"Time to wake up... vessel."
A dark and sinister voice cut through the silence like a rusted blade.
The boy's eyes opened slowly, as if awakening from an eternal nightmare. The reality he found was worse than any dream.
Cavernous terrain stretched in all directions. Thick fog floated like hungry ghosts, devouring visibility until it turned the world into gray whispers. But even so, he could make out the silhouettes.
Other children.
Dozens of them, all his age, all awakening at the same time.
"What is this place?"
"Where are we?"
"What am I doing here?"
The questions erupted like open wounds, loaded with terror and confusion. It was natural—they were all children in a place that seemed to have been torn from the deepest nightmares.
The protagonist was six years old and couldn't remember how he had gotten there.
"What happened to Mom and Dad?" screamed a girl. "Just a moment ago I was with them!"
"Me too! Where are they? Why did they leave?"
"Maybe I was bad and they abandoned me in this terrible place?"
"So this is where they leave bad children?"
"Mom, Dad! Please come! I'm scared!"
"Mommy, where are you!"
"Daddy, come get me!"
The chaos grew like a storm. Desperate screams bounced off invisible walls, creating an echo that seemed to multiply the terror.
"Maybe we were kidnapped?" said one of the children, his voice showing confidence. "My mom told me about that... children who disappear and never return."
"What?! Don't say stupid things," another responded, nervous. "Nobody remembers how they got here! How could they kidnap us like this?"
"What if they drugged us? Maybe we won't even get out of here alive..."
"Enough! You're scaring everyone!" yelled the other boy, grabbing him by the shirt collar.
A little girl began to cry inconsolably.
"I want to see my mommy! I don't want to be here!"
"Please! If someone can hear us, get us out of here!"
"Dad! Mom! I'm here, please come!"
The sobs spread like a plague. The screams, the trembling, the pleas multiplied until the place resonated with echoes of pure desperation.
"Maybe our parents abandoned us! Maybe they'll never look for us!"
"Shut up!" the boy lost control and punched him in the face. The other fell to the ground, laughing weakly with a disturbing smile.
"That's enough!" exclaimed the protagonist, stepping between them. "This isn't helping us!"
"Get out of the way! I'm going to give him what he deserves!"
But before he could continue, everyone stopped. Something in the atmosphere had changed.
"Why can't I remember her...?" murmured the protagonist, beginning to hyperventilate.
His last memory was clear: he was in the car, returning from school with his mother. He could remember the situation perfectly.
But her face... had disappeared.
Her name, her voice, everything that identified her as a person had vanished like smoke. Only the certainty remained that she existed and that she was his mother.
"Mommy...? What did you do...? Why can't I remember anything about you...?"
A girl sobbed those words, tears falling like drops of desperation. Everyone turned toward her, recognizing their own terror reflected.
"I-I don't remember anything about my mom either..."
"Neither do I about my dad..."
"Dad! Mom! What did you do?! Why can't I remember their faces or their names?!"
"Waaaahhhhh!"
Panic seized everyone like a hungry beast. Some hit their heads, others cried inconsolably, many screamed until their voices broke.
The protagonist remained paralyzed, forcing his mind to remember more about his mother. But it was useless. Her name, her face, everything had been surgically erased from his memory, leaving only a void that hurt like an open wound.
"I'm so scared! Please, get me out of here!"
"Someone can hear me! I'm scared!"
"This place is horrible! Someone, help us!"
Their screams were lost in the void, creating infinite echoes that only emphasized their loneliness.
"Hey, be quiet!"
A sharp voice cut through the chaos. A girl had stepped forward, screaming with all her strength. Everyone turned toward her.
"We won't get anywhere with this." Her voice was firm, almost adult. "We must stay calm and find a solution."
"What are you talking about?" A boy responded, consumed by panic. "We don't remember anything about our parents! This place is scary and seems abandoned! We're lost!"
"I know everything looks bad and we're scared," the girl replied, "but we must do what's within our reach. That's what our parents would want."
Nobody seemed completely convinced, but her words had a strange calming power.
"Come on, trust me. I..."
Suddenly, she stopped. Her face contorted as if she had crashed into an invisible wall.
"You what?" asked a boy.
"Why can't I remember it either...?" murmured the girl.
The realization hit everyone like lightning.
Their own names had also disappeared.
"You don't know what your name is?" asked the boy.
"It's true! Me neither! Why can't I remember my own name?!"
"Who the hell am I?!"
"Was it a blow to the head? Why is this happening?!"
The panic returned with renewed force. The girl clenched her fists, clearly lost about what to do.
"Please, stay calm! There has to be something we can do!"
The protagonist ran toward her and raised his voice.
"Listen!" He barely managed to be heard. "If there's something we can do now, it's to look for an exit. We haven't even tried, have we? This isn't time to give up."
He didn't even believe his own words, but they seemed to work. The desperation in the atmosphere began to diminish.
The girl beside him watched him with a mixture of surprise and gratitude.