I look at Dolly who's leaning towards me over the table, that huge grin of hers never going away. The silence seems to go on. They might be waiting for a reaction from me so I ask, "So I'll just ask questions and you'll answer them? That's it?"

She tilts her head. "Yes and no. But mostly yes." She hops up and sits on the table, and the candles flicker for a second as the movement of her skirt sends air to fan over them. "Just make sure the questions you're gonna ask are... answerable." She looks down at the candelabra beside her and points at it. "Aren't you gonna change the candles?" I follow with my eyes where she's pointing at and see most of the candles are now melted wax filling up the drip pans.

"Well, okay. I'll change them." I open the bag I placed beside me and take out three candles. While I'm changing the light, she jumps down the table and sits beside Oliver. "Ollie, you're so quiet," I hear her complain.

"I have nothing to say," he says.

"I'm sure you have a lot to say. That's why you're here," She turns her head to me. "Hurry up, you're wasting such precious time."

As I light up the candles, I ask, "What are we hurrying up for anyway?"

"Oh you'll know that soon enough," she replies mysteriously. I drop my hands and face her. Even if she gives frustratingly ambiguous answers so far, I still have to ask her. I've been dying for this question to be answered. I brush aside how I'm starting to get scared and nervous and ask, "Am I... dead?"

My heart starts pounding in my chest. She's going to say yes, I know it. I'm expecting that answer. Yet I'm still scared and a little part of me still hopes that everything's going on is just a dream and I'm still alive.

Then out of the blue she just bursts out laughing, and even Oliver is snickering beside her. All my nerves wash away and is replaced by annoyance. I clench my teeth as I am watching the scene in front of me. "What? What's so funny?"

"Why did you think you're dead?" She wipes a tear from her eye. "Oh, you're definitely, no doubt, one hundred percent alive. You also have some unfinished business so you can't die just yet."

"But why is this place different?"

The two stops laughing and the room turns silent once again. Finally Dolly speaks up, "What do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean?" I almost didn't get to stop myself from pouncing on her and clawing her face in frustration. "Where's the sun? Where's the stars? Where are all the other people?" My shrill voice echoes in the empty rooms of the building. Dolly gives me a dirty look and Oliver puts a finger over his lips, shushing me.

"Even if you're frustrated, you still have to remain calm and quiet. Just like what I have said earlier, your questions will be answered. You want to know why is this place different? We can answer that later. But now, we have to help you remember."

"I don't think you know what you're doing," I say, moving away from them and up against the wall behind me. How can they help me remember my memories? They're literally just kids. They're not professionals who have the right set of skills and knowledge to help me.

"I can assure you we know what we're doing," Dolly says, her eyebrows meeting in distaste.

"But are you sure?" I ask, more to myself. I don't know if I can trust them. I'm only doing this because I'm really desperate.

"Come on, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish. And just to remind you, we don't have all day."

"But how are you going to do it?"

"It's simple." She shrugs. "We're just gonna ask you questions and all you have to do is answer. Oh, and you'll also gonna eat some soup."

Like it's on cue, my stomach grumbles after I heard the word 'soup' and the thought of eating. I've been running for who knows how long, and I'm terribly exhausted. I greedily look around for a bowl filled with food, but I remember the clinic has been almost bare with supplies when we got here, let alone a hot bowl of soup.

"But where is it?" I hear Oliver ask her.

"Oh. Edmund's supposed to bring it here." Dolly stands up and starts shouting in the direction of the door, "Edmund! Edmund! Where's the soup!" She angrily mutters something under her breath. "I'll be back," she says then leaves quickly, not bothering to look back at us as she disappears from sight, her rapid footsteps gradually fading away until even its little echoes in the empty corridors couldn't be heard anymore.

"Um, thanks. For the soup, that is," I say, looking down at my fingers and twiddling with them. I still can't believe I'm finally be able to eat. I don't know how long I was tied up in that dark room earlier, but now I feel famished like I haven't eaten in days.

"We still haven't given it to you," Oliver says.

"I'm just saying thanks in advance."

"Ah. You're welcome, then."

I look away from him; unable to see his eyes makes me feel a little uneasy. I'm not used to talking to someone without even making an awkward one-second eye contact. I force myself to look at the closed door in the corner, bare of anything, the unsteady candlelight and gray shadows spilling on its surface. I remember the reason why I followed them into this building, and ask, "You told me you'll answer my questions, right?"

It seems like he hesitated before answering, "Yes, what is it?"

"Can you tell me, why am I here? Where am I?"

A second passes, then another. Then he finally says, "You're here because you wanted to. You're in everywhere and nowhere."

I try to comprehend the latter of what he said, but I am unable to. All I am able to register is his answer on my first question. "What? Seriously?" I search his face for signs that he's lying, but he looks so serious. I think of how I should ask him next. I need to know something I can use, I need something to have an idea of what's going on. "What do you mean 'because I wanted to'?"

"You... You'll know when you remember."

"But I can't-!"

Loud taps of shoes against the floor start to get closer and closer, followed by another set of footsteps, this time toned-down and steady.

I look at the doorway just in time for Dolly to enter. She turns to look at us with her owlish eyes. "What were you talking about when I was gone?"

I cast a surreptitious glance at Oliver and he's looking down at his hands on his lap. I guess it's up to me to answer then. "I asked him if why am I here."

She raises an eyebrow. "Oh. Really?"

"Yeah."

"You're here because it's what you wanted," she says. She smooths her skirt, sits on the foot of the bed beside Oliver, and crosses her legs. "Edmund, hurry up!" She yells toward to door. A second later a pudgy kid, maybe around the age of 9, enters. He's wearing a greasy-looking apron around his waist and balancing a silver tray in his hands. On the tray there's a bowl, a small box carton, and a glass of water.

"Good, you didn't spill a drop. Now put it on the table." She points at the desk. Edmund and I briefly exchange glances before he walks closer. He places the tray on the desk carefully.

"Good job, Edmund!" Dolly reaches out to clap him on the back and he coughs. She waves him off. "Now off you go!"

He walks away with the same slow pace, and before heading out the door he looks back, and I don't know what to make with the expression in his eyes.

Dolly claps both her hands together, snapping me back to the present. "Okay, now we can start. Stupid Edmund just wasted time by not getting ready with the soup."

I look at the contents of the tray in front of me. Now that they're just beside the candelabra, I can see them more clearly.

"Are you sure I can eat this?" I ask, eyeing the contents of the bowl. I'm expecting chicken soup, but what's looking right back at me is something black and slimy, and there are circular lumps on top that are shining as the reflect the candles' glow. The more I look at it, the more I start to see the soup as a hideous face full of pocks that can pop at any moment.

"Don't you want to?"

I pick up the spoon beside the bowl and poke one of the lumps. It bursts, and it turns out it's actually a thick bubble. It's more viscid compared to all the other kinds of soup I know. Thinking this thing in fron of me is edible makes me nauseated. It looks more like tar than soup. "This is strange. What...what kind of soup is this?"

"What kind of question is that?" Oliver asks.

"Oh, you silly. We can't tell you that, it's the chef's secret." Dolly winks. "Now eat it and we'll be asking some very important questions."

I gulp as I look at the soup again. I try to scoop a spoonful of the soup to no avail; it's too sticky and slimy. I set down the spoon, opting for the glass of water instead even with a hungry stomach. As I reach for the glass, Dolly says, "If you don't like the soup, there's still the juice and the water."

"Juice?"

"It's in that," she says as she points at the box carton. "Try it, it's good."

The juice box is almond in color and unlabeled, but when I look closely, there's actually some words on it in another language that's just faded. I put it away, grimacing. "Can we skip eating and just get on with the questions?"

"What?"

Even if I'm starving, I don't want to drink whatever's in that old juice box and I especially don't want to eat that thing they are calling 'soup'. "I think I'm already full."

"What? Wow, I didn't know you'd be like this. I guess I was wrong." Dolly frowns.

Oliver reaches out for the carton and rips a little of the top part open. "Just drink it," he says as he puts it back on the table. I look at him and to Dolly. He's wearing no emotion, while Dolly is still frowning. It seems there's no way out of this. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Then I reach out for the juice box.

The juice is sweet and rich; dark and fruity that somehow tastes like grapes but not quite. It doesn't smell like how it tastes however, but then all I can smell since I woke up are whiffs of damp wood and what smells like an old, musty room. Maybe something must be wrong with my nose for smelling things that aren't there.

I take another sip until I finish drinking it all. "That was really good. What was it?" I ask as I look up at Dolly, but she's quiet, only wearing her broad, Cheshire cat's grin. Then I look at Oliver, but I can't even see if he's frowning under that dark mass of hair covering his eyes.

Suddenly, I start to feel a sharp pain starting at the base of my skull. I wince as I clutch my head. "What's... What's going on?" I ask, my heart beating twice as fast as before.

Something doesn't feel right.

I drop the empty juice box as my head starts throbbing more intensely, sending a terrible pain streaking through my head. The candelabra before me starts to sway with wavering flames, and everything goes black.