Disclaimer: Characters are mine, Alice in Wonderland is not. Neither are Chili Peppers' song lyrics.

Chapter 2: Time for Tea

Rebekah's here today. She tries to come by at least once a week. That's nice of her, I think. I smiled at her when she came in. I always do. She's the only one around who doesn't try to stick me with a needle. She always looks kind of sad when she's here. I think it's 'cause I look hell. I seriously need a haircut, but for some reason they won't let me near sharp objects.

But no matter that now. It's time for tea.

There's not really any tea, but when I have a visitor, they actually offer lunch that looks like something you might want to eat. We sat on the floor of my room with a tray between us. I picked up a Styrofoam cup of water and eyed it suspiciously. I could see them. The marks. The sheep had gotten to this one. I wrinkled my nose.

"I want a clean cup!" I said, somewhat loudly and to no one in particular.

"Here, take mine," Rebekah offered, and traded me cups. She was never bothered by the sheep marks. She was always good like that. I vaguely wondered if she would be like that if I wasn't in here.

She looked at me for a minute, then said, "I'm almost afraid to ask, but are you the Mad Hatter by chance?"

At first I thought it was a weird question, but then it started to make sense. I nodded a little. "Yeah, maybe." I thought about it some more. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"So…" she began, "you doing okay in here?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I rather be back out there, though. Find that girl yet?"

She looked a little surprised at my sudden change of subject. "Um, no. Not yet."

"Checked the rabbit hole yet?"

She sighed. "Tobias, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but a rabbit can't drag an eight-year-old down his rabbit hole."

I gave her a little smile. "That's what you think. Just you wait. He'll take her through the looking glass, and then I'll find her."

Rebekah gave me a funny look. It was like she really wanted to believe me, but there was something stopping her. I guess if she agreed with me, they'd throw her in her with me. I couldn't expect her to do that. Somehow I don't think she'd do too good in here.

She looked at her watch. "I need to get back to work."

"When will you be back?"

"Soon as I can."

"Tomorrow?" I asked hopefully.

She looked sad. "Probably not. But in a few days, whenever I can get a break."

"Okay."

When she was gone, I had nothing to do but go back to contemplating my existence, and trying to find Alice. There were only so many places where she could be.

A few days after that, they decided I wasn't going to kill anyone, so they let me out into the common areas. There wasn't much to do there, but at least it was something beyond pillow-top mattress land. You can only watch the walls melt for so long. On the other hand, there are some pretty wacky people out there. There's a woman who thinks she's on the second voyage of the Titanic. And a guy who's terrified of shoes. Then there's the ones who just… aren't there. They're the worst. The ones who stare out the window, drooling and rocking. They don't know who or where they are, and they don't care. As long as they can look out that window. Watching, waiting. For what, no one knows, and it won't do any good to ask. They are in their own little world, and you're not invited.

With the birds I'll share this lonely view…

I wonder if they know where Alice is, if they can see beyond the looking glass. But it wouldn't help. I doubt if they can spot one little girl, among the thousands of layers, for each world has a looking glass into the next. They're all stacked up, like window panes, and we're all stuck between them.

I spent my days in this room, at night returning to my own room. They had transferred me to an ordinary room, with a bed and everything. When Rebekah came to visit me, we could sit on a couch in the common room, like ordinary people. It was almost like being on the outside again.

It felt like I had been there forever. It may have been weeks, months, maybe even years. But one day, I saw it. I hadn't noticed it before because in order to get to that side of the common room, I would have to walk past Titanic Woman, and she creeped me out. She was always whistling at me. But any way, one day she wasn't there. I don't know why, they don't tell us these things. But gone she was. So, I wandered over there, and that's when I saw it. The Looking Glass. It had been here all along. It was a big oval, maybe three feet by two. It had a thick gold frame around it. I knew this was it. This was where that rabbit had taken Alice.

For days I studied it, trying to figure out how exactly I was going to get Alice out. She wouldn't be able get out by herself, so I'd have to go in after her. I ran my hands over the smooth surface. It looked solid enough, but that was only skin deep, so to speak. I waited until there were relatively few people in the common room. I sent anyone who came near me packing with quick glare. Crazy people tend to try to avoid trouble. I paced back and forth in front of the looking glass, debating angles, velocity, and what-not. I had to do it. It was now or never. Standing straight in front of it, I slammed my fists and forearms again the looking glass, and slid into another world. I heard a few screams and a commotion somewhere behind me, but they were not my concern now.