1858
The young woman fell in and out of consciousness, every time she awoke she saw parts of her environment, a cell door, stone walls, a device that hung from the ceiling. There was someone outside the cell door! He was covered in blood! She would scream but her fear crippled her! Then she lost consciousness again.
She when she regained consciousness he was gone. He must have been a hallucination. Her name was... it was odd, the woman couldn't recall her name. She turned her head from side to side while lying down on a table looking at her environment for a clue. Nothing, except for a single phonograph. The woman raced for the phonograph, maybe it will tell her what was going on!
"Bienvenue," a woman's voice with a french accent said, "you are now listening to the sound of my disembodied voice. It will serve you no purpose to look for me, for this is a voice from the past.I bid you welcome to my Cabinet of Perturbation. it is my study of the human psyche - specifically yours. A set of recordings have been prepared to chaperone you through the chambers are a few parts to this study and it is up to you - not only to pass, but figure out what elements are important. Please go on, move into the next chamber. Just remember they can all be saved, there is always a way."
What the hell? The woman wanted to scream. What was this? Did she do something wrong? What did this french woman mean by study? As in a test? How could she pass any test if she couldn't even remember her own name? The woman headed for the door when she realized there was a lamp attatched to the device hanging from the ceiling and when she grabbed it the door unlocked. The woman then proceeded to look for oil, there was none.
Great she thought What use is a lamp without oil?
The tunnels were dark beyond the cell door, the woman couldn't even see the dead ends. Finally she came across a room with six cells and a wooden floor.
"Whoever you are," a male voice called, "if you can help me, I would be much obliged."
The woman walked to a cell and saw a man strapped down to a table completely naked.
"Please!" He called, "Help me!"
The woman tried opening the cell door but it was locked.
"I'll find a key." she said.
The first cell she checked was the one closest to the door into the cell room. It was dark and she could hear the sounds of chains being dragged across the ground, she shook her head thinking she was hearing things but as she looked around that cell, it seemed weirder. On the wall right of the cell door, the words "I'm so sorry" were written in blood and on the table also in human blood the words "Forgive me" were written. The woman trembled as she scrambled to get out of that cell, leaving the door opened. Why were there messages written in human blood? Reluctantly she checked the other cells, no key. No weird messages written in blood either. Then she heard it again, the sound of chains on the ground
"Is that you, my love?" a male voice asked, the woman turned around slowly
The voice came from a bald man who had a wheel around his neck and and an "X" carved into his chest. This naked man was staring at her, well, he would be if his eyes weren't carved out.
The woman screamed.
"You came for me!" The man exclaimed. The woman tried to run but he caught her.
"No, stay! Don't leave again!"
At the last line his tone turned angry. The woman punched the "X" in his chest. He let her go and she ran into the nearest cell and hid under the table while he was screaming.
Dear God She thought, the way he screamed in pain, is he still alive?
The man walked to the table and started breathing in quick panicked breaths.
"Where did you go?" he asked after a while, "Come back! Please come back!"
Then he left. The woman waited for the door of the cell room to close before she left the safety of her table. She ran to the guy on the table and noticed the lever to the left of his door. Of course! How could she have been so stupid?
"It's not too late you know." The man said, "You can still set things right!"
"Don't worry!" she called, "I'll save you."
She pulled the lever once, it didn't move, she pulled the lever twice, it moved half way, but when she moved it three times she could hear machinery starting to work.
Yes! We can get out of here! The woman thought then she heard the man screaming in terror.
"No!" He screamed, "No! Please! Don't do this!"
The woman gasped as she saw a red blade moving quickly towards the man's exposed chest. She tried to bring the lever back up but it was stuck! She could hear the man as he was choking on his own blood. She looked when he was dead, and had a great hole in his chest and she could hear more machinery working behind her, she looked and saw a ladder coming down then a name came to her memory Justine it was her name.
"My name," she muttered to the corpse, "Is Justine."