So here it is my first story here. Fingers crossed that it will go well! I promise to do my best at updating it regularly so please comment/review! Trust me the more you show interest the more it will make me want to write. Criticism is welcome, flaming is not.

Enjoy!

Fairer Tales 1: Once upon sometime...

" 'Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems in a place perhaps you've seen in your dreams; for the story you are about to be told began with the holiday worlds of old. Now, you've probably wondered where holidays come from. If you haven't I'd say it's about time you begun; for the holidays are the result of much fuss and hard work from the worlds that create them for us. Well you see now, quite simply that's all that they do, making one unique holiday especially for you. But once, a calamity ever so great occurred when two holidays met by mistake."

-Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

" 'But what no one knew, was that he was secretly in love with the girl…' … Right." Small eyes, secret eyes, watched from a distance. Not too close, less they be discovered.

"She reads it, right?"

"Yes! She reads it! You not have eyes, she has in hands!"

"Then why she not say them? Why she not say the words?"

"Maybe she no know how to read?"

"Hush! Stupid! Course she know how to read!"

"Then why nothing happen? Why she not say them? We give her book like told, why nothing happen?"

"Maybe wrong girl?"

"No, not wrong girl. We's remembers what we's was told, that's girl. Right girl!"

A voice floated from the nearby house, calling dinner to those who would hear. The secret eyes watched as the girl stood, and after a brief pause slipped a small red leather bound book into her bag, before jogging off towards the back door of the house, slipping inside; out of sight from those secret little eyes, for now.

"Well, what we does now?"

"We waits. We waits for when she calls."

"ALICE!" Sixth row from the door, 4 chairs back, near the large window pane with a wondrous view of the soccer field and the woods just beyond, a girl started, waking from her half asleep stupor.

"It's so kind of you to finally join us Miss Nelson. Now if you wouldn't mind, could you manage to remain awake for the rest of the class period?"

Doubt it. "Yes sir." Came the response from the gray eyed girl sixth row, 4 seats back. Mr. Dunaway turned back to the board, turning his back on the snickers and giggles at Alice's expense. Turning her gaze to the window Alice let her mind slip away, why bother with listening to the man anyway, it wasn't like he was saying anything new. Math was math. Same old rules, directions, points, problems, solutions; nothing new to spark her interest, kind of like the rest of the school. Bored didn't even begin to describe the way Alice felt. Catatonic? Trapped? Stuck? Something roiling below the surface had her convinced that there was something else out there, that her imagination wouldn't lie to her like that, promising her something different when in all truth all there really was, was reality and that just wouldn't do.

"MISS NELSON!" she didn't even jump this time. She'd been expecting the call again. Just like the theories and problems he taught, Mr. Dunaway was extremely predictable. Whether she had gone back to sleep or not he was bound to call on her again, his ego demanded it, after all the genius child needed to be taught that she wasn't so much better than everyone else, right?

"Yes sir?" Alice responded halfheartedly.

"Come to the front please." Predictable. Standing, the eyes of her classmates on her, Alice made her way to the front of the classroom and up to the board. Where upon, as predicted, Mr. Dunaway had written some math problem that he was convinced would probably stump her, after all genius or not she was simply a high school student, she would never get this, right?

"Since our normal curriculum seems to be uninteresting to you, why don't you give this a try?" The alphabet soup on the board sent a new wave a giggles and snickers through the classroom behind Alice. Predictable. He'd start his speech soon, about true intelligence or something or other, she never paid much attention to those either.

Before he'd managed to even get his speech underway Alice had her answer. "It's unsolvable."

"Oh really?" She didn't have to turn around to see his face slowly contorting into a smug look. "You see as I was saying-"

"It's unsolvable. You're missing part of your problem. Here" She pointed simply to the board where sure enough, in retrospect, Mr. Dunaway realized he had left out part of the problem. Whether on purpose or by mistake he would never say, because what sort of teacher would do that, but luckily for him the bell came to his rescue releasing the students from the cramped confines of his tiny universe.

Alice stood off to the side as the other students flooded down the stairs and out of the building, arm in arm, some hand in hand; clusters of friends heading to cars so they could leave together, or clumps of them walking down the street to go get snacks at the local diners. They all passed her without so much of second glance. It wasn't that Alice didn't have any friends, no, some were out sick today, there was a bug going around. A few were out of town, but that didn't bother her so much. Everyone else at school thought she was weird anyway, so they kept their distance, simply for a lack of interest, besides it only makes perfect sense to avoid oddities right?

Her thoughts had taken her to the small neighborhood park not far from home; slumping into one of the many free swings Alice leaned back staring up at the sky, letting her imagination take her away.

Small eyes where near, once again, and they were tired. They'd been following the girl around all day and nothing had happened. Well nothing that was supposed to happen anyway. They had seen school, they had seen lunch, they had seen teasing meanies and snickering grouchies, making faces and making fun of the girl, their girl. But all in all nothing had happened, and they were getting impatient. They were sent for the girl, make the girl come back, that's why they were there, to bring girl back with them, that's why they gave girl book. But girl had read book, many times, they'd seen it happen, the day before, during class, even when she'd snuck off for lunch, she'd read the whole thing cover to cover. What they couldn't understand now, those small sneaky little eyes watching every movement why she hadn't said the words yet. What was she waiting for?

"I wish…"

"I wish… I could remember those words…" Alice sat up, glancing around. She could have sworn she heard something like a dog growling… somewhere. She shrugged it off, her imagination again. Leaning back in the swing again she sighed.

"…Cats and rabbits would reside in fancy little houses… they'd be dressed, in shoes and hats and trousers, in a world of my own. There'd be blue birds… … gah what comes next?" in her desperate search of her mind to find her answer she leaned so far back in the swing that her head touched the ground. "What?"
Sitting up quickly resulted in dumping her in on the ground. She could have sworn she'd seen something, something small, something off… in her scramble to her feet she missed whatever it was, it was so close thought, but somehow it had managed to scurry back into the edge of the brush before she could get a good enough look at it.

"Hey Alice!" Back to the predictable, mundane. Turning around Alice found Abigail Connelly, one of the queen bee's of the school. With her were her usual stooges, Cassidy and Emilia, and a small flock of people who could simply be described as gawkers.

"Hey Alice, we have a question for you." Hmm, do tell. She thought trying to make her way back around the swing to grab her things to leave. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Is it true, you know, about your parents."

"What about them?" Alice picked up her things trying to ignore the others watching her every move so intently, like vultures.

"You know, that you killed them." Low snickers followed the question as Alice turned her back and proceeded to walked away.

"Hey we're talking to you!" Emilia barked somewhere over Alice's shoulder, she started to pick up her pace.

"Don't be so rude!" Cassidy joined in.

"Yeah," Abigail stepped in front of Alice forcing her to stop and face her. "Didn't your parents teach you any manners before you offed them?"

"Please move." One thing slightly more predictable then the teasing, was Alice's temper. It was something she struggled with, had always struggled with, and something she was usually good at keeping under control but somehow Abigail always happened to know exactly how to push her buttons.

"See look, there are some manners. Now answer my question."

"Please move, I have somewhere to be."

"Come on, we all want to know." By now the others had formed a circle around her; Abigail stood with her arms crossed over her chest, a smug grin playing out on her face.

"Inquiring minds want to know Alice. How'd you do it?"

"Did you poison them?" Cassidy piped in.

"Or did you stab them in their sleep?" Emilia giggled as she joined in.

"Did you do the same thing to them as you did as you did to your friends? Seems like there are a lot of absences recently, killing your parents not enough, so now you go after your "friends" too?"

"You know they're out sick Abigail." Alice bit out from between jaws that were clenching ever tighter.

"So you say. You know I hear that a lot of serial killers were considered 'gifted' or 'geniuses', like you. And people around you just keep disappearing."

Alice threw her shoulder into the blonde in front of her, breaking the circle; walking off while mumbling under her breath, "I wish you'd all go away."

Well it wasn't exactly what they were looking for, but they were tired of the meanies picking on their girl. Tiny secret eyes watched as Girl Named Alice walked away from the meanies, watched as the meanies laughed and called after her. They waited until their girl was out of sight before they made their move.