Chapter 42: Your whiteness is awfully familiar

My head throbbed as I opened my eyes. There was light everywhere.

'Where am I?'

That was my first question and as my eyes adjusted to the light, I looked around, covering my eyes with one hand. I was in some sort of white room and I was wearing some sort of white cloth which covered me from head to toe. This sure didn't look like the nurse's office. So where was I?

There was nothing inside the room apart from the bed and a stool. There wasn't even a door. Come to think of it, I didn't even see walls. Everything was just… white.

'Where am I?'

***

Time flew by. "Is anyone there? HELLOO!?" Screaming or yelling didn't help. My voice echoed in this room, or perhaps this space.

One hour, then two. It'd been two hours but nothing. I didn't feel cold, I didn't feel warm and I didn't feel hungry either.

'Am I even awake?'

"ANYONE!"

"HA HA HA!" A chuckle came from somewhere. The voice felt familiar but not familiar at the same time. And I couldn't locate where it came from either.

I didn't know why but I didn't feel anything, not even a speck of fear. I didn't feel uncomfortable either. As though I'd known this voice for a long time.

'Should I leave?'

'Can I leave?'

I don't know why but all this time the thought of leaving never really occurred to me even once. Why was I spending all this time, lying on the bed anyway?

I got off from the bed and when my feet touched the floor, it formed ripples as though I was walking on water. Cold, white, water. My foot was sinking and I pulled it back up, but I wasn't wet.

'What is this?'

"That is your cage." A voice answered.

I looked at its direction and a shadow was there in the far left corner of the bed, sitting on the stool. Everything about this shadow was pitch black apart from those blood-red eyes and that white toothy grin.

"My cage?" And yet, I was calm.

"Yes, your cage."

"Why?"

This thing looked pretty black but I could make out vague shapes. It was humanoid in its form and had arms and legs. Roughly, my size. "To prevent what happened last time." I didn't know if this voice was a guy or a girl and I didn't really care. It spread its arm sideways and a small window appeared showing my battle with Blaze.

'That's me?'

The boy in the window looked like me, and yet it wasn't me. He was crazy strong and fierce, and at the same time, a little mad. And not to mention I had no recollection of the event. All my memories were hazy.

"What is this place? How do I leave?"

"You want to leave?" It raised its hand and the white interior morphed into something completely black. But the small area around me stayed white. "You can leave if you want to, but that thing will get you." he pointed at a thing far away. A thing that looked at least three times bigger than me and oozed liquid darkness: its eyes were similar to the shadow on the stool but definitely much more insane. Even in that pitch-black darkness, I could see it: it was much darker than the surrounding darkness and it came moved around as though half of it was drenched in water.

It roared the moment it saw me and ran straight at me. The cry was fierce and almost made my heart stop.

Argh! A small groan escaped my throat on its own. I was calm even just a second ago and yet, just seeing the thing brought back my previous trauma. But there was another problem, I didn't really remember what trauma.

"You see." The shadow raised its hand again and the room turned all white. The liquid dark thing was gone. "In order to prevent that thing, you are here. But if you want to leave-"

"Yeah, I get you. But I meant how do I get back. What is this place?"

"You can go back anytime you want." The shadow's grin widened. "As long as you agree with one thing."

It felt like it was avoiding my questions. "What was that thing? And what one thing?"

Its grin widened to a point where its black chin started to tear. Its insides were red. "You."

"Huh? Me!?" I didn't trust this thing. "And what about you?"

"Also, you." It pointed straight at me. "And that's why I want you. I want to be you. I tried to kill that boy just like you wished. Now-" It glared at me. "Now let me play around a little, like I wish and in turn, I won't let that thing outside, come near you."

This thing was crazy. Too crazy and I had a bad feeling about this.

"That doesn't make sense!"

DRIP!

"Actually," Another voice came from my right. It was the voice of a girl. I looked back and a girl with silver-white hair and red eyes was standing next to me. Her feet created ripples in the floor. "They are you but not you at the same time. Your mind developed them to-"

The chuckling sound came back. It was coming from the shadow to my left. "I'll kill you! This time I'll kill you!" It jumped straight at the girl, grinning like mad the entire time.

"Look out!" It was as though I was glued to the bed, I couldn't get up.

"No need to worry." She carelessly raised her arm. "Be...gone." Her smile was nonchalant, almost as though she was sure of her victory.

A bright light flashed and my eyes got blinded for a second. The shadow disappeared.

"What is this? Who are you?" I asked the girl but she just gave me a smile.

"Come, it is time for you to wake up." She caressed my hair. She sniffed me with a look of ecstasy: her crimson eyes trembled. "I want to eat you up, but-" And a second later, my consciousness faded.

***

My eyes fluttered and I woke up with a groggy and terrible headache.

I certainly didn't want to experience all that good stuff again. I barely woke up and yet, I remembered everything like it happened just minutes ago. Actually, it did feel like all of that drama happened only a minute ago.

"Oh, Helio!" But instead of something like that shadow, I was hugged by a beautiful woman- namely mom.

"Um… Calm down?" I recognized this place. It was the nurse's office. And instead of calming me down, I had to calm her down.

She sniffed a little and kept on hugging me. My mother was strong and for as long as I knew, I only saw her cry three times in my whole life. And this one was included. Of course, she only sniffed this time, rather than crying, so I guess it was still two times?

"What happened?"

"You wouldn't wake up and-" She paused. "I'll get the nurse."

I looked out and it was night. And judging by the prefects roaming in the distance, it was definitely close to midnight.

"Okay, I'll wait."

I didn't know what was going on but I tried to stay calm. Mom was agitated, so the least I could do was calm her down.

She left and I just stared at the ceiling. What was that and what was going on? I didn't really know. But for some reason that feeling I had back there, that shadow, that creature, and that girl, all of them seemed nostalgic. Had I met them before, somewhere?

I didn't have any answers.

***

Sometimes later mom came back with the nurse. The nurse came running, rubbing her eyes all the way. It was close to 2 am- or so the nurse told me a dozen times.

"What happened to me?" I was mostly unharmed.

"We suspect you have a rare disease. But your scans showed nothing out of the ordinary." The nurse yawned three times while telling me that.

"If nothing's wrong with me, then what was that?"

"Have you ever thought his personalities switch from time to time?" The question was aimed at mom.

"He does have a pretty bad personality…" Mom started thinking but I wished she hadn't said that out loud. "But I don't think it's multiple personalities."

Somehow I got the feeling mom already knew something but if she wasn't willing to talk, then I couldn't force her either.

"Then how about the virus?" She glared at mom, carefully observing her reaction.

She couldn't have been talking about 'that' virus, right? Because, last time I checked, the government had already developed a cure for it ages ago. If that wasn't the case then our society would have crumbled long ago.

"If that were the case, he'd have already died back in middle school or did you forget that anyone who contracts the virus dies within a year? Besides, didn't you already scan him for the virus?" My mother, however, was thinking this through a bit more than I. but honestly, why would they even assume I had the virus in the first place?

"First of all, I am aware of the thing that happened when he was in middle school. Next, there have been past instances where individuals have lived more than five years before dying. And lastly, though he came out clean, it's always possible it could have been an instrumental or perhaps a human error."

This was news to me. I yet again learned that I didn't really know past the books and information provided for the general populace. 'So people can still get infected, and everyone just covers it up?' It was the only logical conclusion I could come up with.

The nurse did have her point but since this was basically in the middle of the night, I really didn't want to be a part of this. "Can't we just discuss this tomorrow?'

Both of them glared at me. Did they join hands just to bully me?

"I suppose you're right." Both of them agreed fairly easily too.

I guess I was just overthinking things.

"So, where are you staying?" I asked mom.

"I actually hadn't thought about that." She looked a little troubled. Was she planning on spending the whole night sitting by my bed?

"My room should be free. You can-" But the dorm manager would have been an issue. "I guess you can go to the girl's dorm too."

"Oh right. Elsa did say she was staying with a girl there. I'll go there right now."

I had a feeling this girl Elsa was staying with was Eve, but I didn't really have time to worry about all this.

"Alright, see you tomorrow."

With both of them gone I stared at the ceiling and thought about things again. But before I could make anything out, I fell asleep.

***

I woke hearing weird chuckles. 'Please not that again.'

Every time I woke up, I almost freaked out. This happened three times already from last night. But I never really woke up in that white place again. Was I going crazy or something?

But when I saw Natasha and Merin laughing by the bed, I was more than just relieved. I guess they were having fun.

I was also relieved for another reason. At least, the night's passed. I didn't want to go through those nightmares again.

"He's awake." Natasha was the first to notice me.

"Hey, super rookie. Good morning." Merin had this annoying grin plastered on his face.

"Super what?" I was confused. What was he even saying? I tried to sit up. My body ached a little but that was all.

I was still pretty groggy. Did I oversleep a bit too much?

Merin gave me a rather toothy grin before pulling up something on his Holo. It read, "the advent of the super rookie.'

"The hell is this?"

"Looks like your famous." Natasha giggled.

'But I never wanted to be famous!' My already shitty life just got a lot shittier.