Chapter 2
Why is the world so dark? Why am I lying here in a pool of blood? Oh. Am I dying? Why here? Why now? Oh, let me have one last dream... just one more dream of my own it's all I ask for... just one more dream...
Wait... why is the world grey? Everything's so still. No blood. I'm in what I wore earlier – the royal blue dress and apron with my hair scrunched together in it's usual two plaits except... except that I too... am in grey. I pinch myself, tell myself to wake up or am I dead? Is this heaven? It can't be. I get to my feet and look around at my possible death bed. Those murky woods are dark, the trees a the colour of ash with the sky and land equally sombre. I inch towards the deserted trap in the same muted tone and find the pony is long gone. As is it's owner.
I can't be dead because this surely can't be heaven! It's merely a world drained of colour... a trick of my sight!
I run away from the trap and forest without looking back, down the winding country lanes with the determination of getting home and away from the haunting bleakness.
I meet no one as a run. See no farmers or horse riders or anything. The roads are completely clear and I make it home within ten minutes and I am startled by what I find.
Nothing.
It's the same as everywhere else. Drab. Painted with steel and granite. No life, just nothing. I don't know why but I find myself wondering down that mahogany corridor which is now draped in black with only those few candles giving small, greyish light. I open my father's study door already knowing what I will find. He's not there, but everything is as he left it... with a few exceptions. A letter lies on his desk, seemingly untouched. I pick it up to see whom it has been written by and rip it open in disgust – from Lord Wen.
My dearest man, Sir Liddell,
I cannot express how utterly difficult it is for me to describe the pain in which I feel whilst writing this letter, no doubt you will experience it by the time I am finished.
I regret to say that as your daughter, Miss Liddell, and I took our ride she was overcome with travel sickness and I was forced to stop for fear of her health. We could not be positioned in a more dangerous spot though sir I confess I did not know this at the time and was far too preoccupied in helping your daughter than to scout around.
Though I should have. I should have as bandits emerged from those treacherous woods we were mere metres from and in an effort to drive them away from your daughter, I lead them into the woods and away from her. However, I believe some of the devils may have lingered and I do not know what became of her. I drove them to the next village hours away and will make my way back to you and hopefully to darling Alice as soon as I am possibly able.
With much hope and sadness,
Lord Wen of Brookshire.
I crumple it up in fury and cast it into the fire which burns silver flames before storming away, back down the corridor and into the gardens. As I do, I pass the mirror and notice my reflection. I have none. I have no reflection at all. I press my hand against it, cold as ice and nothing. No hand appears on the slippery surface. Horrified I take off down the steps, two at a time, out into the gardens and collapse against a willow tree. I slide down the trunk till I hit the ground, breathing slowly and shutting my eyes as lethargy takes over and sleep sets in.
I have no dreams which is most unusual for me. I usually always dream whilst I sleep and vividly at that. It can be about anything but I sometimes have a recurring one like the other day. Of giant talking flowers and rabbits wearing top hats and...
as my eyes flit open the world is back in colour and he's standing there. Him! No... it can't be him he... he has white hair and... surely not! Rabbit ears? On a man? He looks at me and winks. The face is the same... the face is the same as that and Lord Wen for definite. No... he's running away!
"Come back!" I call out and chase after him, down the ravine and into the neighbouring field. "Please! I... do you know Lord Wen?"
I slip and fall but not onto hard grass as you would expect. I fall down... down into impending darkness. At the top of the hole I see the rabbit-man looking down on me, his eyes sparkling maliciously as he flashes me a grin before the darkness swallows me up.
As I fall, images pass by me that could tear my heart in two. My sister laughing, Greta teasing Roseanne, my father smiling for once because... because my mother is there too.
The falling never seems to end and when It does I will most certainly be dead, so it seems fitting I'm seeing these images now. Don't they say that your life flashes before your eyes before death? A tear rolls down my cheek and I land on a cold hard floor that spins before I land on another. Or did I land on the ceiling?
The shock has paralysed me but nothing more. I'm still very much alive as I climb to my feet and look up. The hole has disappeared and the ceiling is of the same, hard design as the floor – black and white cheques, so I could very well have landed on either; or the walls for that matter. Wait... not just black and white but red cheques also! The rabbit-man wearing that crimson coat of his disappears around the corner. I follow him once more, shouting for him to stop and come face to face with a door. Or rather... foot to face with a door as it's so tiny I'm sure my arm could not fit inside.
I slump down. How on earth did he manage to get through that? I lie on my stomach and fiddle with the tiny door knob. It's also locked. I kick off one of my red shoes and hit the door in frustration.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. That will get you no where." I cold laugh rings out and that voice, his voice is everywhere, echoing and bouncing off of the walls.
"Let me out! I want to go home!" I call out, standing up straight and glaring at the walls.
"No no Alice," He hisses on my name "You agreed to play the game. You followed me here."
"I never agreed to play any game!" I go back around the corner into the centre of my prison "Let me out!"
No reply. But in the room a table has appeared, with a small bottle on it labelled: 'Drink me'. There is no way anyone, ever could convince me to drink it. But, the glistening gold catches my eye – the key. I hold it between my thumb and index finger, examining it. It's tiny, smaller than the nail on my smallest finger! I go back to the door and open it – it works. I look through and see a forest path that's bright and all around is the smell of ferns, flowers and grass. I take out the key in fear of the door closing and locking and my losing of the precious instrument and place it carefully inside the pocket on my apron. I go back to the bottle, unscrew the lid and take a sniff. It doesn't smell like poison, in fact, it smells of... ferns, flowers and grass. I look back at the door and at the bottle. There is no other way out! I will die here of starvation anyway... and what's to say this isn't all a dream? Nothing can hurt me in a dream, surely! I lift the drink to my lips and take a long gulp. I will not say it is the most pleasant drink in the world but it's not the worst. The flavour was that of cold tea and lavender oil that slightly burned the back of my throat on it's way down.
I stand there for a few minutes, not moving, waiting for this drink to surely take effect. More minutes pass and I feel the stinging in my eyes that means tears are on the way. Why does it have to end like this? Why me? And why here? Just let me die already!
But the room is growing or... am I shrinking? I cannot possibly be sure but I dash back to the door, taking out the key which also seems to be enlarging. The journey is much longer now and I reach the door just as it or I become the appropriate height. It is the most bizarre thing I have ever witnessed no doubt!
I quickly reinserted the key and turned the handle. Once again the door opened with ease and I slipped the key into my pocket and journeyed out into the forest.
The initial brightness blinds me and I am forced to walk with my arms out-stretched when I meet something extremely unpleasant. Finally when I have blinked enough and start to get a better view of my surroundings I find my self waist deep in a river – a fast flowing one.
The scream has barely reached my lips before I'm forced under by the current. I can't swim and am thrashing around trying desperately to get above the surface and every time I do I scream and then am forced back under. This will be the third time I'm sure to be dead and then something grabs my arm and I'm pulled upwards for the last time.
"Are you okay?"
Everything's fuzzy and my brain feels waterlogged as I stare upwards waiting once again for the world to focus. Eventually I find the face of my rescuer, a blue-eyed, brown-haired guy wearing a red coat with a medal attached to the pocket.
"Are you okay?" He repeats and I try to sit up, coughing out water and clutching my head with a raging headache.
"Easy there, seriously your not doing yourself any favours rushing around like that." He looks concerned as I nod and shiver, it's gotten darker and much colder in what seemed to be a short space of time. He takes off his coat and drapes it around me, "You're an outsider... am I right?"
I'm choking on my words but squeeze out a "Yes." before coughing once more "I think so. I mean..." Another cough "I'm not from here."
His eyes light up for a second then return to their normal hue. He wears a solemn expression, his eyes are serious and the sword in the belt around his hips suggest...
"Are you a soldier?" I gasp "Can you help me?" I grab his hand, he can see that I'm desperate and leans away
"Soldier? What do you mean?" He shakes his head "I'm a Knight. I work for the Red Queen. My name is Ace," He holds out his hand and I shake it "Yours?"
"Alice." A flicker. It was there in those blue eyes, a flicker of doubt "My name is Alice." I repeat with conviction
"Forgive me." He says and before I can stop him his hand is on my chest on the right hand side. He remains there for a good few minutes, ignoring my protests before finally backing off "It's true."
"What was that for?" I ask, irritated and embarrassed at his blatant violation. He doesn't answer, turns around and walks away "Hey! You can't leave me here! You-"
Before I can finish my sentence in the blink of an eye Ace has drawn his sword, moved to the hedges and sliced a previously invisible figure across the chest. The man falls to the floor in a pool of blood. I stumble back feeling dizzy at the sight of the corpse.
"Bandits." Ace said, as if explaining everything "Queens orders to clean up these woods... are you okay?" I'm not listening... a woozy sensation has come of me and I sink to my knees as the dark world becomes ever more so.
"Don't like blood, nearly drowned – completely the wrong type of person to be here..." Ace is muttering to himself as I come around. I'm underneath a large oak tree by a crackling fire covered in his red coat. My shoes have been remover along with my socks and apron and as a result my dress is less wet.
"Hey! I'm not afraid of blood." I state while sitting up, thinking of returning the coat to the stranger and setting off by myself, but the minute I remove the coat I start shivering so I keep it on and stay by the fire, eyeing Ace distrustfully.
He has chosen to ignore my comment and throws me my apron and socks. I slip them on quickly before questioning my companion
"You said you were a knight?"
"That is correct." He looks towards me and for some reason I go feel my cheeks go pink. Ah, it must be from when he inexplicably thrust his hand on my chest – embarrassing me greatly.
"And you're a knight of... the queen? Yes?"
"That is correct."
"Why don't you talk about something interesting? Jeez." Up in the tree directly above me a stripy, purple clad, magenta haired, cat-eared... boy? Is yawning, gazing down upon us. I yelp and dart behind Ace, squeezing my eyes shut as Ace will surely make his move on this one.
"You really do enjoy startling innocent young girls now don't you?" I open my eyes and Ace is in the same position as previous, along with the cat-boy.
"I enjoy nothing more." The cat-boy chuckles, slides out of the tree gracefully and advances towards me "Hello there miss, Charlie Shire at your service." He sinks into a mock-bow grinning up at me all the time. I nod and step awkwardly away from Ace. "Sorry for scaring you, these woods are rather... creepy at night."
"You're what's creepy!" I think, not able to break my gaze from that everlasting grin.
"Well Ace, what brings you into my woods?" Charlie asks, taking a seat by the fire cross-legged
"Cleaning."
"Ah. A man of few words. Old Queenie got you taking out her anger for her?" Charlie looks at my bewildered expression and laughs "Outsiders are so much fun! She's so confuuuussed!"
"Charlie. Will you stop it," Ace turns to me "Where do you want to go?"
"Somewhere safe!" I burst out, slumping to the floor and burying my face in my hands "I want to go home! I don't even know where I am!" My eyes are stinging and I can feel the tears slipping out down my cheeks.
A hand is patting me on the back and another is pulling me up.
"I can't take you home, but I can take you somewhere safe." Ace gives me a small smile "Charlie, lead the way."
Charlie disappears into the trees with only his smile lingering as we follow.