Celeste opened her eyes.

The floor was cold. Hardwood. This wasn’t her home. Why was she here? The morning light came through a curtain-less window. Or at least, what light could make it through all the trees outside. The walls were all unadorned. Simple planks of wood all around her. There was nothing here but the window and a door.

Standing up, she realized she was still wearing her clothes from the night before. The purple dress her mother made her was still in fine condition. But her purse… Wait, where was her purse?

Celeste looked at her arms. No marks. She felt around. Nothing. She didn’t have a hangover. She didn’t feel sick or hurt. But she had no memories of the previous night. She had put on the new dress, did her makeup, picked up her purse and… Then what?

She blinked. Wait, no. The room isn’t completely empty. There was a refrigerator, one of those tiny ones like she had in her old dorm room. It hummed.

Her mouth was dry, but it was always dry in the morning. Was it morning? She was pretty sure it was. It’s not time for that. She ran to the door. Locked. From the outside? Where was she? Who had brought her here? She ran to the window. No lock. But there was also no way to open it. A simple glass window looking out into a forest. A forest? How far from town was she?

“Should I say something?” She wondered. Her mouth was still dry. Opening the fridge she saw bottles of water and nothing else. What was this place? She checked a bottle. The date was still fine. Didn’t seem tampered with. But should she drink strange water in a strange place? She was so thirsty though. So, so thirsty.

As she stared at the bottle, a bit in the back of her mind hoped there was a knock. Was there a knock? No. That would be something from a movie. There was no knock. She wanted a knock. And some water. She unscrewed the cap and took a sip. Tasted like water. Cool. Refreshing. She wanted more.

The bottle was empty within seconds. But she wasn’t satisfied. She wasn’t hungry, though. Dissatisfied. The water wasn’t enough.

She put the bottle on top of the tiny refrigerator. There was enough to keep her hydrated for… Fuck. Where was she going to go to the bathroom?

She tried the door again. Still locked. Well, was it even locked? There was no keyhole and pulling on the handle didn’t even make the door move a centimeter. She tried to peek through the edges, but the cracks were so thin it was as if they were not there at all. No one was going to slide a note under the door. They’d have to come in. That would be her chance.

She could try and kick the window. “Thank god I don’t wear heels,” she thought as she looked at her leather boots. She peeked out the window again. Nothing but trees. A bit of sun, but so many trees. She backed up and kicked.

Her foot bounced off the window. Not a scratch. It didn’t even seem to make a sound. It was there, but that was all.

“What, am I dead?” Celeste said out loud, finally daring to speak.

“No,” a voice echoed throughout the room.

“Who’s there?” she screamed.

No answer.

“For fuck’s sake, this isn’t funny! Who are you? What am I doing here?”

There was no response. Was that all in her head? No, she had heard it. Damnit, was the water drugged? Was she? She began to massage her temples.

“Fine,” she thought. “I guess it’s time to wait.”

So she waited.

Her phone had been in her bag, and Celeste never wore a watch. So she had no idea how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again. Judging by the light coming in through the window, it could be early evening? There was no way a day had passed. She still wasn’t hungry, and she didn’t need to go to the bathroom. She was still thirsty, but the same strange way. The second bottle of water didn’t quite quench her thirst. Something was missing.

A strange smell came into the room. It was more powerful than any other odor she had ever smelled. She looked around the room and finally found it. A rat.

A rat! That means there must be a hole somewhere in this place. And if there’s a hole, that means there might be a way for her get out! She sneaked up on the creature and it started to dash. With speed Celeste didn’t know she was capable of, she grabbed at the rat. It was now in her hands.

Celeste squeezed.

She didn’t know why she squeezed. Was it fear? Instinct? But the rat’s bones cracked. This satisfied Celeste. The next thing she did shocked her.

With a primal bloodlust, Celeste put the rat to her mouth and bit it. She began to suck at the opening and its blood began to slide down her throat.

This is what she had been craving. This is what she had needed.

Sudden disgust washed over her and she threw the corpse to the ground. What the hell was going on? Was she…

No, vampires are stories. Fake. Plus, the sunlight had touched her, so she would have been dead by now, right? Yeah. But why did she… No, it must have been the exhaustion.

“I’m losing my mind in here,” she said out loud. But that rat blood tasted good. Not great, but good. It, oh damn, it hit the spot. Nothing had ever satisfied her like that. It had to be the exhaustion, right? But if the rat got in this room, it means there must be some sort of hole. And she had to find it. She began looking around the room. But nothing. No cartoonish mouse hole. Nothing along the walls or ceilings. Had the rat been in here the whole time?

She glanced at the fridge. “Aha,” she thought. “It must have come from behind there!”

She went over and tugged on the little box. It did not budge. Looking behind it she saw that bolts that connected it to the wall. Smooth. How was it even getting powered? It must be from the outside, right? But what does that matter. Where did the damn rat come from? Did someone let it in while she was asleep? How did she not hear the door open?

She glanced over again at the corpse. She expected to see some blood around it, but nothing. Had she sucked it dry? She shook her head. This had to be a dream. A nightmare. Anything. It couldn’t be real. Locked in a room? Drinking rat blood? This was complete nonsense.

Without a sound the door opened, a body flew through it, and before Celeste knew it the door shut again.

“Flew” was how Celeste had seen it, but something had flung the body. It slammed against the floor and bounced. Celeste backed up and watched. Was this another prisoner?

The body was of a young man’s. He was in rags and… pale. So very pale. Was he alive? Was he…

“No,” Celeste thought to herself. “I’m not a vampire. That isn’t food.” But the hunger within her began to tickle again. She called out to the man in what was not much more than a whisper.

“You okay?”

No response.

“Hey, why are you in here?”

Nothing. Celeste crept towards the body. As soon as she was about a foot away the body began to move.

Jumping back, Celeste screamed. “You are alive!”

The body didn’t respond.

Celeste moved closer. She could hardly believe how pale this guy was. Then he turned to look at her.

Well, what remained of him. His face was a pale, scarred mass of flesh and protruding bone. His eyes were bloodshot and the way they looked at her… They weren’t human. Well, they were human, but no. Something was different. The body lunged up at her.

With reflexes she didn’t know she had, Celeste swung her hand at him. While she expected to slap his face, her fingers sliced through his flesh. Blood splattered on the wall and the body fell to the ground.

Celeste gasped and looked at her bloody fingers.

“Good.”

It was the voice from before. She looked around again, but she could not find the source.

*click*

It was the door. Celeste dashed over and tugged. It opened. Beyond the door was a vast forest, dark and murky. Still, it was freedom.

She was about to make a mad dash when she saw what looked like it could only be a horde of zombies.

“This can’t be real. This can’t be real.”

Celeste slammed the door shut. But there was no lock. There was no clicking. If those things could make it inside…

She looked at the corpse on the floor. It wasn’t moving. She killed one, but could she kill again? How many would she have to kill?

BANG!

Something slamming against the door interrupted her thoughts. She braced herself against it but it began to open.

“You have no other choice,” the voice from nowhere said.

Celeste took a step back and breathed in deep. The door opened and everything went red.

…

The next thing Celeste knew she was panting over a pile of corpses. Most of them were missing limbs or faces. She looked at her hands to see them caked with dried blood. She did this. She couldn’t remember anything. But she had done this. The blood wasn’t hers. Nothing hurt. She had never felt so alive.

“Congratulations,” the voice said. “Now step outside.”

Celeste hesitated. The door was open. She’d have to move a lot of bodies to close it. As much as she had wanted freedom earlier now, a part of her didn’t want to leave this room. But then again, there was the voice. And the bodies.

Celeste took a deep breath. Then, she ran. She ran like she never had before. The crisp night air and the moonlight would have been something to appreciate any other day. But she ran.

Was this dream not going to end? Was this real life? If it was, what was this? What was she?

Celeste ran. There were no more voices. No more bodies. Nothing but trees and moonlight. She ran. For a while she thought the forest would never end. Then the trees began to thin.

She saw a road.