ALICE: BLOODY WONDERLAND
CHAPTER THREE: This Pill Makes You Smaller
Sleep was fitful that night. I tossed and turned on the sand, trying to stay as far as I possibly could from all the boys, even Maurice. I didn't want anyone to touch me. Not one soul; especially not with my legs as tender as they were. Since the afternoon, I'd regained my ability to walk, but only just barely. As I finally drifted to sleep, I found with terror that it did not go undisturbed.
When I opened my eyes, I was in a nightmare.
I was at my parent's house in America. If you had watched and hadn't known me all that well, there would've been nothing nightmarish about it. It was just a normal Victorian-style house, seated promptly in a quaint, greened neighborhood. A light flickered in my bedroom window on the first floor. It was the only one on.
Carefully, carefully, oh so carefully, I proceeded. In order to proceed, I gave myself small, easy steps to follow.
Go to the porch.
Open the door.
Go right in the entry way, past the couch and the flickering TV in the dark living room, down that hall.
My bedroom door was already opened for me. She was…waiting.
"Go into your bedroom, Alice." She said, smiling pallidly from the eerie darkness of my room. Only a single candle wisped around on my window sill, giving off a tiny bit of light. I followed the girl's challenge shakily and slowly, my eyes frozen on her as she sat by my mirror and tinkered with my old belongings.
"Don't you remember me? What do you say, Alice?" The girl looked at me devilishly, grinning even wider. Only her eyes, hair and teeth were visible, yet I knew immediately who she was. Her red irises were a change, but otherwise, anyone could've identified her. "I've been dying for you to play with me again."
She was me.
I jolted up from sleep, screaming shrilly into the night air. Birds cawed and fluttered out of the surrounding forest as my shrieks startled their brothers and sisters. I gripped my chest, breathing heavy and quick. My hands were shaking. This wasn't the first time…I mean…I'd seen her before. Someone came tumbling through the undergrowth, ripping me from my memories. At least they weren't good memories.
"Hey! You!" The crasher called angrily from the dark. I whipped around fervently, trying to pinpoint his location. My eyes found a tuft of red hair about five and a half feet up, dark blue eyes winking in unison. "You're going to wake up the whole freaking island. You're lucky I don't throw you in the ocean."
"Sorry." I apologized, still startled from my dream. The boy frowned and picked his way over to me. I recognized him at once. It was Jack Merridew from the trek earlier. Though, I'd never actually seen him before, I'd heard Maurice and Roger gossiping about him enough. They were right…he was hopelessly ginger. But that's ok.
"Whatever." He said, "As long as you don't do it again, you hear?"
"Uh-huh."
As he started walking away, I remembered the pain in my legs again with a whine, muffled by my hands. I debated waiting until morning, when it was safer, but decided after another spurt of pain that this matter was too urgent to wait.
"Excuse me?" I piped up nervously. He stopped and turned back towards me. "But…um…could you help me look for plants in the forest very quickly?" He raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Plants?" He stated.
"Yes."
"In the forest?"
"You heard it right."
"In the middle of the night?"
"Uh-huh."
Jack sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Why?"
"Because," I responded quietly, "My legs really hurt and I could use the plants to heal them. But, if you don't want to help me that's fine. I'll just ask Maurice in the morning." My fingers twisted together in an odd way, a result of the nervous habit I'd developed over the years.
"Fine." Jack agreed unexpectedly. I frowned as he helped me to my feet and let me lean on him as I wandered the trees. Every time I stooped next to a shrub, he made sure to steady me with one hand. Without realizing it, I wandered slowly but surely into the depths of the jungle, to places I'd never been before. I had only collected one herb, and not a very helpful one at that. Looked as if the pickings would be slim here. A sigh I began was cut off with a gasp as Jack pushed me down. Not skipping a beat, he fell down on top of me. I shrieked in pain.
"You honestly thought I'd help you for nothing in return, eh?" He whispered in my ear, "Well, you're more stupid than I thought. This is going to be easy as cake."
"Get off! Someone help! HE-"
He slammed his fist into my jaw, effectively shutting me up. I began to cry pitifully, unable to do or say anything else.
"You know, you sure are pretty." He mocked me flatly, tracing my cheek with his index finger, "There's going to be soooo many uses for you, Alice."
"JACK!" Another voice cried from the beach, "JACK! WE NEED YOUR HELP! JACK!"
"Damnit…" Jack muttered, agitation glittering in his dark blue eyes. He looked down on me with hated in his eyes before he got up, towering over me. "Don't think this is over." And he left, just as unexpected as he came. I lay there for a while, watching the moon make its slow progression across the sky with shaking hands and trembling arms. My breath came in little clouds, and I realized for the first time how cold I was.
"Get up, Alice." I ordered myself weakly, pulling myself to my feet by the branches of a low tree. I'd forgotten about the herbs. They no longer mattered. I just wanted to get back to the safety of the beach…before he came back, preferably. Each step sent a new wave of pain through my body. A few times, I fell forward, earning more bruises than it was worth.
"Are you ok?"
My heart shifted into high gear at the sound of another voice, and I whipped around to see what terror the woods had in store for me next. With relief, I found it had only been Maurice. I must be pretty close to the camps if he heard me. He scanned my progression with slightly concerned eyes.
"You take some interesting walks, huh?" He joked uncomfortably, "It's pretty late for a stroll in the woods, don't you think?"
"Yeah…" I breathed, "Too late."
I began to swoon under the weight of the air in the sky. He rushed forward and caught me by the arm before I could black out.
"Stay with me!" He warned. I fought against the onslaught behind my eyes; myself with red eyes, Jack, the mirror, my house. For some reason, I drew an instantaneous connection between them. None of them were good things.
"Could you…" I bit my tongue, stopping the last words. I decided then not to ask for help anymore.
And so, I pushed away from him and began my lonely walk back up to the beach of my desolated soul. It somehow felt even smaller than before.