A/N: Hello everybody. I guess chapter one has been a hit so far. I'm going to keep going with this fic and hope it comes out the way I want it to. I hope you can clearly see the name similarities between my characters and that of the real Alice in Wonderland. Wit...C'mon. Clearly that's White Rabbit. And he's an albino.
Hehe. Must continue. This is not in chronological order of the books.
I'm tying in old asylum floor plans with Wonderland-esque thoughts. Hope you like.
What Alice Found There
Chapter Two
Goosebumps crawled along my arms. The room was cold, but the new air refreshed my lungs. I sat on my bed and waited. I was expecting a doctor to come in and check for any more signs of self-injury.
My scars began to ache. I heard a knock at my door. My blood stopped flowing.
"Who is it?" My trembling hands grasped the bedsheets.
I watched the doorknob jiggle a bit before it turned. The door swung open and in stepped a dark silhouette.
"I'm here to tell you where to obtain your new medicine. You've never been in the social areas of the third floor, and I don't want you to get lost." A woman almost twice my height towered over my bed. Her scraggly salt and pepper hair struggled to let loose from a messy bun.
My voice left completely. The thought of seeing a room full of people worse than I seemed unbearable.
The woman spoke again, "It's almost eleven, so we should be off now. Medicine first, I'll then give you a small tour, and then it's off to lunch. Any questions or comments? Are you ready for this, Alice?"
To be fully prepared for something was just a lie to one's emotions. I wondered how normal people walked around the world feeling so confident in a decision or situation. Maybe they weren't the sane ones after all.
Since I didn't want to be force-fed my pills, I agreed with the plan. The woman and I walked out of my room. She told me her name was Miss Cook and that she knew pills were a pain to keep up with. At least she had a little consideration for her patients.
We walked down the hall, past small and large dorms. I could tell they were larger by the time it took to walk from one door to the next.
"Why is it that some rooms are bigger than others?" I asked.
"Alice," Miss Cook said, "You are so curious, aren't you? Well, a few patients require more space because of personal reasons, and some patients live with one other person. We have an abundance of space in this asylum, but this floor in particular is becoming a little crouded. You have your own room because the doctors thought itd be easier for you to get acustomed to then if we threw you in with someone else."
"I apreciate that."
"Alright, Miss Liddel, we're here."
In front of my feet lay a checkerboard floor. A line of women in similar white garb stood patiently in front of a small octagonal-shaped office. It's large glass window held an opening large enough for a pair of hands to slip through, followed by the rest of the wall. Behind the glass stood a few nurses who handed a cup of pills to each patient through the opening.
My eyes hadn't noticed the extremely large space surrounding this line. I had arrived at the social area of the third floor. Where I stood was only the beginning. Behind the line sat a few couches, a table with a radio, and a couple of small tables with accompanying chairs. More and more people, some escorted by nurses, came to stand in the line.
"This might be a long wait. I'll show you where the bathrooms are. We'll come back in a bit." Miss Cook excused herself through the line as I followed.
My eyes stared at the back of her frizzy hair. Another strand somehow freed itself from the bind of the bun. If only I were like that strand of hair; I feel as though the bind on me is too tight to be liberated from. I would have to strengthen every molecule in my body, every light in my soul, and every spark in my mind in order to escape Wonderland Asylum.
We walked for quite a bit. At the end of the hall stood the doorway to the stairwell, and another mysterious door. Miss Cook took a key from her pocket and placed it inside the mystery door's lock. With a swift turn, the door unlocked. She stepped through first, and I followed eagerly. Once the door shut behind us, she moved the bolt from one side of the doorknob to the other. The door was now locked again. I wondered how many nurses had a key to access this new area.
My bright blue eyes became brighter at the sight in front of me. Hues of red, orange, brown, and green swam under a cloudless sky. Trees stood prominently, as if they waited for me to see them. Their leaves danced off of the branches. Foliage. It was beautiful. With my mouth agape, my eyebrows raised, and my nerves tingling, I knew what I saw was real. This season of the year was Autumn. Miss Cook stood quietly as I absorbed the scenery. Surrounding Wonderland Asylum was nothing but forests for miles. I could have sworn I could see a dirt road here or there.
I would have jumped off of the bridge and escaped, but the long glass windows on either side prevented me. They lasted the length of the bridge and seemed to be invisible. The roof above allowed anyone to see they were held up by this glass and the few bars along the way. At least no one with common sense would try to go through the window . . .
"Alice, come now. We haven't much time." Miss Cook directed me forwards as if she could read my mind.
The dark marble floor actually made my nerves calm. It was nice to know not everything in this asylum was pure white. My feet moved despite my wish to stop and stare out the window some more. I had no wish to be difficult today.
"Where are we going? When I used the bathrooms on my old floor, the doctors took me down the hall. I've never seen this part of the building before." My voice bounced off of the glass and echoed loudly.
"Not that I'm supposed to talk about this," Miss Cook began, "but since you asked . . . This bridge does not just take the medium-level security patients to the baths. If you keep walking past the laundry rooms, you come to the men's ward."
I simply replied, "Oh, I see."
"It's obvious, but some patients don't notice. The men's bathrooms and laundry are next to each other, only separeated by a glass wall. Poor architecture if you ask me."
Miss Cook was new. Even though I hadn't been around much, I could tell. No nurse or doctor in their right mind would give away such information to a patient, even if it was obvious. How curious it was to have such a friendly connection with a Matron like Cook. Perhaps someday I could tell her why I was really in Wonderland.
The bathrooms weren't very appealing. Toilets were in private stalls, but the baths themselves were all in one room. I guess they called this a Turkish Bath. If I had to expose myself to other women, I'd need a pretty heavy sedative beforehand. There was nothing more humiliating than a doctor probing away at your naked body. And now a whole roomful of spectators? I'd rather never wash again. Maybe the filth would send everyone away from me and I could be left in peace.
Then again, I have to remember how the other women in this room felt. Some of them were worse off than I was. One woman could not stop smiling. She stared at me as I passed the room with green eyes. She reminded me of an animal with her curly black hair and dark skin. I'd never come across such an intimidating woman before. Her grin alone scared me to death. I moved on, trying to forget that smile. It was engraved in my mind, disappearing and reappearing every once in awhile.
"Here you are." Miss Cook stopped in front of a glass wall. On the other side stood another Turkish Bath and private toilets. The door to the rooms faced the opposite way just as the women's, so that no one could see the other gender.
I gazed past the bath area and spotted a bridge constructed the same way as the one I was on. Looking into the glass was like looking into a mirror. Was the asylum symmetrical? If so, it must be really easy to map out.
"Now," Miss Cook said, "unless you need to use the facilities, let's go back and get your medicine."
On the way back, I started contemplating my new situation. I still didn't know who my new doctor was. It took me about three years to get used to my first one.
The bridge entered my eyesight again. I would never accomodate to such naturally wonderous beauty portrayed by the outside. Even if I did escape Wonderland, I'd have a horrible time finding my way out of such vast forests. Someday though . . . Someday I will leave and anyone who tries to stop me is quarry to my wrath.