The light continued to peek through the window, the blinds covering it had a gap that allowed a small amount of light to break in. I hated it, just as I had hated myself at the moment. I did not feel like getting out of bed after what happened between Eli and me. I just felt so alone.

With no ounce of motivation, I sat up still forgetting this room is not mine. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to go home. I walked towards the window and opened the blinds. Fog, again. It seems as if this is not going away anytime soon. I hated it. The sun was not even visible. I could not tell where it was as if it did not exist. There I stood simply watching the fog, with no movement anywhere. I decided to go back.

I threw on some clothes and sluggishly left the house, slowly walking in the direction of my destination. When I finally made it the door was locked, as to be expected. I knocked on the door. Twenty seconds went by. Nothing. I knocked once more with better strength, hurting my hand in the process. Another multitude of seconds passed with no response. I grew worried. I rotated around the house to find a valid entry point. One of the windows looked thin and breakable. I grabbed a nearby rock and looked away as I hit it against the window. It did not break. I then realized how much of a terrible idea this was and dropped the rock. Giving up I decided to look around for someone, anyone.

I walked back out into the street and started walking, passing by a multitude of houses that appeared vacant. I had not seen other people besides the students at the school, and more oddly that was only at the school. No one else outside of school. After a few minutes of walking, I came upon a house that had its door wide open as if someone had left in a hurry. The house's windows were secured with iron bars. It seems like this house was once robbed, and it looks like it happened again. I stepped up to the door and was immediately hit with the putrid smell of vomit, shit, and rotting food. I gagged and had to step back to avoid adding to the pile of vomit. After a few seconds of preparation, I entered the house.

I worked in a hospital so I was somewhat used to the smell of old or dying. But this was another level. Inside the house were multiple signs of decay, and furniture rotting away. The house was in a horrid state of disrepair. It seemed like it was abandoned for a while. I could not take the smell anymore. I ran out of the house feeling like gagging again. I could not stand the smell. I decided it would be best to just continue and ignore the place. I do not think I can handle the smell any longer.

I started walking once more and started thinking, What was that house? What caused its condition to be in such a state? Before long a happened upon another house with an oddity. It seems this house had its door broken down. I walked up to the entrance and saw signs of a fight inside the house. A few paintings on the walls were now resting on the floor and other decorations were in the same place as well. There was also a pool of blood, it seemed to be a significant amount so it is likely that whoever the blood belongs to is most probably dead.

Then a noise came from upstairs. It sounded like a metal door. A part of me wanted to investigate and a part of me wanted to just leave. I decided to side with my curiosity and walked up the stairs. There were three doors, one stuck out from the other two plain wood doors. The third door was metal, with some kind of weird-looking display to the right of it. There was no handle on it. I walked up to it and touched the display. The display then shut off and the door slowly opened. I was blinded by a bright light, and when it subsided I was met with a classroom such as the one at the school, however, the color of each item and scenery was colored white and seemed to be made of some kind of hard material.

The door shut behind me. I knew that door would not open as there was no display pad present. I opened the door leading out of the classroom and was met with a long hallway that resembled a hospital. Everything was still enveloped in white. I knew I stood out due to my dark clothes. The door to the classroom I was in had a note on it which was the only thing that was not white. The note read, "This site is not to be investigated until the observation is concluded, this order comes straight from Dr. Whitlock so disobey and you will be terminated- Researcher Kate" The note made no sense. This was a testing area how?

I walked down the corridor and saw identical doors to the one in the classroom. Most of them had the same note. There was one that did not, however. I put my ear against the door and heard nothing. I opened the door slightly and a wave of cold hit me as I saw a human-like figure enveloped in some crystalline substance. It was not moving, but it was too cold to enter the room. I closed the door and continued walking.

The corridor split into two more paths, the one on my left had letters on the wall that read, "Containment Units, Exit, Recreation." The words on the left read, "Command, Emergency Transport, Housing." I took the hall to the left and continued walking. The lack of people was disturbing, surely there should have been someone here.

As I entered the supposed holding units area I became curious. What were they holding here? I opened one of the doors and saw him there, bound to some kind of bed. Eli was asleep with a blood-stained face and clothing. I walked up to him and placed my hand on his chest. I could feel his breathing, it was steady, rhythmic. I felt solitude in his presence.

Eli had a hard life. His parents divorced when he was not even a year old. His father is a kind and caring man. He would have given his all to raise Eli. Yet in some supernatural occurrence, His mother gained custody. This was where Eli's life was determined to be nothing but suffering and abuse. His mother lived off of disability checks. She had autism and was mentally unstable. But for some reason, the mother gained custody. Child protection services were called an uncountable number of times during his childhood. But they never did anything to help. They always believed what the mother would say, after all the child lies and the adult does not right?

He also had a sister from his mother's side, Vannessa Julian. I remember her name due to looking up his mother's name, Adriana Marcelina Pellum which she appeared in a local news article. It was when she was arrested for reckless discharge of a firearm over an Arizona Cardinals blanket. I am not sure whether that was the mother's drunkenness, autism, or both. His sister was praised more by their mother due to her being younger, from the mother's side of the family, and a girl. Vanessa would constantly steal money, clothes, and food, from Eli. He would complain to his mother but of course, she never believed him. He just endured it all. He and his sister were in a love-hate relationship. Sometimes they would get along, talk about their day, and even go out together on double dates with their partners. However, there were also other times, constant arguments, stealing, and rarely fights.

Eli was constantly harassed by his mother, she would abuse him, mentally but never physically most likely so CPS could not do anything. He has tried committing suicide many times but failed. The same could be said for his sister. Somehow both of them made it this far. He had to get a job and support Vanessa and Adrianna at age 16. Once he turned 18 he bailed, Living with a friend until his father contacted him. So he left Tucson and traveled to Texas where he lived with his father. He was happy there, he got his apartment and was free from his past life. which he never heard from Vanessa or Adrianna again.

When I met Eli he was looking for his father who had suffered a heart attack. I was a nurse working In the ICU at the time.

"How can I help you?" I asked, Eli was wearing Khaki pants and a solid orange shirt. I recall at the time he was a manager at a local hardware store: his shirt tag read, Elias Fernsby, Manager.

"Yes, I'm looking for Robert Fernsby. He recently came in because of a heart attack. I'm his son." He looked distressed, anyone would be distressed at the possibility of losing a loved one.

"His room is 203 visiting hours will end in ten minutes so please keep that in mind," I said. With a quick thank you, he rushed to the room and was outside of my view. At the time I paid no attention to him because he was just another person caring for his relative.

As visiting hours ended, so did my shift and I was going to head home. Until I saw Eli again sitting at a table for two by a window in the cafeteria clutching a cup of coffee in his hands. He looked sad. I could not help but give him at least some company. I bought myself a coffee and sat in front of him. He looked up at me with wide and nervous eyes. He looked downward.

"If you want me to move I can," he said, preparing to get up from his seat.

"No, no I wanted to sit with you. That was your father you were visiting right?"

"Yeah, he overworks himself for his kid. She's only in her first year of high school and he's working two jobs to financially support his daughter, to make sure she goes to college." He took a sip of his coffee. "I guess she got lucky and lived with him," he said, still not making eye contact with me.

"What do you mean?" I asked while taking a sip of coffee. He looked out the window as I did as well. We were on the second floor so we got a good view of the parking lot. There was an array of cars illuminated by streetlights. Some people were leaving and some were arriving. The hospital is always busy.

"You can never see the stars from the city," he said with a somewhat sorrowful tone.

"Yeah, I always wanted to travel out of the city, try and see them from the plains."

"There's a place here in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, it's the tallest point in the state you could probably see them from there."

"Really? I do not think I have ever been there. Sounds interesting though."

He looked back at me as I was still staring out the window. His work shirt had a long sleeve underneath and his name tag was on the table still reading the same thing, Elias Fernsby. As I looked back at him, he somehow managed to catch himself staring at me and promptly looked down. I quickly tried to get a conversation going.

"Who is your favorite music artist? Mine is Avenged Sevenfold." I told him my favorite metal band because his hair looked like he had listen listened to that genre.

He looked up at me, "R.E.M.," I still remember holding in my laugh.

"I heard them before, I think I like Losing My Religion the most."

He scoffed and smiled, "That's their most popular song, and overrated. They have better songs than that." I laughed and smirked at him as he continued to talk about R.E.M. and other bands. We talked for hours about it. We had not realized how late it was. I had off tomorrow and he seemed like a nice guy I wanted to hang out with more.

"If you really liked Tom Sawyer I think you'll like Rush's, The Trees." He said as I returned his earbud after listening to the previously mentioned song.

"I will be sure to listen to that when I get a chance." After my words, there was just silence and we stared out the too-familiar window. The sound of the elevator could be heard. I never heard it till now. "I never told you my name, It's Eli Fernsby."

"My name is Sonia Belikov." He looked puzzled.

"Belikov? You're Russian?"

"Yes, From Nizhny Novgorod." It was true. My father was a drunk asshole so my mother and I abandoned him and moved from Russia to the States. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Tucson but I moved here because of my family."

"What happened to your family?" I asked. It was then that moment he told me everything and I did nothing but sit in silence as he described each detail from memory with horrifying detail.

"Eli, I wanted to give you the world, I wanted to help you escape those horrible memories, I never wanted you to leave me. I wanted to fix you but I was not able to. I am so sorry. I never wanted you to suffer because of me and yet you are. I will not plague you much longer. I know Monika and the other girls will get you through those tough times as I had failed to. Maybe we will meet again, in another life. I love you."

I undid his bindings and left. I did not deserve his love, He deserves to be loved by others. Helped by others. Not suffer because of me. I want him to forget me. At least he will have the girls to help him through the difficult times. I do not have anyone to confide in, Eli was my only close friend. He was the only one in whose presence I felt solitude. I had been alone for so long. I loved his company, he always wanted to talk to me and hang out. I guess now I must get used to the loneliness. Maybe it was for the better, he was deteriorating me mentally as he said before. So in the end it does not even matter. I tried so hard and had gotten so far. But he can not be helped, not by me. But those girls had been taught the brunt of all the horror he had been through. They can help him better than I could.

I walked off deeper into the facility. At this point, I did not care if I was killed or destined to walk these halls forever. It was a proper punishment, for everything I had done and failed to do. I do not deserve love. I deserve death. Maybe I do not even deserve death but something worse. As I grew more distance between myself and Eli I hoped that I would either find a way out or die trying. However, I had run into a man dressed entirely in white and I seemingly had passed out.

I woke up in a cramped space. From what I can tell it was some kind of closet. It was dark but somehow I was able to tell that I was not alone. There was a figure standing ever so close to me. It was a man in his young twenties. with the same white apparel. He seemed to be wearing work boots and a white lab coat. His face looked like most common men's. His skin tone was lighter than usual as if it had never come into contact with the sun.

"You're awake, Sonia, you need to listen if you want to escape this facility," I said nothing as I was wanting to leave this place.

"This whole thing you and Eli have been dragged into is a project by some insane cult. A project in which I wish to help you escape."

So from what I could understand the whole reason for being dragged into this world was for some project and this guy wants to help me. "Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Doctor Whitlock. I'm a scientist who is in an organization trying to help you."

"What is this place?" I asked. It seemed like something from outside had caused him to become distressed.

"There isn't much time left. I need to make sure you retain your memory before the next reset."

"What reset?"

Then the world turned black.