First a rabbit hole, and now this.
An earthquake.
A bloody earthquake of all things, and the weirdest one to boot, with how Habanera is suddenly playing out of tune and the spotlight above us starts swinging like crazy.
"We don't have much time, so I need you to listen carefully."
I whirl around at the voice suddenly speaking urgently into my ear, and it's only then I realize the were-tiger is gone...and I'm all alone in a world of violent convulsions and rapidly fading light.
"This isn't your entryway, but you can still come back."
"I don't understand—-"
"And you must come back."
Lips I can't see brush against mine, and the invisible heat of it is as wildly jarring as it's startlingly poignant.
"You must come back for us, little Alice...or all shall be lost."
A hundred questions race in my mind, but the world has already turned upside down, and I start to fall.
Just falling and falling—-
Down, down, down.?? I must get back. ??I MUST GET BACK. I must. I must.
The words swirl around my brain like a foggy memory as I slowly drift back to consciousness. I open my eyes, and everything is blurry at first. It almost gives me hope, but as my vision gradually clears—-
Shit.
The first thing I see are my clothes. I'm no longer a cosplaying French maid, and it has me jerking up in clumsy haste. I look around me in a state of disbelief, and even though I know I'm just being foolish and stubborn, I try rubbing my eyes in hopes that what I'm seeing isn't real—-
But it is.
Everything around me is real.
Everything is normal.
Everything is exactly the way things should be, and it's bloody depressing.
No sinkhole-slash-rabbit-hole, no weird darkness, no Habanera playing in the background. Nothing but just your regular school storage room, with fluorescent lights glaring blindingly from the ceiling and utility racks groaning under the weight of an assortment of equipment and supplies.
The doors of the storage room are still open, the afternoon sun is still shining, and it all just makes me want to bury my head in the sand.
I can't believe it.
But I have to.
Even if I remember every little thing that's happened, even if I can still feel the invisible touch of the were-tiger's lips against mine and hear his voice whispering in my ear—-
None of it's real, and I'll only drive myself mad if I—-
"Addie?"
Now that I know I'm not imagining. A soft, shaken voice calling my name, and I quickly turn around—-
Rabbit?
For a moment I can only watch in dumbfounded silence as the new girl hurries towards me...from outside the storage room.
Outside!
Did she get to leave the storage room safely then, and I'm the only one who ended up in Wonderland?
"Thank God you're okay," the other girl exclaims as soon as she reaches me.
She is?
"I was so worried..." She goes on talking, just talking so, so fast that it takes a while before I realize what "Rabbit" is saying in between her words of profuse apologies and fervent thank yous.
You didn't have to help me, but you did, and if not for that, you would never have...
I felt so bad when I found out you might be lost...
When he told me I could come up...
A gasp breaks past my lips, and "Rabbit" immediately stops speaking while her gaze turns worried and searching. "What is it?"
"I know this is going to sound crazy..." My heart is thudding so fast and hard I can barely hear myself as I speak. "But are you saying..."
"Rabbit" is already nodding before I even finish. "You're not crazy," she tells me earnestly. "Everything about Wunderland's real, and Rayé says you must go back."THIRTY MINUTES LATER, and I'm sitting on a living room rug and digging into my second box of Chinese takeout while a tea-sipping Chassie (the girl formerly known as "Rabbit") does her painstaking best at giving me the lowdown on a world that I used to believe was fictional.
But obviously...it's not.
For starters: every human from our side of the universe has his or her own "entryway" to Wonderland, and this portal's supposed to be 100% no-guests-allowed, for-your-eyes-only exclusive.
Only in my case, I somehow ended up gatecrashing Chassie's supposedly entryway, and that's why everything eventually went south.
And as for Mr. Snow Tiger...
The shifter's the sole exception apparently, as well as being the Cheshire Cat in that batshit version of Wunderland. He's, like, the Lord of All Doors or something, and has unrestricted access to every entryway there is.
Which is cool, I guess, but whatever. I think it's better if I don't even think of him as someone real. He might be the hottest guy I've ever seen, but...c'mon now. He's a were-tiger, for shit's sake, and his world exists between the pages of a children's book. So thanks, but no thanks. The only practical thing to do here is forget him—-