Return to the Rabbit Hole

Chapter One

We'd only been at this house for a few hours and I was already bored. Yeah, it was old and had oodles of cupboards and crawlspaces, but it wasn't like they were going to be running away from me. After all, I was going to be stuck living here. Besides, my brother had already begun sifting through the dust in this house for a chance to find good spots to hide all the Airsoft guns he had brought without my mum's permission. It was probably going to be days before he would trust me enough not to tell my mom where he had hidden his stash.

I flopped on to the creaky, old mattress that was supposed to be my bed, only to be consumed by a cloud of dust. I slid on to the floor, swatting away the haze and coughing. I couldn't deal with this kind of stuff today. I needed something to do. Maybe I could plan a way back home from here.

As if on cue, I heard footsteps approaching my room. My mom poked her head into the room. Her usual straightened blonde hair had curled with the humidity of summer. She looked flushed from unloading the boxes with the movers. Through muted pants, she suggested, "Honey, why don't you entertain yourself?"

"I will," I paused, "later."

She sighed and tried her hardest to level with me, "Tiff, what could you possibly have to do right now aside from unpacking and exploring?"

"Going home," I stated plainly. There wasn't anything in this house that was worth staying for. I'm sure even my mom believed that one.

My mom, brother, and I were only here because she had been transferred. Why a huge insurance company would want to create a facility in a small, rural town was beyond me, but then again, I wasn't into marketing or economics or anything like that.

"Tiffany Marie," I could tell she was getting frustrated since she had used my middle name, "this is your home now. You should really get yourself acquainted with it."

"Fine," I muttered. I toppled over from my spot on the floor and lied on it instead, "Is this more adventurous for you?"

She feigned laughter, "Very funny. Now stop being a smartass. Help me unpack or go outside."

"Gee, I wonder what could possibly be out there," I stated sarcastically. I stood myself up and brushed off my dress. I walked around my mother and out of the room, but not before I kicked the rickety door on my way out. Before my mom could say anything, I began running door the halls, down the stairs and out the back door. At least I had remembered where one thing was, the exit.

I cautiously tiptoed through the rose garden that had somehow lasted the house's years of abandonment. My mom wouldn't tell me why it had been empty for so long. My guess was that somebody had died. Nonetheless, it was unnatural for a garden's hedges to still be trimmed and its rosebushes to still retain a shape after so long. I maneuvered my way through the garden silently, watching my Mary Jane's shine in the sunlight.

I like this, I thought, it's quiet here and almost like another world. Everything looked perfect. I sat down under a rather tall, white rosebush and took in the scenery. The still world was too good to be true. It had to be. Why would someone leave a house abandoned for years and years if it had such a magnificent garden?

My mind abruptly switched topics and I wondered if my dad would have liked it here. He was still back home…there were no chain grocery stores that he could work at around here. In such a small area, we should have expected him to have to stay. It confused me how my mother was able to leave her love halfway across the country. I couldn't stand it…

Jonathon, his name echoed through my thoughts. I pictured his wavy brown hair. I had been pretty long, but it wasn't just because he wanted it that way. He was planning on donating it. He was so beautiful; at least he was to me. I wished I could see what it looked like now; he was getting it cut today. I'd say anything about what he did was romantic, but cutting his hair was more or less a symbol of new beginnings. Though, in reality he'd taken that chance a week earlier.

I had loved Jon so much…I had finally told him my feelings and just two days afterwards, he asked out my best friend. It should have been obvious that he would want her more. She was tall, supermodel skinny and had long, blonde, curly hair. Most of all, she had those blue eyes only an angel could have. She had always been there for me until that day.

After he had asked her out, she immediately asked me what she should do about it. I lied and told her I didn't care, but what else could I have done? If she was really my friend, shouldn't she have known to say no to him since I liked him? I guess, to her it didn't matter. Maybe the fact she had been single all the years I had known her was the only reason she had stayed with me.

I guess it didn't matter to her what I felt. When I cried and told her they could be together if she wanted to date him, she assured me that she would say no to him.

The next day, my emotions basically went on a rampage when I heard they were together. I told her that I'd-

I felt a tiny plop! on my skirt, then another and another. I was crying again. I really was getting tired of all of these tears. It happened every time I had enough time to think for myself. That's why I needed a distraction so badly. Otherwise, I would keep making an idiot of myself.

In all honesty, I shouldn't be surprised that she betrayed me. She was gorgeous and I'm sure she knew it. Besides, who would want someone like me? I had blunt bangs and brown hair that dangled only a few inches below my shoulders, I had dark green eyes with orange circles about the pupil…and I was short. I was barely hitting five feet and I was sixteen! One of my other friends decided to rate me and told me that on a scale of ten, I was between five and six. I mean honestly, it was all such a-

A small, white form hopped across my field of vision. I sat up straighter and tensed before I realized what it was: a rabbit.

I smiled to myself and wiped the tears from my face. It was pretty embarrassing I needed a rabbit to run by me to remind me that I was being stupid. I lived here now and I was probably never going to see those people again anyway.

Another weird thought entered my mind: Maybe it was this rabbit who had kept the garden intact all of this time. I watched as the rabbit bounded back the other way. I began giggling; it appeared as if this rabbit was wearing a coat. He must have been someone's pet. I mean, people put sweaters on their dogs. Perhaps, rabbits could be domesticated like that too.

I stared at the clouds for a few moments, doing everything I could to continue thinking about what made an animal so obedient rather than having another sob fest.

I felt a tap on my leg and my head jerked in that direction. I'd been worried it was a bug, but it was just that rabbit. Huh, it did have a coat on…it had glasses too. How strange. I felt my lips creep up into a grin and I kicked at the rabbit. It hopped backwards and I crawled out from under the bushes to chase it. I knew it would be faster than me, but I followed it anyway. I needed something to do, and it was good to have a goal. If I could get my hands on it, maybe I would be able to pet it. The whole thing was pretty pointless, but at least it was managing to-

A hole?

My legs flailed through the air, trying to search for some surface to travel over. I instinctively tried to grab for anything within my reach, but the crevasse felt like it was from a cartoon. It was nothing, but bleak darkness and the fading light from above. I couldn't see the bottom, but I felt as if I'd be hitting it with a splat!

"I'm surprised. The last time I brought someone here, I had to force her," a voice said next to me.

"EH?!" I shouted as I turned to look at a man with white hair and….rabbit ears?! I saw him wince and put one hand to his ears, with his other; he put a finger to his lips.

"You need to be quieter, Tiffany. My ears are very sensitive," he said, looking almost embarrassed. I stared at the man. He had glasses, and a red coat…just like that rabbit.

"You're the rabbit!" I gasped. "What are you-How did-Why am I falling down a hole!" I decided that was the best question to ask, after all, I wasn't so sure I wanted to know his motive for luring me here, or why he knew my name. And I really didn't care about his transfiguration skills.

He looked a little surprised about something. People always seemed to be taken aback by how forward I could be, or maybe he noticed my extreme indecision problem, instead. In the end, he simply smiled and chirped, "Falling is fun! I won't ruin the surprise though! You'll see when we get there!"

There was a sudden burst of light and I anticipated a CRASH! but there was none. It seemed as if we had floated down the hole. I looked around. This rabbit and I were on some kind of tower. We were surrounded by other towers as well. The daytime sun was bright and warm on my skin, but it still burned my eyes after the sudden change in light.

"Okay. So we're out of the hole and in some magically colorful world…" I muttered to myself.

"Welcome to Wonderland, my dear," the rabbit said cheerfully.

I took one more quick look around. "Take me home."

"Wha-" if he hadn't been surprised by how direct I was before, he certainly was now.

"You heard me," I said sternly, "Take me home." I annunciated each of the syllables clearly.

"But, Tiffany-"

Now that the hole wasn't the biggest issue anymore, I cut him off, "How do you know my name?"

He spoke cheerfully and I already hated him for it, "Because I love you."

"No. You don't."

"But I do."

"If you loved me then-" I stopped myself. I would not burst into a tangent about what love was in front of this…thing. "Take me home," I said again sternly.

"How about this," the rabbit began, "if you drink this," he took out a small vial of liquid, "I promise you'll be able to go home soon."

I hesitantly took the vial, "How soon?"

"That all depends on you," he was smiling again.

"No!" I shouted, "I won't do it, especially not if it's given to me by some creepy bunny-otaku who kidnapped me!"

"Please," he whimpered and gave me a puppy dog look. I winced at his attempt to be cute.

I steadied my gaze into a glare and threw the vial at him, "No, you sick, twisted bastard!"

He caught it without any apparent effort, before offering it to me again.

"Drink," he urged me again, "You'll be able to go home soon."

Home, I thought to myself. I really did want to go home. I wanted to see Dad and my old friends. I'd never be able to do that if I was trapped in this world. Maybe all of the bad things that had happened recently had just been a dream. If I could escape, everything would be normal again.

"You promise I'll be able to go home soon?" I asked with a steady gaze.

The rabbit's ears perked up and he nodded furiously, "Of course!"

I nodded once and took the vial. I popped off the tiny cap and up-ended it. I tried not to focus on the taste because if I had just taken poison, I really didn't want to punch myself for it. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and recapped the bottle. After that, I felt my limbs grow heavier. My knees buckled under me and the rabbit caught me in his arms. Everything around me started growing fuzzy before I was consumed by blackness.

Dammit. I'd just taken a date rape drug, hadn't I?