Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : YoungAdult

"Hey. Hey, you. Kid!"
Nathan Ward shot up in his bed. No, wait. He clutched the bedsheets as he twisted his head from side to side.
His eyes finally connected with a girl's piercing blue gaze.
"Where am I?" He asked her.
"We don't know," said a voice right beside him.
He turned and saw a young man, maybe in his early twenties, sitting in a chair at Nathan's bed side. 
The girl stood up and walked over, sitting on the end of his bed. "We all just woke up a few hours ago..."
Gradually he noticed the large amount of people clustered near a small dark object in the corner that was flashing a red light.
"Is that a camera?" He asked.
The girl nodded. "My name's Layla. Layla Walker."
Nathan took her outstretched hand. "Nathan Ward."
"I'm Archie Cooper," said the man. "I'm a--was, a lawyer..."
Suddenly, the room burst into view as the lights turned on.
There was a whoop of satisfaction, and Nathan, along with every one else,  looked over at the old man doing a jig in the corner.
He had no teeth and his face was covered in wrinkles, but that didn't stop him from throwing his cane in the air and doing a cartwheel.
"I did it!" He cheered. "I found the light!"
"Congratulations," said a woman, maybe in her early thirties. "You also blinded us. But you probably don't know that, do you?"
Nathan shook his head, willing his eyes to focus.
When they finally did, he could see that, though he had thought it was dark brown, Layla's hair was actually a fair blond.
Archie' s head was covered in a mop of light brownish-red curls.
Nathan frowned, seeing that were around 9 people in the room, though 10 counting himself, and 11 counting the guy who suddenly dropped through the roof and landed in Nathan's lap.
They stared at each other for a minute, then they both screamed like girls and the man tumbled off his lap, landing on the floor in a heap.
The people crowding around the camera moved towards Nathan's bed with curiosity and confusion written all over their faces, and Nathan couldn't help thinking about sharks circling their prey.
Then Layla looked down at the man and said, in what could only be a oddly cheery voce, "welcome to The Room."
And that's when the light bulbs exploded, glass shattering down around them, and the old man said, "fuck."
And Nathan's normal life ended.