They say she's mad.
The girl who is only talked about in hushed whispers outside of her 'prison'. She's only eighteen, one may whisper to another. Not even Doctor Black would talk about his patients when he happened to venture into town for an errand every so often. Surely that was a sign something was very wrong up on Sycamore lane in the small town of Burgess.
And so, the townspeople stayed away from the rather intimidating mansion on the edge of town. Some would tell you it was an area the sun never graced with its presence, unable to penetrate the barred windows of St. Manuel Asylum. But the patients there were a testament that it was a lie the paranoid created to keep their children from there. It didn't stop the older ones from visiting however, and they only came back with stories worse than what most had imagined.
They weren't true of course. None of the stories that were brought back and spread to those who would listen held any truth. Doctor Black made sure of that whenever they stopped by to see for themselves. Bribes always seemed to suffice for the youth.
Toothiana gripped the windowsill until her knuckles turned white with the continued pressure. And although she stared out at the lawn, long overtaken by weeds in most areas that she could see, her eyes were unseeing of the world in front of her. She knelt on her bed, the sun warming her face as it broke through the clouds every so often. She'd tell whoever would listen that the sun came out just to say hello to her and the others.
Instead of what would be considered at least a decent view of Burgess by most- with the forest splayed out before her and the commercial district visible. No, instead she envisioned a huge palace where the walls were inlaid with gold and murals were around each corner, each picture depicting a different story of a feathered woman.
The turning of the door handle caught her attention, and as she twisted her upper body to face the door on the other side of the small room, she didn't see the cold concrete walls but instead light pink and purple stones that had crystals inlaid, each one catching the light and refracting it.
As the handle of the door turned, her eyes became fixated on the simple a metal- a bright gold from her view. And when the door was pushed open, she jumped off the bed and hit the ground running, her arms held close to her chest. A visitor perhaps? The mere thought sent a thrill running through her. But the figure that stepped through the door frame stopped her dead in her tracks.
His pale skin seemed to steal the ink from his black coat, the black threads seeming to swirl on his skin like ink until his skin appeared grey. But that smile- a shudder ran through her petite body. Even as lucid as she was, the way his lips parted into an ugly smile was recognizable to her.
"Hello, Miss Toothiana." he stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind him and turning a key in the lock. The click that signaled the lock shifting into place was almost deafening in the silence that hung between the doctor and his patient. The glare she fixed on him was more than enough that if a stranger was to walk in, her feelings for the doctor were clear.
Even her eyes, usually such a calming violet seemed to be filled with a suppressed anger, appearing as if they were on fire. It would be unreasonable for the Tooth Fairy herself to attack someone of course, she had to remind herself as he stepped towards her. And although she was itching to take a look at his teeth, it had been so long since she had after all, but the physical scars on her otherwise smooth stomach reminded her not to push the constricting boundaries he had set when she was first put into his care.
"Now Toothiana, don't be that way. Your medication helps you." His voice was smooth, but settled over her like a blanket of ice, her heart rate increasing. She curled her knees up to her chest in a vain act of protection. His help wasn't needed. It hurt... Help shouldn't hurt like his did, right?
"Ah!" A gasp of pain escaped from her lips when she felt cold metal sliding into the soft skin on her forearm.
She could feel him moving the needle around under her skin as he tried to find a vein. Doctor Black's cold fingers wrapped around her wrist to keep her still as Toothiana tried to squirm away from his grip and the needle. Biting her lip to stifle her pained cries, she told herself she had to stay strong for her subjects. Crying was no way for a queen to act in front of those who looked up to her. Each of them lined up across from her, watching patiently from her desk. One of the origami swans fell over.
Her veins ran cold as the medicine was pushed into her system, the needle having found a target and his finger pressing down on the plunger and administering the medicine. A shiver ran through her petite frame as Black pulled out the syringe, capping off the needle and giving her an appraising once over with his hard eyes gliding over her figure as she shook. Her arms had fallen limp to her side, and her head rested against the wall as her eyes slid shut. And then her palace vanished.
Toothiana awoke an hour or so later, the passage of time marked only by the suns new position in the sky. Moving a hand to her aching neck, she rubbed her fingers in small circles to rub out several kinks that had formed when her head rested at such an odd angle. She had to blink several times to confirm what her eyes and mind told her but her heart refused to believe. But it was true. Black had taken her polished floors away and given her cold concrete floors in its stead.
Her lips set in a grim line; she stood up and stretched her arms up and over her head, her fingers reaching for the ceiling. She was much too short to actually touch it, and the feeling of flight that had been with her earlier was gone and replaced with the feeling of emptiness, that a cloud had descended on her. Every step she took towards the door as if she was stepping on eggshells.
Toothiana peered out her window after staring at the wall across from her for a few moments, mentally pushing herself to move. She didn't remember it taking this much effort. Letting out a sigh, she pushed open the window and peered outside, the ground that had weeds and thorns almost everywhere you looked even seemed more inviting than her cold prison. Glancing back at the door, she swung one leg over the windowsill and dropped to the ground.
Her toes wiggled in the dirt, and she relished the feeling of being free for just a few moments, even if she was still technically on asylum property. Kneeling down by the building, she ran her fingers through the long grass and a small smile graced her lips as her fingers brushed over a feather on the ground. She picked it up, holding it to the sun and letting the light filter through as she admired the intricate pattern on the small brown and tan feather. Although plain, it pleased her with the way it still held such simple beauty.
Tilting her head to the side, she wrapped a strand of her chocolate brown hair that was cut in a uniform bob around the feather. It hung against her head, and a thrill ran through her. It was against the rules, obviously. But oh, it was so nice...
"Miss Toothiana!" Her body immediately tensed as she heard Doctor Black call her name, the natural flight or fight instinct kicking in as she turned her head to look back, the direction in which the voice had come from. But already he was there, a tall dark figure against the fading blue sky. He wasted no time in reaching down and grabbing her forearm.
A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I hope some of you caught what I did with the asylum name... )
And there will be eventual Rainbow Snowcone/Frostbite~