly jumped, her body shivering in fear from all of this. Nothing made sense to Ophelia, it was all blank in her mind. Out of nowhere though her vision went dark making her very scared. She started running again through the darkness now.
You felt weak, powerless. Everything around you was dark. Again the only thing you felt was fear filling your body. You tried to move, but it all seemed like a dream. Your movement was slow, it felt as if you were floating. You felt nothing below you. You feared falling, but there was solid ground beneath you. Everything was dark, but slowly your surroundings became a blinding white.
Ophelia opened her eyes sitting up. She found herself on the floor guessing she was knocked out somehow. It was strange, her movements were slow. Looking at her hands she noticed how it looked like they were blurry when she moved them. Ophelia didn't understand, she wanted to know what was happening, but this has never happened before. Slowly she moved and felt a pain in her side looking down to see some sort of object there. Being confused, Ophelia pulled whatever it was out dropping the object quietly and rubbed her side. Soon her vision and movements were normal, so she walked once more not hearing anything. At this point Ophelia was annoyed by the color white. It was everywhere, and she hated it. It was the only thing she would see, day and night. Being silent, Ophelia suddenly heard slow quiet footsteps which made her run. She didn't like it, she didn't like being there. She wanted to be free, she wanted to see something other than the color white. Ophelia didn't even care to know where she was, she just wanted to see something other than white. Ophelia was shocked when she found a big room, the walls were still all white though. Something caught her attention so she walked to a wall and grabbed something, it felt soft. Ophelia yanked at it pulling it to the side her eyes widening. There was a window, and it showed the outside world. There were greens, browns, yellows, and even more colors that Ophelia couldn't describe. She was in amazement, but was yanked out of it when she was being pulled away from the window and soon the curtain was being pulled shut. Ophelia was shocked feeling a pair of arms pulling her away from the window.
"N-no I don't wanna go! I-I wanna see all the pretty colors more!" Ophelia cried out reaching for the curtains desperately wanting to see the colors more. She was only met with a sharp pain in the side of her neck. Everything was suddenly going black, her mind dizzy. Ophelia didn't understand why these people were hiding the outside world from her, it was unnecessary. Her body went limp in the person's arms being carried back to her room.
Ophelia woke up her eyes slowly opening. She felt groggy, it was unpleasant. Getting up and off her bed she stared at a small white box that was beside it. Looking around she sat on her knees in front of the box grabbing the lid and pulled it off gasping at what she found inside. There were colors in the form of crayons, paints, colored pencils, and markers. They were pretty and Ophelia loved them. Pulling these things out she found a sketchbook and a bunch of blank white paper. Ophelia found paint brushes and a tape dispenser too, and it made her excited and she closed the box once everything was out and laid on the floor. Ophelia was happy to finally have something to pass the time, and finally be able to see the colors again. She opened the crayons, colored pencils, and markers dumping them all on the floor. Grabbing the normal mechanical pencils she grabbed an eraser as well soon laying on her stomach and set a piece of blank white paper in front of her. Ophelia hummed softly and started to draw, she was randomly filling the page with lines in no particular style. Once Ophelia was satisfied with it she grabbed a colored pencil and started coloring in places. She cooed softly seeing the color and soon grabbed another filling in other spaces. A few minutes passed until Ophelia sat up happily smiling and grabbed a piece of tape standing with the picture and went to a wall taping the picture to it. She was happy and made her way back to the spot laying on her stomach once again. She started to draw and color once more the time passing by much quicker now.
Soon enough an hour or two passed by there being multiple drawings taped to the wall and they were all very colorful. Ophelia jumped up hearing the door open and turned her head to it seeing a person of course in white walking into her room. Ophelia sat quietly watching the person go over to the wall covered in her drawings seeing all the colors except one.
"Ophelia, darling… Where's the red?" The person asks turning to her with a smile. Ophelia instantly knew this person was different. Just staring at that kind sincere smile made Ophelia smile as well almost making her forget what she was asked. The person was male as Ophelia figured out, and she soon watched him walk over to her. Ophelia perked up a bit looking at all the colors since she didn't exactly know which was red. The male chuckled and crouched in front of her pointing to the red colors she had organized.
"These darling, these are the red colors," he says sweetly smiling while Ophelia just stared at the red colors being quiet. Ophelia reached forward and picked up a red marker. She was looking at it before looking to the male in front of her wondering who he was.
"Who are you exactly? You know me, but I don't know you, and you're different then the others I've seen," she said softly and looked at the male curiously. The male soon chuckled again and sat down properly across from her. He smiles sweetly at Ophelia before he spoke.
"Oh right, I should've properly introduced myself first. I'm doctor Timmons," he says smiling sweetly at Ophelia and lightly patted her head. Ophelia hummed when her head was patted and smiled nodding a bit.
"So, why am I here?" Ophelia asks tilting her head before remembering the question. She was staring at the red marker in her hand being quiet before speaking.
"I don't like it, it makes me feel scared," she says looking at Doctor Timmons before setting the marker down. Doctor Timmons hummed and nodded a bit at Ophelia's response.
"I see, then you don't have to use the color if you don't want to," he says kindly as Ophelia nods. Ophelia hummed a bit and looked around before she looked at doctor Timmons again.
"So can you tell me where this place is?" Ophelia asks softly hoping for an answer. Doctor Timmons seemed to think for a while before he spoke.
"I can't necessarily answer that to the full extent, but I'll say what I can alright Ophelia?" He asks receiving a nod from her. He sighed lightly and spoke once more.
"You are in a special facility Ophelia. You are like an experiment," he says seeming a bit cautious while he spoke. Ophelia was confused from being called an experiment and tilted her head a bit.
"What do you mean by experiment doctor Timmons?" She asks curiously being met with a sigh from the doctor.
"Well, it means that you are special Ophelia. You were raised here, so this was your home since you were little," He says seeming a bit uncertain when he said little. Ophelia blinks a bit since she had memories, but none of her being little.
"Doctor Timmons I... I don't remember being little. You're not allowed to talk about this, are you?" She asks softly watching doctor Timmons chuckle.
"Well, I guess you are smarter than you once were Ophelia. No, it's alright, I can speak about this, I just didn't know if you would understand. Ophelia, sweetheart, you're special." He says with a smile and gently took Ophelia's hands into his own before he continues to speak.
"You are more than a human Ophelia. You are apart of technology. The perfect blend of artificial and organic matter. You are a new being. You were given another chance. You were gone Ophelia, but with new technology you have been brought back. You were reborn with electricity. You were reformed from how you once were. Ophelia, darling, my sweet, sweet little girl, you were brought back from the brink of death, and made anew by your caring father," He says smiling big at Ophelia. She was confused at first, but the more doctor Timmons spoke, the more she understood. Ophelia stares at doctor Timmons for a few moments her hands still in his while her gaze went down to the red markers. She slowly slipped her hands out of doctor Timmons which he was okay with and watched what Ophelia did. She was staring at the red markers quietly before reaching down and picking up the one that most resembled the color of blood. Ophelia was quiet, bringing the marker in front of her face looking at it then started looking at doctor Timmons. Ophelia silently uncapped the marker leaning towards doctor Timmons who was making no movement to stop her. She quietly touched the tip of the marker to doctor Timmons cheek and swiped it to the side leaving a red mark behind and afterwards Ophelia pulled the marker away and recapped it. She stared at the mark on doctor Timmons cheek before she spoke.
"That color, red, it hurts, I don't like it..." She said looking down placing her hand to her stomach. Doctor Timmons watched her and let her speak.
"It hurt, everything was blurry, I felt scared. I didn't like it, I couldn't stop the pain, I only felt fear…" She says biting her lip looking up at doctor Timmons.
"I don't have dreams, but I have nightmares. Are those nightmares how I died?" She asks watching doctor Timmons give her a nod. Ophelia looked at the floor quietly then grabbed a piece of paper and also grabbed a few red markers. She started uncapping the markers one at a time before setting them back on the floor. Ophelia wasn't fully sure what she was doing, but just waited. She picked up a bright red marker and started making marks on the paper. After that she capped the marker and grabbed the next marker the color a bit darker than the one before. She kept this process up until she grabbed a black marker and outlined things. Quietly placing the cap on the black marker and putting it down she looked at the paper quietly. Doctor Timmons was amazed by what she drew, while Ophelia was just confused. On the paper before her was what looked like veins, some were fine, though some were broken. It also seemed to have flesh with a cut open style.
"Everything was red. I couldn't see any other color. It was all red and white, nothing in between, no other color. It was also fuzzy and numb," Ophelia said softly and looked at doctor Timmons quietly. Doctor Timmons nods silently and moved forward gently hugging Ophelia which was an action she had never experienced before until now. The hug was warm and made her feel safe so she hugged the doctor back.
"Yes, my dear. I am so sorry you had to go through that. I am so sorry you had to go through such trauma and that I wasn't there to stop it from happening or to help you. It pained me finding you like I did, I didn't want to believe I lost my little girl. I did everything I could to bring you back, and I'm glad it worked. I'm glad I was able to get my baby girl back. I'm sorry you've been so confused in this place, I just didn't want to overwhelm you and I was away at a different location so they had to keep you in here. They had to keep you blind to everything around you, and blind to all the beautiful colors there are," doctor Timmons says softly rocking Ophelia who gently nuzzled him nodding in understanding.
"It's okay doctor Timmons. I understand why all this needed to happen now, but I'm glad you're here, and I'm glad I finally know who I am," Ophelia says smiling happily staying in his warm embrace for a little while longer before pulling away. Ophelia was happy just as much as doctor Timmons was to be reunited as father and daughter at last, and finally being able to spend the time they lost together by each others sides again.
In the darkness you felt something, you felt happiness. You were finally able to feel something other than fear, a beam of light piercing through the darkness around you. Colors, so many different colors and shades surrounding your body, it's warm and nice. Maybe just maybe there was always that beam of light, but not until now could you see all the beautiful colors shining within it.