Behind Sanity

Chapter Fifteen

                                                                   Behind Sanity

                                                                 Chapter Fifteen 

                                                                              1 

               Alice came to, surrounded by muffled tones.  Strange sounds touched at her ears, coming to her low and indistinguishable.  She opened her eyes to rising bubbles and a dim light somewhere above.  It only took a few moments to realize that she couldn’t breathe, her whole body covered with a cool liquid.  I must get out of here!  She flailed her arms in what seemed to be a vain effort, trying to fight her way toward the light to claim her air.

                 Just as panic had begin to ensnare her fully, she burst free from the barrier and gathered in air greedily as a cold blast rushed her, chilling her body to the bone.  After taking much breath, she looked around herself in confusion.  She was lying in a round pool of water, her clothing scarce, her body cold.  Inside the room, four torches rose from the floor in each corner, spilling light over everything.  She had no idea as to where she was.  Feeling drained and frustrated, she pulled the wet strands of hair from her face and proceeded to rise from the pool. 

                The walls of this room were stone, and she could not see a way to get out, but at this point, she supposed the most important thing was finding her clothes.  She couldn’t very well run about Wonderland stark naked.  She began making her way around the room, wringing the water out of her darkened hair as she went.

                 Hearing a sound quite like the reverberation of stone grinding against stone, Alice turned her head to the far wall behind her, laying her eyes upon the dress.  There it hung upon the wall, unwrinkled and clean, no spot or blemish upon its dark blue sleeves or across its white apron.  Every detail of the dress was there: everything from the bloomers and the thick petticoats and stripped stockings to the boots she had swiped on her last visit.  How had it gotten here?  But how had she lost it in the first place?  No matter.

                 She jerked the dress off the wall and pulled it on, ignoring the stockings and trivial frills; she didn’t need those anyway.  She tied the bow around the back of her apron and walked over to the pool of water to gaze at her reflection.  She looked quite nice actually, despite her wet hair.  She busied herself running her hands through it, trying to get it to look presentable, when the clattering of something against the stone floor jerked her to attention.

                 Turning backwards, she saw that on the floor beside her foot was the knife that had been trying to become so familiar with her.  The blade shined up at her in the torchlight, seeming to smile.  How had it gotten here?

                “Well, well, look what the cat dragged in.  Honestly, Alice, it’s high time you awoke!  I was beginning to think you weren’t coming!”

                 She turned her head to a furry white face and wandering eyes.

                “Where is Cat?” she asked the rabbit before her.  

                It was odd, when Cat wasn’t around, she wanted him to be there, but when he was there, he repulsed her so that she couldn’t but wish for the rabbit.  She would try harder to accept what she had to work with from now on, though she could already see that it wasn’t much.