Production Dayz 01: Escape From the Looking Glass

This is an older project that I'm surprisingly 5 chapters through. It was meant to be for my sister's birthday a while back but I never was able to complete it due to circumstance. It was suppose to be a darker Alice and Wonderland spinoff. Ah well, maybe I'll finish it at some point. For now enjoy! ^ ^

I’ve always wondered about ....Alice.........

I’ve always wondered why, of all the little girls, why was she chosen to experience the World she had merely dreamt about through picture books and daydreams. Why had Wonderland chosen her to show itself to? It wasn’t until I met her for the first time had I ever begun to truly believe. However, the world was something of an obsession for one who was only twelve. Had I known the truth about Wonderland, I would never have sought it out.....

Oh, why did I do what I did?!....

"Escape from the Looking Glass"

Chapter One: Old Lady Alice....

.. ..

It had not been hard to stealthily sneak out of the house pass the nanny. She was old and didn’t pay them the proper attention anyway. It had been monotonously easy to get out of the gate and off the property following the old dirt road in the moonlight. The sound of small shoes on the gravel didn’t stir a ripple in their countryside community and even if it had, it would’ve been passed off as the wind creating illusion. Besides, the town of ....Lied.... was one of the most uneventful places, (Also one of the most unknown) in the entire world. A couple of mischief makers wouldn’t be noticed traveling in the warm summer night. The destination wasn’t even of real consequence. That’s why to Lenore the only real complication in her adventure was bringing her little brother along.....

“Lenny! Lenny, slow down! Oof!” Tuomas fell in the dirt face-first, his deep auburn bangs falling into his face.....

Lenny grumbled and got the seven year old to his feet. He dusted himself off and glared up at her chidingly. She rolled her eyes and continued walking but she held his hand this time. He huffed and clung to her arm.....

“You know, if nanny knew what we were doing she’d whip your curly butt.”....

Lenny touched her tight candy curls offended. “No one told you to come along, Tuo. You could’ve stayed home and tattled on me.”....

It was his turn to be offended. “You know I’d never tell on you, Lenny.”....

“Heh, then why exactly did you come along? You’re terrified of Teacup Manor.”....

“To look out for you!” Tuo huffed. “I’m scared of that place but I’m more afraid of you being there without me!”....

“Right,” she laughed. “Big bad Tuo is going to protect me. I feel safer already. My life is in the hands of a toddler.”....

“I’m not a-WHOA!” he exclaimed stumbling over his feet. “I’m not a toddler! I’m seven going on eight and you aren’t that much older than me!”....

“I think twelve going on thirteen is a bit better than seven to be doing dangerous things.”....

“That doesn’t mean I’m not still going!”....

Lenny smiled and petted her brother’s head. She had to admit, Tuo was a reliable little thing even though he tended to complain a lot. She was also worried that he would get hurt. Tuo had always been very small and weak for his age. He stayed ill most of days and was pale from being kept indoors. She always made a point to sneak him out of the house when she could for fresh air. This however was an accident. When she climbed out of the window earlier, she hadn’t expected to have his tiny hand tugging at her skirt. He had insisted on coming after she had told him her plan and she of all people could never say no to him. It was probably why she was regretting it now. She just hoped he wouldn’t get too scared and have another attack on her.....

They stayed hand in hand as they made their way to the end of the lane. Tuo drew closer to her as a looming dark mansion came into view in the dim moonlight. A fairly large house it was. Evidence of grander days was present in every stained glass window. Its dingy white marble was cracked from almost a century of no care while vines and moss climbed up the walls wildly. The garden was beyond help with its overgrown bushes and trees covering the yard in a thick canopy of darkness. Numerous times children had crossed the iron gates into the yard to terrorize only to runaway screaming about monsters. Even the gates were intimidating with their newly placed chains and haphazardly made no trespassing sign. Stone gryphon on either side stood guard with fierce beaks seemingly pointed at the passers by. But this was not what made Lenny hesitant to step over the threshold. Monsters were not real, the gardens and house didn’t scare her. Oh no, none of the visual scared Lenny. The history behind this place is what made Lenny look at trembling Tuo and debate whether or not to try this another night. It was rumored that there have been children who made it all the way to the house and completely disappeared. Their parents attacked the inhabitant of the manor in search of their children. An old senile old woman who shied away from people was often interrogated and assaulted for the missing children. They say that every time they asked about the missing children, she would rave about a mirror and a black lady who took them away. She would say, “The looking glass ate them! She took them like she took mine!” Lenny had often heard this from her parents when they had guests in the parlor. Being the sensible twelve year old that she was, Lenny didn’t believe for an instant that a woman with one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel could possibly harm young children who were more than likely stronger and faster than her. This allowed her to take on another theory. This old woman had the mysterious looking glass and the children were stumbling into it. Tuo’s soft cooing voice broke Lenny from her from her thoughts and brought back the dangers.....

“Do you think we’ll come back out again?”....

Lenny looked up at the solitary light shining from a window in the western part of the house. She nodded more to herself than Tuo. She was ld she was smart enough to bring a lantern with her. She lit it now and dimmed the light before turning to Tuo and hoisting his frail body into one arm. She rested him against her hip as she had done many times and picked up the lantern.....

“Don’t worry, Tuo. I’ll hold you until we get into the house, okay?”....

Tuo clung to her as a response and she squeezed them through the largely spaced bars. Large enough for just a child to slip through, she mused. She kept the light in front of them so that she wouldn’t trip and drop Tuo. It was dark, true enough, but Lenny couldn’t see what had made other children runaway like frightened puppies. The overgrown bushes were, in her opinion, unremarkable. Even Tuo did not tremble at the uncared for garden. Disappointed a bit, Lenny kept a constant straight line through the brush careful not to set any of the dry leaves on fire. They came to a large opening in the bushes, a manmade clearing of cobble stone. A large fountain of white marble stood dry and decaying. The statue of a large rabbit wearing an adorable tailcoat stood at the center holding a giant pocket watch with a distraught expression on its finely carved face. It seemed to stare down at Lenny and Tuo with pleading doe eyes. Lenny noticed that the watch was actually ticking. Strange sight it was, a working marble clock. Lenny let Tuo down for a moment and let him hug her waist while she turned up the light. Tuo jumped out of his skin when the light revealed a freakishly grinned cat staring down at him from a pedestal. Lenny giggled and showed him it was only a stature. It was lifeless. Her hopes were lifting with each statue they passed. She pointed out each character to Tuo with an excited smile.....

“Look, its Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum! They’re the ones who told ....Alice.... the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter!”....

“The one where the walrus ate all the oysters?” Tuo asked becoming a bit braver.....

“Yes! Oh Tuo,” Lenny gasped and laughed. “It’s the Mad Hatter and the Marsh Hare!”....

She shined the light over a shabbily dressed rabbit and a man wearing an excessively large hat. Tuo laughed at their strange clothing. She even found tiny statues of card soldiers. They came closer to the house’s entrance no longer afraid. Tuo, however, scared himself again when they came across another statue of the grinning cat. Lenny sighed and calmed him down before he pushed himself into a panic.....

“What’s up with the cat?” Tuo shouted irritably.....

“That’s the greatest creature in Wonderland, Tuo,” Lenny said adoringly. “That is the infamous Cheshire Cat.” ....

“The one who was always getting ....Alice.... in trouble?”....

“He was mischievous but he did manage to get her through Wonderland with all his riddles and nonsense.”....

“He still seemed like a bad guy!”....

“He is just one those characters that didn’t take sides.”....

“He’s still freaky too.”....

Lenny shook her head and pulled Tuo along to the entrance. It was Lenny’s turn to be frightened. There on either side of the entrance sat two people on stone thrones. A king glaring straight forward with a plain crown atop his brow sat before her but he was not threatening in his demeanor, simply regal. He was not the one that frightened Lenny. It was the other. Sitting there in a malicious posture was a sinister looking woman dressed elegantly in a carved corset and bodice wish carried a heart shaped emblem. A gorgeous crown was affixed in her stone hair much more glamorous than that of her King. Her shadowed eyes pierced the trees in front of her and a hard scowl was set in stone on her heart shaped face Lenny wasn’t sure why this queen terrified her right down to her soul but the feeling told her to heed the fear. She dared not touch the statue and steered Tuo away from them Tuo noticed how quiet she was as they walked up the stairs to the door.....

“Who was that lady you kept staring at, Lenny?”....

“T-That…that was the Red Queen, the Queen of Hearts.”....

“Oh!”....

“It’s funny,” she said softly looking back at the statues. “even though I’m scared of her, the Red Queen was one of my favorite characters.”....

“She must be really horrible, I’ve never seen you scared, Lenny,” Tuo teased.....

“And you won’t again! Now be quiet and hold the lantern out for me,” she ordered kneeling in front of the door. “Besides, the Red Queen creeps everyone out! Plus, I think she blinked at me.”....

Tuo didn’t say anything after that; he didn’t want to hear anything abut moving statues and Lenny was glad he was quiet. She picked the lock until it made a triumphant click. She smiled and gently pushed opened the door, careful not to make it creak. The inside was dark, dank and smelled of age. Lenny almost gagged at the stink while poor Tuo fought to stifle his coughs. She shined the lantern into the entrance hall with caution, before gripping Tuo’s hand tightly and going in first. She kept Tuo close to her back and left the door open so as to provide a speedy escape. The hall seemed simple enough with its tile floor and high ceiling. The tiles themselves were checkered like a giant chess board but it was too dark t see their colors. Lenny did manage to see the cracks in the once fine file and if she shined the lantern just right, she could catch the sparkles from the dusty old chandelier hanging high above them. She could almost hear the straining creak from the chain that suspended it. But there was noise echoing in the room, several actually, that pushed Lenny to shine the lantern toward the walls. It was the faint ticking of clocks. Dozens of them were hanging together at different times. Each clock showed different time under the light and only curious questions were raised by each knew numbered face. What would one need with so many clocks? How could one possibly tell the correct time if they were all different? If most of them were not moving, then where was the ticking coming from? It was then that Lenny realized only two of the clocks were actually ticking. The others had long since stopped and were frozen on different times Tuo had become entranced by a fairly new clock of green and yellow paint. The carving of a mouse being chased by a ferocious cat went round and round with the gears. It would’ve been comical had the cat not looked so monstrous. The boy watched it for a long time, dragging Lenny over to be entranced as well. Then abruptly the second hand ceased all movement and the ticking of this particular clock stopped eerily with the mouse a mere centimeters away from the cat’s claws. Tuo shuddered for no real reason and when Lenny asked of it, he only said,....

“I just got a bad feeling but now it’s gone.”....

They left the remained clock to tick and made their way to the stairs with Tuo shivering once more at the sudden silence. The last clock had stopped. Lenny, growing nervous, made a point to carry Tuo up the stairs merely for the sake of holding him close to her. With an effort, she made it to the top where the stairs parted two ways toward each wing of the house. A stone knight was on each banister pointing toward each other with lances in a deadly stalemate. Lenny felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. These were the Black and White Knights.  She and Tuo looked left and right trying to decide which direction take. She looked at her brother for the final answer. At first he pointed back the way they came but a stern look from Lenny made him choose the White Knight’s wing. As an apology for putting him through this, she continued to carry him up the stairs and never put him down. She wouldn’t say it was to calm her fears more than his.....

The passageway they reached was like the rest of the house, dank and dusty. The plus side was that windows allowed the moonlight in though Lenny was terrified to walk by them. Windows at night were one of her secret fears because she had always been afraid that if she looked out a window at night something would be staring back at her. Unfortunately, he brother had the same fear making it hard to draw courage from him. Gulping, she made Tuo put his face in her neck in case something did stare back. She built up her nerve and walked forward keeping her eyes forward and no where else. She didn’t dare glance at the giant windows. She barely even blinked until they were safely at the end of the hall and away from the windows. If she had, then in her peripheral she would’ve noticed the lanky shadow jumping from sill to sill behind her. Lenny released and audible sigh of relief and cuddled Tuo letting him know it was alright to look. They had come to a door where a faint voice could be heard and light could be seen underneath the frame. Lenny dared to put her brother down who took it upon himself to crouch down an peek under the door His head tilted this way and that before he stood up to give her a report like a good little spy.....

“There’s like four feet in there, so that’s um two people right?”....

“I thought Old Lady Alice lived alone,” she whispered puzzled....

“I don’t think that old lady’s in there. I mean all these feet had shoes but I don’t think either of them looked old. Oh there’s a really, really old lookin’ cat in there.”....

“A cat?” Lenny got to her knees and peered under the door. There indeed was a cat and Lenny could barely recognize the thin brittle creature. “That’s…my gosh, Tuo, that’s either Dinah or one of her children, ....Alice....’s cat from the stories.”....

“”How do you know! A cat can’t live that long can they?”....

“Well like I said, it may be one of her children. Cat’s have babies too. Besides, you dare question me after the statues outside? The cat is old, just like Old Lady Alice and it was a kitten in the story. It’s only natural ....Alice.... would keep her. I bet it is Dinah!” ....

Tuo groaned in uncertainty. “Either way, there are people and neither one of them is the old lady so we should just go.” ....

“I came here for a reason; I can’t leave until I see it just once. I have to know it’s real.”....

“A looking glass, Lenny? It’s just a mirror so what’s the point. You could get mom and dad to buy you one.”....

“It’s….” Lenny sat up “It’s not just a mirror to me, Tuo. It’s important to me.”....

Tuo, being a mere seven, found it hard to understand his sister’s motives behind some of the things she got them into. But, because he was a mere seven, he would forever place a blind trust n her reasoning. Whether or not this was a serious flaw he was too young to know. He peeked under the door one more time before cracking the door only slightly. He made room for her to see inside and stood back to be the look out. Lenny smiled gratefully at him and peeked through. ....

Apparently they had missed the conversation and the two people were ready to depart. Lenny spotted the old cat resting in the corner ignoring the two strangers. Lenny’s eyes were wide when she fully took in the sight of the two inside the room. A woman dressed in a petticoat covered by an immaculately white dress and robe stood there. Her upper body and face were hidden by the hood and fastenings of a cloak.  She turned away from a man in raggedy clothes who fidgeted nervously and kept shifting his eyes toward the cat. His hair was balding in patches and his two front teeth protruded badly from his mouth giving him the appearance of some mangy rodent. He even nibbled at his hands much to Lenny’s disgust. The woman in the white robe turned away from the man and walked toward the back of the room where Lenny could no longer see her but she could hear her voice. That voice…....

“Do not come back to me empty handed. The Black Queen will not be pleased to hear such things and you may never go home.”....

“Yes, my lady,” the man said with a slight squeak in his voice. ....

A flash of light blinded Lenny for a moment and when her vision cleared the man and the woman were both gone and the room was dark again. She squeaked when a mouse ran past her foot and the cat clumsily chased it. She blinked a few times and stared at Tuo who had no clue what had just occurred. She smiled brightly and motioned for him to come in the room with her. He gave the empty hall one more look before following behind Lenny into the empty room. All that was there was something large covered by a dirty old sheet and an old Queen Anne chair sat near it. Lenny smiled and walked up to the covered piece of furniture. Tuo, who had taken a seat, in the surprisingly comfortable chair, looked around the room with disappointment.....

“I don’t get this,” he said softly. “If there were two people in here before, where did they go?”....

“Dunno,” Lenny whispered. She wasn’t really paying attention. “Tuo come here. I think this…” ....

He rolled his eyes and got out of the chair to join his sister. Lenny reached out hesitantly and touched the old dirty cloth. She took a handful of the fabric and began to pull. Tuo watched closely catching a glimpse of glass as the cloth began to fall away. He saw a flash of eyes of eyes frightened him and he grabbed his sister out of instinct pulling her down. The cloth came all the way down and a spark shot from the glass to Lenny’s chest knocking her head against the floor. Tuo was the first to sit up and he stared at the mirror with wide eyes. He saw the gold glowing eyes and a white grin from the mirror. The echo of disembodied laughter sent chills up his small spine. Lenny gathered her bearings and sat up as well. By then the laughter had died and the eyes were gone. ....

“What was that, Lenny?!”....

“I dunno! Ah,” she groaned and touched her chest. “it hurts.”....

“What are you doing here?!”....

“AH!” Tuo screamed.....

“old lady Alice,” Lenny whispered.....

Both of them turned toward the door as an elderly woman made her way towards them with their lantern in her hand. Her silvery hair was in pulled back by a blue silk ribbon and her frail body was covered in a blue house dress. Lenny and Tuo screamed and got to their feet running away from the woman. They maneuvered passed her getting to the door and halfway out of the door Lenny hoisted Tuo into her arms and ran for their lives. They stumbled down the stair stripping on the last two. Lenny made sure to fall on her back so that Tuo wouldn’t get hurt and she was immediately on her feet again. They zoomed out the door leaving not a trace that they were there.....

The old woman watched them skittered through the garden with weary baby-blue eyes. She sighed and closed her door in an almost painful movement. The old woman walked slowly to the wall of clocks and stared at the dead clocks searching for the source of new ticking she heard. She eyed two beautiful red and black clocks that ticked away the time in an echoing tempo. ....

“Oh god, not again,” she whispered brokenly. “Not the Swanbrook Children.”....