Summary; 'This, my dear, is Wonderland. A place where all of your nightmares come true…" This wasn't supposed to happen. It was too confusing…the fire, the smoke…she didn't mean to fall into nothingness… Dark!Wonderland SBOC RLOC JPLE...Major AU, still magical. Give it a try?

Author's Note; hello all. i wrote this in eighth grade. i am now in tenth grade. so. it's kind of weird. i'm really hoping this isn't terrible. because my writing has obviously improved over the past few years. soooo, give it a try, and let me know if i should continue. because i STILL have way too many ideas for this story, even two years later. this DOES contain oc's, please don't let it turn you away. they're pretty cool, if i do say so myself. plus, it was the only way to get this to work. SO. thank you, and please review. also, my best friend val says hi. the end.

disclaimer; i don't own this.

{Chapter One}
Hearing Voices and Playing Mind Games
x-x-x

It was a light and breezy autumn day. Unlike most 'horror' stories, it was neither dark, nor stormy. Nor at night, for that matter. Then again, this isn't most horror stories. I doubt that it could be classified as a horror story at all. Because true horror stories contain death, hatred, evil. This story contains all of that, but with a few key things added into the mix. Friendship. Loyalty. Love. These things are hardly ever spoke of in such stories.

And so you might say this story is dark. Twisted, even. But you can't deny the fact that those three things—friendship and loyalty and love—defy the very core of every true horror story ever made.

Though they certainly do complicate things.

After all, in a world of evil, friendship and loyalty don't get you very far.

Jessy Martin kicked a soup can labeled Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup down the sidewalk for lack of anything better to do as her best friend, Val Zano, explained what exactly a cherry meant in perverted boy terms. Walking home from school meant spending an hour or more walking around aimlessly before they decided exactly whose house they were going to.

"…so when Bobby said that earlier, he wasn't actually talking about the fruit." Val concluded, her eyes barely showing from underneath the oversized fedora covering her head.

"Are cherries even fruits?" Jessy asked absently, determinedly picking at a loose thread on her tee shirt. Val rolled her eyes.

"Are you seriously asking me that question?" Val countered in a deadpan, rolling her eyes yet again, this time so Jessy could see her.

"Well, yeah. I mean, they don't really look like fruits, do they?" Jessy shrugged, "They're small, and red…they're just weird."

"Do you have something against cherries?" Val raised an eyebrow, feigning incredulity.

"Kind of." Jessy grinned, swinging her backpack back and forth.

A noisy car full of teenagers rode by, and two kids in the back seat—a boy and a girl—leaned out the window, and shouted "LOSERS!" Laughing, they drove away.

And they were. Losers, that is. Outcasts. Freaks, if you will. And they loved every minute of it.

Jessy and Val exchanged half-second glances before Val cracked a smile, and they both burst out laughing.

"Ah, it's pretty damn hilarious how they think they're so witty." Jessy wiped an imaginary tear from her eye and grinned as they calmed down.

"Witty. That's an awesome word." Val grinned, skipping a little ahead, singing 'La Vie Boheme' from RENT under her breath. Pretty soon both girls were belting every single lyric to the excruciatingly long eight-minute song, off key and very loudly. They had done this on numerous occasions, of course, only to receive death glares from all the other hallway occupants. Needless to say, they weren't very liked at school. Not that they really cared.

Jessy's phone rang out, playing a loud song which made both Jessy and Val jump. She pulled it out of her pocket and flipped it open.

Big fire on Dogwood Lane. Your house? Not sure. All people in house dead. –Bobby B.

Jessy almost dropped her phone. She glanced up at Val, who was reading the text message over her shoulder. They both glanced at the street sign—Cedar Drive. Two streets away. Instinctively, she whipped around. Smoke was in the air, attempting to swallow her street. The two girls exchanged a final glance and took off running.

It's rather hard, though, to run when you can't see past the smoke, you can barely breathe, and your eyes are stinging, from both tears and the smoke. Jessy began coughing violently, and she could hear Val somewhere in the distance, shouting.

And then she tripped. Cursing her clumsiness, she stumbled to her feet—or, rather, tried to. She felt herself being pulled down. How, she had no idea. She glanced down. There was a hole opening in the ground. An oversized rabbit hole, sucking her into it. This wasn't good.

"Jess!" Val yelled, stumbling over through the smoke and dropping down in front of her, grabbing onto Jessy's arms tightly. She pulled and pulled, but that only resulted in Jessy getting pulled in deeper. Like quick sand. The more you move, the faster you sink. Unfortunately, this was something Val was having a hard time understanding. In her fit of panic, she pulled harder, and harder, and harder, until finally she felt herself slipping down with Jess.

And then it was black, pitch black. After a few moments of thinking, Val discovered this was because her eyes were closed. Her eyes snapped open, and she glanced around wildly. Dirt and roots. That was the first thing she registered. The second thing she realized was that she was moving. The third and most important thing she realized, was that Jessy was in front of her. They were in a tunnel.

Great.

Sliding down the seemingly endless hole, Jessy was getting more and more frustrated. Every time she would reach out to grab something that could possibly stop her, her hand went right through it, almost in a ghost-like manner. Jessy retracted her hand, and, hesitantly, she poked Val's knee. It seemed as if she and Val were the only solid things in the tunnel at the moment. With an aggravated sigh, Jessy relaxed her posture, until she was lying down, her fingers barely skimming the walls of the annoyingly cramped tunnel. It wasn't like her hand could get caught on one of the thousands of protruding sticks and branches sticking out of the dirt walls. Behind her, Val was starting to fidget; playing with the hem of her shirt, retying the laces on her Keds—which, Val discovered, is near impossible to do while moving—and, most annoyingly, kicking Jessy's back. This last one wasn't appreciated by its recipient.

Jessy swiftly dodged the kick, her arm accidentally slipping right through the dirt wall, which—apparently—was not solid. Jessy gasped, and tried to remove her arm from the wall, to no avail. She tugged as hard as she possibly could, but all that did was pull a muscle in her shoulder. So now, she was not only stuck, but in pain as well. As she continued to slide down, her arm followed, the tiny hole it was stuck in moving with it. Jessy sighed in annoyance, glaring back at Val, who mouthed, "Sorry."

Jessy tried to move her fingers, but her hand was oddly numb. She knew it was there, but she couldn't feel anything. She tried to bend her wrist, but that didn't work either. Jessy sighed in frustration, for what seemed like the millionth time in the past few hours. This was definitely not Jessy's day.

"I can't move my fingers." Jessy commented casually…or rather, she tried to comment casually. When she opened her mouth to speak, all that came out was a strange squeak. She tried again, this time more frantically. Nothing.

She turned to Val with an alarmed look. Val cocked her head to the side, looking bored.

"I can't speak!" Jessy mouthed frantically.

Val shot her a questioning look.

"I. Can't. Speak." Jessy mouthed slowly, her blue eyes wide with panic.

"Wh—" Val began, but she was cut off by the same odd squeaky noise that Jessy had made. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth, mouthing things so fast that Jessy couldn't understand what she was saying.

Suddenly, she stopped. Val stared at Jessy's arm in horror, mouth gaping. It was Jessy's turn to be confused, but as she stared at her arm, she realized what was wrong. Jessy's arm, up to her elbow, was slipping through the wall.

Jessy yelped in surprise, attempting to pull her arm out frantically. All this did, was make her arm sink deeper through the wall. The feeling of numbness was now spread through her whole left arm, including her left shoulder, and a bit of her hair that had spilled over. In just a few more seconds, her who left side was through the wall. Val was pulling her right arm with all of her strength, which was an alarming amount.

There was an enormous amount of pressure on Jessy's right arm, then a painful pinch, and finally, Val's yelp.

"Ow." Jessy mouthed. She glanced at Val in desperation, but Val was too occupied, trying to detach her hand from Jessy's arm, which was apparently stuck. Jessy held her breath as the rest of her slid through the wall entirely. She heard another yelp from Val, as she began falling.

Flashes of color, pink, purple, black, red, swirling colors, like what the movies make hypnoses look like. It was blinding her, and she shut her eyes tightly, as the colors brightened, to an almost white coloring. Jessy waited for the impact of the fall, but it never came. She might have been falling for months, days, years, seconds—she'd never know. It was endless, it seemed; she was almost sure she'd been falling forever. The wind picked up, and her hair was whipping around her face rapidly. Jessy squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

And then, it stopped.

She slowly opened her eyes, and was faced with darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she realized that she was surrounded by trees, and that it was nighttime. Which was odd, considering it had been around three o'clock when she'd tripped into that damn whole in the first place.

She shivered. It was cold. Freezing, even, and she didn't like it. Jessy shivered once more, before realizing that the sweatshirt and jeans she'd been wearing weren't on her anymore. Instead, they were replaced by what Jessy would only think to describe as a Halloween costume.

A black, puff-sleeved dress, with a white apron tied around her waist. Black and white striped stockings, black Mary-Janes, and a large black bow sitting atop her head. All in all, a very weird outfit.

And where was Val?

She glanced around quickly, and, not spotting her friend at once, she cursed loudly.

"Watch that mouth, little lady."

Jessy whipped around. No one was there.

"Turn around, love."

Jessy turned around hesitantly, coming face to face with a black haired boy. Jessy took an automatic step back, and he smirked.

"Hello."

"Hi…?" Jessy asked hesitantly.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing in a dark place like this?" The boy asked, his smirk widening. Jessy immediately decided she didn't like this boy. But, it seemed, he was the only person around for miles.

"Where is 'this'?" Jessy asked, cocking her head to the side and raising an eyebrow.

"This, my dear, is Wonderland. The place where all your nightmares come true." He smirked cockily.

"Oh really. And who am I, Alice?" Jessy smirked.

"I don't know. You haven't told me that yet." The boy responded condescendingly.

"It's Jess." She replied, crossing her arms.

"Well, Miss Jessy." He began. Then he was gone.

There was a tap on Jessy's shoulder, and she turned around with yelp. The boy was standing behind her.

"Potter. James Potter." The boy smirked, holding out a hand. Jessy took it hesitantly.

"But…you were just…behind me!" Jessy choked out, looking over her shoulder. When she turned back, James was gone.

"And now I'm above you."

Jessy's head snapped up. James was sitting on a tree branch above her.

"How do you do that?" Jessy demanded, crossing her arms.

James shrugged, "Magic." He smirked.

"Magic isn't real." Jessy retorted, but even she heard the doubt in her voice.

"Oh really? And how do you suppose you got here, Miss Jessy?" James asked conversationally, jumping down effortlessly from the branch.

"Maybe I'm just in a forest. And maybe you're just tricking me." Jessy snapped, "I mean, Wonderland? Come on."

"Fine. If you don't wanna believe me."

And then he was gone.

"Damnit!" Jessy groaned, her head rolling back. "Wait! Come back, please?" she pleaded.

She looked around the clearing desperately, looking for some sign of the annoyingly arrogant boy.

"James? Please? I…I believe you." Jessy said quietly.

"Thank you, my dear."

Jessy narrowed her eyes, turning around. James was standing about a foot away from her, a cocky grin spread across his face.

"Don't do that." Jessy snapped. James raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, kiddo."

"I'm not a kid. I'm your age." Jessy retorted.

"How do you know that? As far as you know, I'm centuries old. You know nothing about this place." James smirked.

"Well if you'd stop playing mind games long enough to tell me anything, then maybe I would know these things." Jessy pointed out sarcastically.

"Maybe playing mind games is my job. Maybe I'm just here to confuse you—maybe I'm just a figment of your imagination." James said mysteriously.

"Maybe this is just a creation of my insanity. I probably just fell asleep in homeroom again, and I'm just dreaming of an annoying boy who seems to hate me and likes to make me miserable." Jessy mocked him, and he seemed mildly offended.

"Or, maybe, your whole life was a dream. Maybe 'your world' is just a figment of your own insanity. Maybe this is the real world." James smirked.

"Or maybe you're just making fun of me." Jessy narrowed her eyes.

"A combination of those things, actually. Yes, Wonderland is real. It's not a figment of your imagination, because, contrary to popular belief, there are other worlds…other dimensions. This place just happened to be taken over by a bunch of loonies ages ago. They probably haven't gotten to your world yet. By the way, which world is yours?"

"Um, earth?"

"Oh. You're from the main world?"

"…Sure."

James disappeared. Again.

"…James?" Jessy asked.

Silence.

"I really hate you, if you can hear me." Jessy called, thoroughly annoyed.

"Talking to yourself? That's the first sign of insanity."

Jessy froze. That wasn't James's voice.