Chapter Text
‘E-Eden?’ I think that’s my name. Well, if it’s not, it will be now. My body and head feel strange, different. Not what I can remember from reality. On that topic, I can’t really remember much about myself. I am not sure of where I am, how I feel and how I ended up here.
But, anyway, I wake up (uncertain of if I ever actually fell asleep). Opening my eyes, I slowly take in my surroundings and come to a realisation that I am in a foreign place. A moderate sized room with six, well-made beds and off-white wallpaper with dull polka dots in all the colours of the rainbow. One of the beds, I am lying in now. Alone, I realise.
From an instinct, I lazily get out of the bed and head towards the one, dark brown door in this mysterious room. After I turn the doorknob and push it open, I end up in a short corridor that’s dimly lit and is a dead-end on my left. On my right, however, is a large, playful room, which looks like a children’s soft play place. The places that you would go to as a child, for someone’s birthday party, and make “friends” with other children, that you would eventually lose and never see again.
It is just now that I pay attention to the other people at this bizarre place. There are other people here. That lessens my worries of being alone. After all, I don’t even know how I got here. People are sat in colourful plastic chairs around circular tables. I focus on behind the tables and see the café area with three women, who look to be working, in it.
I start to head towards a table to try and start a conversation with someone. As I’m walking across the room, I travel past a ball pit, oddly placed in the centre of the room. I tilt my head towards it, focusing my gaze on it, as I move further away from it. I’m heading closer to the tables and notice a free spot next to a denim blue-haired girl, talking to a blonde boy on her right. Cautiously, I sit on the crimson chair next to her. After a few seconds, she notices me and uncomfortably glares at me in the eyes. The girl has straight, medium length hair with a fringe.
“…Hello”, she says eventually. “Did you just wake up? I just saw you come from the bedroom.”
I pay attention to what she is wearing suddenly. A white blouse with lime green short overalls over the top. That makes me think about what I’m wearing. A similar thing, only with yellow overalls. My mind goes blank, so I stare at her for a brief moment. I gather my thoughts up finally and realise that I must answer.
“Uh, yeah. I did.”
“Well, I’m Night.” She searches her brain for something else to say. “And you are?”
“Eden.” I almost forget my name. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure travelling towards me. I’m on edge, so makes me jump slightly, but then I look up to examine the figure. A curvy woman comes towards me with a joyful face. She wears a pink maid dress; the same as the other women in the café area are wearing.
“Hello, and welcome, Eden.” She must have overheard the short-lived conversation I had with Night. “They call me Head Guardian, so that is what you can refer to me as.”
“Hello, Head Guardian. Where are we?” I reply. She appears to freeze for a few seconds, but then attempts to answer me back.
“We serve a narrow selection of food over by the kitchen, if you would like any, so don’t be shy to some over and order some. Besides that, I will see you around, Eden.” Swiftly, she walks off to the kitchen to talk to one of the other women.
That was not the question I asked.
“These kids are… curious”, Head Guardian tells a short grey-haired woman on her left with a sigh. She stands, surveying the counter in front of her. The grey-haired woman shifts her focus from the plates she is washing, to up, then her left, then her right. She stares up at Head Guardian, who has one hand on her hip.
“Yes, those kids. They’re all so innocent,” the short woman finally says, looking around at everyone sat at the tables. Then, she shakes her head and looks down, away from Head Guardian.
“We must protect them here; the poor little souls,” Head Guardian says with a hint of guilt in her voice.
I manage to draw my attention off the women in the kitchen, although one of them- who has long, straight, black hair and brown skin- seems to look more isolated from the other two. They stare at the black marble counter in the corner; it appears they do not know what they are doing.
My focus is snapped back to my own body, where Night is gazing at me blankly. I exchange her the same look, unaware of how awkward this must look from an outside perspective.
“Yeah, the Guardians are… like that,” Night tells me, as I shove my thoughts to the back of my brain and try and forget about them temporarily. Night takes note of the lack of a reply, so carries on: “You can forget about them most of the time though. Would you like to do something?”
“Okay, if you have an idea,” I force myself to reply.
“Would you like to play some games together?” Night stutters on the word ‘together’.
I nod, so we both get up from our seats and go over to a smaller plastic, colourful table with four seats to sit opposite each other. And we do play games together, as a kind of bonding experience. We complete a puzzle and play two board games together. I get to know Night a bit better and trust her as much as I can, as it is my only choice. Unaware of how long this goes on for, Night appears to have a good time with me, however, there is still a small feeling deep down inside me that is uncomfortable here.
As we near the end of our last board game, Night abruptly stands up from her chair, scraping it on the floor, stares at me with a smug look on her face, and says: “Come with me”
I, startled, respond, “Okay.”
Night walks me over to the soft play area I saw earlier, and we are just about to approach it.
It is now that I first see it. It stands in the shadows, menacingly. A moderate-sized creature with a round, purple body and two short legs, equipped with claws on the end; the head covered with a thick substance, appearing to have the texture of TV static, with three, disturbing eyes- peeping through the goop. It is in the soft play area, towards my left in the corner. I subconsciously name it TV Static; an eerie presence with unexpected actions.
I freeze, staring into the darkness. It alarms me; I blink a few times to believe my eyes. Gradually, it appears to vanish, but little do I know, this is only the beginning of a nightmare.
Brushing my short, coral hair out of my eyes, I follow Night up a red, metal ladder and through a narrow tunnel; black with neon stars all over it. The hard plastic that makes up the tunnel hurts my knees as I crawl. We climb down into a claustrophobic, dimly lit room with dismal yellow walls.
I look up quickly at Night- Oh, Night is gone. Gone. That word accompanies me for the moment. I’m alone. Again.