Alice of Human Sacrifice

She loved those kinds of nights—the kind where you dream a dream so beautiful and life-like it’s impossible to wish yourself awake. You would never even think of wishing yourself awake.

Those dreams where it’s impossible to wake up from.

The sunlight hit her brother's face perfectly from across the small hill. His skin glowed golden, along with his sun-colored hair. He felt her gaze and turned toward her, seeing her face held the tree's shadow. She watched him swish the cherry flavored, heart shaped sucker in his mouth before he dropped the flat stones he had been throwing in the water. There were still about five left.

He approached her and sat on the blanket that was laid across the grass. He sat and then reached over and took a grape from the vine in her hand. He took out the sucker to roll the little fruit on his tongue before breaking it down.

"Are we dreaming?" His sister asked, and he saw her sun-colored hair catch a sliver of light that escaped the trees branches. It glowed.

"I don't know anymore," he replied, shortly after swallowing the sour grape. He lay down on the blanket and rested his head on his hands. His elder sister soon followed suit. As the wind blew, the branches quaked and their hair caught the many slivers of light as they shook and moved across their hair and faces. The air was cool and was constantly fighting the heat of the sun.

"Are you real?"

Her brother scoffed. "Of course. We're having one of those dreams again—the connected ones."

His sister sat up, opened the basket at the center of the checkered blanket and took out two teacups, just at the moment a tea kettle, lying sideways in the grass, began to whistle. She set the teacups on the ground and picked up the kettle, positioning it right side up, and poured the tea into each cup.

“How peculiar,” her brother commented, gazing at the gravity-defying kettle. No, it wasn’t the kettle that was defying gravity. It was the tea inside it.

“Yes, I know.” She passed him a cup and he sipped at it until it was safe to drink it in bigger gulps without singeing his tongue. Soon, they had finished their cups, refilled them, and swallowed those down. The finished their third servings by the time they had their fill and the kettle still felt full in her hand. They both lay down on the blanket once more. They gazed at the shifting branches until they both—simultaneously—began to drift off. Their eyelids began to shut, both trying to stay awake but failing. The wind carried them to sleep like a gently rocking ocean.

What a magnificent dream, they both thought.

And there was a large sound—two materials scraping against each other. The twins’ eyes popped open and their eyes went straight to each other, as if expecting the other to explain. But when neither came up with an explanation, they sat up straight and looked towards the fast-paced river.

A wooden boat had crashed upon the shore, the waves sloshing at its base as if trying to pull it back into the water.

And they approached the boat, curiosity peaking and hearts aflutter. Her brother ran his hand, as small and pale as hers, over the edge, his eyes widening. His elder sibling, however, stood a foot away from the vessel.

"C'mon. Let's take it down the river."

"Uh...no," she replied, rubbing her bumpy flesh.

Her brother turned to her. "It's a dream, sis. We can do what we want."

"I don't want it to turn into a nightmare," the stubborn sister replied.

He would usually reply with something extremely witty, but decided against. Instead, he sighed and replied gently, "I won’t let that happen." He held out his hand to her, and after a brief moment, she took it.

What was trust if a pair of siblings didn’t have it?

He helped her into the boat and it shook under her, causing her to gasp and take hold of his arm. He smiled reassuringly at her, and she took her seat on the bench. Her brother began to push the boat back out onto the water as his sister picked up the oars that rested on the bottom of the boat. Using an oar, she helped push the boat into the water and her brother jumped in before he could get too wet. She handed him the oars and he began to row, but the current of the deep river took them the right way.

“So clear…” she muttered admiringly. Leaning over the edge of the boat and gazing downward.

And then she saw something in the water, just below the surface. It was pale; milky white. She reached out, and her fingers grazed the water. She strained, the edge of the boat digging into her gut.

She could feel it tipping.

But in that moment, it didn’t really matter to her. It’s water—warm water, at that. It didn’t matter that she was wearing her favorite skirt and sailor shirt. It didn’t matter that the water had traumatized her since she had drowned when she was six.

What mattered was reaching that…that card…

Her brother had leaped to the other end of the boat and leaned outward to keep the boat level. “Sis—?”

Her fingers swiped the top of the water again, and then her fingers touched the edge, causing the opposite end to lift upward toward the surface. She grasped hold of that end, and lifted up from the edge. Her gut finally felt free.

“What is it?”

She gazed at the soft, glossy surface of the playing card, the Ace of Hearts. She flipped it over, and noticed golden yellow writing on the back:

You are cordially invited to the Queen of Hearts tea party this evening at precisely 6:00.

Her brother burst into laughter. “A tea party? In a dream?”

“Why not? A Queen invited us!”

Her brother rolled his eyes. “Where is it?”

She shrugged, looking over the playing card again, but there was no location. “We’ll find it eventually.”

And with that, her brother continued to row down the river. There was a long, blissfully peaceful moment as they drifted downstream, her brother using the oars to make sure they didn’t run ashore. The water gently rocked the boat, swaying them poetically. Shiver’s ran down the sister’s spine, the sereneness of it all overtaking her. She began to drift, her eyes closing, her small lips parting, a graceful look overcoming her face. He mind felt so at ease she could hardly help herself.

Until, with a shock and a gasp of fright, the boat made a shocking jerk forward, pulling the sister from her slumber with a terrible jolt. She looked around, her brother holding the same startled gaze, until he looked at the front of the boat and realized they had crashed upon shore. He too had fallen asleep.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I couldn’t help myself.”

She sighed, taking a long breath of relief. She glanced back to see that the river had flown into a crystal lake, the water ebbing gently at the shore. Her brother stepped out and pulled the boat farther onto the gravel, then took her hand and helped her out. She looked around. The trees and shrubbery were so thick; a long path seemed to lead farther into the woods.

“Let’s go.” Warmth enveloped her hand, and she realized suddenly he had taken hold of it again. He gently pulled her through the light-barked trees that seemed to arch over their path and creating haunting shadows.

The sister sighed, but followed her brother farther into the shrubbery. The sky seemed to be turning orange, casting the world into a heavenly glow. She breathed in the crisp air, finding it very relieving against home’s putrid city air, but then it occurred to her that she may have forgotten what city she lived in. She thought about asking her brother, but quickly came to the conclusion that she would only embarrass herself. She’d remember when she woke up.

The sky seemed to get darker as they walked, still with the orange glow, but it seemed to turn from orange, to a burnt orange. It was still strangely pretty.

They had been walking for a long, long time now, and the elder sister’s legs were getting tired. She stopped, and her brother turned to look at her with a curious gaze. She frowned. “I’m tired.”

“C’mon, I’m sure we’ll find the quean’s tea party,” he told her sarcastically, but she knew her brother very well; he was just as curious about it as she was.

“It’s not the tea party I’m worried about. It’s way past tea time, so I bet it’s been over for a very, very long time. It’s just…” she sighed. “It’s getting dark.”

Her brother huffed. “I bet the tea sucked, anyway. We’ve had enough for one day.” Her sister giggled in reply.

And suddenly, in front of them, there appeared a door. The door was magnificently distorted, bright red in in color. The doorknob was shaped like an angry old man’s face, complete with a wide open mouth and above it, a long and pointed nose which presumed to be the doorknob. It would have been considered creepy but the door was so bright and happy looking that it didn’t come across that way.

‘Hey, look,” her brother said, grinning widely, even though the door standing in the middle of the forest already had her attention. They stood side-by-side, before her brother reached for the old man’s crooked nose.

“Do not pass farther!” Both children jumped as they watched the mouth animatedly form the words. The looked at each other, saw they both had heard it, and looked back at the knob.

“Why not?”

She looked at her brother warningly, but then returned her gaze toward the talking doorknob.

“Here lies Wonderland’s prison of forgotten souls!” The old man cried, then closed his mouth to look pointedly at both children. “Not a place for children,” he huffed haughtily.

Her brother scoffed, grabbed the old man’s nose, and twisted. The old man cried out as the door was thrown open, and the sister gaped.

“Stop!” She followed her brother through the doorway and grabbed his arm. “Didn’t you hear him you nitwit? This is a prison!”

Her brother looked at her, eyes narrowing. “This is a forest,” he corrected.

“This is ridiculous!” She cried, turning back to the door. She was not about to argue with her brother on this. She was not going any farther, dream or not, and she knew with everything in her being that her brother would follow; he always did. She reached for the doorknob, which, on the other side, was completely normal. The metal was cold in her hands as she twisted the knob, but it stopped suddenly. She yanked it around for a bit, eventually using both hands. She grunted and went to go around the door, but ran smack into a solid wall—an invisible wall.

“What?!” she cried incredulously.

Her brother quickly replicated that startled look in his sister’s eyes, as he went to press his hands on the invisible wall, slamming on it. He went for the doorknob, twisted it once, then went back to the door’s side. “Hey!” he yelled at the door’s knob. “Let us through.”

“You’ve been warned.” The voice was like a stern adult and it became clear they weren’t getting back out.

“Brother…” he voice became worried, and though the younger brother was just as worried as her, he did not say so.

“It’s fine. Let’s just keep going.”

And his sister proceeded to argue with the fact that they had walked into a prison, not just a forest. The argument lasted too long, as the sun was fading from view, and he eventually threw the “this is a dream” card at her. She swallowed, silent for a long time, before she had nodded gently. He brother turned back and began to walk farther.

“What if this isn’t a dream?” He faintly heard his sister’s soft voice. He froze, looking back at her, and the wind seemed to grow colder. Then he turned back and simply kept walking. Grinning slightly as he heard his sister’s footsteps.

They walked, and the mood began to become a bit lighter as the forest failed to prove itself to be a prison. His sister skipped ahead of him and started a word game with him, which he won easily. He was good with both words and numbers, and had skipped a grade to be with his sister. Hmm…what school had he gone to?

He shrugged off the fact that he couldn’t remember exactly what school he had gone to.

Soon, another door came into view and they approached it unsteadily. The doorknob, this time, was a fat lady who told jokes that made absolutely no sense, but that was what made them hilarious. She sang so loudly in opera-style as they grabbed the small nose of the lady, and they leapt through the door. This door seemed to lead to a different world.

They both were falling, for that door had levitated six feet from the ground. When they looked up, they saw that they were in a garden full of bugs fifty times their size. They stared in awe, following the path given, until another door appeared. And then another. And then a few more.

And each door seemed to lead to something different. A yellow brick road among cotton candy mountains, a hallway of funny faces, and they said something when you poked them or woke them up. One would scream at the other and another would tell that face to lighten up for the guests. Soon, it was forgotten that they were in a prison. What kind of prison could bring such smiles to childrens’ faces?

And they seemed to keep venturing deeper, each land new and different. Though, even if they didn’t notice, the places through the doors seemed to get more and more barren. Soon, they were leaping from furnishing to furnishing to a door that floated at the end of the furniture path, in an open universe with large galaxies floating in the distance. The sister made it to the door first, and then the brother followed suit.

But when they opened the door, they were both a bit disappointed. They seemed to be back in a regular forest setting, but the sun that was setting seemed to cast a red glow upon the world. It was uncomfortable, and bit frightening, but still they went forward, the elder sister latching onto her twin brother’s hand as if for comfort. The air had gained a chill.

Soon, the red glow was gone, and the air became dark and even more unsettling. Her brother yelped as he felt his sister lose his grip. He turned, only to see that she had tripped.

She seemed on the verge of tears, though he couldn’t know why. He bent down but then noticed a putrid, horrible scent that lingered in the air. And though he had never smelt it before, he knew instantly what it was. It was the scent of rotting flesh.

He heard his beloved sister whimper, her body beginning to shake in uncontrollable fear She had landed on a pile of carcasses, and only now could they see the flies that buzzed, feasting. Her arms were arm length in stale blood and the smell, it tore her apart. Her stomach heaved as she released all that tea she had onto the carcasses, of not just human looking things, but many animals, too. She began to sob as her brother took a step toward her but could only collapse on his knees, the smell assaulting him like tear gas.

His sister, on the other hand, stood, and she ran past him, farther into the sea of carcasses and into the darkening forests. He took a moment to gain himself again. “N-No…! Sister, come back!” And then he stood on his wobbly knees and weakly tried to follow her, and it didn’t take long to spot her bright blonde hair receding into the woods, where the smell only seemed to grow stronger.

He was a lot slower than her, and she let his sight once until she came into view again. She had stopped, and that was the only way he had been able to catch up. But the sea of carcasses had ended twenty yards behind and his sister was staring at him. Her eyes wide with fear and betrayal and pain.

Her whole body shook, as if she were on the verge of having a seizure, but sure enough, she did not fall to the ground. Her pupils were small as she gazed at him with growing fear.

And then he saw something move against her stomach, something that glinted silver, and she screamed pitifully as the silver traveled up her stomach. He saw blood splatter her sailor top—and pour from her mouth as she coughed it up. He whimpered as he finally registered what he was seeing—she had a blade protruding from her stomach, a blade that was slowly traveling through her to put her in as much agony as possible. And he quickly noticed the perpetrator.

There was lady behind her, that towered over his sister and most likely himself by many feet. She had brown hair stained nearly black with what looked to be fresh blood, but it was dark, and hard to make out any other features other than those.

He screamed—in anger, grief, despair… What had he done?

This lady was locked behind what looked to be ivy bars—a prison cell. He didn’t give much thought as to how that could hold a woman with a sword. “No! S-sister…”

He felt a ripping in his chest and as he fell to his knees, tears rolling from his perturbed eyes, he screamed as if he were being torn in two. This feeling—like his other half had been ripped from him and skinned alive.

His sister stared, tears falling delicately down her pale cheeks. She had been jabbed through with a sword, sliced, and the pain was inevitable strong, but she felt numb, and she had no voice in her to call out to her brother and scream in pure agony. But she was still alive—and all she could so was stare at her brother and hope he would realize that she was still very much alive.

The woman who had jabbed her through and caused this endless agony snickered, and she howled in a sinister voice just dripping with insanity, “Would you like to have tea party with me, my little lovelies?”

And then she howled and cackled as if it were she had been set out to do. To murder and laugh about it.

She knew she was supposed to be dead. She felt her guts spill out onto the grass below and she felt as if every breath that left her would most certainly be her last. But she kept breathing. This pain in her stomach and chest was endless. Endless.

She prayed that she would die, just so this agony would end. But Wonderland had different plans for her, she knew, but chose not to accept.

Numbly, she watched as her arm lifted from her side and reached for him, but she found she could not graze his fair skin with her fingers. Her bloody, dying fingers.

But he saw her, and that ignited a spark of hop inside of him. He began to crawl like a measly creature, reaching for her, and caught her hand before it dropped. She felt her lips quirk upward shakily, in a makeshift smile of death.

The woman stopped laughing long enough to pull the sword from her body in a short, swift motion that sent her body jerking forward and into her brother’s arms. He held onto her, squeezing her to him as if it would save her.

“Awe,” the woman cooed, cackling maniacally. “Don’t worry sweetheart, the party don’t have to end!”

Although he didn’t know what the woman was talking about, he knew she was insane and knew she was in this prison for murder. And he also knew that it was his fault that all this had happened.

He laid his sister on the ground, looked at the organs that lay just a foot in front of them. He grabbed them and began to stuff them inter chest and stomach. “It’s okay… you’re going to be okay… I’m promise…” he whimpered pathetically. Her lower intestine tangled around his wrist and he shoved the bloody line deep into her gut. He sobbed as he handles his sister’s innards with as much care as he could manage—which, sadly, was not a lot.

When he had gotten as much as he could back inside her, and he realized that she was still alive, still breathing harshly, he nodded at her and kept whispering assurances. She nodded weakly, barely a move at all, but he noticed it, and everything else she did.

And so he wandered helplessly through a forest he knew not of, completely devoid of life. He called out for help a few times but found it pointless. His sister kept bleeding, kept coughing up blood, kept crying. He knew she was in pain, but he could not do anything for her. She should have been long dead but some unknown force was keeping her alive, in this never ending pain. He whispered his apologies, though she made no movement that she had heard him. Just staring at the starry sky as if she were trying to ignore everything and slip into death.

But she couldn’t. And they were condemned to walking the prisons of Wonderland, condemned to a painful, never ending life.

They were never woken from their terrifying dream...

Forever they would wander this twisted fairy tail.