Across A Town Line

Chapter 25: Underland

Ana's POV:

I woke up to the rattling of metal against metal. I sat up in my rugged, dirty "bed" and rubbed my eyes. We had been stuck in this grimy, damp jail for three days. THREE WHOLE DAYS. We had been separated into three different cells, and the only way of communication was yelling, having to bear the horrendous echo. Besides that, the only human contact was the person who brought us food two times a day.

"Rise and shine," said the same spine-chilling voice that had greeted us when we first came. I heard the click of keys turning against the lock. A gloved hand reached over and pulled me out of the cell. I struggled against it, trying to get away. "Don't even try," he sneered, tightening his grip against my arm. I took my arm out of his hand and followed behind him defeated. I would love to escape, but I didn't want his hands on me again. I'll figure something out, I thought, eventually...

We were taken to a throne room with a red rug and red drapes on a big window. On the pedestal like area, a throne stood with a white-faced, red-haired woman. She eyed us curiously, as we did her.

"Come closer," she said abruptly, a voice so high and snotty I was annoyed instantly. We stepped forward until reaching the stairs that led to the pedestal type area. She stood up, and to my surprise, she was short. Like ridiculously short. Her hair was probably the tallest part about her. I snickered. "What are you laughing at you rude girl?" She said, whacking me on the head with her hand.

"Hey! She's the future queen of wonderland! Do not disrespect her," sassed Nina. I internally groaned, not liking that these strangers knew who we were.

"Well look at that. We're in front of royalty," purred the lady. "Let me introduce myself, your Highness. I am the Red Queen, queen of Underland! And this is the Knave of Hearts," she smiled. "What's your name dear?"

"Ana," I said simply, looking up at her quite large head.

"Ana? Alice's long lost daughter? This is great!" she said turning to the creepy man, the Knave, who smiled eerily. "And what brought you to Underland?"

"We were just exploring and happened to fall through the portal," I explained. The Queen looked pensive, stroking her white chin.

"Well, we surely cannot have royalty in cells. Knave!"

"Yes my queen?"

"Get them rooms and new dresses. That's all," she said, dismissing us to our new quarters. We followed the Knave, staring at the weird art on the wall until we got to three deep mahogany doors that would be our new rooms. Inside each of the room was a humungous canopy bed with red bedding, a mahogany wardrobe, a window facing the gardens of red roses and a door that led to a washroom. Not going to lie, the bed looked incredibly comfortable. Each of us entered our rooms and locked the door behind us; I did not need the creep to come inside while I was changing.

I entered the washroom, and took a long, hot shower. Afterwards, I looked in the wardrobe to see if there was anything that I could possibly wear. After looking at all of the outrageous gowns, I settled on the only sundress-y type of dress there was with the white converse I was wearing before. Suddenly I heard a knock on the door and went to open it, letting my friends in. They were wearing the same outfit they came in, not bothering with dresses.

"So, how are we getting out?" asked Lilibelle, jumping on the bed. Nina and I followed, sighing heavily.

"Yea, how are we getting out of here?" seconded Nina.

"You know guys, I have no idea," I said, a little annoyed.

"Well, you are the one with pow-"

"Stop. Please just help me come up with something," I said, now more annoyed. We sighed simultaneously and looked up at the ceiling.

"We could somehow contact Pan? Maybe he can come and poof us out of here," said Lilibelle.

"Even if I could do that, we need a portal I think. Like the hole we fell through," I said, pensive.

"So all we need to do is go find another hole and we'll be out of here," said Nina.

"Yea, but what if it doesn't lead to Wonderland? We need to find the same one we fell though... And how will we find it?" I countered. "Ugh, I don't know. Let's sleep on it. I'm so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open." And slowly, I drifted off to sleep, knocking out completely.

...

I woke up the nest day, to people shouting my name. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, looking for the source of sound.

"Wake up already!" I heard the urgent voices of my friends.

"What?"

"This came while you were sleeping." They handed me a tiny piece of rolled up paper.

"Where are you?-Pan"

"Give me a pen or something to write with, please," I said, completely awake.

"Go to the woods, keep on straight until you find a portal. Jump. Look for the white and red castle-Ana"

"Guys, we're getting out of here!" I said excitedly. Next, I shut my eyes and concentrated on getting this paper to Pan. Suddenly, flashes of us: our kiss, our talks, our fights, burst through my head. However, I didn't open my eyes, not until I felt the absence of the roll of paper in my hand. Finally, when I was sure it wasn't there, I opened my eyes. I opened my palm and saw that the paper was gone. Jumping out of bed, I went and hugged my friends. "We did it."

...

My friends had gone off to their rooms, and was left alone with my thoughts. They wandered everywhere from my mom, to my family back home, to being a queen, and finally to Pan. Oh, Pan. I sighed wistfully. I replayed all out fights over and over, each time making my heart ache a little more each time. However, the moment I played over the most, my favorite moment, was that night at the kiosk. Over and over, until I had tears in my eyes.

Why did I let this hurt me so much? He was just another heartless guy that was only interested in himself. Why was he always in my thoughts? I plopped face down on my pillow, trying to get his stupidly adorable face out of my mind.

Then, my thoughts went back to how I had responded. What I had said to him. But I had reason to do it, right? He used me; it was all a joke to him. Or was it? Could it be that he was telling the truth? I sighed, feeling more confused than ever. I want to believe him, but I can't bear to have my heart broken; especially by him.

But maybe it was me pushing him away? But I tried to trust him, I did. And that's saying something. I usually didn't trust many people with delicate matters, like my heart. But if I did, was it too late to make everything right? To talk to him? I sighed frustrated and burrowed underneath the covers. My head hurt from thinking about all of this. I closed my eyes, making all of the thoughts go away and slowly, I drifted to sleep.

A/N: I know this chapter is kind of long, but maybe it's to compensate for the fact that I posted late? I'm sorry! But I'll get better, I promise. Anyways, I hope you guys are enjoying the story, exciting things are happening. That's all for now, Love you x