I slowly opened my eyes only to find myself in a total enveloping darkness. I blinked twice and tried to orient myself and discern where I was. I had fallen asleep in my bed and now I was waking up on a hard cold surface. Had I rolled off of my bed and onto the floor? I quickly dismissed this idea. The floor of my bedroom is padded with soft carpeting. Maybe I had somehow gotten up and sleep walked into the bathroom and for some reason had lain down on the floor. I wobbily rose to my feet and held out my hands in front of me, groping blindly for the light switch. I walked five feet without bumping into anything and feeling nothing but the cool still air around me.
As the last vestiges of sleep left me I began to feel the first tendrils of fear snaking across my mind. My house has never been this dark, not even in the middle of the night and I was dealing with a darkness so all encompassing that I could not see the fingers that were directly in front of my face. And my bathroom, while big, is not so huge that I would not have bumped into the sink or the tub by now. 'So if I'm not at home where the hell am I?' I thought to myself as the tendrils of fear grew larger and grasped at my heart.
I was about to begin walking again when the lights came on. After being in such total darkness, having the lights turned on had the effect of my looking directly into the sun. I quickly shut my eyes and brought a hand up to shield them while simultaneously letting out a hiss of pain.
When I felt my eyes had adjusted, I slowly opened them and looked around in amazement. I was in a room that I estimated was about 10 by 12 feet. The walls were white and smooth and showed no wear or dirt whatsoever. There were no windows and only one door. The door was also white and had no discernable doorknob, nothing to indicate that it was a way out. Indeed if it weren't for a faint outline, a brief disturbance of all that white, I would have mistaken it for part of the wall. There was a toilet in the corner opposite me and a roll of toilet paper next to it and nothing else. The rest of the room was bare. I looked beneath me. The floor looked as white and smooth as the walls. I then looked above me. Beside the flourescent lights encased in what looked like barbed wire, there were hooks in the ceiling. Four hooks embedded into the ceiling approximately three feet apart. The sight of the hooks chilled me and I shuddered involuntarily.
I tried to convince myself that I was asleep, that this was merely a particularly strange dream, but my mind knew better. This was reality. I realized that I had never felt so scared in my entire life. I walked to the door to see if there was any way to open it. As I pushed on it fruitlessly, I heard a voice.
"Joshua Scott Chasez", it stated emotionlessly. The voice boomed at me, strong and male. I looked around but could not pinpoint the source of the voice. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once and yet I could locate no speakers or anything that would produce that effect. It was like listening to the Great and Powerful Oz.
The voice continued, "This is the final time that you will be called by that name. From now on you are nothing. Soon you will be less than nothing. You will be broken down until you are no longer a man but a cringing beast. This is what awaits you. Do you understand?"
During this statement I stood as still as a statue, hearing the words but not really comprehending them. What the hell was this about? This was far too elaborate to be a joke, but this couldn't possibly be real could it?
"Who the hell are you? What the fuck is this place?" I asked as I looked at the ceiling. I was surprised to hear the anger in my voice. It superceded the fear that I had expected to hear.
Suddenly, the floor beneath me came alive. I felt a shock at my bare feet that seemed to vibrate throughout my entire body. I jumped back and yelped in pain and surprise.
"Do you understand?" the voice repeated, just as emotionless as before.
At the moment, my fear left me entirely and all I felt was anger. "I don't understand shit! What the fuck is going on here?!" I yelled.
I again felt electricity shoot through my feet and course up my body. This time it lasted longer and instead of jumping back I found myself rooted to the spot. When it was over I fell to my hands and knees breathing heavily.
"Do you understand?"
"Fuck you!" I growled as I looked up. The shock came again, pure white-hot pain as it entered me through my hands, knees and legs. It held me there for what seemed an eternity as my body convulsed and shuddered. The pain was unreal, having invaded my every nerve ending. Just when I thought I could take no more and would surely die from the pain, it stopped. This time I dropped completely to the floor, my body incapable of supporting itself. I lay there shivering and panting. The righteous anger I had felt only moments ago was gone now. All that remained was nice healthy fear.
"Do you understand?" the voice repeated.
I shakily replied, "Yes."
"Yes what?" the voice questioned.
"Yes sir?" I questioned. I was unsure of the response that was expected of me, but I knew I would say almost anything to avoid receiving another shock.
"Good boy."