The White Rabbit

Falling and losing control

"Excellent!" The King of Hearts said jovially, practically dancing back to the croquet field, "Rabbit! Give the boy the tools to play!"

"Yes your Majesty!" The White Rabbit snatched up the bag filled with flamingos and ran over to Danny, pulling a green flamingo out of his bag and handing it to him. Danny grabbed the 'croquet mallet', but the toe head didn't let go just yet, leaning in a little to whisper in Danny's ear.

"No matter what you see, you have to get Lu-Clever Fox out of here," He looked straight in Danny's eyes, the raven's breath catching in his throat at the desperation and sorrow in the green depths, "and if anything happens you run, and don't look back."

Danny blinked, stunned at the White Rabbit's vehemence, "you're coming with us though...right?"

The rabbit looked away and Danny reached up to touch his face, "Dan...?"

Those green eyes snapped up with blue again, swimming with pain and regret. The Deja vu feeling intensified as the White Rabbit forced a smile, "good luck...love..." He pulled away and put distance between them, leaving Danny with confusion and an aching heart.

The King cleared his throat, "are we playing or not dolt?" He said crossly.

Danny shook his head and pursed his lips, "yeah," he bowed a bit, "after you your Majesty."

The king smirked and waltz over to the starting ring, lining up the head of the flamingo with the 'ball'. He pulled back and swung hard as if he was hitting a golf ball, but missed the ball by inches. That didn't seem to matter however, because the ball started moving, going through all the hoops before hitting the post.

"Ha! Try and top that!" The King said confidently.

Danny shook his head and picked his jaw up off the ground, going over to a green hedgehog and lining up. He tried to hit it, but the neck of the flamingo flopped, making him miss it. Scowling, Danny tried again with the same results.

"Well?" The king said smugly, " if you miss it a third time, you forfeit your turn, boy. Best not to miss again~ HAH HAAAH~!"

Danny side eyed the King, 'he's cheating, I can tell. But how do I out cheat...'

He looked back down at the ball, only to freeze as another vision hit him, he wasn't playing with animals, he was playing with...a leg and a severed head, the milky white eyes of a young girl staring up at him.

Danny recoiled in disgust and threw the leg away, rubbing his eyes hard but when he opened them the vision didn't stop. He looked to the others and found the same girl who looked like the Fox standing off to the side, glaring hatefully at the king who was now dressed in something like a ring masters clothes. He looked over at the White Rabbit and gasped in horror to find him without his ears and suit, instead standing with no shirt and with what appeared to be deep bleeding whip lashes and scars covering his arms and torso, face twisted in an eternal scowl of pain and anger as he too glared angrily at the pasty white man.

"My my, I guess you decided to forfeit after all," Danny looked to the King of hearts, a cruel smile spitting his face in two, "that means all of you has to die~"

Instead of calling the guards, the King pulled out a gun. Danny flinched and staggered back as the weapon was aimed at him.

"It was fun while it lasted," the king said almost idly, "but I guess I could always get more performers hah HAAAH~!" He pulled the safety back and aimed for Danny's head, right between the eyes, "goodbye..."

"NO!!!"

The White Rabbit lunged and grabbed the King's arm, "guys! RUN!" He ordered.

"What the hell are you doing?! Let go!" The king grunted, trying to wrestle the boy off of him.

Danny reached out, "Dan no-"

The Woman grabbed his wrist and pulled him away, "come on Danny!" She said, a pained look on her face.

Danny tried to resist, but the girl's grip proved to be too strong, "L-Luna! We can't-"

A gun shot rang out and Danny looked back, eyes widening in horror as he seen Dan collapse. The world changed again as the King straightened, his crown disappearing and an expression of rage on his face.

Luna tugged hard on Danny's arm and the two ravenettes started running again, an angry scream ringing out from the Circus Master behind him. They ducked into the thicket, vicious plants and briars tearing up their clothes as they ran, neither daring to look back. Tears ran down Danny's face, blinding him to where they were going and Luna didn't seem to know where they were running either. They finally came upon a door that Danny was familiar with and Danny pulled Luna in that direction, but the girl resisted.

"Come on! We can get to the Hatter and-"

Luna covered her mouth and shook her head, her hair hiding her face, "no Danny, she-" she tugged on his hand again, "we need to get you out before it gets worse."

The sky had become a terrifying red and all the colors had disappeared at this point. Danny frowned and shook his head, "but Fire-"

"FIRE'S DEAD DANNY!" Luna screamed, letting him go and hugging herself, "all of them are..."

Danny's eyes widened and he shook his head, his mind immediately denying it, "no, I just..." A splitting headache, as if someone had hit him in the back of the head with a brick, shot through him and Danny grabbed his head, shaking it roughly.

"No no no no they aren't! They can't be! I-I can-" he opened his eyes, "I can prove it!" He ran to the door and opened it, fighting through the vines trying to block his site.

"Danny no!"

He finally tore through the brush and stumbled into the clearing where he knew the tea party would be, but instead of a cheery table with guests, the Mad Hatter grinning at him and welcoming him, the table was empty, with moldy food and dishes, the mice no where to be seen and the Hatter and white fox...

Luna quietly came up behind him, gazing at the corpses of the two girls along with him, "I told you you weren't ready..." She said, voice weak and shaky as she tried to talk through the lump in her throat, "they were killed, when they tried to escape the king."

Something within Danny snapped, his pupils shrinking and he threw his head back to scream, and continued to scream nonstop until his vocal cords ripped. He heard indistinguishable voices, whether they were inside his head or not he couldn't tell, but he recognized none of them. He felt people grabbing him and started fighting, thinking it was the King of Hearts that had grabbed him, until he felt something sharp pierce his arm and everything became...

Dark.