I dunno how good a job I did of describing Alice's dress. I don't know anything about fashion or sewing, so I'm sorry if I didn't get across what I wanted it to look like. I can't get the link to post, but if you search Google for Tradeindia Cocktail Halter, the first link takes you to the dress that inspired me.

Sighing, Alice kicked off those stupid, uncomfortable sandals. Well, that hadn't gone at all like she'd planned. The girl went back into the dining area and stared at the remnants of what had been a truly pleasant meal. Empty plates and glasses had never seemed so depressing before. Might as well make herself useful. She started clearing off the table, stacking the plates and carrying them into the kitchen.

"Dammit!" The dishes clattered into the sink. She'd lost her grip, but luckily, they only fell a few inches. It never ceased to amaze the girl that while she was as graceful as a cat in the dojo, she could be so inexplicably clumsy in her everyday life. The ruckus apparently was loud enough to raise her mother's attention, as the older woman called down the hall.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just stupid," Aice called back unhappily. As she was double checking to make sure she had not cracked any of the plates, Carol peered into the kitchen.

"I thought I said to leave the… where's Jack?"

The younger Hamilton tried to keep her back from stiffening as she spoke, a sure sign she was lying through her teeth. "He got a phone call from work or something and had to leave." She shrugged, like it was no big deal.

"Oh, that's too bad." The lie had been accepted and filed away as truth, for which Alice was grateful. She did not want to have to explain the way she'd muddled Jack's attempt at moving their relationship to the next level.

"I'll see him tomorrow." It wasn't a lie in the strictest sense. There was a chance she might him the next day, after all.

"That's good. You know, you really can just leave the dishes," her mother insisted. The girl shook her head, not looking up.

"Nah, they'll get all gross and crusty. Might as well just do them now." Plus, it gave her something to do with herself other than going over the ways she'd screwed up tonight.

"Alright. Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Night, mom." The older woman's quiet footsteps retreated, but not all the way to her bedroom. Then, they stopped altogether.

"What's this?" came Carol's voice, sounding pleasantly curious. Alice abandoned the dishes to see what her mother was talking about.

"What's what?" She asked it a split second before her eyes fell on the small, round box held carefully in her mothers fingers. "Crap!"

"What's wrong?" Her mothers deep blue eyes turned to her in confusion and burgeoning concern.

"It's Jack's," Alice explained, hurrying to grab up her discarded sandals from the floor.

"Well, if he forgot it, can't you just give it to him tomorrow?" See, kids? This is what lying gets you. The girl hopped on one foot as she struggled with the second sandal. He'd only just left and, as Jack did not drive, it would take at least a few minutes to catch a cab. If she hurried, she could catch him before he caught it.

"It's important," she told her mother, heavy on the vague. Sandal finally on, she snatched the box from Carol's grasp and hurried out the door. "Be right back."

Alice's house was actually the second story of a two family brownstone. She hurried down the stairway that connected her front door to the lobby and burst out the main entrance. The street was fairly empty, only a few people on the sidewalk and no cars moving down the road just at that moment.

"Jack?" She called, looking left and right as she made her way quickly down the front steps. One the sidewalk proper she could see further, but still no Jack. Had he just lucked out and caught a cab as it was passing her home? More likely, he'd started walking and was already around the corner at the west end of her block. Alice jogged off in that direction, hoping to catch him and return the ring. He must have set it down or dropped it when he kissed her goodnight. Four or five houses down from her own, the street turned from residential to quaint businesses. As she passed the alley between Pink Pendant Antiques and Wild Meadow Florists, she heard a man's distressed shout.

Someone in trouble took precedence over her jumbled love life, so she took off down the alley. Her hand when to her hip reflexively, but no such luck. Of course, expecting to find Jack on her stoop, Alice had run out of the house without her cell phone. She couldn't call the police right there, but she still had to see what was going on and if she could help. The unmistakable sound of flesh being struck came to her ears and her heart rate quadrupled, then stopped altogether as she reached the delivery area behind Pink Pendant and saw Jack, her Jack, being forced into the back of a van.

"Jack!" she pumped her short legs - the bane of her existence at the best of times - for all they were worth. Which apparently wasn't much as the assailants quickly closed up the van and peeled out down the service road. "Jack!"

No, no, no! She hadn't made it in time. She hadn't even managed to get the van's license plate number. Shit, shit, shit! Well, staring after the departing vehicle would do no one any good. The only thing she could do for Jack right now was get back to her place as fast as possible and call the police before the van got too far away. Maybe the cops could intercept it, if she was quick enough. This plan was brought to a screeching halt as she turned just in time to see a hefty man, white haired, but quite a bit larger than her step out of the shadows. He didn't look like a hood, was in fact, dressed in a distinguished silver-gray suit jacket, eggshell colored vest and matching silver-gray tie. Somehow, his impeccable garb only made him seem more sinister, however.

"I'm afraid he's gone," the stranger said with feign regret. His accent was unmistakably British, but not like Jack's. Where Jack's voice imparted an impression of good breeding and education, this man sounded simply haughty and full of self importance.

"What do you want?" Not that she really cared what he wanted, but there was no mistaking him as a threat and she needed to be very careful; alone in a dark alley with a strange and menacing man.

"I'm a friend of Jack's." He told her. Right, like she'd believe that in a thousand years. "I want to help him."

"Then why didn't you? And who are those guys?" This, of course, assuming he had anything to do with Jack and his attackers at all. He could have just been nearby and heard her call Jack's name, using the knowledge as a ruse now that she was all alone and seemingly helpless.

"Jack took something that didn't belong to him," the man said, stepping closer. Alice moved back instinctively. He stepped to the side, obviously intent on circling the girl. Like a shark. She didn't think so, every step he took, she countered, not about to let him get the upper hand. All the while, she kept her ears open for any more hidden accomplices. "We need it back."

"What are you talking about?" Jack wasn't a thief. The very idea was preposterous. It was the first time Alice had ever used the one preposterous, if even only in her mind, in an actual real world setting. The white-haired man stopped, holding out his hand, palm up.

"The ring, Alice." Her mouth went dry as a desert, fingers clenching around the ring box in her hand, hidden in the flowing folds of her dress. He knew her name, knew that Jack had the ring, knew he'd given it to her. Maybe it hadn't been an accident, leaving the ring in her house. If he knew he was being followed, Jack might have left it behind to keep it safe. Just another time she'd screwed up tonight, it seemed.

"How do you know my name?" She demanded, stalling as she carefully fingered the hidden catch, opening the box with a muted click she hoped the man wouldn't catch. "Where have you taken Jack?"

"He's quite safe." His bored tone was starting to grate at her nerves. How could he be so calm? It made her even more uneasy, if that were possible.

"Yeah? Then bring him back and let him tell me himself." That was a stupid order, but she needed to keep the man talking as she slipped the ring from the box and onto her finger.

"I'm afraid he's got to go back with me to face charges." What happened to being his friend? Both of then knew this whole conversation of bullshit. It was just a matter of who would make the first move to end it. Inadvertently, it was Alice. As she closed the ring box back up, it snapped and clicked much more loudly than it had when it was opened. The man heard it, his eyes widening, lip curling viciously. "You do have it!" He practically hissed, lunging for her.

Alice stepped back and to the side, using his own momentum against him and shoving the man against the building behind her. Dropping the ring box, she tried to secure his arms behind him. If she could immobilize him, she could shout until someone passing on the street heard her and called the police. Once in custody, the man could be linked back to his cohorts and Jack found and rescued. But the old bastard had a trick or two of his own and she was not prepared when, while trying to knock it from his grasp, the head of his cane popped off and struck her in the mouth.

Stunned, Alice reeled back. Luckily, the man was more concerned with the ring than her and he scrambled to pick up the box from where it had rolled when she dropped it. Prize in hand, the stranger bolted. As much as he could, anyway. It was quite obvious from his awkward gate that the cane had been for more than show. Ignoring the blood that now dribbled down her chin, Alice darted after him.

"Hey!" She pushed herself far harder than she ever had on the soccer field. Jack's life was quite possibly at stake here.

The old man seemed to know where he was going, which did not bode well. His twin pigtails bounced against his back as he tried to elude her, dashing into a building. She knew better than to follow him inside, not knowing where he would be once she entered. He could be waiting just inside the door, cane raised and ready. But she threw caution to the wind, not even hesitating before yanking the heavy industrial door open and plunging headlong into the near darkness of the building.

To her left she could hear metal clanging rhythmically and knew it was the sound of feet on stairs. Sure enough, she found an iron stair case and scrambled up it. The footfalls were getting further ahead of her and that was unacceptable. Though her legs burned and her side ached, Alice pushed herself harder. There was an archway at the top of the stairs, leading into another large room. Boxes and crates were piled high just beyond the doorway, making a false hallway she had to follow. Once out of this, the room opened up again. At the far end, leaning against the wall, was a huge, ornate mirror. This building must be the warehouse for the antiquities shop. Light fell on the mirror from behind another stack of crates. It must be an exit, must be where the man was headed.

Alice shot across the room. If the man got outside before she caught up, she'd have no idea which way he went and would surely lose his trail. Not slowing at all, she threw her hands out to use the mirror as a bumper as she made the turn to head for the door. Instead of smooth, cool glass against her palms, the girl felt only open air. It was like the mirror wasn't even there. Unable to stop, Alice's momentum carried her over and she braced herself, expecting to shatter the mirror and be showered with broken glass. Instead, she fell. And kept falling. The shock of dropping through nothingness stole her breath, keeping her from letting out the shriek that wanted to burst from her lungs.

When she hit the ground, for a moment she thought, I must be dead, now. It was an insane notion, as if she were dead, how could she even be thinking such a thing? The landing hadn't even hurt. She pushed against the grass, getting to her hands and knees. Grass? Yes, grass. She was laying on a patch of grass, surrounded by brightly colored wildflowers. This was not the strangest thing about her current location. For the patch of grass was situated at the end of a long hallway, flooded with several inches of water. Broken florescent bulbs flickered eerily, here and there one hung down from its mounting. Alice could only stare as the hair on the back of her neck and arms raised. It was like she had fallen into Silent Hill or Resident Evil. And how creepy was that?

She heard a frantic splashing echo from one of the rooms off the hallway and leapt to her feet. What kind of horror would emerge from one of those open doorways now that it knew she was there? A husky man in a suit jacket, that's who. He turned to look down the hall, getting his bearings. When he saw Alice, he bolted again.

"Hey!" She shouted again, chasing after him. Sandals are not made for high speed pursuits. Especially not through water littered with hidden bits of debris. She tripped and fell twice, not only getting herself drenched, but losing sight of her quarry yet again. She did manage to get around a corner to what appeared to be the main entrance to whatever building she now found herself in just in time to see a flash of flowing white braid and the door closing behind. She followed after.

Had Alice not been holding onto the door's push handle, she would have surely fallen over the edge. The edge of what? The world, apparently. There was maybe three feet of ground outside the building's door and then nothing but air. She gasped so hard she nearly swallowed her tongue, flinging herself back against the double doors. The air rushed from her lungs again, her stomach heaved and clenched as if unsure what to do with its contents. If she had not already been soaking wet from the flooded hallway, she would have been now anyway with sweat.

Wrenching her eyes from the chasm before her, Alice took in the completely foreign cityscape. Sky scrapers all look pretty much the same, tall monoliths of steel and glass, but the ones presented to the girl now were disturbing. Like a patchwork city, building styles of different eras were stacked on top of one another with no rhyme or reason. It was so wrong it almost frightened her to look at them. Or maybe we frightened her was that they were all so tall that they faded off into a hazy mist before she could see the actual ground. If there actually was ground at all.

"Oh god, where am I?"