I awoke in an unfamiliar hallway. I sat up from the cold concrete floor below me and tried to get my head to stop spinning.
“Where am I?” I asked myself.
“I can’t remember anything.”
I looked around to see the narrow hallway I found myself in was not just cold and dark but was made completely of cement. The only light came from a single lit lantern that hung upon a metal hook. As I gathered myself, I tried to stand, using the wall as my leverage. I stumbled toward the lantern, trying to balance myself. I lifted the lantern off the hook and began my walk down the foreboding hall. With the new light, I could see myself better. I looked down to see that I was only wearing a long nightgown. The nightgown was ankle length and made of an off-white satin. This only confused me more. I held the lantern close to my body as if I were expecting to protect myself with the dim light that illuminated my face.
I continued to drag my hand along the wall as I searched for a way out. My mind ran wild with thoughts; I couldn’t even concentrate on one. I felt myself falling into the raging river of constant perceptions. Each conclusion crashed over my head, pushing me deeper into the water. I felt as if I was drowning. I felt my last breath of sanity leave my lungs with one last suspicion.
“I was brought here to die.”
I suddenly became frantic; I wanted to fall to my knees and lose all hope, accepting my fate. Then, suddenly with the last step I had strength for, I saw it — the end of the hallway, and the only thing at the end of the hallway was one large steel door. I brought myself to the door. The door spanned most of the wall; it was roughly seven feet tall and four feet wide. The dark steel frame mocked me as it boldly looked down on me. I reached for the door’s lever. As my hand grazed the surface, the ice-cold steel felt enough to make my hand burn. I tried to pull the lever, but I was met with yet another puzzling obstacle —a locked door.
I looked around, in the hopes of spotting the key, or even a tool with which I could open the door. I saw a large rock and, without a second thought, I picked it up and raised it above my head. I then hit the rock over the lever only to be met with the loud crashing sound of the rattling steel. I dropped the rock. Hearing the solid steel was unsettling and off-putting, but still fueled with the adrenaline of my discovery, I turned and walked back in the opposite direction.
“There must be something that I haven’t seen.”
I continued to limp and stumbled as I followed the narrow hallway back towards the place I found myself in. The dark space around me hid in the shadows only to be revealed by candlelight. My hands were sweating from both fear and anticipation. I began to think. I thought about the numbness I was feeling, but that numbness was met by hysteria. I wanted to laugh, and then I wanted to cry. I wanted to fall to my knees, but I ran instead. I could not think without being met with hopeless configurations. I wanted to know why, and how, but I never asked myself who or what. What was it that was making me forget? I found myself running now, but I did not tell my body to run. I tripped, falling over a crack in the cement floor.
I sat myself up and looked down at my elbows and knees now painted red with the blood that reminded me that I was still alive. The blood was calming to me. Entranced by the ruby red river flooding onto the cold unforgiving rock below me, I recollected my thoughts. I reached for my lantern that had skidded across the floor as I fell. I picked it up, and something caught my eye. I looked up to the hook where I retrieved my lantern and saw a rusted key. I tore off some of the cloth from my nightgown and wrapped it around my wounds. I lifted myself and maneuvered the key off the hook. I clutched the key tightly between my fists, and with my lantern ventured back to the steel door. As the steel door came back into my sightline, I pulled the key close into my chest. One hand held the dim light against the ominous door as the other hand searched for the keyhole. Within one rotation of my wrist, the door opened. I lifted my head and pushed against the mighty door, where I unveiled a room.
I walked into the room and lifted the lantern to illuminate the new setting. The room was not just a room, but another puzzle. All around me were staircases, some upside down, some right side up, and all in various directions. There was no second floor or lower floor, just one room, and forty staircases, each with a different roman numeral engraved on them.
I sat down with the lantern in the center of the small room and began to look around. The room smelled of dirt and metal. The ground crunched and crumbled underneath me. The stairs cracked as I investigated each one. I looked behind, under and around each step individually in the hopes of finding the next clue. Some stairs were steep, some took two steps before reaching the next level. I wandered, searching high and low, investigating each corner of the unfamiliar setting.
Silence rang in my ears until a foreign sound broke the quiet imprisonment in my mind.
“It came from the far corner… right?”
I looked to the one corner that was the most unsettling. It was the only corner my lantern didn’t completely light up. I lifted the lantern and walked so carefully that the sound of the dirt beneath my feet was completely muted. I mean, I had already searched this corner. It was the first one I checked. It was in the back right corner of the room. It was the closest to the door. My blood ran cold, and my heartbeat pounded against my chest. Each beat was another step, each one a racing thought, until I reached the corner. I raised the lantern where I saw a silver key lying perfectly upon the step. I would have seen this. Especially out in the open. There was someone, or something, else here with me. My only question was… Is it friend or foe?
I lifted the key and examined it. On the key was a small engraving. I squinted my eyes and read aloud the scripture.
“X-V-I-I…? That’s seventeen!”
Within a moment I found myself at the staircase with the Roman numeral XVII on it. I was confused. How can a staircase have a keyhole? I pushed and pulled against the sand bricks that made up this large, towering staircase. Staircase XVII was the largest and most memorable of the staircases. “XVII” was written engraved two feet high, and each letter was centered on the front-facing wall. I was bruised and covered in cuts and gashes. I had painted both my skin and the ground with the red stain of blood. I felt faint, so why did I keep pushing myself? My thoughts were starting to become the most terrifying element of this experience. My mind was busy rambling, while my body forced all its weight into the action of finding an exit.
At last, I hit the keystone brick. It was the only loose brick, and while I pulled out the gritty piece of the staircase, others fell to the floor. My eyes became impaired by dust, but once it cleared, I saw a small trap door on the ground. There was a keyhole. I took the silver key I had been storing in the lantern base and raised the small door, revealing a ladder. I held the handle of the lantern between my teeth and started my ascent. I crawled down to the small space, where I began to feel trapped. It was pitch dark and the sound of silence returned. I touched my foot to the ground and turned around to another, more terrifying room. I heard the breaking of the walls and then a crash, and the room began to fill with water. I was met with another crash. This one was of the small trap door above me being slammed shut. I hung my light on the ladder and fell to the floor feeling every inch. There must be another key, but where?
I tried to calm myself; I grazed my hands over the concrete floor below me, the rough surface now completely submerged underwater. I could feel the pain in my knees. The water was soaking into the makeshift bandage I had made. My bruised and torn knees expressed their anger. I recentered myself. I could not think about the pain when I was faced with a much greater threat. The water in the room continued to rise, and the visibility lessened. I crawled from corner to corner, slowly making my way back to the center of the room. I felt as if I was in a tank. A fish tank.
The water but a foot from the ceiling, I worried about losing the flame of the candle in my lantern. Within the moment of that thought, the flame was washed away. The room should have been completely dark, but it was not. I could see a small dim light coming from between a crack in the cement wall. I grabbed the lantern and dived towards the light. I brushed my hand against the crack, feeling the brittle surface. I used the lantern and tried to force enough of a bang that the crack would either widen or completely wither away. I tried once, but then there was not enough force. I would try a second time, and I would have no luck. I caught a glimmer from the corner of my eye. I saw the glimmering of a new object. I turned to where I could grab the small item. I brought it back to the small light and saw it was another key, but a gold key.
Running out of air, I looked back to the trap door that was slammed shut. I swam up, grazing my hand over the surface. There was a keyhole on the underside as well. I fumbled but got the golden key in hand. I used the key and threw the door open. I lifted myself up onto the floor with my last bit of strength. I opened my eyes where I saw I was no longer in the room with stairs, but I was on the sidewalk of a suburban street. I looked back to the trapdoor I had lifted myself out of, but it was not there; there was only a manhole. I only heard the overwhelming ringing in my ears. The only other sound was of muffled voices, but I could not tell what they were saying. I raised my head to see I was surrounded by strangers. They all had wide eyes. A man was on the phone. Another was holding my hand. I had no more strength. I felt sick. I now heard sirens. I could feel myself being moved and jolted, but I just closed my eyes. I dropped my head. I wanted to sleep. I was alive. I did it. I made it. I was okay. I felt dizzy. I felt tired. I felt heavy. I opened my eyes once more. I was met with a light. I closed my eyes. I dreamed sweet dreams. I had no more to fear. I had help. I was hurt. I was dying.
Leah Hutchinson is currently dual-enrolled at the Penn State Fayette/Eberly campus. In the fall, she will be a nursing student with an expected graduation year of 2026. She enjoys painting, writing, kayaking, riding ATVS and participating in performing arts. She was born in Palmer, AK, and moved to PA in the third grade. She plans to go into midwifery and stay active in the community and theater.