Amnesia

Act IX: I Am The Real Alice

     Grandmother. Her name made my blood boil. She put me through this. She did this to me. Look at what I have done. I have caused so many deaths so far, but I bet Grandmother would just shrug it off. I never thought my own grandmother wouldn't tell me about this place being so cruel. I was fuming while walking with the cat, whose soothing voice didn't calm me down one bit.

      "Is this really Wonderland?" I asked with my arms crossed. My eyes were following the trail on the ground.

     "Well, yes and no, dear. Ever since you made your second trip, this place had gone to hell. Oh, sorry for my language," the cat giggled and covered his mouth. I looked up. "Anyway, 'Wonderland' had been divided. Horribly cruel, in fact. The White Queen owns a section called Dreamland, the furry creatures in the woods live in the only original land left of Wonderland, the tortured souls live in Neverland and the Red Queen and her servants live in Tuerie."

     "Why does the Red Queen get a different name from the others?" I asked, almost upset that she gets special treatment.

     "It's french for death. Murder. Slaughter. Massacre. You may get the idea."

     "Oh," I said, looking back down. "Well, why is it called that?"

     "The queen. Oh that queen." The cat pulled me closer to make sure no one could hear. "Shes does horrible things to her servants. Rumor has it that after she cuts their heads off, she has her roses painted with their blood."

     "Oh that's horrible!" I said loudly, scaring off a couple of crows hiding in the trees.

     "Quiet down Alice! You don't want her to hear you!"

     "How could she possibly hear us?"

     The cat whispered in my ear once again. "She has eyes everywhere."

     "Eyes can't hear, silly."

     The cat thought about this, then reconsidered what he was going to say. "You know what I mean, Alice. Spies. Everywhere. In every shape and form you can imagine."

     "Like a crow?" I asked, poking fun.

     "Wow, and I thought you forgot all about Wonderland," The cat said, dead serious. We both walked the rest of the path, silent. We had no more words to say, until I realized I had no idea where this forest lead to. It was getting darker and scarier by the minute.

     "Where are we going, Mr. Cat?" I could feel my lip quivering when I said his name. Fright chilled my bones.

     "Somewhere." The mystery in his voice killed me. My footsteps grew smaller as I attempted to fall behind so I could get a running start to get out of here. I just didn't have a good feeling about this cat all of a sudden. I was about to make my move when a clearing appeared in front of us.

     Figures were pushing each other to get to their own train platforms. A chorus of "I'm late!" rung through the crowd. The things all had watches hanging from their beautifully colored vests. The cat pushed me out of the way before someone was about to run me over.

     "Who are they?"

     "Lost souls. Always late. Sad story really. Us normal people have to find our way through these creatures." The cat looked disgusted.

     "So we're in...Cleverland?" I couldn't remember what the poor cat had told me just a few minutes ago.

     "Neverland," The cat corrected me, sort of annoyed. "Now, don't look them in the eyes. They'll think you're there to help. Move quickly and keep your head down," the cat instructed. I followed his orders and watched my black shoes make their way over to the platform. I heard moaning. I felt hands run up my arm, begging for help. Begging for directions. I was so sad that I couldn't help them. They were just lost and hopeless. Don't cry Alice. Don't be a child.

     The cat nudged me onto the train that just arrived. I was glad to be away from those creatures, as the sad things they were. I proudly took my seat in the back cabin, where I usually rode. It cleared my mind when I looked outside the window. The cat joined me, sitting directly in front of me. There were other animals sitting with us. Yes, animals. A horse with a pink sun hat and a nervous hare. I knew why he was worrying, for he could be killed any second.

     The train started slowly, chugging along, allowing enough time for me to have one last look at the Lost Souls. Their essence was dark, almost like shadows. They floated around the platform, looking at their watches and asking for help. The cat stared at me, watching me look outside. I could feel his eyes on me. In fact, the whole cabin was looking at me.

     "What?" I snapped. "Is there something wrong?"

     "No," The horse said in a very (as silly as it seems) hoarse voice. "It's just you're back."

     "Y-yes. Back to save us from the Queen, h-hopefully," the hare stuttered.

     "I have no idea what you're talking about, hare. I came upon this land by mistake. You must mean my grandmother, Alice. She came here before."

     "Don't listen to them, Alice. Everyone's mad here. Ever since you left....."

     "But you musn't understand!" I yelled, while everyone's eyes widened. "I'm not the Alice you're speaking of! I have never been here in my entire life!"

     The cabin was silent, pondering in their little brains what was true and what was false. After a while, I just scoffed out, "Fine, if you really don't believe me. I'll prove it."

     "But you can't prove that you don't know something, Alice. For all we know, you could be lying about the truth..."

     "But it is the truth!" I threw my hands up in the air. I ran my fingers through my hair, thinking it over. Maybe I can play it off. But what if someone finds out? They won't. They can't. These silly creatures are too stupid to realize what's in front of them. I sighed and pretended to give up. "You got me red-handed. I am the real Alice. Alice Pleasance. Soon-to-be destroyer of Queens and ruler of Wonderland." The whole cabin sighed, relieved. "But don't think I will be treated as some over civilian. I need to be treated as a Queen." I eyed the entire cabin until landing on the cat. "What's the game plan Mr. Cat?"