| [ |
mood |
| |
 blank |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
"No Quarter [Live]" by Tool |
] |
Alright, here's my short story I wrote for my creative writing class that I actually feel I did a good job on... And so did my teacher and a few other kids. Yeah, I used names from my efed characters... Sue me :P It's not like anyone in my class or my teacher knew. Just be sure to block out what their names mean to you in the story ;) Enjoy... And respond with opinions if you'd like. The title of it was originally "Rise and Shine" but now I'm contemplating that... Ok, I'll stop stalling. Now, read! :D
------------------------------
He lied there with his eyes closed, knowing that he had to get up and deal with his useless life as he’s done many times before. His stomach growled, eager for the breakfast it wouldn’t get. He wanted to stay in his bed, excluded from the cruel world and drown out his hate for it behind his eyelids. The room grew silent, sending him deeper into slumber, until something echoed through the walls—a muffled female’s voice. He quickly snapped up as his cautious eyes searched the room, not sure of what to expect while they adjusted to the sudden burst of light. It took the man’s eyes a few moments to focus, but what he saw flung him into panic. He scrambled out of his bed, tripping over the sheets as he searched the room in fright. The room was bright and blank, with a steel blue color flooding the walls, floor, ceiling, and even furniture—a bed and nightstand. Two windows were placed on opposite sides of the room, each with bars outside of them.
The man looked as if he wanted to scream, but the words froze in his throat. He felt along the icy cold walls, looking for an exit of some sort. Then the muffled voice echoed again, coming from outside of his door, which helped him with his search. He raced towards the door, and then jiggled the knob to discover it was unlocked. The man pushed the door open and found himself at the end of a long hallway with multiple doors like his, evenly spaced on the walls. He glanced up at the corner by his door to notice an intercom, which seemed to be the source of the voice.
He shouted at it, “What have you done to me? Where am I?”
Without waiting for an answer he made his way down the hallway, dressed in baby blue pants and a plain shirt of the same color. As he reached each door he banged on it, then moved to the next one.
“Someone tell me where the hell I am,” he screamed, his words bouncing off the walls.
The doors opened shortly after he passed and people poked their heads out, wondering what the commotion was about. Once he reached the end of the hallway where he spotted the last door, which was labeled “Bathroom”, and he opened it. He searched the room and slipped inside. The man searched the small space, from the pearly white toilet to the glistening marble sink. He immediately turned the faucet on and let the water run through his fingers before splashing it onto his pale face. Slowly he glanced up at the mirror above the sink and looked at his reflection. He froze for a moment, and then backed into the wall behind him.
“That’s not me! That’s not what I look like,” he said in horror, shaking his head.
He took his fist and slammed it into the mirror with rage, forcing a spider-web design of cracks to consume the glass and break his reflection. He then stumbled out of the bathroom, but found a crowd of people, all dressed in the same clothes as him. They stared at the man as he stood there, his fists dripping with blood from the shards of glass, gazing back at them.
A man whispered to the woman next to him, “He went to the bathroom without permission! Sharron isn’t going to like this... Not at all! What ya think his problem is, anyways?”
The woman replied, “I don’t know! Why don’t you ask him?”
He reluctantly stepped to the front of the crowd, pushing his way through, and smiled nervously at the stranger.
“Uh… Sir? Is something wrong?”
The man didn’t answer.
“You must be new here? What’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”
The man looked at the group of people, not sure if he should trust them. He then replied with an unknowing tone, “Bryce… Bryce Corbin.”
“Bryce, eh? You hear that everyone? The new guy’s name is Bryce,” he said joyously.
The crowd whispered between each other and gave Bryce a few glances before bursting out with cheerful welcomes while surrounding him. But Bryce quickly silenced everyone as he grabbed the man who had approached him moments ago by the shirt and brought him close to his face. He growled at the man while the blood from his fists seeped into his shirt’s fabric.
Bryce demanded, “Where am I? What’s happened to me?”
The man answered in a shaky voice, “Uh… You’re at the… Uh…”
“Tell me or I swear I’ll snap your neck in half,” Bryce threatened.
Before the man could answer a group of men dressed in dull silver uniforms came from behind him, apparently seeing the incident from the surveillance camera placed on the wall nearby and rushed to the scene. They managed to pry Bryce off the man, but Bryce kicked and tried to fight out of their grasps. One of the men then pulled out a long syringe and flicked the sharp end, which Bryce spotted. His eyes grew wide as he screamed his disapproval. The man stabbed the needle into Bryce’s arm while one of the other men held it still. He injected the fluid into Bryce’s arm, which immediately called him down. Shortly after, Bryce stopped struggling as his eyes slowly drooped shut, and then he drifted into an unconscious state. Everything faded to black.
“Hey… You awake?”
Those words reverberated in his head as he opened his eyes. Everything was a blur to him, but became clear after his eyes adjusted to the beaming lights shining down on him. His body felt numb while he looked around the room, trying to figure out where he was. The voice shot out again:
“Rise and shine, pumpkin pie!”
Bryce aimed his head towards the voice, which seemed to have been coming from the small cell across the room. In one of the corners of the cage was a dark figure of a man, his eyes glowing and staring back at Bryce. Bryce tried to move his body, but discovered that he was strapped down—his wrists and feet bound by leather to a large chair. The man in the cell chuckled at Bryce as he struggled to free himself, then a grin became visible through the darkness—his crooked teeth peeking from his lips.
“They’re gonna put ya in isolation if ya don’t calm down,” the man said.
Bryce continued to work at the straps, but once realizing they grew tighter, he gave up on his escape. He glanced at the man in the cell, who was still staring at him.
He asked, “What is this place?”
The man laughed and answered, “I ask myself the same question all the time. But the answer is something I tend to forget, ‘cause I never believe it. Or at least I don’t want to.”
“Well, can you try to remember,” Bryce asked, seeming paranoid and desperate.
The man shook his head and sunk further into his dark corner.
“You don’t wanna know. No one ever wants to know. Just accept the fact that ya are where ya are, ‘cause you’ll never find a way out,” the man said coldly as he crouched down until he was no longer visible.
Bryce growled and tried to free himself again, but he suddenly heard a door open across the room. A woman walked inside, dressed in a long white coat with her fiery red hair tied back in a bun. She made her way towards Bryce, her high heels clocking against the tile floor as she looked over the clipboard in her hands.
“Seth?”
Bryce raised an eyebrow as she asked the question. She looked at him, then repeated herself.
“Seth?”
“No… My name’s Bryce, “ he snapped.
She gave him a dirty look for his attitude, then wrote something down on her clipboard.
“Fine, Bryce. Sorry,” she commented.
“Whatever,” Bryce interrupted.
“My name’s Sharron; I’m your counselor. I hear you caused a disturbance earlier?”
Bryce sarcastically growled back, “Yeah, it must have been the whole abduction thing going on here. I wake up in some strange place, I take a look in the mirror to discover I’m not the same person I was, and now I’m strapped in this chair like a criminal. Sure, this is normal! I have no idea why I would overreact! Maybe if I knew where the hell I am or what’s happened to me I’d be a little more relaxed!”
He shook violently in his chair, causing Sharron to back away.
“Bryce… Listen to me, please! Calm down and let’s talk! That’s all I’m here to do—to help you,” she said, trying to plead with her enraged patient.
Bryce stopped jerking, but yelled back at his counselor, “Calm down? Listen toots, I’ll calm down if you tell me what’s going on!”
“You promise? Because one more outburst like that and I’m sending you to isolation, “ Sharron said as she approached Bryce again, but with a hint of hesitation.
“Sure! I’ll be a good boy, just for you,” he said with a smile that masked his frustration. “But do me a favor, please” Bryce said, trying to sound polite, “and loosen these straps. I think they’re beginning to cut off my circulation, and we don’t want that, do we Mrs. Sharron?”
The man in the cell suddenly shouted, “Don’t trust him! He’s up to no good!”
“Shut your god damn face,“ Bryce barked in reply.
Sharron, just as she unbuckled the first strap on Bryce’s wrists, stopped and stared into her patient’s cold, gray eyes.
“Excuse me? I didn’t say anything,” she commented, obviously thinking Bryce was talking to her.
Bryce looked back into her dark coffee brown eyes:
“I was talking to the monkey in the cage over there! Didn’t you hear him?”
Sharron paused, and then turned around to glance inside the cell. She faced Bryce again, “I don’t see anyone.”
“What? What do you mean you don’t see him? He’s right there in the corner!”
Bryce aimed his head towards the far corner of the cell. Sharron sighed, “Alright, I’ll look. But I’m telling you, there’s no one there!”
She slowly made her way towards the cell as Bryce tugged at the strap Sharron unbuckled moments ago. He suddenly freed his hand and quickly unfastened his other straps. Sharron reached the cell and took a few seconds to search the area. Bryce managed to escape the chair and approached Sharron from behind. She heard his footsteps get closer and turned around in panic, knowing what to expect.
“Seth, please don’t do anything you’ll regret! I’m only here to help you!” Sharron backed into the cell, finding herself trapped.
Bryce squinted his eyes as he lightly pressed her against the aluminum bars, “You keep calling me Seth… Why?”
“I’m sorry, Bryce! You just remind me of someone I know, “ she said with a nervous tone.
“Don’t give me this crap! I’m sick of excuses! Now tell me what’s going on, “ Bryce demanded as he grabbed her hair by the bun to keep her from running.
She remained strong about the situation, but also feared deep inside what Bryce might have on mind. Suddenly, the outside guard peeked through the window on the door and burst through the door. He rushed to Sharron’s rescue, but to keep her safe he stopped and placed his hand on the taser gun in the holster attached to his belt. Bryce turned around and stared at the guard with a grin.
“Sir, release the woman,” the guard said calmly, making Bryce feel somewhat unthreatened.
Bryce chuckled, then responded, “I’m not going to hurt her! I just want some answers! And so far I haven’t gotten any!”
“I’ll give them to you, I promise! Just please let me go, “ Sharron said. “You have my word! But you have to let the officer take you back to your room.”
Bryce stared down the guard, and then released his grip on Sharron’s hair after a short moment of contemplating. He put his hands up in the air in surrender as the officer pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Bryce allowed the guard to lock his hands behind his back and guide him towards the door.
“Officer Randal, take him to isolation,” she said bitterly as she adjusted her hair.
Bryce grew a large smile, then deeply laughed out of hysteria. The guard opened the door and guided him down the hall. Bryce continued to laugh all the way until they reached a large steel door, which Officer Randal unlocked, then opened for Bryce to step inside.
The room was completely padded with white cushions, proving not so much as a window on the walls or furniture, unlike his previous room. The guard unhooked the cuffs and quickly closed the door behind Bryce, who remained still with the same smile stained onto his face.
A familiar voice called out from out of nowhere, “I told ya ya didn’t wanna know.”
Bryce looked around the room until he spotted the same man from the cell, leaning up against the corner behind him. The man was scrawny with long tangled hair and dressed in the same baby blue attire as Bryce and the other patients. He looked identical to the man Bryce also saw in the mirror he shattered earlier. Bryce’s eyes glowed with disbelief.
“Who… Who are you, “ Bryce asked.
The man smirked, “I’m Seth Raide… Sound familiar?” Seth walked towards Bryce and stood right in front of him, appearing to be his reflection. “I’m you,” Seth said with a hyena laugh.
Outside of the isolation chamber a loud scream was heard, followed by the hysteric howling of Bryce. The guard was peeking into the room through a small looking-glass window as Sharron approached him.
“How’s he doing,” she asked worriedly.
He answered, “Uh… He just completely snapped, so I’m not sure. Say, what’s his problem anyways?”
She glanced at her clipboard, then sighed, “Multi-personality disorder; Schizophrenia. His real name is Seth Raide, but he has a history of calling himself various names, which in this case it’s Bryce Corbin. And he believes he’s a completely different person—from his entire life to his appearance, “ she said. “You have to sympathize with him, though. I’d hate to wake up one morning having no idea what’s happened to me—not knowing I’m insane. But if you look at it this way: We all wake up not knowing we’re insane. Bryce just happened to find out the hard way.”
Sharron looked through the window to see how Seth was doing. He sat on the floor, banging his head against the padded wall and repeated the same question over and over, “What have they done to me? What have they done to me? What have they done to me?”
|
cheerful
bored
aggravated
calm
sick
crazy
high
confused
creative