Leah sat on Alice's bed comforting her "I'm so sorry Alice."
"If I hadn't crawled into that stupid rabbit hole, I would have gone home on Friday." Alice sniffed as she hugged her knees.
"Well think of it this way, you and I can spend the next month getting each other better," Leah said, trying to brighten the mood.
Alice gave her a quick smile before frowning again "I appreciate it, Leah, but she just keeps extending my stay longer and longer." She then laid back on her bed, her body went limp. "I just don't see myself getting out of here any time soon." The bell then rang. Alice sighed as she sat up and looked over at Leah "You ready for supper?"
Leah raised a brow as she looked outside. It was almost summer and the sun was still out. It sure didn't feel like seven. "seven already?"
Alice nodded "I think some food would be good for the both of us." with that she stood and offered a hand to Leah. She took it and got to her feet. The two of them then made their way downstairs for supper. By the time they had arrived, the room was almost filled.
Leah followed Alice to the line for food. "Usually there are two options, tonight's is soup," Alice explained. "I'm hoping for beef stew, what about you Leah?"
"I like chicken noodle soup," she responded.
At the start of the line, there were trays that they could use to carry food. There was a glass case protecting the food and two women surviving behind it. One was a rounder pale-skinned woman with a purple dress, and the other was a skinny dark-skinned woman with a yellow dress, each had on a white apron.
"Hello Miss Alice," the round one greeted. "What can I get for you today, chicken or beef?"
"Can I get the Beef option please Mrs Potts?" Alice asked with a smile.
"Of Course dar." Mrs Potts said. She grabbed a bowl and filled it up with beef stew before passing it back to Alice. She then looked at Leah and smiled. "And what about you dear, beef or chicken?"
"Ch-chicken" Leah stuttered a bit, getting a little shy once again.
"Of Course dear." Mrs Potts said as she filled a bowl with chicken and handed it to her. She placed it on her tray and moved down the line. There were two drink options, milk, or water.
"What would you like, sugar?" the one in the yellow dress asked.
"W-water please." the woman smiled and handed her a cup of water.
"You must be new, my name's Tiana."
"Leah," she said.
"Nice to meet you sugar. I do hope you enjoy the chicken, it's a special family recipe." Leah smiled as if to say thanks before she grabbed her tray and dashed out of the conversation. It was one thing with kids her own age, but adults were a different story.
One out of the line, she looked around and found Alice, Ariel, Wendy, and Jane sitting at a table with a few others in the back of the room. She took a seat on the end next to Alice.
"Guys, this is Leah, she just got here today," Alice said to the teens who didn't know her. "Leah, this is Jim, Megal, Ariel, and Louis." They all said hello in unison.
"So Leah, Wendy told us you dream of a world in the stars on planets, with spaceships. But I was wondering, does yours have flying boats? cause Jim's dose." Ariel asked.
Leah giggled at the question "I don't use boats, the ships are like military vessels, except they fly in space and in the atmosphere."
"Cool." the boys responded in unison.
"So how did you guys wind up here?" Leah asked as she dug into her chicken soup.
Jim started off "My world is where a planet full of treasure floats in space. They said it was a children's story but I believe there is more than just that. I've tried to replicate the hovership from the book, but I keep getting caught by my parents so they brought me here."
Ariel went next "I know there's a world outside our beach house. One where mermaids live, I feel more at home in the ocean than I do on land. I feel like I was a mermaid once but I've never figured out how to get my tail back. I've tried to swim down to see the castle but I can only get so far without air. Almost drowned last time, that's why I'm here." she stated as she played with her soup.
"Well, I traveled to the future, though my parents say I just fell into a coma after one of my inventions blew up. But everything felt so real that I tried rebuilding my machine over and over again so I could go back and see my future self." Louis said.
Leah raised a brow in Louise's direction "Are you sure it's safe to see your future self."
"Not if you let the wrong people know. But if I've learned one thing from all this, it's to never give up on your dreams. And that's what I did until my parents brought me here." Louis said as he rested his head in his hand.
"Well, I for one traveled to the land of the dead. My parents say I slipped and fell on my idol's tombstone, but I know it was all so real. Skellingtons were everywhere, got to meet my ancestors. I tried to steal my idol's guitar and that's how I got there. I even tried to do it again last year but my family got freaked out by all my ghost talk, so they brought me here."
"I take it, were the strange world believers?" Leah asked
Wendy piped in "We prefer the term world believers, without the strange."
Leah nodded as she looked around the room "What about everyone else?"
Everyone at the table sighed, Wendy whispered in Leah's ear "This is gonna take a wail." As Jane began speaking.
She started with the table next to them. "First you go to inanimate object talkers. They consist of Christopher Robin who's a boy who talks to stuffed animals. Lilo still talks to her imaginary friend.."
she stopped and pointed to the group behind them. "Next we have the animal talkers. There's Tarzan and his brother Mowgli who, after spending weeks in the jungle separated from their parents, still think that it's better than having a roof under their heads. Even claim to know what the animals are saying to them. They have tried to escape multiple times but never make it past the gate. Then you've got Penny and Cody, their twins who claim to have been saved by mice. They put themselves in danger in hopes of seeing their rescuers again. lastly, there is Penny B who claims to talk to her dog. She's gone as far as to do crazy skits with them from what I've heard."
Wendy then took over "In front of us you've got what we call the depressed squad. Cinderella was abused by her stepfamily and couldn't handle the trauma, so she was brought to her by a neighbor for treatment. Same with Aurther. Lastly, there's Hero couldn't handle the loss of his brother so his Aunt brought him here."
Jim then spoke, "Next you've got sleep insomnias, first being Aurora who can't sleep cause she says she hears voices, and Mary who claims there are monsters in her closet."
Ariel then took over "Over there you've got imposters. First is Elsa who claims she has ice powers, but can barely survive the winter weather. Pinocchio who thinks he's a wooden boy, and Hercules who thinks he's the strongest one here but almost killed himself by trying to lift his own blanket. but doesn't know why. And Kuzco, who claims he was a llama before being a human."
Leah looked at them with shock and surprise. "I think they're more insane than us." Everyone nodded.
"And that's the last group" Alice began pointing to the last table "There you've got the un-classifieds. Snow is deadly afraid to eat anything on account of she's allergic to almost everything. Apples put her in the ICU for a week, and that's when she stopped eating. Then there's Jasmine and Aladdin, don't suppose you've seen magical items by Cave of wonders productions?"
Leah shrugged "I know who they are and the show, but it never caught my eye, why?"
Louis then took over "Well, after being on the show Jasmine thought carpets could actually fly and tried jumping out a three-story window with one, even tried to do it here when she found access to the roof one night. As for Aladdin, he thinks every lamp has a Genie inside, and he stoll several lamps to try and find one. But they were both just special effects in the show." he said before putting a spoonful of soup into his mouth.
Megual then took over "There's also Meg who claims she can talk to the dead. Eric who's terrified of water, so much so that he won't even drink it. And Vanellope who claims the whole world is a simulation."
"We think the last two groups are the most insane, but all in all, we are one big happy family and support each other as best we can," Wendy said.
Leah took a moment to process everything she just heard. Her head tilted to the side as she pondered on it all.
"You alright Leah?" Jane asked, noticing her face.
Leah shrugged, then asked a question "How long have most of you been here?"
"Most of us, four months to two years, why?" Wendy responded.
Leah flopped her head onto the table "I'm never getting out of here!"
"Says the one who didn't get her stay extended," Alice muttered, yet loud enough for the table to hear.
"You what?" Jim asked.
"You didn't say you were going home." Wendy said. Murmurs for around the table started but Alice quickly shut them down.
She stood and shouted at the top of her lungs "Would you all shut up! I didn't say anything because I didn't want to hurt any of you. But thanks to that rabbit hole I found earlier, I'm stuck in this hell hole for another month!" she then slammed a fist onto the table.
The whole room was now staring at her, including the headmistress. "Miss Alice" she called out "is there something you wish to share with the room?"
Alice's face started to turn red, she was in for it now. Quickly she lowered her head to the ground and spoke loud and clear "No ma'am."
"Enough with the yelling then. Sit back down and finish your meal."
"Yes ma'am" Alice then quickly sat back down. Everyone then went back to the conversations they were having.
"God I hate that woman," Alice muttered under her breath.
"Pro tip Leah, do not get on Mal's bad side. It's for your own good" Arial whispered for the whole table to hear.
Leah looked up at the head table "I take it that's the staff table then?"
Head nodded from around the table. "From psychologists to physicians to chemists, we got it all," Louis said playfully, balancing his spoon on his thumb.
Jim was the first to speak "Staring to the right you've got Calahan, he's the psychologist. Usually, the person to go to if your main physician isn't available."
Leah pushed a piece of hair out of her face. "He seems nice from our little conversation earlier."
"Next you got Yzma, she makes all the medication in-house." Jim paused and spoke softly. "Rumer says she is so old, she came with the place when it was built back in the 50s."
Chuckles emerged from around the table before Jim continued. "Next you got Gothel, Grimhilda, and Faciliar. They are not the niece's people but tend to be a little more lenient. Yet each has their own way of dealing with us."
Wendy then added "They tend to be the ones we get assigned to. I have Gothel along with Jane. Jim and Alice have Grimhilde. Megual And Luise have Facilier."
"So I hope to get one of them," Leah said before Louis took over. "And of course you know the headmistress, she has run this place for the past ten years since the old headmaster died."
Leah's eyes widened "Is this place haunted?"
"Some say the bell tower is," Megual said but Louise elbowed him after seeing Leah's face.
"But it's just a rumor, it's probably some high-tech system that rings the bell," Louis said.
"Good to know," Leah said a bit unsure.
"Anyways, next you've got calico, the worst of the worst or so Peter says." Wendy added shaking her head "After Peter became reckless, he was reassigned within a month. Rarely see him anymore." she sighed and rested her head in her hands.
Jane placed a comforting arm around her sister. "I'm sure he's alright."
The table went silent for a moment before Miguel continued. "After him, you've got Frollo and Jafar, just a step above Calico, but below the others. And lastly, you've got Hook, they brought him on after too many kids started getting hurt and the regular staff couldn't handle the injuries. Even though he has a prosthetic hand, he does miraculous things."
Leah's eyes widened again "Prosthetic?"
"He doesn't have a right hand, something about an accident he was in, but no one really knows what happened." Ariel said "But that's just the leading staff. You still have Miss Porter and Miss Belle who are the teachers. Miss Tiana and Ms Potts who are the chefs, and Edger who does the errands and helps keep the institute tidy, not to mention all the guards/nurses on staff.
Alice sighed as she quietly listened to everything. "Sometimes this place is more overwhelming than wonderland.
"You get used to it though. It's not so bad here, we get an education, free time, and therapy, all of which you start when you receive your doctor. As long as you follow your schedule and do as your told, you'll survive" Jim stated.
Leah nodded as she put one final spoonful of soup into her mouth. There was a lot she was gonna need to remember if she were to survive here. Eventually, supper time was over and the kids cleaned up their trays before heading off to do chores.
Leah watched as they split up, all except for Alice. She turned to her in confusion "Where are they all off to?"
"Chores, every Sunday morning were assigned a chore for the week. It's usually keeping a certain space tidy, or moppy/sweeping, or dishes," she said.
"What's yours?"
"This week I got game room clean up, but I've been excused as I'm starting new meds tonight." Alice sighed as she wrapped her arm around Leah's shoulders "Let's go upstairs, I want to avoid the new meds as long as I can." with that both girls began to make their way out of the room, but Alice was quickly stopped by the sound of her name. "Alice."
Both girls stopped as Alice let out a frustrated sigh before turning around. "Yes, Dr Grimhilda."
"It's time to start your new medication. I want to observe you for a few minutes to make sure there are no side effects," she spoke rather sternly.
"But, I was-" she began to protest but quickly stopped when she saw the stern look on Grimhilda's face. "Yes, Dr Grimhilda. She said before quickly addressing Leah. "I'll see you upstairs in a few."
Leah nodded as she watched as Gimhilda led Alice away before heading upstairs alone. She entered the room, sat on her bed, and began to draw once again until it was time for lights out.
