Bzzzzt
A sharp electric buzz shattered the darkness, followed by a loud metallic click, piercing through the heavy hum that had consumed my mind. The sound dragged me, unwilling, from the depths of unconsciousness. My thoughts were murky, sluggish, as if they had been rewound and scrambled, replayed through a fog of static.
I couldn't move. Panic surged through me, raw and instant, before I could even grasp what was happening. My limbs strained uselessly against something heavy and unyielding. Fear dug its claws into my chest.
Why can't l move?
Then, like a wave of acid igniting under my skin, heat flooded my body, burning from the inside out. My muscles twitched violently, betraying me as fire coursed through my veins, blistering every inch of me. My skin— boiling, tearing-I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. A scream clawed at my throat, but only broken gasps escaped.
"H-Hel-p..." My voice faltered, a mere whisper drowned by the agony. "P-P-Please..."
Nothing but pain filled the gaps in my mind. My past-gone. My memories-erased.
There was no "before." No answers. Just this moment, raw and horrifying, as if I had been born into it. The suffocating grip of panic tightened around my chest, squeezing my heart until it felt as though it would burst itself apart.
I could smell it-the stench of burning flesh-my flesh. It filled my lungs, nauseating and thick, like death too close to an open flame. The acrid, metallic tang of blood coated my tongue, bitter and hot.
"Please!" The plea scraped out of me, my voice hoarse, trembling. My wrists throbbed as the restraints bit deeper into my skin, bones creaking beneath the strain.
Then, suddenly, it stopped.
The heat vanished, replaced by a dull, lingering ache that pulsed through my body. I collapsed against the cold steel beneath me, gasping for air, my chest heaving as I fought to stay conscious.
“Huff… huff… huff!”
For a few moments, I just lay there, trembling, eyes squeezed shut. The agony faded, but my mind still raced, desperate to piece together any fragments of identity, of memory. Who am I? The thought drifted through me, empty and void of meaning. I reached for something-anything-but there was nothing. Only a gaping hollow where my life should have been.
A chill crawled up my spine as the terrifying truth settled in. I don’t have a past. No recollection of how I ended up here-strapped to a table, broken and burning. How could I not know who I am?
Thump, Thump, Thump!
My heart slammed against my ribs as fresh panic set in.
There has to be something that can help me remember. I need to see.
Slowly, cautiously, I forced my eyes open. The light above burned, searing through my retinas. I squinted, desperate to focus. The shadows beyond the glow were indistinct-blurred shapes, flickering and twisting as if they existed just outside of reality.
The air was sterile, thick with the chemical scent of antiseptic, mingled with the bitter stench of charred flesh.
Through the blinding light—as my vision cleared, I could barely make out the shapes surrounding me.
Machines. Wires. Metal trays. The cold sterility of the room was all wrong, alien, like a lab or an operating room. A chill ran down my spine.
Where am I?
I tried to call out again, but my throat locked up, the effort only producing a guttural, ragged breath.
“Argh… ugh!” My voice-too weak, too broken. My body trembled under the restraints, still too fragile to fight.
Someone or something is doing this to me.
That thought cut through the haze like a blade. I wasn't here by accident. Someone— something-was responsible for the pain.
A silhouette moved at the edge of my vision—a figure, tall, standing behind a desk. Beyond them, a whiteboard. Scattered notes and diagrams littered the desk around it, chaotic, unorganized.
Thump, Thump, Thump!
My heartbeat echoed in my ears, each beat louder than the last, time slowing to a crawl.
The room swirled in and out of focus.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I have to calm down. I have to think, this person must be the one behind this.
A man emerged from behind the towers of books. His gaze was piercing, cutting through the haze and igniting a fresh wave of panic through me. My instincts told me he was someone to fear. His presence alone seemed to overwhelm me completely.
Thump, Thump, Thump!
My heart pounded harder, faster, each beat sending shockwaves throughout my body. My nails bit into my palms, tearing the skin. I felt the blood dripping, slow and steady, pooling beneath me.
Plop-! Plop-!
I watched helplessly as the drops fell to the floor, a sickening rhythm that seemed to sync with the pounding in my chest. My focus never moved from the man.
Then, a sound—a click. I heard the man's voice for the first time. It was low and clinical, devoid of empathy.
"The subject's heart rate is spiking... no visible damage where the shocks were applied. No changes to physique either." His words were laced with disappointment.
Subject?
My mind raced. The steel beneath me. The restraints. The shocks. It all began to click. I was a prisoner, a lab rat. His experiment.
I have to get out of here.
Desperation surged through me as I struggled to form words, my voice still weak, broken. "Please... why am I here?"
"Don't play games,” The man glanced at me from where he stood. Irritation flashing briefly across his face until his lips curled into a sneer. “We’re moving on to the next test."
More tests? I shuddered at the thought. I needed answers. I needed to escape.
"Why am I here? Please!" I yelled, my voice cracking.
His response was cold and didn’t make much sense to me. "For the future of humanity," he said, stepping back into the shadows with a satisfied smile.
How is this for humanity?
Then, without warning, another jolt of electricity shot through me, sending fire racing through my veins once more. My body arched, rigid with pain.
My screams died in my throat as the darkness closed in around me.
———///////———
I awoke to a blinding light above me, searing through my skull like a drill. Every movement felt like a war against my own body. My bones cracked and echoed in the small space.
This is fucked up.
With a surge of desperation, I lifted my head as my muscles screamed in protest. Cold steel continued to bite into my wrists and ankles-still chained, still trapped in this room of cold metal and cruelty. Bound and defenseless against my captor.
"My head... it's splitting... no, my whole body... it's burning!" I groaned, the pain coursing through me like electric fire.
A shadow moved, stepping into the light. It was him again-the man from before. His face swam into focus: square glasses, patchy beard, deep bags under his eyes. The harsh overhead light made it impossible to tell his hair or eye color, leaving him more a silhouette than a person. He wore a long white coat that gave him a hollow authority.
But it wasn't him that terrified me—it was the reflection in his glasses that spoke a horrible truth. A skeleton wrapped in thin, bruised skin strapped to the table. A grotesque shadow of a person. My body-malnourished, broken, diseased.
Thump, Thump, Thump!
"What are you doing to me!? This-this can't be for any just cause! How am I even alive?" My voice cracked, raw with confusion and pain.
Nothing made sense. The sterile glare of the overhead light felt too sharp, too cold, as if reality had been twisted just beyond recognition. My breaths came shallow and ragged, my skin prickling like a thousand unseen needles.
Perhaps... this was hell. Divine punishment. Some god's wrath. It had to be.
"Hahaha..." Cynical laughter bubbled up from deep inside me, like a madman surrendering to fate. Did I deserve this?
"Hahaha.." The sound echoed in the sterile room.
“Am I going to die?”
The man's lips curled into a tight, wry smile.
He didn't answer my question; his cold eyes studied me like an insect pinned to a board. "Congratulations, Edwin. Today's results show an increase in your resistance to electrical stimulation. A noteworthy improvement, though not the outcome l had hoped for."
He pulled a towel from his pocket and draped it over my face. The cool fabric offered a brief, false comfort before the suffocating dread set in. I couldn't see him anymore. Panic surged, stronger than before. The heavy thuds of his footsteps reverberated throughout the room, each one made me flinch involuntarily.
I will escape from here no matter what!
The white towel obscured my vision, but my body tensed, primed for whatever was coming. Driven by muscle memory. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, digging my nails even further into my palms. There was a moment of still silence as the footsteps came to an end.
Click!
"Next week, i'll increase the voltage again.
For now, it's time to move on to the next phase," he said calmly. I heard him collapse into his chair with a heavy thud, his voice detached from any human warmth.
And then it hit me, clearer than anything before.
My name is Edwin.
Fwoosh-!
As if summoned by that realization, freezing water poured down from above, drenching me in icy needles. I gasped, only to choke on the flood, water filling my lungs, burning my chest. My heart raced—no, it was on fire. My mind spiraled as every breath became a battle.
Why am I here? Why am I being tortured like this? Why can’t I remember!?
The deluge continued, an unrelenting stream for what felt like an eternity. My mind grew dim, consciousness slipping away. But then, a sudden burst of heat surged through my chest, shooting down my left arm like liquid fire.
"Ahhhhh!" The scream ripped from my throat, primal, uncontrollable.
The man behind the desk shot to his feet. “It’s finally happening again!”
With an almost feral eagerness, he vaulted over the desk, a syringe in hand. His movements were swift and precise. He jabbed the needle into my left arm, extracting blood with the efficiency of a pro. He has undoubtedly done this many times before. Just as he withdrew the needle, it snapped. The broken piece rocketed upward, embedding itself into the steel ceiling above.
"Fascinating," he muttered, wiping his brow.
"It's time to conclude today's experiment. Hopefully this time, it will work!
He returned to his desk, typing a command into the console. 'Stop” The water ceased immediately, the icy torrent coming to an abrupt end.
“Cough-! Cough-! Cough!”
I coughed violently, my lungs desperate for air yet had no space for it. I turned my head in time for a torrent of water and blood to spew from my mouth.
"Alright, Edwin," he said, his voice flat. "Now that we've gathered today's data, you'll go back to your cell."
“Who are you?” My voice was barely a whisper, hoarse from the torture.
“Who are —“
He didn't answer. Instead, he drew another syringe from his coat and plunged it into my neck. Whatever was in it worked fast, pulling me into darkness before I could ask again.