Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter 10 Alice

I slept for a few hours before I woke up groggy and stiff. I was alone in the car so I looked around and saw that we had stopped at a rest area we both liked. It was our usual quarter way point.
Jack opened his door, breaking me out of my thoughts, trying to remember if I dreamed anything.
"Well hello sleeping beauty. Sleep ok?" He tosses a candy bar and bottle of water into my lap.
"Yeah. I slept fine. I'm starving though. Can we stop by that seafood place? Get some lunch? Then I can take over driving." He yawns, but agrees.
"Yeah. We both could use some real food. And I could use a decent break from driving."

We kept driving and switching who's turn it was to drive. It was about midnight when we finally reached our Aunt's drive way.  We saw the twin apple trees at the beginning of the road leading up to the main house. We drive slowly up the road
"Shame we couldn't meet up in the fall. I miss the apples that grow on those trees." I just nod. My mind isn't concerned with those trees. I'm looking for that cedar tree I fell out of. I always felt a tug back to that tree. Like a thread that had wrapped around my core and kept me tethered to it.
"That tree is still going to be there you know. Aunt Tilly would never cut it down. Even after everything, it was Uncle Demons favorite place to read." Jack keeps surprising me, it almost felt like he could read my mind.
"Don't freak out Alice. I saw you tense up as soon as we got to the drive way. Only one thing on this farm has ever made you pause like that. You'll be fine. Not like you're going to try and climb that tree again." He laughs as the tree and the house finally come into view. The lights in the house are still on which means all the parents are probably waiting up for us.
"At least we made decent timing." I look at the clock, but Jack is suddenly silent as we approach the garage. We reach the garage and park the car.
"You ok, Jack? You got awfully quiet." He presses a finger to his lips and points to a figure in the shadows. I laugh quietly as I slowly open the car door. From the look of the shadow we know its Lorraine. We watch as she lights something. We both know Lorraine is trying to sneak a cigarette even though she's supposed to be quitting again. Jack passes me a bottle of water and grabs one of his own from the back seat. Immediately I know what's he's planning. Last time when she said she was quitting she asked us to douse her in water if we saw her lighting up. From the glow of her phone and her cigarette we knew she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. This was a perfect opportunity.
I followed Jacks lead around Aunt Tillys herb garden then around the rose bushes right up behind her before we dumped the water over her head and the hand that had the cigarette in it.
She shrieks and jumps away from us as we fall on the lawn laughing. She glares at us a moment before she starts to laugh with us.
"Its not fair if you sneak up on me! When did you two trouble makers get in?" Lorraine shakes her long black braid at Jack. He laughs and wipes his face. Jack and Lorraine look more alike than Jack and me. People were always assuming they were siblings when we went to do family activities while we visited. 
"We just pulled up before you tried to sneak a smoke when you know you're supposed to be quitting." Jack tossed his empty bottle at her before getting up from the grass. She rolls her eyes before picking up the empty bottles.
"Yeah, yeah. I would've done a better job at hiding if I knew you two had finally got here. Can't believe you kept your word on that stupid promise."
Jack follows her into the house where I can hear our mothers chatting. I watch as they disappear through the front door, but I stay still as I look at the shadow of the cedar tree in the middle of the front yard. I can feel the familiar tug towards the tree only it feels stronger now that I'm here. The smell of roses, pineapple sage, and lavender is strong in my nose and I can feel my scar start to tingle under my messy bun. It almost feels like that day 20 years ago with Jack and Lorraine back in the house and me alone in the yard, I don't feel fully here still almost like part of my soul is wandering off again.
"Alice, get your crazy butt in here and stop freaking everyone out!" Jack yells out the front door at me breaking me out from the trance that damn tree had me under. I shake my head and walk to the door.
"You ok?" He looks at me concerned as I make it up the stairs.
"Yeah. Just weird being back, you know?" He just nods silently and ushers me towards the living room where I can hear Mom and Aunt Tilly talking to Lorraine about something while Dad gently snores. We walk into the room and both women stop mid conversation and turn to me and Jack. Aunt Tilly smiles at us.
"What took you two so long? You should have been here two or three hours ago. We've been worried. You could have at least called or text us so we knew when you'd be getting in." Mom scolds us both as she walks towards and then hugs us one at a time.
"Nice to see you too Mom. We know how you feel about people on their phones in the dark while someone's driving. And we hit some pretty bad traffic at some spots so it took us a bit longer than we anticipated." She looks at me and pats my cheek then smiles.
"Next time a simple text so we know your ETA would be nice. We have both your old rooms set up for you, so grab your bags and get some sleep. I'm going to try and wake your father to get him to an actual bed and not your Aunt Tilly's sofa. I love you both, but we all could use some proper sleep." She doesn't wait for an answer from either of us before she turns back to the sofa where our father is currently fast asleep on. Aunt Tilly chuckles before she takes her turn to hug us both.
"You two look good. Next time don't wait so long before you come back for a visit. The farm has been awfully lonely and boring without more people around. Not to mention I can't take any more of Lolo's awful pranks. Without you two she's getting predictable and even the animals are getting tired of her hiding in their spaces." We laugh and Lorraine just rolls her eyes before she starts to walk off to her room. We hear her call out from down the hall.
"Night you guys. Don't let Mom fool you, my pranks are perfectly funny. Though it'll be more fun with my partners in crime back to help me." We hear her door close and I turn to Tilly.
"I'm going to grab my bag in the morning. Right now, I just want to lay down and pass out. I love you." I hug her before I turn to Jack.
"I'll see you in the morning. Get some sleep dude." He nods at me and walks towards the kitchen.
"Aunt Tilly I'm going to raid your fridge for a snack before I turn in." She laughs and follows him to the kitchen. I follow the hall down to the bedroom they always have set aside for me. It was directly between Lorraine's room and Jack's spare room.
The room smelled like it usually did, even after all these years I can still smell the perfume I spilled onto the hardwood floor. I can't even remember what the brand was or what the original scent was, but it was familiar and I felt myself getting more tired now that I was surrounded by familiar things, it was getting harder to keep my eyes open. After a few moments I flop onto the bed and let my exhaustion pull me into a deep sleep.