See Me

#7 The White Room

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     When I wake up, the floor is hard and cold beneath me. My limbs feel heavy like I've been asleep for a long time. I slowly push myself up on shaky arms. All the walls are a startling white. A large mirror covers one side. A scuffling sound make me whip my head around. Ender is there, huddled up in the corner with Piglox in his arms. He glances at me before looking away gain.
     "They're watching me", Ender says, staring at the mirror with wide eyes.

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     I slowly wake up to a hard, cold floor. My eyes are stinging, throat like sandpaper. It takes a conscious effort to start moving my arms with how heavy everything feels. When I finally manage to sit up, I'm met with a glass wall. I stare at the damn thing for at least full minute before I remember what happened.

     Yelling out, I lunge to my feet. This can't be happening! No, I won't believe! We were finally safe. Someone catches me by the arm when I almost fall with my jelly-like legs. I freak out and try to push them away.

     "Ty! It's just me, it's just Ender", he growls at me, pulling me back up.

     "We can't be here, not again", I mumble. My vision flickers for a moment from the shock. Enderlox doesn't answer me. Looking around, I can see everyone else caged in the same room with us. This damn room that we've spent half our lives in. My body is shaking, and I'm not the only one freaking out.

     Sirenlox and Squidlox are in one corner, quite and grim. Insane is nearby without his knife. Brinelox is leaning against one wall with his hood pulled down and shaking fists clenched. Vampire and Demon are on the opposite wall with empty expressions. Dollox is with them, having retreated to his doll form. Piglox is leaning against Beat who is in a corner with his back facing us. Ghost is standing with his hands braced on the wall, his figure shaking all over. Hologramlox is standing nearby with a scared expression. Shadox is in the reflective surface of the mirror, sitting with his legs crossed and head in his lap.

     ".......... I can't get through", Ghost says in a monotone voice, still shaking. Two and a half years ago, Ghostlox was created in this place. They killed me. And then brought me back seconds later. We only escaped because they expected a zombie. Ghost got us out. After He and I separated, we were so careful while we started a new life. I changed my name, moved halfway across the country. I worked odd jobs with the help of everyone else until I ended up with a Youtube channel. We met Adam, and we were safe. We were finally happy. But now we're right back in this hellhole. We've all been poked and prodded; picked apart to satisfy someone else's curiosity. I' eye been drowned, killed, burned, cut, anything you could think of, really. I've been left in rooms by myself for months. All of that, and we're back here. How can this be?

     "It's like we never left", Demon mumbles with dull eyes, "Did we ever leave? Was it a dream?".

     "No, the room is smaller now", Siren shakes his head. "Or is it just smaller because we've been away?", Brine shudders. I still don't say anything. It was my job to protect them. I couldn't do it.

     Beatlox suddenly yells out, dropping something onto the ground and crossing his arms. I finally stop leaning against against Ender when Beat starts pouting.

     "He blew up my fort! I was gonna win!", he wines, "Are any of you good at War Dragons?". Beatlox turns around to face us, his phone once again in his hands. All of us stare in stunned silence at him. "I mean seriously! I can't go an hour without getting....", Beat starts to say, but trails off when he notices our stares. "....... What did I do?".

     "You're playing video games? Do you realize what's happened!?", Siren snaps, tense from fear and desperation.

     "The fish are singing", Insane mumbles from his corner.

     "You don't even know what this place has done to the rest of us", Hologram says in a dull tone.

     "Stop fighting!", I yell over everyone when they continue to snap at each other. They're all quiet at that. "I know that things don't look good, but arguing won't help. There has to be-", I try to encourage them, but I'm interrupted.

     "Well geez, I was just playing War Dragons until these files finished downloading. This place has crap WiFi", Beatlox shrugs, unfazed by any of the other's yelling. "We've been here for almost a day now".

      "You've hacked into the system? Since when could you do that!?", Ender asks in disbelief.

     "I don't know. Took one look at this place and decided that it sucked. I should be able to shut down the power", Beatlox distractedly explains, taping at his phone screen.

     "We're not trapped?", Ghost hesitantly asks again.

     "Well let's get the hell out of here! Insane's already no help", Demon snarls, more at the situation then at any one person.

     "If I turn the power off now, the door will be locked shut. We need to get it open first, and it'll be stuck that way. Doesn't help that we're being stalked. Those weirdos", Beat shivers, glancing at the one way mirror.

     "And they can see us, I think we should've learned that by now", Vampirelox adds, bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. We may be right back where we started, but time has passed. We're all older and more experienced; we're not as terrified.

      "I have a plan". Insane has been quietly mumbling this entire time, so the strength now in his voice startled me for a moment. He never did well in this place. I only got to know him better after escaping. Said persona pushes himself to his feet and walks over to me. And then he socks me in the face. Over all the years that I've had my other selves, as long as I can remember, we've never hurt each other. That's one line no one's ever crossed. But I understand what Insane's trying to do when his punch is only like a graze on my face. We're all being watched, and they can definitely hear me. Certainly they'll bust in here to stop us from killing each other?

     A look of fake rage covers my face when I spin and punch Enderlox with the same pulled blow. Now that my brain has something to work towards, it's easy to push down my fear and panic from earlier. It isn't long before everything is absolute chaos, or at least it looks that way. We're all screaming at and fighting each other. It's only two seconds later when the door slides open, revealing a group of people in white hazmat suits. With a deep demonic scream, Shadox launches himself from the mirror and nocks down the first one, the rest jumping away from the sudden scream. Good thing that they can hear his jump scares. Insane is a genius for coming up with this! Right on cue, the lights go out in the room. It's almost completely dark, but some of us do have night vision. Enderlox, Vampire, Squidlox, and Siren easily nock out the remaining enemies.

     "Beatlox! With me", I yell out, running for the door. If I can get outside this building, everyone else will be free, too.

     "Run Deadlox!", I hear Demon roar, running behind Beat and I.

     "Two lefts, a right, and straight out the doors!", Beat pants out. His headphones and shoes glow a neon blue hue in the dark. They're just bright enough to keep from smacking into the walls. At the first intersection, a guard comes running out from our left side. I don't have time to stop running before a transparent figure flies out of the wall. Ghostlox slams into the guard, taking them both to the ground. Beatlox squeaks and stumbles when he has to swerve to avoid them. A look glee and excitement fills his face. Even now, he still has his childish nature.

     We go down the left hallway, and the next left without any issues. Our next turn is a right, but three guards come running out of the left hallway. I'm shocked when Beatlox swerves away from my side. He kicks off the wall and uses the momentum to punch one of the guards in the face. They're distracted by him, and I keep running without being told. I couldn't help but notice the metal eye pieces that they wear on the right side of their face. That must be what they're using to see everyone. If I can get away, then everyone will be safe, including Beat.

     The right turn brings me to a large door. The Exit! But before I can even try to push it open, I'm thrown back. The entire wall explodes in a plume of fire. I land halfway down the hall and roll to a stop, coughing and trying to breath. When I finally look up, two figures stand in the gaping hole.