Wonder
Prologue
Alice's POV
"…I'll warn you," a voice said in my head. The voice wasn't a boy or a girl, young or old, human or electronic. "Every game has its rules. And those rules are cemented the moment you start to play."
A gold pocket watch on a gold chain flashed across my vision. "Games can take time, or be over very quickly." Tick-tick, tick-tick. The clock ticked slowly, then faster. "Some games are played for fun, some games you don't even know you're playing." Somewhere in the distance children laughed.
Playing cards fell into a pile around me. "All types of games are played for some type of amusement." Then the floor under me opened up, and I was falling.
And falling.
And falling.
And falling.
Finally I landed, but it didn't hurt, like I thought it would've. I sat in front of a huge mirror. Inside the mirror, he stood. His arm was around my sister's shoulders. I felt sick.
"But you already knew that," the voice said, making me jump. "…Didn't you?"
Chapter One: Notes
Alice's POV
I awoke to a loud bark in my ear. Sitting up, I saw my ginormous st. Bernard Peace sitting next to my bed. I reached over and scratched him behind his ears. "Thank you. I was just having a teribble dream," I told him in my British accent. He just jumped on the bed and lied down.
~Not a problem. Do you care to talk about it?~ He asked gently. Sorry, I forgot to tell you, didn't I? Yes, my dog can talk to those he wants to listen. He's a shape-shifter, you know.
"Well, I' just standing there, and there's this voice talking to me. It's like nothing I've ever heard before. It's like everything, and nothing all at the same time. So it's talking to me, there's some cryptic message about games and rules. There's a gold pocket watch on a gold chain, the playing cards. Then I fall through a hole in the floor. I fall for awhile, and when I land, it doesn't hurt like it should. Then there's this huge mirror, and when ever I have this dream, there are always people standing in the mirror. Sometimes it's people I know, sometimes it's people I feel like I should recognize, but never do.
"I've had this dream before, Peace. I just never know what to think about it. It's starting to freak me out."
~I've no notion about what it could mean. About the people, who do you see?~
I sighed, trying to remember. "It's always two people. You in dog and human form, twin boys that look to be around my age, boys with cat and mouse ears, two boys with rabbit ears, two woman, two men, one with a sword, one with a lot of clocks. A man in a top hat and a pretty woman. I just saw Lorie and him, and then that's it."
~That's quite the amount of people.~ Peace commented ~I will see what I can do. Please write down the dream for me when you find the time.~
"Thank you, Peace," I said, just as something crashed downstairs. Which was strange because the only people living in the house where in my room. I grabbed my gun out from under my pillow and crept downstairs, Peace right behind me. I snapped my gun up when we stepped into the kitchen...but there was no one there. "But I swear I heard...,"my voice trailed off as I picked up a note card.
In just a bit
"What in the...?"
~I don't get it, but apparently we'll find out soon enough.~ Peace told me, sniffing the card. He sneezed three times. ~Smells like rabbit.~
I laughed as I made cereal and sat down. "What, are you allergic to rabbits? Because you chase them all the time." I joked, eating my cheerios.
~No I am not allergic to rabbits. This one just smells like a shape-shifter. Alice?~ Peace asked suspiciously.
"No. You would have smelled him-or her- on me anyway. It's like with him. You smelled him on my sister and my sister on him."
~I'm sorry, Alice.~
"I...never mind. It's not like it's your fault. You didn't cheat on me with my own sister." I willed the tears away from my eyes.
I'm going to guess you want to know who he is. Ive Slides. My old boy friend. He wasn't really my boy friend, I guess. He just used me to get to my sister. Not that I blame him. Lorie is the ideal lady. She's nice, sweet, funny, smart, and pretty just to top that all off. Every guy in the world would fall in love with my sister.
I cringed as a picture of Lorie and Ive flashed through my mind. They looked so perfect together, like a painting. I finished my cheerios and put the bowl back in the sink. Upstairs Peace and I went.
I braided my waist length, wavy red hair. As I brushed my teeth, I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
I'm eleven and five foot five. Pale as a ghost, with huge clearer than clear blue eyes. A small and pointed nose, and full, red lips. Sharp cheekbones too. People say I'm pretty, I laugh at those people.
I slid out of my over sized T-shirt into a white T-shirt, overall jean shorts, and cowgirl boots. Then I got out my spelled backpack. The thing could hold a fridge and never get heavy.
Into it went clothes for Peace and me, two sleeping bags,notebooks and pencils,books, I pod, whistle, pillows, food, water, and other necessities. "We going camping?" Peace asked as he walked in.
In human, Peace is fifteen and five foot eleven. Shaggy brown hair and huge brown eyes. Full pink lips. now, he wore a black tank-top and cargo shorts.
"Yup. Lorie is introducing Ive to our family, and I'm not here for that," I told him matter of factually. Then I started sliding my knives and daggers into their sheathes. Into my boots, at my waist, at my sides, at my neck, and inside my wrist.
"Lot's of weapons," Peace said, and I just nodded. He picked up the pack, slung it across his back, and we were off.
Finally, we came to the clearing. I sat in the center of the field, took out a notebook and pencil, and started writing. "What are you doing?" Peace asked me, sitting by my side.
"Writing my dream for you," I told him. Just then a thing landed on my head. I took it and held it up.
"What does it say?"
" 'Now'," I told him, and the ground under us opened up like a trap door. We were falling.
And falling.
And falling.
And falling.