When you're small, everything around you seems bigger-- happy moments, sad moments. Fears. This thought is echoing through her mind as she tries not to focus on the twin faces peering in at her as she heads reluctantly to her father's study against her own wishes, her legs seeming to have minds of their own.
As soon as she enters the room, it seems to stretch out in front of her, as creepy and all-encompassing as it had ever been. She shivers a little before walking further inside, gasping as the door slams shut behind her. She's stuck in one of her least favorite places as a child... the one thing she does not miss about her childhood home.
You're a curious little girl so, after telling the neighbor who's babysitting that you want to play hide and seek before supper, you slip away and into your father's study-- the room you've been told never, ever to go into. You feel a little naughty but the knowledge this room holds has always compelled you, called to you.
You take in the desk and the cold, wooden tile under your shoes, as you venture deeper inside, eyes drifting across every visible surface. Your curiousity churns within you, suddenly mixing with a weird kind of dread that almost takes your breath away.
Dad's a scientist, you know this much, but there's something here that just doesn't feel right to you, a cold kind of darkness that seems to be infusing the room. Your gaze is unexplainably drawn to a harmless looking mirror across from the desk and you swallow, suddenly not liking it at all. It may look innocent enough but your fists clench, and you're suddenly desperate to break it into little pieces.
Something here is just not right at all.
You shake your head as the memory fades away. There is no mirror here, just you and the desk you're clinging to, scribbling off a fake address to buy yourself some time to think-- flashbacking to weird childhood memories that you've tried to not dwell on is not helping at all...
It ends up not mattering, however, as the doors across the gaping chasm in front of you slide open abruptly and your mouth goes dry-- Hatter almost falls in but catches himself just in time. "Jump!" he tells you, holding his arms out.
You don't know if you can do this, your fear and memories holding you back, but you stare at him, remembering his words from what feels like years ago now. Don't look down... You jump, scrabbling for the chandelier that is the only thing that can propell you across the nonexistent floor. It somehow works and safety spreads through you for a second as he catches you and pulls you out of the room. You don't look back.