Paranormal Predicament

Chapter 3: Awakening

 When I woke again, I found myself staring at the ceiling of a dark room, brightened only by the sunlight streaming through the window to my right. It took a moment for my confusion to settle before I began to realize where I was. I seemed to be in some sort of spare bedroom. The walls of the room were white and blank. There were also two doors, one immediately to my left, and another one further down along the same wall. I was laying in a soft bed, buried under a few layers of blankets.

 As feeling returned to my body, I suddenly noticed how awful I felt. My limbs felt stiff, like they had been microwaved. My head was pounding, and my face felt hot. I tried to remember how I had gotten here, but my memories were all so unfocused that I couldn't make heads or tails of any of it. I was pushing myself to sit upright with some difficulty when the door to the room suddenly opened. I turned, startled, to see who had opened the door.

 "Oh, good," a voice said, "You're awake. I was getting worried for a while." A man I didn't know was standing at the door. He was definitely older than me. He was a bit taller than me as well, maybe a couple inches shy from 6 feet. His hair was light brown and cut sort of short. Some of it was swept to the side over his forehead. His face was smiling, and his blue eyes reflected his kindness. As unfamiliar as he was, though, I found that I strangely recognized his voice. With a start, I suddenly remembered where I had heard it before. His voice had been one of the ones that I had heard before I passed out.

 He must have seen me tense up, because his smile became bigger as he raised his hands apologetically.

 "Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to startle you. I know you must be pretty confused."

 My mouth still felt dry, but I managed to speak. "It's alright. I think I know most of what happened. It's just that the details are a bit fuzzy. I don't really understand how I got here or who you are. Although I guess you could say the same thing."

 The man chuckled and said, "You're probably right. I would also have a lot of questions. Do you mind if I sit next to you? I'd like to talk a little more. Maybe we can figure out how you ended up at my doorstep."

 I nodded, and he sat down on the bed. I moved to sit on the edge of the bed so that we were side by side. We looked at each other, and I could tell that we were both searching for answers in each other's faces.

 Finally, he took a breath to speak. "I guess I'll start first. My name is Nathaniel, but you can call me Nathan. Most of my friends do."

 "Nathan," I repeated. Then I smiled slightly. "Right. It's nice to meet you, then."

 He returned my smile, nodding. "So," he continued, "I guess since you don't really remember much about your side of the story, I'll tell you mine. I was hanging out with my friend, Carl, when we heard the doorbell ring. We weren't expecting any company, so we were pretty cautious before opening the door."

 I nodded. "I had honestly started to give up. Then I heard voices, and I hoped that someone had come."

 "Yeah, I'm really sorry it took so long," he explained. "It's just that, well, I've been in some pretty dangerous situations before. I honestly don't know how I made it out of some of them alive. So I wanted to make sure I was prepared before I did anything, just to be safe."

 I was taken aback by this comment. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of situations Nathan could possibly have gone through to make him want to prepare himself before opening his front door. Then again, I thought, from his perspective I must have just mysteriously appeared at his door.

 Suddenly, I realized just how grateful I was to Nathan. I probably would have died if he hadn't found me. Yet, despite his past experiences, he still decided to take me in.