The Talk - A Short Story

It's so dark in here.....wait.....my eyelids are closed. Okay now....let's open them up a little...that's it. There you go. Wait....it is still very dark in here....wait....where am I? And what is that ticking sound?

"Are you awake?" I heard the mysterious voice. I proceed to look around, but there is no one in sight. The air around me is putrid and thick with a smokey aroma. And apparently I am have a feeling that I am being bound and blindfolded or something.

"It seems that you are now well rested. Now...shall we continue?" The voice is both cultured and smooth, as if the voice is a member of the aristocracy. From the way the voice echoes, it appears that I am in an empty room.

"Okay...?" For some strange reason I do not remember what I am doing, let alone remember that I am doing something with someone. Only thing I know, I am being held by this person. 

"So how was your day?" The voice is affably nice, but yet I am not taken in by his mannerism.This is getting weird, but it is better for me to goad him to talk so that I know what happened here. I need to know how did I ended up in this situation.

"I don't know....feeling a little confused? How was yours?" 

"Very well. To tell you the truth, I have been out of it for a while now."

"Huh?" 

"You know, being busy and all makes things so much more hectic and thus I am unable to have a meal. And my it is always hard to talk to someone when one is on an empty stomach. Don't you agree?" I can hear footsteps walking around me, and I wonder if I am being interrogated or something. That would explain the bound feeling that I am experiencing.

"You see, I am a connoisseur of food and I love a good fine meal. But my duties always prevent me from having my meals in peace and my, that always makes me very sad. But at least, I enjoy my duties as much as my love for fine food." Great, he sounds like he is either an interrogator or he is a kidnapper. Or both. 

"So why don't you get out of your job and have a meal?" I sarcastically retorted.

"Very true at that. But then...I can never leave a work undone. It would go against everything I believe in a good working etiquette. Come to think about it, since we are stuck here, would you like to listen to some music? At least it will make us all feel better." 

Before long, a beautiful harmonious sound serenaded itself around my ear. The music sounds really classy and tranquil, but yet so evocative and strong. In short, damn..... this is some really nice relaxing tones. 

"See? Music does make things feel better. So as I was saying, my duties are not the best around, but I tried to enjoy every moment of it. I try to enjoy the little things you know."

Slowly as the voice conversed with me, the more I want to know what is going on with this very odd situation. There are just so many questions that I need to ask the voice, but so far the voice has been rather nice to me and has been keeping me company for a considerable amount of time. The small talks are quite articulated and enjoyable in many sense, but now the curiosity has build up to the point where I need to ask.

"Why am I being held here? This does not sound like an interrogation at all from my understanding of it. Are you holding me for ransom? Or maybe a hostage exchange or something? Why am I being gagged?" Instead, I am greeted with a very affable laughter. Before long, the music has also stopped, leaving only the ticking sound ringing in my ears. And slowly but surely the laughter started again, this time becoming very sinister indeed.

"Oh...that's rich. Well, that saying you have no idea what is going on anyway."

Okay, this is now getting very disconcerting for me. The way he puts it, it is as if I am being held here for the sake of it. What if I am being held here for the sake of being held? Am I imprisoned here until I die?

"Well, I am very sure that by now you are thinking that you are being held here for the sake of it. In fact you would be thinking that there is a possibility of you being a captive for the sake of it and will have to become a prisoner for the rest of your life." The voice is still affable, but it now has a very sinister tone. 

"How??!?! How did you.....How??!?" 

"Well it is easy really. Do you even remember anything else right now? I dare you....try to remember something."

Immediately I tried to remember something, but there is nothing in my mind. Not a memory of the past, not a single one. In fact, I do not even know my name. How is that even possible? Who am I? What am I? What is going on? Why am I here? 

"You seriously took my dare. At least you dared to do so. Oh yeah, by the way.....Have you not noticed that other than the bound feeling, you are not feeling any other part of your body?" 

The voice is right......now that I think about it, I can't feel anything else as well! What is going on?!?

"WHAT  HAVE YOU DONE TO ME??!?!!?" The voice is now silent. The voice....the monster......is not talking anymore. And that is indeed worse than anything else as that thought is now haunting my mind. My mind is further corrupted with the horrors of my existence being a cosmic joke. The ticking sound is now accompanied by the mind screams of my soul, and the combination of the voices only further darkened my soul into a deeper despair. This moment felt like an eternity, and it hurts so much.

"TALK TO ME! DAMN IT TALK TO ME YOU MONSTER! Please.......talk to me....please....."I am now weeping and pleading for it to talk to me. I can't take it...I can't take it......

"Well, my meal is now done. Time to eat. It is unfortunate that this will be the last time I will have this exquisite meal, as there is so little left. Oh well....it was nice talking to you." And suddenly the ticking stopped.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT??!?!?!?!?!!!" But now there is not a single sound, save that of a deafening silence. But now, another thing starts to take hold in me.The voice's nonchalant and discordant reply only served to build up the fear within me. It is now ignoring me for the sake of its meal? What the hell is wrong with this being? But then....it occurred to me that earlier it was talking to me about how hungry it was and how the job is preventing it from having a good meal. What if the job of the monster is not that of tormenting me and holding me prisoner?

And then it occurred to me; the reason for my lack of memories, my lack of sensations, my imprisonment, the smell, the odd words that the voice is uttering right now and......that ticking sound. I am the last remnants of my soul that had been devoured for a long, extended time and that ticking sound is the sound of the machine used to prepare my soul for consumption.

Before long, I felt a darker presence around me and I can feel my existence being bled out little by little towards the darker presence. I tried as hard as I could, but I could not escape the presence that is the dark abyss of a presence. As I futilely attempted to claw my way out of the abyss, there is only one last thing thing I could only think of;

And now I must scream.