A/N:
The wonderful character Bonnie Hatch is an OC from my FF pal Lily Luna Lestrange III from her amazing story "Seven Words," (which I highly recommend checking out!) :)
Still hidden behind the trunk of the tree, Sophie sighed heavily and slowly wiped the stray tears that continuously fell from her eyes. After accidentally scaring off Bonnie, the only potential friend she thought she'd found at the AAJD, Sophie had no desire to go back inside and be harassed by Billie or to be mocked by Dr. Fluffay any more than necessary. There was only one thing she wanted to do, especially now, and that was to see Harley again. Sophie knew if only she could see and talk to Harley for just a moment, it would make the whole situation she found herself in less frightening, depressing, and lonely. Sophie felt even more despair after she realized the fact that Dr. Fluffay had his stupid strict rule about not letting the minors see the older inmates at all, and she'd have to shove any wants and desires of that nature out of her head for good. That was the worst part, and was what made her even more miserable as she wiped her eyes again.
Suddenly, Sophie's ears perked up as she heard a whistle coming from somewhere, almost as if a referee was signaling the start of a soccer game. She jumped up and looked in the direction she had heard the sound come from. Sniffing and wiping her eyes for good, she suddenly joyfully realized the whistle was coming from the other "half" of the Asylum. Sophie squinted and shielded her eyes from the bright sun, and to her happy surprise, she saw handfuls of tiny-looking beige jumpsuits file outside in their respective fenced part. Sophie felt her heart race when she realized that it was the inmates from the Asylum having their rec yard time, too...which meant Harley and Ivy were there, and so close. Sophie knew she couldn't scream for them, because there was no way they would be able to hear it from so far away...and she couldn't make anyone out with their ant-sizes, anyway.
Instead, Sophie casually glanced up at the tall fence that separated the kids from the older inmates, and a slow smile slowly formed on her face the wheels in her head began turning. She rubbed her hands together. "Allez hop," she mumbled to herself, and she slowly began her ascent up the fence. Her plan was simple: she was going to climb the fence, jump over the top, and run to find Harley. The simple thought of seeing with Harley again by her own genius plan only gave her the strength to climb the dangerous fence as quickly as she could.
Harley was, in fact, outside at the time, but she wasn't paying any attention to the dividing fence so far away. Instead, she was still relentlessly searching and asking every person she could find if they had seen any trace of Ivy, but she kept getting the same answer - that no one had seen Ivy since she and Harley had arrived. Harley sighed, and with a frustrated, angry huff, she pulled back her leg and punted a rock. The sheer force from her foot sent it flying across the yard like a t-shirt being shot out of a cannon. The stone-sized weapon smacked Killer Croc directly in the side of his head, but he barely noticed. Upon impact, he simply shook his head in confusion and continued with his gardening that he and Harvey Dent were doing. Harley angrily stormed inside, determined to finally find her red-headed partner-in-crime if it was the last thing she did.
Back on the other side of the huge yard, Sophie was climbing quite impressively and quickly up the high, wired-fence. As she had almost reached the top, her heart began to race with glee. "Oh, this is easy peasy one two threesy!" she giggled. "That stupid Dr. Fluffay thought he could keep us apart?" She finally reached the top and let out another giggle. "Well, he can just kiss my a-"
Zzzzzzz!
Suddenly, as Sophie reached a hand up to pull herself over the top of the fence, she was greeted by a strong electric shock that caused her to lose her grip. The loud gasp she emitted while falling abruptly ended with a thud as she crashed down on the ground below.
Sophie slowly sat up, her hair sticking up in a million frizzy places like a confused hedgehog. She woozily stood up, wincing as she rubbed her backside in pain. "Geez, that hurt!" she mumbled, flinching as she rubbed her thigh and imagined the hip bruises she'd most definitely have tomorrow. She angrily glared up at the fence. "Of course it's electric up there, isn' it?" she said to no one in particular. "That's 'cause we're dogs, right?" Her rant ended with a few colorful swears as she shook her head, angrily.
Sighing, Sophie realized that unless she wanted to sit outside all night and freeze in the dropping fall temperatures, she had no other choice but to go back to inside. As she walked back towards the building, she licked her hand and tried to flatten out the frizz of her hair so that she wouldn't look too suspicious. Luckily for her already soured mood, she successfully managed to make it look like she hadn't just been shocked by the top of the fence she'd been illegally trying to scale. Once she reached the door, she nervously bit her lip as she opened it. She was lucky a key wasn't required, otherwise, she really would be stuck outside day. As she fully opened the door and peered inside, Sophie glanced around to make sure no one was in the hallway so she could make a quick entrance without being seen.
Sighing at least a bit more happily, Sophie dashed inside and quietly closed the door behind her, relieved that no one had seen her hasty entrance well past the time the other children had been instructed to come inside.
"Hey!" she heard a voice angrily growl.
Sophie closed her eyes in defeat, and then, gulping, she turned around and was met with the angry eyes of one of the orderlies.
"Just what do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be in the mess hall!" the orderly huffed, stalking over to her.
Sophie chuckled, nervously. "Oh. Yeah. Um...wh-where is it, again?"
The orderly frowned but led Sophie around corners and down hallways until they had reached the mess hall: evident with the loud chatters coming from inside. The moment they entered, the orderly took Sophie's sleeve and immediately brought her up to the table where Dr. Fluffay sat, then walked away as if even he didn't want to watch what would happen. On the other hand, a few of the other children had seen the commotion of Sophie's entrance and had elbowed and nudged each other, curious to see what would happen to the unlucky blonde, next.
Dr. Fluffay cleared his throat and stood up from his overflowing plate of steak, creamy mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables, and a side helping of cake. Sophie noticed the other adults and children had only a pathetic piece of grey meat and greasy-looking mashed potatoes on their plates...and no cake. Even if their lunch didn't look at all appetizing, just as the breakfast wasn't, Sophie felt her stomach rumble and decided she would eat it, because she was so hungry, already. After the loud throat clear, the mess hall suddenly became silent.
Dr. Fluffay chuckled a little as he noisily walked around the table where Sophie stood. By that time, the entire hall had already stopped their chattering and were watching Sophie and Dr. Fluffay with deep interest. Not even the sound of the children's breathing could be heard, and Sophie felt a few beads of sweat form under her wispy bangs.
"We have a strict routine we follow here, Miss Quinzel. You're late!" Dr. Fluffay's booming voice growled, seemingly echoing off the walls around them as if he were speaking through a megaphone.
Sophie looked up at him, gulping as she felt a slight bit of bravery seep through her veins. She stood up a little straighter. "I...I got lost, Dr. F."
Dr. Fluffay came closer to her and bent down until he was right in her face. "That's not my fault!"
Sophie narrowed her eyes and balled up her fists. "Did I blame you?"
The horrified collective gasp that came from the hall at that time was so loud that it was a high possibility that even the Arkham inmates could have heard it.
Dr. Fluffay simply chuckled again after Sophie's remark. He straightened up, but still held his gaze on his tiny charge. "It seems to me that you still haven't learned to watch what you say, here, Miss Quinzel. You just don't know when to quit, do you?"
Sophie shrugged.
"You talk way too much for your own good," Dr. Fluffay finished, his voice deep and growling.
Sophie crossed her arms over her chest and couldn't stop the tiny smirk that appeared on her face. Her own mother had told her that when she was young, and it used to make her feel horrible and self-conscious. But, after Harley had once told her there was nothing bad about talking so much, Sophie knew that now, no one, not even Dr. Fluffay could convince her otherwise. Sophie held her gaze on him just as hard as he held his on her. "Thanks!" she gaily replied, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"What do you say I put you in a place where you'll learn how to be a little quieter, hm?"
From her place alone at the end of a long table, Bonnie's brown eyes grew wide behind her glasses as she nervously looked from Sophie to Dr. Fluffay and then back again. She had a horrible, sinking feeling she knew what was coming, next. She wanted to shout, "Sophie, just keep quiet! You're only making it worse!" But, she, of course, could say nothing, so she just watched in horror like the rest of the children were doing.
Sophie simply stared at Dr. Fluffay, finally a bit of curiously filling her eyes. "And...and where's that?"
Without answering, Dr. Fluffay turned behind him and snapped his fingers. In an instant, two huge orderlies appeared and took Sophie by both her arms and started dragging her out of the mess hall despite her yells and kicks of protest.
"Wait! What's going on?" Sophie cried, in a panic. "What're you doing? Where are you taking me?"
As Sophie was forcefully dragged out of the mess hall like a sack of old potatoes, Dr. Fluffay turned to the rest of the children and addressed them as a group. "I think our newest inmate still hasn't learned what it means to be a well-behaved, functioning member of the AAJD. In fact, she continues to show all of you how not to behave." He scoffed a little. "Although, some of you already know what happens to inmates who don't follow the rules...and soon, she'll also see what the punishment is for bad behavior." He turned to leave, but the children remained silent until he was safely out of earshot, as many of them were afraid to even breathe without his permission.
"Oh, if she'd only shut up sometimes!" huffed one blond-haired boy, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "She's doing this to herself!"
"She's always gonna get in so much trouble if she keeps acting like that!" added a pigtailed girl at a table across from Bonnie.
Two tables down, Billie and her friends chuckled loudly.
"Looks like I'm gonna get my private room back for a while!" Billie laughed, high-fiving one of her friends. "If she keeps this up I'll have my privacy back in no time!"
Bonnie had heard the remarks from Billie, but said nothing, as she preferred not to get in the middle of Billie's many targets. Instead, she simply looked down at her lunch without saying a word, but her mind suddenly drifted to Sophie, and she wondered how she was going to fare in her new temporary "home."
Still angrily trying to kick and fight the orderlies to make them release her, Sophie was taken...or rather, dragged down a long stairwell by the two orderlies. Dr. Fluffay had followed right behind them but hadn't said a word the whole time. Suddenly, as they reached the bottom of what seemed like the basement ground floor, they opened a door and walked down a corridor with a huge door with a picture of a guitar on it. Next to the door was a glass cell much like what the inmates at the main asylum had. Still without a word, Dr. Fluffay turned to Sophie, who was constantly squirming under the grips of the two orderlies. He nodded to them, and they released her and left out the door, leaving Sophie and Dr. Fluffay in a stand-off between each other.
"Where are we?" Sophie demanded, her eyes burning with anger.
"Welcome to the Black Wing, Miss Quinzel," was the stiff reply that came from Doctor Fluffay.
Sophie's eyes grew wide as she remembered what Bonnie had told her about Billie being stuck there sometimes. In solitary confinement. The very idea of that instantly made Sophie's blood run cold.
Dr. Fluffay couldn't help but laugh, evilly, as he noticed her reaction. "Oh? So you have been here long enough to hear about this place. Well, that's good. You'll stay down here in this room until I decide you've had enough of being completely alone with your thoughts. Your room is completely soundproof, so no matter how loud you think you're screaming, no one can hear you. You'll get meals delivered to you if I see that you deserve them. And today, I think you'll be missing lunch...as well as dinner because of your rude, smart-mouth."
Sophie's eyes grew wider, still. "B-but, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday!" she shrieked, feeling her stomach spasm in pain as if they were helping make her case. "You can't...you can't do that!"
Dr. Fluffay narrowed his eyes again. "No food tomorrow, then, either, since you think you have any right to tell me how to run my department."
Sophie suddenly gasped, almost in agony at the thought. "What?"
"Keep disrespecting me and we'll see how many days you can go without eating," he added.
Sophie suddenly felt the pain in her stomach worsen as she thought about no food for a total of three days, and her eyes unwillingly began to water.
"Oh, and I'd conserve the water inside your body if I were you," said the doctor. "Because having water is a privilege that I decided you've also lost."
Sophie was in pure shock and panic by that time, but before she could blink, Dr. Fluffay grabbed her by her arm, swiped his card key, and roughly threw her into the cell.
"I hope you'll use your quiet time in here to think about the proper way to behave in my AAJD." He smiled a little. "The more you resist me, the harder you make it on yourself. You should think about that the next time you want to say whatever you want." He paused as he saw Sophie's eyes water even more. He had to stop himself from bursting out into laughter before continuing. "I should also add that having a full light source is also a privilege that...surprise, surprise...I have just decided that you don't deserve."
With that, Dr. Fluffay shut off the lightswitch and slammed the behind him, leaving the wide-eyed Sophie almost in a pitch-black room. The only light that was coming from anywhere was the dimly lit overhead lights on the ceiling that reminded Sophie of a horror movie she had accidentally walked in on her mother watching once. Sophie frantically ran to the glass door and began pounding on it, begging for Dr. Fluffay to let her out, but he had been right, and he didn't hear a peep of her cries and pleas through the glass. He simply ignored her and walked away, leaving her alone in the dark.
Before she could allow herself to panic, Sophie took a deep, calming breath, went to the small bed, and sat down on it. "It's okay, Soph," she said out loud as she took in another breath. "It's really not that dark. It's not. You've been in worse situations than this, don't forget. At least there's a little bit of light and it's not pitch black. It's totally...fine."
Sophie knew the first problem she had to solve had to be her fear of the dark, and she felt her heartbeat slowly get back to normal as she repeated the words in her head a few times. The second dilemma was a bit more difficult to think positively about. She couldn't imagine not eating or drinking for three days, as it seemed inhumane that a decent human being would do that to a kid...or to anyone, for that matter. Then again, as he had proven quite a few times since Sophie had arrived, Dr. Fluffay did not seem like a decent human being at all. Sophie suddenly felt her mouth start to feel dry, and her stomach growled even louder as if it were protesting Sophie's unintentional fasting. It was at that moment she had wished she'd eaten the bowl of disgusting breakfast mush before Billie had smashed her face into it earlier that morning.
"What am I gonna do?" Sophie groaned, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
Sophie had no idea just how long she would be stuck there alone in the dark, but she began to lose all hope. If Dr. Fluffay didn't give her food or water for longer than three days, she was sure she would get very sick, so she made up her mind that the only way she was going to survive being locked there, or being in the AAJD, in general, was to keep her behavior in check in front of Dr. Fluffay's eyes. Otherwise, she knew she'd be a goner for sure.
Not knowing what else to do, Sophie sniffed and curled up under the hard, itchy brown blanket and lay down on the bed. She flinched as she felt the pain in her hip bone where she had fallen from the fence, but she was honestly happy for the distraction. She thought if she had pain coming from another place besides her stomach, she might be able to survive being starved and dehydrated for the next few days in her dreary, dark prison. Sophie was thankful for the overhead lights outside the room despite them not giving off much light, she was grateful for something, and that she wasn't going to be trapped in a pitch-black room. Sniffling again, she closed her eyes as she clutched her stomach, willing herself to fall asleep so she wouldn't have to think about her hunger, thirst, and isolation. This, unfortunately, didn't work out as well as Sophie had wanted. She was much too distressed as she lay in the dark to successfully fall asleep, so she was forced to lay, eyes wide open as she stared helplessly up at the ceiling as tears fell from her eyes. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make herself go to sleep. Sighing, she gave up, and she realized this scenario was her fate for however long, and she just had to deal with it as best she could. and she just had to hope Doctor Fluffay would come for her before there was nothing left for him to come back to.
