I started this story with every intention to make this a gigantic story but I've recently gotten really into the Heart no Kuni no Alice fandom and...well I'm afraid I may not continue with this story. If there are people who actually enjoy this story then I'll try and type up another chapter and (hopefully) more chapters after that.
I was quite aware that I was lying in a wooden crate of sorts, my legs folded against my chest and my arms wrapped around them. It felt cramped in here. I wasn't much of a claustrophobic, yet an uneasy feeling that I couldn't entirely explain tugged at my stomach. I stretched out my fingers and heard a small thud as they hit the side of the crate. At this point, I attempted to open my eyes. Darkness: not even a single, lone ray of light streamed into the chest. I almost doubted that I even had my eyes open. My eyelashes brushed against my brow bone as I opened my eyes wider, as if that would increase my vision; if only a little. I struggled onto my back, pressing the palms of my hands and the tops of my feet on the roof of the chest.
"Release me from this confinement," I said, putting a certain strength behind my words as if I wasn't being slowly consumed by fear.
I was met with a silence so deafening, I was tempted to cover my ears. I would have, too, if it weren't for the fact that I couldn't move my limbs. I was sure they were capable of movement, but they were restricted by the size of the wooden box.
"I beg of you, release me at once," I said, desperation filling my tone.
The damned silence rang loud in my head, my head pounding. I screamed as loud as I could, throwing my weight against the sides of the crate to shake it. No matter how hard I slammed myself into the splintering wood, the crate did not so much as budge. Panic began flooding my senses as I clawed at the roof with my fingernails. I raked them down the wood and felt the splinters stabbing me and coaxing blood out of my new wounds. The sound of fingernails against wood ceased and only the sound of my fingers running across the wood remained. I lowered my hands a bit and ran my thumb over my fingernails, feeling it collect a thick liquid and discovering my fingernails had been broken off.
"Damn," I said aloud, dropping my hand onto my stomach and staring into the foreboding darkness. I gathered the material of my gown into my trembling hands and screamed louder than I had previously, so loud my voice became hoarse after merely a few seconds.
I coughed and wished for something to whet my thirst and soften the ache in my throat from screaming. I felt around the crate once more, careful to avoid the splinters in risk of obtaining another wound among the others that had already begun to heal over.
Suddenly, it dawned on me.
This wasn't just any crate.
This was a coffin.
The panic that previously flooded my senses had completely vanished from my system and was replaced with an even more deadly drug: shock. I lay still, staring into the darkness and breathing slower than I should have. Then, something unexpectedly troublesome happened. I started giggling. The type of giggling that couldn't be stopped no matter how much you thought of sad things. I laid a hand over my mouth to muffle the laughter, afraid of shaming myself. Then, it dawned on me that I had no one to embarrass myself to. I removed my hand and laughed louder, tears springing to my eyes from laughing so hard.
This was ridiculous. I'd wake up from this dream any moment from now. How silly mother would think of me when I told her of my nearly lucid dream.
Suddenly, the walls of the coffin began shaking and the irritating sound of wood sliding against dirt rang in my ears. I furrowed my brow, placing my hands on either side of the wooden container and pushing against them. I could feel the walls vibrate against my hand. Why would the coffin be moving? I was six feet under, how the hell was the crate moving?
A sudden drop caused me to gasp, pushing my arms against the side of the crate as it dropped onto ground with a thud.
There was chatter outside, lots of it. The sound of voices, glassing hitting each other, and the faintest hint of a violin mingled together to form a chaotic mixture.
"We've got a new one," someone bellowed near the crate.
I shrank back into the crate, terrified. Was this just some cruel prank?
Someone kicked the box and it fell apart with ease. I opened my eyes, widening them as they took in the sight of skeletons and rotting corpses looking at her with half-interest. She then did one of the most cliche things a girl could do when she is surprised in the book, she fainted.