Chapter numero dos. This is where the story begins. Karol is Blood's little sister, just to clarify, and the events of this chapter take place six years after the incident.
Love is a horrible, fleeting emotion. One minute you're perfectly fine, the next, you're staggering to breathe when the other person enters the room. It grabs a hold of you in a terrible foothold that no matter how hard you try to pull away, you will never succeed. It never fully goes away; it simply switches faces, but the same terrible gut-wrenching feeling is always there. Very few young women have never felt the sting of love; fortunately I am one of those few. Unfortunately, I will be joining the many love-struck females in a matter of days. Or hours. No one really knows how Wonderland works exactly.
My name? I'm Karol Dupre.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked the older boy. He turned to smile at me, his too big black top hat falling over his green eyes.
"To my rose garden." He replied. I reached up and lifted the hat out of his eyes. It was bugging me.
"You have a rose garden?" I asked. I sounded so young; why did I look like a six-year-old? I was dressed in a white dress that puffed out at my knees. Black and white striped tube socks reached my knees and white gloves were on my hands all the way up to my elbows.
"Of course I do. What do you think I do in my spare time?" he asked indignantly. "I planted them all for you." He added sheepishly.
We walked into a small clearing of the forest. Inside were a few rose bushes, nothing fancy, but they were all beautiful. I ran over to a small budding white rose. It was the only white rose in the small garden.
"I like this one. It's different from the rest." I stated. The older boy leaned over and yanked it from its stem.
"For you." He presented. A small drop of blood from his finger (apparently he stuck himself when removing the flower) fell and hit one of the rose petals, staining the flower right in the center. I watched in fascination as it spread slightly so the white rose now had a pinkish tint near the center and spread outward to white. Instead of being disgusted at the fact this boy's blood had tainted the flower, it only made it more beautiful.
"Blood ties us together, Little Sister, forever."
"Wake up, Kar!" my mother yelled, banging furiously on my door. I sat up, stunned, my eyes still closed. "You'll be late for tea, and heaven forbid that your grandmother goes into another fit of rage."
I grunted and muttered something unintelligible before flopping back down on my bed. Was sleep illegal around here? Let my bloody grandma go into a fit of rage; I don't give a buggerin' bullock. My mother wrenched open the door, light streaming into my dark room and I groaned as the light made contact with my sensitive eyes. I squeezed them shut and pulled the blankets over my head to block the offending light. My mother pulled the covers off of my head and glowered at me.
Her petite hands rested on her wait and her thin, pink lips were pursed tightly. A lock of auburn/brown hair fell over her milky brown eyes and she looked much younger than she actually was.
I loved my mom, but she needed to bugger off. I was tired and beauty rest made me absolutely gorgeous. That's also why I don't attend many of my morning lessons. What can I say? A girl like me that's out late all the time needs her rest.
"Karol Scarlet Dupre, get your arse out of bed before I drag you out m'self." My mother warned. I groaned and slowly dragged myself free from the warm array of blankets. Goodbye, my loves. I shall return after this dreary day!
I stood up and proceeded to my closet to get dressed for the day. My mother sighed before leaving the room. I tapped my chin thoughtfully. Today I would wear purple. I tugged on solid purple stockings, a terribly uncomfortable corset, and the final (and most important) article of clothing was the purple Lolita with black trimming. This wasn't one of my favorite outfits, but I'd survive. My mother would yell at me if I didn't show up wearing a corset or those ugly black shoes. I slipped into said ugly black shoes and set to work on untangling my mane of hair. I tried brushing though it, but eventually gave up on it, allowing several strands to stick out in random places. I opened my door and hurried down the stairs only to be stopped by my mother.
"Where is your bow?" she questioned.
I smiled sheepishly. "The, um, dog ate it?"
She wasn't amused. Within two minutes I had the wretched bow in my hair (my mother tried to smooth down my hair, but that didn't work too well) and was seated in front of the decrepit old lady called "Grandmother". She was sipping her tea quietly and I sat without speaking. I really did not like this woman.
She had taken the role of discipliner when I woke up from the coma I was in. Apparently when I was twelve, I was in a terrible automobile accident and placed in a coma for an entire week. When I woke up, I couldn't remember anything, not even my own mother. She smiled and told me how worried she was, and the next person I met (again, apparently) was my grandmother. I hated that woman from the start.
"How are your lessons going?" my grandmother asked.
"Quite well," I lied. I hadn't been to a morning class in weeks. "My teacher says I have improved very much." Ha, another lie. I can barely count much less learn how to sew.
My grandmother nodded. "Very well. Now, child, leave so I may speak with your mother."
I stood and left quickly, glad to be free from her. My mother walked in slowly. However, the look on her face made me stay behind to listen.
"She's been adjusting well, has she not?" Grandma asked.
"To an extent." My mother replied. "She won't be able to fit in well, though. She wasn't born here; she'll always be a—"
"Nonsense!" my grandmother interrupted. "Any child, within time, will adjust to a lifestyle. And I do not want you speaking about that place. You may have a strange child, but the issue with her heart isn't much proof that place exists."
My mother didn't respond even though I wished she would.
"Very well. Harley, you may leave."
My mother left the room and I didn't have time to hide. Her tired eyes met mine.
"What did you hear?"
"Not much," I replied, "but what issue with my heart were you talking about?"
My mother sighed. "Have you ever noticed that your heart sounds different from everyone else? How physical pain isn't much of a problem for you?" she left with that, leaving me more confused than before.
I sat down on my bed, contemplating my mother's words.
"Have you ever noticed that your heart sounds different from everyone else? How physical pain isn't much of a problem for you?"
I pressed a hand gently to my chest to feel for a heartbeat. A faint tick, tick emitted, and I stood up in alarm. My heart sounded like a clock; it sounded like the large grandfather clock that sat in the living room downstairs. But, how? I closed my eyes and listened harder, the sound stranger than anything I'd ever heard. Normal people had a heartbeat that sounded like a thump, but mine was a ticking noise. I wonder, was my heart an actual clock? It couldn't be; that wasn't natural, was it?
I looked outside, noticing a small white cat. It looked up at my window, its gold eyes glinting mischievously, and in this light its fur looked almost pink. I shook my head. That was strange. A pure white rabbit hopped over to sit next to the pink cat and a blue caterpillar was climbing on the windowsill. A light brown bunny appeared and a dormouse as well. Two cards from a deck, one a red queen of hearts and the other an ace of hearts, hit the closed window. All the animals and even the cards seemed to watching me. A lizard slithered up on the windowsill to sit next to the caterpillar. They seemed to be begging me to come outside. Behind them was a rabbit hole, large enough for me to fit. I blinked, and everything disappeared; everything except the hole.
I stood quickly, making my way down the stairs. I walked outside only to find that the hole had disappeared as well.
"There you are, my dear."
I turned to see my grandmother sitting in a chair just inside. I walked back through the door to stand not too close to the elderly woman. Something was off about her, and I didn't like it.
"Come, come; there is someone I want you to meet." She clapped her hands and a young man entered the room. He was tall and had short, clean cut blond hair and dark black eyes that watched my every move. He was dressed in a white suit and white gloves gripped my grandmother's hand when he kissed it.
"Mad 'am." He bowed and took a seat next to her. Oh no, this can't be happening. I narrowed my eyes.
"Karoline, this is Sir Jacob Rainsworth. He has asked for your hand and I have decided to allow it."
Now, I was never one for manners, so instead of allowing the sickly dread to just sink to the pit of my stomach and stay quiet, I jumped up, fury in my eyes.
"You have no right! The father gives the daughter away, and since my father is no longer with us, I decide who I marry!" I yelled angrily. I always hated this old woman who had dominated my life from the minute I could remember. She couldn't give me away to some random man!
"I am allowed whatever I want. Because your father isn't here I am in charge of you—" she started, but I cut the old woman off.
"You don't decide anything!" I screamed. "You're not even related to my father! I'll kill myself before I let you marry me off to some man you picked from god knows where!"
My grandmother stood up, matching the fury in my eyes with her own. "You will not speak to me this way. I am your elder and you will treat me with respect." Her voice was insanely calm. "You will be marrying Lord Rainsworth and until you accept this fact, you will retire to your bedchamber."
"No! You don't dictate my life anymore!" I yelled. "I'm leaving, and you can't stop me!"
With that, I spun on my heels, ripping the bow out of my hair, and ran out the door. I could faintly hear my grandmother yelling "Karol!" but I wasn't stopping anytime soon.
A man wearing an eye patch watched the display, a smile on his face.
"Six years of searching for you, and I stumble upon you only by your temper." He chuckled. "Wonderland has missed you, Karol. Let's come home."
The man opened a portal to the dream realm and a large hole appeared not to far from the fleeing Karol.
"I wonder what amount of chaos will follow you this time…?"
I don't know how it happened, but one minute I'm running from my home, and the next I'm barreling down a large hole. With a shriek, I tried to find something to grab a hold of. There wasn't anything. The strange thing was, the hole seemed to go on forever. Finally, a bright light appeared, and with a thunk, everything went dark…