Harry woke with a thumping head and a parched, dry mouth. He sat up and did his default morning thing of tussling his hair; then he remembered he no longer had hair when his hands felt the still unfamiliar feel of bare scalp. In the cold light of day, it was a shock to his system.
Except, Harry wasn't sure if it was day; he wasn't even sure what month or year it was. All he knew was that he woke in the same, small windowless room, with just a bed and a small cabinet on which sat the tall glass of water with a card that read: DRINK ME.
Harry didn't need to be told to drink it, he was parched. He gulped the water down in one then winced at the strange, bitter after taste. But with his thirst quenched he felt marginally better and he lay back down on the bed and stared at the blank ceiling recalling the bizarre events he'd partaken in, sometime before. He sat bolt upright when he remembered his mum, sitting in a chair screaming and crying whilst he, Gwen and Beth laughed uproariously. 'What were we laughing at?' he asked himself. But he couldn't answer; instead he felt 'the feeling' coming over him again. A tingling sensation started in his toes and rose up and over his body, making him feel relaxed and dreamy. He lay back down and allowed the feelings take over him and carry him away to another place. The place they called The Fun House.
Harry didn't know that Gwen Carter and Beth Shaw had just repeated the exact same routine in their adjoining cell like rooms. They too, were experiencing the feelings shortly after gulping the odd tasting water. They both lay down as their altered minds began to travel towards The Fun House.
###
Policewoman Stella checked all the rooms in her apartment, and although satisfied she was alone, she was perturbed by the smell. She lifted her arm to her nose and inhaled, wondering if Richard Kells' scent had rubbed off on her. But no, his distinctive scent seemed to hang in her home.
Assuming it was just an expensive cologne that lingered, she decided to forgo her shower and go straight back to the station with her phone.
###
Stella handed her phone over to the officer on night duty. He scrolled through the texts, then looked at Stella with indifference, "I'll give it to the I.T. Department in the morning," he said, putting the phone in a desk draw.
Stella felt her shackles rise, "What good is that? This is urgent, it needs to be tracked– NOW!" She exclaimed.
The officer remained nonchalant, "Chill Stella; you read the texts, she's an adult woman who's run away with her sixteen year old kid." Realising he was sounding somewhat flippant, he looked Stella in the eye, "You know what the boss's take on 'domestics' is; let them sort it out themselves," he said, glancing back down at his paper work.
Stella kept a lid on her rising anger, "This is more than a domestic!"
He glanced up, and became serious and authoritative, "We've been doing background checks; Hannah Stialz and her husband are in the midst of an ugly custody battle for the kids. She's obviously fled with the boy; it happens a lot in these cases." He glanced back down, this time dismissively, "Let them and the courts deal with it; it's not a police problem, Stella."
###
Harry stared at the device that lurked high in the corner of the cell. It was like a roaming eye that circled the room, looking for something. When it focussed in on Harry, he focussed on himself. He stared at the large serpent that began on his right foot and snaked its way up his leg and onto his torso. He recalled the wonder he felt watching the tattoo artist create the beast on his body.
