"Alice…. What have you done?" THE VOICE whispered.
"I-I don't know!" Alice yelled back, her hands pressing against the side of her head as she screamed, trying to block THE VOICE out. She began to shake uncontrollably as THE VOICE grew louder in her mind, swallowing her conscience.
"Alice…. Admit what you've done." THE VOICE said.
"I hav-haven't done a-a thing!" She said, her voice becoming hoarse as she screamed endlessly. THE VOICE wouldn't go away. She just wanted to be alone in her chaotic mind.
"The fire, Alice…. The fire…." THE VOICE rose in volume.
"It-It wasn't my fault! I was sure! I make sure the fire was out in the library!" She whispered. "I was so sure. It was out, its not my fault! I didn't kill my family. I'm not mad! I'm innocent. I mean, not guilty!"
"Alice…. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" THE VOICE screamed.
She screamed as THE VOICE screamed, laying on the not-ground in this dark place. Fire erupted around her, licking at her feet, her hair, her skin. The clothes she wore, what looked like a straightjacket dress, burst into flames. She was paralyzed with fear, the flames reflecting the faces of her family. Lizzie, Mom, Dad, even Dinah. They were screaming for help. And she couldn't help them.
"Alice. Alice, wake up!" Someone called. That wasn't THE VOICE.
Alice sat up, a scream crawling up her throat. She wasn't burning, she was laid out on the cracked desert-like ground in front of the teacup village. Sweat soaked through her dress. Why had she fallen asleep?
"Alice? Are you alright?" She knew that voice; it wasn't anything like THE VOICE that haunted her dreams.
"Chesh?" Alice felt confused. The Cheshire Cat, in his tan-humanoid-type skin, sat next to her. He had his regular smile, the one Alice always found unnerving to say the least. Blood flecked his yellow teeth, though in her muddled brain, it looked like he'd just gotten back from a tea party.
She put a hand to her pounding head. "What happened, Chesh? Why do I feel so horrible?"
If possible, Cheshire's smile seemed to wane. "One of those idiotic madcaps sliced your legs and back open with its fork. You killed them and fainted.
Alice frowned, "Well, that doesn't sound like me. Not at all."
"You've forgotten the danger here, Alice." Cheshire warned.
"No I haven't! I dream of it, sometimes nights on end I can't forget what has happened to my Wonderland! You, of all people, should know that I will never forget." Alice lowered her head, a single tear falling from her eye, "I can't forget. No matter how hard I try."
"Forgetting is overrated. You must control your memories, girl." His tone was unsympathetic, but he sat down next to her and wrapped a human arm covered in tribal tattoos around her shoulders.
"They tell me that I'm mad," Alice said, her voice shaking, "They have no idea, do they, Cheshire?"
"No," Cheshire Cat said, his impossibly stretched smile growing into something more genuine, "No, my dear. They have no idea at all."
She took a shaky breath, getting her emotions somewhat under control, and pushed his arm off of her. "So I'm guessing you wrapped my wounds?"
"Do you see anyone else here?" Sarcasm dripped heavily into his words.
Alice smiled slightly. Same old Chesh, she thought, same old annoying, riddle loving cat. "You don't have to be so rash," She said.
His smile, so impossibly stretched at all other times than these, when he was human, seemed to have an edge on it. He stood up.
"Come on, Alice. Up you go." Chesh held a hand out for Alice to take. She slid her cold, pale hand into his warm tan one and let him help her up.
"There's no time to waste, Alice." Chesh said. "Wonderland isn't the same, and it will take you more effort to survive this journey."
Alice smiled up at him. In his human-type skin, he was a full head over her. "I must hurry on my way, then." She turned to go, but his hand landed on her shoulder. She turned back to him, and was surprised to see him frown. He never frowned. There was something wrong.
"Chesh? What is it?"
"There is a method to this madness," He said, "You have just yet to find the pattern."
"What do you mean, Chesh? There's no reason for this to happen. Its random, there is no pattern." She said, confused.
He smiled, a strange smile filled with some emotion she couldn't name, and he disappeared.
"Typical cat," Alice said aloud, "Speaking in riddles and never offering a good amount of real advice." She picked up her Vorpal Blade and slung the Pepper Grinder behind her back, taking care to lay it lightly over the still healing wounds.
"If you really want to help me restore Wonderland, Cheshire, I suggest you give me something other than riddles and cryptic advice." And Alice started towards the end of the teacup village.
The Cheshire Cat, watching over her vigilantly, sighed. She could be so stubborn at times, especially when she was tired or hurt. "Cryptic advice, riddles, its all to help you, my dear. Its all I can do." The Cat said to himself.
He smiled sadly as the madwoman started to walk on her torn up legs. "If only you knew how to play the game, dear girl," he whispered, "Then you might have a chance to win."