The inside was well-furnished but worn, as if it had borne many passengers before myself. I saw faded designs of hearts in the graying cloth of the furniture. Strange, considering it was a white carriage, and with the little I knew of Wonderland, red and white were from opposing sides. In the stories, hadn't the Red Queen been defeated by the White? Maybe the White Queen repossessed carriages?

Several candles were in place on the wall, giving off dim light to the inside. They were fairly useless with daylight shining outside the walls, but I soon realized their purpose. Just as I felt the carriage rock underneath me with the start of the horses, it grew immediately dark, and the light from the candles warmly lit up the interior. I moved aside musty curtains to look outside and saw trees flying past me at impossible speeds. The only reason I could be sure they were trees was the occasional branch that would knock the window; other than that, it was just a mess of dark green flying by in the blackness. Wherever we were, it had to be night.

I closed the curtain again and sat back, letting my dream happen. When I woke up, it would be the morning of the wedding, and I would check my stockings as soon as I rolled out of bed to avoid being late. It was odd though. I couldn't remember the last time that I had realized that I was asleep in mid-dream; I hadn't had it happen since I was a girl. So maybe I wasn't dreaming? Nah, of course I was. Maybe I'd actually gone to the wedding already, and I'm really in the back of a taxi in the midst of a drunken stupor. That sounds a lot more like me.

The horses came to a sudden almost instantaneous halt, and I flew off of my seat into the seat across from me, nearly putting my hair-sprayed up-do into a candle that would've surely burnt me to cinders in several seconds. Alice was immediately at the door, opening it for me and lending me a hand to help me from the transport. I hesitantly took her hand; wasn't it usually dashing young men that helped ladies from their rides?

I looked around and found we were still in the densely forested area. Alice was lifted her skirts to above her knees, tying the excess at her waist, revealing milky white legs underneath ripped stockings and old garters.

"Miss Hatter, I recommend rolling your skirts up a tad higher. The thorns are high, and it is much easier to hide ripped stockings than it is outer garments. See, you've already got a rip," Alice instructed.

I looked down at the skirt of my little black dress, cut to my knees.

"I didn't roll this up at all, Alice, and I didn't rip them on thorns. It was my nails, I was rushing…"

She blinked at me. "That's it?"

"What?"

"Your clothes?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh my."

"What's the problem?"

Alice shook her head. "No matter, I'll tell my lady it was merely ruined in the forest. She'll fix you up properly."

Don't.

I almost gasped at the voice in my head, mainly because it wasn't mine, but then it was gone.

"Let's go," she said as she began to pick her way through the thorny path. The rabbit hopped ahead of her, darting its way through the darkness until its white flashes were gone.

I took about three steps after her when I looked down at my shoes. This was going to be a nightmare. It was slow going after Alice, who had obviously done this before. My legs hurt from the walk and were becoming bloodied at the pricks that were being constantly thrown at it.

"Where are we going?" I called, quickly becoming out of breath.

"To my lady."

"Yeah, I got that much. Where is that?"

"Just a little farther!"

I squinted in the darkness. "I don't see anything."

"You will! Very soon! You cannot miss it."

She was correct. Abruptly, within the darkness, bright whiteness began to shine and the form of a gigantic palace grew before me. We emerged from the trees, and I found that we were still in darkness but in a level grassy plain. The palace was, in fact, glowing. I spotted the rabbit again, hopping furiously into the distance, and then Alice broke into a run after it. She looked back at me, waving at me to hurry. I kicked off my heels, grabbed them, and took off after her.

Once again, the voice that was not my own, spoke in my head.

Don't.