Oh Alice!

Chapter 6

"ALICE!" Leslie shouted as them emerged from the trees, finding her little girl sitting alone in Morrisa's field. Everyone must be in the house, this was her chance to find out how much she knew. Leslie slowed to a walk, motioning for David to do the same which he ignored. The anger on her daughter's face told her that Alice knew a lot.

"How nice of you to finally show up." Alice stood slowly, her body rigid and cold when David tried to hug her, eyes locked with Leslie. Shit, I don't think I can fix it this time. "Did you know its Tuesday? Yeah, I woke up here. In a strange room thinking it was still Saturday. Do you know who walked in? A mouse."

"Honey what happened to your arm?" David softly touched Alice's arm, examining the bandages.

"Yeah that's thanks to Scott. Luke got cut a few times too. Morri helped heal me up. Except this." She held up her right arm, showing the bare skin. Leslie remained silent, holding eye contact with her daughter.

"What happened to your tattoo?" David started observing her right arm instead, looking as dumbfounded as he sounded. "Larry is already going over the scene with the lab techs. He knows he has to do his job, or he gets in trouble too." David said, shooting Leslie a look, urging her to say something. Alice spoke instead.

"You have some questions to answer first." She spoke slowly, clearly, and coldly. She learned well, Leslie thought.

"Honey, what do you mean? How long has it been since that was changed? I have clean bandages in my bag" Leslie started digging through her bag, looking for the potion, a memory potion. Part of her felt ashamed using them on her but there was no other way to keep Alice safe.

"Either be straight with me or go back home. I don't need more lies." Alice's voice was stern, this was unlike her and Leslie didn't like it. "Luke is inside if you want some answers, Dad. Anderson and Morri are making dinner. It should still be a few hours till it's done. I think Mom and I should talk. Alone." David looked back at Leslie, nodded and headed to join the odd-looking crowd at the house.

Alice watched him walking away, a serious glare still clinging to her face. Leslie silently celebrated as her hand grasped the cold vile in her bag. "He was against keeping you away from here. And I'm sorry it has to be this way honey." She acted, while Alice was watching her father walk further away. She pulled the cork and threw the red liquid onto Alice. But she missed, Alice was no longer standing where she had been. Fear started spreading through her as she realized her mistake.

"I'm going inside. With the people who care, about more than themselves. I recommend you go stay in town, since I doubt, you're going home. I'd hurry before Ana realizes what you just tried to do." Alice just stared at her, the anger dripping off her voice. She shook her head and walked away.

Leslie called after her but didn't follow. She was right, Ana would be very angry. It wasn't smart to be out in the open anyways, regardless if it was somewhere safe. The Queen had spies everywhere. She gave up calling after Alice, pulled the hood of her sweater over her head and turned back to the trail they had followed from town. She thought back to the first time she had used the potion on Alice.

Alice had barely turned 12 and had been on the porch outside her bedroom, painting. Anderson was making his monthly visit to give Leslie an update on how things were going in Wonderland. They were talking in the backyard about a new curfew put in place by the Queen, when Alice wandered out. They hadn't noticed her till she laughed at something Anderson had said. She started talking about how she had missed Anderson and Wonderland, when he handed a small bottle with shimmering red liquid in it to Leslie and said If she gets this on her or ingests it, she forget wonderland. So that's exactly what she did, gave it to Alice in some juice. To her surprise, it worked. So, Anderson brought her more, much more. All to keep Alice safe, she kept telling herself.