Last Time
"You can't die, Grandma. You just can't. I need you!"
"Just remember our plan.-Don't forget my letter."
"I won't..."
"I'm sorry for putting you through this Nightmare."
"Don't worry, Alice."
"Is everything ready?"
"Everything is ready.-Are you sure you want her to go to the Country of Hearts?"
"Yes."
"-I'll make it happen for you."
"Please take care of her for me."
"We will. I promise."
"Grandma...? Wake up!"
Chapter 1: Through the Looking Glass
Alice Liddell's wake was undergoing its final stages on the floor below. Her granddaughter had found a hole in the piteous eyes of the spectators to escape to her upstairs room. The floor of said room was dusted with packed up boxes, readying for her move from the house she had shared with her grandmother to her brother's home in America. Closing the bedroom door with a soft click behind her, her conflicted hues moved across the boxes. She didn't know what was going to happen or when. Was she really going to go to America to live with her older brother? Or would it be as her grandmother had said? Would she end up in the Wonderland that filled her dreams? She wasn't sure anymore, of anything. Her eyes found the backpack that was leaning against her vanity. Either way, she was prepared. She had stowed away extra clothes in the backpack, just in case the Incubus really came to show her the way to the Country of Hearts. Everything else was pack to go to America when and if the time came.
Sighing out a shaking breath, the girl sat down on her bed. This world seemed to be draining the very life out of her, with the preparations for her grandmother's "final journey" coming to a close. She laid back on the naked mattress, her curly brown hair sprawling over the fabric. Her dark green eyes watched the tiles of the ceiling, counting them slowly, hoping that no one was looking for her downstairs. She was tired of the apologies, the pities, the comments on how much she and her grandmother looked a like, were a like. She covered her eyes with her left arm. She just didn't see it. She looked in the mirror and saw Rose, freckle faced little Rose who couldn't tell a fly to stop buzzing in her ear. She didn't see Alice, beautiful Alice who knew what she wanted. The only thing that she really saw that they were "a like" in was that they both were willing to believe in the impossible. They both believed in Wonderland.
Rose moved her arm from her eyes, again looking into the ceiling. What did she want, really? Did she want to go to the Country of Hearts, as her grandmother wanted her to? Or did she want to stay and live normally? If she had the choice, which would she long for the most? She couldn't come to a conclusion. She had been battling with this since her grandmother actually died. When she was alive and they spoke of their plan together, it seemed perfect but now she was second guessing herself millions of times over. Wonderland could be dangerous. The real world was cruel. Her brother was here. Her brother hadn't contacted her but a few times since he left home. So on and on.
Letting her eyes close, Rose attempted to push away the indecision, the heartache, everything. She tried her hardest to fill her mind with thoughts of the country that had caught her nightmares and fantasy for most of her life. She tried to remember the details about the characters that her grandmother encountered. She tried to remember the descriptions her grandmother gave her about the different places in Wonderland. She tried and tried and sleep took her as she tried.
Rose...
The hours of the night had worn on. The guest downstairs had come and gone, leaving the house empty, save for the family who were occupying the vacant rooms. None of these, however, had come to retrieve the youngest of the Hargreaves family. So the girl found herself in a dream.
Rose...
In this dream, there was a chess board, but no pieces. Rather, the board was being used as a table. Cards of different suits were scattered over its black and tan surface.
Rose...
Rose found herself picking up a part of ruby dice from the table, but it had no numbers. The faces were all blank. Still, she cast the dice. The two pieces glinted on in an otherwise shadowed world, moving in a slow motion across the board, over the scattered cards, each contact with the wooden game board making an echoing thump.
Rose.
Her heart started to pound as she watched the dice slow to a stop. One fell still, blank face shimmering with what seemed to be malice. The other die continued to the edge of the game board where it spun on one corner, threatening to topple off the board. It spun and spun, stealing Rose's breath as anticipation took its toll. She found her voice whispering, "Don't fall." But the words never made it to her lips.
Rose.
The die began to waver. Rose felt panic rising in her, making her being fall to a chill, her peach toned cheeks paling to a sickened white. "Please don't fall," came her voice again even though she had not parted her lips. It wavered a moment longer, then began to tip. Now Rose's voice tore from her throat. "Don't fall!" She felt herself lung to save the falling die.
Rose!
With a cry of fright, Rose jolted awake, her hand outstretched, still reaching to grasp the falling die, her breathing coming in rigid gasps. Slowly, her vision became accustomed to the darkness and she could see that there was no chess board, no cards, no dice. Her outstretched fingers slowly closed and she pulled the hand back, cradling it against her rapidly pounding heart. She looked around the room, swearing she had heard her name being called by...someone. But, perhaps that to was apart of her dream. She took a calming breath. Yes, that was it. It was all just a-
Rose...
She jumped as the whisper reached her ear, chilling her. "W-Who's there?" she asked the darkness, her voice almost choking.
It's time, Rose.
The brunette swallowed a heavy lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat. "T-Time...?" she questioned. "A-Are you the Incubus?" Standing rigidly, she looked around the room. Barely above a whisper, she whimpered, "N-Nightmare Gottschalk?" A light flashed to her left. She stiffened and that was all that kept her from jumping free of her skin. She looked over at her vanity to find the glass giving off a soft glow. "O-Oh..." she took that as her answer.
Hurry now.
Decision finally rocked her being. Would she stay in the world she knew or run off to the Country of Hearts? Her body seemed to be responding for her. Without a mental note, she had picked up the backpack she had put together. She looked at the bag in her hands. It wasn't like she had to stay in Wonderland...She could leave after she finished the game that her grandmother always told her about, if she was to play that game. She was sure that she would. Didn't all Foreigners have to play? She shifted the floral backpack onto one shoulder, noting how the colors clashed with her black, funeral dress. She reached into her pocket to find the folded letter. For confidence, she squeezed the paper between her thumb and forefinger. She looked back at the glowing mirror. Was this really it? Fear gripped her. What if this was just another nightmare? A real nightmare, not the person she had heard of from her grandmother. Or what if the portal didn't take her to the Country of Hearts?
Don't be afraid, the voice assured.
Rose reminded herself the Nightmare of her grandmother's stories could read minds so not to be startled. Slowly, she began to edge toward the vanity. Biting her bottom lip, she reached to touch the glowing surface, still able to see her freckle dusted reflection in the glass. She jerked her hand back when the cold surface rippled under her finger tips. She looked at her hand as though she had been burned then looked back at the mirror. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Squeezing them shut, she shot her hand forward, through the rippling glass. Just as suddenly as she pushed her hand past the mirrors physical form, she was abruptly jerked through the portal and found herself falling, a scream echoing through the space around her. She dared not open her eyes as she fell.
