.:Ch. 1:. Alice Smith

The radio blasted country music as a dark blue truck zoomed on the highway.  The paved, smooth road soon turned to bumps and rocks as more of a back road opened to the eyes of those in the vehicle.  A particularly large bump was hit as the trunk kept moving.  The bump managed making a newly turned teen smack their head off the window.  Blonde hair flew everywhere.  A white ribbon came loose and flowed to the floor.  Green eyes opened as a pale hand rubbed the side of their head.  The driver chuckled at the action which occurred.  The teen just blushed as the same hand grabbed the ribbon that had landed on the floor.

"Alice, sweetie," the driver began.  "As your father, I should mention that the road is quite bumpy.  You should keep your head away from the window until the truck has come to a complete stop."

"Okay," she mumbled, her eyes looking at the black tights.

Alice's hands played with the green sweater dress as the trees became abundant outside the window.  It was autumn in Vermont.  The wind was increasingly chiller.  Beautiful, colored leaves littered the ground as Alice looked at them.  She fixed the black and white turtle neck.  It was becoming quite hot in the truck.  She turned the heat to a lower setting as her father continued to look at the path in front of him.  She sighed as her head leaned against the window once again.  Alice didn't want to visit her grandparents' house.  It was in the middle of the woods.  Her eyes slowly closed as she drifted off to sleep once more.

– –

"I'm late, I'm late!"

Alice blinked as she looked at her surroundings. There were flowers, green leaved trees, and even butterflies flying around her.  She wasn't in the truck anymore.  Looking once again, she spotted a white rabbit running toward her.  It was wearing a vest. Not to mention, the rabbit was looking at one of those old fashioned watches.  As it hopped past her, Alice gasped as she heard the rabbit talking to itself.

"Oooh. I'm late. I'm late for a very important date!" it exclaimed.  "You are quite late too, Miss Alice.  You must be coming along now.  Come along."

– –

"Alice, Alice, it is late.  Get up.  Your grandparents are waiting for you."

Alice looked at her father.  He was shaking her.  She yawned then looked around.  Alice was in the woods.  Her grandparents log cabin was in eyesight.  Her father smiled as he helped her from the truck.  White dress flats touched the dry dirt as she fixed her hair shyly.  The teen was always taught to look nice in front of others even if they are family.  An elderly couple stepped from the log cabin.  Looking at Alice, they rushed over to hug her.  The white ribbon fell to the ground as she was smushed with hugs.

"Alice! It is a nice surprise to have you visit," her grandmother commented.  "We will have lots of fun this weekend.  I have activities planned. I'm sure you will enjoy them."

Alice smiled softly as her grandmother yammered on and on about the planned weekend schedule.  She knew her family loved her; however, she still felt like she didn't belong.  Having been adopted into the Smith family, she never truly felt like a Smith.  She took their last name, but it didn't mean a thing to her.  They treated her nicely, tenderly, but it still felt wrong.  Alice, at the age of thirteen, felt lonely.  She wanted to do something for the family that adopted her.  She slipped into the cabin to put her stuff in some drawers.  After stuffing the suitcase under her bed, Alice walked outside to get some fresh air.  Looking at the sky, she inwardly sighed.  Dark grey clouds were moving closer to the location of the cabin.

"I hate thunderstorms," she whispered.

– –

The teen whimpered as she hid underneath the covers on the bed.  Rain pelted against the window.  Lightening lit the sky.  Thunder nearly shook the cabin from being powerful.  Alice felt tears roll across her cheeks.  She hated thunderstorms.  Particularly, this storm was the worst of them all.  It had started just an hour after she had fallen asleep.  The sound of the thunder had thrown her out of the bed in shock.  Whimpering once again, Alice put the pillow over her head to try and block the noise.  Managing to fall asleep, she sighed as dreams started to block the noise of the storm.

"Are you going to sleep all day?" an accented voice asked.  "Get up.  You're going to be late for the Queen's announcement.  She doesn't like late comers."

Alice pushed the little white rabbit away as she screamed.  Running around a tree, she looked around it at the rabbit.  It had an annoyed look on its face.  She giggled softly.  That expression was funny on a rabbit.  The rabbit sighed as he started hopping away.  Green eyes blinked as Alice watched it hop away from the tree.

"Fine, Alice," he replied.  "Do not come to listen to the Queen's annoucement."

– –

Alice opened her eyes quickly.  She looked around the room.  It was just a dream.  It was the second dream she had with the very same rabbit, but it was just a dream.  Calming herself, the teen looked at the clock.  The hands were on the numbers 6 and 15.  It was 6:15 in the morning.  Yawning, she groaned in annoyance.  Alice did not get a lot of sleep.  Walking to the bathroom, she started her daily routine.  After getting dressed in the same clothes (she only wore them to make an impressive the day before, they were still clean), the girl straightening the gold hair.  After tying the bow, Alice brushed her teeth.  Yawning once again, she looked at the mirror, smiling.  The reflection showed a forced smile.  Alice frowned at the reflection.  She hated that her smiles were forced.  Her family never noticed the different between a true smile and a forced smile.  Grabbing a diary, Alice walked to the kitchen.  Her grandparents were all ready for the day.  Her grandmother was busy cooking bacon and eggs.  Her grandfather was drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.  Alice sat at the table.  A plate of bacon and eggs was set in front of her.  A glass of orange juice had also appeared before her eyes.  She smiled at her grandmother.

"Thank you, Grandma," she whispered, picking the fork from the table.

"Not a problem, sweetheart," she replied, smiling.  "Anything for my granddaughter."

Alice sighed quietly as she began to eat her breakfast.  The eggs were delicious.  The bacon was crisp.  Her grandmother definitely knew Alice's choice of breakfast.  After gulping the food and juice, Alice noticed that it was sunny in the woods.  Excusing herself, she walked outside in the crisp cold air.  She smiled at the sun.  It looked to be a beautiful day.  She heard the birds chirping in the trees.  Walking through the woods, Alice took a deep breath.  The outdoors would do her some good.  It was definitely better then the city life.

– –

Humming, the teenager managed to walk farther away from the log cabin.  She looked around at her unknown surroundings.  She gulped.  The girl hadn't meant to wander so far from the cabin.  Hearing a bush russle, she stopped and looked at it.  Nothing popped out of the bush.  Curiosity getting the better of her, Alice parted the bush slightly.  She gasped at the sight before her.  A pure black wolf had a white rabbit cornered.  The rabbit was shaking from fear.  Alice blinked.

"That rabbit," she mumbled.  "Haven't I seen that rabbit somewhere?"

She snapped out of her thoughts when the wolf growled.  It licked the sides of it's mouth.  The rabbit looked really delicious to the wolf.  Feeling brave, Alice jumped through the bush.  She grabbed the rabbit in her arms.  The wolf looked stunned for a moment.  Something had just jumped in front of it.  The rabbit had disappeared.  The hungry animal growled as it looked at Alice.  Alice's face grew pale at the hungry look the wolf was giving her.  She turned and darted in the direction she had come.  The wolf ran after her.  Alice panted as she tried to stay away from the wolf.  She knew that wolves could only run so far before tiring.  She just hoped that she would outlast the wolf.  The rabbit struggled in her arms.  She held tighter to it.  It was not getting away after she had saved it.

"Besides, little rabbit," she whispered.  "You have been in my dreams.  Two times in a row as a matter of fact."

The rabbit contined to struggle against Alice's grip.  It moved its head rapidly.  The rapid movement had caused the floppy ears to smack Alice in the face.  She grabbed the rabbit's ears to stop it.  The rabbit tried to get away at the action of Alice.  Stopping, Alice tried to catch her breath.  Turning, she went to see if the wolf had stopped chasing her.  It burst through the low laying branches of two different trees.  Alice started walking backward.  The wolf growled as it started walking foreward.  Alice didn't stop.  The hungry animal went to pounce when Alice tripped over a root.  She gasped in surprise.  The storm must have uprooted a couple of trees.  Closing her eyes, Alice waited for the ground to hit.  When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and screamed.  She had fallen into a hole.  The hole was wide enough for her.  The rabbit continued to struggle in her arms.  The girl started to panic as she let go of the rabbit.  It had started falling upward.  Closing her eyes once more, Alice continued to scream.

"W-W-What's going on?" she thought.  "What's happening? W-W-Where am I falling?"