Who: Henry and Emma What: Henry thinks he’s finally lost it and tries for an escape When: today Where: the Storybrooke house Warnings: suicidal thoughts and the rest is TBD
Everything was getting to be too much. One new piece of information after another was being thrust in his direction and each new snippet was more unbelievable than the next. He hadn’t believed that Regina had been right, that he’d imagined the entirety of the world he’d been in not being the correct one for her and the rest of the people in the town. They were fairy tale characters thrust into the world because of a curse, but after years of being told he was wrong, that his childish fantasies were only the creation of a boy who hadn’t quite bonded with his adopted mother, how could he continue to hold onto that belief when everything pointed to his mother being the one who was right. The book was simply a concoction by his teacher, with the images inside looking like those in the town as that was who she’d modeled her pictures on. There was no greater conspiracy. Nothing to support his constant belief that he was right and Regina was not only wrong but also the one pushing the conspiracy forward.
So when everyone pushed forth the notion that he was crazy there hadn’t been anyone to stop her from putting him in the ward to try and break his spirit and mold him into the perfect, obedient child she was certain he could become.
Sitting in a room full of fairy tale and superhero nicknacks, with someone who claimed to be his real mother down the hall and dozens of people claiming to be fictional characters on the boards, Henry couldn’t help but think that Regina had been right. He obviously was crazy and apparently he’d snapped and was now trapped inside of his own head. Batman didn’t exist. Superman and the Jedi. They were all characters in his comics, in the movies and cartoons he used to watch as an escape when he’d been home. Maybe instead of helping the electroshock therapy had twisted his head even more and now he didn’t know how he was supposed to get back out of it. Did he even want to?
His “mom” here was so nice and calming, and even his “baby sister” was able to soothe him some. And considering babies were usually loud and smelly, Henry thought that was sure sign he was trapped in his own head. Sheriff Graham was around and while he’d held onto the fact at least one person in the household was something normal, he’d heard him talking about the fairytale land and that bit of normalcy had come crashing down as well.
He stared at himself in the mirror, dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep and he wondered how long he could go without it. If he slept in his own dreamworld did that mean he’d wake back up in reality? He didn’t want to go back there. Not where everyone looked at him with big, wary eyes and wouldn’t offer any help for fear of the Mayor’s wrath. He liked the colorful room of his mind, so different from the sterile white he’d lived in for over a year. He liked the people in it. He didn’t want to leave them.
“They’re not real, Henry.” Regina’s voice was so loud in his head, and he just knew she was there in his room, trying to pull him back from this dream. He didn’t want to go. She couldn’t make him wake, could she?
He clenched his eyes shut and pressed his hands against his ears, thrashing his head as he tried to block out her voice. He wouldn’t go. Wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t.
“Leave me alone!” he screamed, fists flying out and smashing into the bathroom mirror. He didn’t react to shattered glass or pain as bits of it sliced into his own skin. Simply slunk down so he was curled up against the bathroom wall, hands back against his ears as he rocked back and forth, trying to keep himself awake.