The Compound (Ongoing)

Chapter One

There's someone screaming. I think it's a woman, but it's hard to tell. It just sounds animalistic, like a scream that comes from extreme pain. The screeching is so loud it makes my ears ring.

I cautiously walk down the dark hallway, towards the noise. I don't know what's happening, but I know I can't just leave whoever it is to suffer. I feel like it's my responsibility to save this person.

Walking down a tile floor past several closed metal doors, I inspect each one before moving on. Most of them are locked, but there a few that swing open with a gentle push. Each of these rooms is empty, save for the bare mattress and steel frame that sits directly in the middle of each one.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is a hospital. But I do know, and hospitals aren't like this. Cold. Dark. Terrifying.

And yet I find the courage to continue on, propelled to walk faster when a new set of screams ring out, these ones more wild and deep than before. As if whatever's going on is getting worse. Just the thought of what could be causing those screams sends goosebumps running across my skin.

I know I don't have much more time to save whoever it is. I feel like I know who's responsible for the screams, and my heart pounds in my chest, begging me to be wrong. I struggle to find my way around the enormous corridors and the maze-like halls, hoping to reach them in time.

Finally, after rounding a corner with a plaque that says basement, the screaming seems louder, closer. A small set of stairs leads down, and I hurry to the bottom. Right at the bottom is just a single door. I stop in front of the distressed oak. It immediately stands out, since all of the other doors I've seen have been made of stainless steel. It sends shivers down my spine, just looking at this door that I know will change everything once it's open.

Pulling myself together, I reach for the tarnished gold handle. I hesitate, but quickly open the door when another screech comes from the other side.

Of course, I should've known it was a trap. The door's unlocked. I was meant to see this.

It happens right as I open the door, as if they were waiting for me.

Gasping at the sight before me, I drop, my knees hitting the ground. My throat burns as an animalistic scream of my own tears loose.

I'm too late.

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I jump up, hot tears running down my face. The dream is already fading, and after a minute of choking sobs, I completely forget why I was crying. I know I had a nightmare, but now I've lost it. I have no idea what the dream was about, and now I'm just tired.

Wiping the backs of my hands across my face, I'm surprised by the amount of wetness on my cheeks. I must have been crying for a while. I lay back down with a sigh, mad that I've been woken up by a bad dream and will now probably have issues falling back asleep.

Willing my eyes shut, I roll over onto my side, untangling the blankets from around my legs and wrapping them around my body. I'm a little disgusted by the sweat that soaks them, but this room is too damn cold not to use them. I pull them up to my chin and close my eyes.

But I can't get comfortable. And this itchy blanket doesn't help.

With a groan, I flop onto my back and stare at the ceiling.

And I realize that I have no idea where I am. Maybe I'm staying somewhere that isn't home and I've just forgotten? That can happen when you're tired right? Maybe I'm in a hotel or something?

But looking around at the cold, dark grey cinder blocks, I don't think I'm staying somewhere. At least not by choice. And the metal bars running across the one small window seem to be further proof of that.

Oh my God.

I can't remember where it is I'm supposed to be. I can tell I don't belong here, and logically I know that somewhere I have a home. Because there's no way I belong in this cell.

Is this prison? No way. I don't belong here! I belong at home!

But I have no clue where that could be. Trying to imagine a house, a room, or even a wall, I can't come up with a thing. Not a single memory surfaces, and I know that's a problem. You're supposed to remember your own home, right?

I need to find my parents. My Mom would know what the hell's going on.

...Mom? I don't remember her either. I know what a mom is, and I know I have one, but thinking the word brings up no images. No names. I have a feeling deep in my gut, like something's wrong. But I have no idea what it could be and no memories to tell me what it is. I just have the idea of a mom, and what they do.

Like save you from shitty, scary situations.

Whoever she is, I wish she was here now. I could use a little saving from wherever this is.

Fresh tears begin rolling down my face and my nose gets stuffy again. There's a peice of me missing, and there's nothing worse than having no idea what that peice might be. Just an empty feeling deep in my chest and no idea how to fill it.

Sniffling, I pull myself off of the lumpy, metal-framed bed. I spin in a circle, trying my best to see the room in the dark. The only light source comes from the moon shining through the bars of the window. The dark just adds to the terrifying room, making all of the shadows seem like they're filled with monsters waiting to grab me.

I know it's irrational to worry about monsters in the dark, but at the moment I'm very far from rational.

Trying to calm myself and do something productive, I start scanning the room. I look up and see light bulbs embedded in the ceiling. I inspect every wall, and I feel immense dread when I don't find a light switch. Frantically, I begin running my hands across the cold walls, hoping that I just missed the switch in the dark.

After three laps around the room, I drop to the ground, my back to the wall beneath the window. I bury my head in my knees as sobs begin to wrack my body, making my chest hurt after so many tears in one night.

I have no idea where I am. I don't even know what year it is, or my name. How is that even possible? The only thing I know is that it's night time, based on the half-moon outside. But I'm starting to question that, because at the moment I have no idea what's even real anymore.

This just feels like some horrible nightmare. But the stabbing feeling in my chest tells me it's real.

Wait...

The stabbing is more than just internal emotional pain. Lifting my head and wiping my eyes, I look down at my chest to see a plastic card pinned to my grey scrubs.

Eyes wide and mouth gaping open in shock, I turn the card so the moonlight shines on it.

Ashley R.

I guess that's me. Ashley. Hmm. I'm not sure if I feel like an Ashley. I don't really feel any connection to the name. But when I look at the card again, the rest of the information sends an electric shock of recognition through me. But not the good kind. The kind that tells me I'm in for some deep shit.

Patient #28395 - room 42 - The Compound.

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