flawed

Prolouge

Fabian

All I can see is inky, black darkness.

I turn my head to the right, there's darkness.

I turn my head to the left, even more darkness.

It's cold. I hug my arms to my chest and sigh. My warm breath fogs up in the freezing air and dissipates quickly. 

I stare out in front of me, but there is nothing. No exit or windows or holes in the floor. My footsteps echo across the vast emptiness as I walk, the only sound I can hear besides my own quickening breaths. 

I start to run. This place, wherever this is, is too unsettling. My stomach does cartwheels and my head is spinning as I pick up the pace. Eventually, my legs start to burn and I fall to the floor, dry heaving and much too weak to continue running. 

I look around, and it's as if I haven't moved from the same spot. Everything is still dark, still no end in sight. 

Suddenly, she's there, her green eyes boring a hole into my dark brown ones. She's always there. I thought maybe I could escape her for at least one dream, but I can't.

It all started a few months ago. I'd gone to bed just like every other night, and dreamt. But this dream was different. I was walking in crowd, and everyone, including myself, was wearing black. We were gathered outside of my high school, until everyone started running. Swept up in the stampede, I sprinted, trying to avoid being trampled. Suddenly, I was standing in the gymnasium, alone. 

And she was there, wearing white, a stark contrast to her tan skin and dark brown hair. I walked towards her, and she didn't react. 

"Hello?" I said, waving my hand in front of her face. She didn't even blink; her eyes were glazed over.

Suddenly, a breeze wafted into the empty gymnasium, moving her dark brown hair across her shoulders.

"Files. Teens. Experiments. Death." She said, her voice scratchy and distorted.

"What?"

"Files. Teens. Experiments. Death."

Suddenly, she was standing directly in front of me, her eyes staring into mine. "Files. Teens. Experiments. Death."

And then I woke up.

Now, standing here, the girl in front of me once more, just like every other night, something is different. Her voice is more urgent, and she keeps repeating those 4 words over faster and faster and faster. She gets louder and louder, to the point where she's practically yelling. I quickly cover my ears with my hands to try and block out the sound, but it doesn't work.

Suddenly, she takes a step forward and falls silent. Shaking her head, she suddenly looks human again.

"I'm coming," she says, quietly, a stark contrast to the screaming from before.

And suddenly, I'm awake again.