First night

As the metal door slid behind me there was a barely any room to breathe. With confinement like this who needs a coffin, I thought. Three seconds passed before the door in front of me opened. Seeing Ed and Mat waiting for me on the floor I asked, "Does that happen every time?" Both of them nodded their heads. After rolling my eyes I took in the bare walls and saw that the room we were currently in was about the same size as the library. Ed commented with, "This is one of the few rooms that doesn't have cameras watching us." Mat followed with, "From what I know this room doesn't have any hearing devices either, due to me." "So we can talk freely here?", I asked and they both shrugged.

"Do you think they could be watching us by infrared?", I asked. They both shrugged again. Taking the opportunity to ask questions I started with, "Do we all sleep here or we do we get our own rooms too?" "We get our own rooms, it's best to go in right after the third bell rings", Ed said.

"Have either of you seen the thing from The Pit?", I asked them both. Ed shook his head while Mat nodded. Both Ed and my eyes were on Mat now. He sighed before saying, "When I first got here they tested me to see how strong my commands are. The scientist saw that I can control 10 people in the same room along with animals. That's when they brought in the thing from The Pit. If I wasn't behind a thick bulletproof wall it would've eaten me alive." Mat shuddered at the memory. Ed gave him a small smile followed by a gentle arm rub during Mat's pause. "What did it look like?", Ed scowled at me while his eyes aimed daggers at my head. Mat took in a deep breathe before continuing, "It looked like my dog...Shelly. She died from cancer. I thought I was hallucinating, then she started to shiver. I thought she was cold. That's when her fur was changing from red to pitch black. Her body started to twist and expand, she turned into a mouth full of razor sharp teeth in less than a minute", after another shudder he finished. "That thing started banging against the wall, I tried to command it to stop. When it made a dent in the wall the soldiers came to drag me out before the wall broke", Mat said in a shaking voice of a whisper.

Ed touched his upper arm again and said, "I'm sorry you had to see and relive that Mat." He looked up at Ed and from what I could see gave a smile of his own and went back to looking at his hands. "So the thing can look like someone from your past?", I asked to break the silence. Mat gave a small shrug. Looks like he's done for the day, I thought. Ed looked at me critically, "What are you getting at?" I looked at Ed and decided to come clean, "I want to get out of here as much as you guys do, I need to know what that thing is and what it can do before I get myself killed", I said with conviction. I didn't care if anyone was watching or hearing us now. I finished with, "I have one last question to ask you guys." Mat looked up from his hands and Ed held my gaze, "Do either of you suffer from sleep paralysis?" Both of them were surprised at the random question, Ed even said "Huh?"

Before I could say another word the bell rang again. Both Mat's and Ed's eyes widen as they scrambled to get on their feet. I started to get up when Ed grabbed my hand and pulled me up. With all of us running down the hall I saw that Mat's door is the first one, he scanned his wrist for the door to open. Ed's is the next, he waited to see if I could open the door next to his.

As I brought my wrist to the scanner it didn't open. I tried it another time, it still didn't open. Ed saw me try and fail a few times, I even tried other doors close by none of them opened. "30 seconds", Ed said in a panic. I continued in vain, hoping that one of these doors would open.

Ed hooked his arm around my waist while his palm pushed my upper body against his tightly. I could barely breathe with him holding me so tightly to his chest. Ed scanned his wrist then turned to brace his back against the door. As it opened he turned on his side for both of us to fall into his room before the door slammed shut. With his momentum and our combined weight we hit the floor hard. Even though the door was sealed shut I could still hear an ear piercing screech from the other side. Whatever made that sound must be a force against nature. "So there really is a monster that isn't us", I said while getting off the floor.

Ed was leaning against the door breathing deeply while nodding. I got up only to fall back onto my back. This time it wasn't the floor, it felt softer. Turning my head to the right I saw a pillow underneath some linen. I sat up remembering where I am and with whom. Ed chuckled at my actions while he came to sit on the other side of the bed. "So what were you going to say before we had to flee for our lives?", he asked.

I sighed before saying, "When I'm asleep I can astral project." Seeing that Ed wasn't in shock I continued, "I've been doing it for years now, I'm not sure how I'll look to you or Mat", I said breaking eye contact. Giving Ed a moment to process what I said my eyes traveled around his room.

From what I could tell it looked to be about the size of a studio apartment without the kitchen. Hearing Ed clear his throat I turned my head back to him. "Do you think the collar or bracelet will prevent you from astral projecting?", he asked cautiously. "I'm not sure...only one way to find out", I said.

Seeing Ed's hand getting awfully close to my own I got off the bed to face him. For the first time today we were at eye level. "Sorry about that", Ed said. "Like I said, 'it's not your fault I have issues being touched'", I said. "If you don't mind, can you tell me why?", he asked sincerely.

I held his gaze while my subconscious brought all the memories to the back of my eyes. "I've never been a fan of being touched, let alone by anyone I don't know. My old therapist called it 'haphephobia', its an anxiety issue I've had since I was a kid", I told him. Ed gave me a half smile as if saying I get it. I gave a smirk back in response.

He didn't look away from me, "What do I look like?" I didn't have a chance to think before blurting the words out. Ed moved his gaze from my glasses to my feet and slowly upward. He took a longer look at my face before saying, "If you're asking me what I think you look like I'd say you're a survivor. If you're asking me what you look like physically I'd say you have fair skin, a petite body frame with curly raven hair that compliments the freckles and beauty marks lacing your face", he said. Ed's description of myself made my head spin.

The sound of him clearing his throat again snapped me out of my thoughts. "I'm going to the bathroom", he said while standing. I watched him go to one of the closed doors. Once he was inside I scanned his room properly this time.

Seeing only bare walls seems to be the norm around here. Aside from the bed Ed has a nightstand, a small lamp, and some books. They were titled with ASL (American Sign Language). "Mat found those on his first day here", Ed said walking to the bed. "He and I have been learning to use sign instead of him speaking", Ed finished. Seeing that he left the door open I asked, "Do you mind?" Ed shook his head slowly.

Once inside the bathroom I kept the light off as I closed the door. I took my clothes off to cover the tiny bit of light seeping in. With pitch darkness I removed my sunglasses to actually see myself in the mirror. The first thing I saw were my eyes, where the sclera was once white it looked to be a darker color now, my pupils or what should be the pupils are now a slit instead of being round.

After taking in a deep breath I let my eyes roam the mirror. I could barely see the freckles that Ed mentioned. Seeing the scares around my eyes made my blood boil. I closed my eye tightly and took in a deep breathe before seeing anymore that might upset me.

After opening my eyes again I moved my vision downward; opening my mouth to see an extra set of canines on both the top and bottom half of my jaw. Continuing to look down at my body I saw bones poking underneath my skin, I had never had that happen before. If I had to guess I'm about 50 lbs. lighter than I should be.

Finally done expecting my body I heard a knock on the door. "You ok in there?", Ed asked on the other side. I let out a small gasp before replying with, "I'll be out in a sec, mind if I use your mouth wash?" Ed didn't waste time to answer with, "Help yourself." Turning the knob for cold water I splashed a little on my face before closing my eyes tightly to grab my clothes. I used my shirt to pat my face dry. Once my glasses were on my pants were next. Finally I grabbed the mouth washes and gargled for about 30 seconds.

I left the bathroom to see Ed taking some spare sheets, a comforter, and a pillow out of the closet. He took one look at me and said, "Your shirt in on backwards." I looked down to see he was right. As I adjusted the shirt I said, "I'll take the floor." Ed was about to speak in protest when I interrupted with, "I'm not going to take your bed after all the trouble you went through because of me. Plus I was living on the street before coming here, I'll sleep better on the floor." Ed heard the determination in my voice and decided not to argue. He handed everything reluctantly to me with a nod.

With everything in my arms I moved to the other side of the room. "Are you going to turn into a paralysis demon tonight?", Ed asked. Once I was done laying everything down I looked at him and said, "I'm not sure what I'll look like; although I do know you'll see me better in complete darkness", I said using a matter of fact tone. Ed looked at the lamp and said, "Sorry I can't sleep without a light on". I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Are there any other fears that I should know about before either one of us sleeps tonight?", I asked. Ed had to think about it, while he did I got on top of the comforter. He eventually shook his head slowly.

"From what I know about my astral projection it works best when I'm dead asleep", I told Ed. He looks at me cautiously and didn't say a thing. "I'll keep my glasses on so I don't go blind and you don't freak", I said not breaking his gaze. "Why would I freak?", he asked while his brows furrowed. "Every since that night my eyes have never been the same; I'm colorblind and that's not all", I said. From what I could tell Ed looked sad hearing that. "If it makes you feel better, sometimes that's all I see when I turn into specific animals", he replied with.

"That's not the only thing though", I waited for Ed to respond. After he nodded I continued, "My eyes aren't normal anymore. You know how the sclera is supposed to be white and the pupil is supposed to be round?" After another nod I finished with, "Mine aren't like that at all anymore."

Ed inhaled deeply before asking, "What should I expect to see so I don't do anything stupid?" I had to look around for the right shadows to hide in when my eyes landed underneath the bed. Before saying anything I pointed to the floor of Ed's bed, "I'll call your name until I know you're awake. If you're dumb enough to look down you're gonna see a pair of red slit eyes in the shadows", I said carefully. "If you do look down and see me try not to scream", I told him.

"You're basically the Boogeyman then", he said sarcastically. I chuckled at Ed's remark. Looking at the smirk on Ed's face I said, "Well today has been eventful, I need some sleep." "You might be able to sleep, I'm not sleeping with the Boogeyman in my room", Ed said with a snicker. I couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping my lips. Giving him a last smirk I laid on my back and waited for sleep to creep into my mind.

~

The feeling of being ripped apart from my body to find the closest shadow available brought me to the perfect corner in the room. Seeing that my body wasn't being electrocuted from the collar was a relief. Letting out a sign, my eyes traveled to see Ed had fallen asleep while watching me. I had to suppress my desire to scare the living day lights out of him for making those jokes earlier.

Deciding to be the bigger person I looked up to see the vent that I needed to escape this room. Slowly creeping towards it, I moved my wisp of a body through it quickly. Not feeling or seeing any alarms I moved through the vents slowly. Seeing Mat asleep on the bed with the mouth piece on my body moved slowly into his room. He left his bathroom door open.

Being in the entrance I called out to him, "Mat, Mat, hey wake up Mat." Seeing him stir and move to his other side wore my patience out. "MAT WAKE UP!", I shouted while banging on the door. Watching him wake in a panic I had to take a deep breathe to prevent myself from laughing. His body was shaking so much that his eyes didn't catch mine for a few seconds. When he finally saw me he screamed, "AAHH!!"

"Mat its me, Z", I spoke very softly. With disbelief written across his face I asked, "Remember when I asked if you have sleep paralysis? Well this is the reason why", I kept my tone calm. Mat could barely nod his head.

His body was still shaking under the covers. I thought of our conversation earlier and said, "Your dog's name was Shelly, you told me that earlier today." His body was starting to relax. Mat exhaled deeply, with a finger pointing towards me he said, "Why do you look like that?" Knowing exactly what he meant I said, "This is my astral form, my body is in Ed's room."

Mat looked at me puzzled, "What are you doing here?" "Aside from scaring the shit out of you I came to ask a question", I said with a snicker. Mat furrowed his brows, "Then what was so important that you almost gave me a heart attack?" Moving out of the shadows to the edge of his bed I said, "I want to be free and I'm willing to do whatever it takes; even if that means killing whoever gets in my way." Seeing a spark in Mat's dead eyes I asked, "Are you with me?" He didn't even wait a second to respond with, "Yes."

Looking up at the ceiling I said, "I should get going, try to get some sleep...if you can". Feeling Mat's eyes follow me as I went through the vent wasn't a surprise. Moving ahead slowly I passed everyone's room including Hannah's.

Eventually found the surveillance room. Looking into the room carefully I saw three guards below me. Two were watching Hannah and the others while only one was watching Mat, Ed, and myself. Slowly going down to see if I had been caught I noticed that the third guard was sleeping on the job. Hearing one of the other guards go out for coffee I took my chance to piggy back in on his shadow.

He body shook as I joined in. "Something wrong?", the other guard asked. I didn't move or dare make a sound when he said, "Felt like someone walked over my grave." He shook his body again and I followed the action.

Moving my body to the soles of his boots to keep my presence there a secret. As he walked down the halls I counted the steps and turns he made. Eventually he stopped to take a few quick steps in a short room. Feeling him make a turn to go back into the surveillance room I waited for the perfect opportunity for sabotage.

Hearing the other guards say "thanks" while the one I was hiding under extended his arm. Feeling him do it a second time I took my chance to force his arm to make a jerking motion towards the monitors. Hearing the all the guards say, "Oh shit!". I knew my work was done here, before I could carefully leave the room the bell rang.

Feeling both my bodies collide caused my lungs to to gasp for air. Seeing Ed come my way I extended my hand to stop him. Once he saw me breathing normally Ed asked, "What's the plan Boogeyman?"