I was awakened by the constant drip-drip-drip of water.
The pain in the back of my neck caused me to groan. I tried to open my eyes, but there was no light at all.
After a few minutes, I realized I was wearing a blindfold.
Unconsciously, I moved and became aware that my hands and feet were bound.
My heart was racing with panic.
What's happening?
Am I incarcerated?
As I fretted, the drip?drip?drip continued. My head was struck by a cold drop.
Where am I?
For what reason is there water?
"Is anyone there?" I called, but my voice was muffled by the silence.
"Dillon?""Dillon, are you there?"
I called out his name, but nobody showed up.
How long I had been gone was unknown to me. I was starving.
When I lost my vision, my other senses became more acute. The sound of the water was enormous, and every drop that touched my forehead was like a tiny, icy slap.
I had the impression that I was in a pool of water. The drops were the only thing there?drip, drip, drip.
The blindfold was splattered by the water, feeling damp and chilly against my skin. I turned my head and became increasingly afraid of dying.
"Is anyone there?" "Say something!" I let out a scream.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Let me go!"
I shouted until my voice became raspy.
I became exhausted and hungry.
The constant leaking kept me awake at night. The incessant pain began to fill my head with voices.
"Why won't you take your meds?" Sometimes Dillon would say.
Then, "Jenn, what happened to you?" Hailey inquired.
"Did you see the packages at her door?" the neighbor then asked.
I kept hearing those voices until my head ached.
"I'm not sick!" I sobbed.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Why are there packages? Why me?
I shouted back at the air until my throat ached.
How long I was there is unknown to me. At last, I heard footsteps in the mist.
I pivoted and struck. "Who are you?" Give me a break!
There was no response, only the sound of footsteps approaching and stopping beside me. "Who are you?" I asked. Talk to me, please!
The back of my hand then started to sting.
Cold fluid was forced into my vein.
"What is that?" You're injecting what into my body? I gave a raspy sound.
Nobody spoke. The sound of footsteps decreased.
The sound of the water dripping made every second seem endless as I lay there, numb and floating. Day and night, like a never-ending nightmare, that cold, weird liquid flowed inside me.
I was unable to distinguish between day and night or the passage of time. The voices in my head, which were constantly screaming, laughing, or crying, were the only people I had with me. Like someone waiting to die, I was restrained and defenseless the entire time.
It must be a dream, I told myself, and everything would end if I could only wake up.
Then the footsteps reappeared, swiftly and fearfully this time.
Someone pulled the blindfold off.
My eyes grumbled because they were not used to the light. I waited for my vision to clear while blinking. When it did, I recognized the face.
It was my weird neighbor.