"Why are you lying to me?" tears poured down Kayla's face.
"What makes you think I'm lying? You're parents are dead Kayla Mallory. They
died in a fire late last night." Kayla didn't turn to face the police officer she stayed seated in the comfortable chair that was located in principles of office of her private school. Kayla hadn't seen her parents in two weeks for they had gone off to Italy on a second honey moon and were scheduled to arrive by the weekend. It was only Wednesday. Kayla had been called from her fifth period English class to talk to the principle but had instead found a police officer in his office.
Kayla stood up and excused herself from the room. As soon as she was out of the room the flood gates were opened and tears poured freely from her eyes as she started to run faster and faster off school grounds and into the woods. She ran deeper into the woods, off any paths, over ditches, through weak streams and over stepping stones through the creek, until she was so far into the woods that she was lost. She no longer knew which way she had come from and the sun had set over her head, which wouldn't have been as problematic if she could see the stars but the trees over head covered the night sky and masked the North Star from view. Kayla didn't notice that she was lost or for that matter care. She sat under a large tree on the cold earth floor and cried.
"Why are you crying?" Kayla looked up through her tears to try and see who had asked her that. She saw no one so she put her head back on her knees and forgot the voice.
"Please, miss. Why are you crying?" Her head shot up and she looked around again and still saw no one.
"Who said that?" Kayla demanded. She staggered to her feet and as she did her bag fell to the ground. She figured she had been wearing it when she went to the Principal's office and never took it off. She bent over to pick it up when a white rabbit climbed out of the front pouch. Kayla jumped back with scream of shook.
"I did." answered the white rabbit. The white rabbit was in a navy blue vest and had a gold chain leading from his coat pocket.
"Who-what are you?" Kayla stuttered.
"I am the White Rabbit and I am here to help you, Alice." The rabbit replied fiddling with the gold chain.
"I'm not Alice. My name's Kayla."
The White Rabbit shrugged and replied, "It is irrelevant the fact is that you are the only one who can save Wonderland."
"What?" Kayla let out a loud sob before continuing, "Have I completely lost everything, even my sanity?" The White Rabbit just coughed in awkward silence until he pulled out a small pocket watch connected to the gold chain.
"Whether that is so, or not so you can trifle with later, but we must leave if you are to save Wonderland." The White Rabbit insisted. Kayla stopped sobbing to think about her answer and was about to ask a question when she looked up and noticed that the White Rabbit had taken off running.
"Wait!" She called out running after him hoping that at least she'd be able to get out of the forest if she followed him. She was on track at her school but the faster she seemed to run the farther the Rabbit seemed to get away. When she saw him stop and jump into a hole in the ground, she paused.
"Hurry up, Alice!" She heard the White Rabbit call to her. Kayla swallowed nervously then followed the White Rabbit down the Rabbit hole. As Kayla fell she kept her eyes shut closely together and tried to hold down the scream that was trying to creep from her mouth. She opened her eyes when she felt herself land roughly onto a pile of leaves. She looked around and was terrified.
"What, what happened here? I mean wouldn't Wonderland be...more wonderful? Right, Mr. Rab…-" Kayla trailed off as she examined the forest. The trees were all dead and covered with blood and burn marks. She turned from the forest to look out over the edge of the hill and looked out at the dark town that was full of broken, burnt and filthy buildings and houses. She looked past them and saw a sight that made her nearly lose her stomach and what was left of her mind. On the edge of the town was a castle dark and forbidden, but that wasn't what made her stomach turn, it was the headless bodies mangled and twisted in pain that surrounded the castle that would haunt her memory.
"Off with their head!" She heard screamed in a blood curdling voice in the distance. Kayla was scared and filled with regret, she wanted to go back. She wanted to live with the fact her parents were dead. She just wanted to be away from this black, haunted place. She turned to tell this to the White Rabbit, but he was gone. She groaned and sat down on the grass with her knees pulled in tight and her head resting on them.
"Why did I ever listen to that stupid White Rabbit?" Kayla lectured. She sat in silence wondering if she would ever get out of this strange place. She looked into the town below and saw a group of kids about seventeen, eighteen or nineteen hiding behind a building as a group of what looked to be playing cards examined the alley. Kayla stood up with great difficulty seeing as how she was no longer wearing her school uniform, knee length plaid skit, white button down top and tennis shoes, but was now wearing a black knees length dress with puffy shoulders, a lace hem line topped with a white apron with strange symbols on the two pockets. She also had difficulty because of the lace up knee high boots she was wearing. She didn't bother to wonder how such strange outfit came to be on her before heading down the hill towards the teenagers. When she got to the base of the hill she was only a few hundred feet away from the group of people.
"Hey, you there girl!" one of the playing cards called to her. The group of kids turned around to but the playing cards didn't notice.
"Yes?"
"What are you doing out here? You should be in school, you know?"
Kayla paused before adding, "I don't believe that is possible considering the fact that my school is miles from here and above here." The playing cards looked at her like she was crazy then shrugged as if it was perfectly normal, which, Kayla assumed, from the looks of this town there was a chance that it was.
"Yeah, well have you seen any other kids around your age around here?"
"Around where?" Kayla asked.
"Six don't waist time she's as crazy as the rest of them. We won't get anything from her." As the two cards started to argue about whether her information would be useful Kayla jumped onto an emergency exit ladder and pulled herself up and into the dark shadows.
"Where'd she go?" The playing card called six asked looking around confused.
"Come on forget her lets go look around Misfortune Lane." As soon as they were out of sight Kayla climbed down from the fire escape.
"Who are you?" Kayla turned to see a girl behind her that was about eighteen, the same age as her self.
"Kayla and yourself?" Kayla responded nervously.
"You're Alice? Then you can save us!" The girl said excitedly running and hugging Kayla. Kayla pushed the girl away and staggered back, starting to be annoyed by the fact no one seemed to get that her name was NOT Alice.
"Now don't you start talking like that weird reappear-disappear rabbit." Kayla said frustration dripping from her voice.
"You know the white Rabbit?" asked a boy coming out from the behind the dumpster.
"Well, yeah kind of he's the reason I'm stuck here." Kayla replied putting her hands in the pockets of her dressing, realizing how odd it was that she could not remember changing.
"So the legend was true that Alice would return and save us all from the Evil Queen." Another girl said coming out from where the boy had earlier done so.
"Hold on a second, I'm not Alice and I can't save anyone. I don't even know an Alice. Well, I did. Her name was Alice Evens. Our parents were friends but when hers died she kind of lost it. Alice was sent to the hospital because she tried to commit suicide. I went to visit her everyday, and they almost let her out, but she tried to kill a nurse. She kept calling her the Red Queen and she attacked these two doctor's assistants calling them Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. Not mention the fact that she kept calling me Alice and telling me not to follow White Rabbits. She was admitted to the Insane Asylum the day after. She was there for about a year when she died, there was an accident, but it doesn't matter cause the point is that I'm NOT Alice." Kayla explained trying to keep her voice down so any wandering Playing Cards couldn't hear.
"Alice is dead?" Kayla nodded as it dawned on the group that they would be with out a leader.
"Then why did the White Rabbit bring you here?" One of the girls asked with disdain in her voice.
"How in the world should I know? I don't want to be here." Kayla retorted angrily.
"Maybe he thinks you can save us too." The girl that had commented first on Alice's death said hopefully.
Laughter filled the air as a skeleton thin cat appeared on the fire escape and commented, "Of course she can. She is Alice after all."
"You you're the Cheshire Cat, aren't you? I remember this story! But how can that be? Wonderland...it was so different." Kayla disputed in confusion.
"That's right my dear but this place existed originally only in the mind of Alice, you're great-great grandmother, and it followed down generation after generation. It has been corrupted with anger and hatred, our madness turns to darkness." The Cheshire cat explained menacingly.
"So...let's say that is true, then I'm...asleep? This is all just in my mind?" Kayla asked.
"In a way, but Wonderland is a story known throughout the world, it is no longer just in your mind, but in the entire world's mind. Anyone and everyone can be pulled into the madness." The Cheshire explained rolling on his back, still smiling a twisted grin.
"So…this is still just a nightmare? I can wake up?"
The Cheshire laughed and jumped down by Kayla's feet, "My dear child, you don't seem to understand. This is not just a nightmare. It is madness. People from your world who come into this place, do not wake up. Their minds are trapped in this place. Well, that is, until they die. Which, they all do one way or the other."
"But it is a dream…a nightmare; if they die they just wake up right?"
"You're heart stops beating here, it stops beating there." The Cheshire said with a laugh.
"So…people are really dying? But, what could I possibly do about it? I'm not Alice, and even if I was, which I am not, what could be done?" Kayla sobbed louder than she had expected.
"Kill her. Kill the Queen. Only Alice can."