The Mad and the Hatter (Discontinued)

(A/N Another chapter :) - sort of rushed (and short), but  hope you like it ^^ btw, i need to know - am I changing perspectives too often? Oooh, and thank you FallingInTheDark for the awesome cover <3)

Elousie wished the windows that caged her were absent and she longed to feel the wind against her face. Such a wish, however, could only be attained by a free bird. She closed her eyes and ruminated upon how drastically her life had changed.

She remembered the blades of the fire. They had extended their tendons and mocked at her. They had roared and reached sky high and had trapped her within their wrath filled bosom.

No, she willed herself. She would not reopen her wounds. It would do her no good. She would not think of her destination either. She took to gazing wistfully outside instead.

The steady rocking of the train she was on made lush, green fields hurry past. It was indeed a sight for sore eyes.

For a fleeting moment, Elousie saw a picturesque little cottage, complete with a sprinkle of smoke slithering out a painted chimney, with a glow of warmth around it that she could feel even from her position. She savoured the feeling and tried to prolong it, wondering what life would have been like if she had been born into such a place. Could she have had a normal life?

Amused, she chortled at the thought, thusly gaining strange glances from her fellow passengers.

The glances too, sent her spiralling into the memory lane, not being very helpful to somebody who wished to forget.

With a glare in each direction, she sighed and sank dejectedly into a lull.

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Leon sighed as he irately drummed his fingers on the table before him. A doctor, they called him. Most of what he actually did was more akin to the duties of a schoolteacher than those of a doctor at a reputed institution such as the one he worked at.

He hated his job. Now, more than he ever had. That Lulubell had always been a troublesome one. Violent and moody. Such a mix was perfectly the wrong one for a patient at a hospital.

The breeze rushed in through a window that his foolish colleague had left ajar and managed to scatter a pile of neatly stacked papers. Yes, the day bore all signs of being a particularly horrid one. With his luck, it would continue to be so for at least an eon or two.

Why couldn't Lulubell just be calm and peaceful like everyone else? Why did she have to escape? On the other hand, he mused, if she had been calm and peaceful, she would have no reason to be where she had been at all.

Breaking away from thoughts that were bound to lead him astray, he gulped, realizing just how much trouble he would be in if his boss found out. He looked up at the sound of clumsily placed footsteps to see a shock of black hair and a plump, fatty mass of flesh standing before him. Max.

"Any new leads?"

"What do you think?" Leon replied testily.

"Stop being so defensive!"

"You would be defensive too if you knew your boss was going to have your head first thing in the morning." He slumped at the table dejectedly, not knowing whether to be upset or furious. After all, coming here had never been his choice.

"He's dead."

"Yes, yes, I know - we're all equally responsible yada yada - Wait, what?"

"The boss. Is. Dead. Would you like me to spell it out for you? I'll go print it out in nice, bold letters and hang it on that wall."

Leon was so astounded that he did not bother to register the fact that his colleague had ridiculed him. The man in charge of the institution, the one called Wraith Pallsing, was dead.

He wanted to scream, to shout out to the world just how jubilant he was, but grew wary as he caught the grimace on Max's face.

"Is your face frozen that way?"

He was met with nothing but a defeated look. Max simply began to walk away.

"Come to the meeting at five am tomorrow, you'll see for yourself why nobody is celebrating."

Leon sighed and began to pick up the scattered papers as the wind proved itself his foe once again.