Starry Eyes Chapter 1

The chilled air threw my hair to the right. The mattress below me produced protruding springs that pierced my back. I closed my eyes as the whistle of a distant bomb rang out throughout my head. I imagined a sea of colors to try and shield my mind from the distant threat. A drummer played within my chest. Ba bum, ba bum. The room I was in… held no smell. The air felt… fake. The room was white; I could see a slightly open door, through the small opening I could just barely see strange equipment. I knew what it was for, but… I couldn't remember what the machines were called. Am I dying? I shook my head, trying to recollect my emotions. I took a deep breath, in through my nose, out through my mouth. The high pitched explosion was just in the background of my mind. I was one of the lucky ones. I was one of those with starry eyes.

The last thing I can remember is waking up on a steel table. The cold stabbed my back with frosty razors. I looked down at my body and figured out I had been stripped to my underwear and there was a large stitch laid out on my thigh. A single light stood over me. Something dripping echoed in the distance. The room was odorless. It was silent. It was almost nothing and yet everything I had ever known.

A man dressed in white walked into the room. His head turned to the side before I could see his face. With an inaudible muttering, the golden beam above me disappeared. My eyes squinted involuntarily and teared up as something was pierced into my arm. A chilling liquid was shot into my bloodstream. My life was put on hold as I faded into unconsciousness.

I woke up some time later. My eyes were burning. I tried messing with them, but my arms were held to the table. I couldn’t blink. I breathed heavily as the pain wouldn’t stop. Why wouldn’t all of this just… stop? The light was shut on and I saw a chair in front of me. Well, “saw” is not the word to use. My eyesight was blurred. And the slow movements of my limbs pained my body. I was forced to be still except for my steady breathing. I was stuck in that state of pain for hours. It finally ended when that man appeared once more. I looked into his eyes, feeling pathetic. His face could just barely be seen. He had a rounded nose and a 5 o’clock shadow. The eyebrows of his face were thin and arched. He had defined cheekbones as well. His glasses were the most notable thing, however. The light reflected off of his glasses in just the right way for his eyes to not be seen. He just stood there, watching. He was waiting for me. But what was I supposed to do?

I heard the words, “Subject is stable,” slip out of his mouth. I wasn’t stable. I tried speaking, but couldn’t find myself able to. He walked away, a small plastic button fell to my table. I only stared at it. That was all I could do.

My starring went on for hours. It shot towards me eventually. I blinked and when I looked again, the button was on my stomach. What…? How…? I decided to stare at the spot the man had entered from before. It took me dozens of minutes, but I finally heard a slow creaking of metal. I felt my heart rushing as I looked down towards my arms. The restraints loosened and I slid my arms. I pulled at the leather around my ankles and soon I was free. I tumbled onto the ground and started to run. My legs stumbled towards the door. I suddenly felt a large shock circling around my neck. I collapsed to the floor and tore at the metal collar. It restricted my breathing suddenly and I curled up into the fetal position. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Every drop was followed by a footstep, his footsteps. He stood over me and bent over with a needle in one hand. I closed my eyes, defeated in my escape attempt.

I woke up on the steel bed once more, the restraints had doubled. The light above my head was gone. This is my fault. If only I hadn’t… Someone opened the door. They turned around and a click was created. They looked down at me and a soothing voice escaped their lips.

“Hey,” a female voice, something I hadn’t heard.

Had I ever heard a female voice? My head felt like it was imploding. I bit my lip and cringed as the pain slowly faded away... like the waves on a be- the pain was suddenly back. What are waves? Why can’t I remember anything?! I looked up through tears of pain and saw her. She knelt down and brushed the hair out of her face. A concerned look swept her face as she saw wounds scattered across my body. Where… Where do I remember her from? Who is she?

“Osiris…” she whispered softly, regret staining her words like oil stains the ocean.

I opened my mouth, but no words left. She looked to the far right and then back at me. She gave a forced smile and placed a kiss on my forehead.

“I can’t stay here, but I’ll help you, I promise,” she looked into my eyes before getting up and walking out of the room.

I stared at the ceiling for the next hour, my mind a flood of emotions. What. The. Hell? She haunted my memory for days, weeks maybe. Time seemed to move at a snail’s pace, and all I could think of was… who was she? A memory returned to me after all those days of waiting, it was small, but it was… it was something. It was of a forest, I was sitting on the arm of a fall oak tree. The wind blowing through my hair and the sweet chirpings of birds overhead. I heard a soft humming in the distance. Was this… Was this home? I closed my eyes, tears slipping down my face. I replayed the memory in my head until I drifted off to sleep…

I need to know who I am.