Hey! Been a while... Sorry guys, and anyone who's reading my other stories! I know I'm behind... I suck :/ These few weeks have been a little hectic, next week will be, too, so just please be patient with me! I love you guys :) Anyhoosers... I hope you like it!
Enjoy!
Alice woke up again a second time. This time the bottle was half empty, and the voices were starting to crowd her mind again. There was something different in the air, also; sort of like a buzz of activity, letting her know something was happening, or was going to happen. She lifted herself up carefully; her feet were still bare, her body encased in a light blue dress that clung to her in some places and hung carelessly at others.
She finished the rest of the drink-not thinking about anything but her mother. Her blue-blue eyes. Instead Alice tried to think of last night. She felt the voices edge off, hissing in annoyance—but not complete anger—at the pills. This was good.
Alice couldn't decide if last night had been a dream or not. The boy with the yellow-ish eyes, and the enormous, stretched grin. After he'd slammed the door in her face, she'd run back to her room, feeling as if his smile followed her, staring at her back, chasing at her, before throwing herself into her room and burrowing under the covers. Just then there was a knock at the door, and a voice.
On the outside of her head, the way she liked it.
She stared at the door, and blinked. It opened, a white light filtering into the room. Moving from it was a short woman dressed in a white uniform, her brown hair pulled back in a high pony tail. She smiled at Alice.
"Good morning, dear! I hope you slept well! It's just about time for breakfast. Have you taken your medicine yet?" Alice nodded and indicated to the empty bottle, and the nurse nodded.
"Alright then, if you'll step out and follow me, I'll show you to the cafeteria." Alice did so after slipping into some thin, pale shoes and shuffling past the nurse out the door. The woman locked it behind her, flashing a smile at Alice before leading her down the hallway. Alice glanced back at the door.
Why would they lock it during the day and not at night? She wondered.
Shaking these thoughts out of her head, she followed the nurse around a corner and into a longer hallway. There were a few more nurses that gave smiles to her as she past, all having bright teeth but not nearly as big as horse-face. Up ahead she could hear clinking and the murmur of voices, and a knot of nerves twisted in Alice's stomach. She wasn't good with people—even before they knew. She didn't know how to talk to them.
And she didn't want them to hear the voices.
Despite the fact that they were quiet now—she knew they'd be back. They reached the end of the hallway, opened double doors, walking inside.
It was a large cafeteria. Long tables set spread away from each other, lined with people in somewhat the same clothing as her. The woman in front of her turned and smiled.
"This is where you'll be eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, alright? Now be sure to be nice to all of the others, and they'll be nice to you. I have to go handle a couple things, but would you try and make friends?" Alice nods, feeling like she was in kindergarten again. But that was before the voices. And before the awkwardness.
Actually… the awkwardness started there, she thought.
There were only about ten children in her old kindergarten class. All neatly dressed, good appearance. Alice was small, blonde-haired, blue-eyed. Davy Bucket was in that class. He pushed her down once-called her stupid. Took her toy. Meggie Anders laughed at her. Pulled on her long hair.
After that, Alice found it hard to try and make friends.
Especially now.
The woman left her, standing alone at the edge of the cafeteria. Several eyes turned to her. Some with hints of red. Others with blue. She liked these better. But she still stayed away. Instead, Alice moved to the lunch line. It was a long, metal counter with trays at the beginning, stacks of food throughout, and a stout lunch lady in a hairnet at the end. Alice took a small, plastic tray up and stood in line next to a tall, lanky boy. He had dark hair, and didn't turn to her. He had a strange tick—his arm would twitch every so often, and he'd glance around, and fiddle with things—he wouldn't leave them alone.
Alice had never seen someone so interested in everything before. Or maybe he could hear voices, too—maybe he was trying to find a distraction.
She'd tried this before.
It hadn't worked.
Alice decided against speaking to the boy, and slid forward as the line moved. She eyed the food. She took a bread roll, set it on her tray. A bowl of macaroni. Peas. A carton of milk. Finally Alice reached the end of the line. The lunch lady had a bored, blank expression on her face, and her brown eyes turned to Alice as she scanned her patient card Alice hadn't realized was clipped onto her chest.
As she fiddled with the plastic card, Alice moved away from the line before looking up. The cafeteria was still full of buzzing insects, though quieter than expected since half the place was filled. Most people sat away from each other. Glared with red eyes. Alice stepped between tables, down small aisles, looking for somewhere without someone with red-eyes, or twitchy ones, or ones that glared at her. Psst… Alice froze. Psssst… She had taken her pills, Alice reminded herself. She glanced to the table beside her. A woman closest to her was slowly chewing on her napkin; so she didn't hear the voices. But the voices had to be gone. So that meant…
"Psssssst!" Alice turned quickly to her right. Caught brown eyes and light hair.
Him.
The boy from before.
The laughing boy.
He motions to her, glancing around, like it's a secret.
Alice glances around, too.
No one notices.
Alice moves toward the table. To the only side with no people. She sits her tray down. The laughing boy smiles. Next to him, to his right, is a girl.
She glares down at her food. She has long brown hair.
Tied up with a huge red bow.
Alice flinches.
The girl looks up at her—red eyes, so red!—and snarls. She shoves her food away from her.
The tray clatters to the floor.
Mashed potatoes splatter.
No one seems to notice.
Alice sits slowly, slowly on the cool bench. Next to the boy—to his right, away from the red—is another boy. He stares at her.
Something shoots through her.
Fear?
Recognition?
Both.
His dark hair.
He grins.
His eyes are strangely yellow. The grin—it stretches across his face, so wide.
Alice reminds herself—pills, she took pills, I took pills, you took pills—were they working? She didn't know. She couldn't hear the voices.
But everything else was still there. The laughing boy leans forward, oh-so close, directly in her face, centimeters away. His eyes widen-they are dark brown, but underneath there's blue, maybe purple—
"Are you her?"
Alice blinks. She opens her mouth to respond, but doesn't know how.
How does she answer the question?
"She's not her," Red snarls, her face so-red as she pokes at her thin tummy, "She's stupid." The cat boy grins. Stares. Alice shifts. Laughing boy continues to grin.
"I guess, maybe you're not," he whispered, smiling, "I'm mad!" Cackles. So loud! Alice watches in amazement as he bursts into a fit of giggles.
"Mad, had, tad, sad, bad, bat, hat, mad-hat! Madder-Hatter! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" The mad hatter laughs, flailing, turning red in the face—a funny-looking red, not an angry one—falling over himself. Red girl pokes at her tummy and her arms. Cat grins before raising a small plastic knife. It's been sharpened to a point—sharp, sharp point.
He brings it down.
A voice screams.
It is Alice.
:O Well if you wanted a cliffhanger... there you go ;) Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon... So you don't have to wait :) But yeah... So, you like it so far? Are there any characters I have yet to mention you would like in? The plot will start to develop a bit more, promise! ^^ Well, hope you liked it. Review and things, love ya! later!