New World

It was a foggy, rainy night when I finally finished my night shift at The Pub. I grab my keys and my wallet as I grogglily walk out the back door and head to my car... And that's the last thing I remember. How is that all I can remember? Was I in a car accident? I must've been in a car accident, that's the only explanation. I mean, I am lying on a white bed in a white room, so I must be in the hospital, right? There's nothing attached to me, so I must not have been injured badly....I wonder if my parents are here. As these questions run through my mind, I don't know what to do. My confused mind wonders if I should [[just stay here->stay here]] or [[get up and investigate->investigate]].

As I lay here in bed, I try to refresh my memory. I just can't seem to remember anything....maybe I hit my head... I see someone, maybe a nurse, walk by my room. I yell for her to come in, but she just keeps walking, as if she didn't hear my loud, screeching voice. As I lift my arm to wave to her, I feel a sharp pain right on the inside of my wrist. Maybe they had an IV there? As I look closer I can see a black spot, almost like a bruise. But it's not a bruise. It looks like a....a chip of some sort, like a camera memory card or something. But it's under my skin. How did it get there? Why would someone put it there? To get answers I decide to get up and find what is going on in this place. I look out of my door and see long, empty, white hallways to my [[left->take a left]] and to my [[right->investigate]]. Which way should I go?

I look out my door at the perfectly white halls and decide to take a right. As I walk through the eerily silent hallway, I keep staring at the black chip in my wrist. Maybe someone is keeping track of me? As I slowly start to enter into panic mode, I realize that there are no other rooms on this floor. What kind of hospital only has one room? I convince myself that maybe the rest of the rooms are just on other floors. I keep walking and walking until I finally see a room appear at the very end of the hallway. I'm a little afraid to [[push open the door->open the door...]], maybe I should just [[turn around->take a left]]....

I swiftly proceed down the hallway. I'm looking at the perfectly tiled floor when I lift my eyes and suddlenly see a woman dressed in a long, white coat rushing toward me. She doesn't look happy. I ask her wehre I am and if I'm hurt but all she does is hit a single button on tiny [[remote control->remote control]] in her hand......

I slowly push open the clean white door, not knowing what to expect. It's even stranger than I expected. A giant room filled with shiny silver boxes....what is this? I move closer to them to try to read the words. There are names everywhere...are these real peoples' names? As I walk down the rows, glancing over hundreds and hundreds of names, I see a familiar one. In big, bold letters, it reads AMELIA ROMESBURG. What? Why is my name on here? I notice a tiny, barely visible light beside my name. It's green, but the rest of the names have a tiny red light next to them. My mind is confused and spinning when I suddenly hear voices coming towards me from the back of the room. I exit as quickly and quietly as I can and start [[running down the hallway->take a left]]...

I wake up in the same bed that I woke up in before. But it's different. There are doctors and nurses hustling around, there's a window in my room and water on my bedside table. Before I even have a chance to comprehend any of this my parents come rushing in with tears in their eyes, hugging and kissing me. I ask them what happened but they just laugh and continue hugging me. When I glance out the door, I see the same woman that was in the white coat before, only this time she's wearing a nametag that reads ELOISE HYRON, RN. So she is a nurse then? I call for her but she just looks at me and keeps walking. Why will nobody talk to me? Now that my parents are with me I feel a bit more calm. I'm walking out of the hospital with them as I start to feel a sudden wave of panic wash over me. Why am I panicking...I'm with my parents. They'll keep me safe. I keep walking but my clumsiness takes over and I trip on the curb and fall down. A great shock spreads throughout my body...I don't know if I should force myself to [[get up and run away->make it stop...]] or [[just let whatever is happening happen->shock..shock..shock...]]...

I throw my body up and run on my legs that I can no longer feel. The shock is getting stronger, making it difficult to keep moving. I collapse to the ground, shaking and crying. I look over to my parents... but they're gone. I look around for them but realize I'm in a totally different place. It's nighttime now, and there are hundreds of trees surrounding me. How did I get in a forest? I yell for anybody but there is no one around. I stand up and walk through the never-ending maze of trees. Suddenly I see something move...or at least I think I do. Then I see it walking towards me. An animal? No, it's not an animal. It's a man. A frightening man. Why is he looking at me? There's something in his hand. I can't see what it is from here. As he moves closer, I can see that it's a sharp object, and he's coming right at me with it. I turn and [[run->RUN...]] as fast as I can...

I lay on the ground feeling as if my skin is disconnecting from the rest of my body. After a few minutes of lying on the ground in immense pain, it stops. I close my eyes in relief. When I open them, I realize that I'm somewhere else. A man walks towards me in an empty parking lot that I am lying in. I call out to him but he doesn't respond. He does look at me though, in a way that makes me feel very uneasy. I stand up and walk the other way. After some time, I realize that the man is following me. I turn around to look at him and he pulls a sharp object out of his pocket...it looks like a pocketknife. I start running as fast as I can go but he continues to speed up and follow me. My heart rate rises as I run and [[run->RUN...]] until my legs go numb...

As I run away I feel it again. The shock. Knowing how painful it will become I throw myself to the ground trying to make it stop, but it only gets worse. It's worse than the last time. I can feel my heartbeat in my head...I squeeze my eyes shut as hard as I can... I open them to a room again. A white room. The same white room I was in before. But this time it's full of people. They look like doctors. I ask where I am but they all ignore me. I see the nurse that had the ELOISE nametag on. I see the man who was chasing me. He doesn't have anything sharp, but instead a white coat. Are all of these people doctors? I continue to question them but they all just look at me as they write things on their clipboards and type things on their laptops. That's when I see it. They really can't hear me. There is a big, clear box surrounding my bed. This time, there are wires attached to me. All over my body...dozens of them. Those are the shocks. These people are doing this to me. I look out the small sliver of the outside world that is peaking through the curtain and see a sign. It reads, ELLIS ISLAND INSANE ASYLUM. What am I doing here? I look down and see the chip in my wrist. The woman named ELOISE puts her clipboard down next to me and leaves the room. I'm nervous to look at it, but I do. The heading on the top of the page says: ALTERNATE REALITY TESTING - SUBJECT 1. That's when I remember. Coming out of work, walking to my car. I never made it to my car. I've seen that paper before, in the back of the van that the man who was chasing me was driving. Suddenly, I feel that wave of uneasiness spreading throughout my body that I've felt too many times before... Do I do everything I can to try to [[get out of this place->get out]] or just [[give up->give up]]?

[[New World->can't remember...]] By Michaela Fapore

I thrash around in my plastic box as much as I can through the pain. They're all still staring at me with the same curious look, as if I'm an experiment or something...which I guess I am. As hard as I cry and as loud as I yell nothing helps. They continue to write on their clipboards. I pound and pound as violently as I can on the barrier surrounding me. I spot a small crack forming in the corner. All I have to do is break it. I keep pounding and screaming which apparently disrupts the electrocution, not allowing me to be transported anywhere else. They're starting to get frustrated now but I keep going... Finally. The crack is forced open and I'm no longer enclosed. I manage to escape out of the room and into the hallway. I am terrified. What if they catch me, take me back, and do even worse things to me? I keep running...never looking back. I make it to the door and use all of my might to climb over the wall barrier that is surrounding this horrid place. I run and run and just hope that they can't catch me...

I can't do this anymore. I can't escape this place...it would be too hard. I look around at the doctors and the people examining me closely. This is my life now. I'm not a person anymore, I'm an experiment. I don't have the determination anymore to get out of this place. The blinding pain starts to set in, along with the realization that I will be feeling this pain for the rest of my life...