I do NOT own Alice in Wonderland, only this story and my original characters.

This story is rated M, for violence, language and sexual themes.

Chapter 12

Close your eyes and JUMP!

Alice led the way easily jumping over fallen trees and misplaced rocks. Mei-Lin was a little ways behind her. Both were running and both knew that this was the last time they would be coming to school here. Alice slowed herself to a walk deeming it safe enough. Mei looked grateful that they were deep enough to not be seen.

Taking a deep breath Alice smiled. She loved the smell of nature it reminded her of better times with her Grams. It was like a soothing balm on her still mourning heart. Looking over at Mei she almost burst out laughing. Her friend was cursing under her breath and pulling forest debris from her long hair.

"Need some help there?" Alice asked, her quiet voice shaking with mirth. She had never seen Mei this mad before.

"Please! Before I lose it completely. I mean look at my hair, my beautiful precious hair! It looks like a swallow tried to nest in it!" Mei cried frantically puling at the visible twigs.

"Now, now. Calm down or you'll just make it worse than it already is." Alice advised gently while going to walk behind the distraught girl.

"Thanks Aly. I'm sorry for freaking out like this it's just that my hair is very important to me. I know that sounds vain but it's the truth." The Asian half mumbled.

"Nah it's not vain. Everyone has something about themselves that they pride themselves on myself included. But I have a feeling that there's more to it than it just being pretty. So what's the deal? Why is your hair so important to you anyway?" Alice asked curiously.

"My mom. She had such long beautiful hair and out of every one of my siblings I'm the only one who inherited it. So I promised myself that I would keep it long in memory of her. Before I knew it, it became my pride and joy. It's like there's still a part of her with me, yeah know?" Mei explained softly.

"Yeah I do. I'm the same way kinda. I mean when my mom died I swore to learn Italian so that I could feel close to her and when Grams died I got her life motto as a tattoo so that her words would always be with me." Alice admitted softly.

She had never told anyone about her tattoos or the meanings behind them. Then again she never trusted anyone enough to but after Mei sharing something so personal she just knew that she would understand. And looking into the raven's eyes that's all she saw. Slowly they made their way through the woods. Not a word was spoken and it was a comfortable silence with just the sounds of nature and the detangling of Mei's hair.

Finally when they got the last of the twigs and leafs out Alice started to braid her hair. It would prevent a repeat of earlier. Slowly they came to a stop in front of a large tree. Alice looked at it with warm and loving eyes. Turning to look at Mei she motioned with her head to follow. Going around the tree they both looked at the rabbit hole. One in joy and the other in fear.

"I don't think I can do this!" Mei exclaimed fearfully.

"What? Why? What's wrong we just jump down, fall for awhile and then bada bing bada boom we're in Underland!" Alice exclaimed not seeing what the problem was.

"Alice I'm claustrophobic! I don't think I can crawl into there to fall without hyperventilating!" Mei rushed. Just thinking about it made it hard for the small girl to breath.

"Shit." Alice felt horrible. She had completely forgotten about Mei's problem in her excitement about seeing Tarrant.

"Aly what do I do?!" Mei asked panicked. She knew this was the only way to go and if they waited too long people would come looking for them. Ok now she was really panicking.

"First thing is getting you to calm down. So just take a few deep breaths. We will figure this out." Alice spoke softly while placing her hands on the freaking girl gently. Panicking wouldn't do them any good. Then a twig snapped.

Both girls froze. Someone was there and watching them. Not knowing how much was heard or what was going to happen Alice did what any Alice would do. She grabbed Mei; who was still frozen stiff and gave her a mighty shove while quietly but firmly telling the other girl what to do. This caused said girl to snap to attention and obey.

So forgetting her fear Mei closed her eyes and jumped. Right down the rabbit hole. Looking around Alice felt her eyes straining to catch any movement. Finally she saw someone shift their weight. From her position she could see them but not the other way around. With no sound at all she ran into the area surrounding them while remaining hidden. Noting that there were two she managed to silently get behind them and putting all her strength into it she tackled the unknown enemies. Only to discover they weren't that unknown at all.

"Duncan! Kyle! What are you two doing here?!" Alice asked, well more like demanded, furious.

"We could ask you the same thing Alice but for now would you please get off?" Duncan asked with a grimace.

"Don't listen to him Alice I like the way we are just fine." Kyle spoke up with a stupid look on his face that made her want to punch him.

Quickly getting off the two Alice glared down at their forms. She felt great satisfaction when they flinched under her gaze. Still she couldn't figure out why they were there. Clearly they followed them but just how much did they hear? How much did they know?

"I'll ask again. What are you guys doing here?" she was pissed and it was evident in her voice. Everyone and anyone knew that a pissed Alice was a dangerous Alice.

"Well it's kinda obvious isn't it? We followed you after hearing you in the gardens. So the real question is what could you and Cho be doing out here that would make you paranoid about being followed?" Kyle asked somewhat sarcastically.

"None of your god damned business that's what. What I do with Mei in my spare time has nothing to do with you!" Alice growled out.

Personally she had nothing against Duncan. His twin brother however was a completely different story. Kyle was an ass, simple as that. The guy really believed he was God's gift to the female race. Yeah she could admit he was attractive on the outside; with shaggy blond hair and piercing green eyes, but on the inside he was as ugly as they came.

Duncan though was fine. He too had shaggy blond hair but his eyes were hazel and just nicer looking. Softer. He was a nice guy if not a little mischievous. It was that nature that probably got him to agree to following them in the first place. However there was no doubt in her mind that it was Kyle's idea.

"Hate to break it to yeah but since you're going to be my girlfriend that makes it me business." Kyle stated. It was like she had actually agreed. That just served to piss her off more. Like hell she would be with such an arrogant prick when she had Tarrant! The nerve!

"I'm not going to date you so just forget about it! I already have someone that I love so I have no interest in down grading because that's exactly what it would be. You will never be half the man that Tarrant is so why don't you just go home ok Kyle?" Alice didn't know where it came from but right now she didn't care the jerk deserved it.

"Excuse me! When the hell did you get a boyfriend?! You have turned down every single guy to ask you out since you got to the academy including myself! What makes this guy so special?" Kyle demanded. He had been trying to get with her for years! Years! And know all of a sudden she has a boyfriend! No it had to be a lie.

"Obviously I turned them down I wasn't interested. As to when I started dating Tarrant is none of your business so but out!" Alice yelled. That was one thing about Kyle she hated the most. He always made her lose control.

"Oh I get it you can't tell me because he isn't real! You're making him up so that I'll back off but if you think that it's going to work then you're wrong Kingsleigh." Kyle goaded. She heard Duncan sigh and roll his eyes. Seriously she swore she heard them roll.

"Hate to burst your bubble Stratler but Tarrant is very real. Who else do you think gave me this?" Pulling the top of her sweater away she showed them the love bites the Hatter had given her. She smirked at their shocked faces.

How her father never noticed was a miracle but then Absolem explained that he simply hid them and so to avoid anyone seeing the ones on her neck she pulled on a sweater. After all Absolem wasn't here to hide them right now.

"But that's-"-a love bite and judging by the color it's fresh." Kyle started but Duncan finished due to his brothers state of shock.

"That's right because I was with him earlier today and we well kinda got carried away. But you should see his neck, way more noticeable then mine." Alice said with a pleased smirk. There was no way that her Hatter could hide those marks. Mally would be forced to look at them and know that SHE gave them to him.

"Now you two should get going. I don't know about Duncan but I do know that your absence will be noticed Kyle." Alice stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Duncan bit out. He was kind of hurt by her words, and he wasn't afraid to admit it.

"I didn't mean it like that Duncan. It's just that your brother is a ladies' man and therefore if his groupies can't find him all hell will break loose." She explained.

"Oh, well yeah that's true. Ok then but what are your going to do out here Alice?" Duncan inquired.

"I'm going to go see my boyfriend so get going shoo!" Alice said playfully and gave a gentle but firm push towards the academy.

Duncan just smiled and started dragging his silent brother. No doubt that he was still trying to wrap his mind around Alice not being single. Frankly he was happy for her, she deserved to be happy.

"Duncan stop! We aren't leaving we are going to stay and watch!" Kyle stated while huffing like a five year old.

"Why?" Was the simple question.

"So I can see my competition of course. I won't give up that easily, I've waited far too long to lose her now!" Kyle whispered while hiding behind a bush.

"Whatever." Duncan mumbled. Looking at her she just kept looking around then at the rabbit hole then around again. It was like she was waiting for them to jump out and scare her again, like when they were kids. Just then she got a relieved look on her face turned around and yelled something really weird.

"Just close your eyes and jump!" She yelled before the same sensation of falling took over. Alice had this nagging feeling but couldn't quite place it. Still as long as she remembered to lock the door everything would be fine. At least that's what she kept telling herself anyway.

Landing with a painful thud Alice felt herself wince. Standing slowly she looked around for Mei. Spotting her sitting against one of the doors she walked over to make sure she was ok.

"Hey sorry about that. Are you alright?" Alice asked gently crouching down in front of her friend.

"Yeah I'm fine, a little shaken up but now that it's over I'll be ok." Mei replied with a small smile. She knew Alice only did that because someone was coming and if she was being honest she was kind of grateful for it.

"That's good I was scared that you might have gotten hurt on the landing." She replied happy that the other girl wasn't hurt.

"Nope I'm fine. Falling off my horse hurts way more than that." Mei replied with a giggle. Sometimes Alice worried too much.

"Well what do you say to getting out of here and starting this died crazy adventure?" Alice asked excitedly. However that excitement died when she heard two loud bangs and matching groans.

"Dude where the hell are we?" Duncan moaned while holding his hand to his forehead.

"How the hell should I know? What kind of rabbit hole was that anyway?" Kyle gasped out. Both boys pushed themselves into sitting positions before looking around and spotting the two girls looking at them with wide eyes.

"Alice what are they doing here?" Mei asked in a rushed whisper. She couldn't believe her eyes and looking at her friend she could see she was just as shocked by the sudden appearance of the boys across from them.

"Alice where are we? What is this place and what's with all the doors?" Duncan questioned slowly as if trying to wrap his head around the fact that yes he did just follow her down a rabbit hole.

"Well Alice? Are you going to tell us what's going on or not? I still can't believe that this is happening but I want answers and you seem to know what's going on so hurry up and start talking." Kyle demanded. He was getting angrier by the second. Somehow he knew this had something to do with that "Tarrant" guy and he wasn't leaving until he knew how.

"Shut up. If you would stop talking I could speak. This has nothing to do with you. You never should have followed me but now that you have I have no choice but to take you with us." Alice all but growled.

"Alice are you sure that's a good idea? They have no idea on what to expect. They don't even know where we're going or how dangerous it's going to be." Mei pointed out. She didn't like to question her friend like this but she was really concerned about the boys.

"I know Mei. However they have already seen too much. It would be way to risky to just let them go. What if they tell others about the rabbit hole? Who knows what would happen then. Therefore we will take them with us to Marmoreal and let Mirana decide what to do with them." Alice explained, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"Very well. You do have a point. I just hope we don't get into any trouble on the way." Mei whispered softly. She knew that if they were attacked with just the two of them they could handle it but with these guys who had no idea of what was going on it could be dangerous.

"Hello we're still here yeah know? Can you stop talking like we're not?!" Kyle bit out. He hated being ignored and left out of the loop.

"Who's Mirana?" Duncan asked calmly. It sounded like a lovely name and he figured that since they clearly got involved in something serious it would be best to be informed and to stay on Alice's good side.

"Mirana is the White Queen of Marmoreal. She will know what to do with you. Until then you'll have to stay close to us because it's dangerous here." Alice explained tiredly. Why couldn't this day just be over already?

"White Queen? You know a queen? Since when and just what do you mean by dangerous?" Kyle burst out, once again making Alice want to hit him. Mean while Duncan went over to Mei and helped her up. Choosing to just stand beside her.

"Yes I know a queen. In fact I know two of them. As for what I meant by dangerous it's exactly like it sounds. We are entering a war zone. There is no telling when or if we'll be attacked so you have to be ready for anything. Now let's go. The sooner we leave the sooner we get to the White Palace." Alice ordered before going over to one of the doors. The others just followed behind silently. None wanting to make her angrier than she already was.

Removing the key from around her neck Alice looked behind her one more time before unlocking the door. Once it opened she stepped aside and let the others through before following behind them and relocking the old passage. After securing her key back around her neck she looked at the others and gave a cold smirk at their faces.

"Welcome to Underland." Alice announced lowly. Even though the land before her was heartbreaking she was happy to be back. It meant she was one step closer to her hatter and that was all that mattered right now.

"What the hell is this place and what happened to it?" Duncan asked softly. He was in a mix of awe and horror.

"This is a magical land. One very different then your own. It was once called "Wonderland" but that was just the name my Grams came up with when she was a child. It's real name is Underland. As for what happened to it, well you can thank the Red Queen for that." Alice spoke quietly while using her hand to gesture to the destruction in front of them.

"Wait, those stories are real?" Kyle asked in compete disbelief.

"Obviously. You're here aren't you? Now let's get moving it isn't safe to linger in one place for too long." Alice explained while slowly leading the way.

As they walked no one spoke. They didn't know what to say. The boy's minds were going a mile a minute but they knew better then to start asking questions right now. Duncan simply told his brother that Alice would explain everything once she felt it was safe.

Mei was silently taking in the wreckage before her. She wanted to cry for everyone who lost their lives, homes and loves ones. She felt determination fill her body. She wanted to help save this land and vaguely wondered if this was how Alice felt when she first arrived here. Somehow she imagined it was a lot worse for her. This was her world, her home. It must have been horrible to see it like this.

Alice herself was listening for anything that could be a threat. She scanned the area with well trained eyes. If they were attacked she would be the only one who knew how to fight so she needed to avoid conflict at all costs. She also knew that should Mirana let the guys keep their memories of this place she would have to explain everything to them once they were in the safety of the Palace walls.

After a few hours she let the group stop to have a quick rest. Pulling out two water bottles from her backpack she handed on to the boys and the other to Mei, who accepted it greedily.

"So how much longer until we get to this White Palace?" Kyle asked quietly. He didn't want to get attacked by something because he was too loud.

"I don't know actually. When I first got here I had to go to the Red Queen's Palace in Salazen Grum so I never went straight to the White Palace from the door before." Alice explained softly.

"Why would you go to the evil queen's palace? That just doesn't make sense." Duncan spoke up thoughtfully.

"I didn't really have a choice. Everyone but Thackery and Chess had been captured so I had to go and break them out." Alice explained defensively.

"Wait. You went to the home of your enemy, snuck in, broke out your allies and somehow managed to get away with it?" Kyle asked impressed. He knew Alice was brave but something like that was just boarder line stupidity.

"Yeah though I barely made it to the White Palace alive. I was out for thirteen days because of my injuries. By the way I should warn you that time moves differently here so don't lose your head thinking you've been missing longer than you really have." Alice pointed out while putting the water back in her bag.

"Now let's get moving." She ordered.

"Right, good idea because I don't want to spend the night out here." Mei whispered with a shiver. She knew about the shadows, the boys didn't.

"Don't blame you. I don't like the idea either, who knows what's out there." Kyle admitted walking a little closer the Asian. This was the first time he really spent time with Mei-Lin. He knew her but had never hung out with her before. It still boggled his mind that she could be so calm about this.

Mei-Lin laughed softly, maybe having the guys around wouldn't be so bad. They finally seemed to be getting over the shock that there was in fact another world out there. Still she wasn't going to trust them just yet. If Alice and Mirana decided that they had to go she wouldn't interfere.

So the rag-tag group continued to walk taking breaks here and there until they could finally see the white walls of Marmoreal. Alice figured that they had arrived just after day break because the sun was just starting to set casting the opal kingdom into a blaze of orange. It was breath taking and judging by the gasps behind her the other's thought so too.

Happily the group made their way down to the bridge and into the court yard. With her companions in awe Alice looked around for her other friends. Just then she heard a startled yelp and turned to see Kyle on the ground looking dumbfounded at a grinning Chessur.

"Chess!" She called happily pulling the stunning cat into a hug.

"Alice! Welcome home! We have all missed you so much!" Chessur all but gushed. Oh how he had missed her. Tarrant was just so miserable to be around without her.

"That cat just spoke! That cat just spoke and is floating!" Kyle exclaimed in alarm.

"Yeah and he can vanish too." Mei explained that Chess was indeed the Cheshire Cat and that he had evaporating skills.

"My Alice, who are your friends?" Said cat asked curiously. However before she could answer she was tackled.

~A.N.~

Yay! New Chapter! I am on a roll! So they mystery guys are now introduced and in Underland. They seem to be handling it well but what will happen when Tarrant and Kyle clash heads over Alice and what will Mirana do about the two boys? Will she let them stay or send them back to their own world with no memory of what's transpired? Who knows! Now please rate and review! *smiles and bows*