Heart no Kuni no Alice/Alice in the Country of Hearts: To Tell a New Tale

Chapter 1

"…And your test shall be tomorrow. Dismissed" Mrs. Rockson said as she shut her planner, dismissing my class as the bell rang, as always.

I sighed and started to pack up my text book and notes, trying not to rush since the school's hallway traffic was horrible for the first five minutes after class let out. I stood up at about 3:20 and began the long walk to the school's parking lot, located on the other side of the building.

As usual, no one talked to me while I packed up, or even during my walk. Here, I was invisible, a nobody, all because I had no "name" here.

Of course, I was given a name when I was born, but that doesn't really count. In both the real world and in school, if you weren't popular and didn't have a "name" in the world, you were useless, a completely replaceable unit. And that is what I am. A nobody, a misfit, or, as the pops tend to call us, "Nameless". They never really could tell us apart unless we wore something from Areopostle, Abercrombie, or even American Eagle.

Now, usually the Nameless stuck with each other in their own cliques, never leaving one alone to fend for themselves. But that all usually changed if you tried to mess with the head pops, or if they just didn't like you. For me, it was kinda of a mixture, but mostly the latter of the two.

As I walked out into the chilly November sun, I heard a group of very familiar laughter. I bit my lip and ran behind the small concession stand near the back doors and listened. I peeked out from behind the stand and saw some very familiar faces of my former friends, all laughing and smiling as they walked towards the school's parking lot, not even noticing me silently watch them. Very soon however, the voices got smaller, as did the people themselves until I couldn't see them any longer.

I sadly sighed and bit my lip again, causing it to bleed. But I didn't care as I was trying to keep back my tears. Just a short month ago, I was apart of that…but now, here I was trying not to cry while hiding behind a small and dirty building, hiding from the group of people I used to jump for joy when I saw.

"C'mon Ash…just pull yerself together…can't keep crying 'bout crap…" I told my self as I felt a small lump in my throat. I swallowed and slowly stood up, brushing the dirt off of my knees and the bottom of my bag. I began to walk away slowly to make sure they didn't see me if they were still in the lot.

Luckily, I was one of the last few cars there for the day, so I spotted my car very easily, sitting at the very edge of the parking lot as usual. I breathed a sigh of relief and practically sprinted over to my teal car (affectionately named Bessie). As I got to my lovely car, I turned my head to the left and looked at the forest by the school across the street.

No one in town knew what was in there, since it was private property, but there were some rumors. Some said that if you went into the forest at night, a demon would come to seduce you and eat you, body and soul. Others said that a gang had made that their headquarters in town, bringing teenagers into there to recruit them.

Me, I just believed that it would be a nice place to hang out in for a few hours on a day like today.

I stared off at the forest for another minute before I walked past my car, fixing my bag that was on my shoulder. "Okay…I'm gunna explore the forest today…" I mumbled to myself in a moment of great stupidity (as I was known to do when I felt emotional). I walked towards the side of the forest, next to the cornfield. I wasn't going to risk getting in trouble by taking the path; instead, I was going to walk on the side of the forest until I found my way to the path…

That was definitely not a great idea by any means…a few hours later, I found myself sitting on a tree stump in the dark, and lost.

"Well Captain Dumb-Fuck. You have outdone yourself this time. You managed to get yourself lost in a fucking forest at night. Now a demons gunna come and rape ya while a gang initiates ya." I scolded myself as I looked around, thankful that the leaves had mostly fallen off the trees and I had the moonlight to light my way through the darkened forest.

I needed a plan of action. It was dark, I had no cell reception, and I was starting to feel scared. Not a good combination. I stood up and grabbed my bag, beginning to walk again to find my way out of this crap-forest.

Quickly, the moon was covered by a group of clouds, making my path much darker. I groaned. "Today is just a great-fucking day, isn't it?"

"Yes…It is…"

I jumped and quickly looked around. "Hello? Is anyone there?" I asked aloud. I waited for a moment, not getting a response. "Just yer imagination, Ash, nothing more."

I heard a stick crunch, which, at this point, with my combination of being scared and jumpy, I actually bolted off into the darkness, hopefully running away from where ever that noise came from.

"I DON'T WANNA BE RAPED BY A DEMON FOR MY GANG INITIATION!" I shouted as I felt scared tears start to fall, feeling very scared. I was running through bushes and bare tree branches, scratching up my bare skin and dirtying up my clothing.

I soon felt smooth ground under my feet, and instead of slowing down, I pushed myself harder, trying to get away from whoever or whatever my mind created, or the thing in this forest. But soon, I felt the ground disappear from under me, and I was falling.

I screamed, shut my eyes, and clutched my head, ready for impact. But, I never hit the ground, instead, I kept falling. I didn't open my eyes, but my only thought was 'how deep is this hole?'

After what felt like an hour, I was starting to get sleepy as I continued to fall. The initial fear was gone, replaced with drozyness. Without realizing it, I was soon asleep; never noticing I finally exited the hole and fell into someone's arms…

-A few hours later-

I only woke up for a few minutes afterwards, in a soft bed, feeling very warm and content, but very thirsty. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, only to see darkness lit by a bit of moonlight.

"Someone musta found me and brought me home…" I mumbled to myself as I turned to my left and saw my usually glass of water sitting beside a small, glittery container with a small heart on top.

"Pretty…" I thought aloud as I picked up my water and drained the glass of every single drop. The water tasted weird, but since it was CC water, that wasn't too unusual. I lay back down and fell back to sleep, only to hear an odd set of voices giggling. I chalked that one up to my imagination as I began to dream of a kingdom ravaged by war.