Memory Lane - Chapter One: In the Dark

         Cold. That’s all I could feel as I woke up, unable to move. The ground was so cold.
         Then came the pain. I felt it all over my body. My back was the first I felt laying on the hard ground, I felt the ache from deep in my bones. My neck felt so stiff as I tried to lift it. Then I felt the pain enter my legs; I thought I was paralyzed until I felt my feet ache when I moved them. The pain was all over my body. It almost felt unbearable, but just moments later, the pain disappeared, and felt as if it was never there.
         My memory was blurry, just like my vision once I opened my eyes. Even with my eyes open, I still couldn’t see anything; it was like there was no light around me, not even a sliver of light from a crack leading outside.
         I sat up and rubbed my eyes, trying to see anything, but it was too dark and felt pointless. I felt alone and as if someone was watching me from a distance at the same time. I wasn’t brave enough or strong enough to stand, so I stayed as close to the ground as possible. I moved onto my knees, unaware of what awaited me in the darkness. Crawling, I feared the worst. Where am I? I dug through my thoughts for something familiar or for some thought as to what happened to me. Nothing. Nothing came to my mind. How can I forget? My mind was completely blank. I just felt coldness everywhere I touched, my hands, my knees, my arms, everywhere.
         I got in a position to stand but as I relaxed my breathing to complete an entire thought, icy fingers grabbed my right arm from behind, and I froze in place. Not knowing exactly where I was or how I got there, I feared what I would see if I turned my head to look. The grip slightly tightened, and I felt fear overcome my body from head to toe. I was afraid of what my mind couldn’t tell me, of what I didn’t know. Who is it? Why are they so cold? My heart was pounding in my chest as my eyes tried to focus on anything to my right. I need to see something, anything. I need to find a way to escape. I wasn’t sure what I’d see, and that made more fear attack my heart. I wanted to run and hide, but it was too late; the grip was too firm around my arm. My senses never felt so heightened.
         I heard nothing and saw even less. I felt cold everywhere around me. The icy fingers on me gave me goosebumps, and it terrified me. The hard floor was driving pain throughout my legs, I wanted it to stop, but my fear overpowered my will to stand.
         Building up the little courage I had, I began to slowly turn my head and look toward the pressure still attached to my arm. I could see, just barely, the long, black fingers wrapped entirely around my arm. The icy hand had fingertips so long they touched the hand once again after overlapping my thin arm. That made me feel goosebumps throughout my whole body, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the ice-cold touch or the fear that crept up my spine as I felt warm breathing on my neck. My lip began to quiver from my anxiety; I thought I would start crying. How big is this thing? What is it? I could almost hear my heart pounding in my ears as I tried to focus on the fingers clenching to my arm and the breathing that raised the hairs on my neck.
I stayed there frozen for what seemed like forever when my knees began to tremble from the pain of the hard floor. I was still frozen in fear as nothing had changed; I could still feel the icy cold fingers wrapped around my arm and the breathing continued against my neck. My mind told me to run but my legs begged me to stay. I knew I had to turn around eventually before whoever had me decided to make the first move.
         Terrified of what was behind me, I got the courage to turn my head around to see what it was slowly. I turned my head ever so slowly with my eyes scanning and focusing, hoping to get a glimpse before I showed my face. I could feel it staring directly at my head. My heart was pounding even harder than before as I finished turning toward what looked like a dark figure.
         As I sat there, staring directly into the cold, lifeless eyes of this dark figure, I began to wonder why it hadn’t attacked me yet. What does it want? I slowed my breathing to complete a logical thought before trying anything that could make it harm me.
         I tried to speak but failed, my throat was dry, and no words would come out. As I attempted a second try at speaking, the figure covered my mouth with the other hand. I could feel a pulse in the hand, but it was far too large for a human hand and so cold I feared the chance of frostbite. The grip on my arm loosened, and the figure pulled its other hand away from my mouth. It was so dark I couldn’t make out what the figure looked like in detail; I could only see the outline of its hand pull back to what I assumed was its mouth in a shushing movement. I felt a tear slide down my left cheek, and my chin started to quiver, but I remained silent. The figure’s hand slid down my arm to my hand, wrapping its long fingers around mine like it was holding it. The hand began to warm up once in my hand as if my body heat were warming it. I wasn’t sure exactly what was happening to the hand, but my heart began to slow down some.
         My thoughts began to race as the figure started pulling me towards it. I wasn’t sure where it wanted to take me, but something inside me told me to go. So, I followed. I stood up and kept one hand in the figure’s hand, afraid to pull away, and followed the figure further into the darkness. After walking for what seemed an hour, a bright light opened in front of us. The figure let go of my hand and walked through the light. I felt the urge to go in the light with it, but I didn’t see the figure anymore, and for some reason, the fear inside me returned. Now I am all alone again, which scared me more than the figure.