I started writing this because my therapist used to say that writing might make me feel better. God, I miss them. Not just my therapist but my family and friends too. A lot of weird things are happening. I don't know how to process being here and I'd rather just…

So that's why I'm writing this. I was in college and I wasn't learning much. On Sundays, my family and I would go to church, and I would sit there mocking the other people in the pews. Then I'd spend the day with my family which felt like pulling teeth. I had a normal life and now I'd give anything to go back.

It began when I saw the mansion.

It towered over me and was so large that it took up most of what I could see. As I look at it I get a warm feeling in my stomach. Something about it makes me feel more at ease like I am supposed to be there. All the rooms have stained glass windows with different depictions of people throughout history. One is a stained glass version of George Washington crossing the Delaware. Another is a depiction of Sisyphus and his constant battle of pushing the bolder up the hill.

As my eyes glanced across the building I saw the darkness. The sky was nothing but black, no sun, no moon, no stars. The only source of light radiated out of large purple clouds of dust floating in the sky. It's beautiful and I can't look away. That beautiful, beautiful sky.

I have no idea how long I've been here—it could be ten seconds or a year. All I want is to keep staring into that emptiness. Nothing else matters; it's just me and that beautiful, endless void. I don't ever want to leave.

Someone… something grabs my arm, I see claws wrapped around my arm and it pulls me towards the mansion. It was a tall monster, at least 10 feet tall. It turns to look at me and I see that its fangs are dripping with blood, and its eyes are glowing red.

I struggle to run but I can't move, I can't do anything. Behind him, I see the mansion. It is run down, windows missing, and the stained glass that remained depicted hellish scenes that I don't want to think about.

As we make it to the doors the monster rips down the front door and throws me into the room. I see a chandelier made of knives and red candles, the wax dripping like drops of blood. The walls look like they are rotting. The floor is missing panels. I see another person in here. She is in dirty and worn clothes. It looks like she hasn't slept in days and her eyes are bloodshot. I couldn't tell if she was shaking or if my vision was going out because shortly after seeing her, everything goes dark.

When I open my eyes I see that I am in a room, smaller than my bedroom at home. It has just enough space for the twin mattress that I was on, and maybe enough room for a desk beside it. I manage to get to my feet and almost every inch of my muscles strain. Everything in my body feels like it wants to crumble to the floor. Taking a step, I lose my balance and smash my shoulder into the wardrobe.

"Come," I hear whispered from behind me.

Turning, I see a boarded-up window. My feet begin to move on their own towards the window. Running my hand across the wood boards I feel a small spark of energy, and I pull on them. The planks creak as I pull, but it won't open. I wander back over to the wardrobe and pull that open. It is empty inside. My strength is returning. Not a lot, just a little bit, but it is comforting to know that I was starting to feel a little more normal. I can't help but wonder if I was on a weird drug trip or if something happened.

The only other thing in the room is the door. It is solid, not like anything that was in my house growing up. It has some etching along the sides to give it some layer of depth. The handle is a simple brass handle and underneath is a keyhole, not like the keys we use today. It was the keys they used to use years and years ago, I think they called them skeleton keys.

Reaching over and grabbing the handle, I feel a tinge of fear wondering, if I'm trapped. Perhaps there's no way to open it, or worse, what if that monster is out there? I let out a sigh and turn the handle, the handle turns freely as I push it open. On the other side, sitting in a chair reading a book, is the woman I saw in before I passed out, except she wasn't quite the same.

Before she looked disheveled her pupils were heavily dilated. Her clothes were ragged. Now she is wearing a classic white lab coat, but it's open. The coat is slightly oversized. Beneath the lab coat, is a simple, navy blue fitted t-shirt and a pair of well-worn jeans, snug but not too tight. Her medium-length brown hair is left to fall around her shoulders in soft waves.

It almost felt like I wasn't even looking at the same person anymore. As she hears the door open she looks up at me, smiles, and says.

"Oh, you're awake. My name's Jacqueline. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm Jacqueline, like I said." She replies setting the book in her lap.

"I mean, what's going on here? Where am I?"

"That is not an easy question to answer," Jacqueline replies. "You see, how do I put this? I don't… we don't know where we are."

"We?" I ask.

"Yeah, there's 10 of us here now. With you, that makes 11. None of us know how it happened. We were living our lives back in the real world and we ended up here. Now we're just trying to survive, and live the best lives we can."

"What do you mean we're here?"

"Do you remember anything between the real world and waking up in that room?"

"Yeah. A little bit."

"Let me guess, there was the mansion, the empty void, and the purple clouds. When you saw the purple clouds, you didn't want to look away, you just kind of wanted to stand there and watch."

"Yeah."

"And then when the Butler came to get you, he looked somewhat like a monster."

"Yeah, I remember the monster."

"Well first off, let's be clear. He's not a monster."

"Then what was he?"

"What is he? He's human, like us, but the void seems to make you hallucinate when you stare into it for too long. It gives you hallucinations about people. I don't know if it is his hunched back and his height or what. To most of us, he ends up looking like a monster. I'm guessing the mansion didn't look the same when he was bringing you back. You probably saw me there too and I looked different."

"Yeah, you can say that."

"That's all normal sadly. The void basically makes us high, that's the simplest way to put it. It makes us hallucinate and it drives some people mad. I studied a lot of animals and insects when I was back on earth. The void reminds me of these little ants that would stand up on the grass and wait for a cow to eat them. Once the cow eats them, it somehow burrows its way into the cow's brain, it starts taking control of the cow. It leads the cow to believe it's thirsty. It guides the cow to water. And once it makes it over to water. It'll, uh, make the cow drown itself so the ant can reproduce there. Then the cycle starts all over again. It may not have been cows though, it's been a while since I read about them. A cow seems too big, I don't know, but whatever." Jacqueline said with frustration.

"That's kind of what the void does," Jacqueline continues, "I don't know why it does it, but it makes you just stare into it forever. Until you die and that's what… Yeah, we don't really know, what happens? We don't really know what's going on but we know the void is trying to kill us and we do everything we can to avoid it.

"Okay," I said, my head spinning. "You said there's 10 others here?"

"Well, 10, including myself, you make our group 11. There were more in the past, but they kind of gave into the void. They were done with it and I don't necessarily blame them, but I sure do miss them."

A bell rings down the hall.

"I'm sure you have lots of questions," Jacqueline says, "but that sound means it's dinner time and… Are you hungry or would you like to come meet up with the others?"

"I guess… I'll meet them, and, well, I could grab a bite."

I follow Jacqueline through the halls, they are decorated with this green gold texture on the walls, with designs that look like waves of golden and green grass. It all looks so alive. The way the candlelight flickers on them causes them to look like the grass is moving and blowing in the breeze. The lower half of the wall is designed with wooden paneling. The carpet has a beautiful royal red strip, going straight down the middle, and about a foot on either side is a vibrant green that borders the entire way and it's beautiful. It is what I would imagine from all those Christmas movies I used to watch.

We pass through the lobby. Looking over it I see that the front door is still on its hinges and has no visible damage, like being torn off the wall. Looking up I see a beautiful crystal chandelier that is reflecting the light all over the place. The floor is no longer missing pieces or rotting. The place looks perfect, not even a speck of dust out of place.

We walk through the halls and make it to a set of double doors. They open to a large room with a vaulted ceiling, it's decorated the same way as the halls, except there's a long 10-20 foot table that is almost 5 feet wide. Food covers the entire table. There are some chairs with red, what looks like, leather cushions on them. The chairs shined so brightly that if I didn't know the chairs were wood, I'd say they were gold.

At the far side of the table are gathered 8 other individuals.

"Hey, everybody look who's up," Jacqueline says as she takes my hand and walks me over to the far side of the table to meet everybody.

"So here's everybody. Everybody this is … I'm sorry I forgot to ask. What is your name?"

"I'm Samantha," I say.

The whole crowd greeted me in a jumble of voices.

"Maybe I should introduce you one at a time," Jacqueline says as she ushers me to the person at the end of the group. His brown hair is cut short, neatly faded on the sides with a slightly longer top that's styled in a sleek, modern way. He is dressed in purple tailored slim-fit trousers, a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a well-fitted blazer.

Jacqueline points at him saying, "This is Vincent. He and Lila make our clothes."

He gives a slight bow from his seat and as his blue eyes look at me he says, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Samantha."

Next at the table is a man with a blond buzz cut that highlights his rugged, masculine features, with sharp angles to his jawline and neck. He is dressed in a black leather jacket unzipped revealing a white tank top. Giving me a smirk he says, "I'd say it's nice to meet you but we're here so…" as he shrugs his shoulders and returns to eating his steak.

Jacqueline hits his shoulder and says, "That's Porter. He and Gage are our security guards."

"What do you need security guards for?" I ask.

A guy on the other side of the table waves and says, "That is because the void can drive people crazy. In those instances, it is our job to make sure no one else gets hurt."

The speaker's brown buzz cut is sharp and clean with a short beard. He is wearing a white robe, made from durable, thick fabric that fits snugly around his shoulders. "I'm Gage by the way. Nice to see a new face."

"I see that I am next." The person at the head of the table stands and bows to me. His short haircut is sharp and precise, with a neat fade on the sides and back and slightly longer hair on top, styled in a controlled, polished manner. His posture is straight, shoulders squared as he tells me. "I am Alan. If you need anything I am at your service." His eyes are a vibrant blue and seems to stare right into me with a kind expression on his face. He is wearing a well-fitted charcoal dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up halfway to his elbows. Paired with the shirt are tailored trousers.

Jacqueline waves a hand towards Alan saying, "Alan is in charge. He makes sure we have everything that we need that we can get. He's been here longer than anyone else. Well besides the butler."

As if on cue the doors open and a man enters. He is in his sixties and he carries himself with remarkable vitality, appearing almost as strong and capable as he was in his younger years. He is tall and thin, standing with perfect posture—shoulders back, chin slightly lifted. His movements are smooth, deliberate, and efficient, without the slightest hint of frailty or slowing down.

His black suit is tailored perfectly to his slender frame. The jacket is crisp and refined, with not a wrinkle in sight, complemented by a pristine white dress shirt underneath. A black tie sits neatly at his collar, his polished dress shoes gleam and his gloves are perfectly white.

His silver hair is combed neatly back, matching the impeccable presentation of his outfit. His face, though lined with the marks of age, is strong and expressive. There's a certain firmness to his jaw and a sharpness in his eyes, suggesting a mind that's just as sharp as ever, always alert and observant.

"This," Jacqueline says, "is the Butler. He doesn't look so scary anymore does he?"

As he walks towards me he makes no sound, the candle in his hand flickers as he approaches. True, he doesn't look like a monster anymore, but the way he moves and how quiet he is still sets me in an uneasy state. Reaching me he extends out his hand. His fingers were long and thin and my mind flashes back to him dragging me back into the mansion.

Taking a deep breath I shake his hand and joke, "It's nice to meet you sober."

He nods at me and moves past me to stand by Alan.

Alan speaks up, "Jacqueline, Samantha will have plenty of time to meet the rest of us, why don't you two take a seat and eat before dinner is over."

"You have a point." Jacqueline replies and then turns to me, "So would you like to take a seat here and we'll eat."

I didn't realize how hungry I was but when I see the food, I feel how hungry I am and I say, "Yes.",

I take a seat, and the plate setting is perfectly designed, like my aunt would always try to make me do. I hated those lessons; I could never get it quite right. But this looks freaking perfect. I went ahead and grabbed myself a scoop of potatoes and gravy, some veggies, and two pieces of fried chicken.

I took a bite and it was delicious I honestly didn't even start talking. I just devoured the entire thing, and every single mouthful was delicious. I've never had food this good.

Jacqueline chuckles beside me, "Yeah, I guess the food's pretty good. By the way, we haven't mentioned it yet but you have been asleep for a couple of days. That's another thing while recovering from the void's effects, you need to sleep. That usually ends up with you getting really hungry so eat as much as you want.

…

As I finished my second plate, I contemplated getting a third. I was full, but the food tasted so good. I didn't want to stop. I heard another chime that sounded similar to the dinner bell from earlier and all the food evaporated into a purple mist.

"What just happened?" I ask Jacqueline.

"Anything you don't eat by the end of the hour disintegrates."

"Is this stuff even safe to eat?"

"Oh yeah, the Butler has been living on this food for, well we actually don't know how long he's been here, but uh, Alan over there, he's been eating the food for, what is it?"

"16 years," Alan says. "So I can guarantee you the food's not going to kill you. Not anytime soon anyway."

A small pit in my stomach forms as I hear him say, "16 years." I put a fake smile on my face as I say, "Well, that's good, at least."