Nunti

Chapter 7

Darkness. All around me is pure darkness. I twist my head in every direction but the surrounding doesn’t change. Panic sets into my system, my body shakes involuntarily against some chains that bind my limbs together. My heart beats rapidly, I feel the blood flowing to my heart, I flail my hands around searching for something, anything, to help. The chains rattle, I can taste them, the metallic taste on my tongue. I sense the chains are attached to something above. Entwining the chains around my wrists I start pulling them down with all my strength. I hear the wood above starting to give way. I stand up pulling myself and the wood snaps, part of it falls on my head and it falls to the floor with a clatter.

I fall to my hands and knees and crawl on the floor. The chains rattle as I move. My head hits a wall, I stand up and search the wall for anything to light up the room. A button. Without hesitation I press it. A bright striking light enters the room and stings the back of my head.

“Ahhhh!” I scream, throw my arms to my head and throw myself to the floor. I close my eyes but I still see the light. It hurts so much.

Moments later the light fades away. I open my eyes. I look around and analyse my surroundings. A white floor, white ceiling and white walls. Quite a drab room. A wooden chain in the middle. Chains and pieces of wood lie on the chair all broken. A large metal door stands in front of me showing the way out of the room. But no handle or anything to open it. Is this some sort of trickery? Is it a puzzle? Is there something I can’t see? But then something out the corner of my left eye catches my sight. A bright red flashing light. A device attached in the corner of the ceiling flashes red and its pointing right at the chair. What is it? Why is it flashing? Why is it pointing at the chair? I have so many questions but no way of getting any answers.

But then it hits me. There is only one way out of the room. Breaking down the door. It's the only option I have. Balling my hands into fists I prepare to break down the door down. An adrenaline rushes throughout my body, my heart races and then I lurch towards the door in a quick notion. Using my left shoulder, I use all of my weight against the door and then suddenly fall to the ground and on top of the door. A sense of panic rushes over my brain and I scramble back into the room. After a few seconds I get my breath back and gather myself together quickly.

A long corridor lies ahead with doors all the way down. The doors have large wheels on them, so that’s how you get inside, you just can’t get out. Moving out of the room I look down the corridor. I can just see the end, I look to my left, above the door lies the number 99 and on the right 98. A flurry of questions fly into my head at once. Are there other people here? What is behind the doors? What is this place? Why the numbers? And why is this place so white? Maybe the answers are behind the doors. Without another thought I take the wheel on the door of 99 and turn it to the left. It sticks at first but then it budges. This is the start of a journey now. Time to find out what is behind the doors and to get out of this place.