When the hands of the clock went two trips around since the call hung up, I was certain that an entire day had passed. An entire day that I spent pacing from corner to corner of my small white room while I tried to think over my next move. Unfortunately, thinking was my downfall.

It felt like the more I tried to think of a way out, the more I convinced myself I was trapped here forever and that there would be no escape. How would someone leave a room with no door? The few times I wasn't pacing, I tried using the tablet again to see if the voice returned but it didn't.

Growing with frustration, I threw the tablet onto the ground several times to see if it would break but the damn thing was either too strong or the floor was too weak. Or maybe I didn't throw it hard enough. I threw it as hard as I could but maybe I was the one who was weak, not the floor.

Hearing the voice did confirm one thing at least. That someone else knew I was in here. It's likely that someone was also watching me right at this very second, waiting to see what I would do. Maybe if I can't find a door to escape from, I'd have to find a way to get their attention.

But even then, my options were limited. This game was stacked against me. The room felt so empty. It was so empty. It reflected how I felt inside. I even tried to push the bed several times to see if it would budge but it must've been glued to the ground given how it didn't move an iota.

Now that I think about it, maybe the hands of the clock only went around one time instead of two. Had it been only 12 hours instead of 24? Would it have made a difference either way?

Here, in this small room, there was no way to tell if it was morning or night. And if I had known it was night right now, would I sleep? Or would I lie awake, drowning in my thoughts as I started to do more and more? Even when I felt tired and tried to sleep, I couldn't shut off my mind.

The hands of the clock still made its rotations but its movements no longer mattered. It lost relevancy to me. I no longer went through the motions of life. I existed but that's it. One small slip and I may lose even that, too. Time was still moving but I wasn't moving. My life had become still, almost frozen, if it could even be called a life anymore. Though, if I wasn't alive, was I dead?

I immediately closed my eyes at the thought, willing it away. Thinking about death brought immediate discomfort even if I didn't know the exact reason why. A part of me felt like I didn't want to know the reason. That it may be too gruesome or horrific for my already fragile mind.

Instead, I forced myself to think of the ocean, vast and largely unexplored yet... familiar. The waves lapped away at the beach, and if I pushed myself, I could almost remember being there.

Almost.

As soon as I thought I could envision being there, everything turned dark again. Further attempts to bring back the ocean failed, and I opened my eyes to my disappointment. I was stuck in this white world where both my past and future were equally uncertain and I hated my present.

Breaking me out of my thoughts, the tablet on my bed began ringing. I jumped at the sound, almost running over to pick it up. Once it was in my hands, I stared down at it as if my life depended on it. One of the previously monochrome question marks started sparkling.

One tap later and the icon transformed before my eyes into... a toilet?

I tapped on it again, desperate to see what I had unlocked now, and then the walls around me turned pitch black. Before I could look for any other differences in my environment, a cloth bag came over my head. I couldn't see anything but I could feel someone grab my hands from behind.

As much as I tried to resist, I was too late because my hands were tightly bound. The element of surprise was a difficult thing to prepare for. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged away.

▬▬▬

When the cloth bag over my head was removed, I knew I was in a different room.

All it took was one glance around to confirm my suspicions. Even though the walls and floor were the same blinding white as the other room, the furniture was a stark contrast. A toilet and a sink were much different from a bed and a clock, even if they were all the same shade of white.

Immediately, I turned around, half-expecting to see someone standing behind me. Yet no one was there. Someone had to have removed the bag over my head because it certainly wasn't me.

But then... who did it?

Just like before, I was alone again but this time, I was in a smaller room. I was aware that someone brought me here. I knew I was walking for quite some time but with my eyes covered, I couldn't tell much more than that — neither how long I walked nor how far I had come.

As far as I knew, the room I was in before had no door either. Unless that was just a trick of the eye. Maybe there was a door hidden there somewhere. A door that I couldn't open from the inside. A door that could only be opened from the outside. This bathroom also lacked a visible door.

Maybe this room was the same. Maybe there was a door somewhere that I couldn't see. How else would I have gotten here? Perhaps the exit was hidden from me to try and keep me trapped. Once I was sure of where the door was, I would run right through it — consequences be damned.

Anywhere had to be better than where I'd been for the last who-knows-how long. Better than the white room and the spiraling and the confusion over whether I was dead or alive or whether reality was just a lie or all the other thoughts that kept tumbling out of my head every second.

Before I could ponder over it more, my stomach began to ache as if I ate something that disagreed with me. I glanced at the toilet and knew there was only one thing to be done. Maybe I had been brought here for a reason. The people watching me knew me better than I knew myself.

As I sat on the toilet, that sense of being watched returned with a full vengeance, but it wasn't enough to deter me. It felt so good to finally relieve myself as if I was waiting for this moment. I didn't realize how badly I needed to go until I just... went. It just didn't cross my mind earlier.

Once I was done and had begun washing my hands, I wondered what I'd look like if this bathroom had a mirror. Normally, bathrooms were supposed to have mirrors but this one didn't. Was there something wrong with me that they didn't want me to find out by looking at myself?

No, it couldn't be that simple. Could it? A part of me was doubtful that it would lead anywhere but another part of me craved the truth. There was so much information I was lacking about myself. So many memories missing. My entire identity. All I had was what the voice called me, Aura, and some vague memories about what life on Earth was like. But I wanted more than that.

As soon as I turned off the water for the sink, the walls of the bathroom went dark, just like it did when I pushed the toilet icon on the tablet. Unlike that time, I knew what would happen next.

When the hands grabbed me from behind this time, I elbowed the person as hard as I could and didn't stop until I heard someone fall to the ground. Then, as fast as I could, I turned around to look for any openings in the wall. A small light outside the bathroom guided me to the exit.

Not caring where it led, I ran out the door and kept running even when my legs began to burn.

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