Alice was breathing fast, her blood pounded in her ears, she was running as fast as she could and the group of kids behind her were still keeping pace. Her long blond hair whipped out behind her. One kid reached out and yanked her to the ground. She and the boy struggled for a moment and he punched her in the eye she yelped . When he pulled back to punch her again she saw something glint in the dying sunlight a pair of sharp gardening shears she reached out a curled her fingers around the handle.
Before the boy could she what she was doing Alice slashed his hand. He yelped and reeled back the other four had finally caught up to them. Alice took the chance and jumped to her feet she backed up but felt a wall behind her. The kids saw this and smiled, the leader pulled out a pocketknife a stabbed her in the shoulder. A punch to the jaw knocked him back, seeing their leader stumble the others fled. He followed.
Alice closed her eyes and ran to her own home in case they changed their minds. The door closed behind her with a satisfying clunk. After seeing no sign of her mother Alice got up to search for food the refrigerator was empty, why did Alice expect anything less her mother had somewhat forgotten she had a daughter after her father's death. Probably with one of her boyfriends again she thought bitterly.
Going into the bathroom Alice caught sight of herself she looked like she gone through hell and back. Her left eye was swollen and dark purple, there were greenish bruises all over her and the blood that had once streamed from the gash on her arm had slowed to a sticky trickle. That would need to be sown up right now.
Alice held the needle over the candle's flame and dunked it in water to cool it down. She threaded the needle and knotted the end, stuffed a rag in her mouth and focused and began to sew her arm. The first in and outs were agony but soon went numb she looked at her work, you'd think a nurse had done. Already dressed in her pajamas she went to sleep instantly. In her dream she saw flashes of things black hair, deranged smiles, and dark green eyes rimmed thickly with eyeliner and mascara.
The voice was slightly icy but the purr made it comforting and familiar. ''Aliiice''when the voice drug out her name other people's whispers seemed to join it though she was alone. Soon the eyes were joined by a pair of lips so dark a red they were almost black. The lips began to separate and show two rows of unearthly sharp , glowing white teeth. ''Alice you must look past your own reflection to see the doorway right in front of you''. She looked confused by this but this only made it smile wider if possible, it's laughter shrieked out and Alice sat bolt upright in bed drenched in her own sweat.
She pressed the on button at the base of her lamp and bathed her room in the golden glow. Her dark red clock read 4:30. She shrugged she'd have to get up in an hour she might as well stay up. She wandered her way into the bathroom she looked away and out of the corner of her eye saw the smile from her dream. Alice looked back but all she saw was a fifteen year old girl to small for her age with tousled waist length blond hair. ''I need crazy pills '' she whispered to herself.
After a warm shower she went back to her room to dress. She pulled out today's outfit a black satin shirt, a black knee length skirt, black/red tights and black combat boots.
Then dragging a brush trough her unruly hair she pulled it into a ponytail with a long black ribbon and went to watch cartoons until her own little piece of hell came. The school bus.
After about an hour her mother shuffled out. Alice took this chance to really look at her mother her own once beautiful blond hair was falling out, her skin was mottled from to much drink, and had wrinkles that should have been out of place on the thirty five year olds face. Her mother saw her staring and growled at her ''what are you looking at'' she took a menacing step forward and Alice cringed out of reflex. But instead of getting smacked Alice saw her mother go to pour herself some stiff vodca she took a sip of her drink.
''Get off your lazy ass and get to school'' she yelled. Alice hopped and ran out the door to the bus stop. Things had been like that since her father had died. She leaned against the pole for a moment it only took two minutes for hell to arrive. The kids looked out the windows at her with evil grins on their faces. She was ready for what they dished out she ducked her head and ran up the steps to find a seat they shot spitballs, paperballs, and candy wrappers at her.
Alice took out her walkman and put in her favorite cd, the melody soothed her into her halfway place not to sleep but to her head world where she could hide from the evils of the world. A place where there was soft pink imaginary light, that was what kept her going. What wasthe place's name again she could hardly remember and when strained toonly succeeded in giving herself a headache.
The day flew on from that till she was in the last period class. Ms,Warren droned on about some poem until a few words she spoke caught Alice's attention. ''A person must look past their own reflection to see the doorway right in front of them''. Alice's head shot up she remembered the words from her dream. Before she could ask who wrote that the bell rang and she was shoved out the door. On the walk home an image flowed into Alice's head, a six year old girl stood in front of an antique mirror said something and vanished.
She gasped the mirror! The same one in her mother's room it had been hung in a corner when her mother had gotten tired of waking up to her reflection. Alice ran home her messenger bag smacking her side. She flew through the door and up the stairs dropping her bag along the way and into her mother's room. She closed the door gently behind her and stood in front of the mirror.
The words flowed back again but no matter what she did her reflection was always in the way. After twenty minutes of trying Alice grew fed up stomped over to her mother's dresser picked up an empty bottle and hurled it at the mirror. Alice looked at what she had done and went over to pull the mirror off the wall if her mother didn't see the damage mabey she could put off the beating. But as she took the mirror down she saw something that shouldn't have been there a hole in the wall just her size. ''Look past your own reflection'' she whispered to herself a ghost of a smile gracing her lips. With the words she had spoke she crouched down and crawled through the hole and began to fall down the dark tunnel.