In This World of Mine
WhiteMidnightKitsune
Chapter 14: The Room of the Caterpillar
With Alice's mind spinning about the proposal moments ago, she was practically being dragged on the floor by Cheshire, struggling from her sharp nails. There was a slight glint in her eyes and a very large smile on her face. Cheshire was, of course, up to something. They stopped in front of a plain silver door. An ordinary silver door. Nothing special of the sort. Alice was slightly surprised. Normally all of Cheshire's doors were adorned with something, but this door was so…plain.
"What's in there?" Alice asked.
Cheshired giggled, "You will soon find out, dear Alice!" She knocked on the door. Once. Twice. No Thrice. "Hm…" Her ears moved about in curiosity to this small fail. "I wonder where he is." She began to bang on the door with her fist, yelling.
"Oh Lord Caterpillar! Are you in there? 'Tis, I, the Cheshire!" There was a sudden laughing fit inside.
"The Cheshire whore, is it? Come in!" Cheshire, with no hesitation, opened the door and came tumbling a cloud of red smoke. Alice began to cough violently but Cheshire did not. When most of the smoke had cleared, Alice followed Cheshire inside. She looked around to see continuous flashing of lights switching from one neon color to the other red, blue, green, pink, red, yellow and so forth. It reminded Alice of a rave but there was no music, only smoke. Alice covered her nose. The smell was pungent. She sniffed once more and it smelled like….
"Alice?" Alice looked at Cheshire, who warned her "Dear, try not to smell the aroma so much, it'll cause you to hallucinate."
"How can I not smell it…?" she plainly asked, "It's nearly engulfing us…."
In front of Cheshire and she, Alice saw a pedestal in the shape of a mushroom or to put it flatly a very large mushroom, where on top sat a somewhat disfigured blue caterpillar. He looked like he had been experimented upon and turned into a twisted figure. The bottom half of his body was of a shape of a caterpillar with six feet and the top half was a body of a young man with six arms, three on each side. His face was pretty, a bit too pretty. It was enough to give a hint of jealous within Alice. His hair matched the color of his body and Alice could tell there was some pink glitter on him, with small gems on his face. In one of his hands with his pink nails, he held a small pipe with a wisp of dancing smoke. The smoke shaped into tiny petite dancers gliding through the air with no care. The caterpillar man was bent over, looking bored. He closed one eye and smiled. "Hello, dear Cheshire…" His voice was a tad bit high. "I see you have come to the Caterpillar's lair for a taste of dress!"
Cheshire with her chest up high returned, "Of course! The Wonderland Ball is tonight and I need a dress that will have men fall head over heels for me…literally."
"We are oh so busy today, aren't we? Lucky for you, my Lady, I received a new rack of dresses from the top designers of Wonderland!" He took a puff of smoke and blew. He saw Alice standing behind Cheshire coughing. "Who is this? A guest?"
"Yes." Cheshire pulled Alice to her side and pinched her cheeks. "This little one is going to the Ball with Lord Alastor!" Caterpillar widened his eyes.
"The Lord Alastor? What a lucky girl…!"
"Yes, Caterpillar, she is one indeed, but she needs a suitable dress for tonight! Please tell me you do have a dress that is right for her!" Caterpillar crossed his arms and chewed slightly on the end of his pipe and then continued on to blow a smoke in her face, causing Alice to cough. "Hm…" He stared at her intently with his blue eyes. Alice had to admit. He had pretty eyes, not as pretty as Alastor's though.
"I am sorry, Lady Cheshire but I do not have her size." Cheshire frowned and tears formed at the corner of her eyes.
"That leaves me heartbroken, Caterpillar!" She cried.
"Please don't throw your tears in this room! You're going to cause the whole place to be damp! I may not have her size, but I can assure you, Cheshire, that I can make her dress here and now! I just need her to sign this form!" Caterpillar pulled a sheet of paper from his mushroom and gave his pipe to Alice. Alice hesitantly grabbed both the pipe and the mushroom paper. She carefully read the terms.
I, eht remotsuc,ma erawa fi ynas tendicca rruco. I lliw ekat lluf ytilibisnopser dna ton esu eht rengised. terfA eht sserd sah neeb edam, I lliw ekat taerg erac fo ti dna tuanlf ti duonra rof srehto ot uoy era yllautca gnidaer siht uoy duolhs eb gnitteg a ehcadaeh thgir tuoba won. Ah ah ah aH.
X erutangiS ___________________________________
Alice's eyes and head hurt. Enough said. She had to squint to see what it was saying. Cheshire saw the struggle she was having and laughed at her. "Alice, dear, you don't need to read it!"
"If I don't read it, then I'm never going to know what I'm getting myself into…"
"Caterpillar is one of the honest designers in Wonderland. He has never failed any of his clients. He only makes up these backward contracts as a means to please those that want one." She scoffed. Caterpillar sighed and continued on for Cheshire. "It's a hassle to write up these contracts. It doesn't really matter to me. This is my only contract that I copied numerous of times. Like Cheshire says, I detest contracts, so I made an amusing one!"
Alice arched her eyebrow, "This is amusing? This is brain twister!" Literally.
"That's why it's so amusing! Seeing the look on people's faces when they try to read and understand it. It makes me laugh on the inside so much." He giggled.
Him and Cheshire are alike… Alice felt herself being pulled towards Caterpillar very slowly. She looked around to see a wisp of smoke wrapping around her waist. When Alice was inches away from Caterpillar, he took a closer look at Alice's figure. When a five minute silence passed by with no complaint, he finally said, "She's very thin…" He lifted up her arms and dropped them. "She does not have much flesh…She's a failure as a woman…" He told Cheshire.
"I'm right in front of you, you know!" Alice exclaimed in anger.
"Yell right in my antennas, why don't you darling, that way you can make me deaf!" He smoked. "I need you to turn around for me." Alice did as she was told and saw the look of disgust on Caterpillar's face, "She doesn't even have an ass!" He screamed. "My God!" Alice turned red and leapt to punch him in the face until Cheshire stopped her.
"Now, now…Alice, Caterpillar is just doing his job! No, need to get into a tight fit!"
"What's his job? Critcizing people's body?!" Alice's eyes twitched as she watched Caterpillar nonchalantly blow a perfect "O". She could see his silent taunt. The Caterpillar sighed.
"Now that I am done criticizing you for my amusement! It is time that we get down to business!"
"Wait a minute! You just----."
"Time is a wasting!" Caterpillar exclaimed. Alice huffed and crossed her arms. This was becoming such a complicated task. She might as well not attend the Ball, but the thought of not seeing Marcos was tugging at her feeble heart. Cheshire whispered in her ears, "Alice, the only way this is going to go any faster is unless you don't say anything and let the Caterpillar do his work… I assure you, the dress will be a success if you corporate properly."
"And how do you suggest I do that?" Alice hissed back to her.
"By not saying anything…" Cheshire stated in a solid voice. Alice couldn't believe she was turning herself into a pathetic obedient child. She stood in front of Caterpillar with detest in her eyes and a silent mouth. Her stiff arms were at her side. Caterpillar smiled at Alice, "Are we done with our little attitude?" Alice nodded. "We shall begin then!"
The process began by Caterpillar taking a large huff of his pipe and blowing it in the air above him. There he quickly moved his fingers throw the thick fog that was beginning to expand. Alice and Cheshire watched as Caterpillar maneuvered through the smoke with light fingers. The colors changed. The color first turned pink but Caterpillar shook his head, changing the color to blue. When his eyes seemed satisfied, he toned down the color to what it was fit to be. While he was making the basic outline of the dress, he took another huff of his pipe and lightly blew strings of wisps, twirling them with his free arms. It intrigued Alice how Caterpillar's work looked so easy, but his face was beginning to form light sweats. The dress was still very vague in Alice's eyes. It looked nothing more than a pile of smoke in front of her. She leaned over to Cheshire and whispered.
"I don't understand, Cheshire. I only see a thick blanket of fog…and Caterpillar is basically grabbing the air like no tomorrow."
"Alice, dear, you don't understand how this process works…"
"He looks high…" Alice commented. Cheshire giggled.
"Of course, he is darling! You see, Caterpillar is very different from most designers. His method of fashion is derived from using a special drug….by smoking it, of course. Caterpillar is able to envision his work and create it, much like a painter does to a painting. You, Alice, may only see smoke, but darling Caterpillar, here, sees beauty." Caterpillar's arms were working in a furious motion now, sweat dripping off his chin. They pulled in and out of the smoke as if to correct the mistakes he made.
"Cheshire…I also have a question about Caterpillar."
"Ask straight away, dear!" Cheshire's ears perked.
"Why does he live…in here…?"
"It's a very peculiar thing…Before Caterpillar roomed in the mansion; he lived in a small apartment. There was a complaint by the tenant and they kicked him out for smoking too much. It bothered them severely and they couldn't take the foul smell, little did they know that was the only way Caterpillar could work. So the tenant called me. Since the tenant was a client of mine, he asked if I could allow Caterpillar to live in my mansion. I agreed and discovered his dream of designing dresses. I allowed him to craft me some dresses and I would buy from him if I liked them. After so, well Alice, everything is how it is now!"
Alice was silent for a moment and finally returned, "Yeah…thanks for the history, but that doesn't answer my question! I was wondering why he ended up living in this space! It looks like a closet!"
"Oh! Well…I offered him a luxurious room, but he wouldn't take it. He preferred it be in a room that was dark and he could be alone so I gave him this one. He rarely comes out. The only time he will come out of this room though is unless it's a serious matter, such as one his treasured dresses has been torn. Dear God, hopefully that doesn't happen…"
Alice whispered, "A person that lives a solitude life, only wanting to be by himself and his thoughts…"
"Sounds like you, doesn't it?" Cheshire grinned. Alice didn't know what to say to that. Cheshire was right. She had been living by herself for so long; she had grown entirely used to it. No matter how many people talked to her, Alice would escape to her own world and be alone, pushing people out who would come in.
"Alas! It is finished!" Caterpillar triumphantly yelled. The angelic choirs sounded the room and Alice was alarmed, Where did they come from!? Caterpillar held out a veil of smoke. "Tah dah!" Caterpillar lightly sang. Alice swore she heard his voice crack. He probably was being emotional over his newfound creation.
"Um… I don't really see anything…"
"Well, of course you don't! You have to try it on!" Caterpillar dropped the veil of smoke over Alice, who coughed as it heavily descended upon her. The smoke quickly wrapped around Alice and transformed piece by piece into an impressive dress. Caterpillar's eyes watered and Cheshire's smile became larger. She purred, "My, my…aren't we a little enticing…"
Alice stuttered, "Wha-what?!" She covered her arms over her chest, "Is it revealing?" she panicked.
"No, dear!" Cheshire pulled Alice towards a mirror on the wall and placed her in front to view the dress she was in and how pretty she looked. Alice blushed. She had to say, it was impressive. The dress lined her curves perfectly and flowed down towards her feet. At the top, there was a light blue sash that hooked on her shoulder. In the back, Caterpillar had tied dark blue ribbons in a crisscross shape. She hadn't noticed it before but when she stretched her legs, there was a very large opening where her legs were revealed. She squealed, "Did you have to add a huge slit in this dress?!"
Caterpillar chortled, "It's my signature! Having large slits on the side of dresses are a very popular demand for me. It's what I enjoy! It gives off a very feminine sexiness to it!"
Cheshire added, "It's the reason why I love his dress! The men love it every time!"
Alice blushed, "I hope nobody thinks of me as a whore when they see this huge slit…but…" She turned around to Caterpillar with a content look on her face. He looked confused. "….Thank you for making me this dress…" she thanks quietly. Caterpillar, in return, softly smiled at her.
"It is my pleasure, sweet Alice." Cheshire poked her arm.
"Alice! What about me!" She whined, "I was the one who brought you here!"
"Yeah…well…" For some reason, it was really hard for Alice to thank Cheshire. "….Maybe next time!" Cheshire was shot down in a daze. She sat in a corner and sulked. "I feel so unloved." She cried.
In no time at all though, Cheshire jumped back on her feet and smiled, "That's okay! I'm sure the Ball will cheer me up! Caterpillar! Do you have that dress for me?"
"Yes, Lady Cheshire! It's right here!" Caterpillar huff a pipe once more and blew a purple smoke that descended upon Cheshire. In a matter of minutes, the smoke had faded and Alice could only stare at Cheshire. She didn't know how to react to her dress. Honestly! Cheshire's dress revealed nearly her whole body. The seductive dress was mainly covering Cheshire's breasts with wide straps, leaving the center wide open. The center held a V shape opening all the way down to her hips. On the back of her dress, there was a large opening that showed her bare back. The only thing she had that would cover her back was her silk sash. She was definitely a whore. A very proud whore.
Cheshire squealed loudly and it was obvious she loved the dress, "Thank you, dear Caterpillar! This is one of the best dresses I have worn yet! I am sure to get more clients with this! I'll be sure to pay you extra!"
"Thank you, Cheshire. It's always such a wonderful pleasure to serve you!" They both laughed, causing Alice to become uneasy. The laughter was silenced by a large ringing of the hourly bell. Cheshire's exclaimed, "It's already time! Alastor is going to be here any minute!" She ushered Alice out of the room.
"Hey! Wait---Ow! Cheshire!"
"No time to waste! No time to waste! Thank you once again Caterpillar! We'll visit you again soon!"
"Take your time with the new dresses, sweeties!" He returned and waved gaily.
Once the door has closed, Cheshire took a deep breath and stretched. "This is really the perfect day! Isn't it, Alice?" Alice didn't answer. Cheshire cocked her head and looked at Alice's face. She was flustered and irritated. Cheshire knew what she was worried about, "Having second thoughts, darling?" She softly asked.
Alice gasped, "Not…really…" Her stomach began to churn. "I'm starting to feel sick."
Cheshire groaned. "Oh! It is not the time for that! Alice! You mustn't be afraid! I'm sure everything will turn out fantastic! What you must do is hope! Never doubt! Hope! Understand?" Alice grimaced. It was hard for her to hope for anything. She had never hoped for anything at all. All she did was falter. "Don't give me that face! If you turn this night into a nightmare, I'll surely be mad at you, which means I won't have any new clients and both these dresses are going to be wasted! Think about Caterpillar! He would be most upset if you didn't flaunt around this pretty dress of yours!" Alice took it into consideration. Seeing Caterpillar work so hard in thick clouds for her dress, made Alice feel guilty for not showing it off if she didn't go. She sighed, "I don't know…"
Cheshire leaned in close to her ear, "If you don't go…I know Lord Alastor would be most disappointed…I couldn't bear to see his poor sad face…and I would think you wouldn't be able to either…"
Alice shut her eyes. Her heart and mind tried to negotiate what was right. She's really weighing this guilt on me…I don't want to go…but if I don't…Caterpillar is going to be pissed off that I didn't go…and Alastor would probably be mad at me also…and if I don't go…I won't see Marcos…if it is even him…but I know it's him! God, why is this so complicated!? Okay, here's the deal…I'll go to see what happens…if I see Marcos, I'll confront him and if I throw up…well…that would just suck for me wouldn't it? She opened her eyes and gave Cheshire a determined look. "All right, let's go!"
"That's fabulous!" Cheshire hugged Alice. "I assure you! You won't be disappointed!" Alice pushed Cheshire off and headed down the stairs.
"Yeah. Yeah. I just want to get over with!"
As Alice walked down the hollow stairs, Cheshire's eyes sharpened and her grin widened, "The pieces of the game are finally coming together for you, Alice…Now it's time to let the show begin…and hopefully you will amuse me some more." She purred.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
….It's 1:03 AM….I started this at 11:30….I am tired…I am sleepy…Good night…and I think I lost 2 bucks...-falls on floor-
MidnightKitsune: Thank you for reading! A review would be appreciated!!!