Gretchen's eyes fluttered as she awoke, having dozed off sometime in the night while slumped against the wall. The corner which was her favourite was behind her bed and underneath the camera. That way, if anyone came in they would not see her right away and she would have time to defend herself.
"Come on Gretchen, you need to get up," the Keeper's voice told her. Why was he in her room?! She was suddenly wide awake.
"Get away from me!" the girl shrieked, trying to crawl under her bed and slip out the door. The Keeper grabbed her ankle and pulled her towards him. She continued to shriek and claw at the ground, trying to get away. The Keeper was too strong to fight against and she knew it. She also knew that his grip on her would only tighten the more hysterical she became. Greta took a deep breath and closed her eyes, relaxing just long enough for him to yank her to her feet. "It's breakfast time."
Her brown eyes glared coldly at him before she tugged her arm away from his grip. As with all patients, she was escorted down the hall towards the cafeteria. Her eyes darted back and forth, taking in every shadow of the hallway, every imperfect spot on the wall. Most of all, she glanced at the doors of the other rooms in case one of the other inmates were to appear. She was weary of all of them save her brother.
Speaking of which, where was he? He almost never ate, but maybe she could convince him to come and try something. She knew that he wouldn't want to be force fed, but occasionally he took some of her food and ate.
"May I speak with my brother?" she asked her Keeper, trying to sound civil. "I want to see if he'll come down and eat."mHe glanced at her disapprovingly, but said nothing. As they continued down the hall, he stopped and unlocked the room that Henry was in. He pushed the door open and let her walk in.
Inside, Henry sat with his back facing them, having just been awoken by his Keeper. His bed was pushed into the corner so that he could sleep in it. Upon hearing the door open, he turned a bit to glance out of the corner of his eye at who it might be. He figured that it was that dreaded doctor who forced him to eat. It wasn't even solid foods either. Henry was almost certain they were feeding him baby food. If that was the case, he could only wonder why they had had baby food on hand since the first day they came.
"Henry, let's go get something to eat," a familiar voice came. The young boy smiled and climbed over the end of his bed and onto the floor. He placed his left hand on the wall and stood up. Looking down at the ground, he kept his hand on the wall as he circled around to the door where his sister stood. The Keeper grunted and walked out.
Henry's head stayed down, focused on the floor. If he focused on the floor or the wall while walking he was ok. He took his sister's extended hand and the two exited, the second Keeper behind them. The second turned and went to tell the boy's doctor that he was in the cafeteria for once.
The two siblings proceeded down the hallway, both with anxious thoughts swirling through their heads. Gretchen was still intent on protecting herself and her brother form even a fly. Despite her fitful sleep, she was alert and continually looking around for signs of danger to either them. Henry meanwhile was attempting to ignore his growling stomach. Though he had been fed last night, he was still hungry. But his brain told him he didn't need food. His stepmother had fed him too, but for a much different purpose than the doctors. She had wanted to eat him, not merely out of spite and to get rid of her problems regarding the children, rather because she liked the taste of human flesh. The thought made him sick to his stomach.
The walls had enclosed him then, which was what he was used to and familiar with. When he was finally freed he had found that he couldn't handle the open space, was even scared of how foreign it was. Agoraphobia they called it.
The Maras arrived at the cafeteria. Greta walked with her brother over to a table near the corner. The younger sibling sat and faced the wall, putting his head against it for comfort and to ease his thoughts. His doctor had told him that he needed to stop doing that if he wanted to get better, but he wasn't here now was he?
"I'll be right back Henry. Don't talk to anyone." Gretchen knew she probably didn't have to worry about that considering his social skills had declined drastically since his imprisonment. She also knew that he did like some of the crazies though, particularly Ariella and Thomas who were both here. She wouldn't be surprised if he left while she was gone and went over to sit by them. However, they seemed to be deep within their own affairs and so she had little to worry about.
As long as they don't hurt him, she thought to herself and went to retrieve her food. She wished she could cook for herself, because who could trust anyone here? It would also be a good idea to get her hands on a knife, a very sharp knife, in case any of these loons came too close to her.
Gretchen maneuvered through the cafeteria, which looked to be at war with itself. On one side were the less harmful monsters, the other was a psycho and what looked to be a beast. She shuddered and kept her eyes on each table for equal amounts of time before taking a tray from the neat stack. Ahead of her was a female Keeper, who was getting food for Oscar. The young girl frowned at the woman's back as she moved down the line. Keepers, even the nice ones, were evil. They were the ones who kept them there, helped to imprison them and hold them to what they thought was right. But Gretchen knew she was right not to trust anyone, so why should she listen to them?
Dismayed to find that Henry had scooted over to Oscar, Gretchen quickly crossed the cafeteria. "Henry, what are you doing?" she asked, though it was quite obvious he wanted to converse with Oscar. She frowned then reluctantly set the tray down, scooting in close to her brother so that she could keep an eye on everyone. She tossed the apple in the air a few times before twisting off the stem. Someone had once told her that when you say the alphabet and the stem comes off, the letter you stop on is the first letter of the name of the person you will marry. It was bullcrap, but to amuse herself she decided to twist it off. It stopped at F.
The young lad known as Henry felt someone nudge his shoulder before hearing his sister ask if he wanted an apple. Truth be told he did not want it, even if it was one piece of food. His mind repeatedly, endlessly told him that he dare not eat for fear of growing fatter and being eaten. He did not realize how thin he had become and so the voice in his head told him no. But another voice, perhaps tugging at his heart, told him to take it so that Gretchen wouldn't worry so much. A few bites wouldn't hurt, wouldn't add any mass. He could go back to not eating right afterwards. Yes, that seemed right.
And so Henry accepted the apple his sister had offered him and took a small bite of it. Gretchen smiled, though he could not see it as he had his eyes closed. It felt strange to taste solid food, stranger still to swallow it by his own will. He found himself with a small grin on his face, part of him relieved that he had something in his stomach and the other part horrified by what he had done.
In an attempt to take his mind off it as he nibbled at the apple, he decided to talk to Oscar. "How are you today?" he asked softly before taking a small bite. Gretchen meanwhile was giving anything and everything in the room a death stare in between bites of her breakfast.