Chapter 6

Escape, Alice!

Alice's head was pounding when she woke up. She felt sick on the inside as well as the outside when she turned over and saw Sebastian sleeping next to her, his back to her.

"…Oh god." Alice whispered getting out of bed and grabbing the quilt as she made her way into the bathroom and started throwing up her brains.

"How… How did this happen?! Sebastian seduced me and I can't remember a thing!"

She got up and looked in the mirror. Her makeup was running and her hair was knotted and pretty much ruined. She needed to leave and quickly.

Down the hallway Hatter and Godfred finally had enough to drink as they walked through the hallways drunk, tripping on every little thing.

"What were we looking for?" Godfred asked Hatter as they brushed aside the annoying fairies and through the invisible barrier.

"Oh… so that's how we got through. Silly Sebastian he lost again!" Hatter shouted before tripping and knocking himself out. Godfred leaned on the wall before falling asleep peacefully dreaming about pink fairies and food.

"Alice? Are you alright?" Sebastian said from the bedroom.

"Too much food." Alice said lying between her teeth. I need to escape and find Hatter or he'll poison me again.

"Come back to bed."

"I'll be there in a minute."

She could hear his snores from the bathroom and she looked inside the cabinet for medicine. She came across a vile label "Sleep" and quickly she pulled it out and read the instructions.

"Carefully place some under the nose and sleep peacefully until the sun rises!" Alice whispered reading the bottle. She looked out the window and noticed that it was still pretty dark out. She walked into the bedroom and carefully took some of the sleeping medicine out and smeared it under Sebastian's nose. He groaned and waved her away before turning over and snoring again. Quickly Alice looked into his closet to find a couple of extra dresses that were her size (What was he expecting me to just move in with him?) and put one on before grabbing her shoes and making her way to the door. She felt her fingers touch the handle when her stomach groaned and twisted and she silently screamed in pain and passed out on the red carpet floor.

Hatter finally woke up with a headache and a desire for tea when he heard a bang from down the hall.

"Alice!" Hatter said and grabbed a passed out Godfred as he charged down the hall. Hatter opened the red double doors and saw Sebastian sleeping soundly as he walked inside. The air around them was heavy and he heard moans of pain from the bathroom. Hatter set Godfred down and quickly barged into the bathroom where he found Alice throwing up and crying her eyes out.

"Alice?" Hatter asked laying a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, tears streaming down her face.

"Who are you?" Alice asked.

"Oh no…" Hatter said.

"Are you one of Sebastian's friends?"

"Not even. Come on let's get you out of here."

"But I can't leave now! I have to marry Sebastian!"

"That damn potion crap of his made you loony!"

"He told me he loved me…" Alice said as Hatter picked her up and walked out of the bathroom.

"NO DON'T TOUCH ME! LET ME GO! SEBASTIAN! SEBASTIAN HELP ME!" Alice screamed as she tried kicking Hatter. He poked Godfred who woke up and yawned.

"We need to go! She must've given him sleeping medicine before that potion took over again."

"We have fifteen minutes until the sun rises!" Godfred said looking outside and saw the sky turning a light dusty blue from miles away. Hatter and Godfred jogged down the hallway before Alice finally kicked Hatter and he dropped her onto the floor.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!" Alice screamed. Hatter ignored her pleas and picked her up as he jogged past the throne room and made his way into the garden.

"Now where is that damn Bandersnatch thing?" Hatter said before opening a shed door and a bear like thing roared into his face.

"HEY! It's me Hatter. We need to go to the White Palace now or Alice here will end up going mad." Hatter explained as he cut Bandersnatch's ropes off.

The sun rose high enough for Sebastian to wake up as he yawned and stretched his arms up. He looked around and saw his quilt by the bathroom door and the bottle of sleeping medicine on his nightstand.

"Alice?" Sebastian asked getting out of bed. He looked in the bathroom and on the balcony before he screams from outside. He threw on black pants and a black sweater as he went outside onto his balcony and saw Hatter with Alice on the Bandersnatch. Alice was crying her eyes out begging Hatter to leave her so she could stay here.

"HATTER!" Sebastian screamed.

"Whoops. Gotta go." Hatter said and the Bandersnatch took off out of the gardens onto the bridge connecting the castle to the dirt road.

"GUARDS! ALICE HAS BEEN KIDNAP!" Sebastian screamed grabbing his sword and jumping down onto a lower balcony and another until he reached the ground and chased after Hatter.

"Don't let them get to White Palace!" Sebastian screamed at his mother pet bird as it took off after Hatter and the Bandersnatch. As Hatter guided the Bandersnatch towards the White Palace, Alice passed out and fell onto Bandersnatch's neck.

"DAMMIT!" Hatter said holding onto Alice so she wouldn't fall off. Godfred stood on Hatter's shoulder watching from behind as he saw the bird coming.

"BIRD!" Godfred screamed and Bandersnatch quickly ran into the forest hiding them from view.

"How far away are we?" Godfred asked Hatter as Bandersnatch slowed his pace and started to walk through the dark forest.

"Only a mile away at the least." Hatter said looking above as he saw the clouds become whiter than what they were at the Red Palace.

"Is she going to be okay?" Godfred asked looking down at Alice.

"Well… he poisoned her enough to keep her under his spell for almost twenty four hours. Lucky for us that Aaron can make an antidote."

"Did she say it…?"

"No… If she did then Sebastian would've have enough power to kill us from miles away."

"Then what happened when we couldn't reach her?" Godfred asked as they saw the White Palace ahead of them.

"I don't even want to know… She probably doesn't remember." Hatter said.

"HATTER!" March Hare said as they pulled up in front of the palace. The White Queen rushed out of her castle and hugged Hatter tightly.

"They said you escaped from there when Alice knocked out Sebastian with sleeping potion."

"Yes well we were lucky enough to escape since she was kicking and screaming."

"She's still under the spell?"

"Prince Aaron needs to make the antidote now before she wakes up." Godfred said bowing to the Queen.

"Thank you so much for bringing her back. We are forever welcome to live here." The Queen said bowing her head at him. Hatter carried Alice inside and laid her gently on the throne floor.

"Aaron?" The White Queen asked and her son appeared from behind the throne chairs.

"You brought her back!" Aaron said rushing over towards Hatter and Godfred, shaking their hands.

"Careful! She's still under that bastard's curse." Hatter said as Aaron kneeled down next to Alice.

"My god… She's absolutely beautiful." Aaron said holding her hand. Hatter and Godfred looked at each other noticing that Alice looked like she was mauled by Bandersnatch and shrugged their shoulders. Aaron squeezed her hand as her outline glowed a pretty light blue. Light exploded from around the two of them and Alice stirred and opened her eyes looking right at Aaron.

"Aaron?" Alice asked squinting her eyes from the light. Aaron cried tears of joy as he hugged her.

"Well that settles that." Hatter said walking over to the White Queen. Alice looked at Aaron's face and lightly touched it. His hair was a messy white and she could see the black roots in the back. His skin was lighter than Sebastian's and his eyes were piercing blue like the sky.

"Your eyes… They're scary blue." Alice said as Aaron helped her up. He laughed and caught her when she almost fell.

"Welcome home, Alice!" The White Queen said giving Alice a warm hug.

"This place reminds me of winter." Alice said.

"Well we have pure hearts unlike everyone at the Red Palace."

"Oh no! Goderella! I forgot all about her!"

"Alice it's okay!" Godfred said stepping aside to show Goderella right behind him, her face in her hands.

"Oh Alice!" She wailed and Alice leaned down to hug her. "I GAVE YOU THAT POTION WITHOUT KNOWING THAT SEBASTIAN POSIONED IT! I'M SO SORRY!" Goderella cried.

"It's alright… You didn't know." Alice said patting her on the back.

"Wow… if he has to poison you to make you fall in love with him, he's really desperate." Aaron said causing Hatter and Godfred to choke and cough.

"At least you're safe now. Aaron has a heart full of gold. I can't believe I thought Sebastian was the nice one! Godfred had to explain to me everything and told me to run here so I wouldn't be killed after you escaped." Goderella said.

"You'll be Alice's main maid and hair stylist." Aaron told her.

"Thank you, Prince Aaron."

"I'm hungry." Alice said, her stomach grumbled in agreement. She got up putting Goderella on her shoulder as the White Queen showed them to the dining room. Aaron grabbed Alice's hand and kissed her forehead softly.

"Don't worry I'll never poison you." Aaron said making Alice half smile. He sat down next to her as cooks came out from the kitchen with plates of delicious food. Alice blocked out the conversations the White Queen was starting as she picked at her eggs and toast. Sebastian did what he had to do to keep her from coming here. She felt a pity almost for leaving him. He was always one step behind Aaron and now… he lost his only love. Alice dropped her fork and cried softly into her napkin as everyone stared at her.

"Alice?" Aaron asked holding her shoulder.

"I left him… I left him when he showed me only love and I showed him hate. He poisoned me so I would stay. All he wanted was me… he didn't want massive power or your head on a plate… He just wanted me and he told me he loved me and he kissed me and…. Oh god… and I left him behind with a broken heart." Alice cried.

"Oh no…" White Queen said covering her mouth. Godfred wiped away a tear rolling down his face so no one would notice. Aaron looked up at his mother realizing what Sebastian did before hugging Alice.

"I knew it that bastard would do that." Hatter said throwing down his napkin and charging out from the room, grabbing the white teapot and a cup.

"Hatter! Oh Aaron please heal her as much as you can. This poor girl doesn't need any more sadness." The White Queen said before going after Hatter. Aaron took Alice with Godfred and Goderella to a large room filled with assortments of potions and antidotes. Aaron quickly created an antidote and gave it to Alice which she gulped down.

"It'll take away the pain. Alice… he tricked you. He doesn't really love you, he just wants immortal power and he'll get that if I die." Aaron said ruffling her hair. Alice twitched and hugged him. The pain of leaving Sebastian but she knew deep down inside that Sebastian really loved her and she couldn't bear leaving him like that.

Sebastian looked out the throne window in sadness, his shirt ripped from his rage, his eyes puffy from crying. His mother was even too scared to check on him for the fear of losing her head from his rage fits. Mary Beth stood outside the doors watching sadness consume Sebastian. She took a deep breath and walked inside.

"Do you want anything?" Mary Beth asked holding a tray of wine and cookies.

"A cure for a broken heart. Aaron's head on a platter and for Alice to return." Sebastian said.

"Well I can give you one of those things but it won't bring Alice back or cure your heart." Mary Beth said sitting next to him.

"Your fiancé left you… How do you cope with that?" Sebastian asked.

"I just remember that he was never mine to begin with."

"But she was always mine! She… she loved me." Sebastian said putting his head between his knees.

"She was forced to leave remember? I'm sure she misses you just as much as you miss her."

"Psh I bet that stupid prince already poisoned her too."

"You did it so she couldn't leave. He's doing it so she believes she loves him. She loved you from the start."

"Just leave me. I want to be by myself." Sebastian said. Mary Beth picked herself up and walked out of the throne room doors, her black hair with red highlights flapping against her.

"You're going to pay for this Hatter." Mary Beth hissed under her breath as she closed the doors.

Just outside the doors she let her tears fall since she didn't want Sebastian to see her cry. She didn't want him to see how much she really loved him.