original

Alice in Horrorland

Chương 1: Chapter One

"Curiouser and curioser!"

-Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland"

...

"Look, mom, I understand that dad has a new girlfriend, but I am not going to accept the fact she is my age!" Naomi cried.

"Honey, you're going to have to if you want your father to be happy," her mother replied, the crack that was normally in her voice beginning to become worse.

"Wouldn't it make him a pedophile though?"

"Love is love. Age is just a number. If I started dating someone that was 14 years old, you would accept it, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Okay then. Now come downstairs. Your food's getting cold," her mother smiled.

"Okay, mom. Just a minute, though."

"Okay, sweetie. Just be sure to hurry up." her mother said, walking over towards the door back inside the apartment building.

Naomi breathed in the cool, greasy air of New York City, noticing that someone was smoking a blunt.

"Crazy people. Don't they know that isn't going to set a good example for the kids around the area? So strange-"

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm very, very late!" something around her cried and she heard a small patter of footfalls echo around her. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm oh-so-very late!"

"Late for what?" she called out.

As she moved her head around to see what was around her, she saw a small figure dash towards her and leap into the air above her. She swore she could hear a clock ticking loudly and saw rabbit ears on the figure's head.

"I am late for the execution!" it cried in a small voice, falling down into the deep darkness below to the bustling road beneath her.

'What could they have been smoking to the point where I am hallucinating people jumping off buildings and talking about executions?' she wondered, backing up slowly. A hand passed directly over her head and a tall, handsome, sleek young man sailed over her, fading in and out, in and out again, also slipping gracefully into the busy street with a grin on his face.

"Crazy white rabbit, you're going to be early and make the king chop your daughter's head off for earliness," he said, winking at me and disappearing into the road.

New Yorkers at this time knew that if they saw something that seemed messed up or out of the blue, stop whatever you are smoking, snorting, or chewing and leave.

Naomi thought that she was getting the buzz from the blunt and turned to go home. Rushing towards the door, she felt a chilling presence surround her.

"Hellllllllllo, Aliccccccccce....." a cold, heartless voice said. Pulling her dangerously close the edge, she struggled to get from the heavy grip. She was able to get away and ran to her apartment room to find the door hanging off of its edges and her mom's head lying on the table next to her body, its mouth twisted into an eerie smile.

"Hi, Alice. Long time, no see," the head said.

"I AM NOT ALICE! WHO IS ALICE?"

...

"Girl, wake up!" her sister, Freya, cried, shaking Naomi vigorously by her shoulders. "Wake up!"

Her eyes shot open and she struggled to take in her surroundings. She wasn't at her mother's apartment complex; she was actually in her dormitory.

Her roommate on the other side of the room was on the phone, calling in the nurse for the third time this week and it was only Tuesday.

"Yeah, I don't what is wrong with her. No signs of hallucinations while awake?" the nurse asked once she got to the dorm room.

"No."

"Taking any medications that cause hallucinations, like ketamine or mescaline?"

"I don't have any prescriptions that have those since I am allergic to the ingredients."

"Hm. Interesting...."

"What's interesting?"

"You aren't showing any side effects of hallucinating nor insanity, so I have nothing to tell you. Is it a lost memory?"

"No, my mother is still alive and I had never seen those people before in my life. I have a good memory so I couldn't have forgotten those people."

"Okay. Tell me if it happens again."

"This is why I didn't want to show you the movie "Alice in Wonderland". You are used to horror films so your mind made it into a horror film." my roommate, Mindy, said after she closed the door.

"That is not true because I love horror films and never have nightmares from them. So that isn't a possible explanation. I will talk to mom about it."

"You still haven't told her?" Freya asked.

"I have never had a nightmare before, so this is going to physically shock her. I don't want her to have another heart attack."

"Are you still blaming yourself for it?" Freya asked, moving to hold her sister's hand.

"Yes," Naomi said, allowing her to.

"It wasn't your fault!"

"Yes, it was!" Naomi said, snatching her hand away and staring at it.

"No, it wasn't! We had to tell her eventually, otherwise, she was going to find out and kill us both. And plus, it was my fault for getting pregnant with Taylor and Sarah. "

"I blame myself because I knew about it and never told her until you blacked out that one time during that party!" Naomi said, tears falling down her face.

"It's okay, it's okay. Don't cry, don't cry," Freya said, trying to comfort her sister while Mindy looked at her with pity.

"You could have died!" Naomi sobbed, holding for dear life onto her sister.

"But I didn't. I'm still here today, right?"

"Yeah..." Naomi said, slowly letting up her tears.

"Okay. Speaking of Taylor and Sarah, I have to pick them up from school. Wanna tag along?"

"Nah. I gotta go visit mom."

"Oh, well... Good luck."

"I won't need luck; I would need a hope and a prayer that she won't even faint."

"Yeah," Freya chuckled, walking towards the door and leaving.

"How long will you be gone?"

"Not long. Why?"

"You are going to be cooking today," Mindy said happily.

"A time like this and you are worried about food?"

"Yep!" she grinned.

'That grin looks similar to the one in my dream...' Naomi thought as she looked for her car keys. 'Why does your grin look similar to the one in my dream' she thought as she stepped out of the door of her room.