The darkness is suffocating, and Aubrey doesn't know where she is.

After giving herself time to adjust to the absence of light, she roams her eyes over her surroundings. Walls run on either side of her, caging her in a dim hallway. She can't see what is waiting for her at the end of the path; it's too dark to observe. A row of doors lines up along the walls, reminding her of a hotel corridor. Aubrey turns around and is welcomed by the same view: a dark hallway with doors.

Extending her hands to touch the surface of the cold wall, Aubrey tries to rack her brain to recall how she ended up here, but her memory is clouded for some reason. Random things pop up in her head but they are all the memories from a long time ago, which makes no sense. She's not even sure if some of them belong to her. Carefully, she reaches out for a metal handle, hoping that whatever she finds behind the door will give her answers.

The door is locked.

Aubrey moves to the next door and again, it's locked. She pivots and walks over to the door on the other side but it also refuses to open. Frustration grows as she trudges ahead and checks every door. Aubrey starts to breathe heavily; panic courses her entire body. She is now standing in front of the fifteenth door, or maybe the twentieth, yet it doesn't budge from her violent jiggle on its handle.

She's a second from screaming for help when she catches a glint of light from the corners of her eyes. Aubrey freezes for a few seconds before she slowly turns her head in the direction of the light, farther down the hall.

The dim light creeps through an open door, swallowing the blackness that once sealed the corridor. It allows Aubrey to take a better look at her surroundings. Rusty walls and decayed wooden doors stand proudly before her eyes. The cracking cemented floor is covered with used plastic cups, torn newspapers, and any kind of trash. Hesitantly, Aubrey walks towards the source of light. A part of her is telling her to stop right now, but her curiosity wins.

Between her frantic breathing, Aubrey hears the sound of someone whimpering in agony. It feels distant and different from the voice she's used to hearing, making her wonder if the voice is not from inside her head. Ignoring the gut feeling that keeps telling her to stop, Aubrey sidles along the corridor, bringing herself closer to the source of light.

Please don't hurt Obby... my baby...

The voice is getting clearer now that Aubrey is only a few doors away from the room. Her heart beats faster when the realization dawns on her. It's not just a voice in her head; it's coming from that very room she's approaching now. Aubrey can tell it belongs to a female. And the woman is now sobbing and wailing over someone named Obby.

Aubrey frowns. The name feels so familiar. And that voice, too...

No, it can't be.

Aubrey finally reaches the door that is left ajar, letting the golden light stream through the open space. Her heart drums furiously against her chest, her hands tremble, and her stomach churns, but she just can't stop now. She doesn't want to stop despite not knowing what to expect. She only wants answers. With a shaky hand, she pushes the door open.

The room is as damaged as the hallway. Under the amber light hanging on the ceiling, the worn-out brown wallpaper is partly ripped off here and there, revealing the moldy concrete wall. Dirt stains forming dripping handprints are smeared on the wall, scattered near the window that is sealed by wooden planks. There is nothing else in the room except for a woman who is curling up in the corner. She sits with her knees pulled up and her head down, her long auburn hair cascading down around her feet. It's hard to tell what the original color of the dress she's wearing now is, but Aubrey suspects it was once white.

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"Hello," Aubrey says. The woman keeps weeping, not noticing her presence. Unsure if she should enter the room without the woman's permission, Aubrey clears her throat. "Hello there! Are you okay?"

The sobbing stops. After a few seconds of deafening silence, the woman lifts her head slowly, hair sprawling over her face. "Obby?"

"I'm not Obby. But are you okay there?"

The woman turns her head in the direction of the door, right where Aubrey is standing but she doesn't seem to notice her. "Obby, is that you? I can hear you... but where are you, baby?"

"Who's Obby?" The name rolls off Aubrey's tongue for the second time, and suddenly it throws her into a memory from a long time ago. Still, everything is too blurry in her head right now.

"Oh, my baby girl... it really is you. You're here." The woman sighs before letting out a panicked shriek. "But... but you shouldn't be here! No, no, no!" She makes a sudden jolt of movement and crawls quickly to the door, making Aubrey instinctively jump backward. The woman halts abruptly before she reaches the door, followed by a loud painful groan escaping her mouth. It's when Aubrey notices that one of her feet is tethered, and the chain is secured by an iron hook on the wall.

The woman pulls her leg, attempting to free her ankle from the iron cuff, but it's useless. The clanking sound of the chains fills the air as she grabs the cuff with both her hands and jiggles it with a loud grunt. Her frantic movement shoves her hair to the side, revealing her pale face and hollowed eyes.

The familiarity of her voice and her figure has been giving Aubrey uneasiness, but once she takes a better look at the woman's face, her breath is sucked out of her lungs.

"Mom..."

Right when she wants to run inside, the door swings forward, slamming shut in her face, parting her from the woman she's been dying to meet once more. The darkness wraps the corridor again. Aubrey stands rigidly against the door, too stupefied to move.

As soon as she regains her senses, she roams her hands to search for the door handle. "Ouch!" She hisses when her forefinger hits something sharp on the wooden surface, but it doesn't stop her. Still, there is no handle to be found. Aubrey takes a stance and pushes the door with her body, yet it doesn't budge. Not giving up, she bangs on the door with all she might.

"Open the door! Mom! Hang in there! I'll find someone to get you out of there!"

"No, Obby, run! Run as far as you can and never come back! Don't listen to him! He is–" before her mother finishes her line, Aubrey hears a loud thud of an object, or rather someone, hitting the wall, followed by a clinking chain and her mother's excruciating scream.

Aubrey continues banging on the door, shoving it, and throwing herself against it just to make it move, yet the wooden barrier stands still as the assault inside the room goes on. The sound of her mother crying in agony takes away Aubrey's ability to feel her legs. She falls to her knees and starts to sob.

"Leave her alone, please!"

The next thing Aubrey hears is a cracking bone and a horrific scream, followed by silence. No more crying, no more panting, no more clinking chains. Just silence.

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Aubrey wakes up in a jolt. Propping herself into a sitting position, she sweeps around her surroundings with her eyes. No dark hallway, no decayed doors, no clinking chains. She is in her bedroom, snugged comfortably under her cover. The sunlight streams through the gap of her window shutters while the birds are chirping happily, welcoming a new day.

Realizing it was just a dream, Aubrey lets out a sigh of relief. It felt so real, so vivid, but she's glad she's back in her room now. Feeling sore all over, Aubrey grunts as she shoves her cover to the side, but the pinching sensation on her finger prompts her to stop moving. When she takes a better look at it, she spots dry blood on her forefinger.

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