The room is empty.

Dark.

The silence engulfs me.

When I move, I feel as if I am underwater.

A noise disrupts the silence.

I look towards the origin.

A small creature crouches in the corner.

In the dark.

The silence.

Why is it here?

What is it?

Questions run through my mind.

I do not speak.

I do not move.

For fear of ending the silence.

In the silence, I drift.

Away.

Away from my body.

A mind floating in space.

Away from reality.

No horrified stares.

If only I could stay in the silence,

the darkness,

forever.

Another noise comes from the room.

Humming.

An old tune.

One my mother sang to me.

Before.

Before she left, taking my sanity with her.

Now I’m here.

I only remember flashes of what happened that day.

It was sunny.

A good omen, as my teacher would have seen it.

I see it differently.

I wasn’t at school.

My mom and I were alone in the house.

My father left long before.

Where he when, I do not know.

Then darkness.

The next thing I remember is my mother.

Lying there.

A look of horror on her face.

Puddles forming around her.

Puddles of blood.

A gun in my hand.

Blood on my hands.

My clothes.

That’s when they came.

The neighbors.

Why did they come?

They say the gun first.

Then my mother.

I was crying.

Curled on the floor.

The gun still in my hand.

Her face haunting me.

I wanted to end it all.

Her face.

Their faces.
Wide-eyed.

Non-believing.

I held the gun to my temple.

Just a quick pull of the trigger.

Then it’ll all stop.

The voices.

The faces.

They’ll all stop forever.

Then I look to the people.

Frozen in place.

Living statues.

Staring at the gun.

At me.

At my mother on the floor.

Darkness fills my mind.

I can only hear muffled sounds.

There in the darkness.

Shots.

Screams.

Will the never stop?

Then I can see.

Bodies litter the floor.

Like broken toys.

Discarded.

Blood everywhere.

Then I see me.

Sitting there.

Still curled up.

Though slumped over.

A bullet in my arm.

Near my heart.

Sirens in the distance scream at me.

What have you done? I ask myself.

You’ve set them free. A dark, booming voice says.

Before darkness comes again.

When I arouse, I find myself here.

In this dark room.

No lights.

No furniture.

Nothing but the creature in the corner.

The faces.

The noises.

Voices.

Screams.

Echoing through my head.

Haunting me.

Until I find a way out.

A final way to get away.

An idea flashes through my head.

Escape.

How do you get away from this room?

You can’t.

It’s impossible.

Only one way out.

One way to get away from everything.

Once and for all.

I could have ended it before.

So easy then.

Now, I have to improvise.

I could…

No.

That would require a knife.

Scissors.

Something sharp.

Then,

The answer appears to me.

But how would I get a rope?

My hair…

It was long.

But I couldn’t cut it.

I look to the creature,

Wondering.

I moved slowly.

Cat-like.

Ever alert.

What I thought was a creature turned out to me a tray,

of food,

but what was more important was what was used to lower it.

A wire.

Someone lowered a wire into this room.

This cell.

This place devoid of any hope.

Of light.

I had to hurry.

Before it was raised up again.

I yanked the wire.

It didn’t move.

It was solid.

Perfect.

I tied a noose.

The noose that brought peace.

Ended it all.

I put it around my neck.

Tightened it.

Soon enough, I hear footsteps from above.

From the rope’s origin.

And then, the rope grew taut.

Tightening around my neck.

My breath became pained.

Then impossible.

The grip was tightening.

Death loomed closer.

Closer.

A crack pierces the silence.

Darkness immediately follows.

A darkness that lasts forever.

The voices never stopped.

The horrified stares still there.

Screams of terror.

It never went away.

Only this time,

There is no way out.