Chapter Text
Knock Three Times - Chapter 1: The Cell
She was torn from sleep by her body’s insistence that she wretch, and before her mind even came to full consciousness, she was emptying the contents of her stomach on the surface she was lying on. Coughing up the vestiges of whatever she’d eaten last, she slowly sat, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. The next thing she did, though, was a mistake. She opened her eyes.
Blades immediately pierced through her optic nerves making her cry out. Hands flying to cover her face, she curled into a tight ball against the onslaught of pain, making sure to keep her eyes tightly shut. Whatever it was in the air, it stung the surface of her eyes with such ferocity that she was sure someone had thrown acid in them. Her lungs seemed to be doing alright though, so she didn’t feel she needed to chance moving just yet… at least until she could determine where she was and if it was even safe to move. She managed to lie still while the pain in her eyes began to dissipate, but inside there was no question that she was panicking. Where the hell was she? Casting her thoughts back, she tried to remember what she’d been doing before… well, before now. Groping about in her mind, she came out blank. There was nothing. She had… no memory… no memories!
If she wasn’t panicked before, she certainly was completely overwhelmed now. Why couldn’t she remember anything? For God’s sake… she… she must have a… a family? Friends? Frantically trying to make herself recall any other person in her life, she found herself drawing a blank.
Tears stung her eyes under her lids, reminding her suddenly of the incredible pain she’d just endured. Not wanting to bring on anything like that again, she forced herself to try to calm down. Taking a number of steadying, deep breaths she managed to slow her racing heart a bit and pull back the threatening tears.
Right. Think. Reason. She couldn’t remember anything about her life. Nothing. There were no memories of people or specific places, though she knew of them. She knew she should have some… she just couldn’t actually think of them. Well, at least she knew that much. She was supposed to have memories, she just… didn’t. Right. Was there anything she did remember?
She tried to do a sort of mental inventory. What was her favourite colour? No idea. Okay. How about… pets. Did she have any pets? Nope. No clue. How tall was she? Did she know at least that much? Trying to cast her mind back to find the missing information, she couldn’t. It just wasn’t there. She could tell it was supposed to be... but it just wasn’t.
She wanted to cry, but fought the impulse. The burning in her eyes had now completely subsided but she wasn’t willing to chance another peep at her environment just yet. After the first time, she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to open her eyes again.
But where was she? Well, if she couldn’t open her eyes yet, she could try to figure out as much as possible using her other senses. Taking a tentative breath through her nose she tried to discern any particular smells. Other than the putrid smell of her sick somewhere off to her right, she thought she could smell an antiseptic of some kind. Other than that, nothing else stood out.
Alright… how about sounds? Focusing her attention on any auditory information coming in, she tried to take an inventory. From somewhere above her she could make out the buzzing of something electrical… possibly a fan? In the distance she thought she may have heard the ‘clang’ of a metal door being shut. No other noises presented themselves. Was she in some sort of prison? A hospital? She was lying on a cool, hard surface. Smooth. A floor? An examination table maybe?
Deciding she should maybe try once more to open her eyes, she braced herself. Covering her eyes with her hands just in case it was very bright or there really was some sort of chemical irritant in the air, she slowly cracked her lids open. A slight sting pricked at the moist surface of her corneas, and she held her breath, waiting for more. Surprisedly, the pain didn’t progress any further. Taking a chance, she slid open her eyes a bit more. The sting didn’t get worse. In fact, it seemed to disappear. Sighing deeply in relief, she kept her hands in front of her eyes for a few more moments, now afraid to see beyond the safety of the insides of her palms.
God. No point in waiting. No point except continued denial of whatever situation she was in for another few moments. Slowly peeling her hands back from in front of her face, she was met with very little worth looking at.
The room she was in was a deep green colour… every surface. The floor, ceiling, walls. A single light shone brightly from a bulb sunk into the high ceiling, illuminating the small space. The entire place was probably only 12 feet by 12 feet. There were no windows, but there was a small grate on the bottom of one of the side walls, also painted green. There was a hole in the floor against the opposite wall and a large door was set into the wall in front of her. Large being the operative word. It looked to be at least twelve feet high.
Fear spiked in her again. Surely this was some sort of prison. A hospital would at least have some sort of bed, wouldn’t it? Maybe a sink and a mirror?
Then it occurred to her. She didn’t even know what she looked like. Taking stock, she tried to analyze herself. She was female… she’d already figured out that much. Looking down, she took in her appearance as far as she could see. Her skin was white… quite pale. She appeared to be sort of on the thin side and confirmed it by running her hands along her sides to feel the slight bumps of her ribs. She was wearing… sort of… scrubs. Funny how she could remember what things were called, but she had no recollection where she’d learned the word itself. Continuing her evaluation, she held her hands out in front of her. Trimmed nails. Bit of pink polish. She must’ve done them quite recently, because there were only a few chips in the otherwise shiny surfaces. She stretched her legs out in front of her. She wasn’t wearing any shoes and her feet looked to be in good shape. Polish on the toes… in better shape than the coating on her fingernails. She probably wore shoes rather than sandals most of the time, then, she reasoned. At least she seemed to be well groomed.
Realizing she should probably be concerning herself more with finding out where she was than who she was, she decided to chance standing. Getting shakily to her feet, she traversed the room to stand at the door. There was no handle she could see, so she tried to push her fingers into the narrow well between the door and the frame. Her fingers were small enough, but the door didn’t give at all with her attempts to pull at it. She played her fingertips around as much of the door as she could reach, but there didn’t seem to be any place that offered movement.
Sighing, she finally backed away. Maybe she should call out? She was actually terrified to do so… after all, whoever put her here clearly wanted to keep her here… but she’d needed answers and she wasn’t going to get them sitting by herself in a cell. Steeling herself, she took a breath in. She was about to shout for someone to come when she heard the clank of metal against tile and the rustle of feet in the hall outside the door.
“Hello?!” she called through the door.
The noises stopped outside the door and she was sure someone was about to open it.
Backing up, she held her breath and waited.
The sound of a key in a lock and more clanging and rustling issued from beyond the door. Her hands were held tightly at her sides, her palms sweaty with nerves. She was going to see who had imprisoned her. She only hoped that imprisonment was the worst they had planned for her.
A moment later, a door slammed, the sound reverberating through the wall of her cell. Wait. They’d opened a closed a different door. “Oi!!” she shouted, moving back to the door, “Open up!”
Outside she could hear muffled footsteps retreating, but that was all. “Come back! Let me out of here!” Pressing her ear to the door she anxiously listened. Silence again. “HEY!” she tried once more, giving the door a solid bang with her fist as she shouted.
Nothing. “Bloody hell!” she cursed, huffing with frustration. What was the point of this? If she was being held for some reason, surely they’d tell her why, or at least… move this along somehow. Not that she particularly wanted this to move along, but at least she might gain some information if it did.
From somewhere a muffled moan found her ears and she stopped moving. Frozen to the spot, she concentrated on listening for a moment. Then the sound came again. It was filtering through the wall on her right. Moving quickly, she pressed her ear against it. A moment later, the thick sound of retching reached her through the barrier she was listening through. Someone else was throwing up like she had.
A thrill of hope went through her. Maybe this other person knew where they were? Maybe… maybe it was someone who knew her and could tell her who she was!
“Hello?” she said into the wall. “Can you hear me?”
A yelp of pain followed by loud groans played through the wall… but they seemed to be louder…
Aha! The grating near the floor. It must lead to the other room. Kneeling down, she pressed her face to the grate and called into it. “Hello? Are you okay?”
“I… I can’t… Gods!”
It was a man’s voice, and she knew immediately what the problem was. “Keep your eyes closed,” she called through the slatted metal covering. “Keep them closed for a while yet,” she instructed.
“What… where am I?” she heard the man ask. Trying to peer through the mesh of the grating in hopes of seeing… well, anything... she was disappointed to find there was no direct view of the man’s room. Off to the left she could see light filtering into the narrow space between the walls. That must be where the grating in his room was situated.
“You’re…” she trailed off. She sure as hell didn’t know. “I’m not sure. I just woke up here,” she offered lamely.
There was silence from his side of the wall for a few more moments before he grunted. “You… uh… I don’t suppose you have any idea who I am, do you?” the man asked.
Her heart sunk. She’d been counting on this man to have some answers, not more questions. Sighing, she admitted, “I’ve got no ideas about anything. I was hoping you did. I’m sorry I can’t help you… I don’t even know who I am.”
“Oh,” he replied a bit dejectedly. “Can I… do you reckon I could maybe open my eyes now?” he asked.
“Um… I covered my eyes with my hands when I did it. Sort of seemed to help a bit maybe. Just… open them just a bit at first,” she advised feeling badly for the poor bloke. She knew how it felt… the fear that maybe daggers might once again dig into your skull.
A moment later, she thought she heard a loud sigh of relief. “Right. Well… this isn’t quite what I was expecting,” the man said, obviously now seeing his surroundings.
Whoever this was, he certainly seemed to be staying calm about all this. “What colour is your cell?” she asked after a moment, not exactly sure why this was the question that came to mind.
“Er… blue. A deep blue colour. You?” he asked, maybe in an effort to keep conversation going.
“Green. It’s all green. Everything,” she elaborated, once again looking around her empty cell. “I, uh… I tried prying the door open, but I didn’t have any luck, obviously,” she offered, for some reason needing him to know she hadn’t just been sitting here picking her arse since she woke. “I tried to talk to them when they brought you in, but they didn’t answer,” she shared.
“There’s more than one?” he asked, now obviously having moved closer to the grate in his room. His voice was clearer now and louder.
“Oh… I’m not sure. I just assumed, I suppose,” she acknowledged.
“Right. Weeellll…” he said, his voice sounding a bit more far away now. “Oh, hello! What do we have here?” she heard him say in a decidedly interested voice.
“What? What is it?” she asked, her own interest now piqued.
“Well look at you! A pyronic rhemal recorder! Haven’t seen one of these in… well… I’m not sure exactly when I last saw one of these, actually…” his voice trailed off.
“A what?” she asked, now worried. It sounded like something she should be worried about.
“It’s a monitor. Somebody’s watching. I assume you have one in your cell as well,” he posited.
Quickly darting her eyes up, she looked around the outline of the ceiling. “I don’t see…” she said before suddenly noticing a small round protrusion in the corner near the top of the wall. There it was. “Wait… I see it,” she advised him.
“Yup. Someone’s keeping an eye on us. Not an ear, it seems, though. No audio recorder on these old things,” he said, his voice dropping a bit as he neared the grating again.
Then, remembering a possibly important bit of information she’d gathered, she shared, “These, er… beings that are holding us… they’re tall. I mean… really tall, I think, judging by the height of the door,” she offered before suddenly reconsidering, “Or… maybe I’m just really short?” Now that she thought of it, she realized she really didn’t have anyone else to compare to.
“Well,” he said, sounding thoughtful, “I imagine they’re probably quite tall, if the size of the door in my room is anything to go by compared to my size,” he suggested. “How tall are you compare to the door?” he asked.
“I’m, um… less than half as tall,” she answered.
“Okay. I’m…” he trailed off for a few moments before finishing, “... I’m a bit taller than half the height of the door,” he shared, obviously further away now - probably standing by the door itself.
Well at least they knew something about themselves and each other now. The information hardly seemed particularly important at this point, but it was something at least.
Deciding someone had to talk about it, she brought up the subject, “What do you remember about your life? Anything?” she asked, quite sure that she knew the answer.
There was silence for a few moments before she heard, “No… I can’t remember anything. I’m… I think I should remember things. Like… there are people. People I should remember. I just… can’t. I can’t remember how I got here… nothing. You?” he asked, sounding a bit hopeful.
“No, me neither,” she admitted. “I tried to remember anything about myself, but I just come up blank. Odd though… I can remember how to talk and everything… just…. I can’t remember anything about myself or my past,” she shared.
“Right,” he said, obviously considering what she’d said. “Different kinds of memory, that’s why,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Different neural pathways for personal history and self-identification than for basic knowledge and procedural learning,” he shared.
“Oh,” she said lamely, wishing she had more to contribute than that.
Suddenly, a blaring buzzer began pulsing from all around her in her cell. “What’s that?” the man asked from his side of the wall.
Fear spiked in her making adrenaline course through her veins. “I… I don’t know,” she said, frantically looking around for anything that might be a reason for the noise.
Beneath her, the floor covering the cell became illuminated with a bright blue light and with it came a sudden incredibly painful jolt that coursed up from every part of her body that was in contact with the ground.
A scream parted her lips and she jumped in reaction, skittering across the cell to try to find a place to be that didn’t produce the same pain. In the corner she spotted a square of flooring that wasn’t illuminated and jumped for it. Her feet hit the dark square and she was desperately relieved to find it wasn’t similarly electrified.
Then, suddenly, the lights in the floor went out and the blaring noise stopped.
“What is it! What happened?!” she heard the man shout through the grating.
Drawing ragged breaths in and eying the floor warily she said, “I… the floor… it… it...”
A resounding buzzer sound then blared once again, but this time it wasn’t coming from inside her cell. “Oh shit,” she heard the man’s tenor voice cuss before he too began crying out in pain.
“NO!” she shouted, running to the wall blocking her from him. “STOP THIS!” she shouted up to the ceiling. The blaring alarm continued for another moment but then stopped just as it had for her.
“Are you okay?” she shouted through the wall.
It took a few seconds, but his voice finally drifted through the grating. “I’m okay,” she heard him pant. “The floor lit up and some sort of current passed through it,” he informed her. “I found a spot that wasn’t lit up and then it stopped,” he added.
“The same happened to me,” she shared as renewed fear trickled through her. “Why are they doing this?” she asked, doing her best to keep from panicking even more.
“I don’t know,” he replied, his voice low.
Again, a loud claxon issued and this time it was coming from inside her room again. “Fuck!” she cursed, unsure exactly what to do. Deciding to get back to the spot that wasn’t illuminated before… it had been the only safe place in the cell last time… she quickly darted for it and braced herself.
Again, the floor lit up in blue light, including the spot she was standing on. Yelping in pain as a jolt passed up into her through the soles of her feet, she darted her eyes around frantically looking for a spot that wasn’t lit. Finding it in the other corner of the room, she dashed for it, trying to contact the ground with as little skin as possible as she did so. Landing in the middle of it, she gasped with relief. It was benign, just as the dark spot had been last time.
“Are you alright?” the man asked, his worried voice drifting through the wall.
Before she could answer, the same loud buzzer clanged in his room. “It’s in a different spot now!” she warned him through the din. “Try… try the other corner of the room farthest away from the door,” she shouted, dearly hoping she was right about this.
A moment later the noise ceased. “Did it… are you okay?” she said through the grating.
“Yeah… it worked. Thank-you,” he said, obviously grateful for the warning.
Again, alarms blared in her room. She just about sobbed. Now where? She looked about the room urgently trying to guess where the next safe spot might be. Deciding on a different corner of the room, she darted to it and stood, hands clenched and jaw tight in an attempt to prepare.
The floor lit up around the room but not under her. Moments later the noise ended and the floor darkened. “Uh… hey… move to the corner closest to the door… it was the safe spot in here,” she directed the man with a shout.
“Right,” she heard before the alarms sounded in the adjacent room. Biting her lip, she waited, hoping she’d not hear a cry of pain. She didn’t.
Once again, the noise stopped and silence fell. “Thank-you,” she heard from the other side of the wall.
“S’alright,” she answered before the sequence began again. Quickly moving to the last unused corner, she waited, once again hoping she’d made the correct guess.
Again, the ground lit up around her but she was spared the shock. Once again instructing her ‘cellmate’, for lack of a better title, she told him where she assumed the next safe spot would be for him. He’d already guessed as much, though, and when the alarms went off, he too avoided the intended punishment.
Neither of them moved or said anything for a minute, both waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was then the lighting above her dimmed to about half of what it had been. Looking around anxiously, she waited for the next bad thing to happen. “Did your lights just dim?” she heard the man ask.
“Yeah. Maybe… maybe that’s it for now?” she posited hopefully.
“Yeah. Maybe,” he said, not sounding convinced. Then, she wasn’t sure, but she thought he might have said, “Or this could just be the beginning.”