• “Alice!” There was a screeching from down the hall.

    “Alice! You insolent little twit! Get up!”
    She heard her aunt calling her but she pretended that she didn’t. She didn’t want to talk to her at the moment; she didn’t want to listen to her dying cat in a dryer voice.

    “Alice!” Alice opened one eye to look at the clock, 5:30 AM; she had just gone to sleep two hours ago.

    “Alice! Wake up, you lazy thing!” Alice groaned, stretched her arms and swung her legs out of bed.

    “I’m awake Aunt Lisa, I’m awake now.” She called down the attic ladder.

    “Well get down here! I’ve been calling you for hours.”

    Alice rolled her eyes. She knew for a fact that she had only been calling her for a few minutes, if that. She sighed, looking at her pale grey eyes in the mirror. They were blue once, before her parents died in the car accident. She looked up and down her white arms, picking the scabs from her inner elbow. She had that dream again last night, the one where they pulled her from the car first, before her sister Margret.

    “Alice! Get down here this instant!”

    The dream where Margret is crying, and there is blood on her face. She knows Mommy and Daddy are already gone.

    “Alice!”

    Alice stopped picking her scabs and put on a sweater to hide her bleeding arms, and climbed down the old ladder that let her out of her attic bedroom.

    “Yes Aunt Lisa?” She said when she had reached the kitchen where her aunt was standing. She was wearing one of those ugly floral dresses she loved, the ones the little house wives wore in the 30s before women wore pants. Her breath smelled of toothpaste and lemon wedges; and she was wearing those clacker shoes. Those dreadful heeled things that made that noise when she walked, in the house to make breakfast no less.

    “We are having company over today; it would be wise if they didn’t know we had a drug addict living in our attic.”

    “This is what you woke me up at five in the bloody morning for?” Alice mumbled

    “What was that?”

    “Nothing Aunt Lisa,” She started “And I’m not a drug addict. I’m doing much better than I was; rehab did very well for me.” Alice lied, crossing her arms and pressing the blood into the sleeves of her sweatshirt.

    “Not a drug addict indeed,” Lisa said curtly. “Well then you had best be off. I don’t want you to be cleaning still when they arrive, and you’ve got a long list of chores to be done before I bring you you’re supper.”

    Alice only nodded and took the list of chores from her aunt.

    It was about noon when Alice finally got to scrub the floors, it was the last thing you do when you have chores you know, because after you scrub the floors you mustn’t walk on them until they dry or you’ll leave foot prints and Aunt Lisa doesn’t like foot prints. She’ll get the whip again, not that Alice wasn’t old enough to have grown out of being whipped when she was naughty, and Alice believed Aunt Lisa enjoyed setting her brute of a husband Thomas on her; the savage beast. It didn’t matter though, Alice barely felt it anymore, Alice barely felt anything anymore, and that’s just the way Alice liked it, Numb.

    “Alice! Alice! They’re dead Alice! They’re dead!” Margret screamed inside her mind. Margret’s face was melting, why was it melting? Alice continued to scrub the floors.

    “Alice! Why did you let them leave us?” Dead Margret yelled,

    “You let them leave us here to die, Alice!”

    “Alice! Don’t leave us, please don’t leave us Alice!”

    Alice screamed.

    “What in the hell are you screaming about Alice?” Aunt Lisa scolded, Alice said nothing.

    “Alice?” Said Lisa

    “Alice?” Cried dead Margret, their voices blended into one seemingly endless note.

    “What?” Alice snapped

    “You screamed, why?” Aunt Lisa sneered; pretending she cared when honestly she just wished Alice would shut her ruddy hole, finish the floors and be back to her room to eat the cold grey mush Lisa had put there for her at 6:00 this morning.

    “I’m sorry,” Alice stammered, “I didn’t mean too.”

    “Well get on with the floors and be back to your room then.”

    “Yes Aunt Lisa.”

    When Alice returned to her room she pulled a bag of chips from under her bed. She had given up on eating her aunts mush, that was always hard and cold by the time she got around to eating it and she hated the stuff anyhow. But she had to eat something; she knew if she got any skinnier they would know she had fallen back on old habits again. As if her sunken eyes and scabbed over face wasn’t enough to tell them she is losing the battle to her own personal army of demons.

    Alice sighed, putting down the bag of chips. She wasn’t hungry; her stomach was still turning from seeing her dead sisters’ face melt off. She needed her escape again, Alice walked over to her dresser drawer; that special drawer where she kept all her favorite playthings.

    She took out a new syringe and a vile of some clear shimmering liquid; she drew it up and put the needle to her dirty veins.
    Within seconds she was home, home to the talking flowers and the animals that walked on two legs; home to Wonderland.

    The Hatter was waiting for her in the palace, he wanted to discuss with her a matter of most urgency; her wedding gown. As Alice’s right hand man, the Hatter was handling all the arrangements for her to be wed to the man of her dreams, The White Knight. Alice was never happier as she tried on a multitude of princess dresses and puffy cup cake like designs.

    “You look beautiful, Alice.” The Hatter smiled, he forced his voice from his throat. He couldn’t bear to see his Alice married to another, but she had not chosen him, she chose the Knight. The Hatter placed a golden tiara on her head and smiled.

    “You’re a real princess now.” He said

    “Thank you,” She smiled, her peach skin glowed and her aqua eyes shone brightly underneath her golden locks. “I do hope he likes it.”

    “I know I would,” The Hatter said. “He is the luckiest man alive to be wed to such a lovely young maiden. Not to mention one so kind, so intelligent and so sweet.”

    Alice blushed, she wished The Hatter wouldn’t say such things; it didn’t make it any easier to be with someone else.

    “Do you really think so?”

    “Absolutely, now, let us have some tea.” The Hatter clapped his hands together and several tea pots and plates of tiny finger sandwiches came floating onto a small table in the dressing room.

    “Thank goodness, I’m famished.” Alice walked behind the screen to the dressing area and began to try to peel off the overwhelming dress she was currently testing out. She struggled for a moment before falling onto the floor.

    “Oh Alice, don’t be ridiculous, let me help you.” The Hatter walked behind the screen and helped Alice to her feet.

    “Thank you, Hatter, dear, but you really shouldn’t.”

    “Oh he won’t know if you don’t tell him.” The Hatter said turning Alice around and unzipping her dress.

    “But I’ll know.” Alice said holding the top of her dress up.

    “Oh please Alice, like I’ve never seen you naked before.”

    “Yes, but he doesn’t know that.”

    “And he won’t know of this either.” He said, undoing all the intricate corset work.

    “Thank you.” She said turning back around, still holding up her dress.

    The Hatter looked into her eyes; he could see the grey returning already. It scared him how Alice could just jump between worlds like this, how she couldn’t stay in reality for too long without returning back to this monster she became when she slept, the monster The White Knight had fallen in love with. That cad, he had no right even being with Alice. She was perfect and he was just some troll who saved her one time, Once. How many times had he saved Alice from something awful anyhow? It was he that created the shimmering drug that brought her home to Wonderland, he who helped her escape from the red queen, he who is here when she wakes from those nightmares. He is always out, he doesn’t deserve her.

    Alice noticed The Hatter had spaced out again, but she paid no mind to it, for this was a normal occurrence during wedding planning. She searched the pile of dresses for her original blue dress she had worn into this mess. When she found it, she quickly put it on and walked back over to where The Hatter was standing. She looked at him, his silver hair fell over his eyes just the way she liked it too, his purple eyes were glazed over and his white skin looked like untouched snow on the first day of December. She brushed his hair out of his eyes, letting her fingers linger longer than they honestly should have. The Hatter smiled, he was quite finished thinking about things that didn’t matter. His eyes locked with hers, and his hand found its way into her golden locks. Her hair was soft, he could smell her lilac conditioner from where he was standing, and he couldn’t control himself any longer. He leaned her back and kissed her. His eyes clamped shut he couldn’t take the look of horror in her face, he just wanted this moment, this moment would keep him content until they put him in the ground.

    To his surprise, Alice was just as content. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her cheeks flushed a rosy red. He wasn’t quite sure whose heart was racing so fast, but he wasn't stopping to ask questions. He stood Alice back up, and tried to keep the kiss for just a few more seconds before releasing her. Her arms fell from his neck and he ran his fingers through her hair once more, their eyes locked in a mix of passion and distain.

    “He doesn’t have to know about this either, Princess.” The Hatter breathed.

    Alice was lost in his eyes, lost in those beautiful eyes. The Hatter held out his arms and Alice crumpled into them. He held her close and whispered wonderland lullabies into her ears, rocking her to the melodies. She slowly fell asleep, her skin started to lose its color and her eyes grayed behind her eyelids. The Hatter sighed, kissing her forehead. She had returned back to that world where there was no one to protect her from the cruelty of her Aunt the Queen, no one to save her from that stupid boy next door, and no one to whisper lullabies into her ears to keep the nightmares at bay. A single tear fell from his eye as he carried her up the palace stairs and into her bedroom, he laid her on the bed and pushed her hair out of her face.

    “I love you, Alice.” He whispered.

    The Hatter heard a small cough, the hair on the back of his neck rose and he stood to see none other than The White Knight.

    “Hello Cedric.” The Hatter said sharply

    “It’s The White Knight here, actually, Hatter.”

    “Indeed. I suppose I’ll be off then.” The Hatter turned to exit the room.

    “You best be,” The Knight said, taking a seat next to Alice on the bed, tracing circles around her eyes. “Oh and Hatter,” He paused “You had better keep your filthy paws off my Alice.”

    “I wasn’t aware you were her keeper.” He said without turning around.

    “Are you mad?” The Knight laughed.

    “Why yes,” The Hatter turned to look the boy in the eyes. “It so happens that I am.”

    “And if I wasn’t in the presents of Ms. Alice, I would show you how mad I really am.” The Hatter smirked and with that he walked out of the room and down the stairs into his quarters.

    When Alice awoke she was in her attic, it was 5:30 in the morning and her Aunt Lisa was screaming at her to get out of bed and do the dishes from the night before. Alice groaned, and climbed down her ladder and did the mountain of dishes waiting for her in the sink. After the dishes she was told to do the yard work, the neighbors’ son Cedric said hello on the way out for work. Alice waved goodbye as he drove away. She finished her chores early that night, and she crawled up to her bed in the attic. When she arrived, there was a silvery cat lying on her pillow. Alice smiled and crawled in next to him, listening to him purr. Attached to his collar was a new bottle of the silvery liquid, with a label reading Wonderland. Alice smiled and rubbed the cats back.

    “Hello Hatter, I missed you.” She said, kissing his soft paws. The cat purred in response, Alice put the bottle in her special drawer and crawled back into bed for a night free of nightmares, snuggling her best friend, The Hatter.