The Hidden World

The Names and The Voice

Casey's POV:

       The rain pelted against the tin roof above me, but unfortunately, some water seeped through the cracks in the old ceiling. Several broken windows allow some water and wind through the walls of the dilapidated room. After observing my surroundings, I finally come to my senses. Where am I?  I stand up from the wood flooring and shake my head as I attempt to recall some memories that should be there in my mind. Wait a minute...How in the world did I get here? The only recollection of being here is of spontaneously waking up in this creepy place. Only two memories stay with me: the name Josh Pearson, although who this person is, I don't know, and also the memory of my grandma, Anna Strawford, though I am not sure what she looks like and why I can't remember any parents.

     My hands clutch my necklace. Strangely, the emerald pendant felt powerful in my hands. I don't know why, but I feel like I should be prepared for a battle. I observe my surroundings more closely. This place only contains broken glass and two doors, one behind me and one in front of me. I peek outside and notice black clouds mask the sky. 

  "So..." I heard a cracking voice whisper, "You awake."  I whip my body around, terrified of what I might see. Nothing overly unusual seems to be in this room, though. "Ha, silly Casey," The voice screeches. "I'm invisible-"

 "What do you want from me?" I clench my teeth, frustrated. 

  "Oh Casey, if only you knew, but that's right, your memory is gone." 

  Heat surges through my body and my mind feels like it is about to explode with anger. 

  "You took my memory." My jaw clenches tightly together. 

   "Yes, yes, but no need to worry. My dear Casey, it had to be done. You knew too much," Suddenly, a sickly thin man in a black suit appears in front of me. His black eyes seem to be staring deep into my soul. "Now, you can't call for help from your ugly-" He paused lifting his hand to his chin as if he was contemplating. "Your...agh, what is that word?" He throws his hands down. "Ah! Yes," He grins knowingly. "Your friends." 

    My hands curl into a fist and before I can even think about it, I throw my fist straight at the stomach of this odd evil man. My fist flies right through the body of this man. Strangely, it felt as if he was made of smoke or mist, for mist swirls around the location I punched him.

  Lightening lights the room for an instant. It was just enough light to reveal a short plump figure in the corner of the room. I drive my attention toward my enemy. Bewildered from the smoke, I punch the man again, except I aim for his sickly head this time. His ugly face smiles at me as my hand soars straight through his forehead and once again black smoke swirls around the location I punched him. 

   "Oh Casey, don't you remember?" His gruesome grin taunts me. "You've tried to defeat me before, but you of all people should know that I cannot be defeated." He begins to walk toward a desk in the middle of the room. That desk was not there before. Who is this man? He's giving me the creeps. 

   "Amuse me Casey, you little powerless girl." For only an instant, his foggy figure appears behind me and twirls my long wild hair, then appears once again next to the desk. My mind is going crazy, this is impossible, yet somehow I feel as if I have met him before. "Here," He points across the desk, "have a seat." Smoke billows in front of the desk and a metal chair spontaneously appears. 

    I suspiciously walk toward the chair. My mind races with horrific thoughts, but I should just play along for now until I can figure out how to escape.

  "Amuse me, little girl." He wickedly states again. I plop into the chair and to my relief, there are no ties or cuffs or any sort of trick... yet. 

"Now, Casey, tell me who you are." He watches me as I ponder the question. 

  "You seem to know more about me then I do," I glare at his wicked black eyes. He seems to be pretty amused already. Great, just what he wants. "You tell me who I am." I yearn to delay him and figure out a way to escape. The confidence in my voice surprises me.

  "Ah, Casey you see," He waves his hands in the air. "I do know what happened to you. I know who you are. I know all of the things you wish to know. You see, this knowledge is keeping you here. If you knew who you were, you would probably already have easily escaped, and you would tell your friends all of the things you know. But, Casey, you can see that now you don't have that knowledge that you once did anymore. It is extremely fun and entertaining for me to see such a cunning girl like you, struggle. 

   Horror cloaks my face. He's right. I want to know who I am, who the names I can remember are, and who is this that tortures me.

"As I said before," The pale man forces, "tell me who you are." Although he asks this question, i have a feeling he already knows me, even if I don't know who I am. 

"I'm Casey, just like you have been calling me." I gleam with pride, acting as if I have known my name all along. 

"And?" 

I search the room, hoping for any clues on who I am. "And..." Suddenly, a wave of knowledge crashes over me. "I am Casey Strawford and I have fought against you before."

He smiles, obviously and yet strangely pleased with me. "And who am I? Surely you can remember this, since you are so clever." 

"Umm..." I observe the room again and my eyes find the plump figure I saw earlier. An odd-looking man stares wickedly into my eyes. 

"If you are not going to try to figure this stuff out, then what is the fun in all of this?" His voice seems to be becoming angry. "I'll give you one minute to try and if you do not dare to figure this out, then we will just kill you now." 

'We.' He said 'We'... my eyes glance at the other man in the room. I dig deep through my mind, hoping for information, but I find nothing. 

"Well?" His lips tighten together. I better not make him angry, I do not want to see him when he is angry. 

"Who am I, who are you, and where are we?" He smiles malevolently.