Disclaimer: I own no rights to Alice in Wonderland.
Author's notes: I hope you like the chapter.
Lost In The Storm Of Madness
Chapter 14
The cat ran far into the dark, green woods, and Alice and Tarrant followed his lead. In the chase, they passed several old, green shrubs, and rotting tall trees. The moon was full tonight, and shone down on the green grasses of the woods. Then, the cat skidded to a complete stop. He took a deep breath in and then let it out as he jumped.
Standing there shocked, out of the corner of her eyes, Alice glanced at Tarrant, who stood there just as shell shocked as she was. "What just happened?"
He gave the girl a fleeting look, and whispered softly, his accent taking over as he spoke. "I think that cat just pulled a Nivens."
Alice's eyes widened. Her mouth opened and closed, but she spoke no reply.
As he regained control of his legs, Tarrant slowly stepped closer, one small movement at a time, to where the cat had been moments previous.
"Where are you going?" Alice asked as she cautiously walked forth, following the madman.
He took a quick yet intense glance back at the girl; his green eyes boring deep into her baby, blue eyes. Without him having to speak a word, she understood, because what he needed to say but could not with words, despite his love for them, was clear as day in his eyes. Not bearing the will to break their connection, she kept her blue eyes locked on his as she nodded in reply. He held the burden of breaking such connection as turned his back to her, and eyes focusing ahead, he made one final stride.
The next out of the very few spoken words entered through Tarrant's ears, and echoed painfully apparent in both of their minds; "TARRANT!" Alice released a loud, painful, and ear shattering shriek (her screams shook the tops of the surrounding leafy trees and caused more than a few birds to flee from their nests in fright ) as the mud-spattered, dirt covered ground beneath their feet crumbled away, and they begun to fall.
The top hat wearing man merely turned his head away, avoiding her eyes as he, out of the corner of his own eyes, threw her one quick look as they descended deeper in the dimmed darkness. His eyes focused elsewhere, anywhere but at her. She could not see his eyes, therefore she could not read into his soul. However from the silence, Alice figured it was safe to assume, and to her, it seemed almost as if he had expected such disastrous occurrence.
Underland had been outrageously silent, waiting for any godsend sign that would bear the news that the people, animals, plants, and creatures of Underland could creep out of their dark, shaded, and sheltered holes. Communication, if there even was any, between Underlandians was limited to words like: pardon me, I am sorry, please, and thank you. Most of the words shared were spoken only when really needed to. Yet the moment when the Cheshire cat came promenading out of a door, all but hell seemed to explode in the chilling silence.
All of the flowers were gloomy and depressed as they watched the ground in disinterest. A low-spirited daisy, who had been staring intensely at the dying grass beneath her, glanced upward and spotted the cat as he stepped out through a door. Her frown slowly transformed and she wore a hopeful smile.
"Chessur!" the small flower called out, her tone hinting the small amount of hope she had left to have. "You are back! This is good news, right?"
The Cheshire cat smiled at the daisy, and elegantly sauntered her way. He slowly nodded. "I believe it is."
The daisy stretched upward, trying to see beyond the purple, Cheshire cat. "Where is he?" she asked.
Playing with his teeth, Chessur purred "Have patience, Daisy. He is coming, and so is Alice. They will be here soon enough"
As the flower opened her mouth to cry out in joy, a shadow seemed to creep behind her, covering the light that was keeping her warm. She did not notice how the Cheshire cat's demeanor seemed to change; the cat's eyes had widened in fear, and he disappeared, fleeing the scene.
Without glancing up, the daisy asked, her voice calm and sweet: "Ekhem…You are covering my sun. Please be a dear and move?"
In reply to her request, she felt a cold, watery drop of rain hit one of her petals. Her small eyes widened, and she finally looked up. There was no person nor creature standing behind her; the gray, puffy clouds were finally here and they could no longer hold back from releasing the weight of the rain. Despite the White queen's honest attempt at halting the storm by slowing down time itself, the storm had found another way to Underland.
The daisy screamed out in terror. "The storm! It is here! The storm is here!" she loudly yelled, alerting the other flowers in the area, as well as anyone who was there to listen. All the flowers screamed out of fright, and tried to run and hide, while staying rooted down to the ground. Everyone and anyone ran, and tried to find some type of cover from the coming downpour.
Tarrant and Alice had still been prevailing downward when all hell began to let loose among all of Underland. At the moment they had at last reached the room of doors, it had almost seemed to be too late - almost being the key word. From inside the room, the plummeting watery drops of rain could be heard as the drops dripped noisily against the doors. As realization came to Tarrant, who had been splayed out on the wooden floor from the fall, his eyes widened.
"Oh no" he whispered softly as he scurried off the floor, and hurried to find an open door.
"What is it?" Alice asked, concerned written all over her eyes. Because of the more than enough falls into this very room, she had landed on her feet.
Finding the first door locked, he moved on to the second. From there he went to the third, and then to the fourth. Having discovered that the fourth door was locked, he screamed out in rage and punched the door as hard he could. Not feeling pain that he should have felt, he hit the door again and again.
Alice's eyes widened as she spied a glimpse of blood on the man's knuckles, and as he moved to swing his fist again, she caught it in her strong hold with an unusual strength.
"Enough!" she had cried out, and then repeated in a softer whisper "Enough."
His eyes which had gone red in his rage calmed down at her soothing words, and he breathed in and out.
"Tarrant?" she had questioned, searching his eyes, wondering if he was okay, even though she knew he probably was not.
His eyes had gone back to their usual green coloring, and he nodded slowly. "I am fine" he croaked in a whisper. "I am fine." he repeated himself, and he was not sure who he was trying to convince. Her or himself.
She studied his eyes once more, before telling him softly. "There is another door that you have not tried yet."
He merely rolled his eyes, and replied stubbornly. "Alice. I have tried them all." As far he could see there were only four doors, and all of them were locked
She shook her head. "No. You have not" she informed, "You have tried all the doors that you were able to see, but you did not look deep enough" As she spoke those words, she led him to the curtain.
"Alice." He pointed to the curtain as he shook his head, "That is just a curtain" he whispered, quite disappointed.
She shook her head as she pulled away the curtain and revealed the truth. His eyes went wide, and he glanced from her to the small door which had been hidden by the giant curtain.
"Is it locked?"
She nodded, and before he could scream in utter despair she gently added "But there is a key, and a bottle so we can fit through the door."
For the first time since they had fallen and landed in this room, the man was able to smile. As Alice passed him the key, and then the drink, he smiled at her, thankful.
He set the key down beside the door, and took a sip. Alice bended down, took the bottle, and took a small sip herself.
As he inserted the key into the door's keyhole, she scurried to the small table, and grabbed a small chunk of the cake. "For later" she told him as he watched her.
He nodded, and turned the key. As the door opened, dim light entered the room, and they quickly stepped through.
Author's notes:
I think this is a good chapter ending spot. If you want to see anything specific just tell me in a review or a message. Please if you really like the story and want an update sooner rather than later, review letting me know what you liked, disliked and want to see in later chapters. Thank you for reading.