1. Goodbye Old Life, And Finding Out The Truth

Present Day. . . .

Alice stood up and wiped sweat from her brow as she sat down for the first time in eight hours. It was game night at the high school so the café was busy with the parents eating dinner before going to watch their kids play football, cheer, or march in the band.

Not to mention that it being a Friday just meant busy day no matter for what.

"I'm so glad they're clearing out." She groaned out as her boss, Ms. Nelson joined her.

"You worked real hard today Alice, covering for Amber when she called in, and then with Butch going home sick." The elderly lady said. "Why don't you go home early? We can handle the rest of tonight."

"Are you sure? What if it picks up again? I don't want to leave you short handed!" Alice told the elderly woman.

Ms. Nelson waved her hand around and said, "You know good and well that won't happen. Go home Alice. You deserve a break. You've been called in every day this week, or already worked it. Yesterday you worked three shifts straight!"

"I am tired." Alice murmured, conceding to her bosses wishes.

"No wonder you are tired! You shouldn't let the others take advantage of you!" Ms. Nelson scolded. "Now get going!"

Alice smiled and stood up, running to clock out. Though she would never say it aloud, she was so relieved Ms. Nelson was making her leave. She felt if she stayed for another hour, she would faint.

She punched her time card into the time clock and then set it back in its rightful place. She pulled her coat on to help protect her against the chill and waved goodbye to everyone.

"Be careful!" Marvin, the cook yelled after her. "With the game going on, a lot of the cops will be around the stadium making sure nothing goes wrong. So drunk drivers are bound to be about, even this early."

"Will do." Alice called back and walked out the front door.

It had gotten considerably colder, and Alice wished she had driven to work instead of walking.

Taking a deep breath, she began a brisk walk, wanting to get home and soak in a hot bath to thaw out.

Absently, her mind began to slip into the Wonderland.

She had worked so much lately, that she hadn't thought about the magical place.

"The Hatter and the Queen are in love." She said with a happy sigh. That was what she last remembered from visiting that place.

So preoccupied, she didn't hear the squealing of tired that rounded a corner as she began to cross the street.

Headlights cut across her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

The car was swerving horrible, letting Alice know the driver was indeed drunk, and it was barely past seven.

'I don't want to die!' Alice thought, fear choking her, and enabling her limbs motionless. She stood there, ready to die. . .

* * *

"Alice! Alice! Wake up!"

Alice groggily opened her eyes, and blinked several times, finding the sky above her to be filled with diamonds.

Blinking several more times, she wondered why she could see the stars so clearly? You couldn't see them this well in town.

Why was she outside?

Who had called her name?

She sat up slowly, her memories coming back to her in bits and pieces.

"Am I dead?" She asked out loud.

"Pssh. Not yet."

Alice turned her head to find a man kneeling beside her. His hair fell around his face in black and dark gray stripes. His eyes glowed green at her and a black and gray tail swished about behind him.

Her eyes widened to the point she felt they should have fallen out of her head.

"Cheshire cat?" she asked, unsure.

"Who else would I be Alice? Did you hit your head or something?" He told her, grinning at her, showing two dainty fangs.

When Alice didn't answer, his smile faded.

"Did you hit your head Alice?" He asked, totally serious.

Alice didn't answer once again, since she noticed his shirtless state. The Cheshire cat was wearing nothing but a pair of low slung leather pants.

He waved a clawed hand in front of her face to get her attention again.

"This is serious Alice. How much do you remember?" He asked her.

"Um. . .I know who people are. . .I think. That's all." Alice murmured. Brightly, she asked, "Are the Queen and Hatter married yet?"

Surprised showed on the Cheshire Cat's face, then it turned worried.

"This isn't good Alice. That's the last thing you can remember? Years have passed since the two of them. . .Went their separate ways." The Cat told her.

"Oh." Alice said sadly, then looked around. "So what has happened since then?"

"Nothing much. . .YOU are with the MAD Hatter now." he told her.

Alice felt her face twist in confusion.

"I'm with the Hatter? Why?"

"Because you are the only person who can keep him calm. The only person who can keep him from hurting other people. He's very distraught that you disappeared from him. When I heard you had disappeared and that he was beside himself, I came looking for you. And it seems you went on a walk, tripped, and hit your head." the Cheshire Cat finished dryly.

"I suppose I should go back to him then?"

The Cheshire Cat nodded and stood, offering his clawed hand to her, and pulling her to her feet.

"Alice. . .He's not the man you seem to remember last." the Cat told her. "He's truly Mad now. No one calls him the Hatter anymore, save for you. He's Mad Hatter to everyone else. To few, he's the Murdering Mad Hatter."

"Murdering" Alice asked in alarm.

"It's not my place to tell you at this time Alice." the Cheshire Cat murmured, leading her through the thick woods that seemed to have appeared around them out of no where. "Not yet at least. If you are terrified of him, then he will be more upset. Don't be afraid of him. He loves you and cares for you. He'll prove that with every action that he does."

Alice was about to demand to be told what had happened in the time she couldn't remember then saw a huge tree looming ahead. In the tree she could see windows. A house?

"The Mad Hatter's home." The Cheshire Cat announced once they stood in front of it.

"Alice?"

Alice spun around at the new voice to discover a man she knew was the Hatter. Only, he was wearing only a low slung pair of leather pants, which seemed to be the fashion in the Wonderland for men, black boots that buckled up to his knees, and his hair was braided.

What scared her though, was the amount of blood that covered him.

"Alice, you're home!" he said, stepping toward him.

Alice threw her hands up to ward him off, and noticed immediately that he had stopped approaching her.

"Oh Alice!" He moaned. "I'm so sorry! How could I be so thoughtless as to try and embrace you, covered in blood. I'm so thoughtless."

Alice began to quake and turned to ask the Cheshire Cat to take her away, only to find him gone. He had left her alone with this mad man.

"Let's go inside. I'll clean up and we'll both get into some fresh clothes. What happened to you my dear? You're aren't wearing the clothes you were earlier. This is nothing I made. And your hair, its so short!" He rambled on as he opened the door to his tree. . .his house. . .Their house?

Alice reached up and touched her hair that barely brushed her shoulders. Short?

"Oh well," He murmured, wiping the blood from his hands on a towel the appeared out of no where. He then gently touched her face. "Your hair will grow back out. Are you well? You look so pale."

"Who are you!?" She blurted, not wanting to explain her memory loss to him. "You were suppose to marry the Red Queen!"

He went very still and his hands slid down her face until his hands were gently wrapped around her neck.

"You don't remember me Alice?" He asked softly. "I'm your fiancee, and your lover. I've taken care of you for months now. Loved you with my mind, body, and soul."

Alice felt heat flood her face.

"You mean. . .We've been intimate?" She squeaked.

"Many, many times." He breathed, his eyes growing dark with memories she would never remember.

"That's not possible! I'm a virgin!" Alice cried out, breaking from his grasp and backing off the door step and into the night.

"Maybe what you last remembered you were. But I assure you, you are not Alice. Now come back to me. If you want, we can watch the mirror. You enjoyed seeing your other self in the other world." He tempted her.

Alice stopped.

"You can see the human world?" She breathed.

"Yes."

"Show me!" She demanded, stepping back toward him.

He bowed and swept his arm to the side, a gesture telling her to enter. She did quickly, having to see for herself if she was truly in this world, or only dreaming.

He showed her to a mirror that showed only her reflection for a moment. Standing beside it, he waved a hand, and the real world came into focus.

She knew he was standing behind her as she watched the scene of paramedics, police, and people everywhere.

They were all gathering around a body that was laid over in the road,

Queasiness gripped her stomach and she knew what she would see.

However, the girl on the road was undoubtedly her, but not her. Long black hair fanned around the small body, and a flowing white dress, stained in blood, covered her body.

"That's not me." she whispered.

"But it is." The Mad Hatter moaned, touching the mirror in shock, horror painted on his features. "You both switched places. "

He turned and looked at her with wonder in his eyes. "No wonder you don't remember anything Alice. It's because you are the real Alice. Not the mirror image. You are forever in the Wonderland. You'll never age, never die, just like the rest of us. An eternity together for real."

Alice swallowed and looked at the mirror again.

"But your real fiancee is dead. Aren't you upset?"

The Mad Hatter shook his head.

"All that Mirror Alice was, was you. She was just like you, thought just like you, moved just like you. . ." His voice dropped into a deeper lulling voice. "I bet you taste the same too. . . A virgin all over again."

"I'm going to faint." Alice said, grabbing for something. "I'm going to. . ."

The world went black.