Door to Darkness

The thought that she was lost didn't cross her mind in the way it would a normal person's mind. Sure she had no idea where she was, or how she had even gotten there, but she was more lost in the way that she had forgotten who she was. She knew her name, that her skin was pale, and that the locks of hair curling about her face were dark in colour.

She did wonder what the place was though, and how it was possible that there was a large moon to her left and an even larger moon to her right. Were they even moons? They were large rocks decorated with craters in the sky orbiting whatever world she was on, so she decided that they were indeed moons.

When her gaze returned to the field before her, she saw something that had not been there a moment ago: a black door. The sudden appearance of it startled her.

It stood tall and wide, with intricate carvings of angels around its edges. What was possibly cupid- a winged baby with a crop of curly hair- aimed an arrow toward the center, from the top left corner of the door. Her gaze fell to the center of the door then, where there was a carving of a man in a top hat. He seemed so simple compared to the rest of the designs.

As she continued to examine the door something odd became noticeable: there was no handle! Was it even a door at all then, or just a misplaced wall for an unfinished building?

But even as she thought that, a glow began to creep out from around the edges of the door, and it slowly pushed open. Tendrils of darkness wound their way around through the newly made gaps, and they seemed to stretch toward her.

As the door came fully open, the darkness wound around her feet and tugged. A frightened sound escaped her and she stumbled forward.

"Come," hundreds of voices whispered. "Come." She let the darkness pull her forward, walking mechanically toward the door, though a war raged within her.

Should she really be passing through the door? The light shining through from it was blinding; she couldn't see what was on the other side. Anything could be waiting for her there, or... anyone. Perhaps there would be someone to remind her about who she was? Maybe someone was waiting to kill her and finish the job, after having brainwashed her and left her in the strange world.

All of those thoughts left her when she passed through, with the great sound of a strong wind rushing past her ears. A sudden, extreme exhaustion weighed her down as she took in her new surroundings.

A soft, sorrowful tune met her hears, drawing her attention to the center of the darkened room where a man was sat. His fingers danced across the keys of the grand piano he was seated at.

It might have been too dark to actually know, but she thought the colour of the suit he wore might be a deep green. There was a top hat sat upon his head. Was it just her imagination, or did he resemble the carving on the door?

Her sudden sneeze broke the silence, and the man sat before her slammed his fingers down onto the piano. A horrible sound echoed about the room. His head slowly turned about his neck to face her, and a shiver of fear ran up her spine. How had he done that?

"And just who might you be?" he asked, the accent lacing his words unfamiliar to her ears. In one quick motion he was standing and the rest of his body had twisted around to face her.

"M-my name is Alice," she said, her voice unsteady. A bone-chilling smile crept onto his face as he stepped toward her.

"Alice," he repeated. It sounded as if a hundred voices had whispered her name with him. "I am Finnian Lucard. It is certainly quite intriguing that you are here. Where have you come from, Alice?"

"I... I don't know," she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Finnian clucked his tongue and shook his head.

"That will not do," he said, placing his hand gently on top of her shoulder. She noted that he wore white gloves, made of a soft-looking material. "You have nowhere to go; no place to stay?"

Alice looked away from the strange man, sifting through every memory she held onto, but she could not remember farther back than the field. She was at a loss, and this tugged painfully at her heart.

"No, I-" she paused, and then continued in a whisper, "I have nothing."

When she looked up at his face again. a stone-cold expression rested there. It changed swiftly to a look of sympathy as he caught her gaze.

"You look tired," he said then. Alice nodded in agreement.

"I do feel tired," she sighed. Finnian's hand slid slowly to the small of her back, and he snapped the fingers of his free hand.

The room brightened as several candles lining the walls became lit. Even so a darkness seemed to flow from Finnian, who began to lead Alice down a rather long hallway.

"Come this way," he said. Alice made no move to go against his wishes.

In the light of the candles, she confirmed that his suit and top hat were a deep green. A paler green sash was wrapped about his hat, several yellow flowers hanging limply from it. The hair that curled out from under the top hat was no ordinary colour: a hot pink that she felt fit him. The colour of his skin was even stranger still, as it was a pale mint hue.

"What are you?" Alice couldn't stop the question from slipping passed her lips. Immediately her fingers flew up to cover her mouth.

His gaze fell back on her, and in that moment she was left breathless. His eyes were the most amazing spectacle of all. They were dark pits of endless nothingness, the darkness swallowing his eyes whole; leaving no way to tell where his iris and pupil were. Greens and blues swirled around in the abysses, catching the light at times and glittering as if they were diamonds.

The expression on his face broke the magical moment.

"That is a question to be answered at a later time," he said. His lips drew into a tight line, and he stopped walking when they came to a door. "For now, you must sleep."

He tugged the door open and pushed Alice gently inside. Confusion clouded her mind, but he had closed the door when she turned to face him. A deep sigh left her and she turned back around to examine her surroundings.

The room she was in appeared to be a quaint bedroom. A bed was pushed up against one wall, night clothes laid neatly on top of it. Directly across from the bed was a dresser, and hanging above it was a mirror, which was ever-so-slightly dirtied. Across from where Alice stood was a window which sat open to one of the moons.

Sorrow swirled within her heart, but she had no time to dwell on it. Her exhaustion was becoming more evident with each passing second. She decided she would change into the night clothes, and fall asleep in the bed provided without complaint.