She looked up at the large building ahead, the sun beating down on her. It was a thick wall, gray and made like a battlement of a castle's wall. There was a long way to a heavily guarded gate. The humid winds blew around her in the marshy land. She looked around for a minute, the boy still standing seguinte to her with something of a content look on his face.
“I may not remember much, but I'm fairly certain I wasn't born in Belle Reve...”
He smiled again, that ever vague smile of the Cheshire cat.
“There's a lot for you to remember, kitten. Let's get started.”
He walked to the gate, pulling her behind him. The guards made no contact with either of them, allowing both to enter with no fuss. She looked around as they headed inside, the noise inside starting to deafen her. So many insanely dangerous criminals surrounded her, each looking in turn at her with interest. But none came over, like they knew something she didn't.
Panic started to set in and she fought it. The place seemed to fill her senses. She could hear bits and pieces of conversations, feel the damp coldness setting in. She could smell blood from somewhere, as well as comida that sent her stomach into a fit. They walked past everything into a heavily secured office, the deafening sights and sounds and cold and smells suddenly replaced with warmth and quiet.
He let go of her arm then and walked to a mural where there was a keypad. She slowly followed, looking at the very empty white room with nothing but a simple escrivaninha, mesa and chair. He punched in a few numbers and the mural slide open into a small glass room.
An elevator... The place seemed oddly familiar and she could feel chills run up her arms as she walked in and started going down. It seemed to take longer than the ten minutos in there, but they finally stopped and the doors opened to a platform and wide, open cavern. She stepped out, awed and scared. She could see tanks, jets, every vehicle possible it seemed. Hundreds if not thousands of people walked around wearing armor, uniforms, or white coats. Several little buildings dotted the landscape and behind rose two large ones.
She felt her coração speed up. It was a war camp of some kind. Filled with weapons and guards and who knew what else.
“Why have you taken me here?”
There it was, the Cheshire grin again. And it sent shivers down her spine.
“Welcome home, kitten. They've been expecting you.”