Somewhere Out There

"Wonderland?" I raised an eyebrow at him thinking he'd gone crazy, "Wait, you mean-"
"Yes," He sighed, "The one in the stories and tales."
"But, it's so-"
"Different?" He raised an eyebrow while nodding at me, "It's changed since the last Alice was here."
"Last Alice?" I shot a look at him.
"There was a girl from your world, changed our world, made an impression," He nodded, "But that was 150 years ago."
"Wow," I nodded as I took it in.
"So let's go," He walked towards the door to open it for me.
"Go where?" I asked while he looked at me.
"You said you want to find about your family, and I know a place."

Pulling the jacket around my soaked body, I walked outside the door to be looking down at a huge drop.

"Whoa," I stopped as Hatter walked behind me.
"What?"
"It's just high," I looked back at him, "It's weird."
"Scared?" He smirked as I shook my head.
"I have other fears not one of which includes heights," I looked back at him.
"Anything I should know about?" He asked as I started to follow him.
"Depends," I shrugged as he smiled as I followed him around the side of the building.

Keeping up with Hatter, he lead me to this old building which I wasn't sure where I still was but at the same time, something was jogging a lost memory in my mind. It was like a lost flashback as I could hear children running, laughing, playing.

"Alex," Hatter mentioned as he directed my attention to the subway like car, "You ok?"
"Yeah," I shook my head as he let me on the car.

Sitting down as the car got to a shaky start, I watched as Hatter stood there when I realized my keys were gone. They weren't in my pocket but when I reached in, I felt an object in my pocket, I pulled it out to see a ring.

"What's that?" Hatter asked looking at me.
"That guy who pushed me in must've slipped it in my pocket before he pushed me in."
"You never seen it before?" He questioned as I shook my head.
"The only rings I have are thumb rings," I looked at him as the car came to a stop and I put the ring back in my pocket.

As Hatter was letting me off the car, a woman with a gun greeted us as the guy behind us had a gun as well.

"Um, Hatter," I mentioned as I walked off the car, "You forgot to mention that people here are crazy."
"Look," Hatter mentioned to the woman and guy, "You both know me, let's just put those away."
"We have our orders," The woman mentioned as she looked at us.
"Again with the queen," I mumbled with an eye roll as Hatter shot me a look then got them to put their guns down and lead us to this back off.

As we were walking, I stopped to look down at the people who were trying to nurse each other back to health as Hatter stopped with me.

"What's wrong with them?" I asked while looking at them.
"They're refugees," Hatter leant on the railing, "They come here and we held feed them, give them shelter."
"Refugees?" I questioned.
"When the Queen siezed power, things changed, this is a result of what happens when people stopped siding with her."
"But why?"
"Wisdom," Hatter mentioned as he looked at me as I for some reason understood what he was talking about, "Come on, let's go."

Walking into this dark office, I noticed news clippings on the walls of things that happened in Wonderland from the years. One in particular caught my eye as Hatter was talking to this Dodo character.

"The Queen had a daughter?" I questioned as I went to read further.
"Alex," Hatter mentioned as I looked towards him.
"What?"
"Show 'em the ring," Hatter looked at me as I gave him a strange look.
"Why?"
"It's all you've got," Hatter reasoned as I reached into my pocket to pull out the ring.
"Where did you get this?" Dodo asked as I looked at him.
"I don't know," I looked at him quickly as his anger rose.
"How did an oyster like you end up with a ring like this?"
"I'm not an oyster," I glared at him.
"She isn't," Hatter mentioned as he let out a sigh, "Show him the tattoo."
"What?"
"The tattoo on your wrist," Hatter watched the man as I rolled up my sleeve.
"Fine," I unveiled my wrist as the guy looked down at it.
"How did you get here?" He questioned as I pulled the sleeve back down.
"I got pushed in," I glared.
"She has the stone of Wonderland," The man looked at me as Hatter looked shocked.
"What?" Hatter looked at the man.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, "What is the stone of Wonderland?"
"It controls the looking glass," The man approached me, "Give it to me."
"No," I stepped back.
"If we have it, we can stop the queen, give it to me," He moved closer as I took another step back.
"No," I watched him as he took out a gun and Hatter stepped in front of it.
"Ok, 'ey, no need to get violent," Hatter stood in front of me as the guy didn't lower his gun.
"You know what the ring will do Hatter," He looked at him.
"Look, let me talk to her, just put the gun down."
"You're taking too long," The guy cocked his gun as Hatter gulped, "I'll give you five times for it."
"Still not budging," I protested from behind Hatter.
"Alex," Hatter sighed but before I knew it, a gun shot had hit Hatter as he flew off which gave me the perfect oppurtunity to flee.

As I ran down the hall, half scared since I thought I was alone now, I heard that guy follow behind me after some struggle that I could still hear. Just as I was about to get onto the sub car again, I felt a hand on my shoulder stop me to be face to face with that guy again.

"Thought you could run," The guy laughed as I looked at him, "The Queen will be happy to know you've been caught."
"Then she'll have to keep chasing me," I smirked as he pulled me closer when he got tapped on the shoulder by someone from behind.
" 'ey," The voice from behind said as they pushed him off me into a wall.
"Hatter," I smiled as he looked at me.
"Alex, go," He nodded as I ran onto the car as I watched him fight the guy off behind me.
"Hatter!" I watched him as he still fought the guy when he seemed to get a hand up on Hatter as I ran off to defend him.

I punched him quickly, feeling the pain in my knuckles as I helped Hatter up to the car to get out of the old library. As I pulled him onto the car, he fell onto the ground as I went to check his wound when I found body armour.

"Idiot!" I smacked him as he groaned, "I thought you died."
"Ow!" He groaned as he moved the floor, "Now I couldn't do that on you, would I? Leave without seeing your pretty face again?"
"Stop sucking up," I rolled my eyes as I sat down on the bench as he slowly pulled himself up, "What's the deal with this ring thing?"
"It's the stone of Wonderland," He caught his breath, "It controls the looking glass which links our world to your world. It's how the Queen brings in the oysters to use in her casino."
"Use?"
"Emotions are a powerful thing," He sat up to look at me as the car came to a stop, "Do you still trust me?"
"You won't turn me into the Queen right?"
"No," He smiled as he stood up to hold out his hand as I took it and we headed out of the car.

As we were walking around the buildings, things were becoming more apparent to me, like flashbacks. I kept seeing things like being a kid and running through the town and playing.

"Alex," Hatter looked back at me, "You ok?"
"Yeah," I shook my head as I smiled at him, "It's just, I'm remembering things."
"Like?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Things I couldn't remember from being a kid, it's strange."
"I see," He nodded as we were walking when he stopped me.

"The Queen wants Alex alive and brought back to her, she will reward whoever turns her in," A guy in a black suit mentioned.

"Who are they?" I asked whispering to Hatter.
"The Queen's suits," He watched him as he looked back at me, "We can't stay here or move on anymore today."
"What?"
"This way," He took my hand and lead me to a building farther away from the others which he pushed me into the wall as suits rushed by.

The space between the two of us was close as I looked down then back at him.

"They're gone," He let out a breath as I nodded.
"Not entirely, huh?"
"They're watching the building," He mentioned as I looked up at him as there was an awkwardness between the two of us as he moved away slowly.

"Back at the library," I started out as I watched Hatter look out a window, "I seen an article about the Queen and her daughter-"
"She had a daughter and a son," He nodded as he looked at me.
"Really?" I moved closer towards him and the window, "What's the story behind that?"
"No one ever talks about it," He mentioned as he looked at me, "We were all supposed to forget."
"Tell me," I looked at him.
"If I tell you, will you tell me about what your family?"
"Of course," I shrugged, "I can't remember much before age 10 but I'll fill you in."
"Sit," He motioned towards an empty chair as I took a seat.