GLITCH

CHAPTER TWO

I tried to open my eyes, trying to gauge where I was. The absence of light made it difficult for me to adjust my eyes to my surroundings. It took a whole lot of squinting and blinking but I managed it. The room was a plain one, my eyes could make out the shape of a single mattress thrown on the bare floor and a desk, much like a study table. It was a place I didn't recognize, even though I was one of those who had retentive memory. I tried to move my hands and noticed, to my dismay, that it was bound together.

"Holy- not here." I immediately corrected myself before I sprouted a string of curse words. I wasn't in my best mood and being bound like an animal was not my idea of a good time. The mattress didn't talk back at me, thankfully. It would have been weird but probably not the weirdest thing I'd ever seen. The Unknowns took the crown. They were responsible for almost every known crime in Cinder. Cinder was the name of the city we all stayed in, all sectors included. It was a running joke that Xera and I were fond of making fun of. Cinder City. Much like Cinderella; without the prince to whisk her away to safety. I was thinking about Xera again.

I never thought a day would come where I'd try to push the beautiful face of Xera out of my mind but there is a first time for everything. I needed to find out a way to get out of wherever I was and figure out what was going on. I remembered hearing my name when The Unknowns appeared; probably a hallucination. I remember the last piece of the puzzle I got from Xera and almost entered into a panic when I realized I wasn't holding it. I tried to feel around for it and heaved a sigh of relief when I my bound hands brushed it in the only pocket of the clothes I wore.

"Phew. Pockets are really important. And, I'm talking to myself again." I spoke into the dark room, realizing that I'd been my only friend for a while since Xera died. She was the reason I bothered to socialize anyway. Whoever captured me didn't deem it fit to at least put me on the mattress. I sat on the cold hard floor and bit back a curse. There was no need for swear words anyway.

Then, the lights came on. It was an intrusive sight and I tried to shield my eyes from it. The sudden burst of colour in my vision wasn't pleasant; far from it actually. Surprisingly, nobody stepped in through the metal doors. I could finally see the room I was in clearly, my eyes adjusting to the light faster than it adjusted to the darkness. I could tell it wasn't a prison, it was more like a boy's room, devoid of anything asides the necessities. The bare mattress seemed to haven't been slept on for a while. The reading table had a chair attached to it and I could see the dust coating them as clear as day. The room seemed devoid of life somehow, the blue paint peeling off the walls. It reminded me of myself, the sheer waste of space I was.

Some people have it easy. Some people just need to smile and the world is lying at their feet. But me? Even if I smile and tap dance, nobody notices me. I'm just a spec of dust in the vastness of the world.

I had to mentally slap myself. That wasn't the time or place to feel sorry for myself. Whoever turned on the lights must have been a masochist; secretly watching me squirm in my bonds. But nobody stepped forward. I waited for a few minutes and decided that I couldn't cower in fear or show my desperation to be out of there. Whoever captured me must have known that I was from the Black sector of Cinder city so it made no sense for anybody to try to kidnap me. I had no one waiting for me and even if I counted my mother, I wasn't sure she'd miss my presence. I was nothing less than a glorified furniture, I did nothing to help her in any way. The Black sector lived in abject poverty but somehow, I seemed to intensify my mother's.

Don't show them. Don't show them the fear that has become a feral beast, rearing its ugly head. Don't show them that you fear death.

The feeling of being watched shook me to my core, I felt as though ants were crawling all over my body, searching for something I had no idea about. I was tempted to scream as my mind had already materialized the feel of the ants and I could feel them on my skin so real, I was tempted to scream. But screaming would do nothing, I knew that for a fact. The room suddenly felt small, I was becoming claustrophobic. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and began to breathe in and out slowly, while counting down from ten. My breath came in ragged gasps, chest constricting. It was like hell; within. My body was burning, a fire raged in the core of my being and it wasn't a good one.