Black Kitten Chara: Welcome to chapter sixteen of this story, and we are about to see how Lucy looks and acts like the real world. Hope you enjoy and please review!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hollow Fields or American McGee's Alice!

Claude woke up an hour later with the late morning sun shining down on his face. He struggled to get up as he rubbed his eyes and wiped dirt off himself as he saw the two cops from before were still there. He got up from the ground and walked towards them as he grabbed the iron bars.

"So, how is it going there?" Claude asked the cops to at least be pleasant.

The first cop, the one that laughed from before, looked at him and said, "Well, looks like you're up." The second cop, the one who snapped at Claude for no reason, glared at him.

"Yeah, I am. Now, why the hell am I in jail?" Claude asked.

The cop, a short and muscular man with a full auburn bread, sighed as he said, "We found you and your friends in Kaioh's yard. Pass out it seem like, but you were not drunk or anything. We brought you here for safety measures, but you need to know that Kaioh's property is private. Why were you there?"

Claude took in a deep breath as he said, "Um, we thought he would be home. We didn't know that he was gone or that it was private."

"But why did you faint?"

"We just got to London, visiting a friend. But we have not eaten anything since leaving the plane and we must have passed out from hunger." Claude lied smoothly with a charming smile. Then, he stuck his head out and looked left and right to find his friends. "Um, where are the other three kids that were with me?"

The second cop, who was tall and thin, glared at Claude as he pointed to the cells down the hallway. "Your friends are in the cells next to you. We decided to keep you five here for the night becaise London is very dangerous at night."

Claude cocked one eyebrow up when the cop said five kids. But he shrugged it off before saying, "Um, thanks. Can I be let out now?" He tapped the bars with his knuckles as the short, muscular cop sighed and took a key out. Claude stepped back one step as the cop opened up the cell's door and let the brunette out. "Thanks. Now can my friends be let out?"

The tall, thin cop sighed as he took out a key as well. Claude leaned against the wall as he watched the cops opened the cells. As he waited, he looked around the jail in he in to pass some time.

The jail, or goal as the British called it, was a short building from what Claude could tell because he was on the top floor but he looked out the window to see that he could easily jump and not break something. The window he was looking out of was small and square with thre metal bars in it, and the hallway he was in had dirty wooden floors, dull white walls, and the wooden ceiling looked like it was breaking. The Irish boy looked at the other cells to see passed-out men, men screaming at each other from their cells, and some of the cells had blood-soaked walls.

Claude looked to see the cops opened the cells. Simon, Carmen, and Francine all came out with sleepy eyes as Simon tried to pop his back. "God, that was a rough sleep."

"Really? I slept wonderful." Claude joked as his friends glared at him. Claude held back a laugh as he remembered Carmen once saying that Claude was like a cat; he could sleep anywhere and be comfortable, and he could sleep forever if he could.

Claude watched his friends walk up towards him, but the brunette craned his neck to see the tall, thin cop looking worried about opening the final cell. The short, muscular cop slapped his co-worker on the back of the head as the thinner cop finally put the key in.

The taller cop looked at his co-worker as he said, "She is becomin' a regular here, isn't she? What is this time for, Fred?"

Thr short cop, who must have been Fred, sighed and said, "Howling outside the Old Lady, muttering something about murder in Threadneedle Street, cursing insects and that National Railroad. Had to bring her in with those knocked out kids, George, didn't I?"

The taller cop, who must have been George, shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. A menace to herself; but no dnager to others, surely. She don't belong at the goal, but back in the asylum for sure."

"Too true. But she doesn't act like she belongs in the asylum, so where can she go?" Fred asked.

George ingore the comment as he said, "Let's walk her out, Fred. Take her back to the asylum, but let's not tell Dales. He is going holy hell if he finds out that she stayed overnight."

"What would happened?" Fred asked.

George sighed again and said, "We brought her in the same timne Jack Splatter, the waste of mother's love, was nabbed for gutting that heavy outside of the Mermaid." Claude shuddered as he listened in, knowing that they saw the dead man outside the Mermaid as George continued. "We were taking Lucy down and we meet two coppers walking Jack to his cell."

"Bet you he was mouthing, 'I never' and 'Wrong bloke' as usual." Fred joked.

"He was. When he saw Lucy, he screamed 'That's the bitch what done it!', being the usual nonsense man he is." George said. "But Lucy screamed 'You miserable cur!', 'You maggot!', 'Living off of other's larbor!', etcetera, etcetera. I'm admiring her line of inquiry, but suddenly she hits her head or something and faints. Couldn't seen her back to the asylum, couldn't I?" George explained as Fred nodded his head.

"And Dr. Dales would pitch a fit?" Fred asked.

"He once told me that he would have me job and me ass on a plate. Told him that I liked both, so I rather not tell him." George explained. He looked to see the person in the cell up and opened the door as the fear he had eariler disappeared. "Good day, Lucy. You should know the way out."

Claude felt his heart jump into his throat as Carmen and Francine gasped as Simon let his mouth dropped, all of them watching the girl in the cell leave and glare at the cops as she tugged on her dress.

It was Lucy, but she looked drastically different than she did in Wonderland.

She still had her beautiful figure, but she looked thinner with her face looking a little gaunt. Her pale skin was sickly pale instead of a milkly white color, and her dark blue eyes had dark circles around them like she had been crying or not sleeping. Her hair was to her shoulders and it was a dull orange color. She wore a pair of ratty and torn dark blue jeans, a pair of worn black combat boots, a black hoodie jacket that was zipped over a white tank top, and a black choker with a sivler Omega pendant around her neck.

All four teens looked at her in shock as her tired eyes looked at them. But instead of the anger she showed back in Wonderland, they held a sadness and confusion that scared them. Her face looked timid as Fred the Cop grabbed her by the shoulders and said, "Come now, Lucy. Time for you to go back to the asylum."

Claude looked at the cops for a moment before he said, "Wait a minute." Th two cops and Lucy looked at Claude as the brunette gulped nervously. He took a deep breath as he said, "You know, you guys are cops and you don't need to take someone back to the asylum with crimes probably going on. If you give her to us, then we can just hop right over to the asylum and drop her right off."

Lucy's mouth hanged open as the cops looked at one another. Fred the Cop let go of Lucy's shoulders as he said, "Fine, then. Just make sure she gets back in one piece. Dales will have your asses if he finds out that she is harmed."

The cops pushed Lucy to go to the four teens waiting for. After a cruel glare directed at the cops, the redhead walked towards the teens with her head down and her arms crossed. Carmen lightly touched Lucy's arm, but the redhead jerked her arm away and tilted her head up to look at Claude.

The brunette nodded his head, like a silent agreement passed through the two. Claude looked at his friends and said out of earshot of the cops, "Let's get to the hotel."

~0~

The four teens arrived to the five-star hotel that Francine got a discount at becasue her cousin works as manager. Around one o' clock, Francine's cousin brought them to the huge penthouse on the top floor that was actually two rooms separated by a wall and covered most of the floor. The penthouse had huge glass windows that covered the walls and that showed all of London. The rooms were white and black, with tiles that had not collected dust yet and everything still looked new.

"Holy... Wow, Francine. Your cousin hooked us up!" Simon said as he grabbed his bags, which were brought here by Francine's cousin and one of his workers, and walked into a random room. He smield at the queen-sized bed and jumped on it. "I never want to leave now!"

"Well, my cousin expects us to stay here for the whole month. So, get comfy and enjoy!" Francine said as she grabbed one of her bags and went into one of the black-tiled bathrooms. "I think I am going to take a shower."

"Me too! We have been in the ocean and a dirty jail, and we have not shower yet!" Carmen said as she streched her arms and grabbed one of her bags. "Once I shower, I am changing out of these clothes."

"Agree." Her three friends said at the same time as the boys grabbed one of their bags and went into a bathroom each, since the penthouse had four bathrooms.

As the four teens went into the bathrooms and locked the doors, Lucy stood there as she looked around the penthouse. She slowly walked to the bright white couch and took off her shoes. "Have then forgot about me already?" She thought bitterly.

She bounced her knee up and down, listening to the four showers go on. She curled her fists together as she got back up and walked to one of the bags that were collected at the front door. She kneel down and began rummaging through a bright pink bag, which she assumed belong to Francine, as she bit her lower lip.

"Damn it..." She murmured under her breath as she got back up. She looked around and saw a black phone. She walked towards the phone and called the front desk number, which was printed on the number pad.

For a moment, she waited as the phone ring. Finally, a perky woman in the other end said, "Front desk, how may I help you?"

Lucy twirled a finger on the phone's cord as she said, "Um, yes. I would like to know if there are any nearby knife shops. My dad's birthday is coming up and he loves hunting, so I was wondering where is the closest shop?" As she spoke, Lucy's voice got caught at the word "Dad" and she looked down at her wrists.

"I think there is a nearby shop. Just give me a minute to-" But before the lady could finish, Lucy hanged up the phone as Francine walked out of the bathroom with her hair down, reaching towards her waist. She wore an elbow-length, green jacket with army badges on the sleeves and olive trimming with a short-sleeved blue shirt that had red trimming under the jacket. She wore a pair of pale yellow short-shorts, and a pair of black-and-white low-top Converse. She had gold stud earrings and Lucy could faintly seen a jade bead necklace around Francine's neck. She was carrying a a small, teal purse that had a long strap as she put the other bag on the floor.

Lucy looked at the floor as the small girl sat down on the couch. She looked at the redhead for a moment before pulling out a brush from her bag and began going through her thick, dark red hair. She pulled out two, light blue ribbons with a lotus flower hair clip on each ribbon and placed the ribbons in her lap.

Francine brushed through her hair as she began redoing her pigtails, all while looking at Lucy with her big brown eyes. She began putting one side up as she pursed her lips together and asked the redhead, "Lucy, who were you talking to?"

The older girl in the room was caught off guard, but she gulped and said "It was nobody. I was just asking for some lunch, but I found out that I wasn't hungry."

"Okay then." Francine said as she let the subject dropped. She was finish with one side of her hair as another bathroom door opened to reveal Simon in new clothes as well. Francine perked up and asked the blonde, "Simon, can you help me?"

Simon nodded his head as he walked over there and held the other pigtail as Francine tied it. He wore a plain white t-shirt with the numbers "4" and "6" written in Japanese down the left side, a dark grey hoodie jacket that was zipper over his shirt midway and a orange stripe on the wrists, a pair of light blue jeans, and a pair of grey low-top Adidas sneakers.

Lucy watched the two interacted as the other two bathrooms doors opened. Carmen came out as she streched her arms again and yawned. "God, I am glad to finally be in a real room."

She wore a light blue, long-sleeved shirt that had a slight V-neck. Under the light blue shirt, there was a dark blue-and-white shirt and she wore a white scarf around her neck. She wore a pair of black tights that go to the middle of her thighs and a pair of light brown boots over the tights that went to her mid calves. She wore a pair of lilac short-shorts and there was a black belt around her waist. Her dark purple hair, were was highlighted in this outfit, was pushed back by a simple white headband.

Claude nodded his head in agreement as he yawned and threw his bag across the room, barely missing Francine's head. "Tell me about it. We have been in the ocean, in a jail, in an abandoned house, and in a creepy old lady's house." He wore a pair of dark blue jeans, an elbow-length green plaid shirt that was button-up over a short-sleeved plain grey t-shirt, a leather brown watch on his left wrist, and a pair of all black low-top Converse.

Lucy looked at the brunette as she whispered under her breath, "Why were you in the ocean?"

One of Claude's eyebrows cocked up in confusion as he sat down in one of the white spinning chairs. "Well, it's a long story. But we woke up after we passed out at Nurse Witless' house and we ended up in the ocean."

Lucy still looked confuse before she looked back down at the ground and sat in a wooden chair. "Pris probably got her nephews to drag your bodies to the ocean and threw you in there, thinking you were dead or something."

The four other teens in the rooms became quiet as Simon let go of Francine's hair, which she was long done with. The small girl on the couch looked at the redhead, noticing a few things that her friends did not notice. Francine got up and walked towards Lucy, smiling as she stopped in front of the redhead.

The blue-eyed girl looked at the small girl as she asked, "What do you want?"

Francine smiled as she kneel down to get to Lucy's eye level. "Lucy, we came here to help you. We know so much already, and we are so close to figuring out to what happened to your family. But we need help..."

"What?" Lucy asked sadly.

"We need to know where your old doctor, Oliver Whitfield, lives at. We know he knows something, so please tell us." Francine begged.

Lucy sighed as her small friend begged for infomation. Francine sounded so sweet and innocent and honest, it was hard not to keep in the information. But before she could say anything, her blue orbs glanced at Francine's neck and she was caught off guard once again. "Where are your chokers?"

Francine's hands went to her neck, as did her friends did the same thing. The pigtailed girl looked confuse for a moment before she snapped her fingers and looked at her friends. "We must have left them in the bathrooms."

Lucy frowned at the four teens in the room as they all understood why she was upset. The day before she was sent to the asylum, when she was still at Saint Mary's, they had come into her room as she packed her stuff. But she handed them each their pendants, something she had work on so hard the night beforehand so they can have something to remember her by.

"I'll get them." Claude sighed as he got up.

As the brunette got up, Lucy looked back at Francine. She sighed and said, "Whitfield lives on the corner of Hackney Road, an arterial route running from Shoreditch Church to Cambridge Heath. His house is a bright yellow, three-story Victorian house with a black iron fence around it and there are red rose bushes."

"And you know that because...?" Simon asked.

"I went there once for a session. He couldn't come in due to his wife being sick, so Diana took me there." Lucy explained.

Francine jumped in joy as she looked at Carmen and Simon. "All right! We are going to Whitfield's while Lucy stays here and gets cleaned up." The small girl grabbed a nearby bag of hers and went through it. "I think I have some clothes for her to wear, so she will be fine."

Carmen and Simon looked a little confuse as Francine placed the bag in Lucy's lap and opened the front door. She looked back at them before running downstairs, and finally they ran after her as Simon closed the penthouse's door.

Lucy was left alone as she looked at the bright pink bag in her lap. She looked up to see that Claude was back in the living room, placing the pendants on the glass coffee table before looking around for his friends. He looked at Lucy, but the redhead got up in a huff and went to the nearest bathroom.

The Irish boy, obivously annoyed by the redhead's actions, sat down on the white couch and looked at the white tile ceiling. His golden-brown eyes focused on the black ceiling fan, trying to distract himself with the moving blades. He sighed as he covered his eyes with his arm, wanting to block out the world and get some sleep.

But he heard a loud THUMP! from the bathroom Lucy was in. He uncovered his eyes and shot straight up as he ran towards the bathroom. The door was already slightly cracked, so he pushed it open to see Lucy passed out on the tile floor.

But instead of freaking out as most people would, Claude sighed in frustration as he first grabbed Francine's bag off the floor and put in on the sink counter. Then, he grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her up. He placed her on his back and lock her limp arms around his neck. He was glad that he could feel her chest moving, but he was a little embarrassed as he walked towards the nearest seat.

He gently sat her down on the couch, pulling her legs and arms up so they won't be hanging off. He placed her hands over her chest before sighing and sitting next to her, with her feet touching his thigh. He looked back up at the ceiling as exhaustion came over him. He sighed lightly as he closed his eyes to get some rest.

[MEANWHILE]

While Claude dealt with a passed out Lucy in the penthouse, the other three teens were down at the front lobby with a few minutes, mostly thanks to Francine's small body being able to run faster than her friends.

As Carmen and Simon finally came down the stairs and tried to catch their breaths, Francine was already on the phone with someone without looking tired.

Simon looked at the dark-skinned girl next to him and said through breaths, "How... can... she... run... so... fast..."

"It's Francine, the track star of Hollow Fields. That's like going up against Claude in a baseball game or me in a volleyball match." Carmen said like it was obivous that Francine was naturally fast.

"Or me in a soccer game." Simon joked, but the curly-haired girl ignored him as she walke up to Francine. He glared at her for a moment before following Carmen to the front desk. Francine twirled a small finger around the phone's cord as they waited for someone to pick up.

As they waited, Simon streched his arms and looked around for somewhere to sit down at. He saw a huge, empty couch near the front desk and nudged Carmen in the side. The dark-skinned girl rolled her eyes as she turned to where Simon was pointing at, but the frown turned into a smile once she saw the couch. She smiled at Simon as she said, "For once, you actually did something right."

Simon stuck out his tongue as the two left Francine alone and walked over to the couch. Carmen plopped herself with her legs curled up as Simon sat on the other side and rested his head on the arm. Soon, only after a few minutes, sleep overcame the both of them.

But while they slept, Francine was still on the phone. Finally, she got the line connected to whom she wanted to talk to. She perked up a little as a voice on the other end, which was hard to heard with the static, said sleepily "Hello?"

Francine smiled even though she couldn't see the person. "Hello there. Are you Dr. Oliver Whitfield?"

"Why, yes. And who is this, may I ask?" Whitfield asked, more alert than ever.

"My name is Francine Steinwald, sir. I am the friend of one of your paitents, Lucinda Snow. I just wanted to see if my friends and I come over to ask you some questions about your session with Lucy." The pigtail-haired girl asked sweetly.

For a moment, there was silence. It worried Francine before the voice on the other end coughed and said, "Well, I guess so. When do you think you can come over?"

"In a little bit, sir. We just landed in London and we want some rest." Francine said as she giggled about her lie. Thankfully, she had soft giggles and Whitfield did not hear her over the phone.

"Of course. I will see you in a while." Whitfield said before hanging up. Francine did the same as she turned to see her friends asleep on a couch.

Francine crossed her arms and sighed, but she couldn't blame her friends really. A whole day in London, and they have not been to sleep and instead running around or being thrown into situations that they were not prepared for.

So, she smiled lightly as she walked over to the couch herself. She placed herself between Simon and Carmen as she curled her legs up so her feet would be touching Carmen's and she leaned her head on Simon's lap. Within a minute, sleep overcame her as well.