La Couleur des Ténèbres
AND I AM AWOKEN BY A SOUND
There has been a ringing sound for quite some time. It is persistent but not loud. The dull ringing continues to dip in and out of my auditory consciousness in a steady rhythm. For some time it seems the only thing in the world is that ringing. My eyes open to a room lit only by a fluorescent red that creeps up from under the frame of a nearby door. I am in a bed. It is a very large bed; king size. Someone is breathing softly next to me. This person’s breath exhales during the intervals between the distant ringing. I turn my head and spot bulbous shadows towering about the room. Behind me there is a moonlit curtain. I cannot make out the person in the bed next to me. I can only see their dark figure laying beneath the sheets like some creature made of shadows. I want to reach out, but something is wrong.
I cannot move my arm. I cannot wiggle a finger.
I turn my head back to the red light peering from under the door. The ringing sound continues. I try to piece together memories but I can’t. I do not remember how I got into this bed. I do not remember anything at all. Reality has changed, I know deep down in myself that something has changed. My thoughts are…my thoughts are not flowing properly. There is only red. Red and ringing and the breath of a sleeping body.
Then there is another change. I feel my body slowly lifting itself from the mattress, but I’m not lifting it. Or am I? My muscles seem to have vanished, my nerves are unresponsive. My legs slide off of the bed and land on the floor. Everything is perfectly anesthetized. I feel nothing.
My body stands up and the weight of it is present though the nature of its gravity has shifted. I am being pulled by something beyond myself. I slide my socked feet across the floor and move toward the red light. My tongue is hanging from my mouth, saliva is sliding down my chin like drizzled syrup. My hand lifts as I near the light and my fingers find a metal door knob. At last I feel something. I feel the chill of polished steel. I turn the knob and the red fills my eyes.
I step out into a hallway covered in red carpet, bathed in warm, bright red light. At the far end of the hall I see the source of the light, a red EXIT sign. In between the ringing sound I can hear the faint buzz the light makes as electricity passes through the tubes. I take step after step toward the ringing sound.My socks play a beat to the hallway carpet.
There are many doors with metal numbers on them. I can hear voices behind some of them and I can hear nothing behind others. I am in an apartment building or a hotel. I make my way down the hallway and I turn a corner. There is an elevator door made out of gold. I push the down button.
I wait and listen to the ringing sound. I listen to the cables sliding around in the elevator shaft. I listen to the voices throughout the hallway and I try to think. I can’t think. I can only respond. I can only drool.
The elevator door opens and a bright yellow light shoots through my eyes. The elevator is empty. I fall into the bright box. The interior of the elevator is covered in mirrors. I can see myself from all angles. I do not look well. I look filthy. My eyes are wide and frightened. As my selves reflect upon one another I slip deeper into my trance. I am an animal in a hoodie.
I press “3” on the button panel and the doors close. There is a little ding. I rest in the corner of the elevator and my body gets very light as the box and I begin to slip down the shaft. I am very high up.
There is another ding and the door opens and I tumble out into another hallway. This hall is darker than the previous one. There is no red EXIT light here. There are no voices. The only sound is the ringing and the ringing is louder than before.
I continue to walk and navigate myself down the hallway. The ringing gets louder still. I slide my hand along wall and feel the coarse bumps on the plaster. I can smell smoke. Someone has been smoking.
I come to a door and I decide this is it. The ringing is inside of this room. I step closer and I realize the door is unhinged. I place my hand on the knob and again feel the metallic cool. I look up. Room 303. I press on the door and it opens.
I step into the room and I say something like: “Hello?”
There is no answer. There is only ringing.
This room is dark just like the one I woke up in, but the ringing is loud now, piercing. In the far corner of the room I can see a flashing red light. It is a telephone.
I walk right into the room seemingly not giving a shit about whether it has occupants or not. Everything is quick. I reach out and pull the receiver from its rest up to my ear.
“Frank,” says a voice.
It is the most clear and confident male voice I have ever heard in my life. The voice cuts through all of the dullness and numbness surrounding me. I can tell this by the single syllable of my name.
“Frank,” says the voice again. “I am on a bench in the park across the street. It was risky to call you in Cherry’s room. I’d like to speak with you about some important things.”
“Whoisthis?” the words ooze from my mouth.
He responds to me. His words. Clear. I can’t. Explain. Normal thought patterns are going. Sick.
Sick.
“Frank, you need to hurry.”
© 2009, Metazen. All rights reserved.
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