Wonderland: Escape From The Mad House [Book One]

Chapter Three: Wonderland

Unexplainably, it didn't hurt when I fell. I was too confused to be in pain. The sky was grey, and the bare trees looked like black shadows on the blackened earth. It seemed that the only color came from the red sun that hung overhead. "Out of the light and into the darkness. Out of the dream and into the nightmare. Out of the fantasy and into the reality, Alice."

I looked around to find the source of this message, but failed. However, a cat had emerged feom the shadows, with pink stripes on his black fur, up his legs and arms and tail. His eyes were a teal blue, a red spade symbol covering one, and he seemed familiar. "And who are you," I said, picking up this beauty.

"Cheshi," it replied.

I was so startled that I dropped him. "W-what," I managed. "My name," he said, "is Cheshi. It's actually Cheshire, but my friends call me Cheshi." I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Is this real? is this cat talking to me? I shook this off and accepted it, but I realized something.

"Kaza?"

The cat sighed. "I already told you my name, what you call me is your business. However, there are things we need to discuss. Things have gone wrong since you left us last, things that only by your hand can be fixed. Now, if you'll come with me, Alice-"

"Um," I replied, "I'm not Alice. My name's Nate."

Cheshi eyed me sorrowfully. "Oh Alice, what have they done with you."

I was going to interject, but his ears twitched with thought. "That's it, you've gone mad! In this case, Jack can help. Follow me, I'll lead you strait to him."

Cheshi scampered off, and I trailed him. The scenery seemed to shift dramatically at some point in our travels. The trees were white with red and black symbols and leaves the same colors. The grass veried from mint green to teal blue in places, and the glowing yellow sun lit the cloudless blue sky. It contrasted the last area so much. This place was lively while the other was...dead.

"Where are we," I pondered.

"You truly don't recognize this," he said, stopping near a spring with shimmering clear water. He looked sad. "This is the Diamond Division, Jack's kingdom. Trust me, all will be clear soon." He lead me along a path of refined stone, each with a different color and all shimmering. This place was beautiful, in contrast to the area we left.

We came across a castle about the size of a small mansion, and Cheshi knocked the door with his small paw. "Jack, we need to see you. It's Alice."

Without a moments hesitation, the door begun to open slowly, revealing another semi-familier face. It was the palm reader I had talked to earlier, only slightly different. His now black hair was orange at the tips, and he wore now a suit and tailcoat of black, with a red diamond on the breast pocket. the gloves he wore earlier were gone, showing his black nails and black diamonds on his hands, which were shuffling a deck of cards. Besides this, he was the same. "We meet again," he said, "Alice."

"I'm not Alice," I repeated.

"Oh really," he said, spreading his cards in his hand and showing their mirror-like surface to me. "Because the cards say different."

And indeed, they did. My hair fell to my shoulders with my bangs clipped back with a black bow. My T-shirt and jeans had been replaced by a baby blue dress with a white frill and sash along my waist and shoulder. A white ribbon was tied around my throat, and I was wearing red fishnets and black tights in the same pattern. I may not be Alice, but I definately wasn't who I thought I was. "This place has a tendency to change you, how you look, how you act, how you think. But this is your home, how could you not have known this?"

This was my home? But what about Chance, about my parents, they had to be real. No, I wasn't ready to give up my beliefs just yet.

Jack looked at Cheshi with a curious expression. "Why you prefer this form is beyond my comprehension, Cheshi."

"This is my true form" he said. "There is nothing else to comprehend about it. When the time arrives where it is necissary, however, I shall change. Until then, this is the form I choose."

"What do you mean 'change forms'?" I asked. Jack grinned. "Cheshi has the power to change forms as he pleases. This is his true form, however he can choose any other form that he could think of."

I shot Cheshi a look of disbelief and slight amusement. "I doubt it," I challenged. And then he changed.

It wasn't like they always say, like a plume of smoke and then poof, but it was more of a single fluid motion. All of a sudden, he was different; human. He had black hair with a pink streak on the side, and a silver dog tag around his throat. He had a simple black shirt with pink stripes at the sleaves, and his blue eyes and red spade were the same. "Do you doubt me still," he asked.

I stood in shock. How, what? That's not right, not possible... I suddenly got the feeling that a lot of the stuff I'm gonna see will be impossible. He grinned slyly as he changed back into his normal, well, normal-ish cat form.

"Back to the issue at hand," Jack said, "Believe it or not, the entire land used to be tranquil like this. A beautiful, wonderful place. But as soon as the Red Queen reigned, things went wrong. She is the queen of darkness, and she wanted her kingdom to be of darkness. The reason this is different is because it is unsanctioned; one of the only places that is not of her control. And I'm the ruler of this land, so if she wants it, she'll have to come through me. However, I know that the time will come when she attacks, so we smite her before. We have a battle plan, and this is where you come in, but we must talk to Hatter and Crow first. We need their wisdom and strength before anything could become concrete." I nodded, sad to leave, and scared to go anywhere else. Jack led us, with Cheshi trailing him, and me close behind. This isn't going to end well, I thought to myself.