Erasure

Chapter 1: Omniscient Voice

Her eyes shot open from her deep sleep, only to be met with pitch black darkness. She felt the hard, damp floor beneath her, its rough and bumpy surface so unpleasant that she had no choice but to sit up. She blinked and squinted, but no matter how much she tried to adjust her eyes, she could still only see dark emptiness. Where... am I? She asked herself silently. She moved her hands around herself, attempting to grasp a better idea of where she was. Her hands came into contact with what must have been a brick wall, as evident from the cracks and crevices that slid past her fingers. What am I doing here?

Her mind was a hazy mess. She struggled to grasp any useful prior knowledge in her scrambled brain. She foremost tried to focus on who she was. Okay, calm down... I'm seventeen years old... I live with my adoptive mother and father... I'm in my junior year and I have a part time job at a fast food restaurant... My name is... um... my name... is... She couldn't remember. She focused even harder on her past, trying to remember any memory of someone calling her by her name or even just writing it in the blank at the top of her papers, but nothing came up. Oh yeah, that's right... She thought. I don't have one...

For as long as she could remember, she had never been given a name. She was adopted by a kind woman, despite the disapproval of her husband. He hated the young girl unjustifiably, denying her the joy of being considered part of the family. Her mom wanted to make her feel welcome in the household, even suggesting a few names, but any time her dad saw her showing any signs of affection, he would get angry, sometimes even violent. She and her mother had a strong bond. The young girl trusted her mother with her life and understood the pain she goes through just for her protection. In the presence of her father, her mom was only permitted to call her things like 'daughter' or 'young one,' simple things of that nature, but when they were alone, she would call her more affectionate names like 'honey' and 'princess.' When she was old enough to go to school, her friends usually gave her nicknames to make things easier, but deep down, she disliked being called by a name, which she assumed was an effect of her neglect in the past. She kept her family matters to herself for all that time, not even letting her closest friends in on what she had been going through, so there was really nothing she could do about the nicknames. After so many years of being called by so many different names, she began to lose track of them all. At that point, she would just respond to whatever people wanted to call her.

She was a bit surprised that she didn't remember something as big as that, but at least she could move on to more pressing matters. She had a bad feeling about the place. She couldn't see a thing, and all she could hear was an eerie silence. Somehow, the muted air rang loudly in her head. Her thoughts sounded clear as day and she could make out every single minor movement around her. The sound of her breathing seemed to echo around her. At one point she could have sworn she had heard her own heartbeat. It was unsettling and almost terrifying. She didn't know what to do, or even what she could do. "Oh my God..." she whispered. "if anyone is there... please... at least tell me where I'm at..."

Her words reverberated off the walls and soon disappeared. Immediately after, it went quiet again. She waited a few more seconds and spoke once more. "I'm begging you... please...." After around five seconds, she got something she never thought she would have: an answer. From seemingly nowhere, she heard a voice. "Hm, weeeeell, since you asked so nicely, I guess we should move things along now," She looked around to try to spot the owner of the voice, but was quickly reminded that she couldn't even see an inch in front of her face. She tried to figure out where the voice was coming from. When she heard it, it was crystal clear, as if the person it belonged to was right there in the room with her, but she never heard anybody come in. Could they have been in the room with me this whole time? She asked herself. "W-who's there?" she exclaimed with a crack in her voice.
"Oh, sorry about that. Didn't mean to spook ya. I suppose now's as good a time as any to wake the others up. Come along."
"Huh? Wait, hold on! I don't even know what's happening here! Who are you? Where am I? I want answers!!!"
"Oh, you poor, naive girl... sounding all big and threatening... do you really think you're in a position to be making demands?"