Mad Hatter - Jonathan Crane X Reader

Chapter Eight

The room I had woke up in,  had turned into my prison cell.  An old grandfather clock hung on the wall, and all I could hear was the loud ticking,  every second.  It was the only thing that broke the silence, the only thing that drove me more bonkers than I already was.
Hours went by, and the lock of the door did not move.  Pacing the length of the room before I noticed it was already dark outside.  Deciding that I probably wouldn't be let out of this room till the following day,  I finally gave up and lost hope about getting let out of my room.  I was being treated like a child,  even though I was a fully grown woman.

Wandering to the bathroom,  I opened a cabinet in search of toothpaste.  After scanning many shelves full of everything,  I finally found an electric toothbrush and toothpaste, looking through the bottles and lotions I began to read the labels out of boredom."Anti-Wrinkle Cream" Rude, is Crane trying to tell me something? Walking to the closet I began to scan many of the clothes, pre-planning outfits in my head. Taking off my slippers I slipped on a pair of red stilettos. They fitted perfectly...Was Crane, my secret fairy godmother?

I began to try on clothes, trying to find one thing that didn't fit me. Pulling on trousers, pair after pair they fitted. Every shirt, skirt, dress, shoes and trousers all fit me. It was like everything was pre-planned. The clothes soon began to pile up on the bathroom floor, but I was not giving up. I had to find one thing that didn't fit me. I was paranoid, stuck in a mindset determined to believe this wasn't pre-planned. 

But it was all pre-planned, everything fitted me. The closet was completely stripped bare, nothing was left on the rails, clothes spread across the bathroom. I had nothing that proved that this was not pre-planned.  Reluctantly I hung everything back up, the thought that Crane may be obsessed with me or my brain sent chills straight to my head. To make matters worse, there was no escape from his clutches, I was a puppet tangled in the manipulative strings of Johnathan Crane.

It took almost half an hour to hang every garment neatly in the closet and to pair every shoe. Once I finished, I headed straight for my comfy, dark green bed. Plumping myself onto the bed quilts once again caressed my body. Wrapped up like a baby, everything was silent. Almost silent apart from the repetitive ticks from the grandfather clock, although after several hours my brain grew used to it. Creepy house owned by a creepy bloke.  Fun!

It didn't take long to fall asleep, snuggled up in the warm silk blankets, the first proper bed I had been in forever.

***

"Sandie...wake up."

Groaning, I buried myself further under the blankets.

"Sandie..." Sang the voice in my ears. I could feel their breath penetrating my skin, it was cold like ice and had the distinct smell of coffee mixed with peppermint. But the voice grew more aggressive when I replied with another groan, "Sandie!" my duvet was yanked off me as my eyes snapped open. Crane's face was only inches away from mine, in one hand he held a glass of water, in the other he held my duvet that he had just yanked off me.

A scream escaped my lips, I was terrified of Crane being this close to me. It was his breath that smelt of coffee and peppermint, his hand brushing against my leg when the duvet was yanked off me.

"Drink your water and get up." He snapped harshly, chucking the duvet back at  me, "We're going for a walk." Slamming the water on my side table, he swiftly turned around leaving me to drink my water and get dressed.

Making my bed, I glanced over to the water. Was it poisoned? Oh well, if it was it was one way out of this. Drinking the water it tasted like normal water, smelt like normal water, and looked like water. So presumably it was water.

Getting changed, I pulled a black and white polka dot dress that had caught my eye. My hair was tied up into two braids, that I had pinned to the back of my head. Walking down the dark oak staircase crane was already waiting for me by the door, tapping his foot in anticipation and boredom.

"What took you so long?" He asked, holding the front door open for me, "You took almost half an hour to get changed?!"

Walking outside, I stood in Cranes driveway, which was lined with tall evergreen trees. A black four-wheel drive was parked outside Cranes Victorian mansion. It was a peaceful morning, the sun was low in the sky. It was only just after dawn, so the birds were still chirping their songs and the sky had only just turned a turquoise color.

"So what took you so long?" Crane's hand took a grip on my shoulder, pulling me alongside him as we walked down his drive.

"Can you let go of me?" I asked, feeling a tinge of discomfort. His hand was quite literally gripping my shoulder, he held onto it as if his life depended on me.

"This is your first test, Sandie." He sighed, pulling me down a small dirt path on the side of his drive, "I can't let you run away."

"I would never." I smiled sweetly, but he only groped my shoulder tighter. We followed the dirt track for five minutes, nettles and sticks brushed against me, causing me to feel even more uncomfortable. We finally came to the end of the dirt track, that led to an opening.

The opening had a small lake, with more evergreen trees surrounding it. The scenery was quite settled, with the trees being reflected off the lake's murky water. Crane's hand let go of my shoulder and took hold of my arm, lifting it gently.

"I'm just placing a monitor on your arm." There was a loud click, as I saw my arm had a somewhat monitor attached to it, that looked similar to an ankle tag, "Can I ask you one question...?" He asked, looping his arm through mine and leading me towards the edge of the lake.

"Yeah, sure." We had reached the edge of the lake, which was a sudden drop into murky water.

"Can you swim?"

"Yeah." 

"Good." Crane unlooped his arm from mine and shoved me aggressively into the water.