I'm not sure what I was expecting. Perhaps I was waiting for my life to flash before my eyes. Or something or someone would magically appear out of the fog and save me. Or maybe I was just hoping I'd black out so I wouldn't be a witness to the final SPLAT at the end.

None of that happened. It was a little disappointing. All I did was fall. Vaguely, I remembered something about Alice taking a giant fall. Down the rabbit hole? Well this was no rabbit hole, but maybe it was my own twisted version of it. The drop hadn't killed Alice, so I prayed it wouldn't kill me either.

By the time the ground became visible, I was so bored that I'd taken up trying to do flips mid-air. It was physically impossible but that didn't keep me from trying. Maybe I could give myself super powers in this tale. That would have been cool.

Sadly, I didn't acquire any super powers. Instead, I'd been reduced to flailing my arms and producing a high-pitched squealish scream that I wasn't proud of as soon as the ground became visible.

The ground hurtled toward my face at an alarming rate. If I didn't do something, I was going to become a Taryn Pancake. As much as I loved the breakfast food, I wasn't eager to become one.

"Think, Taryn." I chided myself. That entire fall and I hadn't bothered to think of a way to survive the landing. Sometimes my own stupidity irritated me.

Before I could even begin to come up with any ideas, I was met with a hairy, pudgy little face.

"Hello, pretty lady." The boy soared past me, straight up into the clouds.

I watched in confusion as he disappeared. I was so shocked by his appearance, I temporarily forgot about my present situation.

The boy's density allowed him to fall faster than me. Within seconds, he was eye-level with me again.

"Hi." I said, still in shock.

"Pretty lady like to fly?" He grabbed my hand so we were now falling at the same pace.

My speed had doubled and my stomach crawled up into my throat as the ground drew closer. "What are you doing up here?" I asked.

"Flying," he replied simply, "look for bird. Found pretty lady."

"Hate to break it to you but we're falling, not flying."

"Pretty lady no like flying?" He looked genuinely upset at the thought.

"I prefer to stay on the ground. I'll leave the flying to you."

He grinned. "We go down. Put pretty lady on ground."

"Yeah, no kidding. So how were you planning on not dying from the fall?"

"No dying. Brother help Milo to fly. My turn. Pretty lady will not die. Mushrooms catch us." He smiled, clearly pleased with himself.

I didn't understand a word of that.

"Land now."

I looked down and a scream crawled up my throat. Green and purple blobs, which I assumed were the mushrooms the boy had mentioned, dotted the field of brown, dead grass.

Milo laughed and held onto me as we hurtled toward one of the purple blobs. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to brace myself for impact.

We landed so softly, I hadn't realized we weren't falling anymore until the boy spoke again. "Pretty lady open eyes now. Not flying anymore."

Hesitantly, I opened my eyes only to find myself sunk waist deep into the gooey blob. Neither of us seemed to be hurt.

"See?" The boy clapped excitedly. "Flying fun. No get hurt. Pretty lady not die."

"Milo!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the other boy's voice.

"Olim!" Milo grinned and jumped off the mushroom to meet the other boy.

The two were identical. A mop of red hair fell over their pudgy faces. They were both around my height, but twice my size. They wore khaki shorts with bright red suspenders over an orange t-shirt. The rainbow shoes completed the picture. The only difference was that Milo had blue eyes and Olim's were green.

"Milo, did you find the bird?" Olim asked. He got the pen and pad in his hands ready.

Milo shook his head proudly.

Olim's shoulders dropped in disappointment. "No bird?"

"Better." Milo spread his arms out toward me.

"That is not a bird."

I thought that was pretty obvious.

"Our treasure hunt clearly says a bird. I do not see a girl on the list anywhere." Olim grunted.

"Pretty lady is better than bird." Milo said earnestly. "I will keep pretty lady."

Olim sighed in defeat. "Fine. You keep the girl."

Milo jumped up and down in excitement. "Yay! Milo now have pretty lady."

"Yes, yes. You always did have our father's taste in pretty young girls." Olim patted his brother's shoulder. "Now, let us go. We have a bird to find."

Milo ran back over and scrambled up onto the blob (it really didn't look anything like a mushroom).

"Pretty lady come too!"

I took his offered hand and let him help me off the whatever-it-was. "Where are we going?"

"To find bird for brother's list."

"What kind of list?"

"List for hunt."

"Hunt?"

"Fun hunt. Lots of prizes."

"A scavenger hunt then." I thought I remembered the other brother say something about that.

"No talk, just search. Find bird for list."

And just like that our conversation was over. The brothers weren't much company. They hardly spoke, except to point out random objects and deem them not birds. But it was better than being alone. And seeing as how I was lost and alone in this messed up world, I decided to stick with them.

"Your lady friend doesn't talk much," Olim pointed out after a while of walking in silence.

Milo shrugged. "Maybe scared."

That caught my attention. "What would I be afraid of?"

"Tiny door and cookie." Milo said like that explained everything.

"I really don't like the sound of that." I groaned.

"You are right, brother." Olim confirmed with a nod. "But it is the only way. We have to go through the little door to find the cat."

"I thought you were looking for a bird."

Milo gave me a sympathetic look and patted me on the head. "Pretty lady confused. Find bird later. Look for cat now."

"When was that decided?"

Olim shook his head. "You were right beside Milo when we discussed it."

"Oh," I hated that I felt so dumb next to a boy who couldn't form real sentences.

Olim froze so suddenly, I walked into his back. He held up his hand, signaling us to be quiet.

Milo swallowed hard. "Is it him?"

Olim nodded. "He smells your lady friend. We should have left her behind. The last time we ran into that wolf, he ate our big brother and our dog. Now he will surely eat us as well."

Milo looked like he was ready to cry. I laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. I prayed I hadn't heard him right, but if this world really ran on my imagination and nightmares it made sense.

I had a strange urge to protect the brothers. They had taken me in without a second thought. They didn't even know my name, yet they'd helped me. It was time I repaid the favor.

"You two go on ahead," I told them, "I'll double back and try to lead him off your trail."

Milo's eyes grew wide and he frantically shook his head. "Pretty lady no go. Stay with Milo. No get eaten." He reached out and pulled me into a bone crushing hug.

I landed with an 'Oomph' against the boy's chest. He smelt of Cheez-Whiz (and yes, I know what that smells like. The bullies at school used to find it amusing to spray me with the stuff whenever we passed each other)

"The girl is right." Olim pried me out of his brother's arms. "This is the best plan."

Milo started crying. "Milo wait by cat. Pretty lady find cat."

I nodded, trying to keep myself from crying. "I promise. Now go, before he gets here."

"You are brave," Olim said, "thank you."

I smiled at him and then turned and ran into the trees.

It didn't take long for the brothers to disappear and for me to become completely lost. I wasn't sure how I was going to find my way back to them, but I'd made a promise. I wouldn't give up until I found them.

I heard the wolf snarl and then he pounced, emerging from the brush in a giant mass of black fur.

Great, I thought, It's the wolf from before. Of course it is.

I managed to leap back and avoid his massive claws. "Fancy meeting you here."

He spun and bared his teeth. "You will not escape me this time."

"Well, considering you'd probably still be stuck up on that ledge if it weren't for me, I think a thank you is in order."

The wolf scoffed. "I would have gotten down eventually. If that fall did not kill you, it would have been able to kill me."

"Unless I had cut down all the blob things that shielded my fall."

"I-" he froze, "is shielded even a word?"

I paused. "It is now?"

The wolf rolled his eyes. "You did not cut down the mushrooms."

"Are they mushrooms though?" I countered. "They look more like big purple blobs with no real shape."

He shrugged (could wolves shrug?). "I don't think anyone really knows what they are. They aren't even edible."

"Well that's a bit disappointing."

"Tell me about it," he sighed, "now back to business. You will not escape me."

I groaned. "I was really hoping you had forgotten about killing me, but I guess if you want to play it that way, I can go along with it. You aren't the first wolf I've taken down."

He laughed. "Ah yes, I've heard the stories. Rumor has it that you've actually befriended him now. You've turned him against our leaders."

"Everyone needs a friend. Even blood thirsty wolves."

"Noble words, but they will not be enough to help you now. I have not come alone. You made a grave mistake venturing into these woods alone. These trees are the home turf. As well as theirs."

My heart sank when I heard the screeching.

The beating of wings grew closer. The first monkey appeared on the lowest branch of the nearest tree. It bared its fangs and growled at me. I couldn't be sure, because I wasn't an expert on reading monkey facial expressions, but I was sure I saw recognition in his eyes. It was the same stupid monkey who'd poisoned me.

I was finding it hard to breathe. The scars on my face stung. Of course my stupid nightmares would conjure up the monkeys from my time in the Snow White tale. Only this time, I didn't have August to save me from their talons.

I was so dead.

"Yes, prepare for death. You will not survive long on your own." The wolf growled.

"Then it is a good thing she isn't alone."

Time slowed down. All other sounds were drowned out. Tears clouded my vision but this time I didn't bother blinking them away.

"August," I breathed.

He winked at me and then turned his attention back to the wolf. "I fear it's you my friend who needs to prepare yourself for death."

"Who is your friend?" The wolf sounded amused.

"My name is August, but don't bother remembering the name. You won't be able to soon enough."

"You do realize that another human will not help you." He tilted his head toward me. "It would have been wiser to send someone with magical abilities."

"You mean like me?" I grinned and stepped up next to August, suddenly feeling braver and more confident. "Iris herself called me a witch. Is that enough for you?"

August gave me a weird look, but he quickly turned his attention back to the wolf. "You wanted a magical duo? You got yourself one."

It was my turn to give him a weird look. "You have magic?"

He shrugged. "This is Wonderland. Anything is possible."

The wolf seemed to come out of his shock. "The boy is right. Anything is possible. Even a wolf defeating two being of magic is not unheard of."

I made a sort of strangled squeaking noise as the wolf transformed before our eyes. He grew to twice his original size and looked like some form of man-wolf hybrid. His hairy hindquarters were all wolf, but his waist and chest were fully man. At the end of his fingers protruded deadly claws. From the neck up was where it started getting really weird. His neck was covered in coarse wolf hair, but his face was human. Except for the wolf's snout where his nose and mouth should have been and glowing yellow eyes. Wolf ears poked out from underneath his black hair which was braided down his back. If I hadn't been so terrified, I might have laughed at the odd combination.

August awkwardly cleared his throat. "Unless you weren't bluffing earlier about being a witch, I suggest we run."

I didn't hesitate. I grabbed August's hand, which was warm and familiar against my own, and tore off back toward where I'd last seen the brothers.

"So you were bluffing." August panted.

"No. I'm a witch. At least, here I am. I just don't know how to control it yet. Standing and fighting might have proved fatal." I glanced behind us to find the wolf-man quickly catching up.

I tightened my grip on August's hand. "Keep up." I made a sharp right, zig-zagging through the trees. If we were lucky, he wouldn't be able to make so many tight turns quickly with his massive size, which would give us the advantage. It was a nice thought. As it was, our luck wasn't that great.

Instead of weaving through the trees, Wolf-man plowed right through them. He took down the trees like they were nothing. It barely slowed him down at all.

"This may not have been the best idea." August said as if that weren't obvious. "Now we're the ones slowing down and he's the one gaining on us." He looked down at our entwined fingers and frowned. With a flick of his wrist, he managed to pry his fingers loose of mine.

"Yeah, I noticed." I said, a little irritated with him. Was he mad at me for something? Was he still holding a grudge that I'd entered the curse without him knowing? "Unless you've got a better idea, shut up and run."

"There!" August pointed toward an opening in the side of a steep cliff a few yards to our left. "The opening's too small. He won't be able to fit inside."

Unless he manages to turn back into a regular wolf. I thought bitterly, but I decided not to dampen his spirits. That cave was probably our best option at the moment.

As we approached it, my heart sank. It was like an optical illusion. The closer we got to it, the smaller the opening seemed to get.

"I hate your imagination." August grumbled.

"You're feeling supportive today, aren't you?" This was not how I imagined our reunion to be.

"Try imagining it getting bigger. Or make a new opening. Anything. Just get us away from that thing!"

I bit my tongue to keep from saying anything else. Yes I was happy to have him with me, but he was starting to get on my nerves. I closed my eyes, trusting that August wouldn't allow me to run into any trees, and concentrated. I imagined the opening on the cave getting bigger. Not too big, but just enough to allow us entrance.

"Yes! You did it!" August exclaimed. He grabbed my hand and sped up.

We barely managed to dive through the hole before Wolf-man managed to grab us. He howled in frustration and I saw him start to transform.

"No!" I willed the opening to close just as he finished transforming and leapt for us.

The cave went dark and I heard a yelp from the wolf on the other side as he slammed into solid rock. I breathed a sigh of relief and slid down the wall.

"Nice moves." August said from somewhere to my right. I heard him shuffling around for a minute, and then the cave was illuminated by the light of a torch he'd managed to light. I wasn't even going to ask how he'd done it.

I smiled up at him. "Thank you. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I'd be dog food right now."

"Well, wolf food technically."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Whatever. It's nice to have you back."

"Uh," he frowned and motioned between us, "do we know each other?"

*the normal side of my brain* let's bring August back into the story!

*the writer's side* and let's make him not remember Taryn!

*normal side* what? no. let's give them an adorable reunion with lots of kisses and cute otp moments

*writer's side* more pain! more suffering! make August forget everything!

I have issues lol

Review! :)