Amu's P.O.V:
I woke up with a slight headache, and my ringing alarm didn't make me feel better at all. It just reminded me that I have to go to school, at seven in the morning. I sat up slowly, as if I was rising out of my grave. In this case, I'd rather be dead anyway.
Trudging to my bathroom, I quickly tied up my hair to wash my face. I walked into the bathroom and flicked the lights on, but it was still dark. I kept tampering with it but the lights refused to light, so I decided to just continue in the dark. I ducked my head to splash water onto it, looking up to see a silhouette of my figure. Was that my reflection, or something else?
I raised my right hand and it followed, continuing with my left and it matched my moves perfectly. Just a reflection, I'm still just a little on edge from that nightmare. Suddenly, it reached out and grabbed my throat, its thumb pressed against it in a way that prevented me from breathing. I pulled at the wrists, trying to loosen the grip but there was no use.
"Amu, hurry, I need to drive you to school." I heard and blinked, the lights were on and I was staring at myself in the reflection, everything seeming normal. My breathing was fine, and no bruises formed on my throat. I brushed my teeth quickly and got the hell away from that place, not wanting that to happen again.
School wasn't a distraction from this morning, it was still fresh in my mind, as if that thing's hands never actually left my throat. I found myself constantly rubbing at my neck during class, afraid that I would feel someone else's hand against mine.
As the torture of today continued, I couldn't help but feel like I was seeing familiar faces everywhere. There was a boy, with green hair and glasses, who kept looking at me during lunch. Then there was this brunette, a small girl who was glancing at me while I was trying to take books out of my locker. Everything about today was completely screwed up, nothing seemed to add up.
Nothing was normal.
It was finally the last class of the day though, and then I could go home. As I strolled into class though, the blue haired boy from my dream was sitting in the corner, staring out the window.
Chesire
That was his name, in Wonderland. My head began to spin painfully and I fell to my knees, the class panicked and crowded around me. My vision was blurry and I couldn't recognize anything anymore, until I completely blacked out.
My eyes fluttered open, staring at the open and blue sky and I sighed, feeling oddly peaceful.
"Oh boy, she's awake." I heard and I looked to my side, seeing Hatter laying beside me. I screamed and backed away. "That was loud."
"No, this place isn't real, nothing I'm seeing now is real." I shook my head, not wanting to believe my eyes.
"Her mind was calling for this place, she connected awfully quick." Chesire stepped up to me.
"It's your fault, you made me pass out, you were there." I stood up, glaring at him.
"Your mind is taking this experience a little roughly, it will take a while to get used to it. Memory loss is common, and hallucinations." He smirked knowingly, and I felt like choking him myself now.
"Stop this, is some some cruel game to you?" I pushed his chest.
"Life is a cruel game, this place just has a twisted set of rules." He fought back, towering over me and I growled.
"I'm going to close my eyes, and once I am done, I will be at home, laying in my bed and realizing that this was all a nightmare." I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply and I heard a name echoing in my mind.
Alice
It whispered, my heart panged slightly and I opened my eyes, Chesire and Hatter were still there, but Hatter was celebrating something.
"The White Rabbit has chosen!" He cheered, locking arms with Chesire and spinning in circles. I was beyond confused, but something about the name now seemed to spiral something in my stomach, a feeling of nostalgia.
"Alice, Alice, Alice." Hatter grabbed my hands while repeating it over and over again, jumping up and down and I tore away from him.
"I hate that name." I commented and he chuckled.
"That is your name for this world, and you shall not be known as anything else." Hatter said.
"What about Kairi?"
"You mean Caterpillar? Someone is in for a punishment, he's just lucky I got him before the Red Queen did." Hatter rubbed his chin.
"Red Queen, who is that?" I asked and Chesire grinned.
"Why don't you find out?" He pushed me gently towards the forest ahead of us.
"That's not something she should be doing." Hatter argued, grabbing the cat's shoulder and whispering something in his ear. I was intrigued in the matter of the Red Queen now, I didn't know this place had established a monarchy.
"Alice, you are not meeting her, yet. None of us are exactly on good terms with her, and if she finds out you were spending time with us, you could be on her bad side." Hatter spoke calmly for once.
"What is the Red Queen like?" I asked.
"A child, who thinks she can run everything." Chesire sucked his teeth in annoyance.
"She's the queen though, can't she?"
"There is a certain reason she is referred to as the Red Queen." Hatter grinned and I stared at him. "Follow me if you are eager." He skipped off and I looked at Chesire, who just gestured for me to go first, so I did. As we walked through the pine forest, we passed the table where I first saw everyone, and wondered where they all were.
That reminds me, if there is an entire kingdom here, than who else is considered to be mad? Didn't it scare anyone though, that you were chosen by a small creature and called insane, and told to come back here often or else? No one is giving it a second thought it seems, so perhaps I should leave it alone as well.
As we continued our walk, a metallic smell grew stronger and stronger as well, to the point where it began to seem unbearable. My stomach began to twist and I fell to my knees, retching on the ground but no vomit actually coming out.
"You get used to it." Hatter forced me up, tugging on my hand and dragging me along. I lifted the collar of my dress and tried to cover my nose with it, but it kept falling back down. It was terrible, this smell of copper, where were we even going.
Chesire pushed a bush aside and I saw a burgundy red before I was pushed out of the forest and into the open. I looked around, my eyes widening at the sight before me. There was a lake, seeming as if it was filled with only blood. There were small white stones poking through the surface, to be used as step-stones I'm guessing. I saw something in the distance, an outline of a large building, a castle perhaps?
"The Red Queen, with her kingdom beyond the red sea," Hatter sung.
"If you're brave enough to pass, you get a spot with her for afternoon tea." Chesire continued.
"Afternoon tea is not fun and games with Red Queen, be warned if the invitation you receive,"
"Mess it up and you're tough out of luck,"
"For you, everyone shall grieve." They finished their dark duet and I stared at the river, not believing it was filled with blood of victims who apparently messed up afternoon tea.
"All of the sane that wandered down here are in this river, an honor." Hatter took off his hat and placed it on his chest politely, as if to respect the dead that were currently floating in this river.
I have grown used to the smell now, but it still churned my stomach slightly. Chesire stood next to me while looking at the river, his eyes seeming strange and the smile was wiped off his face. His eyes closed gently, and he began to mumble some words that I couldn't make out.
"There are rules with the Red Queen, if she invites you to tea personally, she cannot kill you; but if you skip down this river and request tea, then she is allowed to do what she wants with you." Hatter explained, as if he wanted to draw my attention away from Chesire for a brief moment.
"Will she request tea with me?" I asked and he smirked.
"Scared Alice? I took you of more of a courageous girl." He crossed his arms over his chest.
"There's nothing worth risking your life for." I told him and he stared at me for a moment.
"Really? Not even a beloved?"
"Anything you would die for is a curse, not a love." He seemed shocked by my reaction and looked over at Chesire, who had regained his smirk.
"My, it looks like Alice has grown a lot in the sixteen years she has been on this Earth." He looked down at me.
"How do you know how old I am?" I questioned him.
"Don't worry about it, but I think it's time to wake up." He told me and I kept my eyes open, knowing that if I blinked, I would be sent back.
"What do you mean wake up, is this a dream?" I asked, he brought his hand close to my face and snapped, trying to make me blink but it didn't work. My eyes were beginning to burn, but I wanted answers.
"Just leave." Chesire blew into my eyes, the stinging was nearly unbearable.
"I want answers!" I shouted, finally blinking and I sat up quickly, panting heavily and looking around.
"Amu, you're in the nurse's office, calm down." The nurse approached me, placing her cold hands on my shoulders and I just nodded, showing her that I understood and my breathing calmed down. I don't understand, I don't understand anything. "I'll get you some water." She told me and walked out, I brought my legs to my chest and hugged them tightly.
I knew it wasn't fake this time, my stomach was still sick from the smell of blood and my eyes were tearing up from finally being closed.
"There you are!" I heard, the white sheet that separated the other beds from mine, Chesire standing there. Except, his cat ears were gone and he was wearing the male uniform for this school. I stared at him, glare prominent on my face and I turned away from him. "Don't act like that Amu."
"How do you know my actual name?" I didn't look at him.
"Apparently you're famous at this school for being insane." The bed caved in as he sat on the end of it, my eyes targeted my hands that were in my lap.
"Apparently." I shrugged, not wanting to agree with the truth. "Are you new here?"
"I've been here for a year, but your case never concerned me."
"You must make all girls feel special." I rolled my eyes, he grabbed my chin and made me face him, his eyes were wide as they examined mine.
"Girls think I'm hot, but I don't think the same way." He smirked slightly at me, I pushed him away, crossing my hands over my chest.
"Whatever, you probably think you're something special because you don't chase after the girls but they chase you." I waved my hands, mocking his tone.
"You think I'm hot."
"What, no I don't."
"You're a bad liar."
"You're insane."
"Exactly." He finished off and the nurse walked back in, eyeing him warily before he stood up, walking out of the room. She handed me the water and I thanked her, opening it and chugging it down. How could I have never noticed him in this school? It was fairly small and very expensive, so someone with such a strange hair color should be fairly noticeable.
"Amu, your parents would like to pick you up, unless you want to stay here a little longer?" The nurse said.
"I'd like to go home, thank you." I said, my voice above a whisper. My throat was aching, and I wasn't sure why. The water soothed it a little, but it still hurt every time I swallowed. After ten minutes, my parents picked me up and drove me home, the car ride home is silent.
My father opened the front door for me and I thanked him, walking into the kitchen to try and get a snack before the questioning starts. As I grabbed my granola bar, I turned to walk to my room and walked into my father, who was standing besides my mother.
"Are you alright sweetheart, perhaps we should take you to a real doctor." My mother placed her palm on my forehead, then grabbing my head and pressing her lips against my forehead, checking my temperature.
"I'm fine mother, I swear." I told her.
"Alright then, should I drive her to her session or would you like to?" My father asked her and my eyes widened.
"Today?"
"He was busy Thursday so I told him we could do it today." He answered and I rolled my eyes, I didn't feel like going today.
"Fine." I grumbled, jogging to my room to change into something more comfortable.
I WANTED TO FINISH BECAUSE I HAVE TO GO TO MY FRIEND'S VOLLEYBALL GAME SOOOO ENJOY LOVELIES
Please R&R!