The Unknown

v.

Biting winter air was drawn into my lungs with each sharp breath. Fueled by adrenaline, my heart thumped away in my chest, struggling to provide my burning muscles with enough energy and oxygen to flee at full speed. Branch after branch made contact with my skin, leaving me covered in scratches and bruises. The more I ran, the more they scraped away at me.

I spotted an opening ahead and burst out of the forest. My feet skidded in the snow as I came to a grinding halt just at the edge of a cliff. Powerful gusts of wind pelted my back as if urging me forward.

I did not look back. I did not consider defeat. I took one last deep breath and dove off the cliff, into the unknown.

-

Gasping, I opened my eyes to see only pure white. The air was warm and still.

My eyes adjusted. I was in a sterile white room—a hospital, I slowly realized. There was an IV in my arm and a heart monitor clip on my finger. Wincing, I tore the tube from my vein and removed the monitor, causing the machine to display a flat line and let out a shrill alarm.

A woman in medical scrubs burst into the room with a panicked expression. "Hey, you can't just take that off! You need to lie back down; you have a concussion." She stepped toward the machine and turned off the alarm.

When I moved to sit up, it felt as if every muscle in my body was sore. My head began to throb, and the room spun.  "How did I get here?" I asked.

"Your boyfriend brought you into the emergency room last night. You were unconscious," she answered. 

"Boyfr—?" I realized she meant Kyle. "He's not...Nevermind." Spotting my belongings lying on the floor, I carefully rose from the hospital bed to retrieve them. "Where is he?"

"I don't know. He was here all night, worried sick," she said. "It's great that you're awake, but please, slow down!" she urged.

I put my jacket on and laced up my combat boots, doing my best to bury the pain in the back of my mind.

A man suddenly opened the door,   glancing at me with an odd expression. He tapped on the woman's shoulder, and they went to speak in the hallway. I tiptoed toward the door, listening intently to their hushed conversation.

"The blood results are in, and I...don't understand. The numbers are all wrong," the man said.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't even know how she's alive at this point. Most of these levels should be lethal for a normal person."

There was a pause. "I...I think she's trying to leave," the nurse said.

"Don't let her. Call security. There's something wrong here."

I slumped against the wall, processing that news. It was time to make another daring escape, except this time, I was in no condition to be running. I leaned forward, peaking out the narrowly open door. Already approaching down the hall were two large men wearing all black, one of them carrying shiny metal handcuffs. Shit.

There was a small window in the room, but I realized with dismay that I was on a high floor, as the drop must've been more than fifty feet. In desperation, I checked a few cabinets, discovering that a fairly large one was mostly empty. 

Hiding worked before, so why not try it again? 

I ducked down and scrunched myself uncomfortably into the cabinet, hunched over with my legs pulled tightly against my torso. I reached out and managed to shut the door tightly just as someone burst into the room.