Just a little while longer…

Just a little while longer…

The room shut off with a *click*. The twirling lights reflecting on the walls and ceiling faded, as did the ambient noise in the room. The room was empty, save for a lone figure in a simple chair, and now it was dark.

She pulled against her restraints weakly, the chains clattering against one another. She could move again. She closed her eyes, sore with strain and exhaustion. Darkness was her only salvation now. The days passed by in a blur of fluorescent lighting and dancing patterns, of voices and strange sounds and buzzing in her ears. It was never quiet, save for these few moments. Who knew? There was always something going on. But sometimes, after the Dark Room, after the patterns shut off, she’d have a few minutes of reprieve. Locked in a dark room, all alone, silence broken only by her ragged breathing and taut restraints. They never took those off. The girl sighed in relief around her gag. She had gotten used to breathing around it, by now. They never took that off, either.

Earlier on, she had used this time to herself to cry. Seethed with anger. Then, to plot, to plan how to escape with the few clues she knew - this room was just pitch-black, nothing helpful, but sometimes she’d hear something through her thick headphones as she was being led down the hallways. Snippets of words, conversations. Once, she tripped on something. A branch? A stick? One time her handler had forgotten to put her blindfold on after the Dark Room. The hallways were as sterile as she had always imagined them. There were no clues to be found, but there never really were any in the first place. The words she’d try to piece together, the subtle changes in texture on the floor depending on where she was being led - none of that helped. None of that mattered.

Now, she just tried to relax for the few precious minutes that she had. To try and pull herself together. Being sad was too exhausting. Being angry took too much out of her. Being hopeful was even worse.

Just a little while longer, and maybe…

She was powerless. All she could do now was rely on the mercy of her captors, and pray that somebody would find her soon.

*click*

A whirring, buzzing sound filled the room once more as lights began to dance all around her. Her eyes opened despite their fatigue. Her body was all but frozen. Soothing tunes and voices began to feed in through her headphones once more.

This would last another…well, she wasn’t quite sure. She wasn’t even sure how long it had been since she first arrived. All she knew was that they’d turn the lights on and off a few more times, and then after that was enforced sleep time. Just a little while longer, if she could just hold out until the end of her time in the Dark Room, she’d get to rest. It’d be quiet. She’d get to forget it all, just for a little bit.

Her body thrummed and throbbed to the beat of whatever was playing in the room, in her ears. They’d always play different tones. It was too confusing to focus on, and the sounds conflicted with one another so that she’d never be able to piece together what was being said, but somehow they’d come together in harmony as her body reacted against her will.

Just a little while longer… …

It was all she could handle just to hold onto that one thought, now.

The lights turned off with another *click*.

Her eyes slammed shut. She gasped for air, the chain around her chest clinging to her skin. All sensations ended once the room turned off, but that aside her legs were completely numb. Her body ached. Had so much time passed already? She had to make sure she’d stretch and settle in before it started again or her body would freeze in an uncomfortable position.

*click*

Her eyes widened once more. Wasn’t this…faster than usual? Time and thoughts began to slip away once more as her eyes glazed over and her body locked into place, soft words and sounds barraging her weakening mental defenses. Her mind faded to white - it was a particular sensation that had been terrifying at first, but more and more she’d begun to relish in being able to stop thinking. To let words flow in, to feel her thoughts leaking out, only barely able to grasp onto a strand of desperation. A low buzzing heat spread throughout her body as a reward for her surrender, building within her as her body was too still to even shiver.

Just…a little while longer.

*click*

Her body slumped back against the chair, twitching with the remnants of guilty pleasure. Her head lolled against the back of the chair, drool still trailing down her neck. She felt…tired. So tired. Of the Dark Room, of it all… After all this time, maybe this was where she’d finally lose herself. Finally lose her self, her consciousness. More and more, it felt harder to grasp why succumbing to that eventuality was supposed to be bad.

She opened her eyes.

*click*

…

*click*

…

*click*

…Just a little while longer…

Much time had gone by, though the sensation of time passing was long lost on the prone girl in her seat. The corners of her mouth pulled into a vacant smile around the gag, saliva still coursing down her chin. Was it her own, or had they made her do it? The thought of that set her body alight with rapture. Maybe, if they ever removed her gag, they’d give her permission to beg for just a little while longer yet.