death valley

Author Games: Hell's Revolution - Task Two

Author's Note: guess who completely forgot to upload this

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I like the idea of a Wonderland. To some it's a place where everything's perfect: No working and hardship. To others, it's a kingdom that a single man or woman can rule with an iron fist. To many more, it's a caring and loving environment where everyone stands together in unity.

However, any version of a Wonderland has its dangers as well as the upsides.

The various versions of the fictional Wonderland are somewhat frightening, to say the least. It doesn't matter which version you look at—the original by Lewis Carroll, the animated movie by Disney, the video game Alice: Madness Returns—they all have one thing in common. That one thing is the potential scare factor. Who would want a Queen of Hearts screaming for your head to be chopped off? Why eat food that you know little to nothing about? How could you possibly trust a cat that appears and disappears at will, with a grin like the crescent moon?

However, there's a question I always ask people when I bring up the subject of this popular classic: What role would you play? Some say Alice—to dream of a world that you seem to know well, and to adventure into the unknown where you can trust most things. Others talk about the White Rabbit; many of my peers are slow, delaying to realize what is going on or being late to class. Many more like to mention the Mad Hatter. That one, I don't understand. But never, in all of my eighteen years of living on this God-forsaken country we call the United States of America ("One nation under God, indivisible," my ass!) have I ever once heard somebody speak of the Queen of Hearts.

Think about it. Getting to kill everyone that pissed you off. Able to turn the tables with a quick snap of the fingers. Everyone being wary and afraid of you, but respectful. Perish the thought of somebody speaking out against you. After all, you've got all this power. You can use it for anything.

Anything, huh?

I sometimes wish I were a king.

"Valen, are you even listening to me?"

An annoying, high-pitched voice broke into my thoughts and I forced myself to look at this certain junior girl (coincidentally, her name was Alice). She was a gorgeous teenager, with long chestnut-brown hair and silvery irises. Her body was shaped like an hourglass; she had a mature appearance, which made quite a few people lust after her. Alice always caught the attention of a lot of boys and girls around campus, especially grabbing the attention of young freshmen, but for some reason she was fixated on me, the bad boy of the school. It was like she wanted me to be her boyfriend or something—even though I already said before that I wasn't interested in finding a date anytime soon. She's stubborn; I found that bothersome. I get it, I'm handsome, with a few individuals other than Alice keeping their eye on me, and I've got a bad reputation. But we're not in some romantic movie. I am genuinely disinterested in this girl and I want nothing to do with her.

I quirked an eyebrow upwards. "What?" I replied to her, crossing my arms. Alice huffed in response, exasperated at my blunt tone of voice.

"You keep spacing out on me, Valen!" she whined, leaning much closer to me than she previously was. To my left, I could see Joel—one of my few childhood buddies—tense up. After all, Alice was well-known as the slut of the school, where relationships and hot hoys mattered more to her than trying to succeed in life. She got paid to have sex, on a couple occasions. Joel once told me that she threw away her calculus paper and declared confidently, "Fuck that! I'm gonna be a stripper, anyway!"

Alice's not exactly what I look for in a girl. But she is fun to toy with.

"Alison," I drawled, lowering my voice into a husky murmur, "get too close and you might witness your nose getting bitten off." She merely chuckled in response. Her pale, slender arms snaked around my neck, pulling me closer. Her D-cup chest pressed against mine, which not only made me uncomfortable on the inside, but this action also reminded me exactly why I didn't like her.