The two of them started their expedition together, Trey and this nameless woman that he just called "Lady" until further notice. The whole thing was very peculiar to Trey, according to this woman the point of his being here was to "find himself" but she didn't elaborate or give any context on this strange labyrinth of metal nature. It all felt like a reverie, a castle in the air, yet at the same time, it felt so real. And so they walked, they walked for what felt like days. Trey never got tired, and he thought that was strange. He also felt the constant white in the air was strange; there was no change in whether or light, just pure bleached air spreading to form a sky.
"What should we even be looking for?" Trey asked when he finally got impatient, Lady simply responded
"You'll know when you see, this is but the first fold of paper in a book yet to be discovered."
"Wouldn't the correct term be sheet? Not fold?" He responded
"If it's all the same." She mumbled
"You're very cryptic," Trey commented
"You're very blunt," Lady shot back calmly. When they talked the conversation felt stiff but also strangely natural. This feeling encompassed Trey as silence returned to their walk.
Trey hated the silence, it was maddening, excruciating, the sound of their feet cracking down on the pebbly rock ground and nothing else made him want to split his own head open.
"Do you have any hobbies?" He questioned looking at the lady
"No, I don't support I do." She answered his question with a quick answer
"So before I came you just stood around, doing what? Nothing?" He responded with another question
"I guess you could say I myself didn't really exist before you opened that door." This piece of information nearly shocked Trey but he was learning not to let this place shock him too much. Was she a person? Originally, Trey had just concluded that she was a woman who had come here and had just lost her mind or something, but the more he spoke with her, the less insane she seemed and the more she seemed like a construct.
"If you want a real answer, I suppose you are my hobby, Trey." She said glancing at him with a smile. He was taken aback by this statement and a pink shade burned throughout his cheeks and ears.
"You did always get easily flustered, hm?" She giggled softly.
After Trey had finally lost track of time, walking, stepping, feet falling, legs swinging, breath in and breath out, speed up, slow down, left, right, forward, but never backward, a clearing. No more metal trees and no more rocky ground, only metal infinitely spanning metal floors and a house at the center. The house was entirely wooden, a log cabin, fairly wide but not very tall. The patio had one wooden rocking chair and a coat hanger right next to the front door.
"That's it." Trey breathed out. As he began his walk towards the house in the distance, the lady followed not too close behind him her hands folded behind her back, a serious gaze appearing on her face. The closer Trey got the more he could hear the sound of buzzing, not from anywhere particularly, just buzzing.
Every step was an enhancement in the chorus of bees, of wasps, of hospital lights, of flies, all these sounds growing louder and louder, his hands flying up to cover his ears, the sound getting no quieter.
"Where is it!?" His eyes shot around as he searched for a source of this maddening sound that assaulted his ears. The sound was too much for Trey to handle and he dropped to his knees, his hands planted on the ground to stabilize himself. Trey glanced up at the house which stood only a few paces away, he knew that to get any closer was to worsen the buzzing shrieking in his ear and so he thought "Is this really worth it? What am I even doing? Putting myself through so much suffering in search of something I didn't realize I was looking for until I met this woman."
She cupped her hands over his ears, and the noise was gone
"See…" Trey heard her words as clear as day
"You're not all alone here." With those words, he had enough strength to get up and keep moving, her hands cupping his ears for the final steps into the house where she removed her hands, and the buzzing was gone. Inside the house was completely hollow, just wooden floors and the outline of what would have been walls. In the center of the room where they were standing was a black box floating above the ground, the sight making Trey's brows furrow as he took a step closer.
"You're welcome." The lady said coming up next to him.
"What is it?" Trey asked giving a glance.
"It's a piece of yourself, Trey. Well. I guess that's how I perceive it."
"How do you perceive it? Aren't you supposed to know all about this place? You seemed knowledgeable when I first entered the forest." He crossed his arms.
"I know what I know, I don't know everything."
Trey sniffled and got closer to the box, and when he did it flew at him and slammed into his chest pushing him to the ground. Trey yelped in pain as the box pushed into his body, his nails scratching at the floor, his eyes rolling back as he felt every inch of the black box slide inside him. When he passed out, he heard it, his own voice.
"I grew up in an institution. I think my biological mother and father didn't want me, maybe they didn't want the hassle of a kid, maybe they simply weren't ready for one. Of course, it didn't matter to me as I grew up because I never even met them. I think the biggest issue with growing up in that setting was feeling lonely and unwanted, I knew that the people who took care of me only did it because it was their job, I didn't connect with them because of that. I'd like to think I was the smartest kid there because I thought in a certain way all the other kids didn't. I didn't make many friends, then again I didn't try.
There was this girl, Ava, who'd always come to me and talk my ear off about whatever her favorite song was. It didn't bother me; in fact, it made me feel just a little less lonely. I remember sometimes I'd even talk back, she grew on me. I remember the first time she hugged me, I was 12, and she was 11. It solidified my feelings for her as a friend, I didn't realize she had a "crush" on me at the time because I wasn't as perceptive as I thought I was, that's also why I never realized that she also never had any other friends and constantly talked to people who didn't want to talk to her. It was almost like a weird construct where she would show me her feelings for me and I'd just act like we weren't like that. Ava was adopted when she turned 13, only then did I start to want to love her. It all started with a hug and a construct."
When Trey came to he rubbed his temple, every sound seemed louder, every light seemed brighter, and when he finally looked at the lady who smiled at him and helped him sit up, her hand was grazing over his back as if to gently comfort him as he regained his fullest senses.
"Do you get it?" She asked as he stared down at his hands.
"How many more do I have to find?" He responded with a question of his own.
"I dunno. I do know that you can leave here."
"How?" He looked at her, and she looked over at the door that was floating just off the ground, which was the same wooden door that he had entered this place through. The lady offered her hand to help him up, he didn't glance at her hand or anything, just stood up on his own and walked towards the door.
"I want to go home." He mumbled as he placed his hand on the smooth wood surface of the door.
"But you don't even know what your home is."
Trey didn't respond, just stared at the door for a moment before opening it
"Goodbye Trey." Her words carried like a careful stream of water to his ears. Trey turned to her
"You never told me your name."
"If you don't remember my name, then you truly are negligent, you haven't learned a thing. Oh well." She responded with that same soft smile.