Room 101

[Robert]

Room 101
by
Robert


The year is 1984. The place is London. The time is a few minuets past thirteen.

Julia woke and tried to open her eyes but the bright lights above her glared down in her face and it hurt to keep them open. She quickly closed them and turned her head before trying again. This time she was able to open them but only saw a vague silhouette standing near her.
She tried to get up but the wrist and ankle straps held her tightly and kept her stretched, her arms and legs frozen in an X. She looked at her wrists and the leather straps tightly holding them, then tried to look down to see what was keeping her legs tight, then remembering she was tied to a rack.
Her mind was unable to put any kind of sense or reality to her situation until she heard a voice coming from the direction of the silhouette.

"Julia", she heard.

She looked in the direction of the voice but her vision blurred and could not focus.

"Where... where am I", She asked.

"You are in the Ministry of Truth", the voice answered.

A vague memory flashed across her mind of pain, then slowly crystallized to vivid recall and she tensed waiting for it to rip though her body. She tried to focus on the table next to her where the dial was. She tried to see what number it was on but she still could not clearly see it.

"Do you remember our last conversation Julia?"

She hesitated, then moving her mouth trying to answer but no words came forth. She wanted to answer but her mind was still dull from the drug they administered and could not form the words.

She finally was able to get out, "Ye... yes"

"Good, you made a great deal of progress."

She began to breathe heavily remembering screaming for mercy, begging for the pain to stop. She began to perspire and the coldness of the air chilled her.

"Please," she begged, "...no... no more. I'll confess, anything.. anything you want."

"You already have confessed, you already know you are guilty of thought crime, fornication, willfully corrupting fellow party members."

She lightly pulled at her restraints, her light clothing now soaked in her sweat. Tears began to flow again.

"Please.. where is Winston, .. I.. want to see Win.... "

Her sentence was cut off by the rack stretching her, pulling her, and the pain shooting though her body, so intense she could not speak or scream. The dial shot up to 10. She could only wish to die as it pulled at her. It felt like her spine would snap.

Then she felt the straps loosen, the pain decrease. Her eyes opened to see the silhouette hovering over her.

What was left of her sprit was crushed. She could only whimper. Then the rack stretched her again.
She thought, "Please.. let it kill me this time.. no more.. please.. no more," then she lost conciseness.


She dreamed she was with Winston. Laying together in each other's arms. She looked up at him as he slept. Looking at his face. His face was peaceful, content. But then the expression changed. Slowly at first, becoming distorted, ugly. His eyes opening glaring wide at her. Then he screamed startling her as she covered her ears. His face became more and more distorted, she screamed back in fear.

"Winston!!" "Winston!!!!"

She woke completely drenched in sweat screaming Winston's name, breathing heavily, almost gasping for air. She tried to speak again but could not catch her breath. She tried to focus on the silhouette again but only saw the outline against the lights.

The voice spoke again, "Room 101"

She felt a needle in her arm ... and passed out.


Julia woke up dazed and confused. She was in a room she did not recognize. She realized her arms were pinned at her side and her legs tight together. As her head cleared she could see that she was strapped in a body harness from ankles to shoulders unable to move. She was dangling from a chain attached to the back of her harness.

"Do you know where you are Julia" O'Brien said.

She could see him clearly now.

She nodded, then said stuttering, "Rrr... Room 1.. 101."

"Correct," he said, "and you know full well what is in Room 101 don't you."

She felt the chill go up her spine as she dangled, she felt the trembling start in her body.

O'Brien looked up to a window high on the wall and nodded to someone then stepped back. There was a grinding noise coming from below her. She looked around trying to see what it was that was making the sound. She started to breathe quickly as she looked around the room in quick desperate glances.

"You should know Julia that Winston betrayed you."

"No he wouldn't, he loves me."

"He did, very quickly I might add, and with out regret."

As she looked down again she could see the floor was moving apart separating in the middle. Her heart started to thump in her chest as she tried to assimilate what was happening. Finally the floor had opened and the grinding noise stopped. She looked down in horror but still not realizing exactly what was beneath her.

"In Room 101 is the most terrible thing you can possibly imagine," said O'Brien, "It is different for each person. For you Julia, it is Quicksand!"

Julia's eyes opened wide looking back and forth from the oozing wet mud under her to O'Brien.

"Nooooooo," she shrieked.

As she was screaming the chain that held her up began to unwind from the block above her and started to lower her down.

She struggled at her straps trying with all her strength to loosen or break them but they were strong and tight. She was helpless.

Her toes touched the cold wet quicksand and she struggled even harder as the chain continued to drop her down. It dropped her slowly but steadily as the mud covered her ankles then her calves. Her strength was reaching it's exhaustion point and her struggles began to lessen.

"No, stop, don't," she screamed as she tried to renew her struggle, but her bounds held her and she could not escape.

"Don't do this.. Don't do this to me, she sobbed."

O'Brien was silent as the room went dark except on Julia spotlighting her decent as she sank down to her thighs.

She felt it roll over her hips slowly then to her waist as she stopped struggling, the tears now flowing down her face.

"Stop it," she pleaded, "Don't!"

She continued to be swallowed by the mud as small waves rolled away from her body to the edge of the pit as her body shook violently in fear. The quicksand reached her breasts then her shoulders as she looked for O'Brien in desperation.

"Please, I'll do anything, get me out of this!"

Only the sound of the chain rolling off the wheel made noise as she sank to her neck then her chin.

"Stop, do it to Winston, not me, do it to Winston," she screamed at the top of her lungs as the quicksand took her face and she sank under.


Weeks later Julia was sitting in the public square waiting for her group meeting. Winston appeared, he sat down next to her.

"I betrayed you," she whispered to him.

"I betrayed you," he said.

[PM2K]

Awesome... simply awesome.

[Robert]

Awesome... simply awesome.

Thanks PM2K, You almost have to have read "1984" to appreciate this. Being an Eric Blair fan for many
years I was thinking of this story for a long time. Perhaps some day I will produce it.

Robert

[klib21]

I always wondered what her greatest fear was.

Also that novel is absolutely depressing and very fascinating.

[Nessie]

I read that book in high school.

You're right. It only tells you what they did to Winston. What they did to Julia is left completely to the imagination.

Now you have filled us in!

Nessie

[nachtjaeger]

Nice one, Robert!

[Robert]

Thanks to Nessie, Nachtjaeger, and Klib21 for responding!

Robert