Yay! I have just finished all of my exams so to celebrate I have put up this new chapter! I'm still on a planning buzz, so I'm pleased how quickly this one came together. Thanks for the reviews that I have had – they keep my happy and writing.
P/S: sorry if this chapter is a little long; I'll try not to make it a habit, and sorry if the whole Alice/Hatter thing is taking a while, too. Well, all good things take time they say. It's all in the building process. :)
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If you were to leave Wonderland this very moment, to reach up into the endless vicinity of the real world, up above the magics of Wonderland, back into the dusty and monotone, Alice's mother would be cradling her head in her hands dramatically, sitting reserved on a simple chair.
"Oh," she moaned, "where could she have gone? Why would she do this to me? Have I failed her as mother? I provided her with everything; clothing, food, shelter-"
"Love," her husband provided.
"Yes, yes," she cut him a hasty look, then resumed her cries with such melodrama the world's finest actors would be put to shame, "I gave her a fiancée, wait no – if she was here he could have been her husband by now! Oh, a husband – for Alice!" A dreamy expression crossed her features at this point, "why did she have to run off like this?"
The thought of Alice scampering about the country when she could be married and settled was almost too much for her mother to bare.
"Come now, Mary – you know that's not entirely true. I'm sure there is a good explanation for all of this!" Ever the optimist, he laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
At this Mary turned bitterly sarcastic. Her words spat with venom. "An explanation? The only explanation we have from her is that bloody note!"
Her husband cast his eyes down mournfully at the crumpled piece of paper between his fingers he had found just a few moments earlier in Alice's bedroom. With no Alice in it. He opened it, and re-read the words that made his heart cry.
Mother and Father:
Please do not try to find me, I am taking a break, and I need some time alone. I will not be returning; I need to start over fresh. Do not be alarmed; I will be perfectly fine. Do not try to find me.
Alice
"She didn't mention Arthur," Mary cried bitterly, "oh, I can't tell him she's gone. I must tell him she is sick, and can take no visitors, I could even tell him she's dead, it doesn't matter – no one must know she ran away. On no - what will the neighbors think?! "
Her husband, however, was considering other things, and didn't hear a word she said. "Isn't that funny-" he began, contemplatively.
"Funny?" She screeched.
"I mean odd," he corrected himself quickly, "odd that Alice did not mention him. Alice is not so cruel as to even leave him with no idea to her whereabouts, or whether she still intended for this marriage to work out – it is so unlike Alice."
"Who cares!" Mary was utterly exasperated, having no curiosity toward her daughter's normal behavior, let alone any change in it. "My baby is missing – what other conclusion is there to draw?"
He reached out and drew her towards him, letting his hand rest tenderly on her graying hair. "Shh," he soothed, "I will call the police directly. They will find her, I'm sure."
His wife only sniffed in reply.
Beyond the distraught mother and father, in the shadows of the darker parts, hid a stranger in Alice's room. Silent as a cat, they hurriedly cleaned up after themselves – replacing the pen on Alice's inkstand as if it had never been touched, and arranging the paper at the exact same angle as it was before. They moved noiselessly, their head darting up to every creak or groan in the wood work. Then, with a twirl of cloth and a collected departing glance, they vanished into nothing but particles hanging in the air.
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"Walkingissuchabeneficialexercisedon'tyouthink? Ithinkweshouldreallydoitmoreoften becausemydoctor saysthatit isso healthyif you are trying to lose weight."
The hare was still blabbering, but thanks to the steady walking pace and exercise, as the Hare said himself, the walking was beneficial. Slowly his words became comprehensible. Even the feverish glint in his eyes died down, turning them to a far less sinister brown.
"I agree," Alice managed to put out.
The Hatter said nothing, just sighed heavily and shook his head, making the infamous hat slide down to his nose. Irritated, he pushed it back up.
It slid down.
He pushed it up.
It slid back down.
He pushed it up.
It slid right back down again.
Then, he lost it. With one swift, passionate move he threw the hat off his head and sent it sailing into one of the nearby trees. It caught itself on a high branch, teasing it's owner as it swung daintily.
"DAMN IT!" He cried, one eye bulging dangerously.
"We'll get it down," Alice encouraged. His attachment to his hat was beyond Alice, but the half-crazed look that had taken over his face was enough to make Alice want to get it down, and quickly.
"Don't you start!" The Hatter turned on Alice with a venomous glare.
"Now, Hatter," the Hare warned him. Inconspicuously he bared his tiny two front teeth; it was a warning the Hatter knew of only too well. Now, it was just a warning. Next time, it would be a bite. Lord help him if the bunny bit.
Despite all his previous terrible encounters with those tiny teeth, the Hatter ignored him.
"You," he said, turning to Alice with his finger pointed gleefully, "are an impostor!"
Alice looked dubious. "I'm an impostor? How ever did I manage that?"
"Don't play tricky with me – it hurts my head. I know you're not the real Alice so you might as well confess now so no one gets hurt!"
The Hare shook his head, embarrassed. Wherever the Hatter was going with this, he could no longer stop him.
"You are absolutely ridiculous!" Alice was shocked. Was this what he had against her – the fact that she wasn't...her? It all seemed so terribly stupid now.
"I'm being ridiculous? I'm being ridiculous? You're the one being ridiculous!"
"Are you mad?"
"Yes."
"Stop it," the Hare cried, unable to help himself. He gave the Hatter an exasperated look. "What is wrong with you?"
"She is an impostor!" the Hatter stated again. He was absolutely certain.
If all this debate wasn't centered around Alice herself, she would have been slightly impressed at the way the Hatter stuck to his guns. But unfortunately, all this was centered around her; so unfortunately she wasn't impressed.
"She is Alice! She is!" The Hare tried to get it into the Hatter's head.
"I am Alice," Alice reinforced.
"If she is Alice, then would you mind telling me who that is?" the Hatter smiled triumphantly as he pointed out beyond the path and into a clear patch of the woods.
The Hare and Alice's eyes followed the direction of his finger and gazed out. Alice let out something what sounded like a choke. There, standing in a small clearing surrounded by a dense layering of trees and ferns was a little girl.
With blonde hair.
And Blue eyes.
"It's – It's...." The Hare stumbled over the words, unable to believe his eyes.
"It's me," Alice murmured softly, unable to tear her eyes away from the small girl that was herself at the age of seven. The girl stood, completely unaware of their presence, although they stood only a few meters away. She was turned away from them only slightly, so they could see a perfect side-on view of her. Amazingly, she was standing completely still. She didn't move an inch.
The Hatter was cheerful. "Told you, didn't I?"
The Hare was still at a loss for words. "How – how, how is that...that...possible?"
"Everything is possible," the Hatter exclaimed, his mood still radiant.
"You mean, you had seen this little girl before, and had never told me?"
The Hatter frowned at the Hare. "Just once – very briefly. When she saw me watching she ran off."
"Curiouser and curiouser," the Hare mumbled, casting another wary-eyed glance at the small blonde among the bushes.
Alice, however, had not heard a word of this interchange. All she could do was watch this girl intently, watch for any sign of life. Once, Alice swore she saw the girl's head swivel slightly in their direction, as if hearing the conversation being passed between the two men. For that split second, their eyes had met. And Alice saw deep into her own clear, round blue eyes; a mirror image. The girl's eyes were not alarmed at seeing Alice, but calm and collected, as if expecting the sight of her eighteen-year-old self. Then her eyes turned back, unconcerned. Alice let a gasp escape her lips.
"What?" the Hare and the Hatter said at once, casting concerned eyes down at Alice, who looked ashen.
"She-she knows we're here."
"She hasn't run off?" The Hatter asked, surprised. His head darted up, to check for himself.
"No, no – she looked calm."
"Calm?" The Hare raised one furry eyebrow skeptically.
"Look!" Alice pointed toward the woods, where the thick foliage surrounded her younger self.
Just beyond where the little girl stood, was a rustling in the ferns. A deep growl came from deep within it, and fur showed at the tops of the green.
There was a gasp, but it didn't come from the little girl, or the creature in the bushes.
Slowly but surely, the ferns began to shake, and to Alice's astonishment so did another bush on the opposite side of the girl. There were two now? Alice quivered.
A growl made the three walkers look up, and there, perched in the top of the tree was one of the Queen's cats. Emerging from the bushes came another two. The two surrounded the girl hungrily. The girl did nothing, only stood there. She looked straight forward, acting as if they were not there. It was if she thought of them as regular house, ready to play nice as soon as she produced a ball of yarn. That is, regular house cats the size of an Ox, with muscled that could tear down forests.
"We have to do something," Alice whispered to no one in particular. Desperation flooded her voice, "we've got to save her. Those-those things – they'll crush her!"
The Hatter silenced Alice, pressing one finger hard against her lips. "Are you kidding? Do you want to get us killed too?" He whispered back hastily. He threw a glance toward the predators, and thankfully, they had not heard Alice's outcry. The fear in his eyes was tangible.
"Go," a voice commanded.
"Who was that?" the Hare whispered, unmoving so as not to draw the cat's attention. His eyes moved quizzically to Alice, though she had not said any more.
"Go," the voice commanded again. Alice, the Hatter and the Hare looked up, startled. The girl's lips had moved, but the voice did not belong to that of a seven-year-old. It was mature, old even. The pain, age and wear-and-tear were seeping through it. It was not Alice's voice.
"I'm fine," it insisted, "you must go."
One of the cats stopped its circling, hearing the girl speak. The girl looked it straight in the eye. The cat in the tree jumped down in one lightening quick move, landing on it's two front paws. It's mask bent close to the girl's face. It's voice was monotone, but there was just a hint of sick curiosity in it.
"Did you say something?"
This time the girl put on a high, whiny voice; the voice of a seven year old. Seven year old or not, the voice still did not belong to Alice; young or old. "I said don't eat me."
The cats purred in pleasure, one even rubbing it's back against the girl's knees.
"Oh, we won't," the head cat purred exotically, "we do not claim you for ourselves."
With that, the girl disappeared as three cat-like-monsters caved over her, moans of victory and excitement fleeting from their throats.
Alice was being tugged by the back of her collar.
"We need to go Alice, now. If they catch our scent..."
"No," she mumbled, unable to cast her eyes away from the predators capturing their prey.
"Now Alice." The Hatter's voice was firm. At that moment, one of the cats looked up, it's head turning stealthily in their direction.
"Run!" Alice feet scrambled after the Hatter's clumsy shoes and the Hare's furry feet. They ran without stopping, without checking to see if they were being pursued. The trees blurred in Alice's vision, her only though to keep up with the bright orange coat fleeing in front of her. She could not determine for how long they had been running; it felt like days. Miraculously, the Hare's home appeared in front of them, and they bolted for the door, panting and sweating.
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With the girl in the sack, alive but unconscious, the creatures began to relax. They muscled stopped flexing and they're masks released a little against their face.
"Her majesty will be pleased," stated Two officially.
"Yes," agreed Three. No emotions leaked through their mask. They were monsters; nothing else.
"What's that?" Number One edged closer on all fours to a nearby tree. With one elegant movement it pounced up the tree like a leopard, making a show of it's immeasurable strength as it clung to the vertical bark. Muscles popped out of it's shoulder blades, a menacing sight to anyone but it's companions and master. Up on a high branch, it slowly crept to the outer, thinner branches. The tree creaked under the weight. With another swift movement, One produced it's claw and swiped a humongous, orange top hat from one of the finer branches. It landed on the ground with a heavy thud, soon followed by an earth-rattling landing from Number One.
Number two edged closer and sniffed the hat.
"The Mad Hatter," it related. It's voice held the indifferent edge that was so common among them.
"We must inform the Queen of this too, then," One decided, thinking for the pack.
"Let's go," Three launched the small sack onto it's back with the girl inside. Together, the three creature stalked down the path, as if they were returning with the kill at the end of the day.
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"Can someone please explain to me what is going on?" Alice was standing in the small corridor of the Hare's home, her breath caught enough to allow her to speak. The Hatter leaned against the wall on the opposite side, face red and flushed, while the Hare had collapsed on the floor in a heap.
"No, someone explain to me what is going on," the Hatter countered, equally frustrated. He reached up to secure his hat, only to find it wasn't there. He let out a groan.
"What?" The Hare asked, opening his eyes for the first time.
"My hat. It's still in that damn tree."
"We are not going back there," Alice put in firmly.
The Hatter whimpered, but agreed readily. He was more frightened of those things than he would have liked to let on.
"Okay," Alice began, twisting her fingers like she did whenever she had to think things through slowly, "so there was a younger me in the woods out there," she turned to the Hatter directly now, "a younger me – that still means I am myself, okay?"
The Hatter nodded grudgingly, hating to admit he was wrong. The Hare grinned, enjoying it all.
"And that younger me was pretty darn accurate, by the way of looks," Alice began again slowly, thinking it through as she went along.
"But," the Hare supplied for her, "she did not sound like you. I'm thinking it wasn't you at all. I think it was someone pretending to be you."
Alice nodded, agreeing. "But why would someone do that? I mean, their was those-"
Alice stopped abruptly, realizing something the Hare had figured all the long. She spoke now with realization, and awe made her voice sound sweeter.
"Those cats, they were after me. Any me would do – even if it was a younger version. What should it matter if I had grown younger in Wonderland? I mean, look at you," Alice nodded toward the Hatter who shrugged slightly, "so whoever it was was putting themselves in my place to.....protect me?"
The Hatter nodded. "Who though, would do that? It would have to be someone with that sort of power to make themselves exactly like you. Or someone with a really good costume style and make-up kit. Hey, you know those actors with the really big wardrobes down at..."
"Er-okay, I'm thinking you were on the right track with the first option," the Hare cut in hastily, "although," he turned thoughtful now, "those actor people are really nice, I bet they would do something like that for a stranger..."
"Turn themselves into the hand of the Queen?" Alice asked, skeptical. From what her own problems were telling her, she guessed that the Queen was not a woman you wanted to mess with.
"Who would have the nerve?" The Hatter mused to himself, excited by the prospect of a new mystery, seeing that his impostor theories ended in a heap.
"We'll have to start looking," Alice said, a little concerned. Who knew where this would lead her? The ring on her finger felt heavier every passing day, and not in a good way. How long would she be down here? Well, first thing first.
"That's a pretty ring. Where did you get it?" The Hatter looked down at the stone Alice was nervously playing with. She looked up, startled by the small observation.
"Uh-it's nothing; a gift. Kind of old, actually."
A strange impulse filled her, and before she knew it she had taken it off and slid it into her side pocket. The feeling of her bare finger was amazing; it felt free, if fingers could feel that way.
And just like that, she forgot about the small diamond in her pocket.