The Child That Never Was (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

            I walked through the portal and looked around for Bethany.  All that was a head of me was white space everywhere.  I stomped my feet on the ground a few times, making sure that there was a floor beneath me and that I wasn’t just floating in some empty, white space.  There was nothing ahead of me; just more white.  “Bethany!” I called out, but no response came back.

“Come on, Kaylie,” that same voice laughed.  “Bethany is just over there.” 

“Over where?  It looks all the same!” I sighed.  “Can someone please just tell me what’s going on?”

“Aw, honey, don’t lose your patience.  Lose your patience and you mind as well lose your head,” the voice taunted me.  I shook my head; there was no way that this could be happening.  If I hadn’t lost my head yet, then I was certainly about to be.  Right now, I was walking through a past memory of someone else’s mind, which seemed quite impossible.  If this wasn’t losing your mind, then what was?

I shook my head.  “Where do I go?”                                            

“Walk straight and just keep walking.  I’ll let you know when you can stop,” the voice replied in a soothing voice.  Although this voice belonged to a mysterious person, it still had such a comforting undertone, giving me that feeling of trust, which was probably rather dangerous.  Would you want to walk around with some mysterious voice trailing you, watching every single one of your moves?  Shaking this head from my mind, I walked straight, continuously.  There was nothing around but blank space; nothing to look at, nothing to benchmark where I currently was or how far I had walked.

My mind began to spin, wondering if this was a trap, and if I would ever get out.  Then again, Bethany had escaped, hadn’t she?  Besides, I couldn’t possibly become trapped in someone else’s memory, right?  How was that even possible?

“How is it possible that you even be inside someone’s memory in the first place, Kaylie?”

I froze in my tracks, wondering how in the world the voice could have heard me.  To my knowledge, I had been speaking through my thoughts, not my words.  A rush of confusion struck me, as I looked up and scanned the room.  To my dismay, there was only blank space.  That voice had to have some sort of name and form.  “Did I just speak out loud?”

“You’re inside of a memory, Kaylie.  I can show you this because it was in Bethany’s mind, and I can see into her mind, just as I can see into yours.”

“Any time?”

“Well, I can access Bethany’s at any time of any day.  However, with you on the other hand, I can only access it when you’re inside of a memory.  Or I can only access the memories that you are currently thinking at that moment, when you're thinking of them.  That's when you're outside of a memory."  The voice said so in such a taunting voice that I began to shake, for fear of what might happen.  I wasn't comforted by the thought that someone, or something for that matter, could access my thoughts and memories.  The thought that someone could see through me and witness all of the fears and feelings that I was currently experiencing.

"Don't worry.  I won't tell anyone your thoughts," the voice laughed.  "Unless you give me reason to."

I shook my head.  "Who are you and why won't you just leave me alone?"

"Why don't you try to figure that out?" the voice smiled back.  "I'm offering you up a challenge, Kaylie, and we all know how much you love challenges.  I want you and Bethany to figure out who I am what I want with you, and then try to adjust back to your normal life."