Continuing Tales

Bonkers To Be Late

A Alice in Wonderland Story
by RosieLilyIce93

Part 37 of 48

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Alice stared at the potion Mirana had set in front of her apprehensively. Faintly luminescent and shifting in color like a soap bubble, it steamed slightly and gave off the faint scent of burnt sugar, even though it was still corked. It looked innocent enough sitting there on her bedside table, but she knew nothing in Underland was ever what it seemed.

Mirana on the other hand was smiling happily at the concoction. It was, in her humble opinion, one of her finest brews yet.

"So all you should need to do my dear Champion is ready yourself for sleep, take the potion, and fall into that fantastical place we call a dream sphere!"

Alice swallowed audibly and nodded. Standing on faintly trembling legs, she made her way around the screen in the far corner of the room. Disrobing quickly and slipping into the loose shirt and trousers she usually wore to bed, she made it out in record time.

Not daring to look at her audience, she strode swiftly to the bed and climbed beneath the covers. She smoothed the silk duvet with a surprisingly steady hand and finally looked around her. The Queen and Princess Lily stood just to the right of the bedside table. They both looked completely at ease, as if delving into a person's dreams was an everyday occurrence.

Tarrant on the other hand was tense in his arm chair before the fireplace in their room. His left arm lay on the arm of the chair, his hand clenching the end so hard his knuckles were turning red. His chin rested on the right fist, whose arm was resting against the other side of the chair. His hat was pulled so low that Alice could just see the yellow glow from beneath the brim.

The color no longer worried her. Oh she knew the madness lurked somewhere beneath her husband's usual sunny disposition, but she knew that so long as she was around that it would stay there, hidden away.

The thought was empowering and left her eyeing the bottle with a little less suspicion.

"Are you all going to stay here and watch me sleep?" She asked after a moment.

"Oh yes! It should be highly entertaining! Of course there won't be much we can do should you become trapped in the dream …"

Alice jumped slightly at the sudden purr beside. Chess had settled himself on the bedcovers next to her.

"Chessur …" Tarrant's voice burred with an unspoken threat from across the room. Alice paid it no mind and instead looked wildly to Mirana.

The White Queen hurried forward to her side.

"Never fear my Champion. There's a failsafe in this particular batch. Should you feel yourself getting stuck in the dream all you'll need to do is pinch yourself."

"Right, because that worked so well last time …" Alice muttered to herself as Mirana walked back to Princess Lily's side.

"Would you like all of us to stay Alice?" The Princess asked gently. Alice gazed at them all for a second before answering.

"Just Tarrant please." She said quietly.

Mirana and Lily nodded simultaneously. Lily rushed forward and hugged Alice quickly. Mirana also swept forward to hug her, but added a gentle kiss to the crown of her head. They both then turned away and silently left the room, shutting the door behind them.

Alice turned her gaze to Chessur. He smiled lazily up at her and misted away. Alice vaguely thought she could hear him saying good luck as this occurred but decided not to press the issue.

She only had eyes for her husband.

Tarrant hurried forward and sat down next to her. They said nothing for several minutes. As they sat there, Alice wondered if Tarrant would be able to sleep at all tonight or if he would stay up the entire night watching over her.

She knew the answer of course.

"I'm afraid Tarrant." She whispered.

"Why's that love?" His voice equally as quiet.

"What if whatever this dreams shows me … tries—tries to change us, change our world?" She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was shaking his head.

"Nothing can change us lass. I already made sure of that." He had captured her left hand and was stroking her wedding band. Alice nodded, taking comfort in his familiar weight beside her and his calloused fingers.

"Kiss me?" She asked suddenly.

Tarrant smiled gently and firmly pressed his lips to hers. Alice lingered there in his embrace as long as she dared and then settled against the pillows.

"I'm ready." She murmured. Tarrant silently reached across her and grabbed the bottle of potion and poured a glassful for her. Taking it gingerly, she raised it eye level and toasted the man beside her.

"Cheers."

She threw back the glass and drained it. She handed it back to Tarrant and laid down. She had just enough time to recall the blurry edges of the dream room before the darkness closed in around her.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

There was light in here at least. That much was obvious from the blinding reflection of the colorless room around her. Had she really fallen into her dream or was she still in the White Queen's Castle?

The walls were crisp white yet they seemed … soft? Almost as though they had been covered in a layer of down pillows. She leaned against the wall to test her theory and found herself to be correct.

Why in the world would walls be padded like this?

A noise behind her had her spinning around. An equally white door was swinging forward and wiry, tall man in a white coat was coming forward. He was holding out his hand in front of him as to fend her off.

Which was utterly ridiculous seeing as she wasn't a danger at all!

"Ready for your medication?" The man asked kindly. She looked to his other hand and noticed the syringe poised to plunge in her skin. Immediately she backed away, straight into the soft wall behind her.

She opened her mouth and knew she was exclaiming that she did NOT need medicated and that she would like to leave NOW.

However she couldn't hear her own voice!

"Come now, we have the same conversation every day!" The man advanced further and she shook her head vehemently. Scurrying to the opposite corner, she looked about wildly for a way out, a weapon, anything!

"I need some assistance in here!" The man called over his shoulder. He was calm. He was too calm for her liking.

Two more men entered the room, these two being more burly and fierce looking. She tried to set her body in the defensive position Count Willard had taught her, but her body refused to cooperate.

Instead she found herself thrashing at the hands that had suddenly clamped onto her wrists. She tried to kick at her attackers but soon found her legs pinned as well. She thought she cried out but once again her voice wasn't to be heard.

There was a sudden, stinging pain in her left arm. She hissed at the feeling and nearly collapsed as the men moved away from her. She stumbled forward and forced her legs to carry her to the neat camp bed across the room. She collapsed onto it and cradled her head in her hands. Wave after wave of nausea rolled through her and she fought down the urge to empty her stomach onto the cold stone floor beneath her feet.

What had she done to deserve this? Why in the world would someone want her in this place?

Cautiously she raised her head. She looked around the room hoping for some kind of answer. She spotted a dingy mirror next to the barred window. Frowning, she gingerly stood up and made her way over to it. Perhaps her looks could give her a hint as to the cruel treatment she had just endured. She closed her eyes as another wave of nausea racked her body.

She stopped in front of the mirror and took a deep breath. Ever so slowly, she opened her eyes to look at her reflection.

Only it wasn't her reflection.

The eyes staring back at her were a watery blue. The skin was paler than even her own, as though it very rarely saw the sun. The hair was not a mass of blond curls but short and made of feathery red locks. She felt the breath leave her body and then –

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Alice awoke gasping for breath and wrenched herself up.

"Alice?" Tarrant's voice seemed to be a thousand miles away. The ringing in her ears was far more prevalent. Not as prevalent as the fear and panic coursing through her though and not nearly as prevalent as the images swimming before her eyes.

"Alice lass, please say something!" Tarrant's panic caused her to groan. She drew her knees up to her chest and buried her face in the crook. Tarrant started to rub her back in a feeble attempt to comfort her.

But Alice didn't want to be comforted. She wanted someone to rage at her, to tell her what she already knew to be true.

This was all her fault. Somehow, she had caused this.

At last she found the strength to speak.

"Oh Hamish."

Bonkers To Be Late

A Alice in Wonderland Story
by RosieLilyIce93

Part 37 of 48

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