When we reach the house, I open the door and walk inside, half expecting Ches to follow me. But he doesn't. I turn and look at him questioningly, and he shrugs. "I'll go my own way for now. Its better that way." I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off. "Dont worry kitten. Youll see me again." He winks, then saunters off into the forest. Cocky bastard.
Well... I suppose I should be going inside.... I walk in, and follow the small murmur of voices to the dining room, with a table set up like the one outside. immediately there are six pairs of eyes trained on me, in complete silence.
"Uhh... Hey..." I say awkwardly. Suddenly, the room is filled with 'Where were you?' and 'You worried us' and 'You're grounded!' I think that last one was from Mr. Rabbit, but I can't be sure. The only one who is silent during all this is Hatter, staring deep into his teacup at the head of the table.
I try to speak several times, but my voice is overtaken by the thunder of voices somehow coming from five people.
"Hey!" I scream, silencing the room. Thats more like it. "I'd like to be able to speak, thank you very much. Now, I was simply out on a walk. I got turned around and..." I trail off, deciding if I should include Ches in the story. "It just took a while to get back here."
I hear a snort. "Irresponsible. Are we sure this is the Alice we need?"
For the first time since I walked in, the Hatter speaks. "Yes. Yes she is." He looks up at me "She's the one."
Dee and Dum step forward and stand on either side of me. "She's the best warrior we've seen in ages." Dee says, Dum nodding in agreement.
"She does have something... special." March says thoughtfully.
I clear my throat rather loudly. "You know I'm still here, right?"
"Hmph. I still think she needs some work." The White rabbit says haughtily.
"You were the one who brought her here in the first place, remember?" March says.
I throw my hands in the air, exasperated. "Whatever. Im going to bed." I turn to leave, but the Hatter's cool voice stops me.
"You don't know where your room is." Oh yea.... Forgot about that.
"Well... I'll go find it."
He chuckles. "You'll get lost. Dee, Dum, do you mind?"
"Our pleasure" they say together, linking their arms through mine. "This way Alice." They march me upstairs, to a long hallway with many, many doors. This house looks bigger on the inside... weird.
The twins lead me to a room near the end of the hall, but i stop dead in my tracks when I see the room.
"Why. Is. There. So. Much. Pink?" I finally choke out, staring at the room in horror.
"I'm sorry." Dee replies sadly.
"We hate it too." Dum adds.
"It was the Hatter's idea."
"He expected you to be... Different."
"I-How- What- Why?" I stutter, staring at the light pink walls, the hot pink comforter on the four-poster bed- the purple carpet with a hot pink shag rug in the center of the room. Pink lava lamp- flamingo pink phone, the leopard print pink dresser. PInk and the 80's had a baby and it was not pretty.
"We're sorry." They repeat, looking at me sadly.
"Get some sleep... We have a busy day tomorrow." Dee says, turning away and walking down the hall.
Dum follows, but whispers to me, "Don't drown in the pink!" She giggles, then follows her twin.
I flop on the bed, and scream into the pillow. Why is there so much PINK?! Why did it have to be PINK?! I can't stand it in here.... I'g going to go look around while everyone's busy being weird downstairs. I get up and lightly step outside, trying to be as quiet as I can. I don't know how well March or Mr.Rabbit can hear.
I walk down the hall, peering into every room. It's pretty much obvious who's room each one is- Books everywhere for the Dormouse, clocks everywhere for Mr. Rabbit, battle axes and spoons (odd combination) for March, and a completely black room with bunk beds for The Twins. I don't see a room for the Hatter... It must be somewhere downstairs. The rest of the rooms are empty rooms, completely white.
But, as I reach the opposite end of the hall from my room, I see a small door at the very end. I peek in, expecting it to be a closet or something, and I see a set of stairs. I look behind me, checking to make sure no one is watching, and walk up the stairs. When I get there, my mouth literally drops open.
The walls and floor are painted black, with skull stickers everywhere, and a four poster bed identical to the one downstairs except for the fact that instead of horrific pink, it's black with a bit of white here and there. In the corner is a bookshelf with- surprisingly- all my favorite books. To my left is a flat screen TV with tons of awesome movies in a bookshelf next to it. There's lamps everywhere (well, not everywhere, just enough to be useful) and comfy looking bean bag chairs and pillows everywhere. Upon further inspection I find a small note on black paper, written in purple ink, with one small sentence:
Enjoy the room, Kitten.
How the hell...? Did he do all this...? Damn he's awesome.
Well.... might as well enjoy this kickass room while I can.
I grab one book from the shelf and flop on my bed, opening the cover and letting the words fill my head, until sleep takes over. My first day in Wonderland is over.
