The She-Bean

The Box

You woke up and gasped for air. Choking and spluttering as you sucked in huge breaths. Quickly gaining control, you forced yourself to inhale and exhale deeply until, eventuality, your breathing evened out and fell into a slow, rhythmic pace.

Once you had your breathing under control, and your heart rate had slowed down, you slowly peeled open your eyes, and then blinked a few times just to be sure they were really were open. It was so dark in this... room? The only proof you had that you had opened your eyes at all was the sensation of blinking.

You slid along the smooth floor until your back hit against a cold metal wall. You followed it to a corner and curled your legs into your chest. Where on earth were you? You didn't know, you couldn't remember. You rested your head on your knees and took another long deep breath, trying to keep your self from hyperventilating because, when you took a moment to think about it you realized you couldn't remember anything.

Except...

One word kept coming up in your head. Quiet but persistent, Y/N. My name is Y/N. That one thing you knew with absolute certainty and you grabbed hold of it, like it alone could pull you out of this overwhelming darkness.

Your eyes wandered the seemingly never-ending blackness, searching for any light you could use to get your bearings. As if in answer to your thoughts a small red light flickered on above you.

In the dim light that the small red dot offered, you could see your surroundings. You were in a small square room (well more like a box) made entirely of metal. And all around you were wooden crates filled with who knew what.

You could feel your heart rate speeding up again, but before you could panic you began talking quietly to your self.

"ok" you whispered "What do I know? My name is Y/N. I'm... in a box... filled with a bunch of other boxes. I don't know how I got here, and I can't remember anything. No big deal."

You forced a small laugh hoping it would help to calm your nerves.

It didn't.

You pushed your self up onto shaky legs and began walking slowly around, more to feel yourself moving than anything. You inspected the walls of the cage, looking for an exit. You had to have gotten in here somehow, that means there's a way out. There were no semes or openings on the floor or any walls but when you looked up you saw a line. A crack in the top of the box letting a small stream of dim light into the space.

A door?
A way out!

You climbed on top of a large wooden crate and stood. Pressing both hands to the ceiling you pushed. You pushed until your arms shook but it didn't budge.

"It was worth a shot." You whispered and sighed sitting on the crate, with your legs dangling over the edge.

You ran your hands through your hair and blinked back tears, crying was not going to help. You tipped your head back and looked up at the red dot.

As you stared at it the light suddenly turned green and the harsh sound of metal and chains filled the small space. You clamped your hands over your ears, trying to block out the noise.

That was a mistake.

The box jerked upward. With your hands over your ears, you couldn't keep your balance in the unexpected movement and you fell, tumbling off the crate and onto the cold, hard ground.

You weren't the only thing that got knocked loose. A small box flew off the top of a stack and landed on your arm. It was light and wouldn't have hurt if it weren't for the sharp corner slicing from your left elbow down to the wrist.

You cried out in pain and sat up, lifting the box off your arm with your good hand.

It was bleeding, a lot.

Quickly you took off the sweatshirt you were wearing and wrapped it around your cut, the thick grey fabric swiftly turning red. You applied pressure and tried not to look at the blood.

Your eyes burned and you could feel a large lump forming in your throat that meant you could cry if you wanted to. You shook your head and swallowed hard, not allowing yourself to break down.

"Crying is not going to help," you told yourself more forcefully this time. "I'm stronger than this, I know I'm stronger than this." You sniffed once and finished "I have to be stronger than this."

You set your jaw and blinked back any remaining trace of tears.

Your eyes darted around the now moving box and your mind spun with unanswered questions.

"One problem at a time." You whispered, directing your attention to your still bleeding arm. You heaved a sigh and stood, leaning on the metal wall for support.

Slowly you stumbled forward, searching for anything you could use to better stop the bleeding. Every step made your head spin but you slowly made your way to the nearest crate.

Using your good hand you lifted the lid and peered inside. It was full of clothing, all boys clothing by the looks of it. Perfect! You grabed a white t-shirt and sat down with it ripping off strips.

You slid into the corner and began tieing the fabric around your arm. It was dificult one handed and wasn't pretty when you were done but it worked and feeling productive helped to ease the growing pannic.

Once you had finished you hugged your throbbing arm close and curled into the corner, making yourself as small as possable. You sat there for what felt like hours, focusing on your breathing, untill the cage screeched to a stop.

The sound of scraping metal you had grown accustomed to was sudenly gone, replaced instead by the sounds of muffled conversation coming from above you.