There are flickers of white light as I try to open my eyes, but just when I do, that light becomes blinding, making me close my eyes again. I try to move, but my body feels feverish and heavy. It is as if I have been sick for weeks. But that is weird—I don't remember what I did last week or yesterday or even today. By the way, who am I? That is a stupid question. I am... I am... I ask again, but my mind greets me with silence. Who am I? Where am I? And what is this stupid light? God, if only someone would turn off that stupid thing.
I feel so sleepy. I want to go home, but where is home? I force my eyes open to find out what's happening. It takes time to adjust to the light, but as I do, I can see blurry dark figures and a weird sound of buzzing and clicking of spikes mingled with the sounds of sharpening knives. I have a bad feeling about this. I blink again, and this time my vision is clear.
What the hell is this? I think as I stare in stunned silence, the color draining from my face as my breath becomes ragged and my body goes cold with fear. I want to scream, but fear makes it impossible for my mouth to make any sound.
There are three strange, hideous creatures around me, standing on their sharp, long-clawed legs. Their torsos resemble those of dinosaurs—if only dinosaurs had such scaleless, slimy, grayish skin that reeks of a fluid so foul I don't even want to know what it is. Their hands are somewhat smaller and humanoid, but they are thin, very thin, with long fingers like those of an aged woman with long nails. But what is most frightening is their faces—their eyes. They have no eyes, just empty sockets. There is no nose, just two pear-shaped holes. Their mouths have no lips, just a long, curved, smile-shaped opening filled with the most razor-sharp, long teeth I have ever seen. They are smiling. These monsters are enjoying cutting me open.
I need to move. I need to save myself. But how? I need to be clever about this—one mistake could end me in an instant. What have they cut so far? I can't see much, but I can feel it. They have skinned my stomach, arms, and legs. It is painful—excruciatingly painful—but I have not passed out. How? It's like they are keeping me awake on purpose. That means they need to keep me alive to finish doing whatever they are trying to do. I need to use this to my advantage. I see that I am not restrained. They think I am unable to move, and I doubt they can see, but they can sense.
From the corner of my eye, I see a knife placed next to me on a tray with surgical equipment. This is literally do or die. Throwing caution to the wind, I grab the knife and jab it into the first alien's nostril. They are surprised as the alien falls back, screaming in pain. I run with all the strength I can muster, as fast as I can, through the door I didn't even know was there, sprinting down the hallway with no sense of direction, not stopping to think or notice anything. I just know one thing—I need to get out of here.
All the alarms start ringing. I can hear thumping footsteps chasing after me, but I don't look back. I just run straight into a room as I hear them closing in and slam the door shut, locking it. I turn around to see where I am, and in my panic, I instinctively attack the human with an alien face standing behind me. But just as I hurl the surgical knife at him, the glass between us shatters and falls to the ground. And as I look down, I see his reflection in the glass, but as I look up again, there is just a wall with a shattered mirror. I look back down at the broken mirror's remains and see the alien's surprised face looking back at me—with those eyes. My eyes.
And I realize—it's me.
What have they done to me?
To be Continued.... if you wish?