Second chapter! warning - this chapter contains force-feeding and mentions of suicide attempt. If either one triggers u, please proceed with caution.

Also, a quick note on the setting - this fic is a neo-victorian setting - i wanted to combine the game's setting with some ostuff that i know wouldn't exist in the real victorian era. So, enjoy!


"This is fantastic," Kell muttered to himself as he sorted through the spilled chemical bottles, hoping none of the chemicals that were on the floor would have a reaction. This was his third week of community service at the asylum, and he was already wishing he took the five-year in jail option for punishment for robbery and attempted murder instead.

Half of the orderlies who worked at the damn place hardly did their job, and half of that half intentionally keeps messing with the stuff that was important – that included the way the chemicals were stored so that they wouldn't fall out of the cabinet.

Hissing as he felt one of the chemicals burn his exposed skin of his arm when he accidentally splattered some of the liquid, Kell put the bottles away before cleaning the mess. When he was done, he threw out the chemical soiled rags into the trash and stormed out. "I swear, if I find out who was in charge of that mess, I'll put them in the funeral parlor myself."

As he made his way down the hall, he heard one of the nurses call him. He sighed and went towards her. "What is it?"

"I need your help with feeding one of the patients. Someone needs to hold his mouth open so I can take care of the rest."

Kell groaned, having past experiences where patients would flail about during their feeding sessions. "Fine," He grumbled before following her to the stairs and followed her to the top floor, which he heard the more problematic patients were. Oh goody, as if this wasn't going to be difficult enough.

Listening to the various sounds some of the patients made in their rooms, Kell was led to a room at the end of the hallway, watching as the nurse unlocked the door and opened it. "Hello Mekt," she said, making her voice sound sweet as possible, "Good to see you."

Kell scanned the room, expecting to see this 'Mekt' moving about. Instead, it was absolute quiet, and he saw someone lying on the bed, covered by the blankets. Curiosity took over and Kell approached the figure in bed and reached to take the blankets down from his head. His eyes fell on a man, who seemed much sleeker than Kell was himself, facing away from the door. However, what caught Kell's attention was the fact that his hair was silvery white.

"Kell, can you get him to sit up?" The nurse was bringing over some kind of soup, dropping several round pills into it.

He nodded and reached for Mekt, pulling him up from the bed so that he was upright. Kell was now looking at the patient's face, and it was probably one of the more miserable ones he had seen so far. He couldn't have been any older than 19 years old, his blue eyes having dark circles beneath them while staring blankly ahead, as if dead. Propping the guy against the wall, he then began prying his mouth apart… that turned out to be a task easier said than done. Mekt's mouth was clammed shut, as if wired… Kell wasn't sure if this was intentional of the patient or not.

"Come on," Kell growled as he gripped the white-haired man's chin in an effort to pull it town, which slowly did work. He watched as the nurse stuck the funnel's tube down Mekt's throat as soon as his mouth was open enough for her to fit it in. Kell expected a reaction, but there were none. Not even a gag reflex as the tube went in further. When she finished giving him food, the nurse pulled the tube out and signaled Kell to let Mekt close his mouth. He released his hold, watching as Mekt's mouth instantly closed shut.

"Well, that's all we can do for him right now, so we can leave," the nurse said as she gathered the things she had brought in as well as several things that seemed to be sitting on the table next to the bed.

"Good." Kell began turning away when he saw Mekt's eyes shift, as if looking for something, spooking him a little. "… Uh… do corpses move their eyes?"

The nurse responded by grabbing his ear and dragging him out. "Don't say that in front of patients."

"He was acting pretty corpse-like until we began leaving."

She sighed. "He can move occasionally, but most of the time, it's minor things. Like you said, his eyes."

"… And what about the other times?"

She looked uncomfortable. "I can't say anything." She began leaving, and Kell began his way back downstairs.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Kell had just finished dinner when he heard Dr. Wilson call for him. Groaning, he got up from the table and went over to the doctor. "Yes?"

"I need you to assist me moving a few things to the top floor."

Top floor, again. Great. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Kell grabbed the heavier things the doctor himself could not carry and followed him on his second trip up. As they were walking down the hallway, Kell found himself passing the room he was in earlier. Curious, he peaked into the door's window and saw Mekt still on the bed, almost the same position he was when Kell left.

"Mr. El!" Kell looked at Dr. Wilson and walked back over. "Please don't go poking your nose into random rooms."

"That wasn't random. I had to assist a nurse feeding the patient in the room. Mekt, I think?"

Dr. Wilson looked at him. "You went in there?"

"Yeah?"

"… How was he behaving?"

"… Well, he seemed pretty dead, at least until I saw him actually move his eye…"

Dr. Wilson nodded. "I see…"

"… Why'd you ask?"

"… I'm the doctor who is directly in charge of overseeing Mekt Ranzz's condition. We began giving him a new drug over the last ten days to see if there would be a change in the usual behavior, but so far there hasn't been much, if any at all."

"Hm." Kell didn't see that one coming. As he was setting down the things he had carried into the office that was on the top floor, Kell heard what he was pretty sure was a banshee. He watched as Dr. Wilson rushed out, and figured he better follow, or the police would try to use this as an excuse to actually put him in jail. Going out into the hall, he saw Dr. Wilson along with another nurse go into Mekt's room, where the screaming was from. Running, Kell entered and saw Mekt screaming as the nurse was attempting to restrain him, but she wasn't having much luck.

Kell instantly came over and helped her push him down on the bed and pinned his hands down. "Come on, stop scream-"

"IT'S MY FAULT! MY FAULT!" Mekt continued thrashing as he screamed those words. "I COULDN'T SAVE THEM!"

As Kell continued holding the flailing male down, the nurse injected something into Mekt, and it was merely seconds until Mekt was out, no longer thrashing or screaming. Silence returned before Dr. Wilson broke it. "First fit in three weeks. I suppose we'll have to adjust his pill's again." The two medics began leaving.

Kell noticed that he was still pinning down one of Mekt's hands by the wrist. He removed his hand, and was about to leave when he saw what was hidden beneath his hand. White bandages were wrapped around his wrist, and Kell then saw it was the same with his other wrist, immediately indicating that he was a cutter.

He slowly walked out of the room, still surprised by the outburst from the now sleeping patient. Guess this is what the first nurse from earlier wasn't able to talk about.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It had been several days since Kell's trip to the top floor. He was finished assisting some of the patients, the ones who were low risk or had short stays at the asylum, into the garden that was outside the hospital. If he had to be honest, this was one of the few parts of the hospital he didn't hate. Not that he particularly cared for it though. He just wanted to get his damn community service over.

As he coming back inside the building, several cats made a mad dash past him, barely missing him. God, how many cats were there at this place? They all probably were feral, but some of them acted like pets towards a few people… and he was not one of those people. Maybe they saw him as a scratching post, but that was about it. At least there were hardly any mice thanks to them…

He was planning on heading to the library when a doctor called for him. "Can you go fetch my notes Kell? I accidentally left them in Dr. Wilson's top floor office." Just when he was beginning to think he would never have to see the damn floor ever again.

Still, he made his way up to the office and found the notes the doctor asked for. As he was leaving, he stopped in front of Mekt's room again. It was quiet… Against Kell's better judgment, he looked into the door's window to see if Mekt was even in there. Indeed, he was… and so was a black cat that was sitting next to him. Animals weren't supposed to be in the rooms.

Kell opened the door and slipped in as quickly as possible before going over to the bed. "Get out of here," He told the cat as he came closer. However, the cat protested the order by hissing and suddenly jumping out at him, landing on his face and sinking its claws into his skin. "OW!" Kell began struggling to get the damn thing off him. "Stupid cat!" Finally, he got it off and watched as it scampered off to the window, sliding fluidly through the bars. "Good riddance," Kell growled as he rubbed where the cat had scratched him.

As he was picking up the stuff that he had dropped when the cat attacked him, he looked at Mekt and froze. Mekt was watching him. He wasn't just blankly looking at the direction Kell happen to be in – his eyes were fixed on him, following him as he stood back up.

"… Okay." Kell walked out, not wanting to stick around if Mekt started screaming like he did before.

After he gave the doctor who had sent him to get his notes what he wanted, Kell was cleaning the hallway floors when Dr. Wilson approached him. "Good evening Mr. El."

"Er… can I help you with anything sir?"

"Well… one of the nurses saw you leaving Mekt's room earlier." Hearing that made him bury his face in his palm, wondering how the hell someone saw him. "What exactly were you doing in there?"

"… I saw a cat had managed to enter his room, I was getting it out."

"That's all?"

"Yeah, why?"

Dr. Wilson rubbed his forehead. "I caught several orderlies at different times giving some… unauthorized treatment. I would hate to add you to the list."

"I didn't do anything to him. I just was getting the cat out."

"Hmmm… what about the patient's behavior while you were in there?"

Kell rubbed his neck before answering. "Uh… at first he acted the same way when I saw him before… but when I was going to leave, he was watching me?"

Dr. Wilson blinked in curiosity. "Watching you?" He held his chin as he thought. "Hm. He never had paid attention to anyone ever before. Not in the eight years he has been here."

Kell looked away before his brain registered the eight years part. "EIGHT?!"

"Roughly, it will be nine in November… perhaps the new formula I gave him is having an effect… or I'll have to see if one of the orderlies gave him something I didn't authorize." Kell didn't say anything, instead resuming his cleaning. But he was still disturbed by that 8-year thing. "… Kell, at 6 tonight, I would like you to assist me and the nurse with feeding him."

"… What?"

"If you were right about him watching you, I would like to determine whether or not it's a single event, or if he's actually being aware of his surroundings."

Not having any room to argue – god knows what would happen if he refused – Kell nodded.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Kell watched as Dr. Wilson and Nurse… what was her last name? Mallor, that's right, went into Mekt's room before he did. As he stepped in, he saw Mekt on the bed again, looking away.

"Good evening Mekt," Dr. Wilson greeted. There was no response, and the doctor looked at Kell before tilting his head.

Knowing what to do, Kell walked over and moved Mekt upright and adjusted his head so that he was facing him. When Kell's saw Mekt's eyes fall on him, he moved to the side like the doctor told him to do earlier, to see if he would keep his eyes on him like he did earlier. And much to his surprised, he actually did. He looked back at Dr. Wilson, who jotted something down on his notepad before nodding for Kell to continue. Kell opened Mekt's mouth again, finding the same resistance from before. However, Mekt kept his eyes on him, even as the nurse inserted the funnel down his throat and removed it.

"Kell, see if he will turn his head if you move out of his field of vision."

Kell hesitated before following the doctor's orders. Moving to the far corner of the room so that Mekt was facing away from him again, Kell looked back at the bed. Apparently, Mekt's head was still in the same position, no longer looking at him.

"Now, reenter his field of vision." Kell did as he was told again, and watched Mekt carefully. His blue eyes began following him again. "Hmm. So he only seems to move his eyes intentionally, but keeps his head still" Dr. Wilson commented before leaning over to the nurse and whispered something to her, which made her nod and walk out of the room. "Thank you, that would be all for now."

"Great." Kell began leaving the room, leaving the doctor with the patient. He followed Mallor as she went to the office and shuffled through a few things. "So, what now? Can I go?"

"We need to find out why Mekt seems to be aware of your presence. Now I have a theory, so do me a favor and hold the files I look through so I don't get them mixed up with the ones I haven't." She then set a huge stack of files on top of the desk and began looking through them.

After half an hour, Kell had a third of the original stack in his arms, seriously wishing he could just bail. Why him of all people?

"YES!"

He raised an eyebrow as Mallor raised one of the files in her hand above her head. "What?"

"I was right!" She opened the file up, which had several photos clipped to papers inside, and she then held out one of the papers that had what looked like a family photo. The photo consisted of two boys, one of them bearing a resemblance to Mekt – minus the hair, which was black, a baby, a girl who seemed to be in her late teens that also had black hair, and two adults, possibly the parents. "You look similar to the dad!" She pointed to the man in the photo, who also had dark hair, as well as a more muscular build, making the appearances seem a little similar…

"Not by much though," Kell said dubiously.

Mallor frowned just as Dr. Wilson came back in. "Oh, Doctor, I think I have a good theory why Mekt seems to be paying attention to Mr. El here." She then showed him the photo. "See a resemblance? I think seeing someone who resembled a family member might have triggered something."

Dr. Wilson adjusted his glasses a bit and looked back and forth between Kell and the picture. "Hmmm, I can see your point… but why hasn't this happened whenever his younger brother comes to visit then? If you ask me, the theory would have to work in that case too."

Kell blinked in surprise to hear that the brother actually visited

"… Maybe because the younger brother is actually alive while the father is deceased."

"Then what about the Aunt? If I understand, she's a twin of the mother."

Mallor made a small hum as she pondered. "Well, she doesn't come by very often… perhaps it's due to the medication we have given him that he's able to see similarities?"

"Mmm, the only way we can confirm that for certain would be if we were to take him off the medication and have Kell present… and right now, the only reason why he has been getting enough sleep is because of the medicine itself, and it takes a while for the effects to both work and wear off…" He rubbed his forehead. "I think it would be too risky…"

"What if we had him on his medicine when his brother comes by to visit? I know it's been a while because broke his leg at the factory he worked at, but we might get something out of it!"

"I'll try to call him up, but I think he needs some more time recovering. In the meantime, we better go check on some of the other patients" Dr. Wilson started walking out.

"Can I go now?"

"Yes Mr. El. But I would like you to assist us in the morning again."

Kell's only response was a growl as the doctor and nurse soon left the room. He placed the files he was holding on the desk and was about to leave. However, the files had a different plan in mind, as he heard them slide off the desk and onto the floor. He groaned as he turned back around and began stacking them back up, carefully placing the papers that came out of them back in the right ones.

He was almost done when he found another file that was labeled "Personal Items" that was wide open with several photo's next to it. He sorted through the photos, stopping for a moment when he saw a white toy rabbit, attached to a paper that had a picture of Mekt. Huh. Didn't see that while he was in the room… Putting it back in the file, Kell continued sorting through everything before finally finishing and left the office.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Kell followed the doctor up the stairs the next morning, Mallor following close behind. However, as they approached the room, there was the sound of two people talking.

"Shall we test the leeches first, or the electrotherapy?"

"Electrotherapy would be faster to do."

Dr. Wilson frowned and went into the room. "What are you two doing here? I explicitly told you two to stay out!"

"Oh, us? We figured Mr. Ranzz here needed some more help with getting himself cleaned."

Kell entered the room and saw Dr. Wilson glaring at two orderlies, one of them holding a jar that contained what he assumed was leeches. Mekt was on the bed, his shirt removed and lying on the floor, slumped over while there was a red mark on his face, as if he was slapped. "Leave," Dr. Wilson ordered firmly. The orderlies shrugged and did as they were told, passing by Kell and the nurse on their way out. "Nurse Mallor, please quickly examine him before we give him his medicine."

"Yes sir." She came over and looked at Mekt's red cheek before looking at the rest of his exposed skin. "Well, I'm not sure at this point whether or not it will leave a bruise, but we better leave it be. Other than that, that seems to be all they did to him."

"Alright." Dr. Wilson motioned Kell to go over to Mekt to open his mouth up again. Kell complied, not paying attention as Mekt's blue eyes watched him approach. However, as Kell came closer, he saw faint burn scars on his shoulders. He assumed they were from a possible suicide attempt, like the bandages on his wrists.

After the feeding ritual was finished, Dr. Wilson looked at Kell. "You stay here."

"What – NO!"

"Mr. El, whenever I catch those two orderlies from earlier hanging about, there are good chances either them or friends of theirs will come later. I would prefer not to deal with that today. I have to talk to a few other doctors about other patients. When I return, you will be free to go." Before Kell could argue, Dr. Wilson disappeared out the door, along with the nurse, leaving him alone with Mekt.

After a while, there was the sound of someone approaching the door. As much as Kell was hoping it was the doctor to tell him he was free, it was actually the orderlies from before. "Oh, I see the lunatic still has some company," one of them said playfully. "If you want, we can take your place."

"Sorry, Dr. Wilson told me to stay here," Kell growled in response. "And honestly, I'm not in the mood for getting myself yelled at."

The orderlies shrugged. "Well, fine. What about doing an activity together then?"

"No. Now get the hell out." He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes as he said that.

As they closed the door, they began talking to each other. "Guess we're not going to any fun stuff today with Mekt."

"Ah, he's boring anyway. Personally, I'm surprised Nurse Kathy hasn't tried to euthanize him just to make room."

Kell remained quiet at their comments, listening as their footsteps walked away from the room. He then looked back at the shirt that was still on the floor, and figured he better pick it up. As he bent down, he heard a familiar meow. He looked at the window and saw the same cat from before, who took one look at Kell and hissed before creeping it's way over to Mekt. It began rubbing itself against the white-haired male, nudging its head against his hand before licking it.

Kell quickly removed the cat, and was rewarded with a scratch to the face as it squirmed to escape him while yowling. He dropped the damn cat and watched as it fled to the window again. This time, Kell looked out to see how it even got up here, seeing it walk carefully along a brick ledge that was just barely wide enough for the cat to walk away on.

He rubbed the scratch that was left on his face and looked back at Mekt, who was still looking at him. "Glad to see what your friend did?" There was no reply.

After several more minutes, Kell heard voices at the door. "That mother fucker is still here?!" Great, the orderlies decided to return.

"Great, guess he meant it when the doc told him to stay. Let's just go drag him out."

"Forget it! You know what that guy did before he got here?"

There were several other words exchanged in mumbles before the voices eventually went away. Good.

When what felt like an hour passed, Kell's legs began getting tired of standing, and there were no chairs for him to sit down in, and he really wasn't interested in a hard floor… but it was that or sitting on the edge of the bed… next to the patient. After a moment of debate, he chose the floor, pressing his back against the wall. He traced some of the tiles on the floor with his fingers, finding a surprising amount of dust.

It was probably half an hour after sitting down he heard a scream from one of the other rooms. Wondering if it was due to the orderlies messing with another patient, Kell forced himself up and listened to the outside by leaning his ear against the door, since the window was unable to look into the hall.

"Miss Poppy, I think we should give it back to her."

"She doesn't need this damn toy." However, the wailing got louder, clearly disagreeing with whoever just spoke. Within minutes, the wailing was almost at the point where Kell couldn't bear it – Mekt on the other hand didn't seem to notice the noise.

Thankfully, the first – and younger - voice spoke up again. "MISS POPPY!"

"… You can take it back yourself then."

After a few seconds, the wailing finally stopped. Which was good news for Kell's eardrums – even though they were still ringing.

Kell wasn't sure how long he stayed in the room after that. The two orderlies from before kept coming by – each time disgruntled by the fact Kell was still there. Guess the doctor was right with his hunch about them returning repeatedly.

Eventually, he saw Mekt curl up on his bed. Kell looked at him, curious whether or not if he was going to sleep if he was just tired of sitting up. When he finally became bored enough, he came closer to look at Mekt. He saw that his face seemed… contorted, as if he was having a nightmare. Unsure what to do, he just left Mekt alone. He was never good at comforting sane people, so how would he be better with the not-sane ones?

He heard the door open, and, finally, Dr. Wilson walked inside the room. "How were things?"

"Well, the two knuckle-heads did come back, but they didn't come in."

"Good. And Mekt?"

"Uh, I think he's asleep…" Kell looked back at the figure on the bed. Mekt was still curled up, although his expression seemed to have relaxed.

"I see… you can go now."

Kell nodded in thanks and finally got out.

Later that evening, Kell was eating his dinner indoors – it had began thundering outside, and he was not an idiot to stand out there to get zapped by lightning - when he felt someone tap his shoulder. "Excuse me, Mr. El?" He blinked when he recognized the voice – it was the young voice he heard when the patient on the top floor. He looked up and saw a blond girl standing. "Um, can you please move over?" She pointed at a spot of the table that was close to the edge, next to him.

"Oh, yeah." He scooted over as she sat down next to him. "… You were upstairs earlier, right? Sometime in the middle of the day?"

She looked at him and nodded. "Oh, yes, I was."

"Uh… so who were you assisting today?"

"… Nurse Poppy. Not my favorite person in the whole area to be honest…"

"Yeah, I heard you two arguing."

"Mmm. She believes that taking away patient's belongings benefits them. Or gets them to behave. I personally don't." She then blinked. "Wait, were you on the top floor as well?"

"… I was… with Mekt Ranzz."

"Oh, that fellow. I remember assisting Dr. Wilson with him once. I think that Nurse Poppy took his rabbit though."

Kell blanked for a moment before recalling the picture that he saw yesterday. "Wait, do you mean a white toy rabbit?"

"Yes! Have you seen it?"

"… I saw a picture of it."

"Hm…" She remained quiet before speaking up again. "Uh… can I… ask you to do something?"

Kell felt a bad feeling welling up. "What's this something?"

"… I… know where Nurse Poppy keeps the stuff she takes… a-and I feel so bad for Mr. Ranzz – his brother hasn't been around to help, his sister is too young to come to his ward – I-I think it would be a little comfort to him if he had his rabbit back."

"… He's like 19 years old. I think he's a little old."

Her soft look then hardened with a glare. "I'm 25, and I still have all my toys. And so does my older brother."

"… So?"

She groaned. "Please, just go in and get his rabbit for him… I'll take your shift for bathroom duty if you do."

Kell thought over it for a moment. "… Where does she keep the stuff exactly?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Mekt was staring up at the ceiling while lying in bed, listening to both the thunder outside the window and the other sounds that would usually occur during the night. There was screaming tonight though. It… it sounded too much like the screams he heard in the fire… the horrible fire… the one he should have died in. He couldn't save Dad. He couldn't save Mom. He couldn't save Nura. He failed Garth and Ayla. They must hate him, and he wouldn't blame them for it.

He heard the sound of the door opening, but paid it no mind. It was probably just the doctor again…However, Mekt saw them standing over him again. The green irises among the pools of black. The rest of the face seemed… to be without any other features … the only way for him to discern people was by their shape they appeared or their eyes. However, this figure's appearance reminded him of how his father looked… and he found its interaction with the cat that occasionally came by interesting.

The green-eyed figure said something before holding something out. Mekt blinked. It was his rabbit. It-it was back. He remembered one of the feminine figures had taken it from him the other day. He watched as the figure set his rabbit down next to him, and stared at its eyes, which eventually turned away and left the room.

Mekt stayed still on his bed, then moved his fingers. He gently traced them over the rabbit's fur – it was actually there. Slowly, Mekt took hold of it and started pulling it closer. The screaming began getting louder, and he gritted his teeth as he prayed for it to be miraculously blocked out. He curled his wrist as he held the toy closer. "… I'm sorry," He said quietly, apologizing to the screaming. How he wished he could just leave reality and its existence… how he wished he could return to Wonderland.

Mekt held the rabbit close to his chest.

"… Mekt…"

He blinked when he heard his name being called.

"Mekt…"

He recognized that voice. But where was it coming from? He then heard it again, coming from his rabbit.

"SAVE US MEKT!"

That was the last thing he heard before he felt everything beneath him slip away.