Alice wasn't crazy…at least, she thought she wasn't. Was she? The already small room felt as if it were shrinking. Or was she shrinking? Panic rose in her throat, squeezing so tight she felt she couldn't breathe. It was dark, cold, and drab with only an uncomfortably lumpy bed in the corner. She could hear the screams from the nearby cells. Shivers ran down her spine. Alice didn't think these places still looked like this—well, at least they weren't supposed to anymore. She felt she had been transported in time. "No more asylum horror movies for you, Alice," she promised herself.
A tray had been slid through what looked like one of those cat doors holding a glass of water and a small plastic cup holding two pills. They looked just like the ones her therapist had prescribed to her just weeks earlier. She couldn't remember what she was being treated for, especially when the voices distracted her. And the hallucinations—at least, she thought they were. Then again, if what she was seeing was real, Hatter wouldn't be sitting across from her right now…right?
Two Weeks Ago
It had been a few months since her time in Wonderland. Alice began seeing a therapist a few weeks back, Dr. Thorpe. She had hoped that she would begin healing all of her emotional wounds since she had closure about her father, but it finally occurred to her that she might need some extra help. After a few sessions, Alice did feel that particular wound slowly beginning to heal, but their last session had been…haunting. She didn't want to mention the fact she had seen things that weren't there.
Today's session was to involve hypnotherapy, a treatment that Alice was skeptical about. Dr. Thorpe insisted upon it—she had been rather adamant. What had she said? Alice asked herself silently. Oh, right, hypnotherapy will help clear my subconscious. She rolled her eyes. As she remained seated on the sofa, Alice watched as her therapist retrieved a small glass ball with a chain attached. This was presumably the item that would aid with the hypnosis.
"What, no pocketwatch?" Alice quipped.
Dr. Thorpe raised her right brow. "Such a cliché, dear. This"—she gestured at the glass sphere—"works much better than the ticking of a clock. Are you ready?"
Alice shrugged. "As I'll ever be." Skepticism laced her voice. As the glass ball swayed back and forth in front of her, she followed it to humor the woman, but then she began seeing a familiar texture. Colors swirled within it, entrancing her. It reminded her of the blurred motion of falling through the looking glass. Her eyes moved in time with the ball, the texture changing into a swirling spiral of black and white, reminding her of the Tweedles.
She felt dizzy, her resolve weakening. One word slipped from her lips. It wasn't just a word, but a name. "Hatter." And everything went black.
Author's Note: Y'all, I'm so excited to be writing again! And especially for Alice! I haven't written for this fandom in a while, but I hope you enjoy what's to come!