Elle

"It will be ok" Elle whispered into my ear.

I sat in the chair slowly. My breathing had reached a frantic pant. Sweat rushed out of my pores and my head pounded. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable. I felt the surge enter my brain; my thoughts flew through everything I could remember.

I awoke slowly. The dim light escaping through the door stung my eyes at first and I couldn't move. My eyes finally adjusted and I could make out the crumbling brick wall and rusting steel door in front of me. I tried to move but my body was unresponsive. I didn't know where I was or how I got there. I studied the wall more closely. It looked several hundred years old. The bricks were worn on the edges and stained green with mold, over half of them were cracked in half, and the mortar was crumbling away. The bottom of the door had almost completely rusted away. The rust faded towards the center of the door, but where the door handle used to be was a massive hole, it must have rusted away years ago. After several more minutes I was finally able to lift myself and sit on the edge of the bed. I let my head droop between my legs, my head was pounding. I took a deep breath, the musty air filled my lungs and made my stomach turn. I looked at the floor; the concrete was wet and horribly worn. I had a pair of brown leather shoes on, neatly tied laces, and clean white socks. They stuck out like a sore thumb against the rough floor.

The door made a horrible sound, like a car had just slammed into it, and flung open. An old man, looking about seventy years old, stood there staring at me. He was balding badly, only a small rim of white hair remained on the perimeter of his skull. His face was wrinkled, looking as if gravity had taken its toll on his skin. His eyes were a fiery blue deeply set into his face accented by bulging veins filling in the small white slits. His bushy paper white eyebrows were a mess, the tiny hairs flying every which way. He was about five foot six with a slight hunch, and was wearing a flannel shirt and jeans.

"You're in a world of trouble." He said laughing. He wheezed for a few seconds, and then coughed.

"You'll never make it to my age the way you're going eh?" He said laughing again. He walked slowly up to my bed and offered his hand to me. I took it and stood up trying not to pull on him. I was scared I might break him.

"What trouble old man?" I asked him. I didn't know what he was talking about.

"That's the best part." Another voice said from the doorway. I looked up and a man was standing in the door. He looked about thirty years old, his dark brown hair was combed neatly to the side. He had thin glasses and a pointy nose. He was clean-shaven and wore a nicely pressed business suit.

"Tell me, what is your name?" He asked me. I thought it was a stupid question. I went to answer him getting as far as opening my mouth, but I couldn't speak my name. I couldn't remember my name. I stood with a stupid look on my face for several seconds contemplating the fact that I could not recall my own name.

"Precisely." He said smiling. I looked at him and then at the old man. I tried to recall something, anything before waking up in the bed, but nothing was there. Where was my memory, why couldn't I recall who I was or where I had been.

"Don't bother it won't come back to you." The man in the suit said. I looked at him completely lost.

"Come with me." He said and motioned for me to walk out of the door. I slowly made my way out of the room and into the hallway. The hallway looked exactly as the room, an old worn concrete floor with moldy brick walls. It was lit horribly; occasionally a lamp with a dim bulb would provide a few feet of illumination and then darkness.