ZERO
「prolouge」
＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

   CONSCIOUSNESS LAPPED OVER the girl in waves, slowly building up until it crashed into her, and hard. Her mind woke instantly, feeling as if her soul had just been thrown back into her body. It was dark and empty and cold here. She couldn't move her arms or legs, her body seemingly paralyzed. She was floating, like an asteroid forgotten in space. She couldn't seem to ground herself as the sensation continued.

   Her senses came back one by one.

   First there were whispers. Like buzzing bees all around her, coming in from every direction. Flaps of wings breezed against her ears; sound waves ricocheting. Their words were warped and muted, as if she were trying to hear them from underwater.

   It smelt wet. Like earth and dirt and rain on a hot summer day. Like little kids playing in puddles on the street and smearing mud in each other's faces.

   There were blades of grass that tickled her arms and the back of her neck, tiny ants crawling on her skin. She felt her fingers tingle and counted them as she regained feeling. She marveled in the feeling of her body on solid ground and limbs no longer floating before something brushed her arm, sending spiders up her spine. Suddenly there was something wet on her face, something slimy like saliva. Her eyes shot open and her body was five steps ahead of her as she sat upright and pushed the creature off of her, disgust present on her face. A ragged dog stood in front of her, wagging it's tail with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. It's fur spotty and matted. She pushed it away and stumbled to her feet, examining her surroundings.

   There were people scattered across a wide clearing, some sprawled in the grass, unconscious, and others just standing around looking dumbfounded. Her head thumped with pressure and her eyes blurred and un-blurred. Her mind felt scrambled, like she was missing something. Missing pieces from her memory.

   She realized she doesn't remember how she got there, or what she was doing there, or who these people are. Her eyes widened in panic. She couldn't remember who she was or what her own name was. She couldn't remember anything. She gripped her hair in her hands, closing her eyes tightly shut, willing anything to come back to her. Her fingernails dug into her scalp as if the pain might evoke something within her.

   She opened her eyes and took her focus off the people around her, and tried to figure out where she could possibly be.

   She was not in a clearing, she discovered. There was a wall. A huge, towering wall covered in ivy, surrounding her on all four sides, creating a box encasing her and whoever these people are inside of it. There were no openings that she could see. No exits. Her heart worked overtime as her face paled.

   We're trapped in here.

   She looked back to the people around her, who all looked as confused as she did, and she couldn't help the question that left her mouth.

   "What the hell is this place?"