The darkness was sudden and all-encompassing. I felt smooth, uneven stone pressing at my cheek. My head spun as if I'd fallen from a great height, yet I couldn't quite tell how long I'd lain sprawled on the floor of this pitch-black room.

Snatches of chatter—which my mind had only vaguely registered before—abruptly ceased, leaving the room very silent. I brought myself onto my hands and knees, then slowly to a standing position—a difficult feat when I couldn't see my body below me.

"Hello?" I called, and my voice echoed around the chamber.

Seconds passed. Then: "Hi."

The acknowledgement was somewhat reassuring. "Where am I?"

"Somewhere you're not supposed to be," came the cryptic answer.

There was a shifting noise, the unmistakable sound of chairs being pulled away and then pushed back in, as if a few people were standing up from a table. There were some more whispers. Then a couple pairs of footsteps rang out, slowly getting softer and then disappearing.

"You still there?" I asked when the noise had subsided.

"Just me," said the voice from before.

"Can you turn on the lights?"

"I probably shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"The less you know, the better."

"Well, it's pretty dark—"

"There is no darkness but ignorance," sang the voice. "Sorry. That's a Shakespeare quote. Thought it would be appropriate."

Okay then. "Can you at least, uh, help me get back to where I was before? I left my camera on the hill and I don't want it to get damaged."

"I can't do that yet," said the voice, closer this time. My eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness, and I thought I saw the shadow of a figure before me. "I'll send some people later to retrieve your camera. ...So you don't know how you got here?"

"Nope."

"Good." There was a pause. "Are you scared?"

"Only a little bit."

"That's good too. It'll make everything easier."

I heard the sound of a door sliding open, and a few more whispers. Then the voice called back to me, farther away again.

"Okay, I need to turn on the lights now. Promise you won't freak out? Everything's going to be perfectly fine. We're not going to hurt you."

"I don't freak out easily," I replied, suddenly quite a bit more nervous than before.

"Very good," the voice said, and they turned the lights on.