Chapter II
Alice's body hurt after she pulled herself out of the water. She was sore from the long swim. Even though she was in relatively good health (she enjoyed not only judo, but being healthy in general) even she had trouble with the journey. There were brief bouts of good, strong swimming interspersed with moments of kicking while she kept herself on her back, floating a bit lazily. She did everything she could to conserve energy, but the ice-cold water did all it could to steal it.
There was a loud thwack from behind that drew Alice's eye. It was Randy. She'd pulled herself up the ladder that led to the water. Her jeans were soaked so they pulled at her hips and were inches longer than normal. Randy already wore 'long' jeans, but they were suddenly even more so. As a result, they clapped against the concrete with each step.
Randy looked utterly miserable. She was wearing a white AC/DC shirt with faded lettering. Alice had been a little annoyed at first given Miranda was meeting Jack for the first time and it was no different than her normal attire, but now she pitied her. Not only was it old and insubstantial, but now it was transparent. Randy had owned the tee for a long time, and the age was showing through.
Miranda tugged at the fabric so it no longer clung to her body and looked up at Alice. She was furious, too. Her dark brown eyes were practically black. They genuinely made Alice flinch. With hair clinging to her face where it'd escaped from the bun on top of her head, the bright pink of her cold cheeks, and those eyes, Alice was fairly certain her best friend was trying to light her on fire with her gaze.
"I lost my shoes." Randy grumbled.
Sure enough, her feet were entirely bare. It didn't surprise Alice. She'd worn flip-flops. It wouldn't matter how hard someone tried to keep them on their feet, something that insignificant would fall off easily somewhere within the distance they swam. But, the braided piece of leather on her wrist, her necklace, and her silver ring (all things she never removed) had survived.
"Sorry," Alice mumbled. It was a weak apology, but the best she could offer.
Randy opened her mouth to say something else, but Alice saw her gaze drift to something standing behind. Alice spun and noticed a man clad in rubber was standing only a foot or two behind her. Alice jumped and backed away. She joined Miranda's side. The two of them squared themselves on the man with the nets and a knife, wearing a rain slicker and other bits that made him look like a serial killer.
"Yer an Oyster…" He mumbled when he noticed her arm. Alice's brows creased. "Don't need no trouble with Oysters."
The stranger quickly stowed his blade, grabbed a trap (complete with a rat) that she hadn't noticed, and began to scuttle away.
"Wait!" Alice called. To her surprise, he paused. "Look, I-"
Her words caught in her throat when she heard that familiar sound, that scuttling whir from above. Sure enough, one of those massive, beetle-looking ships soared overhead. The stranger pulled Alice further under the shelter. Alice in turn grabbed Randy's arm and brought her along with them. They tucked themselves behind large boxes and crates.
"They see me with an Oyster, we're both dead." He said. As before, he attempted to scurry off, but again she stopped him.
"Please," Alice dug into her pocket and retrieved a wet twenty dollar bill. "I've got money. I'm looking for someone. He was kidnapped, and he's probably in one of those beetle things, so if you help me find him, it's yours."
His aged face was still twisted into a grimace, strips of grey, dirty, matted hair framing it. He snatched the twenty and sniffed it, even going so far as to lick it. Alice's brows creased. She glanced at Randy who shared her confusion.
"Bah," He scoffed and shoved the money back. "Got anythin' else?"
"Uh…" Alice patted her body, but knew immediately that no, she had nothing else. She cast Miranda a worried expression. "Do you?"
Randy did the same. She patted her pockets in search of anything that might help. Alice noticed her pull out a tube of ChapStick before she shoved it back into her front pocket, her apartment keys in her other front pocket, and then her ID and some cash out of the back. It was amazing they hadn't been lost as well.
Alice's heart sank until Randy removed a small knife she always kept on her person. She worked in an organic produce store. As a result, she tended to have a four-inch pocket knife on her most days.
"How about this?" Miranda said. While he watched, she flipped it open. His eyes sparkled. "It small, but sharp. You can keep it in your pocket."
"Oh," He practically cooed the word as he took the object. He looked it over before happily nodding and stowing it. "Okay."
Alice breathed an immediate sigh of relief. She extended her hand, determined to keep the good faith going between them. "I'm Alice."
Her perked again. "The Alice?" The way he asked made her uncomfortable and her hand drop. He was a little too happy. "The Alice of Legend?" She opened her mouth to speak, but words didn't immediately spring forward. Suddenly giddy, he waved at the two, "Come, come." He beckoned.
Alice was unsure of how to proceed given his immense joy when he learned something as simple as her name. Randy seemed to sense as much and a moment later she felt her friend's fingers thread themselves with her. Alice gave Miranda a smile and held her hand tightly before they followed after the man with the rat.
Holding hands, they made their way behind the man who didn't seem to know how to stand upright as he walked. They stayed close, went over stairways and across bridges until they climbed as high as they were supposed to. Behind an old-style English Phone Box, the man in rubber stopped. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wrap it around Alice's arm, covering the mark beneath it.
"No, thank you."
"They see you Oyster, you dead."
"Who?"
"I go first." He said, ignoring her question entirely as he finished tying off the square of fabric. "Count ten, then follow."
"Why? Who's in there?"
"A man who knows!" He called back as he darted off toward the building.
After he raced across a land bridge, he disappeared into a building that looked oddly out of place. The front of it resembled a country home, yet was stuck into the side of a massive structure. A sign flashed above it reading Tea Shop in scrolling text.
Alice took a step forward until something caught her attention. She spotted a bird flying, but it was flying under the bridge she stood on. An instant wave of fear swept through Alice. She collapsed against the phone box and clutched at it tightly. She was paralyzed. Alice was afraid of heights. Randy didn't like small spaces, Alice didn't like heights.
"Hey," Miranda's soft voice caught her attention. She took Alice's hand again and fought the wince at how tightly Alice held it. "I've got you."
Alice nodded repeatedly. She held onto Randy as though her life depended on it because, as far as she was concerned, it did. The desire to close her eyes was strong, but easily ignored. There was no way in hell Alice was going to close her eyes going over that bridge.
Somehow, they made it to the other side and she was finally able to breathe.
"Better?"
Alice forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah. Better."
"Good,"
Alice loosened her grip on Alice's hand to a normal, manageable degree and alongside her, went inside the building.
The sound of shouting guided them to a room that was oddly out of place, yet seemed to make sense given the strange environment they found themselves in. It was rundown like everything else, filled with brambles and dried brush, but there were people. Perhaps a dozen of them littered the space, all of them shouting indecipherable words. Alice suddenly felt like they were standing in the middle of an old-timey stock exchange.
Every once and a while, Alice would hear words like beauty or confidence being shouted from somewhere, but it didn't make any sense. On a shelf to her left, illuminated by a bright white light, she spotted a handful of bottles. Each one held a different color liquid, what couldn't have been more than a few ounces, with names like lust, excitement, and happiness written across them in block letters.
As she walked, she passed two men in the middle of a discussion.
"I'll give ya a half-portion of hope for it." One of them said.
The other, who sat with a bottle of desire, scoffed and shook his head. "Hope was yesterday's Wonder."
"What is this?" Alice muttered.
"I have no idea." Miranda replied.
While she'd been filled with adrenaline initially, Alice had to admit that the sensation was dwindling. The longer she went without finding Jack and the further she found herself moving into this weird, 'other' world, the happier Alice was that Miranda had taken the tumble with her. She might be absolutely furious with Alice when they got home again, but the fact that Randy still stuck by her side meant the world.
A loud thud caused both of them to jump and push themselves a little closer together. The balding, squat little man who'd been behind the podium, once happily sleeping, immediately sprung to life. The same instant, the room fell disturbingly silent.
"I have an important announcement." He said. All attention sharpened on him in an instant. "A new tea has just come on the market."
Then he started his pitch.
"Ever get that guilty feeling," he went on to say. "Maybe you left the wife and kids, abandoned them without so much as a crumb to split between them. Maybe you killed somebody, hm? A neighbor or a family member, and now you've got that niggling feeling that just won't quit."
He continued on for a brief moment, compounding his argument in a few different ways before suddenly changing his tone completely.
"Well, fear no more!" He presented a bottle of, what looked like, water. "Clear Conscious is here from that wonder of wonders, the Harts' Casino!"
And then, suddenly, he fell asleep and the room erupted once more.
"Clear conscious?" Randy asked Alice under her breath. "Seriously?"
"I guess."
Miranda scoffed and shook her head.
As they stood within the middle of the ordeal, a flash caught Alice's attention. The man from before, the one clad in rubber, suddenly appeared once more. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Still with a firm grasp on Randy's hand, she was sure her friend came with her.
They were brought deeper into the building and through a few more halls until they are guided to a large, relatively empty room. It was empty in the sense that there was only furniture within it.
There was a large, expansive patch of brilliant green grass that looked like a living carpet. On top, there was an entire office or apartment worth of furniture. Directly in front of her there was a glass and metal desk with clear chairs. In the far left corner there was a transparent wardrobe complete with clothing, boots, and hats. There was a sound system to the right, a pair of white leather chairs within arm's reach of Alice, and a few funky lamps that looked like they belonged in the 70s.
She thought it was a little over the top, but knowing Randy, Alice was fairly certain her friend would rather like it. It was her style, after all.
"Tea?"
The new voice drew Alice's attention to a large chair to her right. Beyond the back she could see the very top of a hat, but not the person.
"Who are you?" She asked. She tried to keep her voice strong, but even Alice heard it quiver just a bit.
The massive chair spun casually revealing a young man. Alice arched a brow. He was attractive and probably not much older than she was. He wore a busily-patterned shirt beneath a yellow-tanned leather jacket with dark corduroy trousers. Bits of chaotic brown hair sprouted out from beneath his okra-colored top hat.
The stranger stared at her with large, chocolate eyes. His round face made him look almost like a child, or surprisingly innocent, which wasn't hampered by the days-old scruff he'd accumulated from not shaving.
"A friend," He replied. "I hope. I run the Tea Shop." His gaze drifted to her left. "What 'bout you?"
There was no response. Alice glanced to her friend and noticed that Miranda had gone completely still. She was blank and motionless, suddenly resembling a statue more than the young woman she used to be. Alice narrowed her eyes curiously. She looked in the direction it seemed Randy was staring and realized she was looking at the guy. He was staring back plainly, but seemed to sense he was being stared at and scowled slightly. He looked at Alice.
"She alright?" He asked with a level of sarcasm that caused Alice to glare at him.
She didn't reply. Instead, she jerked Randy's hand. The sharp action snapped Randy back into reality.
"Hm?" She mumbled. She looked at Alice then back to the stranger.
"Tea," He said a bit slower than before, as though he was worried she was dim. Alice scowled again. "You want tea?"
"No," Miranda replied under her breath.
He nodded slowly, but his derision was clear. Before Alice could remark on it, the man in rubber snatched at her arm and began to untie the handkerchief, forcing her to brandish the green mark. The more attractive young man noticed it. His brows furrowed and with a gentle shove, he glided to his feet. Alice watched him approach his desk.
"How'd you get outta Scarab?"
"That beetle thing?"
"Eh," He made a sound that was probably meant to be something in the affirmative as he spun to face them.
"I picked a lock with a hairpin and-"
"Fell," A small smile curled his lips.
"As you can see, we are drenched."
He gave a soft nod while his gaze drifted over them once more. Alice shifted under the weight of it. It wasn't creepy or unsettling, but inquisitive –a sentiment that grew when he looked at Randy. Alice couldn't help but do the same. Randy hadn't changed, still staring at him without emotion, without a sign that she was entirely certain what was happening around her.
"Look," Alice somehow managed to tear herself away from her friend's curious behavior and looked at the stranger once more. "Where… what is this place?"
"Oh," He chimed in an almost happy voice. "Wonderland."
Alice scoffed a disbelieving sound. She eyed him as though he was a bit off.
"That's a story in a kid's book." She hadn't meant to mock him, but it came out that way.
The stranger's face instantly fell and when he spoke again, his voice no longer held warmth. "Does this look like a kid's story to you?"
Alice shifted on her feet. "No,"
He shoved himself off of his desk and approached casually with a magnifying glass in his hand. He'd retrieved it from the desk.
"It's changed a lot since then." When he was near, he took her arm in his hand. "You Oysters don't know how to find us, so ya tell yerselves we don't exist, and we'd like to keep it that way."
He examined the paisley pattern while he spoke. Alice snatched her arm back.
"Why am I an Oyster? Because of this?"
"That's not gonna come off." He replied before forcing a smile. "Sorry." She scowled. He turned his attention to Randy and glanced her over once before meeting her gaze. "Where's yers then?"
It took her a moment to reply again, but when she did, she cleared he throat to speak. Something was wrong. Alice could tell.
"I was inside." Miranda's voice was still soft, still off.
He gave Alice his attention once more because of the two, she was the one apparently capable of speaking normally.
"Only people from your world get burnt by the light." He went on to explain. "It's the Suits' way of brandin' their catch and," he headed back to the desk to set his magnifying glass down. "They call ya Oysters because of the little pearls ya all got inside you."
"Pearls?"
Apparently no longer willing to remain silent, or desperate for something else entirely, the man in rubber finally spoke up. He declared to the man in the leather jacket that she was Alice.
I told you that, she thought to herself.
The young man approached once more and circled both her and Randy with a cheeky sort of smile before he joined the fisherman's side.
"Ratty here," He said, "Seems to think you're Alice, of Legend."
"Who?"
"The last time a girl called Alice came here from your world, she brought down the whole house of cards, oh yeah." He spoke in a way that made Alice wonder if he was 'presenting' something to her. What a strange man. "Of course, that was a hundred-and-fifty years ago. Oysters don't even live that long."
"I still want the same price." Ratty said in a shaky voice.
"Whoa, hey, I'm not for s-"
The young man held up his finger to silence her, cast her an amused sort of glance, then scampered off to the other side of the room. Alice didn't know what was happening, nor was she comfortable anymore. She gave Randy her attention.
"Are you okay?" She asked in French.
In high school, the pair decided to take that as their second language because of the romantic undertones. Well, Alice chose it and managed to convince Miranda to do the same. Miranda excelled at it and Alice wasn't too bad. With Randy's help, she got better. They weren't entirely fluent, but they could hold conversations with each other, and if they really were in Wonderland, of all places, Alice highly doubted the strangers knew it, too.
"I'm fine." Randy replied with a forced smile. Alice knew it was a lie.
"You don't look fine." Alice said. She noticed Randy cast a sideways glance at their host. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know." She mumbled. "I just have this feeling. I can't really explain it."
Alice's brows pulled together. She didn't know how to make things better. Guilt had already taken its hold within her because she'd managed to get Randy pulled into the craziness, but now things were even stranger and they didn't look like they'd go away any time soon.
"I just have to find Jack." Alice whispered. She forced a small smile when Randy looked at her. "We'll go home right after, promise."
Behind her, she heard the rustle of fabric and saw Miranda watch Ratty run off. She turned her eye back to Alice.
"That's assuming there is a way home."
A brief wash of cold charged through Alice. She hadn't thought about that. She'd been so focused on finding Jack that Alice didn't even think about whether or not there was a way for them to somehow get home.
They'd fallen through a mirror and landed in a building. It wasn't as though they could go back the way they'd come.
In French, Alice said, "It'll be okay."
"What ya talkin' 'bout?"
The sudden voice and closeness of it caused the two to jump. The young man shot back and looked at them with wide eyes.
"Nothing," Alice lied. "Look, can you just tell us where to find Jack? Then we'll get out of your hair."
The young man, who finally revealed himself to be named Hatter (of course he was the Mad Hatter from the story) went on a tangent about how he could help them personally. He knew people who'd know how to find Jack, apparently, and was willing to introduce Alice and Randy to them. Alice wasn't so sure, but Randy didn't seem overly capable of contributing. The ordinarily outspoken and brave young woman was suddenly a shadow of her former self, and it worried Alice.
That worry, however, disappeared the moment Hatter opened the door that led out. She could see no ground, no floor, and no walkway. Alice only saw height and it terrified her.