ALICE: BLOODY WONDERLAND

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (?): Queen of Hearts

I had been doing a lot of running away lately. And, the more I ran, the more I thinked…if that was a proper word. I doubted if it was, though by this point I had lost touch with the more literary side of my being. All those children's storybooks, all the wonderful tales of wonderlands and beautiful worlds were slipping away from me day by day. As I stood still, watching Adelaide, watching myself reflected in her bright red eyes, I came to terms with this too. There would be no more running. I didn't want to anymore. I was tired. I really didn't know if my legs could carry me that far anyway.

"Hehe." Addie chuckled, "You look funny, sis. You sure you're alright? You want a flower?"

"No." I breathed softly, "No, I don't."

"Hey," Roger started forward a bit, I saw this from the corner of my vision, but he stopped as soon as he started. Good thing, too. I didn't want him involved in this. Family matters.

"How'd you get here?" I shouted across the stretch of grass that separated her and I, "Why'd you follow me?"

"Why not?" Adelaide scoffed, shrugging in apathy, "But, if you must know, mum and da and I were planning to come visit you when the bombs hit…hahaha. When I saw you board that stupid plane, I thought God himself must've put you there just for me. I was gonna drown you on the thing, but, you know, that wouldn't have been any fun."

My knees shook violently as I gripped the scratchy bark of the palm tree. I tried to stay focused on Addie, the way she moved, the bright red in her irises, the feline structure to everything she did, but I just couldn't. Everything was quivering, and being torn apart. My vision was a still-life portrait or an old photo that someone had taken in their hands and ripped in two pieces. On one side, Roger's astonished expression and on the other was Adelaide's smug grin. It got closer and closer until it filled up the whole frame, until I could feel her hands on my cold shoulders. I couldn't move. I was ice.

"Gee, Alice." She whispered in my ear, "I sure hope your good pal Roger doesn't mind goin' for a swim."

I wanted to ask her why so badly. The 'wh' stuck to my tongue like peanut butter or nutella. But, I couldn't muster the strength or the tact. I shivered once, just about to force it out of my lips, when she gripped me harder and threw me sideways, off the cliff and into the sea.

...

Bubbles; little loops and spheres of captured air that I could not have. The ocean invents them only to mock me as I sink to the bottom.

Light; my last glimpse, I think to myself. It twinkles across the pattern of the ever-moving ocean, through the undulating waves, it's all I see. There are definite shapes here, nor a definite passing of time. All I am is me, and all I live for is the next moment to pass, in the futile hopes that I will be dead.

Noise; the white kind. The kind that my aunt used to play for me over the gramophone when I refused to go to sleep. It's comforting in a weird, unsafe way. It makes me want to listen. It makes me want to sleep forever.

A new sound; a splash. Several more. Something touches my hands, my wrists, struggling for a stable hold, for something to hold on to. I feel like the owner of the touches is desperate. I feel like they're trapped under this new world too. Maybe they don't want to leave either.

Stay. Stay, I wanted to tell them. But they didn't listen, even if I talked with my eyes. Instead, I saw their outline glimmer slightly as they crossed into one of the infamous rays of light, then blotch the whole thing out as they drew closer. More bubbles. More noise. I felt heavy. I felt like there was an entire anvil in my chest.

They said something, but I couldn't make it out.

The noise exploded suddenly. I stopped listening and fell asleep.

….

"Alice, Alice, wake up!" A voice hissed in my ear, "Geez, I'm starting to feel like all you do is get in trouble. How many times am I going to have to save your sorry butt?! I'm not going to be there for you all the freaking time, you know!"

"Huh?" I muttered. I opened my eyes and chanced sitting up. My memory of what had just happened to me was foggy, but I knew enough to feel the urgency of the situation. That, and the forest was moving, so I was alarmed from the start anyway. I looked around, realized Roger had been carrying me, and politely jumped—more like fell—out of his arms and onto the ground. I was soaking wet.

"You are a death magnet." Roger, the voice from before, scolded angrily. We both stopped moving so he could unleash the full spectrum of his fury on me. I glanced around quickly first; we were still pretty close to the cliff. Where'd Adelaide go? Was Charisma real, then? I had so many questions, they burned me. But, first and foremost, how did I get to the point in time where I was, and why was Roger dripping wet and looking nearly like a cat that had taken a bath? It was kind of funny to see, in all honesty. If I had been in better spirits, I might have laughed.

Roger continued, paying no mind to my wandering brain, "I feel like everything that comes into contact with you is put into severe danger, you know that, Alice?!" He shouted, "I mean, what the FU—"

"But you knew her." I interrupted, "You knew she was here before I was, I heard you talking…and you knew she knew me, and that she could've been dangerous too…and…"

"Yeah, but that's different." Roger redirected the conversation at me, "You know me, and would expect that sort of thing from me, or at least, I hope you would. Like you said, I only do things for my benefit, remember?"

It all came back to me then. I bit my lip to stop the trembling.

"Then, why're you all wet?" I stated plainly. It really wasn't a question, but it was answered and phrased like one.

"…What do you mean?" He darkly retorted, "I saved your life, stupid."

"And what benefit do you get from that?"

He never answered me. Instead, I clearly remember Roger simply pointing a direction, telling me that that was where Addie was, and walking towards it. I went the opposite direction and that's how we parted ways, with the strangest of not-questions hanging in the air between us like cobwebs. I wanted to brush them away, and clearly he did too. Sad thing was, I didn't think we'd be able to. Not for a very long time.

I still wish deeply that he wouldn't have saved me; it was very peaceful down there.

….

This chapter is super duper short and super-duper sucky. I apologize for that. Dearly. I apologize. The thing is, it's like twelve o clock and I'm really tired. Also, I had no idea what to write about in this chapter.

Thanks to all you awesome people who followed/favorited because of this fic, BTW. You guys are fabulous. This, by far, is my most followed fic (I think).

So, sorry for the length. If I'm feeling up to it, I'll update this again soon. Don't think this fic has been scrapped though. None of my fics will ever be scrapped, I just sometimes take a while. I have a huge book series goin' right now, so my whole life is really devoted to that and its completion. Just think, one day you guys may see it in stores. I look forward to that day.

So, until then, this piece-o-crap will have to do.

Again, sorry.

Thanks for reading! Write ya' later!