Chapter III – Strange village

So the Nightmaren in the village were supposed to be nice... They glared at Ramel as she walked by. She felt unwanted in their little town. Didn't they ever heard of newcomers? The village had little houses, shops and restaurants with a bit everything.

Elders stared suspiciously at her while children would stop their tagging games to walk away from where she passed. These things didn't bother her though. She just walked to some shops, yet no one would be willing listen to her questions and complaints, ignoring her presence completely.

She walked out of another shop and a certain place caught her attention. It was a shop just like all the others, yet it seemed abandoned, compared to all the other shops that would seem inviting if their keepers were kind enough to look at you in the eye when you asked for something. Ramel shrugged and walked towards it, noticing a sign that said "…in tre...ment... ...p" as most of the letters were blurred out. Ramel sighed, knocked on the door and walked inside.

There was a small corridor with a really dim light and she felt a strange smell, as if there was something dead in there with a mix of blood and mold. She reached for the wall with her hand and gasped, quickly regretting it. The walls were actually covered in the skins of various creatures, such as Earth creatures like wolves or tigers and actual dream creatures like animal Nightmaren or actual humanoid Nightmaren like her

Ramel backed away but felt something or... someone behind her, she stared back and a girl stood motionless while smiling insanely at her. She appeared to be a teen with dark grey skin and golden hair that was dirty with some dry blood. Her horns curved to the side then up and her eyes had a dark violet colour. She wore a sleeveless dress and shoes, both handmade with the same kind of skins that hanged on the walls. Thought a most distinguishable feature was in her arms where several large sewing needles pierced through the her skin. The girl let out a childish giggle and stared wide eyed at Ramel.

- Y-YOU L-LIKE IT? - She asked loudly, startling Ramel

- It's horrible... - She mumbled

- WHAT WAS THAT?

- It looks fine! I was just passing by and I have to go now.

- I DIDN'T QUITE CATCH THAT... - She walked closer to Ramel and frowned

- IT LOOKS FINE!

- IT'S HARD TO LISTEN TO YOU! - She pouted - Literally. I'M DEAF!

Ramel stared at the side, feeling disgusted. This was the first Nightmaren that spoke to her and of all the things she had to be, she was deaf. She groaned some words to herself and looked at the grinning girl. She had to know something that could help her! It wouldn't hurt to try.

Taking a deep breath, Ramel looked at the girl - HELLO, I AM NOT FROM THIS TOWN NOR THIS UNIVERSE, BUT I NEED TO GO BACK! A BOY KEPT CALLING ME ALICE BUT HE IS MISTAKING ME FOR SOMEONE ELSE. I NEED TO GO BACK TO MY WORLD! DO YOU KNOW HOW I CAN DO THAT?

The girl stared at her with a cheeky smile and grinned - ALICE?

- I AM NOT ALICE!

The girl giggled and jumped happy - IT'S ABOUT TIME! THE PROPHECIES ARE BECOMING TRUE! You're Remilia's alternate, right?

- I don't know who that is. - She said, confused

-YOUR MIRROR! Too bad, I'm going to miss her though.

- What do you mean?

- YOU KNOW! We die when our alternates die! I hope my alternate is an Alice! I'm TIRED of being around!

- I might be familiar with your... "alternate"... Her name is Zelly... You seem similar an-

- I KNOW WHAT HER NAME IS! - She grabbed two large needles and started stabbing the skins that were hanging on the wall - I want her to DIE! DIE! DIE!

- ... Why would you want that?

- Being a Mirror is the worst thing ever, you know?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH BULLCRAP I HAVE TO TAKE FROM HER MIND?! SO MUCH PRIDE! SHE REFUSES TO DENY HER FLAWS! Then boom... She's suddenly crying alone in her room for whatever stupid reason she has... TOO MUCH EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS FOR ME! I JUST RANDOMLY START CRYING AND I'M LIKE "WOO SHE'S AT IT AGAIN!"

- I'm... Sorry for that?

- NO NEED TO BE SORRY, ALICE!

- MY NAME. IS. RAMEL! NOT ALICE! RAMEL!

- AND I'M ZELA! NICE TO MEET YOU! - She grabbed Ramel's arms and rubbed them - Your skin is so soft... How do you do that?!

- … I have to leave! Me being some Alice is just a coincidence! - She pulled her arms away - Do you know how can I leave this world?

- Why would you want to leave? - Zela grinned widely

- I actually have a life, unlike you pieces of the conscious.

The girl gasped - AS MUCH AS I FIND THAT TO BE OFFENSIVE - She stabbed a needle on the wall and stared into a void with dull eyes - You have a point.

- I'm glad we have an agreement.

Zela stood silent for some seconds then stared at Ramel with the same dull eyes - But you can't leave. You can enter but once you're in, you'll never be able to leave. EVER. AGAIN! - She grabbed her needles and quickly threw them at Ramel who quickly dodged them in a swift move as they hit the entrance door. - YOU HAVE TO DIE TOO! DIE! - The girl shouted

The mummy girl gasped scared, and ran away from the place, she noticed the shop's title probably said something like "Skin Treatment Shop", which made no sense to her at all unless it meant that the girl was going to skin her alive. Zela quickly opened her door and stared maniacally at her - YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T ESCAPE YOUR DESTINY, ALICE RAMEL!

Some inhabitants of the village stared at Ramel but she didn't reply to the insane girl and proceeded to walk away, some Nightmaren stared terrified at her while others held some weapons in case the so dangerous Alice Nightmaren would come to attack them.

She ignored them and continued exploring the small village, and just like before, the inhabitants stared maliciously at the mummy looking maren, something just wasn't right… Ramel started to think that maybe she really was a problem in that world, everyone she talked to seemed to be satisfied by the fact that she was some "Alice" so why did everyone look so down on her? She didn't even ask to enter that world in the first place, nor did she? As soon as she got back that ghost girl was going to get it!

As she passed by, she felt like that the Nightmaren were trying to kill her only by using their stare. Ramel started to freak out when the Nightmaren started to get in bigger groups, holding swords and torches. She quickly went from walking to running. And at that same time, the groups started to run after her. Luckily, more than half of them were Earth Nightmaren, which meant that they couldn't fly, but she could! She flew to a dark yet colorful forest that stood on the other side of the village. All the Nightmaren from the group stopped like they didn't want to get any closer to that mysterious forest, leaving Ramel a bit confused.

An Elder Nightmaren, whose appearance resembled the one of a chief got in front of the group and shouted:

- Let her go! She won't ever come back from that cursed forest…No one can! DISAPPEAR FROM OUR VILLAGE, RED ALICE! DON'T YOU EVER COME BACK OR WE WILL KILL YOU!

The group cheered and Ramel looked around. Wait… She couldn't leave the forest!? How was that even possible? She just got there and the village was right in front of her! She tried to walk back to try to explain everything, but her face hit what seemed to be an invisible wall of some sort, separating the forest from the village, and that seriously meant no good! Why did she had to accept the ghost girl's invitation in the first place? Curse that curiosity of hers! Ramel didn't have that much time to think about complaining, after all, she did had to find a way to not only leave that forest, but to also come back to her original world, but she just couldn't help feeling mad. Groaning, she proceeded to walk into the forest. Where else could she go?