AN: Hello there! The tone of this chapter will most likely be different from the tone of the rest of the chapters. It might be an on-and-off thing. Enjoy!

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"But I don't want to go among mad people," said Alice. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat. "We're all mad here."

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland


CHAPTER ONE

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"Where are we going?"

The man steering the wheel looked at his daughter through the rear-view mirror. He sighed as he ran a hand over his face. "We're taking a trip," he simply answered.

Marionette's red lips formed an O. "Where to?"

"You'll see," replied the Father.

The girl sighed throughout her nose, figuring that she wouldn't get anymore answers from her dad. She slumped back into her seat and watched her surroundings pass by her as the car moved.

The road they were taking was unfamiliar to her. It was a dirt path road with tall, lush green trees on either side. The sun was playing peek-a-boo with the fluffy-looking white clouds. The picturesque scene reminded the young girl of the pictures her grandmother showed her whenever she took trips to the Country Side when she was still a young child.

Perhaps there will be a surprise family picnic, like last time, Marionette thought. Deciding that she was right, her thin, bow-shaped red lips curved up into a smile.

The Father's blue eyes quickly flickered to the rear-view mirror. He mentally frowned when he saw the smile on his daughter's face. He knew that it wouldn't be long until that sweet smile of hers disappears, replaced with screams, and cries, and frowns. It was something he was not looking forward to.

The man reached over and turned on the radio. The light music played softly, filling the dreary silence in the car – or at least that's how it felt for the Father. The young girl still didn't have a clue as to what was going to happen, and to where she was really going.

At last, the car stopped, and Marionette noted that they were no longer in the beautiful, serene woods.

Her Father unlocked the doors, and got out of the car. He went to the back of the car, and opened its trunk, taking out two suit cases and a duffle bag.

Marionette, who was closing her door, noticed the suit cases and looked at them questioningly, daydreaming all of the reasons why her Father would have them in the back of the trunk.

Maybe we're helping one of Dad's and Mom's friends to move out again. Or, even better, we've been holding their suitcases for them, and now we're going to meet them at the airport and drop it off! But … I don't see a single building here. Maybe this is the half-way point? They could just be meeting us here, picking it up, and be on their way. Well, if that's the case, then –

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard a gruff voice yelling, "No, you idiots, not there! I pointed to my left, not my right! Are you directionally challenged?"

The girl turned her head to the right, her big, loose, curly golden blond hair bounced from the movement. She wondered how she had missed the white van parked just a few feet away from her Father's car. There were three men standing near the van, and she had immediately spotted the man who was screaming.

His face was an unattractive shade of red. His brown eyes were narrowed at the two men in front of him, who were carrying the suitcases into the back of the van. It was clear that he was the boss out of the three of them, holding a board clip in one hand that had a blue pen clipped onto the silver chain that was attached to the board. He was pointing and making hand gestures with his other hand.

"Right here, Boss?" Asked one of the men.

"Yes, there!" Boss exasperated a sigh as he ran a hand through his brown hair. He then turned to face Marionette's Father, who was standing next to him, and the two began to talk. Their voices were low, so the young girl couldn't hear a single word they were saying.

The conversation was short, and the two men walked over to the girl.

"Marie," said the Father, using his daughter's nickname. "You're going to go on a trip."

When the girl did not respond, he kept on talking, "These men will take you to a building somewhere, were you will stay for a while, and make friends – don't worry, nothing bad will happen. However, I will not be going with you. So –"

"What do you mean?" She asked, "What building is it?"

"Oh, uh, those are the type of questions that these men can answer. I don't have much information to tell you, other than the things I have already told you, and …" He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

Marie took a step back. She had a hunch that whatever was going to happen, she wouldn't like it. "What's really going on? Where am I being taken to?"

Boss sighed, "Come on now, we haven't gotten all day. I have stuff to do, places to go, and people to see."

"I hope you're not trying to trick me," Marie said, narrowing her blue-green eyes at the two men, giving them a silent warning. "I'm not dumb."

"I know you're not –"

"Then where am I going?"

"Look, I really do have a lot more work to do. So, we can either do this the hard way, or the easy way. And I'd much rather we do this the easy way, the hard way is just too troublesome. Always dramatic," said the Boss, waving his hand around the air as he said the last word, as if to put emphasis on the word. He had done this before, and there were always two different outcomes.

Surprisingly, the girl walked passed the two men and towards the van. Once she reached the half-way point, however, she turned around and shot her Father a lethal glare. If looks could kill, he'd be dead. "Mark my words," she said in a low, threatening voice. "I will never forgive you for this."

The Boss shook his head. "Very dramatic," he said, "but they're all the same. Don't worry. She won't be able to hold up that feeling for long."

The Father watched very solemnly as his daughter got into the back of the open van. One of the men locked, and closed it before going around the car to the front.

"How do you know?" Asked the Father, turning his attention to the Boss.

"Feelings will change and fade away as time passes by," he answered wisely.

Once the Father thought it over, he realized just how true the Boss' words were. The heavy feeling of guilt in his chest lifted up, and he smiled to the other man.

"Will she be alright . . . Over there, I mean," questioned the Father.

"Yes, yes," answered the Boss, waving his hand around the air in a pish-posh manner. "No need to worry, we've been doing this for almost a century now; we know what to do in different types of situations."

"Alright, well, I have to go to back to my family."

"Do they know?"

"Yes," he paused, "Of course they do. They're her family."

"I really should be going now," said the Boss absent mindedly.

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The car ride to Marie's unknown destination was rather long. She had been fuming at the beginning, screaming profanities in her head at her Father.

How dare he send me away! How dare he! And for what reason? I have done nothing wrong! I'm the daughter that they've always wanted me to be: polite, smart, and . . . Ugh! Those blind bastards!

Once she wore herself out, she found herself to be bored, and she almost dozed off a couple of times, but she caught herself every time and decided to sleep wherever it was that they were taking her.

There was no one else in the van, which had surprised the girl. She had expected at least one more person to be there with her, to help keep her company, even if they were a weird, creepy stranger.

The van had finally stopped, and the doors opened.

Not caring if it was her queue to get out of the car, she jumped out and observed her surroundings. Her eyes immediately landed on the grand metal black gate a few feet from the van.

It was over thirty feet, and the letter A was on each side of the gate. They looked like that they were made out of gold, and the bottom curve at one side of the A, which made it look fancy. The gray brick wall attached to the gate was a few feet shorter than it, and it surrounded the large estate, giving it a sense of privacy.

When Marie turned to look behind her, she felt her eyes dilating.

There was a large mansion standing on a small, grassy hill. There was a smooth stone path leading up to it, and there were large cement pots with bright flowers popping out that lined each side of the path.

My, my, thought Marie, is this where I'll be staying at? I wonder what for.

As realization hit her, her eyes widened even more. Oh no! I've been sent to this – this – this place and I've acted like such a brat towards my father! Threatening him and whatnot. Oh dear, I do hope that he'll forgive me.

Figuring that all parents should forgive their child no matter what, Marie shrugged her shoulders, as an action to make her guilt go away.

"Come on, now," said the Boss, who had appeared behind Marie without her even knowing.

The girl jumped, but she didn't bother to look back at the man, still upset for what had happened before – even though the outcome was drastically different from what she had initially thought. She walked up the stone path with the two men behind her, carrying the suit cases – her luggage. Not the luggage for a family friend or a neighbor, but rather a couple of boxes filled with her belongings.

Standing above the stairs that led up to the front porch stood a woman wearing a clean white nurse's uniform. She held her hands together in front of her, and watched with drolling eyes as the group of people made their way to the front doors, which she was currently blocking.

"Hello, child," she said once Marie stopped in front of her. "I'm one of the nurse's here, please follow me."

"Nurse?" Marie echoed as she followed the woman into the mansion.

"Yes, nurse. Have the Boss not told you where you're at?"

"No . . ." said Marie as she realized that she was too busy self-pitying herself and admiring her bright surroundings that she had not asked any of the questions she had wanted to know the answers to.

"More work for me then," said the Nurse, sighing. "Ask me any questions you have. You must be very curious."

"I am," admitted Marie. She paused to think of a question. There were so many running loosely around in her head that all the words got jumbled up together, confusing the poor child. "Oh, I have one!" Marie cried, delighted that she finally got her thoughts and questions sorted out. "What is this place?"

"This is the Amusement Asylum," answered the Nurse. "You've seen the gates, right?"

Marie nodded.

"The two A's over there are an abbreviation of the name of our . . . home."

"Why put the first letter of the word at the gate, and not the whole word?"

"Because, dearie, we believe in privacy – and secrecy. The tall gates, the brick wall, the large estate, the mansion – everything here is just a facade. For you see, if people found out that this place was keeping resident of the mentally ill, insane, psychotic people, why, things would just get ugly! Fortunately, we're located at a very secluded spot, were not a lot of people pass by."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"We don't keep secrets in this place."

"I thought you believed in secrecy."

"For the patients here, it's all for the sake of them. Like I said before, if people knew the truth about this place, things would become dreadful."

Marie paused to think about what the Nurse had just said. "Why am I here?"

"You're one of the patients, of course!"

The girl's steps faltered. She gaped at the Nurse, not believing a single word she said. Suddenly, the wavering hatred she felt for her father was coming back, but it was stronger this time.

"Dear, why have you stopped?" Asked the Nurse.

"Y – you're crazy," Marie stuttered as she heard and felt her heart beating against her chest like a hammer. "I'm not a patient here. I can't be. I'm not crazy!"

The Nurse began to shake her head. "Living in denial isn't very good for you. May I ask, what is your name?"

The girl responded automatically, the respectful, polite, and people-pleaser side of her became dominant at that second. "Marionette Chamberlain."

"Oh my," gasped the Nurse. "I see."

"See? See what? That I'm not crazy? 'Cause I'm not!" Marie cried, returning back to her former, panicking self.

The Nurse shook her head. "No, dearie, not that. Now come along, we must get the tour going."

Marie reluctantly followed the woman around the mansion. They didn't bother to start a conversation with each other for the rest of the tour. It was mostly the Nurse speaking as she pointed out to the doors and rooms and halls, and stated the obvious.

"This is the girl's bathroom."

"Over there is the dinning room."

"That hall is where the offices are at."

"This door leads to the boy's dorm rooms. And that door leads to the girl's dorm rooms."

After walking around the mansion – asylum, actually – the Nurse had led the girl outside and pointed to the garden, the woods at the back, and all of the other places.

"I – is that a . . . cemetery?" Marie squeaked.

The Nurse followed Marie's eyes, which had landed to the farthest corner of the backyard. "Why, indeed, it is. I almost forgot about that."

"Oh God," Marie whispered, suddenly feeling lightheaded.

Conclusions about why there was a cemetery in the Asylum were popping up in the blond's head. And not all of them were good.

Oh, stop being such a pessimist, Marie snapped at herself, it's only a cemetery. Not like there will be ghosts haunting the place.

One could only hope, for the poor, unfortunate child was deathly afraid of ghosts. She has never encountered one before, but she's seen the movies, and heard the stories, and they were enough to make her go paranoid.

Perhaps that is the reason why I'm here, Marie thought, to help me get over my fear. To not get freaked out all the time. Oh, that would be nice.

"Well, that marks the end of our tour," said the Nurse.

"What about my room?" Marie asked, confused.

"Oh, yes, that. Well, it's in the girl's dorm hall, and your name should be on the door. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

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AN:

Okay, I know it's pretty crappy right now, but just bear with me. Things will get better as the story progresses. Oh, and just a heads up, this story may or may not make sense. Don't worry, all loose strings will be tied up at the end.