4. Curiouser and Curiouser

As Alice and Jefferson walked deeper and deeper into the forest, Jefferson came to realize that the light in the woods behaved in the most peculiar way, as everything else seemed to do. From outside he had thought the forest was simply dark as night but upon entering had realized that it was only slightly darker than a forest on a stormy day. It seemed to be engulfed in shadows rather than darkness. Either way, it made no sense considering the bright sun he knew he had seen in the skies.

The tree crowns upon their heads now blocked any vision of the heavens and instead cast malicious shadows everywhere and nowhere. From some directions, their shadows looked like hands that threatened to reach out and grip around his throat. The Hatter could sense the dark spirits within the trees and he felt watched from every corner of the woods where ever they went. A large crow suddenly flew just inches above his head and he ducked as it croaked and narrowly missed him.

"This is a curious place…" he muttered and tightened his grip on the dagger in his hand.

He could see Alice's shoulder shrug as she commented plainly, "You haven't seen anything yet. Wonderland will get curiouser and curiouser the closer we get to the castle."

"Is all of this because of the Queen of Hearts?" Jefferson asked and accidentally stepped down on a toad that screeched as a result. The man's foot immediately flew from the ground and the animal furiously skipped away from the two people that had intruded.

For a second Alice stood immobile by his side as if expecting something to approach them now that the toad so loudly had announced their presence. Jefferson held his breath as he waited with her. Nothing came and Alice relaxed her stance.

She turned back to tall man and answered, "Some of it is, but not all. Most of the... wondrous things in Wonderland were here far before the Queen. Though I suppose she brought fear into this world."

"Before the Queen of Hearts?" Jefferson frowned. "Are you suggesting she hasn't always ruled these lands?"

Alice seemed reluctant to reply but shook her head nonetheless. "She came a couple of years ago, through the same mirror you did. She didn't waste any time in getting control over these lands obviously."

"Where did she come from?"

As Alice opened her mouth to reply something moved in the bushes by their right and both jumped into defensive positions. A small rabbit jumped out and upon seeing the human, hurried past them and disappeared further into the shadows.

Jefferson let out a breath he had unknowingly been keeping and said, "No more talk of the Queen of Hearts, please. Distract me some other way."

Alice glanced behind her at the man as they continued on their trek. "How?"

Jefferson shrugged as he kept a cautious eye on his surroundings. "Tell me about yourself. Tell me why you can't leave Wonderland."

Standing opposite the blonde woman in the small tea shop, Jefferson could feel his breaths heave from his lungs in unsteady, shaky turns. It almost felt as if he breathed any other way, his heart would break in shock. The slender woman had yet to look up at him. Her frozen, hunched over stance and the slight quiver in her pinkie, however, told him he had her full attention.

Everything about her form was so familiar to him that Jefferson wasn't sure whether to faint, run over to her or throw a fit because of it. He had never thought this day could come and so he had no words for it now that it was upon him. In fact, thoughts, too, seemed to abandon him when he needed them the most.

He composed himself and closed his eyes tight. He knew his voice had all but fled his body, but still he tried to speak. Carefully, he repeated, "… Who are you? Because I know who you look like, but it can't be you… I can't be."

For a painful minute, the woman neither said nor did anything. In fact, she didn't react at all to his statement and Jefferson wondered if he had actually managed to say the words or if it had all been inside his head.

Perhaps all of this was indeed within his head, it was perhaps another curse entirely. That thought felt more probable than the moment he was in, but for some reason his mind couldn't convince himself this was a fake reality. A small part of him knew the truth. He'd seen enough of false realities to know this was not one of them. This was simply reality.

"I'm hardly the person you think I am," the woman whispered at last but without moving from her hunched position. Her gaze remained down on the broken pot in her hands. Her voice was constrained and in a tone he'd never heard from her mouth before, yet he knew her voice. "The shop is closed. You should leave."

"Just tell me…" Jefferson managed a weary step further into the store but found he didn't have the strength to make it all the way. "Is it you?... Is it you, Alice?"

Alice shrugged and, for all intents and purposes, it seemed she wanted to avoid having to answer his simple question. Instead she moved along on the forest path in tense silence and picked up her pace as she did.

Jefferson decided he wasn't going to let her get away that easily, "As far as I see it, everyone can jump between worlds. You even have it easy. You hate this place so there's nothing holding you back. You're free to roam the worlds."

Alice smiled joylessly as she finally turned back and met his gaze. "I don't want to 'roam the worlds'. I just want to go back to my world. Go home."

"Home?" Jefferson frowned and scratched his head as he pondered it. "So you're not from Wonderland?"

Alice frowned right back. "Of course not."

"Sorry, don't get all offended!" He shrugged his eyebrows and she grimaced. "I didn't... mean anything by it."

The woman shook her head and moved her bow from the one hand to the other as she answered him truthfully, "I believe my native world is your world, too."

"Well, see then!" Jefferson beamed down at the woman. He clapped his hands together as if he'd just sealed a major deal and won the argument. "You've already crossed between worlds. You can do it again!"

She sighed. "It's not that easy I tell you."

"Well, then we can make it easy," Jefferson suggested. "I could help if I knew exactly how you ended up here in the first place?"

The woman ducked his question once more, "It's complicated… and a boring story, really."

The Hatter nodded. That settled it then. "I don't want to hear it then."

The woman seemed taken aback by the man's sudden disinterest. "…O-okay then. Good."

The man nodded once. "Yes. Good."

Suddenly, Alice swung her bow quickly and held it up in front of Jefferson to stop the man. Whatever emotion had been in her face as they talked was now wiped off and replaced with anxiety as she listened to the woods. The hatter tried to do the same, but didn't hear anything suspicious. Then again, perhaps that was what was so suspicious.

"What is it?" he whispered close to her ear but she waved him off. With a frown he took a step back to sulk in silence of having been refused. He glanced behind and froze. Slowly he poked the woman's shoulder and as he got her attention pointed back to what he saw lurk in the shadows there.

"What's that?" he asked as two large creatures stepped onto the path behind them.

Grimly came the reply, "Trouble. Run. Now!"

The blonde woman exhaled a short breath and shook her head. She held out the broken tea pot for Jefferson to see but still refused to raise her own eyes. For the life of him, the man could not figure out why.

Her voice was stronger as she urged him, "I have to finish this, sir. You can't be in here!"

"It is you… Isn't it?" Jefferson couldn't even believe he was asking the question.

The man still failed to understand her reaction. It was the exact opposite of what he could have ever expected from her. She had loved him dearly once, so why couldn't she wait to get rid of him now?

The woman's voice rose an octave as she seemed to get worked up over the situation that had arisen in her shop. "I told you already, I'm not who you seek! You should leave!"

Jefferson numbly shook his head. "Alice, I-"

"Leave!" the woman shrieked and leaned on heavy hands over the counter. If she was preparing for an attack or was simply drained by their conversation, Jefferson couldn't tell. "I won't ask you again. Just leave!"

"How?" Jefferson managed and his voice quivered. Her words had fallen on deaf ears as the man's thoughts became transfixed on the past. There was one memory in particular that now played over and over in his head. "I saw you die…"

"Please, leave."

"I-"

"Now!"

Jefferson hesitated as her harsh words finally registered and he felt tears sting his eyes. His mind wandered to his daughter waiting for him now and to the life he had once lived in the fairy tale land. As the memories came crashing down, the man felt his defenses collapse and his walls break down.

He couldn't do this. He couldn't push this woman for details at this moment. He was far from ready to listen.

Without another word, Jefferson backed out of the store.

"Who are they?" Jefferson bellowed as he ran behind Alice. He was trying to keep up with her, but she was swifter even in full speed. "What do they want with us?"

Alice suddenly cut off from the path and ran through some thick shrubbery as the hatter tried to keep up. She shouted back, "Me! They want me! They work for the Queen of Hearts and want to find me! Come on, move quicker!"

The two ran down a steep hill and even though he didn't turn back, Jefferson could hear the heaving breaths of their pursuers. It they were enough to terrify Alice, they were enough to terrify him, too.

At the bottom of the hill, Jefferson saw a small lake and just between it and the hill was a narrow path that led southwest. He stumbled down the hill as he saw Alice reach the path before him.

Only a few steps from the path, Jefferson's right foot landed on a loose rock and he lost his footing. He fell and tumbled down the rest of the slope and landed face first onto the ground. He groaned as pain invaded his head and as if from a great distance, he heard Alice's voice shouting his name.

He managed to stand up and as he looked up, he saw one of the dark creatures run straight at him with his hands stretched out toward him. There was no time to escape now, they had caught up to him.

Right as the creature was to reach him, Jefferson felt something hard push him out of the way and he landed once more on the ground to the side. As he turned back he saw Alice step into the creature's path. As the creature reached her, it pushed her backwards with all its strength and the small woman stood no chance.

"Alice!" Jefferson shouted as she fell backwards into the lake.

To be continued.