Behind Sanity

Chapter Twenty-Eight

                                                                     Behind Sanity

                                                               Chapter Twenty-Eight

                Hello?

               Alice didn’t know where she was, didn’t know what empty hellhole she was in, but all she could see was black, and was pretty sure she was drifting in the space between consciousness and unconsciousness.  But she didn’t think she wanted to come back.  She could hear the sounds of her own voice in her head, echoing into the emptiness, but she only wanted to be left alone.

                Hello?  Are you there?

               “I’m here,” Alice replied to herself weakly after a moment.

               What are you doing?  You should get up, her own voice said.

               “I don’t want to get up,” she replied. “I want to die.”

                Death is not all you hope it will be.  You know that.

                “Rabbit is dead.”

                But he’s not in a happy place.  Inside, you know that, too.

               "I just want to be alone.  Can’t you leave me in peace?”

                There is no peace where you are now.  In the end, you always have to pick one path or the other.  Both lead to madness.   

                “I don’t want to go among mad people,” she said, almost wanting to laugh as the words passed her lips.

                You already know the reply to that, dear.  Get up.

                It took a bit of effort, Alice’s head throbbing in pain, but finally she did manage to sit up.   She was still in the dark, but she knew she wasn’t in her peaceful void anymore.  It was no longer quiet.  There was a dull roar of noise all around her.  Then slowly, the scene came into focus and she was jerked to her feet.  There were still ants around her, but she wasn’t outside.  She was somewhere different, dark and cold.  She was at gunpoint, her hands were bound, and the rough shove of a riffle barrel at her back told her to march.

                She walked on, noticing that all her weapons had been taken off of her, she had no idea how many ants were marching behind her, and she was still pretty well enraged.

                They had her walking down through a tunnel that could have only been made of dirt, and soon she was walking through a rather gaunt-looking wooden nutcracker’s mouth that seemed to serve as a door.  Where it led exactly, she was unsure.

                Her mind searched for possibilities, options for escape, but she was unable to turn up any.  She supposed she’d just have to see if any opened up along the way.  And the next thing she knew, she was standing alone, her hands were no longer bound, and she had the vorpal blade back in her hand – but that was all.

                Before she could put it all together, lights began to flash on above and the whole area was illuminated.  She found herself in a large, open room that was shaped like an oval with a long wall surrounding it like a fence.  Beyond the wall, she could see rows and rows of seats that stretched as far as she could see.  And in the seats?  Bugs.  Insects of all kinds, and she could hear the awful racket they made.  They yelled and chattered.  Then there were those sounds of hissing string like what came from a broken violin.  She could feel their bug eyes watching her, and she felt ill.  Hearing their chattering made her feel dirty, and she curled her lip in disgust.