Room 153

As soon as I woke up, I knew something was wrong. It felt like I was a different person. In another body. Alien. I sat up in bed and took in the dimly lit room with bewilderment.

          Where was I?

          The row of metal frame beds and cubicle curtains reminded me of a hospital ward from the 1950s. Each bed was empty. There was no sign of life until a faraway scream made me pull up the bed covers to the top of my gown. 

          I tried to stitch together what happened to me, but my memories seemed confused, foreign. It didn’t help not knowing whether it was day or night. There were no windows, no clock: nothing that suggested what time of day it was. 

          I decided to get up. I turned back the sheet, got out of bed and padded towards the door. It was locked and wouldn’t even budge.

          What was this place? 

          I peered through the oval glass panel but only saw my reflection. 

          A reflection I didn’t recognise.

          “Oh, my God!” I stepped back from the door in shock. 

          I shuddered at the figure, wondering whether this was reality or a nightmare. An empty feeling crawled up inside me as I searched for a possible explanation for this abomination. The face in the reflection had a glassy stare. With a dour snout. With gills. With scales. 

          Another scream echoed around me, and only when the sound had faded away did I realise that it had come from me.