Oh, God.

I couldn't breathe.

"Mo­­­‑" I whispered, my throat burning. My vocal cords felt unused, scratched raw. And around me, was this suffocating scent of... pine.

What was going on? Why couldn't I remember anything?

Calm down, Alyssa. You just need to relax. Concentrate on your breathing.

Stale air entered my body in small, unstable pants; the sound like an engine struggling to start. Yet, I concentrated on that wheeze, for its existence meant I was still alive.

I just needed to open my eyes, but for some unknown reason, every limb felt so heavy. Every cell in my body felt so drained. And the coldness? It went beyond the icy chill in the air. As if death's fingers had reached inside me, its blistering touch seeped into my bones until my body felt devoid of all warmth.

Open your eyes. Just open your eyes.

Focusing on my breathing, I finally felt the twinge of my eyelids' movement before I slowly peeled them apart.

But there was... nothing.

There was nothing to see but blackness. Sobs and rattled pants merged into a despairing soundtrack as that tiny piece of hope withered inside me.

"Mom?" I finally croaked; my chapped lips on fire. "Wh‑ where are you?"

I was going to die here. I was going to die alone.

I searched in every direction for a clue about my location, but it all looked the same. My eyes closed once more, racking my brain for lost memories.

Think, Alyssa. Remember something, anything.

"Mom."

In my mind, like an image coming out of a fog, familiar details finally returned. Her messy hair, how happy she'd look over the dumbest things, our apartment, the ugly brown carpet, and our crappy car.

And then, everything changed.

Joy receded from Mom's hazel eyes as she looked down at me. She was saying something. What was she screaming?

Why couldn't I remember it?

"Maybe you're not ready to know," a stranger responded.

My eyes frantically searched for that voice. "Who is that? Where are you?"

"Closer than you think," she replied. "It always happens this way. Don't worry, it'll come back to you when you're ready."

What did that mean? And why did it sound ominous instead of comforting?

"Are we trapped in this room? Did someone put us here?"

"Our choices put us here."

Our choices?

There was no sense of urgency in her voice, just this odd calmness, and it was pissing me off.

"Look, I don't need a Yoda," I countered. "I need answers."

She snorted, the first sign of her amusement. "Then maybe you should open your eyes to what's around you."

"Help!" I screamed, ignoring the burning pain my shrieks caused. "Somebody help me!"

"No one is coming, Alyssa."

"Shut up!" I cried. "I just need to figure out how to get out of here."

She cackled. "You think you can escape? What don't you get, Alyssa? There is no one coming to your rescue."

She couldn't be right. I had to see my mom again. "No, I'm not going to die like this. I'm not going to give up like you have!

"Give up?" she taunted. "That's rich coming from you, the queen of running away."

"I haven't run from anything." The strength was returning in my arms and weakly, I pushed against what felt like a wooden door.

"Then why can't you see it?"

"See what?" I yelled.

"The truth."

An unshakable force grabbed my leg. This hand materialized from darkness, its form growing as it moved further into the light. Its touch caused that internal chill to intensify, my limbs deadening as if from frostbite.

"No!" I shrieked as I pitifully tried to free from myself from its clutch, but there wasn't much room for me to escape.

Another grip took hold of my calf, its touch sending an arctic blast up and down the side of my body.

"Help! Please, somebody!"

My fingers scraped against wood, several of my nails ripping off completely as my panic to claw myself free grew more desperate. And still, this thing continued to crawl, its weight pinning to me to the ground.

My eyes closed, praying to anyone that would listen, as a curtain of long hair encircled me. Cold breath brushed my cheeks, tears trickling free as I opened my eyes to see...

Me.

No, this isn't possible.

Only it wasn't me. Her skin was a yellowish gray, her hair was limp. And up this close, the stench of decay mixed with the faint scent of formaldehyde was undeniable.

"What are you?"

"Your truth." She turned phantom before melting into me. And on contact, my body convulsed as my surroundings faded into flashbacks.

Once again, I could see my mom hovering over me. Only now, the image of my bedroom was clear.

"What did you do Alyssa?" she screamed, her hands shaking my shoulders. "What did you do?"

Her eyes appeared so panicked, that joy completely extinguished as she raced to grab her phone. An empty prescription bottle lied in her hand...

And then, I remembered it all.

Reality returned, and I recognized that my eyes had always been posed with an eye cap. My body had always smelled of disinfectant. My lips had always been fused by an adhesive. And chemicals had always prevented movement of my deceased form. My figure lay within a pine coffin, slowly putrefying within shadows.

No pearly gates or guardian angels greeted me. No unbearable heat or terrifying demons. I was left with only memories of past sins and regret. The stillness and seclusion had begun to eat away at my mind. And finally, I realized what she meant by no escape.

As I added my fanatical cries to the shrieks from the plots that surrounded mine, I knew that no earthly human would ever hear them, that there was no comfort in death. There was just the imprisonment of the soul left in eternal confinement beneath the earth.