The sound of footsteps and voices echoed down the small alley, slowly growing more distant as I opened my eyes. Distant flickers of orange and red poked holes in the blur that was my vision as a shadow disappeared behind them. The smell of burning oil and wet stone filling my nose as I pulled myself to my feet. The world began to spin as my limbs ached with each minor movement. I fell back to my knees, the stone walkway cold against my hands as the world appeared to quake around me. I looked around as the torch light and stars began to leave streaks behind them. A small clatter of metal began to chime above my hip. I turned my vision towards the sound, my green tunic held in place by the small belt around my waist where a small keychain sat. The keys continued to shake violently, my hand moving towards it before grasping them within my palm. My hand began to shake alongside the keys, having rested against my waist. Could it be that I was the one who was unable to stay still? I strained to stand, hoping that whatever was causing this desynchrony between my mind and body would soon be over. Yet, none came. I groaned, the tenderness of my muscles pleading for some respite even though there had been nothing to cause such a need. Still though, something pushed me forward.
I pushed myself towards the streetlight at the end of the alley, each beckoning me forward, offering solace out of the darkness. My body was trembling, each movement sending needs of rest to my body. I wanted to stop, to allow my body the chance to recover from whatever I had been inflicted with but I knew that I couldn’t. If I allowed myself even a single moment, something terrible would happen. I didn’t know what or why but I just knew that I needed to make it out of that alley.
“I… have to… get out…” One hand had made its way to the wall, attempting to add some balance to the unstable world around me. My vision was beginning to blur, whatever strength that was pushing me out of this dim alleyway was beginning to fade rapidly. My other hand made its way to my side, doing what it could to hold me upright even though it was a losing battle. As it made contact with the fabric though, the normal softness was replaced by an unknown rigidity. My hand reflexively pulled away, my eyes focusing what little they could on the crimson that now flowed across my fingers.
“Ah… that… makes… sense.” Every neuron in my brain fired at once, the immediate panic sending my brain into a frenzy and wasting every ounce of strength I had left. My body went stiff, the sound of something hitting the ground and a loud shriek were joined with the smell of burning oil as everything fell into darkness.
I awoke to a dimly lit room, the smell of cleanliness and sadness filling my nostrils as my eyes blinked blearily. I groaned, the blobs of red and orange strung across the wall indicated I was in some form of shelter which was much better than the dreary alley I had awoken in before. My eyes began to clear, a cupboard across from me coming into view as multiple bottles of multicolored liquids adorned the shelves. Unsure of what they were, I shrugged it off and attempted to sit up but my hand refused to move. I looked down at my waist, a rather large bandage taking the place of the green tunic I had worn before but my hands, while still the same as before, were held in place by a hefty metallic cuff. I attempted to pull them free, the chains rattling together as I strained my arms against them.
“Fuck, this can’t be good.” I muttered to myself, whatever fight I had in me was barely keeping me conscious. The small room around me finally came into full view, small beds lining up the walls and making what appeared to be a small infirmary.
“How did I get here? What happened to me?” I attempted to sift through my memories but nothing came to me. Glimpses of the alleyway gave me nothing to go off of aside from a point in time. This may have been helpful but that would require me to know when it took place and at what point in time I was in now. Neither of which were something I could place. A deep sigh left my lips, my body still aching from whatever had happened to me. Examining the bandage around my waist, I could see where blood had pooled beneath it and left a massive stain through the bandage. Whatever had happened to me must have been severe enough for me to be in such a state as I was. My mind began to race, trying to find any clue towards what had happened to me. The only thing that came to mind were brief flashes of bright green and then more darkness, more emptiness that consumed whatever and whoever I was. Now that I thought about it, who was I? I couldn’t even remember my own name let alone what led me to be here. Was it connected to what happened and did it lead to me being chained to this small bed inside the infirmary of some unknown place? The more my mind attempted to answer these questions, the more I felt myself falling back into the embrace of sleep. My mind had its own battle to fight but my body, it needed rest more than anything. I allowed my body to drift back into nothing, my mind calming down enough to let my body have the rest it craved but in the last few moments, the small door to the infirmary inched open, the sound of metal hinges giving way alerting me to the presence of another. My eyes opened just long enough to see the same shade of green as the tunic I had worn in the alley before my mind was engulfed in darkness.
The next time I awoke, my bandages had been replaced with new ones. The blood dried bandage from before had been gingerly tossed into a small bin beside the door. As I examined the room for anything else that may have changed, I noticed that the small cupboard that contained the glowing vials had been left slightly open. A spot lay visibly empty on the shelf between two other vials that glew with shifting shades of green. The other beds still lay empty, prompting that this was a personal infirmary of some kind or at least that it was private and unopened to the public. I didn’t know if I should be thankful or worried if that was the case, just something else to add on to the already building clusterfuck that was my mental state. I sighed, attempting to scratch my nose but the cuffs around my wrists were still there. I attempted to adjust myself, leaning as far over as I could to reach where my fingers could reach. The pain in my side flared up but the itch had grown to be more irritating the longer I attempted to reach it. Finally, my fingers made contact, the short cuffs giving just enough length that with me fully leaned forward, the tip of my index finger could scratch the bridge of my nose. I let out a moan of relief, my eyes fixating on the cupboard once more. Small labels that I hadn’t seen before wrapped around the bottles. My curiosity was piqued as I attempted to slide to the side of the bed. Each movement garnered more resistance from my side but I pushed forward, hoping that maybe one of the bottles would have some information I could go off of.
I stood up, the cuffs keeping me kneeled over beside the bed due to the shortness of the chain. The issue now was that the cupboard was on the other side of the room, a mere ten feet away but with these cuffs around my wrists, I wasn’t making it much further. I looked down at the cuffs, examining the size of the restraint and how tight it was around my wrist. My first instinct was to pull against it or try to squeeze my hands through but all that became of that was a sore spot along the base of my wrists and a clear circle indent around it. As I did so though, the bed shifted ever so slightly. I leaned down, my body groaning as I forced it to do more in these past few minutes then it had in however long it had been. I urged myself to push through it though, looking down towards the floor and noticing that surprisingly, the bed was not bolted down. A smirk crossed my face and a slight chuckle escaped my lips.
“Let’s see” I grabbed the sides of the bed with both my hands and lifted the small bed with only a slight bit of difficulty from my side. “Shouldn’t be too difficult” Standing at the end of the bed, I leaned across it, the cuffs barely allowing me enough space to grab the bed and hold it against me. I winced as the small frame scraped against the stone floor but I knew that it was too late to stop now. I continued to move it, adjusting each time the legs got stuck in the crevices between the stones. The cupboard was now in reach but the sound of footsteps approaching dimmed the excitement that had begun to grow inside me. I quickly started pushing the bed back, my anxiety sending spikes of adrenaline through my body. I pushed harder, the pain in my side a distant thought in comparison to being found in my current position. One of the stones caught the foot of the bed, my fear sending me into a panic as I pushed harder. The bed began to fall, the leg having gotten lodged in a deeper crevice than the others. The footsteps were even closer now, the adrenaline causing me to push the bed with all my strength before the leg cracked, snapping in half.
“Fuck” I yelled as the end of the bed dropped to the ground. The cuff falling down the side with it and pulling me alongside. My face met the cold stone, the adrenaline that had been coursing through me now fading as the footsteps stopped outside the door. This was it, whoever these people were, whatever they were keeping me here for, they were going to find me like this and know I was attempting something. I wasn’t trying to escape, just wanted to know more but they wouldn’t see it as that. I was screwed, if they had me cuffed to the bed, it had to be for some reason. You don’t keep someone locked up for no reason. My fear caused the world to go silent except for the sound of my heartbeat, the rapid thumps echoing throughout my body. I attempted to get up, my arms struggling to hold my weight as I pushed myself off the ground. My arm though was met with no resistance, the metallic clang of the chain bringing me out of my panic as I saw that the other cuff had come free when the leg broke. I smirked, maybe all hope wasn’t lost but I knew that I needed to do something quick or at least keep this fact hidden.
The door burst open, a red haired woman wearing a dark green tunic stepping through as she looked around the room, a look of disdain or disgust plastered across her face. Then, when her eyes landed on me, her whole demeanor changed. The expression quickly replaced with one of worry.
“Are you alright? What happened? I keep telling them we need to replace these old beds but no one wants to listen to me.” She spoke in such a nonchalant and charismatic way that my fear almost immediately evaporated. As she knelt beside me, the smell of lavender engulfed my senses, a moment of peace flickering through my mind. I adjusted myself, taking her hand as I looked into her eyes, finding only warmth and kindness in them. No trace of the anger or disgust from earlier was left in them. I nodded to answer her question, the grace by which she composed herself holding my attention in a vice. She looked away for a second, looking along the floor where the bed had left scratch marks leading all the way to the cupboard. I grimaced, expecting to be scolded for my actions but as she turned back to me, all that sat on her face was a coy smile.
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“Oh hoh hoh. Daring aren’t we? What were you planning to do huh? Find a bottle with some nasty side effects? Maybe use them against wittle ol me.” She pouted slightly, putting a finger against her cheek, just enough to leave a slight indent. She smirked, laughing loudly as she stood back up, pulling me up with her as I grimaced. I looked down at my side, the clean bandage that was there before was quickly turning a dark shade of red. It seemed that when I fell, I must have reopened the wound in my side. As if on cue, everything went dizzy and I stumbled forward, my hands grasping for something to steady myself as I fell against the woman.
“Ouch, that doesn’t look good but no need to be so forward. At least buy me dinner first.” I looked up at her, my face scrunched into a look of pain and anger but hers only had a look of amusement, a slight chuckle echoing from her lips. Everything began to go dark again as I stumbled some more. The red haired woman grabbed me by the waist and set me down on one of the other beds. I laid back, trying to focus on her but my vision blurred. Distantly, I heard her voice echo through my brain. “Get some rest and we can talk some more later Mr. E.” I was engulfed by nothing once more.
I woke up with a start, looking around frantically at the small room I had started to become familiar with. Nothing seemed to be amiss, the bed I had been chained to before was now replaced with an empty spot and reminding me of what had happened before I passed out. I began to think to myself, trying to put together the little info I could after the interaction I had with the woman but it almost seemed purposeful with how little she brought up. Besides adding to the list of unknowns, nothing else could truly be surmised from the brief interaction we’d had. I let out a disgruntled sigh, frustration beginning to bubble deep inside of me. I did notice however that I was on the bed directly beside the cupboard of vials. Looking down at my side, I noticed the bandages were clean, no blood had even begun to seep through and when I began to move, there was a lack of the pain I had become accustomed to. I let myself smile in relief, one of the main factors of my current stress level had started to ease and I wasn’t going to pass it up. I sat up, adjusting to the side of the bed and attempting to stand up. A familiar clatter of metal alerted me to the fact that I was indeed still chained to the bed but it seemed that a little length had been added. I could now stand fully, no longer having to keep myself hunched over as I moved around and stretched my legs. Even though it was a small bit of extended freedom, I was thankful for it.
After letting out some of the tension in my muscles, I finally made my way to the cupboard. The door was still left ajar slightly and the multicolored vials sat neatly on their respective shelfs. Red sat on top, green in the middle and blue lined the bottom shelf. The shifting shades of color were entrancing, swirls of each color flowing around each vial did nothing to keep my curiosity at bay. I quickly grabbed the only green vial left on the shelf where three had sat previously. It was clear that one had been used in the time that I had been unconscious. I watched the dark and light shades of green swirl around each other, the movement of lifting it only speeding up the natural flow that had been present. My attention finally shifted away as I flipped the bottle to read the small label that had been pressed to its side.
“Regenerative Healing Potion.” I spoke quietly to myself, reading the well calligraphed text. Surrounding the text though was an intricately designed circle, lines jutting off towards the edge of the label and others back towards the center. Each met at a singular point below the text where a small star formed out of the lines. Each line made up a side of the star as if it was shining beyond the circle. As for any actual info though, the label held nothing of my current location or situation. With a small feeling of defeat starting to grow, I shook myself free of it and grabbed a red vial. This label presented the same circle and star but the text read Invigorating Health Potion. Setting it back down with a sigh, I grabbed the last one. The blue vial swirled, shades of navy blue and sky blue mixing in and out of each other to create new shades I had never imagined before. I closed my eyes, hoping and begging that this one would hold something new for me but as I opened my eyes, I was only met with another set of three words. A Stimulating Healing Potion sat in my hands as I let my arms drop to my side. I could feel my frustration and defeat colliding with each other inside my head.
“Well that was a bust, might as well just give up.”
“Give up? GIVE UP?!?! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN GIVE UP?”
“What else are we supposed to do? It’s not like there are any other options”
“YOU THINK I DON’T SEE THAT? IF WE GIVE UP, WE COULD BE STUCK HERE FOREVER. BUT FUCK, WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?!?!” I felt my defeat and frustration morph into one, my fist clenching around the blue vial as I pulled my arm back and threw it against the wall with all my might, the shattering of glass being drowned out by my own scream of frustration. The small stone room echoed with my voice, the small bed barely taking the brunt force of me throwing myself into it. I grabbed the small pillow in front of me and screamed into it again and again, drowning out the sound of the infirmary door opening behind me. I finally began to calm down, the tension that had entrapped my body to the bed slowly beginning to release as my breathing began to slow. I let out a few heavy breaths, closing my eyes and trying to center myself once more before rolling over. I let out one final breath and opened my eyes only to be met with the sight of the red haired woman standing only a foot away from the bed. My eyes went wide, my focus darting between her and the shattered glass that lay in a small blue puddle at the base of the wall.
“Well well, it seems the potions have been working. Especially after seeing all that and…” She leaned over me with a quizzical expression , examining the bandages before pulling back. “Look, no blood. Perfect.” The woman smiled as she stepped over to the next bed beside me and sat down, placing one leg over the other. “Were you able to let off some steam with the little outburst you just had?” My mind raced with confusion, was she really not angry? I had destroyed property not only once, but twice, and then proceeded to scream into a pillow for five minutes with her watching for who knows how long. The confusion must have been clear on my face, a sly smile crossed her lips and she began to speak. “I’m quite sure that you have many questions and I’d be happy to answer them. But first I do have a few that I need to ask you first. Is that alright Mr. E?” My mind had heard the question but was still trying to understand the situation. I just continued to stare at her, unsure of what to do or say, worrying clouding my judgment as I hesitated. The woman waited patiently, not speaking or even moving really aside from adjusting a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face. I finally shook myself out of it, nodding to answer her question. Her expression brightened, her posture slouching as if a relief had finally washed over her. Clearly, she had been worried I would refuse.
“Great! It seems this will be easier than the others expected. First, what is your name?” She stood up, stepping over to the door and grabbing a clipboard that had been hung just outside the frame. Sitting back down, she crossed her leg again, adjusting the same strand of hair as before and looking directly at me. The entire time, my mind searched as deep as it could for even a hint towards the answer she was looking for but I couldn’t find it.
“I… I don’t know. You’re the one who keeps calling me Mr. E.” She looked down at the clipboard, writing down what I assumed to be my answer, a smirk crossing her face as she looked back up.
“Oh, I figured that would be an easy one for you to figure out. You are a mystery so hence, the name Mr. E.” She chuckled slightly, the small glimmer of hope for some understanding of myself shattered by what was only some simple word play. I sighed and looked down towards the floor. Had that really been all it was? If they don’t know who I am, how am I supposed to know? “You really don’t remember your name? Well that makes things a bit more difficult. What do you remember?” She wrote a few notes down the page and then focused her attention back on me. She looked sincere, as if she actually was curious about me and who I was, but a trace of sadness could be seen in her eyes as well. Why was she sad? Was it pity or was there more to it? I guess only time will tell.
“Not t-too much. I remember waking up in an alley, m-my body being in such a sorry state that I could barely move. There was a fear present, pushing me out of the alley, urging me forward as if I didn’t, something terrible would happen. I’m not sure, maybe it was just my body not wanting me to die but it feels like it was more.” As I spoke, my eyes drifted away from the woman, spacing out as I attempted to recall the little I remembered. It was nice to be able to tell someone, to have someone else understand the confusion I was enduring. As I attempted to refocus on the woman, a brief flash of green filled my memory, a bittersweetness attached to it. I tried to latch onto it, to explore it but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared.
“Mr. E? Mr. E! Hello? Are you alright?” The red haired woman's words brought me back to reality. She had her arms on my shoulders and was shaking me gently, a look of worry across her face that I hadn’t seen before. It seemed sincere, as if she actually cared about me. For some reason, this brought me some peace in the situation.
“I-I’m alright, sorry, I just remembered something but it wasn’t much. J-just a flash of green light and this deep feeling of joy and melancholy simultaneously.” I rubbed my temples, trying my best to hold the memory close. The woman moved back across from me, the loss of her hands on my shoulder causing an unexpected coldness to the room. I looked back up at her, the sound of her pen against the clipboard and the speed at which she wrote indicating that this may have been important. “Is that helpful in any way? I wish I knew more,I’m just as lost as you are.” Her pen stopped moving, what appeared to be a drop of water falling onto the clipboard in front of her. She quickly rubbed her eyes and looked back up at me, a bright smile crossing her face in an attempt to hide the trails of unfallen tears across her cheeks. My expression softened, trying to make an effort at easing whatever sadness had just befallen her. “A-are you okay? If I upset you in any way, it wasn’t my intention to do so.” She simply shook her head, wiping away another tear from her eyes and taking a long breath before smiling brightly once more.
“No no, it’s okay. I just hate seeing you- I mean seeing people in such a state. As for what you told me, yes, even though it may seem like a little to you, it is very helpful to me and my colleagues so thank you.” The woman begins to stand, taking her clipboard in her hand and dusting herself off before looking back in my direction. “That will be all for today, I appreciate your cooperation Mr. E.” As she finished speaking, she began to make her way towards the door.
“W-wait, you started to say you but changed it. Do I know you?” Her body went stiff, my question echoing around the room and throughout my mind. My body tensed as hers did. Clearly she had slipped up but was it just an accident? From the looks of it, it seemed there was more than she was letting on. I needed to ease the growing tension in the room, by any means necessary “If I do, I won’t ask how but can I at least know your name?” Her posture softened and she tilted her head over her shoulder.
“My name is Aliza.” And then she left.