Wonderland

Down the Rabbit Hole

Nathan sat at his writing desk, scratching notes onto the paper in front of him. He was trying to make sense of the woman he saw in his house a few nights ago. There may very well be that there was no sense in it. He could be hallucinating due to lack of sleep coupled with grief. His mind just might be playing tricks on him. And yet...

Nathan froze as he tried to get his thoughts in order, the nib of his pen suspended over the paper.

And yet, it had felt so real. It was true that he had found no shortage of such strange happenings at his family estate. But this time it was different. There was no denying how lucid it was. How tangible she had felt...

Nathan's gaze dropped down to his hand as he brushed his thumb across his fingertips. She had felt very real. Living, breathing flesh. Her skin had felt hot to the touch. No chill, no passing through thin air. There was nothing ghostly about her. Not like the others had been.

Nathan pressed his lips together as he continued to make his notes. There had been no aura of dread or malice that came from her. In that way her appearance was much unlike the others. In fact, she had seemed more afraid of him than he was of her. The woman had in fact accused him of being the one who was a ghost. She had described him as being cold to the touch...

Nathan's mouth twisted in a wry manner as he pinched the bridge of his nose before readjusting his spectacles. He was such a far cry from the man he used to be, that he may as well have been a ghost. Nathan sighed through his nose as he went over the notes he had made thus far. Then there was the matter of the woman's attire. The clothes that she wore were not of this time, nor did they belong to any time that had already passed. Perhaps the were clothes of a time yet to come, then?

Nathan took a moment to compose himself before writing two words with deliberation, followed by a question mark. The line he drew under them felt definite.

Time travel?

Could it really be possible?

Nathan was about to start writing something else when a familiar yet impossible sound stopped him in his tracks. The sound of a page turning. Yet he was the only one in the room and had not touched the paper.

Nathan looked up to the large reading chair in front of the fireplace, the very chair that Charlotte had fallen asleep waiting for him so many times. But it was not Charlotte who sat upon the chair. It was that time traveling woman, curled up with a novel in her lap. She was so engrossed with the reading material that she didn't appear to notice his state. Despite the sudden dryness in his mouth, Nathan willed himself to speak.

"You again..."

Your head snapped up at the sound of the London accent. The last thing you remembered was sitting on your couch while reading your book. This was not your couch, let alone your house. You felt a jolt course through your shoulders as your gaze locked onto the brilliant blue staring you down. You had thought that you had dreamt him up...

The novel you had been reading slid out of your hands and clattered onto the floor as you jumped to your feet. "Oh, no..." This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real. this had to be a dream, it just had to be. You had to wake yourself up. You didn't want to be here. Last time you were here, Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome had tried to take you out with a gas lamp. You stalked over to the drawn curtains and threw them open. Blinding sunlight flooded the room and you winced as you shielded your eyes. Turning away from the window, you blinked your eyes a few times as they readjusted to the light. Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome was standing by the chair you had vacated and had picked up your book.

Nathan's brow furrowed as he examined the book, running a hand over the cover. He recognised the title – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. However, the book did not look like the books that Nathan was accustomed to. It was thinner, lighter and the cover was not like any he had ever seen before. The cover was almost as thin as the pages and it looked like it was a photograph. Like a photograph, but not. It was the most peculiar thing. "Oww..."