The Madness of Alice

Chapter 3: Realizations

“Oh god!” Alice exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand and stumbling back as if someone had struck her in the face.  No, no, this can't be true!  It just can’t!  Alice thought, looking at the Hatter with apologetic eyes.  “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!”  She said this over and over, sobbing over everything that happened in her earlier life.  After a while, she pushed herself into a corner and silently sobbed, mumbling how sorry she was, that she failed them, that everything was her fault.  By now, everyone was looking at Alice with worry in their eyes, especially Hatter, who looked like it physically hurt him to see her like this.  At this point, Cheshire had appeared and was looking at Alice with sadness in his eyes.  “Ah, I knew this would happen.”  He sighed, making tsk sounds with his tongue.  “All of her memories from her other life time have come back to her in one huge batch, making all of her emotions heightened and all of the memories more vivid.  Especially the guilt she must be feeling about losing to the Queen of Hearts.”  Suddenly, the Hatter pushed him into a wall, cutting off most of the Cat’s air.  “Why didn’t you tell us that she was back?” He asked in a low voice, though somehow, it was scarier than if he had been shouting.  The March Hare and the Dormouse looked surprised, because the Hatter was never like this.  Alice had always been a sensitive subject before, yes, but now was the only time he had gotten violent about it.  There was obviously something going on there, but nobody was brave enough to ask.  Hatter made it VERY clear that he did NOT want to talk about it.  But it was now or never.  This was, in their minds, the perfect time to ask.  Oh, but how wrong they were.  “Listen, Hat, is there something you want to tell us?  I mean, Alice has always been such a touchy subject with you.  We just want you to know that we’re your friends, you can tell us anything!”  The Hatter looked enraged now, and was about to say a few choice words to Hare, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.  He turned around, letting go of Cheshire, and was surprised to see Alice standing there.  Nobody had realized that she had stopped crying and gotten up, but EVERYONE saw the way his expression immediately softened, his fists uncurling, and the way his anger dissipated into almost nothing when his eyes landed on her.  And all saw the look in her eyes, the slightly dreamy, yet slightly guilty look she gave him.  The Cheshire knew EXACTLY what was going on, but nobody else put one and two together.  But then, Alice spoke up and said, “I’m sorry,” and looked down shamefully, making Hatter look like he would break into two at any moment.  He brought her some tea and finger sandwiches, wrapping her in a blanket, and looked at everyone with a protective look in his eyes.  They were filled with questions, but one stood out the most, and everyone could feel the sincerity when he asked, low enough so that Alice couldn’t hear.  “Why her?  Why couldn’t it have been me?”

        Nobody could figure out what was going on between the Hatter and Alice, for he was getting much angrier than the rest of them about the fact that Alice had to, once again, go and fight the Queen of Hearts.  Already, in the course of an hour, he had punched three holes in the wall, broken five teapots, and destroyed two tables.  Also, it seemed that Cheshire knew something about Hatter’s rage, but would not tell anyone what was going on.  He just had a smug look on his face that told everyone that whatever his theory was, it had obviously had a successful outcome, and he enjoyed having valuable information and waving it over his peers’ heads.  This confused everyone, but nobody had the courage to ask except Alice herself.

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Sorry this isnt much of a chapter, but I've been really busy, so there isn't much action in this chapter, but I can promise you it gets better!

-A