The Devil is Standing Behind You

    A loud ringing in Naminae Barlow's ears woke her from what seemed to be a deep and dreamless sleep. She groaned and opened her eyes, but quickly closed them again to shut out the bright light that greeted her. Confusion filled her brain; she couldn't remember falling asleep. Even more confusing, she couldn't remember where she was or what she had been doing before she fell asleep.

    As the ringing in her ears slowly faded away Naminae chanced opening her eyes once more, this time not as fast. Cracking one eye open she discovered the source of the bright light. A ceiling hovered ten feet or so about her, but it didn't really look like a ceiling at all; the blinding sun shone right through.

    "What?" Naminae whispered to herself.

    Sitting up slowly, she opened her eyes fully and looked around the room in wonder. What set before her was a pristine setting made of and containing nothing but ice. Not noticing that her mouth hung open limply, Naminae continued to observe her surroundings with a feeling of awe.

    Thick blocks of ice no more than a foot and a half thick formed the four walls of what appeared to be not a house, but a ver simple room. Glancing down Naminae saw that the floor also consisted of nothing but ice; no rugs, no hard wood, just ice. In one of the corners about three and a half feet off the ground stood a large block of ice; Naminae assumed it was meant to be a place for someone to sit.

    Naminae sat for a few more moments thinking about how much time it must have taken to form her surroundings. Those thoughts faded fast from her mind when she realized she had no idea where she was. So could think of no reason why someone would build such a place, and even fewer reasons why she would wake up there.

    Her heart started to beat faster and panic clawed at her throat. Had she been kidnapped? Had someone snuck into her California home and brought her to this abstract location?

    Her head still filled with unanswered questions, Naminae let her feet fall to the floor. She carefully stood up, surprised to find that the ground wasn't slippery like she would have expected, but gritty. She moved one of her feet around in circles; it sounded like gravel, even though the floor was perfectly smooth.

    "Hello?" Naminae whispered, although it was evidently clear that no one else was in the room with her. The sound of her voice startled her, and she found it disturbing rather than comforting. In the silence that seemed to encase the room her voice sounded alien; very unwelcome.

    Naminae spotted a rectangular opening in the ice and took this to be the door. Reaching it, she drew in a sharp intake of breath. She wasn't sure what she expected to find, but nonetheless shock filled her as she gazed outside. Instead of miraculously seeing her California city spread out before her, she faced a landscape of ice and snow.

    Naminae's heart pounded in her chest, and the noise seemed to pulsate through her brain; she wondered if it were loud enough to make her go deaf. Staying inside the small room forever wouldn't accomplish anything, and anxiety filled her. She wanted to find out what was going on as soon as possible. She drew in a deep breath and stepped across the threshold into what would soon become her nightmare.