Leeches...

On a lonesome day at the asylum, as Angelica usually had as an anti social inmate, she was singing and writing as usual.
Thank God I'm pretty
the occasional free drink
I never asked for
The occasional addmission
To a seedy little bar
invitation to a strangers car...
Monique was rattling off about how much she didn't like this seclusion Angelica was putting her through, but the singing calmed her dow enough for her to let her just funnel it into a poem. Her Asylum cell was plastered with her poetry. Any nurse reading would say they were all so beautiful (if they were smart) and would say they loved the beautiful singing always flowing from her room.
Today was an odd day, Angelica decided to let Monique take the reins a bit and kept her cell door open for people to hear her sing. She overheard many inmates conversation. Apparently there was one named Lucy who was constantly taken away by the doctors for the leech treatment. Beig that Angelica had never had that treatment she thought the name was a funny monicker nicknaming a medicine or therapy session...
One conversation, between the orderlies, is what caught Angelica's and Monique's ear.
"Tomorrow, we must prepare her."
"Oh yes, i always like the first timers, the best of fun."
"The leeches will like the new blood"
"Not that they live to taste it again."
Who could the newbie be? Angelica was fascinated. Now she knew the meaning behind the leech treatment, which she felt a bit slow on the uptake. Now all she wanted to know was who was the next victim...

Lulenic was spying on the orderlies, when she overheard them talking about preparing another inmate for treatment. She didn't recognize the name they mentioned, but she heard,

"...She's in cell #1027. Remember that number, we shall go on the 'morrow to prepare the lunatic."

Lulenic shuddered at the thought of more poor leeches dying. All they did was what they were told to do! Yet these murderers who called themselves "doctors" killed them by the hundreds each and every day. It made Lulenic quite angry. Once, she had managed to save one leech, by hiding it in a fold in her skirt when the good doctor wasn't looking. She kept the thing as a pet for as long as she could, which was about a week. Then some nosey orderly had seen it. They took the poor creature away to be slaughtered and threw Lulenic in Quarantine for three days.
But back to this inmate of cell #1027. Lulenic had thought the cell to be empty, so this one must be rather new. What to do? I should go warn the poor soul, da? It will no doubt scare her, but at least she will know what is coming. And with that decision, Lulenic headed to cell #1027.
When Lulenic arrived at the door, she stood in the doorway, not wanting to interupt the girl. She seemed to be deep in concentration on singing and writing something. Lulenic waited to be noticed.

Monique pushed on Angelica's nerves and made her look to her cell door. Angelica let out a scoff and stopped singing and writing. Thinking it was a nurse or orderly she spoke with an annoyed tone.
"Qu'est qu'il te--"(1)
She was taken off guard by the sight she saw before her. Laces everywhere...it looked as if she was being held together by them.
"C'est jolie..."(2)
She was bewildered by the sight before her, she just stared. They both said nothing. And then, Monique, the social butterfly, took over while Angelica's guard was down.
"Bonjour! Je m'appelle Mon--Angelique!"(3)
She elated as she jumped off the asylum cot she was writing in.

{1 - The beginning of the phrase "what do you need?"
2 - "It is beautiful"
3 - "Hello! My name is..."}

Lulenic wasn't offended in the least by the girl's initial tone. She understood that most of the inmates here had a rather annoyed attitude towards the staff, and the girl probably mistook her for one of them at first. Lulenic had taken a bit of French when she finished learning English, and she understood enough to catch the compliment and greeting. Lulenic also caught the slip when she said her name, but she payed no mind to it. She took a step into the room, smiled widely, and responded,

~"Spasibo, dorogoy! Pryvet, menya zavut- Oh, I mean, my name is Lulenic, Mistress of Laces. I'm very pleased to meet you, Angelique. You are new here, da?"

Lulenic figured she might as well be polite before revealing bad news, there was no telling how Angelique would react...every inmate was different. Some smiled, some were confused, some looked worried, and some screamed and got violent. Sometimes her self-appointed role of messanger got very dangerous. But Lulenic couldn't help it, she did it out of habit.

{spasibo, dorogoy = thank you, friend}
{Pryvet, menya zavut = hello, my name is}
{da = yes}

Monique was glad that Lulenic seemed not to catch her name slip up. She spoke more to her new friend.

"Desole! I always speak in french, i never have much...how you say...interaction with the other housemates. Yes, i am new here."

She called them housemates because it made her feel more content with her situation. She lied of how new she was here, Angelica and Monique had been here before. It was so long ago, even her parents had forgotten. When she was 3 or 4, Monique was first coming to play. Her parents were frightened of how engaged Angelica was with her "imaginary, friend" sometimes she would even act as Monique...wel, they thought it was acting. They brought her here to have the doctors check her out. The doctor took her away and poked her and prodded her. They also asked her questions. The doctors seemed to enjoy themselves too much with every answer and poke, they all looked at her greedily. When she was that young, she didn't understand but as Monique recalected her fist balled and she was about to reach for a pin out of her dress when Lulenic snapped her out of it.

Lulenic smiled again. Hopefully it didn't creep Angelique out, it did for some people. She caught the use of the word "housemates" and decided to role with it; this needed to be done as gently as possible.

~"Ah? Well that's okay! I sometimes speak in Russian without realizing it; it's my native language. I would like to welcome you to our fine Asylum, seeing as how you are new. Most all of the other housemates are wonderful company."

Then Lulenic's smile slipped a bit, there was no need to prolong the inevitable. She continued,

~"Angelique? You have, no doubt, heard of the famous leech treatments that Dr. Lymer enjoys giving out, da?"

As she waited for Angelique's response, Lulenic hoped that she wouldn't be violent. She hated having to call the staff, but sometimes she had no other choice.

Lulenic was somewhat of an expert on the little creatures, and was happy to answer her question.

~"Ah, well, last I heard, doctors would pay children a penny to walk into swamps and let the leeches attatch to their frail bodies. Then the doctors would remove them and be on their way."

Lulenic sighed at the next question, but answered,

~"Da, I do indeed. In fact, that is what I came here to tell you. I'm sorry to inform you that you, dear, are the good doctor's next target."

Lulenic braced herself for the posibility of a violent reaction.

Lulenic was not surprised when the shouting began, so she looked as calm as ever. Then the stangest thing happened; Angelique appeared to have fallen asleep! Very odd indeed, but nothing surprised Lulenic anymore. Lulenic had heard the girl's faint whisper as she went under and whispered in response with a straight and apathetic face, if only to herself,

~"We all are."

She stood still as stone, wondering whether she should stay or go. Then she decided to wait; Angelique might need comforting when she awoke. She had been rather distressed at the news...so Lulenic sat down next to Angelique and set the girl's head in her lap so that it wasn't on the cold hard floor.

Being in the Arts department Willow could hear screaming. She ran to the screaming and found Lulenic and another new inmate.

What was all the schreien for? Sounded like someone was going to die....or worse."

Her thick German accent made it sound like all her "w"s were "v"s. But by the looks of it the new inmate was asleep and she assumed if she was the cause of chaos.

Lulenic looked up to see Willow.

~"Shh! This is Angelique. I came to warn her that she was the next intended victim of Dr. Lymer and she freaked out. Not that that is unusual, da? But she really hates leeches, and I'm sitting with her until she wakes up so that hopefully I can comfort her."

She looked back down at the sleeping girl and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.

One word came to mind when she heard Lulenic mention the name Lymer. Eww She didn't like the doctor either or his harsh methods towards the inmates and the leeches themselves.

"Hopefully she wakes soon. We don't want the lovely doctor to get when she's asleep"

Lulenic agreed. The consequences could be...disasterous, to say the least.

~"Da, indeed we do not. There's no telling what the monster would do to her. Poor dear."

She gave a small sigh of pity. Then she looked back at Willow and continued,

~"You would like to join me while I wait, da? I can understand if you have something else to do though."

Did she want to stay? Or did she want to go back to her room and talk with Loïc about all the new inmates. What an internal battle.

"Ja, ich will stay to see her wake up"

Lulenic was glad that Willow had agreed to stay. She would need all the help she could get when poor Angelique woke up.

~"Spasibo! It's always a pleasure to have someone join me. After all, misery loves company, da?"

She idly wondered when Angelique would awaken from her slumber.

"That it does indeed"

They waited for the girl to awake. Who knows when that shall be.

Angelica awoke with a groggy sense of where she was. She clearly remembered, though, what sent her into this state. Leeches. In her sleep she had decided with Monique that she would retreat, while Monique took over for the treatment. Angelica did not like handing all the power to Monique for so long, but her hate for leeches overpowered reason. When she came to, she realized there was not only one, but two inmates residing in her cell. Monique was happy, Angelica was not.

"Pourquoi vous ici? Et qui-- who are you?"

Pointing a limp hand at the inmate sitting across from her and Lulenic. Misery loved company but Angelica did not.

(Pourquoi...- Why are you here?)
((Again, sorry it's taken so long, been soooooooooo busy!!!))

Lulenic looked down as the poor girl looked up.

~"Ah? Oh, that is my best friend, Willow. Are you feeling better Angelique?"

Lulenic was not yet aware of the second personality as it had not been brought to her immediate attention yet.

Lulenic looked up at Angelique, puzzled. She didn't want a fight, though.

~"Da...I guess so. Willow?"

She hoped Willow would leave peacefully.

Well isn't this new inmate just as rude as can be. Being from Germany, Willow isn't use to that sort of rudeness but she expected it from this new french inmate. She never really enjoyed french people, they were always very thin and shrewd. And in Germany you don't talk to those in higher positions like this girl did. And it didn't settle very well with her.

She gave the new inmate a look that clearly said 'you fuck up once and your being fed to the cannibals downstairs' Normally Willow wouldn't be rude to people she just met but, there's always a chance. Especially if the new inmate is hiding anything on them. And if they are then bad things will happen,for example someones flawless skin could be marred with horrid marks or the skin could be completely gone.

"Für ein so hübsch hässlich Ihre ganz auf der Innenseite. Wir sehen uns wieder und dann vielleicht haben Sie eine Persönlichkeit haben werden. Auf Wiedersehen."

And with that she left in a bad mood which was sure to stick for quite a while.

*facepalm*

~"I'm sorry. Willow has a volatile personality, and is easily upset. I'm sorry to cause you trouble, and I'll be leaving now too."

With that Lulenic walked out of the room. She wanted to be annoyed with Willow and her attitude, but she couldn't. She knew that's just how she was.