DDO Olympics: Storytelling Prelims

Chapter 2: A Light in the Dark.My stomach felt like it was imploding. This was sick. There had to be some sort of gas that was causing this hypnotic effect. Nothing felt like it should. At some points, nothing felt like anything, and when I did feel something it was in a confused terror. The questions were clear, but there were no answers I could even begin to formulate.I looked around the room to see if I could find some sense of sanity. I saw the arc I was originally laid on, and the torch above me looked like it wouldn't last more than another hour.I noticed something new as I was looking around. I could see a small wire mesh screen. It was made up of a simple metal wire mesh that I could see through, but it had barbs covering the wiring. Behind that was another room. I wasn't the only one who had been taken. It was strange, though. It was incredibly different from my room.Seated in the middle of it was a little boy who seemed to be enjoying the arc instead of terrified by it as I was. He was about eight years old by the looks of it, and he had a wavy blond hair to cap his head. That was all I could see. The walls were mostly clean. As I looked harder, I noticed the torch was the strangest of features. The reservoir for the oil was completely empty. There was nothing in there, yet the torch was still going.I wanted to say something, but my throat was parched. I choked up on the first words I was going to say rewarding me with nothing more than a squeak. Then the kid turned and looked in my direction. I couldn't be sure he was looking at me, because the mesh was a small area on the wall.Then he spoke and said, "I'm Johnathan. Who are you?"There was something oddly peaceful about the way he spoke and carried himself. It was like he embodied innocence. Even in this hell hole, he could still be such a peaceful character. He slipped off of the arc and walked over to the mesh.I realized I hadn't replied, and as I opened my mouth to speak he continued, "You're in the new room." It was an interesting way of putting things since his room looked newer than mine. "They made that room so they wouldn't have to move me."I tilted my head and asked, "What do you mean?" He just shrugged his shoulders and swung his arms back and forth. His eye color seemed to be in a slow rotation between green and blue. Aside from that he was an extremely normal looking boy. I had to find out more so I asked something else, "Why are we here? What are we supposed to do in here?""I don't know," he replied in his childish tone. "They won't talk to me anymore.""Do you at least know who they are?" I asked more frantic for answers now. It was unnerving that I knew so little of where I was, yet apparently my captors knew exactly who I was. How could they possibly know that?"They said they wanted me for my abilities. That's all I know." He pulled the corner of his mouth up into a dimple then let it back down as a sign of regret.I sighed and almost made the mistake of leaning into the barbed wire. I decided I could ask him about this. "Why is this part of the wall broken?" I asked looking back up at him."Someone tried to break through one time, and they didn't feel like fixing the wall," he said looking up as if having difficulty remembering the events. "They caught him trying to tear through the mesh. I don't remember what happened to him, but they put barbed wire on the hole so they wouldn't have to replace the wall."I considered the barbs and while examining them decided to ask another question. "Why did he..." I couldn't bear to mention my cannibalism directly. "What the hell happened? Why was I drawn to death like that? Why did I do that? And why did he have me do that?"The boy just looked at me like I was deranged and asked, "What are you talking about? You just woke up and started talking to me."I turned around and said, "See right there!" My eyes were met by an empty floor and no traces of blood. That was impossible. That was literally impossible. She was there, and there was blood everywhere. "How..." I started. I turned to the boy and asked, "How is that possible?"But I didn't see the boy when I turned around. I saw a wall. A perfectly solid wall. Nothing special about it except a smear of blood along the left side. My head started to spin. Nothing made sense now. I wanted the boy back. I didn't know his name, and I didn't care whether he was real or fake, he was peaceful. He brought me some sense of sanity. I looked around the room frantically, and I couldn't find anything.Maybe I could try to break through the wall. I hit it with my fist and was rewarded with a searing pain and a bloody knuckle. I screamed at the wall hoping maybe it would just tumble over, but nothing moved. My ears hurt, my hand hurt, and my mind hurt.I couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't. There had to be a drug or something in my system making me hallucinate. Maybe this was a night terror that I could simply wake up from.If it were up to me, I'd just curl up in a ball and die.But there wasn't even something to commit suicide with. I was stuck here in this mad room. Was I in a mental institution? Maybe it was a mental institution, and this was just my mind playing tricks on me. That had to be it.Then the man walked in. That horrid captor of mine that had me locked up in this hell hole."Who the hell are you?" I asked backing against the wall. I pointed an accusing finger at him despite the trembling of my hands."This isn't about me," he said smiling. "This is all about you."