Blackness — ( A Picture Prompt)

 

Where am I?”

Charlie thought as he opened his eyes and put his hand up to his head in an effort to hold back the blinding pain. It didn’t work but he held it there as he tried standing anyway. He didn’t remember much of last night. A few drinks at the local bar after work, nothing to much. Charlie knew it had to be after that because he was still wearing his suit; as crinkled as it had become from lying on the ground. Taking his hand from his brow, he brushed himself down and glanced around. Nothing but grass and trees. Daylight shone through the canopy but not much, which made him assume it was early morning.

Was this the morning after the bar? Or later? How long had he been unconscious for?

He looked down for his watch. It was gone.
“Great,” Charlie muttered to himself, “I’ve either lost it or been robbed,”

Patting down his pockets came out equally as empty, meaning his wallet and any money was also gone, as was his cell. He was definitely stuck for the moment. Charlie contemplated shouting, and almost opened his mouth when he stopped himself.

What if I’m not alone? What if there’s an animal nearby?

He thought about it as he looked around again and decided against it. A noise to his left made him focus and he tried peering through the early morning fog sitting low to the ground. He saw nothing but the sound seemed to resemble something similar to a vehicle. Nothing else seemed promising, maybe this was his best bet. Charlie began to walk towards it, keeping in as straight a line as he could manage with no bearings.

He could be anywhere.

As he walked he tried to think about what had happened the last night. Only faint slivers of memory came back to him. He remembered the bar. He remembered dancing with a girl, a few drinks. But nothing more. Had she drugged him? Had the barman drugged him? He didn’t feel drugged. He stopped by a tree and picked a rock from the ground, carving a makeshift mark into the side. He may not know where this was, but he was damned if he was going to walk in a circle.

Charlie continued on. Every second tree he passed, another mark was made. The forest seemed to go forever as he walked. He didn’t mind the walk, he was used to long distance walking. But this felt longer. He slowed his pace and breathed deep. He didn’t really feel like passing out again. As he let out an exhale, a rustle of leaves to his right made him jump. He moved behind a nearby tree, which ended up being pretty skinny and didn’t hide him well, but he peered out towards the sound anyway.

A girl picked herself up from the forest floor in front of him. From a quick judgment, he guessed 25 to 28. Probably something around that. He didn’t recognise her. Although, not that his memory was totally reliable right now. She had a darker blonde hair, done up in a loose ponytail. A black and grey coloured jumper, and jeans. She didn’t look threatening at least. She looked like she was in a similar situation.

He moved out from behind the tree.

“Hey,” Charlie announced as he stepped forward.

The girl spun around.

“Do you happen to know where we are?” He asked moving slowly forward trying not to frighten her. The girl shook her head and glanced around.

“How did I get here?” She asked calmly. A lot more calmly than Charlie had thought in his head when he first woke up.

“I don’t know, for either of us,” Charlie replied holding his hands out to his side, “Names Charlie. What’s yours?”

The girl hesitated for a moment. She looked like she was trying to get her bearings, glancing around and trying to piece everything together.

“Names Kate,” She replied not really looking in his direction.

“Pleased to meet you, despite the circumstances,” Charlie said stopping his approach forward.

“I guess you don’t know where this place is either?” She asked turning to the stranger who had just appeared.

Charlie shook his head.

“Great. Stuck then,” Kate replied patting down her clothes looking for a cellphone. Nothing.

“Maybe something to do with what we were doing last night?” Charlie asked, “I was at a bar after work. How about you?”

Kate decided to trust him, at least for now, “I was at friends party by the beach. Nothing really,”

“Do you remember anything?”

“No,” Kate replied, “Nothing more than a couple of drinks, and talking with my friends. You?”

“Nothing,” Charlie told her, and looked around.

“The hell is going on here” Charlie said aloud directing it more towards the location than Kate specifically.

“No idea,”

Kate turned to him, “What were you doing when you found me?” She asked suddenly curious about how he was just here.

“I was walking a straight line, marking my way as I go. Figure it would get me somewhere,” Charlie told her holding up the stone in his left palm as he said it. He pointed with his right to the trees he had just passed, and Kate stepped around to look.

“What marks?” she asked seeing nothing.

Charlie looked back at his path. A confused look crossed his brow as the line of trees behind him were surprisingly bare of his work, “What the?” He exclaimed as he dropped the stone and began running between trees to make sure he was looking at the right ones. Nothing. It was like he hadn’t moved.

“I swear, I marked these,” He told her as he ran back to her.

Kate grabbed a stone from the ground and scratched a tree before dropping it again and watched.

“What are you doing?” Charlie asked, unsure.

“Testing,” Came the reply as she watched and soon enough the mark faded off the bark and disappeared.

“Well, there’s your trail,” She said gesturing uselessly towards the vanishing mark, “More mystery,”

“So what do we do know?”

“We?” Kate asked?” “I just met you, why I should I go with you?”

“Well, we are both in the same predicament,” Charlie asked putting his hands up in a defense posture, “We could work together?”

“What if whoever put us here didn’t want that?”

“What if they did?”

“You mean like a test?”

Charlie nodded, “Maybe”

A bright light flooded the area and the squinted to look around. The trees in the distance began to fade, and blackness began to close towards them in all directions. Both of them spun around unsure what to do. There was no where they could move to, it was full circle around them and closing fast. The blackness enveloped them.

“Kate?” Charlie asked unable to see in the pitch black that had surrounded him. There was no response. “Kate?” He called again slightly louder this time. Still nothing. What is happening? He thought reaching out both of his hands like a blind man trying to move without his cane. He felt nothing. No space. No trees. No person. The silence was deafening.

Charlie pulled his arms back, and wrapped them around himself. At least he could still feel himself. There was that. He didn’t know what to do. He dropped to the floor, or what he believed was floor for where he was standing. Was he standing? He didn’t even know any more. He didn’t even know if his eyes were open or closed. There was too much black. A small pinprick of light made him hope. It appeared to come towards him, but it didn’t grow in size. The light was like a firefly darting around the sky. It flew around him.

He heard a voice.

Too soft to make out.

He heard it again this time just a little clearer. It sounded familiar. Warm. Inviting. He reached out his hand toward the small bug shaped light. A flash enveloped him. He suddenly felt warm, and surrounded.

He felt at home.

The light faded out again leaving only blackness and emptiness.

Charlie’s prone body lay in the hospital bed as machines beeped a long solitary beep. A nurse beside the bed leaned over a switched it off. The small, frail, lady in the chair nearby wept as a younger woman held her shoulders, weeping as well.

The older woman’s visitor badge read: Kate.