The letter, which she discovered lying on the kitchen table one night
(but decided to pass off as a practical joke).
The night, when she first noticed the man
(but chalked it up to the shadows playing tricks).
The man, who observed her from a distance and would seemingly disappear in a second
(but never came too close or stayed too long as to scare the young girl away).
The split second, the amount of time it took for her to realize what was happening before they entered her room
(but were too swift to let her warn them of her nature).
And the darkened haze that followed.
(but decided to pass off as a practical joke).
The night, when she first noticed the man
(but chalked it up to the shadows playing tricks).
The man, who observed her from a distance and would seemingly disappear in a second
(but never came too close or stayed too long as to scare the young girl away).
The split second, the amount of time it took for her to realize what was happening before they entered her room
(but were too swift to let her warn them of her nature).
And the darkened haze that followed.
Anna looked up, her chain of thoughts interrupted by Edith's sudden return. "The medication must have worn off, eh? What'd they give you? What's your 'diagnosense' in this nutter?" Nutter!? "Bu-"
Then another memory. The contents of the mysterious letter, the supposed hoax...
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lorelei,
We are respectfully and dutifully required to send you the following letter of information due to one of the following facts;
Your child is mentally insane or unstable.
Your child is not a human.
They do not get along with humans, or possibly other species.
If one of the following addresses you or your child, please continue reading. If not, this message shall soon wipe your memory with a laser scan...
Ignore that last line if you are still with us. The faculty of the facility has been keeping their eye on you and your family. They know what you are and they are specialized in the training to help and treat and care for your children. In the next forty-eight hours someone will be stopping by to take them away and if not willingly, we can make matters much worse for anyone who resists us.
Thank you, and hope to be hearing from you soon.
"Hey, you going to be okay? It's alright, y'know. As long as you behave, they don't bother you too much. That's the beauty of this asylum. And the inmates? We're a bunch of misfits, darling. You'll fit right in."
Her vision blurred and her head spun. Pieces of some sort of twisted puzzle fit together in a new and unexpected fashion. Things which had been so confusing and detached before were now painfully obvious, and she mentally slapped herself for being so damn blind before. She was in some sort of mental institution. They all were, and Anna stood up and looked at the hoards of inmates. Then the dizziness caught up with her. She tried to use Edith to hold herself up, but all she received was a fistful of air; instead, she grasped the edge of a nearby table and cautiously sat herself down. When she'd regained herself enough to avoid taking a tumble, she stared upwards at the strange young woman (with whom she seemed to have formed some odd sort of attachment over the course of their brief encounter). "Not to seem rude, but... what are you?"