Urban Legends and Scary Stories

3-Down the Rabbit Hole

Most of you know the story of Alice in Wonderland, whether you've read the book, or seen one of the movies. Well, at least you think you know the story.
Lewis Carroll knew very well what really happened to Alice, and he tried to mask all of her suffering and terrifying experiences with a children's book.
But I have unfortunately witnessed the horror myself, and the truth must be spoken...
I was eight years old and lived with my parents. I was an only child, and was rather happy with it. I loved reading - it was my favorite pastime. Still is, really.
My best friend was Haylie Green. She lived right next door to me in apartment 208. Our neighborhood was calm, quiet, and we were the only children our age that lived there. There were pools, gaming and computer rooms, gyms - but Haylie and I always spent our time at the old playground behind the older apartments that no one really lived in.
They were towards the north. Vines grew on the walls and grass was well overgrown. We never really thought of why there would be no one who lived there anymore.
The playground was old and small. Come to think of it, I wonder how it didn't break just beneath our feet, since we were always running and jumping on it.
The playground, or as we called it, the Castle, was where we'd run away from the giant mutant sea monsters that would grow legs and come out from the lake, or where we'd find cover so we wouldn't be hit with a massive ball of fire from the deadly sky dragons that flew above us trying to destroy the Castle. Our imaginations were creative and the ideas were endless. Our childhoods were magnificent - up to a certain point.
There was a forest just a few yards away from the Castle. We never went in there, since our parents warned us multiple times not to.
They'd tell us stories of kidnappers living in there, or of massive venomous snakes. Haylie and I wouldn't go in, saying that it's off-limit grounds, where the 'horned three-headed werewolves' lived. Entering never seemed tempting to us, really - it was just something that even to us, seemed obscure to do.
One day, however, that changed.
I went out to the playground, as usual, to find Haylie sitting there on a swing. She was facing the dense forest, her gaze stuck on the trees. I approached her, not thinking much of it. After all, you wouldn't either.
"Did you see that?" she suddenly said before I could even open my mouth. She didn't look away.
"See what?" I asked, puzzled, squinting into the forest.
"That rabbit. It was white, its eyes were reddish pink, and it seemed to be wearing something -"
"Did it have a watch?" I was reminded of the one from Alice and Wonderland, one of my favorite stories at the time, and I instantly began playing along with Haylie, like this was another imaginative adventure. But she didn't reply, just stared into the forest.
Suddenly she stood, and inched towards the trees.
"Haylie? What are you doing?"
"We have to find him," she said. Her voice wasn't the normal, high pitched tone she always used.. It sounded off-beat, almost robotic. I followed her anyway, confused and curious.
She was soon at the forest's edge when she paused. Her long, dirty blonde curls bounced on her back from the oncoming breeze.
Something was wrong here. I didn't know what it was, but something was very wrong. Haylie wasn't being herself. It felt as if I were standing behind a stranger.
Just the energy she gave off was dark and unpleasant. But Haylie was my best friend. I wasn't just going to abandon her. I reached out to place my hand on her shoulder.
"Let's go back, Haylie, we shouldn't be so close to -"
Before my hand touched her, she sharply turned her head back toward me, startling me. Her face was paler than usual, but that was all I could really physically point out. She still looked a bit.. Off.
"We have to find him," she repeated, sounding even stranger. Goosebumps crawled up my arms, but I reminded myself that this was all just another game. Another innocent, make-believe game. That felt incredibly eerie.
Out of the blue, she darted into the woods. Shocked, I stood there for a second, watching her as she ran off into the forest, lost in the dense vines. When reality slapped me across the face, I darted in after her, hoping I was even wandering in the right direction.
The trees around me did have leaves, but they looked dead. Well, not exactly looked, but felt dead, like the leaves were just an illusion. The bark was faded brownish-white. The grass below my feet was dried and mixed in with the dried dirt. It was awfully silent - no birds chirping, no squirrels rustling. Just the sound of the breeze flowing through the sickly green leaves.
"Haylie!" I called. "Stop! I quit! Let's go home!"
No answer.
I continued running for what felt like an eternity. I stopped for a moment when my legs refused to move much more, and my breath was gone. I doubled over, panting, when I heard a rustling just before me. Looking up, I gasped, taken aback.
There was a rabbit. A white one, with pink eyes, standing by a tall, pale oak. He was wearing a coat, and in his hand was a watch. It ticked, and ticked, and ticked. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. That was, however, until the rabbit circled around the tree, becoming unseen for a moment. Instinctively, I followed it, only to see a large hole beside the oak. I had a feeling - just a feeling - that Haylie was down there.
I kneeled down at its edge, when suddenly, I was pushed, and I fell in before I was ready. In the air, I turned my head, to see for a split second the last of the entrance, where the rabbit's white face was. He had pushed me.
I fell. And fell. And fell. Deep into the depths of the Earth. I was terrified, but I had no more power in my lungs to scream anymore, only breathe. Something at the bottom of the hole was waiting for me, something evil and dark. But so was Haylie. I knew she was down there. I just knew it.
It must've been hours and hours before I finally landed on a soft surface. It still hurt. I yelped once but instantly got up. I was in a dimly lit hallway. The wallpaper was a dull grey. It felt as if no one had walked through here in ages - it felt as if I was stuck in the past. I hesitantly made my way through the hall, with its twists and turns.
The farther I walked the darker it got, and even though I was alone, I felt like I was being carefully watched. Soon it became so dark, I couldn't see a thing - my own breathing was the only sound, heavy with the dust entering my lungs - I had to keep a hand on a wall to guide me through.
I could swear I was being watched, followed... I was getting scared. Really scared. My heart started thudding, and I picked up my pace. But it felt as if whatever was following me was getting closer, despite my attempt to move faster. So I began to run. Fast.
My hair flowed behind me as I began to hear heavy breathing other than my own. My heart pounded against my chest now, with such force I thought it might burst. I felt like I was being suffocated with the dust in here, pouring into my lungs. Sweat trickled down my face - I could feel my pulse at my fingertips - the sound of the breathing turned into eerie laughter, and growls -
BANG.
I hit a dead end. Whatever was pursuing me was getting terribly close. I pounded against the wall blocking me in the darkness, my fists hurting, arms flailing. I could hear it, only a few feet away from me. It was menacing, horrifying - I could soon smell its horrid breath, which smelled like week-old roadkill. The scent overwhelmed me as it inched closer, my fists still slamming against the door. I was coughing, my eyes were burning - then out of what seemed like sheer luck -
The wall, or door, swung open. I sprinted out of the hallway and closed the door shut behind me, not looking back. Whatever was chasing me was trapped now, away from me.
Looking around, I soon realized I was in a room, colored beige and black. This room was inexplicably light, since there were no lightbulbs or windows. But it as clear as day, and it wasn't as eerie. In the center of the room was a table. On the table was a little glass bottle with a purple substance, and a small piece of red velvet cake with white icing. It looked tempting, but my mind was too clouded with fear to eat or drink. I backed up into a corner and sat there, crying, for the longest time.
"Aren't you going to take a sip from the glass? You must know much time has passed. The pastry is fresh, don't let it go bad - it'll be the best pastry you've ever had," said an unseen, sickly voice. It creaked at the beginning of each word, and something told me that whoever - or whatever - just spoke to me was being forced to speak in rhyme.
"Who's there?" I shouted, wiping away my tears, and standing up on my two feet. "Show yourself!" I called out.
It laughed, its voice creaking and cracking, and this did send chills up my spine. "If this is what I must do for you to eat your dish, I will do exactly as you wish," it said.
Suddenly the walls were covered in what I would describe as a black shadow. The shadow grew up on the walls, ceiling and floor, leaving a space around me and the table. Then it all gathered together on one spot above me - then it dropped, down onto the floor, in the silhouette of a person. But this wasn't human. No, it wasn't - this was too disgustingly ghastly to be human. It turned around, and I could see a mask it wore. It was white, the face of a barn owl. Its beak opened, and it spoke once more.
"All you need to find your friend is a golden key, but you must comply to my rules and you must not flee."