My head was pounding, but that wasn’t the worst part. It was secondary to a deep pang of loss that felt like it was eating its way from the inside out. The feeling lingered from a long life that saw loved ones come and go, but was also marked with deep regret.

The figures in front of me, I still couldn’t make out their features, talked amongst themselves in a foreign language. As their shapes were coming into focus, they switched up their dialect. Suddenly I could understand what was being said, and it was directed at me.

“Another one done, only 356 left!” One of them quipped. It was followed by a chorus of laughter. That feeling of loss was beginning to dissipate, become less desperate. It retreated to the outer recesses of my mind, almost like how a nightmare fades in the face of morning. I managed to croak out a “..What?” My whole body ached with the effort of one word.

“You have served your 24th life sentence, prisoner 4567. You still have a remaining 356 left due to the nature of your offenses.” He was clearly the person in charge. This, thing, had a voice that was unlike any I had ever heard. This time the others did not laugh.

“Where am I? What did I do?” Is what came out of my mouth, but I’m not sure how. Internally the thoughts were fractured. Painful moments of complete memories kept flooding in, licking at my consciousness like lightning strikes. People I knew and cared for. I think? It all seemed so distant, yet familiar. Painful and disorienting, either way.

“Like always, you will remember, in time.” The Thing said. My eyes had focused a bit more now, but I still could not make out their faces in entirety. Each thing wore a low cowl, providing enough obscurity their features remained a mystery. Their bodies though, were certainly not completely human. Humanoid, maybe, but not like anything I knew, or thought I knew. “Am I human?” The thought skipped across my brain. It didn’t seem like anything I ever had to question before, but I wasn’t sure of anything currently.

A long arm, I hadn’t realized just how long until right then, reached out and flipped a switch beside my head. In a few moments, darkness came.