Hi guys, thanks for the reviews! On with the show...
England sat by himself at a small round table, back in the common room where he'd spoken with the visitor only a few hours earlier. It was occupied now. Dr. Morgan had announced that England would be allowed to join in with the other patients during one of the socialization sessions. The so called 'sessions' consisted of putting thirteen patients into the common room and letting them go. Orderlies stood around the room, a couple interacting in a friendly manner with the patients, others looking more like body guards standing at rest at the sides of the room.
England's table was semi-near the back corner. He would've preferred one in a corner so that his back would be to the wall and he might watch everything and everyone as they went about the room, but they were all occupied. He attempted to convince one patient to move to a different table, but that had resulted in the patient breaking down into a screaming fit and he'd received several threatening glares from the orderlies.
He wasn't going to try that again.
So now he sat almost at the back of the room and almost by the corner. He felt exposed and he found that that made concentrating on his bigger problems even more difficult than it had been. Instead he found himself just watching the other patients. Most appeared heavily tranquilized or mentally handicapped in such a way that they seemed almost childlike and harmless. Some of them spoke to each other or to the orderlies that assisted them. Others just spoke to themselves.
England shook his head. He was not like that. He was not crazy. Nor was he a murderer. If he could just think far enough past the meds that had been forced on him he was sure he could remember how he'd ended up being thought of as such.
"Hi," greeted a cheerful high-pitched voice. England started, and turned to see his old friend floating beside him.
"Flying Mint Bunny!" he exclaimed, happily.
"Geez, you sure are jumpy today," the bunny observed.
"Well, you surprised me. Where are the others?"
"They should be here soon"
"Do you have any idea why I'm in here?"
"They said you killed some people, but I don't care. We all like you anyway" the bunny said
England bristled. "I didn't kill anybody!" he exclaimed.
England's raised voice made the magical creature cringe and his eyes flicked to the nearest orderly who was now watching them carefully.
"Shhh! Keep it down!" the bunny hissed. "Do you want them all over here listening in?"
England frowned. "Why should I care what they hear?"
"You should care, 'cause you don't want them to know you're crazy," the bunny replied.
"I'm not crazy, I'm here by mistake," England told him. He couldn't decide whether he was annoyed or happy that the bunny was here. It felt like he was just there to taunt him.
"You're not here by mistake," Another voice said. England looked up, it was Captain Hook, he was followed by Tinkerbell, a gnome and a unicorn. "Arr, you're here fer a reason. It's an institution for the criminally insane, you know."
England's happiness to see the group evaporated in rekindled anger at his situation. "I told you," he growled. "I didn't-"
"Nah, you're not no killer," the captain chuckled and England wondered at the use of the double negative considering he's usually pretty well spoken if not a bit rough.
Seeing England's frown, the unicorn scowled. "Listen," it said leaning forward. "Listen, listen! You can hear the truth if you listen."
England shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. "I don't have time for this sh-"
Suddenly Captain Hook leaned over the table and grabbed England by the wrist with a strength that surprised him. "Listen! I'm talking about the truth," he said pleadingly. Then the pirate lifted the fingers of his free hand and tapped them against his temple emphatically. To England's horror with every tap he saw a vision in his mind's eye.
One. He was a child, roaming the woods, lost, alone.
Two. He was battling France.
Three. He was in his pirate days, comanding a fleet of ships.
Four. He was in the rain, gun pointed at America, he couldn't pull the trigger.
Five. He looked down on the torn corpse of... Prussia? Blood was everywhere. Blood was on his hands. He looked at the dead former country and heard himself speak a single word followed by a feeling of satisfaction. "Good."
England jerked away as if he'd touched an open electrical socket. The country found himself gasping for breath as his heart pounded in his ears. With a shaking hand he wiped away the sheen of sweat that had broken out on his forehead and he tried desperately to blink away the images.
"What the hell was that?" he demanded in a whisper. Now it was his turn to look around suspiciously. One of the orderlies was edging in their direction. Apparently they were causing a scene, of course they would be, who'd expect to see a unicorn in here? England tried to give an assuring smile, but he was sure it'd looked more like a grimace. He leaned back across the table. "Tell me." He demanded in a growl.
"Did you listen?" the Pirate questioned eagerly.
"Yeah, did you listen?" repeated the other magical creatures.
"I was standing over Prussia, he was dead." England hissed. He did not, however, elaborate. The other visions or memories or whatever made sense, but that last one? How could he have stood over a mutilated corpse and felt satisfied like that?
Captain Hook leaned in as well. "Seeing is a start, but you've gotta listen!" the pirate tapped his head again and England flinched in anticipation of more visions, but nothing happened.
England banged a hand down on the flimsy table, "Quit talking in riddles, tell me whats going on!", he yelled.
The pirate looked taken aback, he quickly recovered and said, "Not everything is as it seems".
"What did I just tell you? Talk sense. I want an answer not a puzzle!" England sat forward, hands slapping down the table and a fury building from deep within him that he didn't know he had. Hook stared back at him with wide frightened eyes, but England ignored him.
"Tell me what's going on!" he demanded hotly. His angry movement had caught the attention of the orderlies and they began to converge on the group.
"Hey!" called the closest, a warning for England to calm himself, but England paid him no heed. It was Captain Hook who was the pinnacle of his attention now and all the unusual and frightening anger that came with it.
Hook, still wide eyed and obviously alarmed by England's sudden change in temperament, blinked, shuddered once then motioned at England with his non-hook hand.
"England, they- they've put an idea in your head," he stuttered.
England sneered. How dare this man continue to speak in riddles!
"Once you've got an idea in your head, it's impossible to remove it!" Captain Hook continued ardently.
England leaned in closer, full of unexpected and unusual rage.
The orderlies arrived. "I think that's enough for today," the nearest orderly declared.
England hardly heard him. He was far too busy staring down at the now-cringing Captain Hook. Too busy wondering how those beady eyes would look if he put them out... If that didn't teach the Pirate not to play word games with The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northen Ireland, he could always move on to breaking fingers. He'd just pull them back slowly one at a time until they-
"Kirkland!"
The orderly's shout brought England back. His terrible rage deflated with every ragged breath until finally, several long moments later, he was left a shaking and horrified husk. His knees went out and if the two orderlies weren't already holding him, he surely would've collapsed to the floor. He was himself again, disgusted by the cruel thoughts that had flooded easily into his mind and he looked around him from face to face wondering how much they'd all seen.
However much it was, it had been enough. The orderlies all watched him cautiously, as if he was an explosive and at any moment he might go off. Beyond them the other patients watched with a kind of tense curiosity. And then there were the magical creatures. Each looked very much like an abused child who expected another beating. England was speechless.
"Come on, Kirkland. Back to yer room, eh?"
England felt the tension in the room crackling as the two orderlies bracing England began to pull him towards the door. England's horror-filled eyes stayed locked on Captain Hooks as long as he was able but for some reason his magical friends were fading away.
"Come on Kirkland, you really must be crazy! Yelling at things that ain't there!" It was the brute from before. No one bothered to correct him, to tell him there were creatures there. That Arthur Kirkland wasn't crazy.
And with that England was dragged through a white metal door back towards his cell.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Night had fallen and in downtown London the hustle and bustle of the day's activities were calming down. Few cars were on the road now as most of the drivers had already hurried home and now sat hungrily at the dinner table. Several people wandered down the lonely streets towards the nearest pub as they had no one at home to eat with and preferred the lively company at the bar than the quiet solitude alone.
Still others with more questionable intentions roamed the streets hurriedly, their eyes going every which way as they searched for some hidden danger. One of these was a well dressed man. His long blonde hair blew in the wind that whipped through the narrow street down which he strode. The man grumbled and pulled his overcoat tighter around himself then cursed as he stepped in a puddle he hadn't noticed in time.
He hurried down to the far end of the street where a car was parked, facing him. When he was close enough, a figure stepped out of the passenger side and walked up to the meet him. Though the figure's details were hidden in shadow, it was obviously female.
The woman held up a halting hand and the man came to a stop.
"Well?" the woman asked.
"I went to see 'im, like you said to." The man said.
"And?"
The man shook his head. "'e was very strange. Very strange. Stranger than usual"
"You were told he would be acting strange."
"I did not know 'e would be that strange," the man replied, pushing his hair back behind his ear.
"Did you ask him what we told you to ask him?" the woman questioned.
"'Oui, I did, but I received no answer." The man reached into the folds of his coat. "'e said something about memory loss and asked me why 'e was there." He pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper and offered it to her. "I wrote it all down on 'zis peice of papier."
The woman took it and placed it in the pocket of her own coat without examining it.
"Oh, Angleterre" the man sighed.
"Did you give him the letter?"
"Oui," he replied.
"Did he read it?"
"I'm not sure, I gave it to 'im as I was leaving"
"Did he say anything else?"
"Not really. Ze orderlies, zey rushed me out," he lied. Letting the woman know that England had scared him away probably wouldn't look good. Even so, there was something about the woman's stance that told him she didn't believe him anyway.
She said nothing about it however. She gave a nod instead and turned back towards the car. "Goodnight."
"Wait! Will you not just tell me why 'e is there?" he called. "We both know 'e could not 'ave commited ze crime, why 'as Ameri-"
"That classified," the woman said as she pulled open the car door.
"Oui," the country grumbled as the car started up. The lights flashed on, blinding France before he could get his arms up to guard his face. With a growl of the engine, the car backed up and drove out into the night.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Okay, I have a couple of questions for you guys, the readers.
1. Would you prefer me to write out the accents as I've been doing or just write the words normally? Like "have" instead of "'ave" for France.
2. I've been thinking about bringing in some more characters from the series, but there's so many countries to choose from. Who do you want to see?
Also, sorry for killing off Prussia. That was unawesome of me. Please forgive me.
And maybe review? ^J^