Ella’s eyes fluttered open, her vision blurry at first. Everything around her was cast in varying shades of gray. The room felt cold and sterile, filled with the faint hum of machinery. As her vision cleared, she began to take in the details.
The table she was on was equipped with sensors and connectors that had been attached to her body. Now, wires dangled loosely from the edges, sparking faintly where they had been disconnected.
Looking down at the floor, she saw the first familiar thing in the room: the squirrel from the park, frantically trying to free itself from a bundle of wires. Determined to comfort the creature, she attempted to pull herself off the table. Her legs felt slow to react, burdened by an odd, heavy feeling, as if weighted down by anchors.
"What did they do to me?” she said, panic creeping in.
Each movement was a struggle, her muscles sluggish and unresponsive, yet she persisted, driven by the need to reach her tiny companion.
Ella focused intently on one leg, willing it to move.
'Come on, Ella, you can do this,' she thought, trying to cheer herself on.
She forced herself to remember the calming exercises she learned in therapy, pushing past the fog of fear. She concentrated on the sensation, feeling the slow response of her muscles. After several painstaking minutes, she managed to swing it to the edge of the table.
She shifted her focus to the other leg, repeating the process with deliberate effort. Within minutes, she found herself fully upright, her legs dangling off the edge of the table.
The cool air against her exposed skin and the slight tremble in her limbs reminded her of her fragility, but she felt a small surge of triumph at her progress.
'What is this place?' She thought.
A sense of relief washed over her when Rupert jumped up beside her, burrowing his nose deep into her jacket pocket. She tried to stay strong for the little creature, even as her emotions bubbled up inside her.
“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, little friend,” she whispered, her voice trembling as she stroked the outside of her jacket pocket.
“Rupert, did you somehow wake me up?” Ella said, as she tried to makes sense of what happened in the room while she was unconscious.
The familiar presence of the squirrel gave her a semblance of comfort in the unfamiliar room, and she drew strength from the tiny creature’s resilience.
Slowly, she got off the table, careful not to push herself too quickly. Her legs felt like Jello, wobbling with each movement as if her bones were made of rubber bands. Each step became less of a challenge as her strength returned.
Taking a deep breath, she examined what appeared to be a door more closely. It was sleek and seamless, with no visible handle or keypad. Ella’s heart pounded as she considered her next move. She needed to find out where she was and how to get out. Gathering her courage, she gently placed her hand on the door, hoping it would open.
Nothing happened. She pushed harder, but still, the door didn’t budge.
"Of course it's not that simple." She said pounding on the door.
Panic began to set in, her breath quickening. She desperately wished she could find her backpack and pills. Her eyes scanned the room frantically, looking for anything to help her out of this situation.
'What's that,' she thought, noticing something unique to the otherwise uniform room.
On the floor was a small amount of some greenish liquid that resembled droplets of blood. Next to that a small card lie on the floor.
"Hopefully this does something," she said, collecting the card and holding it up to the door.
With a small hissing sound, the door slid open, revealing the corridor beyond. The sound of the door unlocking sent a wave of relief through her, but it also made her acutely aware of the unknown awaiting her on the other side.
Ella scampered out into the hallway, Rupert clinging to her jacket. She hurried down the corridor, passing room after room filled with other humans lying on tables, wires strapped around them. Above the bodies were holographic monitors displaying miniature versions of the humans, immersed in magical worlds that looked like scenes straight out of a movie theater.
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"What the hell is happening? Maybe I'm still asleep," she tried to convince herself.
One screen caught her eye, causing her to halt in place. It showed a man cornered against the wall of a building, confronted by a large, green, hairy centipede.
The creature bore a striking resemblance to the one she remembered from the logo of an arcade game her dad used to have in his basement collection.
This centipede, however, was far more menacing, with sharp fangs and spikes protruding from its segmented body.
The man shot wildly, his movements erratic and panicked. Bullets missed their mark as the beast maneuvered in an S-pattern, steadily closing the distance.
Ella stood transfixed as the man’s gun clicked empty. In a desperate, futile gesture, he dropped the weapon, raising his hands in surrender and kneeling to the ground.
The centipede closed in swiftly, its movement fluid and predatory. It bit down on him, tearing his body in half with a sickening crunch.
She watched in horror as the man’s upper body collapsed, his legs crumpling lifelessly to the floor.
The screen went blank, followed by a series of beeps. The man reappeared inside a booth, seemingly unaware of the previous events.
'It's a movie Ella, just cgi. You need to keep moving.' She tried to convince herself.
She took a deep breath, holding back tears as she continued down the corridor, determined to find a way out of this nightmare.
The corridor lay shrouded in dim light, with overhead bulbs flickering sporadically, casting eerie, shifting shadows. Each step she took sent soft echoes along the cold, metallic floor.
"Ouch that hurts" she yelped as she looked down to her jacket pocket. She could feel Rupert’s tiny claws gripping her jacket, his small claws tearing into her side. She tried her best to ignore the pain as she continued to run.
At the end of the hallway, she rounded a corner, desperate for a way out of the building. Voices echoed from further down the hall. Quickly, she ducked out of sight into a nearby room she guessed to be a storage area.
Risking discovery, she peered around the door attempting to get a view of her captors. Two grey looking beings passed, appearing to communicate in some language completely foreign to her. They resembled the little grey aliens commonly depicted in older sci-fi shows with human like bodies, large soccer ball shaped heads, and two beady black eyes. As they walked past, the foul smell of spent fish followed closely behind.
'These were the things that broke into my house, they took my dog!' she thought, anger filling up inside of her. She wanted to reach out and punch them for what they did.
'Ella, no, they'll find you and lock you back up. It's not worth it,' she thought, finally deciding to hide back behind the safety of a large crate in the room.
The soft rustle of their footsteps slowly faded as they moved down the hall, leaving her in tense silence once more.
Right as she started to feel safe, a sudden noise made Ella jump, she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp.
Her heart pounded as she listened to the chaos outside. The sirens continued to wail, creating a sense of urgency and panic.
'I can't stay here for long, they'll find me here.' she thought.
She summoned her courage, she peeked out from behind the crates and saw the corridor was empty.
Ella slipped out of the storage room and continued down the hallway, her senses on high alert. The corridor seemed longer and more menacing now.
She moved quickly, scanning for any signs of an exit. As she rounded another corner, she spotted what appeared to be a potential way out at the far end of the hallway.
'That's it, that looks like some sort of stairwell.' she thought, racing towards it. Her heart leaped with hope, and she quickened her pace, determined to reach it before anyone could stop her.
Just before reaching the door, Ella collided with a tall, dark figure who stepped out from around the corner. Her eyes widened in terror as she took in the sight before her. The figure loomed above her, cloaked in shadows, and her heart raced as she struggled to hold back a scream.
This thing looked nothing like the little grey men she saw from before. The creature stood towering over her with reptilian-like skin and sharp fangs. It opened its mouth, exposing razor sharp teeth.
Its eyes met hers, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still. Her mind raced, trying to process the situation and find a way to escape. The air felt thick with tension, and the faint glow from the sirens cast unsettling shadows on the figure’s face, highlighting sharp, scaly features.
Ella was sure she was still dreaming; what stood over her was not possible. It was inhuman.
She gripped the little squirrel tightly, more sure than anything that they both were not going to survive the next few minutes.
The creature's eyes bore into hers, an unnerving mix of curiosity and menace. Her heart pounded in her chest, each beat echoing like a drum in the silence that followed the sirens' wail.
Rupert squirmed slightly in her grasp, but she held him firmly, drawing what little comfort she could from his warm, familiar presence.
Her legs felt like lead, her body frozen with fear, but her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. Every instinct screamed at her to run, but there was nowhere to go. She swallowed hard, trying to muster the courage to do something—anything—that might save them.
As the creature leaned closer, its breath hot and foul, Ella’s resolve hardened. She knew they were trapped, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. Her eyes darted around the room, desperately searching for anything she could use as a weapon or distraction. In the corner, she spotted a small vent, a potential escape route for Rupert.
With a burst of adrenaline, Ella sprang towards the vent, her heart pounding. If she couldn’t save herself, perhaps she could at least give Rupert a chance to escape. Just as she reached the vent, the beast moved, blocking her path and cutting off Rupert’s potential freedom. Panic surged through her, but she forced herself to remain calm. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and tried to determine her next move.