Twisted. Options

[Midnight Faerie]

Chapter One: Just beyond the doorway...




Heat. It is all around me, everywhere. Flames licking at my clothing, bright tongues of fire engulfing me, swallowing me whole. I am burning, burning in the sulpherous depths of the underworld. My scream is let out in amidst the crackling of the hellish fire, yet is unable to reach my own ears. I shall simply be left here, left here to die.


I sit up with a jolt, drenched thoroughly in sweat. My eyes glance over at the analog clock which sits perched on my dresser, the antique brown body polished to a rustic shine, the fine black hands indicating that the time is 4:36. This was the third time in the span of four hours that I have had this nightmare. Why? I do not know. My heart beats frantically as I glance into the mirror beside my bedside. My bright green eyes are like chips of gem as a curtain of my dark hair falls before my face, brilliantly contrasted against the moonlit pallor of my skin.
"Damn reoccuring dream..." I mutter, sliding out of bed to turn the ceiling fan on 'high'. Something pulls at my long victorian nightgown, startling me. I whirl around, only to find that the rough wood of my bedpost has snagged it. I sigh and smile to myself, relieved, gently unhooking the thin, white fabric. How silly of me to get so worked up about a nightmare. If Mother were to know, she'd scold me for being so terribly childish.
Shaking my head with exhaustion, I lay back down on my bed, hearing it give a soft groan of protest. I stare at the darkness for a while, until my mind needs to rest, and I fall back into slumber once more.


---



The sound of footsteps fade away just as I open my eyes. Metalic clicks hitting the smooth, wooden floorboards. Sunlight does not stream through the curtain folds, so I know that night is still here. Why is someone up at this time of night, then? How long have I been asleep? I turn to the clock once more, but find it not there. Puzzled, I slip out of bed again and walk towards the door, my pale hand holding the doorknob firmly, cool metal burning against it. I turn the handle, hearing the door open, but as I push it... nothing happens. Only a sliver of it is open, yet enough to fit in my slender frame.
Sucking in what stomache I have, I squeeze my way through the door. Once on the other side, I gasp and fall to the floor in shock.
I am in Wonderland.

Straight out of a Lewis Carroll classic, is the colourful landscape, swirls and curls and nothing as it seems. A magnificently gnarled old tree is sitting in a rocking chair, birds are flying backwards in the ground underneath my feet. The sun is sleeping, radiating a soft blue. But, no white rabbit in sight.
"Curiouser and curiouser..." I whisper to myself, spotting a narrow black road and making my way towards it.
As I near the path, tiny bushes of roses appear. Awed by the perfection of the crimson hue, I reach out to touch one. But as my finger grazes the petal, a sharp stinging pain stabs at my hand. Looking closely, I see the colour deepen, and, turning my hand over for inspection, I see that it has cut me.
The roses are saturated with human blood.
Appalled, I stumble backwards, walking swiftly down the road. For a good stretch of land, I see nothing but the twisted landscape. Until...
"Oh, pardon me, Miss!" The voice of a young man exclaims.
Whipping around, I see no one. Thinking it as just a trick of this marvelous parody, I start on my way once more. But again, I am stopped by that voice.
"Miss! Oh, Miss! Please, come back!" It pleads from behind me.
I bite my lip and turn around, coming face-to-face with a dashing boy of handsome features, piercing blue eyes staring straight into mine. A tremor goes throughout me, and my knees feel as if they will give out at any moment. His gaze holds me upward, until I break it, averting my eyes bashfully.
He says nothing for a moment, and I wonder if he is still there, so, I look up and see him. My breath catches at the sight of his perfect face. A shock of black hair sits atop his brilliantly moulded head, his skin as pale as my own, if not lighter. He smiles, a grin that makes me weak-kneed all over again, revealing white teeth with two canines protruding from the top. At that, my heart races. He is most likely a boy of vampyric nature.
Noticing my fear, he closes his mouth, frowning. Reaching a hand out to brush my cheek, which I find very forward of him, he says in an angelic whisper, "Do not be afraid. I shall not harm you."
I want to believe him, oh how I want to, yet another part of me has the urge to run away, leaving this handsome young man behind.
I stay, feeling as though I know him, like I've met him before.
Silly girl, I tell myself, How could you? Only a moment ago you stumbled into... Wonderland.
Now I'm sure this must be a dream. It is impossible. Of course I feel that I know him, doesn't this happen a lot in dreams?
But the feelings I got when he touched me... those were real. They had to be. So why...
I am interuppted from my thoughts by his voice.
"Dear girl, may I ask why you are out here? You are human, are you not?"
My green eyes gaze back into his blue ones, getting ready to speak.
"I..." My voice comes out in a whisper, so mustering up any courage I have, I say, "I don't know why."
The boy seems worried, and replies with this, "Then you shouldn't be here. Awful things can happen to a mortal. Wonderland is a mad place, girl. Nothing is as it is, yet everything is as it seems."
Feeling a tear roll down my face, I whisper, "I don't know how to get home. I cannot leave here."
Just like Alice....
Being the gentleman that I'm sure he is, the boy wipes away the single tear and looks at me fondly. "Same with me."
Biting back the urge to cry, I manage to ask him, "Pardon, but what is your name?"
Grinning, the boy takes a step back from me (and at this moment I realize that we were awfully close) and bows formally.
"Vincent DeWitt, at your service, madame."
I cannot help but smile as I curtsey, my long white nightgown looking abnormally good on me. "Glad to meet you, Vincent. My name is Christine."
He repeats my name over and over, as if tasting it on his tongue. Then, surprisingly, Vincent takes my hand and kisses it lightly, sending a jolt down my spine.
"A pleasure to meet such a lovely lady, with an exquisite name."
Blushing furiously, I take back my hand and follow him as we start down the road together.





Author's Note: I'll keep updating it, I promise. Unless it sucks too badly, then I won't. Please leave positive critique. No "Omg girl that totally sucked ass never write again". All right? Okeedokee.

[Midnight Faerie]

Chapter Two: Madness



Time. What a complicated thing. How many hours does it take to get from Helena to Albany? How long did Rip Van Winkle sleep? If two trains left two separate stations at other ends of the world, how long would it be until they collided? Time is valuable, yes. But it is also useless. At least, here it is.
I walk with Vincent in a cheery, normal silence. I hurry to keep in pace with his long, quick strides. The brilliantly blue sun has fallen, replaced by a moon, glowing in a light orange. Darkness swallows the strange forest; all that I can see are the road, the moon, and Vincent. On any other occasion I would be quite frightened. Yet with Vincent, fear seems unimaginable. I ponder this and wonder if it is a good or bad thing.
Suddenly, he stops, sending me straight into his back. I mumble an apology, but he pays it no heed. His attention is on something else, something directly in front of us.
With curiosity, I look up, and see that there is a fork in the road. One path is a deep purple, the other the same black hue. Puzzled, I walk right to where the two meet, glancing down at both.
"Which one shall we take, Mister DeWitt?" I ask, smoothing down the skirt of my black dress....
Gasping, I jump. I was not wearing this only a moment ago! For I distinctly remember a white nightgown with the fine lace trim...
But the longer I look at the dress, the more fond I grow of it. Its elegance is beautiful, with a delicately detailed black corset as the bodice. The skirt flows down to the floor, hiding my feet and leaving a train behind me. On my hands is a matching pair of black lace gloves, reaching to about my elbows. Shock and contentment consume me. It will take quite a time for me to get used to the odd happenings of Wonderland.
"What on earth..?" I exclaim, hearing a slight echo from when my voice ended. Once again, I look up, expecting to see Vincent... but I don't. Instead, darkness greets me, loneliness and dread sinking my heart. Where has he gone? What am I to do?
To my horror, teardrops appear on the ground below me, leaving wet trails on my face. For that short time, I had felt safe. Secure. And now, it was gone, replaced by awful, eerie, heartache. Fear.
Dropping to my knees, I begin to sob. Tears roll down my face in liquid diamonds. I cry and cry, for who knows how long. Oh why am I here? I should be at home, in bed. I wish for my normal, dull, miserable life to go on as it once did. No more insanity, no more nothing as it is or everything as it seems. No more... no more.
"Miss, what is the matter? Christine? Are you all right? Please, tell me what troubles you so."
Such warm, gentle words; with warm, gentle arms to match. They slide around me and I melt into them, the never-ending waterfall of tears on full blast. I am almost sure that it is Mister DeWitt, yet I cannot stop crying. The tears I shed are for home, for safety, for sanity.
They do not cease until exhaustion claims me, pulling me back into sweet, pure darkness.

----

A loud noise, like that of a cannon, rings loud in my ears. I start, finding myself wrapped tightly in Mister DeWitt's arms. For a moment I wish to lay there, enveloped in warmth and comfort. But my stinging curiousity makes me wriggle myself out of his grip, standing up and brushing dust off of my dress. As I look around, I see nothing. Night still blankets the landscape, the sky a deep black. I peer closer, and notice that the sky is not black, but a rich purple. Another moment of observation passes, letting my eyes adjust to the strange, eerie light that hangs around everything in a hazy cloud. The moon is no longer there, yet it is as bright as it would be during a full moon at home.
"How curious..." I mutter, embarrassed by my newfound "Alice-like" personality.
Rustling comes from behind me, and I look down. Vincent stirs weakly, a pale, slender hand reaching up to wipe grit from his eyes. They snap open and swallow me into that sea of magnificent blue.
His voice shakes from exhaustion, ''Christine... what is the matter?"
I shake my head, hair falling to hide my face. "I thought I heard something. That's all."
He smiles, Oh! that smile, one end curled slightly higher than the other in a boyish grin. Taking my hand, he leads me back down to the hard earth, with a look in his eye that I classify as groggy from sleep.
"Miss, there is no reason for you to be afraid," he says kindly.
"I'm not afraid-"
Vincent interrupts me, "Oh, but you are. Why else would you awake in the middle of the night, by a simple noise? I am here with you, Christine. Nothing and no one shall harm you."
Those words melt my heart, pulling at my clothes, sending me back into his arms. But then I remember that I have a mission to accomplish. I must find my way home, no matter how I feel, no matter what tempts me.
Standing up reluctantly, I say in my most brisk and formal tone, "Master DeWitt, we really must be going if I ever want to find my way home. Now is not the time for...." I trail off uncertainly, but regain my composure. "Now is not the time for this."
Is that... disappointment I see written all over his perfect face? No, don't flatter yourself, Christine. It must simply be exhaustion.
He stands, smoothing down the white cuffed shirt that fits his body only too well and straightening his knee-length black trench coat. Giving a small bow, his proceeds down the purple road, only checking back every so often to see if I'm still here.
Several long, agonizing moments of silence pass. Darkness is quickly chased away by light, day becoming bright once more. Yet the cheeriness of the world around us does not penetrate the field of awkwardness that consumes us both. I sigh, hating every minute of it.
Stop getting so attatched, I scold myself, It's only been a day and you most likely will never see him again.
At that thought, my heart sinks. Why do I feel this way about a boy whom I have only just met? Insanity. Pure insanity of this world.

Oh how I dread and look forward to the time I can return.

***

Sorry that it's so short. >_< Schoolwork has been piling up.