A Fool's Guide to the In-Between [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

Chapter 4

"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves. Did gyre and gimble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogoves. And the mome raths outgrabe."

The sky was as dark as the bottom of the sea. The grass was as dead as a graveyard's residents. The twisted and gnarled branches of the trees scraped at the sky and howled in the wind that had stolen their voices.

Sitting beneath the branches of one such frightening tree was a young girl, her hands folded perfectly in her lap. But they were the only perfect thing about her. Sitting in front of her was a chessboard, not with pieces that were black and white, but pieces that were as red as blood and as invisible as the life of the girl.

With knees crossed together, the girl rocked back and forth, singing a haunting tune in her sorrowful voice. If others were around, they would follow the sound of the voice, expecting to find a young girl, waiting for someone to come and help, but would find nothing more than the empty shell of a girl, no longer interested in the way the flowers were drooping on the edges of the clearing, or the way that the wind seemed to have died.

"'Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun, the frumious Bandersnatch."

Her voice sounded like it was trapped in a cave, longing to reach for the stars that remained just out of reach. The slowness of the song seemed to draw on, and as a small upsidedown bunny hopped by, he stopped, staring at the girl. She lifted a hand, revealing long manicured nails like daggers, and picked up one of the blood-red pieces. The onyx shimmer scraped along the sides of the piece, making the little bunny shiver in fear. He had never seen someone like this.

There were many upsideright and downside down people here in the Nowhere. Or perhaps they were upsidedown and rightsideup. It was all gibberish and yet made perfect sense. In the Nowhere, no one had to make sense. Though it seemed that the only thing that made sense was that nothing made sense.

The girl placed the piece back down on the board, in a square two spaces in front of where the pawn had been.

"He took his vorpal sword in hand. Long time the manxome foe he sought. So rested he by the Tumtum tree. Stood awhile in thought."

A harsh grinding sound echoed around the clearing, and as the bunny watched, the pawn toppled over and vanished into a swirl of mist.

"And as in uffish thought, he stood. The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame. Came whiffling through the tulgey wood. And burbled as it came!"

Another piece vanished from the board. The bunny moved closer, sniffing at the odd girl. She smelled like the In-Between. But it was odd for someone to smell of the other world. The Out-of-the-Box world. The real world to some who wished to call it that.

"Hello."

The girl was staring at him, a few strands of her grey hair falling over her face. There was no colour here.

"Why are you here?"

The bunny said nothing. Even if it could say something, it wasn't sure what to say.

"Why am I here?" She laughed. A dead laugh. There was no joy. It startled the bunny so much that it didn't even have a chance to react before she scooped it up and held it close. It didn't like the way that her nails dragged through its fur.

"I guess I'm waiting..." She stared into the misty edge of the forest. "I'm waiting... I'm waiting... waiting... One, two! One, two! And through and through. The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head. He went galumphing back..."

. . .

Riddle shot out of his bed, a shout slipping through his lips. His hair was slick with sweat, and everything stuck to his sides. He glanced over at the clock, his eyes widening when he saw that it was only two in the morning.