V+O; in the Alternate Universe **Completed**

Chapter 1

I used to think that everything happened for a reason, but now I'm not so sure...

The sun pierced through the trees, it was humid as hell. Like everyday she went for a run along one of the trails near her apartment. Hair clung to her forehead, curling at the edges with damp, beads of sweat running through her eyebrows straight into her eyes. The salted droplets burned, but she tried to blink herself free of them. Using the back of her arm to wipe her face, freckles dotted her skin, there were enough there that connect-the-dots would've gotten fairly complicated.

Pausing to catch her breath, she hunched over, huffed, and coughed a little. Glancing down at her wrist the black birthmark, darkest among the freckles. A few scars laced along her skin the color of silver fire. Desperately she had tried to hide the stupid mark with makeup but it was dark as ever, it crept from thumb to wrist, a charcoal stain with an under hue of green. Looking sort of the way tattoo ink bled over time.

There was a cracking of twigs; her eyes darted through the surroundings, spotting a small bird tangled in vines. Stepping off the path and making her way into the forest a little to reach it. It was tangled in a way that she was confused as to how the poor thing managed to get itself into the situation. Although she did free it easily, it tweeted with excitement as it flew away. Just as she turned back the way she had come an unusual pop of colour caught her attention. Out of the corner of her eye she saw them shimmer, the flowers were practically glowing.

Losing control of her own feet she began to wander deeper into the trees; entranced by these delicately vibrant blossoms. The grass was dewy, and it seeped slowly through her running shoes. The little flowers were like small cups but not a bead of water tarnished their basins. They swayed crisp in the wind, and grew quite strangely, a half moon around a puddle. From side to side they blew tiny hypnotic pendulums.

What was it people said; curiosity killed the cat?

Kneeling, she brushed them, the flowers were soft to the touch, as if they may dissolve between her fingers like powdered sugar. They were little challises, but looked oddly as if a child had colored them in with highlighters. Only vaguely did she notice her feet were wet, shoes waterlogged, and socks soaked through, the toe of her left shoe in the puddle. The instant the water had seeped through and touched her skin she felt her heart be yanked downward.

Then she was falling, falling. Forcing herself to keep her eyes open, a milky pearl liquid surrounded her like a blanket. It was warm and safe, but still she fell. The substance felt like silk against her skin, gliding along, but still she fell, her body twisting this way and that, contorting. Her body felt warped, like it could never return to normal.

Vaguely she wondered if this was how Alice had felt, the Alice from so many stories. The fear that she thought she should feel never came. Unsure of whether this was bravery or stupidity. With bone shattering force her feet hit the ground, quaked, and crumpled. Only for her to jump back up, glancing around. Brushing the earth away with the palms of her hands, but it clung to her leggings with a vice-like grip.

Trees were all around; they encased her in an emerald tomb. More of those bizarre fluorescent flowers spattered the ground like glow paint from a brush. The plants looked as old as time, especially the trees they grew so tall she couldn't even begin to think about where they ended or where they began.

A figure stepped out of the shadows; her heart felt as if it had fallen from her body. The most handsome man she had ever seen faced her, her soul practically hurt. No doubt about it.

She was oddly aware of how hard she was breathing, how forcefully her chest went up and down as she stared. He looked nothing like anyone she'd ever seen before; and at that instance she knew she wasn't on earth, not the earth she knew anyway.