Alice, what have you done?

The voice was in her head, at least that's what she told herself, but the plaintive eyes of the albino shepherd setting on the front steps to the hospital said otherwise. She pointedly refused to respond even when the flowers growing in their beds along either side of the building started whispering among themselves.

Watch this one ladies, the last roses that tangled with her lost their heads!

She shivered and closed her eyes tightly even as her father lead her up the steps of the building, the feeling of his bandaged hands making her stomach roil uneasily and her stress caused the voices to be louder.

Lost their heads! My what a shame, I'd yet to kiss their beautiful petals! For shame, Alice! For shame!

She swatted the bumble-bee away with a soft, "Shoo!"

It didn't help, Alice! ALICE! alice!

The voices came from everywhere... with her anxiety rising she had no way to focus and block them out. Again she squeezed her blue eyes tightly shut, "I'm NOT Alice, I'm NOT! How many times do I have to tell you!"

"I'm sorry dear, I'll make sure not to call you that again," said a nurse.

She hadn't realized she'd already entered the building even though the air conditioning kissed her flushed skin from the summer sun outside. Now she was slightly irritated because it was obvious the woman thought she was simple, the nurse hadn't been the one talking. It was all the blasted OTHER animals, "Not you! The flowers, the bee, that bird, and the dog! They won't shut up..."

"Of course, I'll give them a stern talking to," she said while obviously playing along. "For now though, I need your father to sign some papers. Set right over there in those chairs and I'll be right over."

She felt momentarily guilty, she knew she was making a scene... she knew she should be trying to hold it together but it was just so horrible being here. She'd always sworn she'd never let the voices, the images in her head, get to her... She knew they weren't real, right? They were just a symptom of a mental issue passed to her through her mother... At least, that's what she told herself. She took a seat as asked.

As she waited, her wide eyes watched the world go by outside the glass entryway doors. She imagined she saw a smile floating by itself and blinked her eyes hard to clear the disturbing image but instead mushrooms sprouted hither and thither along the door frame. She grimaced and wedged her eyes shut again and this time when she opened them the illusion was gone and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"There, not so difficult? Hold it together long enough to say goodbye," she mumbled to herself.

Her father came to her and hesitated before wrapping his arms around her, "Be good Tay... If you get better soon you can come home. Try and get better?"

She nodded and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll try..."

Nurse Cheery came over to her and held out a hand, "I'm Nurse Beth... I'm going to show you to your room now, is that alright?"

Taylor nodded absently, watching her father watch her sorrowfully. She knew what he was thinking, how could she be so coherent and yet still talk about talking flowers and birds? She didn't know either...

.

Cordelia often couldn't tell when she was asleep and when she was awake. Most of the time her dreams intercepted with the reality around her. But now it was clear to herself that she was dreaming. She could feel the warmth of steam on her face, the delicious smell of tea and cakes drifted through her body, and she was with her mother and father. And they were not on cell phones or frantically typing out a work email. And her brothers and sisters were nowhere to be seen. It was only the three of them, having tea.

She was immediately shaken from her peaceful dreams by the sound of one of her older sisters screaming in her ear. "Have fun at the loony bin Mouse!" Cordelia rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She was packed in her parents car, all of her brothers and sisters surrounding her. Cordelia's father was at the wheel, looking far too focused on the road and driving then to reprimand this children for their cruelty. All of the sisters and brothers began to cackle, some of them meowing or clapping their hands together loudly just to her a reaction out of her.

Her mother had a cell phone pressed against her ear, a pinky shoved into the other one to block out the noise in the car. She was talking loudly, trying to communicate with whoever was on the other end of the line. "Yes sir, I will be at work on time today, I have to run a quick errand it won't take long." An errand. Dropping Cordelia off at the mental hospital was a mere chore to her parents. Cordelia swallowed, keeping her mouth closed and her eyes cast downward as her siblings continued their belittling.

The car ride seemed to take an eternity, and she couldn't even sleep.

As soon as the car parked and turned off her, siblings poured out into the parking lot. They danced and laughed with glee. "Cordelia's a loon! The Mouse is a crazy loon!" Her mother, a cell phone still pressed to her ear, took a moment to cover the mouth piece on her phone, leaning over her children. "Please kids, lower the volume mommy is on a very important call." Her father simply grunted an agreement as he began to herd the wave of children towards the building, Cordelia following behind.

It was her parents idea to bring along the entire family to say goodbye to Cordelia. They currently filled the waiting room as her mother finished off the last of the paperwork, and her father typed out an email on his phone. The siblings laughed and ran around, still jeering and snorting and squeaking. Cordelia kept silent. She wasn't entirely sure what was happening, all she hoped was this was just a dream.

Once the final paper works were completed and a nurse was on the way, her mother squatted down to have one final and tender moment with her daughter. "My darling daughter, we will all miss you so." And yet Cordelia could hear her siblings in the background, decided who would get what of Cordelia's belongings. As her mother tired to corral the children out the door, all of whom grabbed a lollipop from the jar on the receptionists counter, her father came over. He let out a soft grunt, ruffled Cordelia's hair and then left.

The sound of a door closing had never been so loud.

Cordelia sat in the waiting room for only moments alone, for soon a nurse came for her. "Hello Darling, I've come to take you to your room." A soft voice answered her, "I've come to take you to your room." Cordelia mimicked, the nurse said nothing as she ushered her along, maybe she had already heard it all.

Aria Toole was being walked down a hallway, her hands still behind her in cuffs. She had been brought straight to the psych ward, a safe place to keep a minor like her until her trial. Where she would more than likely be directed to come right back here. Her big purple hair swooped around her face, offsetting her wide blue eyes that took in everything around her. She passed by a room and peered in, seeing a man choking a nurse before she was rushed off, other orderlies entering the room. Surely to stop the man. Aria simply giggled. What fun this place would be.

A grin was perpetually on her face as two nurses and a doctor took her to her room and stood in front of her, discussing nonsense. They seemed to be trying to make sense of what she had done at school. How silly of them. After all, if one tried to make sense of nonsense, rather than embrace nonsense as nonsense, who was indeed being more nonsensical? It made perfect sense to her to just accept she was slightly mad and let her be. But no, there was no room for different among these silly people. All one right after another. Looking virtually the same and replaceable. Like a deck of cards. Trade one doctor for another she wouldn’t notice.

She turned her head this way and that, looking at her new surroundings. She wondered if she would be able to wear her own clothes. Hopefully her mother would bring them. She currently wore a purple tshirt and grey and black speckled skinny jeans, her black converse loose about her feet. She began to wonder what her siblings would think of her absence. They hadn’t really bothered with her much, as she tended to get them in trouble often after all. Perhaps this would be a vacation for them. How lovely. And mother and father wouldn’t have to deal with her climbing on the furniture, hissing at things and then falling into fits of giggles, lapping her milk from her glass rather than drinking it, yelling about mome raths and how dare they step on them.

”Aria?” came a voice which made the girl look up happily. ”We’re going to remove your handcuffs, but you have to be good. This is your new home for now. We expect you to behave,” the voice said. Aria simply nodded very slowly, grin never leaving while she stood and turned around, letting them undo her. Once her hands were free she turned back around to see the doctor and nurses looking at her, as if unnerved by her smile. How funny.

”There are 10 cats in a basket, 1 cat jumps out. How many are left?” she asked them, hands hanging loosely by her sides.

”We’ll talk later Aria,” said the doctor sternly, discussing possible medications to give the girl in the meantime while he walked out of her room, leaving her question unanswered. She licked her lips and walked up to the closed door.

”Just one… one cat left. Those copy cats…” she whispered, her eyes looking from the small high up window in the door out into the hall mischievously.

"I'm sorry boys, it's just these two past weeks... you've both been different."

No reply.
Auntie Meg was tearing up as she entered the car park. For a couple of weeks the boys had been silent in her point of view, they hadn't said a word to each other, yet they were still extremely close. They looked out the right window of the car, looking at their new 'home', it was decorated like a depressing nursery, a few paper butterflies stuck on the walls of the building. As the boys leaned closer to the window a couple paper butterflies flew off the wall and into the sky, the boys giggled and looked at each other.

I think it looks nice.

You think everything looks nice Kieran.

Yeah but.. maybe we could

Make friends?? I don't think so.

Matthew and Kieran exited the car at the same time, and shut their doors in unison, Matthew walked over to the left side of the car to stand next to his brother who was staring at the hospital. They both decided to wear their best, a white suit and a black suit, just incase they were invited to a ball. As the twins looked up to the building they took 5 steps closer, their auntie slowly following behind them.
As they entered the hospital they were immediately greeted with a high pitch voice. The brothers looked down to see a short nurse - about 5"5 - clutching a clipboard.

"Would you boys like to take a seat?"
They did what she said.
"Now, what are your names?"

There was a silence for a while, they both turned their head to view their last family member fill out two forms to keep them in here.

I think we should speak to her.

Me too.

Meg had finished off signing the papers and began walking in their direction. Matthew began to stand up, shortly followed by Kieran and they held out their arms to hug her. She ran into them both, sobbing quietly.

Same time? Or separately?

I don't think she cares, Matthew.

"I love you two so much I am so so-"
"We love you two." They both squeezed her tightly before letting her go.
"B-but.. you just.." Meg sobbed harder, holding onto both of them as they were being taken by the nurse. She put her head in her hands and ran out the doors, the boys watched curiously as she did.

"Now, what are your names?"

Look behind her, a rabbit!

They chuckled, watching the rabbit run around in circles. The nurse sighed as she went over their forms to find out the information she needed.

"Okay, Matthew, Kieran follow me."

Linoleum floors, cinderblock walls, and lifestyle magazines... Zach hated this place already. He didn't get why his mum and dad thought it was a good idea to bring him to this dump. Everything the doctors said about his condition all sounded like a load of bull to him. They had used terms like 'unstable', 'erratic' and 'unpredictable', which to be fair, wasn't all false. But to be sent to the loony bin just because he got angry sometimes? This all seemed a bit extreme to him. Zach had the fit earlier that day, right after he'd found out where they were taking him. He didn't need "help", he wasn't crazy; his emotions just got the better of him sometimes. Everyone had mood swings every once in awhile, right? He wasn't crazy.

A sudden, loud beeping broke Zach out of his reverie, and he glanced across the waiting room at the numerous nurses rushing about. His parents had left not too long ago, each of them giving him a hug goodbye. His normally stoic father might've even shed the odd tear or two when Zach gave a light tug to the corner of his shirt - like he always did after a hug. There were always these little rituals Zach had to perform whenever he did normal, everyday things like a normal, everyday kid. Like how before he leaves the house, he has to turn the lock exactly seven times, and how everything has to be arranged in just right order. It was all harmless stuff, really - apart from the cutting. Never deep enough to kill him, obviously. But sometimes, he just needed to calm down. At first, Zach had started out doing it for the attention, but he soon found out cutting almost seemed to purge him of his negative emotions. Of course, there was also the added benefit of everyone falling over themselves with sympathy.

These symptoms of his had started out pretty mild, and they only escalated when Zach got upset. But Zach got upset really easily. There was one time in school when he got into a bloody fistfight with a classmate just because his invitation to study together got rebuffed. To say that Zach didn't take kindly to rejection was the understatement of the century. Just thinking about how his parents dumped him here like he wasn't worth anything to them raised his hackles. But right now, Zach just had to quash his rising anger the best he could. It simply wouldn't do for him to make a scene his first day here. The only way he was gonna get out of here was to prove that there was nothing wrong with him.

"Finch, Zachariah," said a voice from his right, nearly making Zach jump in his seat. The woman was tall, with dark hair and even darker eyes. The lenses of her horn-rimmed glasses glinted in the light as she glanced down at the clipboard clutched in her right hand. Momentarily looking up, she spoke again, this time looking down at him with a smile. "If you'll come with me, please."

Zach stood up, following the woman through a set of glass double doors, as they walk through theseemingly never-ending hallways. The walk was long, but not silent, with Zach having struck up a conversation with his companion. It was mostly shallow small talk - questions about what the hospital was like, and where he was going to be staying. The young nurse had been reluctant to reply at first; she had read up on Zach's condition and knew that she had to treat him with a certain degree of cynicism. But with a subtle change of inflection, Zach managed to get her to open up. Easy smiles and light touches on the arm... that's usually all it took.

Several other patients and the staff pass them by, all of them seeming to blur into something shapeless and indistinct. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached their destination. The heavy, metal door loomed over him and Zach had half a mind to hightail it out of there while he had the chance. Through the little window embedded in the door, he could just see inside. It appeared to be pretty small, just enough space for a bed and dresser, he'd reckon. But he wasn't kept guessing for long as the door swung open, having been unlocked by the nurse (whose name was apparently Edith, as he had learnt not long ago). Four stark white walls surrounding a room stripped to its bare bones. A bed, a side table, a single chair, and a small dresser pushed against the leftmost side of the room.

Edith looked through the papers on the clipboard, flipping through them before she found the information she needed. "You'll get medicine twice a day, once in the morning after breakfast, and once at night before bed. Breakfast is at nine o'clock every morning, lunch is at noon, and dinner is at six-thirty. You can't leave the ward, and you'll have an appointment with the hospital’s therapist twice a week every week, which may change depending on your progress."

"I'll be around the ward if you need me," Edith chirped, before giving Zach one last smile and making a fleeting exit from the room. Zach watched her go, and saw the blush rise to her cheeks when he'd smiled back at her.

Elena's mind was all over the place as her grandparents pulled up to the curb in front of the facility she was about to be thrown into. She had spent the entire car ride looking out the window, not responding to anything they said to her. Her parents would have never done this to her, on the other hand if they were still alive she wouldn't be what she was, an addict, depressed, a suicide risk according to the doctors and her grandparents. It wasn't exactly that she wanted to commit the act of suicide and end her life, but rather that she didn't care if it ended or not.

She stepped out of the vehicle she saw others walking in, she gave both of her grandparents soft hugs. Her grandfather looked stoic, her grandmother, who looked like the typical grandmother to anyone who knew her looked sad, with tears in her eyes. "I hope to see you someday, perhaps not in this life, but someday" She spoke in a cryptic tone before grabbing her old trunk out of the other side of the backseat and hefting it up on the sidewalk. It was almost as big as her small frame and tattered beyond belief, it held some clothes, a polaroid camera with a couple boxes of film, her sketchbook and pencils, and finally a small iPod with as much music as she could possibly fit on it. If she had the choice she would have also brought her record player as well as some other illegal substances, but if she had the choice she wouldn't be there.

Trudging up the steps to the front doors she ran a hand through the mess of waves that had taken up with her white blue hair that got darker at the bottoms. Usually it was straightened, but that seemed like it was going to be a luxury in this place. Standing at the front door she quickly brushed off the skirt of her cream colored long sleeve scoop neck dress. It was tight around her arms and until it reached her belly button where it flowed out to mid thigh. With it she wore a pair of sheer black tights and thick dark grey thigh high socks with a pair of worn out black boots. If her siblings could see how she changed, from popular preppy girl that was always there with a piece of advice and help to the depressed addict she had become. It was another thing that made her sad, but also drove her to change. For a brief moment she thought that the place she was about to enter, her own personal hell, might actually be able to help her.

Opening the door she trudged in and carefully peered around, walking up to the counter she spoke in a soft voice, "I just got dropped off, my name is Elena Absolem" The nurse smiled at her and nodded before beginning to tap away at the computer, "Ah Ms. Absolem here you are, I am so very sorry to hear about your situation. Let me print out your schedule and go over it with you" Elena stayed quiet, looking around the rest of the reception area with a slight wariness, her hand was gripped so tightly onto the handle of her trunk that her knuckles were white. The nurse tapped away and grabbed something from the printer before coming around the counter starting to go over it, "So it looks like your eating schedule is at nine, noon, and six-thirty, but I am sure you can get away with coming in a couple minutes early or late if you get caught up with something. You will be having therapy sessions twice a week that are one on one so that one of the big shots here can decide what medication you need and what course of action your healing process will be. Oh! It also looks like you will also have a group therapy session once a week which has yet to be determined. If you just want to sit over there in that chair someone will be around shortly to show you the way to your room" With a fake smile the nurse handed Elena the paper and walked back to her desk typing away at her computer and completely forgetting about Elena's existence.

The blue haired girl could tell the nurse was new and obviously fake. Her mother would have said that the nurse needed a little bite of realism in her life, then again her mother also told her that if she ate her vegetables she would be taller and that sweets would make her shrink. It was in turn what she taught her siblings before they passed. Running a hand through her messy locks once more Elena sat down on one of the chairs, crossing her legs and just observing those coming in and out of the reception area.

Eira Lucas walked herself straight to the hospital. The police promised they’d have her things sent after her. After all, who else would have use for them? Her only living relative she knew about was now dead. Not that she thought about it. In her mind, she was somewhere totally different than this reality. In her world, her father was still there, talking to her now and again. It was much better than the real world. Cold, unfeeling, hateful reality. What a dreadful place. She could only hope this hospital she was heading to accommodated her world. She would hate to lose it.

She saw the sign and paused, recalling in her mind the title of the place she was headed to, and compared it to the sign. Ah yes, that was right. She nodded firmly to herself, reaching up and making sure her blood stained hat was firmly on her head before crossing the parking lot to the door. A bug tried hitting her in the face and she randomly began swiping at it rapidly, mumbling something about bread and butterflies always flitting about willy nilly with no regards to personal space.

A humph and short stride later she was within the waiting room and awaiting her turn to be called. She stood in the room, moving about it and taking in the walls. It was as if she couldn’t see the people. Or didn’t care. She hummed softly to herself the song she had sung for the talent show, managing to get out the line ‘Where is the land behind the eye?’ before a nurse called out “Eira Lucas?” She lit up and smiled, waltzing over to the woman, but keeping her hands fidgeting with themselves behind her back.

”Yes, that’s me. I mean I. Whichever it is properly,” she said, clearing her throat. Her eyes moved to the woman’s necklace, a lovely garnet in a silver heart. ”Oh what a lovely piece of jewelry! You know, I do miss my jewelry. I have this one bangle made of flower cloth over plastic you see and… well where is it? Oh yes that’s right they’re bringing my things. At least they said they would. Do you happen to have any cleaning supplies? I’m afraid I must clean up my room and myself before any visitors arrive for tea. It would be highly improper…” she prattled on while following the nurse, looking this way and that, commenting on various shiny things that would catch her eye.

~Time jump to next day~

The very first day he'd been here Theo had made sure to get the schedule for activities, lunch, medication, bed time, and everything else that the place had on a time frame. He'd neatly set out what few things the place had let him keep and made sure they were perfectly in place, no more or less than three items on any surface. Then, by the time he was done setting up the nurse had come to give him his new medication and had left after announcing lights out. He'd listened to the automatic door lock and then he'd sat on his bed listening to the constant tick of the hands on his watch... Every time he'd get nearer to sleep the sound of the watch seemed to get louder and he'd suddenly grow afraid he'd sleep too long... In the end the medication they'd given him knocked him into a dreamless sleep.

Now, he was headed to lunch which was apparently the beginning of free time during which he was allowed out among the other... tenants. He was on his way to the lunch line when he spotted a blonde girl with big blue eyes staring dejectedly at her plate and muttering at a fly that had landed on her apple. Curious he decided that after he got his tray he'd take a seat with her and see what things she was talking about with the fly... It seemed important.

The Next Day:

Waking up in the small uncomfortable bed the next day after only getting an hour or so of sleep really didn't faze Elena as much as she thought it would have. She hadn't had her first individual therapy session yet and didn't have any medication to take so after being checked in the previous day she was taken to her room to do whatever she would like in there. She had passed by many rooms, there was a blonde, a girl with purple hair, a pair of twins, an older boy who looked to be out like a light as well as others. She laughed softly as she saw them, her mind feeling the familiarity of them, she didn't know how or why but just that it was.

When she got to her room she opened her trunk, unpacking the measly clothes she was allowed to bring, her camera, film, sketching items, she would have brought her whole room if she could. She spent the night staring at the ceiling listening to music and singing quietly next to the picture of her siblings, it was the only picture of her family that she had brought to this prison she had no choice in being in. She had slept through breakfast and since she wasn't able to go out and wander she sat in her room drawing random people, things, and creatures before putting on a pair of grey leggings and an oversized black scoop neck sweater along with a pair of keds. Elena walked out of her room with her sketchbook and a pencil in hand before making her way to the cafeteria.

She got her tray and nibbled on her food carefully all the while sketching those around her, the nurses, the doctors, the lunch servers, everyone. She waited to see who else had the same lunch time as her, to see who they allowed around each other. She found herself randomly sketching the stages of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly as she continued to eat and observe.

The Next Day:

For the young Cordelia, sleep came easily. Sleep always came easily to her. She almost found the silence of her new room relaxing. She was used to sleeping with all of her brothers and sisters, constantly yelling and fighting with each other until their parents ultimately split them apart. She had never had her own room or even her own bed. And everything was so white and clean. It was extremely...nice. Even the nurse who brought her medicine was nice, talking to her while giving it. The nurse always spoke in a soft voice, and she always smiled. Later in the evening a suitcase of belongings was delivered to her room, various articles of clothing, a tooth brush, some of her favorite books and a stuffed animal shaped like a mouse.

The dark escape of sleep came even easier then normal. Her own exhaustion mixed with the medication allowed her sleep to be long and deep. Her dreams were extremely vivid, full of warm tea and cakes being served. Yet in this dream she was alone, her parents for once not in attendance. She was awoken for breakfast, but told her nurse she felt too groggy to eat just yet. And instead fell back to sleep. She then was awoken for lunch, being told that she had to go eat. Cordelia could hardly complain as she was escorted to the cafeteria. She had made one condition however, she refused to wear shoes to the cafeteria. The nurse begrudging agreed.

She was given a tray full of food and went to sit by herself at a table. She glanced nervously from her tray of food to the people around her. She began to nibble endlessly at it, guarding her food with her arms. She could almost imagine her brothers and sisters arriving out of nowhere, eating all the best parts of her meal and leaving her with the scraps. Her large eyes bounced around the room, taking in the scene around her.

Elena had been absentmindedly finishing her food and her drawing when she recognized it from a dream she had. Shaking it off she looked up as the large older boy who had appeared to be sedated the other day when she had arrived approached a girl who was roughly 13. The thought made her heart clench, that could be one of her siblings in here, that is if they were still alive. She hadn't realized she had stood up until she did and then it was too late for her to turn around. Perhaps she had a death wish, she didn't know if the boy was dangerous or not, but she also wasn't going to have the younger girl be led down the wrong path.

Carefully she grabbed her tray and her sketchbook and pencil and made her way over to the table before sitting down across from the boy and the girl. She didn't say a word, but she carefully looked at them, beginning to lightly sketch the girl first, carefully. At the moment she was just there in case he decided to lash out, there really was only one reason people became sedated in these places and Elena wasn't going to let the younger girl become the other end of that temper.

Taking a bite of the apple that had been on her tray she set it back down and brushed a hand through the wavy mane her hair had become overnight, she had almost finished the sketch before beginning to draw a mouse next to it. She didn't know why she did it, just that she had to. On the inside of her arm were small cuts some healed and some scarred over, Elena had told herself she hadn't done it to take her life, but after being released from the hospital two days prior exactly she wasn't so sure. Still she drew and drew waiting and watching for their next moves before speaking.

Cordelia had been slowly making her way through her food, only taking the smallest bites out of it at she nibbled along. All of a sudden a large man appeared in front of her. He looked like a large beast, standing over Cordelia like that. He was trying, and succeeding, to intimidate Cordelia into going off and finding some other girl. Purple hair? That wouldn't be too hard to find. But her thoughts were not working quite as well. She found it hard to understand what this man was saying, he was a scary sight to behold. If Cordelia had been able to summon the courage, she would have told him to not call her a little girl, and not to boss her around.

"I...I...uh..." Cordelia was struggling to form words as she leaned away from the man. He mentioned that he would watch her food while she was done, something that she didn't know if she could trust. He also said he could make it worth her time, but she wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but at the same time she didn't want to stick around long enough to find out what would happen if she didn't go and fetch the purple haired girl.

And then suddenly another person arrived at the table, a girl with blue hair. Drat, it couldn't just be that easy. She watched as the girl pulled out a sketch pad and pencils, but didn't stick around long enough to figure out what she was drawing before she began to stand up. "P...purple hair..." She repeated back in a meek voice. She began to scamper around the lunch room, her movement seemed unbalanced, she would hurry along one way, then another in no clear pattern. She eventually came across the girl with the purple hair.

Cordelia swallowed her nerves as she tapped the girl on the shoulder, and then pointed to the man who wanted her. She did not speak.

For Zach, the rest of the day was rather uneventful. After all, there really wasn't much to do in his room - the hospital didn't even let him bring anything other than the bare necessities. At least one of the nurses brought him tea, though. She was a silver-lining in this hellhole. The sky was getting dark outside, but it'd only been an hour or two since he'd been here, and he was already bored out of his mind. Zach's time in the evening was mostly spent pacing back and forth, absentmindedly arranging anything that seemed out of place, here and there. If every day was going to be like this, he really didn't know how he was going to survive. To an average person, it might've seemed like an overreaction, but he was already contemplating injuring himself just to bring the nurses running. Zach didn't even care about the pain that it would cause him, and the unsightly scars that would surface in the weeks to follow. All he cared about was staying at the forefront of everybody's minds. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could hurt himself with in the room. The windows were covered with a heavy, iron grate, and the edges of the bedframe were dull. They even banned shoes with laces, for fear of the patients hanging themselves. Truth be told, though, all of this seemed utterly unnecessary. The last thing Zach wanted to do was kill himself, in fact, he was terrified of death. But in all seventeen years of his life, nothing he did got him more attention than self-harm did.

In the end, all that plotting Zach did was all for naught, as not long after, he felt the tendrils of dreamland creeping up on him. The thin mattress was in no way comfortable, but still, it wasn't too bad. One could fall asleep anywhere if they truly were tired. The stark, white walls of his room soon faded into a featureless black, as Zach fell into a deep slumber. And then, it was that dream again. He was in the middle of a field of crisp, green grass, and the spring breeze kissed his skin. In the distance, he could hear a waterfall. The chirping of birds grew louder and louder before the scene in front of him changed. A grand dining table seemed to appear out of nowhere, with a feast fit for a king laid out atop of it. All manner of pastries and confectionery were served on platters of silver and gold, and it was so vivid that Zach could smell the comforting scent of warm tea. Everything was as it should be, except this time, he wasn't alone. Usually, he was the only one at the table in these dreams, but now, he could see vague silhouettes sitting there, as well. The more he stared at them, trying to make out the blurry shapes, the vaguer they became. The amorphous figures chatted amongst themselves, laughing and joking. Zach should've felt left out, but really, it was the strangest thing, they almost made him feel at home. As he bit into a buttered muffin, he remembered wishing that his consciousness didn't return.

Unfortunately, it did return, as always, and Zach found himself tangled up in thin, cotton sheets. Sitting up in bed, he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. The clock hanging above the door indicated that it was already noon. Huh, he didn't remember the nurses waking him up. Maybe they just forgot about him. At the thought, a dark look crossed his eyes, but it disappeared almost as quickly when his stomach growled. It wasn't surprising, seeing that he hadn't eaten since god knows how long ago. The thought of hospital food churned his stomach, but still, he needed something to eat. Getting up, he wandered over to the door, finding that it already unlocked. Zach heaved a sigh of relief at this, he really didn't know what he was gonna do if he was locked in.

"Cafeteria... Cafeteria..." Zach mumbled to himself once he was in the corridor, looking around for any directions. He saw a few signs here and there, pointing to his destination, but simply following them wouldn't be any fun, would it? Flagging down a passing nurse, he flashed her an endearingly lopsided grin before he told her just how grateful he'd be if she showed him the way to the cafeteria. After all, poor ol' him had only been here for a day, and he was just helpless when it came to directions. Needless to say, his efforts were more than just effective, and Zach soon found himself right where he wanted to be. Hearing his stomach growl once again, he made a beeline straight for the food. He was curious as to what was on the menu, a wave of relief washing through him when he saw that there wasn't any "mystery meat" or anything of that liking. In the end, Zach settled on a turkey sandwich and a cup of tea. The tea wasn't any surprise, of course, as he snatched it up as soon as he saw that it was an available choice. With his tray of food in arm, he looked around for a seat. For about five minutes, he pinballed all over the place, chirping a cheery greeting to anyone and everyone. Most of them seemed rather good-natured, although some were a little dazed, unresponsive, and even violent. But he didn't mind, as long as everyone knew who he was, Zach was satisfied.

After his round of 'good afternoon's, Zach's gaze finally fell on a table in the corner. Three people were seated there, and it was starting to get pretty packed, but they seemed like an interesting bunch. One of them even had blue hair! Looking to the left and right, he began to bob and weave his way through the crowd and towards the table. He almost lost his balance a few times, nearly spilling his tea on someone, but thankfully, Zach managed to get to the table without incident.

"Hello! Mind if I join you guys?" It was more of a rhetorical question, than anything. Because Zach had already made himself comfortable when he asked it. Scooching over slightly so he wasn't uncomfortably close to anyone, he swept an inspecting glance over his lunchtime companions. The blue-haired girl and blondie seemed about his age, but the little brunette seated between them was clearly younger. If he had to guess, she had got to be no older than thirteen. None of them seemed terribly talkative though, much to his chagrin. No matter, he didn't need them to talk. All he needed them to do was listen. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, however, the smallest of the trio wandered off. Zach's brow furrowed, unclear as to what she was doing, as he watched her approach someone. This time, it wasn't blue hair... it was purple. Christ, maybe he should dye his hair once he got out of here. Red seemed like a good colour.

Turning back to the remaining two, Zach noticed the numerous scars lining the blue-haired girl's forearm. "Oh, hey! I have those, too." he declared, way too cheerily for what he just said. He hiked up the sleeve of his woollen sweater, revealing the smooth, raised scars on his own forearm. It wasn't typically something to be proud of, he knew, but he really couldn't help it. It was just something he had to do.

Aria had busied herself, hopping around on the furniture of her room, knocking off anything on a shelf just for fun. Ah right, the nurses would clean it up. But why? It was all so chaotic and fun. They should leave it. She grinned and got dressed in her pajamas- thankfully her thing shad been brought to her though she never did see her parents or siblings- which were some black fuzzy pants and a pink cami top. She crawled under her bed’s blanket on her hands and knees, becoming a ball under its weight. She growled softly in her sleep, happily, and drifted off. When morning came, they brought her pills. ”Will these make me taller or shorter?” she asked curiously to the nurse. The nurse seemed unsure what to say at first.

”They make you calmer dear. Your mind not so all over the place, wouldn’t that be nice? Now swallow,” she said gingerly. Aria giggled and popped the pills in her mouth, stuffing them up into the space between her upper gums and cheek. She opened her mouth and lifted her tongue around so the nurse could see they were gone. Satisfied, she told her to go to the cafeteria for food and left. Aria spit out the pills and tossed them down a drain in her bathroom, before primping her hair big like she enjoyed. She also dug around and found her makeup, putting on a cat eye style eyeliner before deciding she looked perfect.

Still in her pajamas, she began to roam the halls, humming to herself. ”And the mome raths outgrabe.” she sang softly. Her hands were intertwined behind her back, almost like she still had on her cuffs. She was darting around the place, turning in circles, making nurses think they saw her, then disappearing so they did a double take and looked confused while she watched them behind various doors. Oh how fun this place was! Surely she could convince the staff they were the mad ones not her. As she was smiling to herself she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, smile from ear to ear, she saw a mouse, no silly it’s a little girl. Just a very mousey looking one. Very plain.

Aria tilted her head at her, smile still present, waiting for her to say whatever was on her mind. But, the girl simply pointed. Ah! There was the cafeteria! ”Why thank you!” Aria exclaimed triumphantly. She walked into the room, not understanding the girl had been pointing to any particular person, before she retrieved her tray and went to find a place to sit. She then saw some gathered at a table that looked very interesting… and ah! There was that large man who had been killing someone yesterday. ”Good evening,” she smiled to all of them before sitting, letting her eyes go to the man’s fiery ones in particular. ”Or is it afternoon? I’m afraid I have no sense of time,” she grinned.

Taylor had been setting quietly... Alright, not exactly quietly since the fly that had seated itself on her apple was prattling on about how everything was her fault and if she'd just accept who she was then everything could be so much easier. Eventually, she got tired of arguing with him and shooed him away in time to look up and see a rather gangly looking boy watching her before looking at his watch and hurrying to the line. Taylor sighed and then jumped slightly as she was joined by a quiet girl a bit further down her table and in the same manner a girl with oddly colored hair on the other end. The problem was she couldn't see them right... instead a mirage like image floated over the meek girl's face of a mouse and on the other hovered butterfly wings at her back.

She shook her head to clear the images and when they were gone she immediately tensed again when a boy walked over and began bossing the mouse... Dormouse, her psyche corrected. She shook that away too and frowned deeply when the boy's eyes grew wide like saucers and pitch black... his neck stretched and his hands turned to talons. She shuddered and stood quickly, "Jabberwock... you're the jabberwock.... The vorpal sword went snicker-snack...." All this was said under her breath as she marched over to him with her plastic butter knife in hand... but it wasn't a butter knife, it was a long wicked looking dagger with arcane writing down the side... time seemed to warp around it as it swung back and forth in her grasp.

However, after only a few steps she blinked and the image faded and her blade became a plastic knife once more. She frowned and wrapped her arms around herself, obviously the meds weren't helping any with her delusions. "Hold it together... hold it together..." She took a seat once more, this time closer to the blue haired girl and the brown haired guy who'd just taken a seat... her food forgotten.

As he exposed the scars on his wrists Taylor's world somersaulted again and this time she saw brown ears above his head. "Those are some nasty scars...Anyone else's meds failing to do any good at all?"

~*~

Theo noticed that the small group had congregated and hesitated momentarily before considering going over.... Talking might make him late on finishing his lunch and that simply wouldn't do. However, loneliness won out and he walked over. "May I set here, if you've the time..." He spoke to no one and everyone in general.

Eira had spent all evening and night cleaning her room spotless. When she’d finally sat in a rather large chair in her room, it was morning. Soft bags were under her eyes as she went to take a shower, undressing except for her hat. She got redressed in a black knee length sleeveless dress with lace about the collar, sitting back in her chair tiredly while slipping on some white gloves. The nurse arrived and brought her some medication, and she hesitantly took it. ”You didn’t touch the pills with your hand did you?” she asked nervously. But the nurse reassured her they were tapped out into the cup directly from the bottle. Eira nodded, giving a relieved smile.

”Perhaps you’d like to join me for tea later? My things still haven’t arrived but I have the most marvelous little tea set. Actually several. They should send them all. Of course, that requires touching my things, which I will have to clean prior to use, but well… you all do have tea here don’t you? And cakes? It is my unbirthday today and I’m afraid no cake will just not do.” The nurse assured her she could have cake with her lunch when she went down for it. ”Splendid! I hope father does join us today. Where are my friends? They must be on their way too. I have to sing for them…” she rattled on as the nurse quickly left the girl.

By lunch time, Eira’s medications had taken enough of an effect that she could grab her tray with her gloved hands and sit at a table without feeling the need to clean everything or question too much how the food was handled. She spotted a table with some bright looking folks, and sat down with them. ”Why hello all! Oh I’m afraid they gave you dirty cups. Dirty cups all around. I just don’t know what I’m going to do with these cups,” she frowned, mumbling and grabbing Theo’s cup as he was still standing near where she’d sat, examining it with one eye open and one eye squished shut.