Liora's POV…
I could smell and hear it again; the burnt flesh, the smell of rusted iron, the screams, the loud groans.
After so many years I thought I was getting better.
But no. Here I was on my first day at my new job, and I was already reliving that day.
The smell was so palpable in the warehouse that I could almost taste it on my lips: burnt flesh mixed with the smell of rusted iron.
I gagged and gagged with the contents of my lunch, threatening to spill if I didn't swallow.
The acidic taste of my own vomit burned my throat, I wanted nothing more than to crawl out of my own skin.
The screams grew louder and louder with each passing moment.
My mind was playing games on me again, and I wasn't with my suppressants.
I turned up the volume of my music blasting through my earpiece to at least calm myself.
The smell was probably due to my extremely sensitive nostrils being irritated by the rusted containers in the warehouse.
The eerie feeling in the warehouse may be what was triggering me.
Today was my first day on the job, but I couldn't wait to get my first paycheck and quit already.
I would probably take on extra hours during the day at a restaurant to make up for my bill.
The warehouse was also quite dark with only rays of sunlight penetrating through the cracked walls as the source of light.
I continued scrubbing the hardwood floors. "This episode will pass, it always does." I whispered to myself over and over again like a chant to keep myself calm.
The hairs at the back of my neck stood while goose bumps marred my skin.
The metallic scent hit again sharper, but this time it wasn't accompanied by the scent of burnt flesh.
Rather, rounds and rounds of gunfire sounded through the warehouse, causing some of the warehouse glass to shatter.
This definitely wasn't an episode, it was real.
My eyes widened as the pace of my heartbeat increased.
My mind raced with a thousand thoughts and scenarios and none were good.
Glass never shattered before during my episodes…Hell, it won't shatter if it wasn't real.
I looked at the floor half expecting to see my heart on it because I definitely felt it leap at my rib cage.
A dull ache settled between my chest, "This can't be happening again." I whispered to myself.
My mind screamed at me to hide in one of the large 20-foot containers, there were dozens of them.
I could easily stay out of sight until whoever was here was gone.
Instead, I found myself moving closer to the source of the sounds while my sense of reason yelled at me to stick with the original plan.
My legs wobbled a bit as I inched closer and closer to the source of the gunshots that were fired amid screams and… laughter?
I was so sure my knees were about to fail me and bring unwanted attention to myself.
I gripped the edge of one of the containers, and I stayed hidden in the dark corner of the container.
Another day to be grateful for not wearing bright colors else I would have been easily spotted.
My eyes widened at the sight before me. If I thought my heart was on the floor before, this time it was definitely not in my chest.
I couldn't even feel the beating of my heart against my ribs; I wasn't even breathing anymore as I sucked in air, holding my breath.
I pressed my hands to my lips desperate not to make a sound.
I stared at the myriad of dead bodies littered across the floor in a pool of blood glittering red, one would think those were the color of the hardwood floor.
Cold sweat trickled down my face, stinging my eyes with its saltiness, but I couldn't even bring myself to move. I was frozen in place like ice.
Five men, each in a black suit, stood tall, amidst the bodies and pool of blood, if it was home to them.
The five of them all shared a resemblance with the same hair and eye color.
It may even be my vision betraying me because the resemblance was uncanny.
"Did you think you could take what's ours and roam free for years?" One of the men holding a gun spoke to the last man alive who was strapped to a chair.
He looked like he wanted death more than the men wanted to give him as his eyes begged and wished for it.
Blood dripped from all over his body down to the floor.
I was sure ninety percent of the blood was his while the rest must have come from some of his men that now lay dead on the floor.
"We didn't take anything that belongs to you." The man spoke as he choked on his blood, coughing some of it out.
A different person from the one who held a gun, carved what looked like the letter "D" onto the arm of the guy as he let out another round of screams that echoed in the warehouse.
Their faces struck as familiar but I couldn't place them, not in that moment when my mind wasn't exactly thinking straight.
While the man still screamed at the top of his lungs, another one of them took a hot iron and drew another letter; this time it looked like a "B" on his other arm.
Another wave of the strong smell hit me. My head became so dizzy.
That was when I stared intently at the other bodies on the floor, they all had the same initial carved on each of them.
"We can't leave his wounds open like this, they would get infected." One of them let out a mocking laugh picking up a little bottle.
This one seemed younger than the rest, but all the more scary.
He poured the substance on the carved wounds, which released more heat, and then I saw it… raw bones.
Whatever they poured on his skin melted it down to the bones.
"My God, these men were devils."
"Baam!" A shot was fired this time directly to the skull of the man.
I let out a sigh of relief. Death was a better option than the hell they put him through.
His gaze was fixed on me in his last moments, for a moment I thought he had spotted me giving away my presence but he was dead.
I would never forget the look in his eyes even in years to come, at least I had a new nightmare to haunt me every night now, and not the same old.
I took gentle steps backward. If I didn't leave or hide now, there would be no escaping these five devils.
"I should have known $100 per hour for a cleaning job was too good to be true", I whispered beneath my breath.
"One, two, three"… I counted my retreating steps to control the pace of my beating heart.
Otherwise, I was gonna die of a heart attack and not even at the hands of the men in front of me.
"Four, fiv—", I hit a rock-hard surface causing me to stumble to the floor.
Not a surface, rather someone. My eyes widened as I froze in my steps.
Chill hot air blew at the back of my neck, "What do we have here?", a voice followed.
Though I couldn't see the person's face, I could feel the person's amusement from the tone of his voice.
At that moment, I knew I was a prey that just walked right into a Lion's Den, and there was no escaping. This time, I was going to be ripped to shreds.
Before I could turn to see who the person was.
Little dark spots played in my vision and then, everything went black…