CHAPTER III

Alice spent the next few hours trying to contemplate what exactly was going on. First she had been given an execution sentence form the Queen, then she fell through a hole which led to a dark empty room. Then she drank a black sludge labeled POISON which caused her to puke out an unimaginable amount of blood. Then she woke up in a forest and found a burning log cabin, and on top of that the people she tried to help tried to kill her. Yep, these things happen to everyone every day.

She had stumbled upon a nook in a large tree and planted herself there to get out of the rain. Poor Alice was drenched to the bone, and she started to shiver. Was the rain ever going to let up? Her dress was covered in dirt and her hands had developed small blisters from the door she was pushing on in the burning log cabin. This day was not going well.

"Are you alright?"

Alice jumped from surprise, as the red-eyed boy was suddenly standing in front of her in the rain. She never noticed how tall he actually was, but he was completely soaked, and you could see his ribs protruding from his skin through his shirt and vest.

"Don't you want to get out of the rain?" Alice asked

"I'm fine," he answered. The two sat in awkwardness for a few moments.

"Are you ok?" He asked again

Alice sighed heavily, she knew that on the outside she was alright, but on the inside she was a wreck. She put her head on her knees and tried her best not to cry. "I don't have any clue as to what's going on. First I was accused of being a murderer, and now I'm here, in god knows where." The boy slowly made his way towards Alice, sitting beside her. She turned her head towards him, "Hey, you were there. You were there at my hanging!" The boy stiffened, and his eyes shot towards the ground. She turned her body all the way towards him now. "And you were the one who told me to close my eyes when I was drowning!" She put her arms on his shoulders. "Tell me, what's going on!" She started to shake him "Tell me!"

Suddenly, the boy grabbed onto Alice and hid his head in her dress. He was crying; Alice had not expected this. "Hey, are you alright?" Alice asked, still confused. He was crying so hard that his whole body was trembling. "Hey, it's ok" she started stroking his hair "I'm sorry I yelled, I'm just a little confused."

The boy looked up at her, his eyes, cheeks, and nose red. It was funny, he was actually pretty cute. "It's all my fault Alice, I'm sorry!"

"There, there, let's calm down now." She continued to stroke his hair. She then imagined what someone else would see if they looked at them right now. It would be quite a peculiar scene, seeing a small girl comforting a 6'4' crying man. Alice couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey, are you laughing at me?" The boy asked

"No, no!" She laughed "It's just I've never comforted someone who was bigger than I."

The boy sat up straight and wiped his tears away, his eyes and nose were still red, and he sniffled. "It's not nice to laugh."

Alice smiled at him, he was really very cute. "Do you have a name?" The boy shook his head. "You don't have a name? Why I've never heard of such a thing."

"I was never given a name. All the others laugh at me for it."

Alice stopped to think for a minute, and looked upon him for a proper name. "Well, you do remind me of a white rabbit. Can I call you Hare?"

The boy looked up at her from his hands, his eyes still wet from tears. "H-Hare?"

"Yes, you look so cute like a rabbit!"

At first the boy said nothing, but then his smile spread all the way across his face and he dove onto Alice, hugging her as tightly as he could. "I'm the Hare, I'm the Hare!"

Alice giggled "Now Hare, can you tell me where we are?"

Hare let go of her and his smile faded. "We're in the Black Forest, we're in her realm."

"Her? Who is her?"

Hare leaned in and whispered "The Red Queen"

"The Red Queen?" Alice said aloud, and the Hare quickly covered her mouth and shushed her.

"Quiet! You can't say her name aloud, the forest hears everything. The forest protects its' creator, and it will devour you."

She started to look at the trees. They did have a dark, sinister look to them. "Who is . . . she?" Alice whispered

The rain continued to fall, and the noise was able to drown out their voices. "She rules these lands. She is the reason this place is always raining. The forest never used to be like this, and it was actually quite beautiful, but that was when she used to rule."

"There's two she's?" Alice asked

"Yes, there's a good she, and a bad she."

This was all quite confusing for poor Alice. "So the good she used to rule then? What happened to her?"

"She was always ill, but over time she kept getting worse and worse. All the while, she kept getting stronger. Over time, she was able to overthrow her, and these lands were never the same again."

"But how could one person take over a whole kingdom?"

"She had him on her side."

"Who's him?"

Alice could tell Hare was having a hard time speaking about him. She waited patiently for Hare to answer, and finally he said. "The Hatter".

"The Hatter? That's a funny name." In the midst of her contemplating why his name was humorous, she noticed that Hare was crying again. "What's wrong?"

Hare wiped his tears away the best he could. "I hate him so much! He's always mean to me and hurts me!"

Alice was taken aback. "He hurts you?"

Hare nodded, "He thinks it's fun to hurt people and watch them suffer. It's his job."

This wasn't making any sense to Alice, but nevertheless she comforted Hare and rubbed his back. "Please don't go anywhere Alice. Please don't change." He sobbed

"I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." She said soothingly "Now calm down and quit crying. You're too cute to cry." She smiled

Hare sat up and wiped his face, trying to hide his blush. She waited for him to say something. He then stood up and looked out at the rain. "Alice you need to be careful. Don't let them change you; don't become their puppet."

Alice stood up as well, and next to him she barely reached to his shoulders. "I still don't know what's going on or why I'm even here."

Hare sighed "I still can't tell you; this is something you're going to have to find out on your own."

Alice watched the water fall from the leaves on the trees. "Am I dreaming? Is this place even real?"

He turned and looked at Alice. "It's as real as you believe it to be."

They watched the rain for a while longer in silence. To Alice, she couldn't tell if the world was real or fake. The pain was real, and you certainly couldn't feel that in a dream. Suddenly, a red drop fell into the puddle in front of them, and Alice noticed Hare stiffen next to her.

"This is bad." He said "She's found you."

The rain then turned red, and Alice new at once that it was blood. "Quick, you need to get out of here!" Hare grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the blood. He ran down the path, pulling Alice behind him. She could feel the blood splatter on her face, and she could see Hare's snow white hair turning red. They raced through the forest, stepping through puddles and mud. Each time she took a step though, the mud seemed to get thicker. "What's happening?" Alice yelled, doing her best to keep her feet moving.

"The Red Queen has found you! You have to keep moving, the forest is trying to stop you!" Hare yelled back. As he said this, the trees all started to move, and they leaned in closer towards the path. It was becoming increasingly difficult to see ahead of them. Their branches began to stretch towards the two, and Hare tried to dodge them. One managed to catch Alice on the cheek, giving her a nasty cut. The blood poured down hard, and the forest was trying to ensnare poor Alice with branches and vines. They ran as fast as they could, and they were aiming for the small glow of light at the end of the path.

"Come on, we can make it!" Yelled Hare. Alice's legs wanted to give out, she had never ran so fast in her life. She was panting, and she tried her best to keep the pouring blood from entering her mouth. The light grew larger ahead of them. "Almost there!" He yelled again. Knowing that she shouldn't, Alice looked behind them. The trees had completely covered the path, and the sound of crackling wood was almost unbearable. "We're going to make it!" He called. Just as she turned her head forward again, out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw eyes watching her. Large green eyes.

Just ahead of them was the clearing, and as they stepped through it, it was like a breath of fresh air. They were out of the forest, and there wasn't any rain. The clouds overhead were brighter than the ones in the forest. The two were panting heavily, and Hare plopped himself on the ground. "That was a close one!" He laughed

"That was all from the Red Queen?" She asked

Hare nodded "That's not even the half of what she can do. She's ruthless, and she won't stop until she has you in her grasp."

"Why does she want me so badly?"

Hare was silent for a moment, he looked up towards the sky and watched the grey clouds move around in the sky. "I can't shield you from it forever." He stood up and faced Alice, looking into her eyes. He looked like a sad puppy whose owners were going away for a long vacation. Hare grabbed onto Alice, holding her as tightly as he could. "Please," He muttered "Don't change who you are. Don't forget who your friends are and who loves and believes in you."

Alice was still very confused, but she patted Hare's back, doing her best to comfort him. "I'm right here aren't I?" She smiled. Hare then pulled back and wiped his eyes; taking in a deep breath.

"Alright, follow me." He began to walk down the path towards the top of the hill in front of them. The hill prevented them from seeing anything around them. Alice followed.

"Where are we going?" She asked

"I'm going to show you how to get to someone who can help you." When they reached over the hill, Alice was able to see almost all of the area. The path they walked on split into two at the bottom of the hill. One path led to another forest, and behind it were large mountains covered in a dark, red fog. The other path continued on past her line of sight, but there seemed to be streaks of light coming from the clouds farther down it. Hare turned back towards Alice.

"Take the path that leads into the forest. There you should find the one that can help."

Alice scoffed. "Shouldn't I be taking the path that looks far less threatening and doesn't look like it's going to kill me?"

Hare hugged Alice once more. "I'll miss you." Alice was very puzzled at how fast their relationship had grown. She had only known this person for less than a day, and already they seemed to have developed an unusual relationship. She patted his back and he released her.

"I must go now, they're looking for me." Hare said, slowly backing away. "Hopefully I'll see you soon." Alice smiled and watched him go back into the forest. Turning towards the path, she looked at the ominous mountains shrouded in fog. Yes, this is a very safe idea.