"Mally!" Thackery shouted. "Ge' in here RIGHT THIS BLOODY MINUTE!"

Tarrant was shocked to see this kind of a response from the often-timid man beside him. His alarm grew and Tarrant tried to make sense of the webpage Thackery had left open. Something about "gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist", the language was too densely packed with medical jargon to tell what the jist of it was. However, it had become clear that Thackery believed Alice was being given—had been given for years apparently—some drug without her knowledge.

"Do you really think it couldn't be a vitamin, then?" Tarrant said in a small voice.

"Ah dunno. But I don't think sae."

Mally came rushing in, alert but annoyed.

"What have I done this time? An' can this please wait just a mo'? They're about to choose which house in Morocco to renovate!"

Thackery leapt up and grabbed Mally by the shoulders.

"I know ye've got a better memory than most, Mally. That girl, Alice—an before ye start ah don't care if ye hate her guts—can ye remember if there was a phone number on her ID? Or her student ID number? Was there an email? Anything?"

Mally looked a little taken aback by Thackery's intensity. Her eyes shifted to Tarrant who was at the table, looking pale and worried but slightly hopeful.

"What's happened? Why are you lot so worked up?"

"It's something Alice said when she was here yesterday. It may be nothing, or it may be bad. She's being given something, something that could be very bad for her, but in any case she needs to hear about it right away."

He then lowered his voice, even though Tarrant wasn't very far away. He turned a little, pretending not to notice, eager to spare Mally's feelings whenever possible.

"Ah know ye're jealous. Bu' ye're also a gud person, Mally. Don't let yerself down."

Mally's brown eyes grew even more troubled. They kept flicking downward, and Thackery noticed that her hands were balled in the pockets of her hoodie. She finally nodded tightly, and pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her left hand pocket.

"Not so good then," she said with a weak grin. "But here. She was here round lunchtime." Mally regained a little of her fierceness as she continued, "Let herself right in the gate even though it was latched! I caught her writing that out on the back table, sitting there like she owned the place."

Mally's voice faltered a bit at the end, as she recalled exactly who did own the place, and how mean and spiteful it was to withhold Alice's note from him. Her head lowered, making her mouse ears droop in shame.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Tarrant hardly seemed to have heard. He'd leapt up to receive the note from Mally. His eyes were dancing over the paper and despite the serious turn events had taken, a faint smile pulled at his lips as the loops and spires of Alice's hand reminded him of her quirks and cuteness. Here was proof that she wanted to see him as desperately as he wanted to see her. Or nearly so, for he was fairly tied in knots with desperation.

Tarrant tried to muster up some severe words for Mally, but she looked so down that all he could do was pat her head and say, "Thank you."

Thackery took this opportunity to pluck the paper from Tarrant's grasp and with a lunge grabbed his mobile from where he'd set it on the counter.

"Don't you think I should call her?" Tarrant said, reaching for his mobile even as Thackery was tapping out a text on his iPhone.

"Nae. Ye can call her later. Or tomorrow. Or actually, can ye pick Alice up before work if she says it's alright? Or Mibbe tonight wuld be better. I need tae see her and the bottle these pills came in tae be sure. We can hope it's a vitamin, but if it is there'll be no harm in skipping it. I'll bet gud money though, it'll be a prescription bottle and if it is what I think it is we'll need to get her away from her mother as soon as possible."

Thack sounded grim, and Tarrant neither wanted to belittle that possibility nor jump to any harmful conclusions. Concern for Alice's welfare warred with elation that he would hopefully see her and hear her lovely voice sooner than he'd expected.

"I'll go get her immediately if she'll let me," Tarrant vowed.

"Let's see wha' she says," Thackery replied.

-o-o-o-

Alice had never been so interested in her mobile in her entire life. Even when she'd been sick in bed and its tiny screen was her only entertainment in the miniscule and boring apartment, she would toss it carelessly on the nightstand where it might fall to the floor unnoticed whenever she moved anything on the surface. Now she held it clutched in her right hand, ringer on plus vibration as she did her reading for class the next day. It was on burial mounds in the British Isles, and normally she would find the subject completely entrancing. As it was, Alice could barely go six words without her eyes skittering over to the blank screen in her hand which she would turn on and unlock before concluding that yes, there really had been no communication from the Hatter.

Finally she gave up on her reading for the time being—she could fit the rest of it in the next morning before her class. Alice took the mobile and went up to the roof where despite the chill she felt a bit calmer than in her cramped apartment. How was it, she wondered, that she found some small spaces claustrophobically cramped, and others she found comfortingly cozy?

Alice thought about Witzend House, and how its corners and crannies definitely fell into the latter category. Even the upstairs bath, which no one could be so generous as to describe as even large enough for all its plumbing, hadn't bothered her the way the rooms of the Kingsleigh flat below her grated on her nerves.

The screen of her mobile lit up, and Alice looked at it, surprised. This time she was sure she hadn't let her nervous fingers light the screen. No! She had a text. Would Tarrant text after all that?

It read:

[Find that pill bottle! Not likely vitamins but prescription. Check all cabinets and drawers open bottles til you locate the pill.]

The number was unfamiliar. But what on earth was this? It didn't seem likely to be Tarrant at all. But she had talked about her vitamin with him, hadn't she? Though she supposed it was his friend who was more interested.

Oh, a second message:

[Call as soon as you locate. Tarrant will pick you up. Thackery.]

So it was Thackery! Alice's heart beat faster. Tarrant would come to get her? Tonight? Alice couldn't believe it. It was already after six, and her mother was likely to soon turn up from wherever she went off to most afternoons. Margaret was also out, but she too came and went as she pleased. It was only Alice, she thought resentfully, who caught hell whenever she wasn't where they expected her to be. She wasn't quite locked up though. She could often go out to wander in the mornings as long as she checked in at the gym afterward—her mother could check her attendance online, something Alice loathed but was part of the place's accountability service. Being hounded by one's mother about one's whereabouts as well as calorie loss was probably not the intended purpose, but it was how Yelena used it.

The part about the pills was puzzling, but Alice wasn't quite alarmed. Tarrant's friend had seemed rather oddly fixated on the details of her diet, so maybe there was some academic reason for his wanting to know more about the pill she'd described. However, the thought that it wasn't a vitamin was disconcerting. Why, what else could it be? Alice began to imagine she had some sort of rare disease that she didn't know about. But no—she hadn't been to the doctor in ages, and then just for a persistent cough.

She hurried back downstairs though, for a large part of her was quite as motivated by the part about Tarrant coming to get her as the mystery of her morning pill's significance. Alice realized that she would have to be quick if she wanted to have this wrapped up before her mother or sister barged in and asked her what she was doing. She opened the cabinet next to the tiny stove where her mother kept the herbal supplements that she took for colds and such. There were several standard health-food market style bottles, but none contained her daily pill.

Alice continued her search in the bathroom, a cramped space that had been the source of countless hours of arguments between the three people who needed to use it. Yelena and Margaret each thought the other spent far too much time monopolizing it, while Yelena felt that Alice ought to put her time in it to better use than baths and seeing to bodily functions. Alice couldn't think of why she ought to spend even more time staring at her reflection than she already did, especially since aestheticians and makeup artists and hair stylists regularly slaved over her for hours. Still, Alice couldn't so much as apply lipstick without her mother sighing and picking apart her technique.

Needless to say, the bathroom wasn't Alice's favorite space. She poked her head in and looked at the bins lining the shelf over the toilet. Lots of bottles, but all were filled with creams and gels and liquids. Alice opened the medicine cabinet beyond the mirror and reflected that this was where she should have started her search if she were really following Thackery's advice. Somehow it had seemed too strange to think that he would be right about this. She'd been expecting to find the little blue pills in the kitchen cabinet with the other harmless remedies and supplements.

Her eyes took in the three flimsy shelves packed with items such as cotton swabs, painkillers, cough syrup and makeup remover. The top one had the expired eczema cream Margaret had been prescribed as a teenager and her mother's sleeping pills. Next to those, however, was a sizeable white bottle with a childproof cap and a prescription label made out to a woman who didn't exist any more. Alice took it from the shelf, and within she found the tiny blue pill, one of which she had been given each day for years.

Alice felt tears sting her eyes. The label was made out to Helen Kingsleigh, as her mother had been known for the duration of her marriage. She'd changed it back after her husband's death and the ensuing scandals made it uncomfortable to bear, but despite being the same woman physically, Yelena Parikova had never felt quite the same as the mother of her youth and childhood.

Brushing the tears away before they could spill over, Alice reflected she must have looked at that bottle or one of its predecessors hundreds if not thousands of times since they'd lived in the flat. She'd never once thought—never suspected that it was the source of her daily vitamins. Her nature was dreamy, she existed half in the murky past of legend and fairy stories, but could that really excuse her failure to question for six years…?

A noise from the door to the flat had Alice scrambling to shut the medicine cabinet. She took the bottle with her. "Riftorelin", the prescription label had said. Not that the name gave her any hints as to what it might be. She peeked out the door, and saw Margaret digging through the fridge in search of something to eat.

Trying to act nonchalant was not Alice's forte, so she shut the door to the bathroom and locked it. As quickly as she could she tapped a reply.

[Found pill. Riftorelin. Made out to Mother. Please advise.]

Alice waited a moment, then her phone began to ring. She answered it, knowing that Margaret would likely hear her through the thin walls. Indeed, at the sound of the ringer she was probably already listening intently, thinking she was spying on Alice's fumbling attempts to talk to the man she'd run out on the day before.

Which proved to be true.

"Hello?"

"Alice," Tarrant's warm voice sounded relieved and anxious all at once. "How are you—all this is shocking of course—but are you all right?"

"It's—I don't know what's what. What is this all about? Is it dangerous?" Alice practically swallowed the last word in her haste and confusion and fear.

"Thackery says you're to remember that health-wise you aren't in any more danger now than you've been in at any point since you've started taking the drug. But he is a little concerned about, well. . .he wants me to ask you if anyone knows about your discovery yet. Do they? Does your mother?"

"No," Alice whispered, putting her hand around the receiver to try to muffle her voice. "Margaret's just gotten home, but Mother is still out. I'm still in the bathroom where I found the bottle."

"Thackery has contacted a physician mentor of his, and he can see you in the morning if that's alright with you. Thackery says he would be happy to explain what he can tonight at home, but not over the phone. Would you," Alice heard him hesitate as though he wanted her to be sure she had a choice, "Would it be alright if I came to get you? I can be there in less than half an hour. I have the address from your note. . ."He trailed off, obviously expecting to be interrupted and awaiting her response.

Alice knew the silence was probably getting to him, but she needed a moment to think. She had her class in the morning, and didn't want to miss it. Her mother had already made her miss once so far this semester for a photo shoot and another absence would mean begging for leniency from her professor. She hated to have to do that—she didn't want anyone at school knowing what she did for work. It was important to her to have one place where she was judged on her own merits. However, sometimes scheduling could be too difficult to avoid and she had to say something so she wouldn't be failed.

If she didn't go with Tarrant tonight though, she would definitely see her mother, and be expected to take her pill as usual in the morning. Alice didn't think she was a good enough actress to fake that. Nor did she think she should be taking something without knowing what it was, despite the fact that she'd done so countless times before. Really, Alice couldn't even begin to think how she felt about her mother right now. As much as she wanted to confront her and demand answers, a canny part of Alice that had long laid dormant knew that she shouldn't listen to her mother's explanation, whatever it might be, without already knowing the relevant facts.

"I'll go. But pick me up two blocks away at the bus stop at Mosney Street. I need to—" Alice took a breath, tamping down her emotions, well aware that her sister was likely listening outside the door. "I'd like to leave before my mother arrives."

"Yes, of course," relief filled Tarrant's voice that she'd decided to get out of there. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Alice could hear him opening a door even as someone or other in his house called out.

"And Tarrant," she said quickly, "Thank you."

"It's nothing Alice. I'll see you shortly. Call if anything changes."

"Yes. Bye."

Alice hung up quickly, scouting round the bathroom for anything she might need. She settled on her toothbrush and a comb, as she didn't want to have to borrow someone else's two days in a row. Not toothbrush, she amended quickly, she'd just used some tooth powder on her fingertip at Tarrant's. Alice shoved the implements along with the pill bottle into her travel toiletries bag that laid under the sink in readiness for Alice's frequent trips for work.

Margaret was there when she opened the door, as expected, and Alice tried to make her face as neutral as possible, hoping that any traces of anxiety would be put down to talking to the boy she liked. Indeed, Margaret seemed delighted and scandalised to see the travel bag in Alice's hands.

"So you're going over there already?" she asked, surprised. "I would have thought an appointment for a date later would be more what's called for. Oh, mother will be furious. And I suppose you're going to try to leave her all to me."

"Well," Alice said meekly, even as she ransacked the bedroom for what she thought she might need for the day and "You did say you'd help."

Margaret sighed gustily, and Alice knew she wasn't really feeling all that put upon, or her tone would be much more cross.

"You'd better hurry then. She could be home any minute. If she catches you sneaking out she'll be furious. What do you want me to tell her?"

Alice paused in between stuffing her school books into her backpack along with some clean clothes and grabbing her orange handbag. This time she had the presence of mind to unplug her charger and toss it in as well.

"Um, whatever you like. As long as I"m gone there's no need to lie. I've gone to Tarrant's. Neither of you knows where that is, so there'll be nothing she can do but call me, though I won't answer if it's not convenient."

Alice shrugged. "You know."

Margaret's salacious smile proclaimed just what she was thinking and she shoved Alice playfully. Alice frowned as she almost went down at the push. She was feeling faint. She hadn't eaten anything yet, and there was no time now. She hefted the backpack and grabbed up her orange handbag. She was still wearing jeans and her blue trainers, but her hair was done and her sweater was a bit nicer than last time at least.

Alice ran for the door and Margaret passed her her coat and scarf with a smirk.

"Have fun!" she called, shutting the door behind her sister who bolted down the hallway at top speed.

A/N

I feel like this is where our plot is starting to move along (at least one prong, I love complicated plots and am doing my darndest here). Alice now sees that all is not well, and hasn't been for quite some time.

Did everything make sense? Did Alice's reactions seem plausible? She is torn with the whole wanting to see Tarrant/ not knowing what the hell is going on. I really like Thackery, and in the next chapter he will figure prominently in helping Alice make sense of her situation.

Thank you to those who review, and well, I really hope you will! Thanks in advance!