Thankyou to all who have reviewed so far! I am glad you think it is like dark chocolate (making me hunggry)
Anyway I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well! Please keep reviews coming! ^^
(btw. Wonder how popular Alice in Wonderland shall become after the film? . (I am actually looking forward to the film myself... but the book shall forever beat it!))
Enjoy!
Alice...Alice...Run Alice...Run
And there she stood, in misery
Searching for the final watch within
A dream, (dream within a dream)
Dream within a dream
"I'm not afraid..."
*-*-*
Alice opened her eyes and sat up. She clutched the bed sheets close to her and panted as beads of sweat gathered on her forehead.
What the Bloody Hell was that?
She looked about her and saw the bedsheets where all over the place. Light dripped into her bedchamber. A knock at the door sent her pulse flying once more and she pulled the bed sheets to her chin.
"Miss Phantom? Are you quite alright?" The concerned grey eyes of Edgar peered around the door. Alice gulped and wiped her forehead. She lowered the bed sheets.
"Yes, Yes Edgar. Quite Alright!"
He entered the room with a golden tray in his hands. He laid it on the bedside table and began pouring the tea. An assortment of pastries and fruits lay next to the tea.
"The Cook, was not too sure what your tastes would like to enjoy this morning, Young Mistress. So we set a selection of each." The tea steamed into the cup and Edgar carefully handed it to Alice. When she took the cup and saucer it trembled in her shaking hands.
"What is this aroma?" She gently lifted it to her nose and smelled. "Earl Grey, I take."
She raised it to her lips and drank. Edgar walked to the curtains and pulled them back. The snow had set on the streets and frosty icicles lined her window. Alice squinted at the brightness of the snow-white day.
"They have named this pestilence, Miss." Edgar stood at the window, his back to her.
"Hmm?" Alice turned to him, still sipping tea. Her green eyes tracked her butlers every slight movement. She was unable to read his facial expressions.
"They have called it: "The Hatter Flu" He sighed and turned, leaning slightly against the window, closing his eyes. A strange illness had been spreading around London recently. It escaped to no other place, and its origins where unknown. It was exclusive to London. The symptoms were Hallucinations, hot and cold flushes, chronic laughter, loss of time, over consumption of tea which included drowning your lungs in it, mad tempers and in some cases death ensured. The corpses head would fall off, soon after death.
Edgar crossed his arms and glanced at Alice.
"Edgar, I had a dream" Her head dropped and her hair fell in front of her face. "It… it was awful. I dreamt that a Doll maker and his wife where brutally murdered… and this demented poor man, with no eyes… The only hope, eerie as it was, was a grinning man…"
Edgar held his breath. Damned cat, always wins.
"Its ok, Miss Alice." He strode over to her and ruffled her hair. His eyes were worried but he continued to smile. "It was just a dream." She smiled up at him and stretched slightly. She had finished her tea.
"I shall send Gwendolyn up, to help you change, Miss Alice." He walked out the room; the tray of finished tea in his arms and shut the door. He walked down into the cellar kitchen throwing the tray into the water logged sink and lent against the closed door behind him. He ran his fingers through his wild hair and sighed. Should he hide today's paper from her? It all made sense now, The strange occurrences, the Disease, the fact that Mice had begun to hunt and kill cats, and this never ending winter.
He chuckled slightly to himself, so the theory is true. He looked closed his eyes. London and Wonderland are linked. The current situation in Wonderland is reflected here in London.
He opened his eyes and placed a cigarette laced with opium in his mouth. He lit it and inhaled deeply. Frederick had banned him from using his hookah long ago. He looked down and smiled as a caterpillar crawled along the floor. He bent down and scooped it up.
"Long time no see, my dear friend!"
Alice had gotten up from her bed. She walked over to the mirror. Her dark hair stuck up at odd angles and her eyes were still blood shot. She did not mind the hair, she often left it be wild. It suited her nature, but she prodded her eyes with concern.
There was another knock on the door. Her dear maid and friends walked in.
'Mornin' miss." Gwendolyn curtsied.
"Good Morning, Gwen."
Alice sighed and slowly unbuttoned her yellow nightdress. Gwendolyn hummed as she neatly arranged Alice's' clothing on the bed and began to tidy the room.
Alice got dressed into in a green dress with laced edges and combed her hair into a neater mess. She fiddled with her locket and opened it. Inside was a picture of a beautiful woman with light hair and eyes, smiling up at her. Alice stared at the picture of her mother. Tears stung her eyes once more. From what Jasper told her, their father had never smiled again since the night of her mother's death, and Edgar stopped ordering mushrooms into the Kitchen.
She walked into the drawing room. Jasper sat on the recliner reading the newspaper. He looked tired, and gaunt. He spent most of his time worrying about Rebbecca.
"Good morning, dear brother." She walked over to him and hugged him. He smiled slightly at her and returned her hug. "How is Rebecca?"
"She has reached the Hallucination stage. She claims she can see, chess pieces moving around and animals talking non-sense to her. It is the same with all the reported cases. It's like mothers stories coming into reality!"
Alice laughed nervously.
Alice moved towards the violin in the corner and lifted it to her chin,
"You have seen her today?"
"This morning, around 5 am. I could not sleep." He massaged his temples. Edgar walked into the room with a tray of tea balancing precariously in his hands.
"Alice, please may you play that song for me?"
"Which one?"
Jasper snapped his fingers "My favourite, the one we were going to have at the wedding."
Edgar yawned and the tray tilted over the edge of his hands he caught it just before it fell to the floor. He looked at Alice, who chuckled. She was the only one who noticed. He stared at the newspapers headlines. No avoiding it then. He left the room, just as the voice of the violin drifted from the room.
Alice played and listened to her brother reading the headlines.
"Oh, dear."
"Hmm?"
"I say, my dear, do you know the Old Doll Maker on Chapel lane? Well he and his missus where murdered quite appallingly last night." He tutted and turned the page. Jasper was a constable in training. "Quite some work today then. How dreadful for they poor blighters! I brought you Birthday present from them, just last week."
Alice felt the dread and fear consume her. She kept playing the violin and grimaced.
"Yes, how dreadful." Her voice trailed off.
Alice heaved a sigh as she left the warmth of the house. Jasper had left for work over an hour ago and her father had left before anyone woke up earlier that morning. She cautiously walked down the steps from her green front door into the snow-clad street.
"Why, if it isn't Alice Von Phantom! You look stunning today my dear, stunning." Alice curtsied to a rather overweight middle-aged man, and smiled at him.
"Good Morn, Sir Walter. It is a fine day is it not?"
"Certainly, certainly. How is your dear father?"
"Away, as usual. I think he is on business with an Indian Lord." She pulled an impressed face and Walter laughed.
"Well that is certainly, extravagant! Please give my wishes to your Father when you next see him and I insist you all come over for a meal some time!" He laughed and then lent forward whispering into Alice's ear. "Just to warn you now, I think he is planning on bombarding you again! That fool, up his own ass-"
"Woo! Ok, there Walter!" Alice chuckled and patted the man on the arm. "I know how to handle this!"
"Please say you have no desire what so ever to accept."
"No, Walter no. He is not a nice Gentle man at all."
"He will only see you as an object, I warn you now! Hopefully your father sees that too!"
"Yes, hopefully." Alice trailed off.
"Well, Good day dear. Must dash, have some things to do."
Alice waved as he walked away into the crowds. Walter Blanche had been a family friend for many years. He was like Alice's' second father, especially after her mother died. Most of the affection she received was from Walter. Frederick had cut himself off from family life, diving into his work. He did deeply love his children, but the death of his wife still clung to him like a leech sucking all life from him.
Alice walked on, glad Walter had warned her about her possible suitor. Jonathon Abercrombie was not a nice young man. He came from a family who ran most of the workhouses in London. Yes, he was desirable due to his connections and his influence and wealth, but he only sought things that he could add to his collection. He did not see individual people, but opportunities for more money or in Alice's' case an object he could indulge in and use as he pleased.
Alice walked faster to the park that she was dragged away from yesterday. She climbed to the top of the small hill and looked down the rabbit hole. She stared at it for some time. She then rooted through her coat pockets and pulled a tin of Pradhan Indian cigarettes and lit one, inhaling deeply. When she finished she placed the remnants back in the tin and moved closer to the hole.
She got down to her knees and peered down it. Her hand slipped.
"Woo Alice. Careful now!' She muttered to herself. She stood upright again and smiled at the rabbit hole. A stupid idea that was. She then heard the crunch of snow behind her.
"Miss Alice?" Edgar came up the hill, a cigar in his mouth this time. "Are you ok? Get away from that hole, you'll fall down it!"
He moved to her side and peered down it, his hands in his trouser pockets.
"Whew! Dark in there. Anyway, miss Alice would you like to accompany me to do a few errands?" He held out his arm and Alice took it smiling.
"Certainly."
"Have you been smoking again, Miss Alice?"
The pair began to walk away.
"Says you, with that monster in your mouth!"
They bickered as they walked down the hill. Arm in arm.
The Caterpillar shook its head as it watched them from the same spot the rabbit had stood the day before."You Idiot! Don't get involved like that!" It squeaked after Edgar.
A pair of red eyes appeared in the hole. Great, I am like the cat now! the eyes thought.
"Shh! Someone will here!" The voice seemed to come from the pair of eyes.
"Oh shut up you daft Rabbit!" The caterpillar sat on a mushroom crossing his arms, clearly annoyed, aiming his remarks at the eyes peering up from the hole. "Have you stolen my hookah again?"
"No, the cat did! Don't blame me, anyway your late… for the second time." The rabbit spoke defiantly, and tapped something metallic within the hole.
"I am going to give that cat a talking to."
"Are you even listening to me? I might as well talk to the tree. I'll Get more response from it. I shall have you know!" The Rabbit cast its eyes to the tree which bowed. "Ha ha! See. I like the tree best. I bet the tree will buy my an un-merry happy Easter present, unlike a certain small gremlin like creature I know!"
"So? I want my Hookah. I get grumpy, dont you clean your whisker while your talking! I can not abide such rude things!" The Caterpillar acted out a conversation with an imaginary cat. "Yes, you do. Here is your Hookah! I am deeply saddened." It said to itself in a cat like purr. "Anyway, I am late… jeez. I have to go to a bloody murder scene now and all. Want to come? Should be fun?
"Ooh. Now you want to talk! I can't, I have done my job so far. I think the cat took the hookah so that you would concentrate and do your job, without been spaced all the time, seeing humans jumping up at you."
"Yeah, whatever." The caterpillar picked up the mushroom and threw it at the eyes.
An old woman sat behind the hole and peered up, observing a caterpillar rudely yelling at what she at first thought was itself, until a second voice replied. She turned back round, eyes wide with fear. Had she gone mad?
That beginning bit IS NOT MINE! I found it somewhere and it should be ring instead of watch, but I thought what the hell.
Ok so. I get very fed up with the typical girlie girlie squeaky non independent heroine, hence why most of mine tend to be... less orthodox, hence why Alice smokes. Just makes her less perfect (even though I see nothing wrong with smoking... but lets not get into that!)
Hopefully should update soon!
I have no idea how long this may become! :S
We are all mad here! - Cheshire Cat