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The streets of Gotham were dark and empty. It was past 2 AM and she wasn’t supposed to be outside.
She went to a Halloween party, everybody in school was there – well, everybody who was (or aspired to be) popular, was.
She was running for her life, at least she thought it was her life they wanted. The party wasn’t doing so great when she decided to left. She wasn’t very good at socialising, her friend invited her but then she disappeared upstairs, completely wasted, with a boy dressed as Prince Charming, a boy she’d never seen before.
She needed a ride home, but she was too afraid to ask someone, so she decided to go home walking, instead.
That was the worst decision she had ever made.
Tipsy, and wearing high heeled shoes, she almost tripped over a soda can, while running. She hadn’t seen their faces, but she could feel their eyes on her.
Her feet splashed in a puddle of dark water and an icy cold feeling reached her stomach as she shuddered.
At first she thought it was a mugging attempt, it took her five long seconds to decide the two men weren’t going to be satisfied with her purse.
Finally, she fell. Her ankle was hurting really bad and started to swollen as she dragged herself in a corner. Trash was spread all around her. A rat, scared by the noise, squealed and flew away. She tried so hard not to scream or make any noise as the two men were getting closer.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are” she heard the first voice, in a British accent.
“I thought we were playing ‘tag, you’re it’ not ‘hide and seek’” said the second voice.
Her thin white dress was stained with dirt and damp with sweat. She reached behind her back and ripped off the puffy bunny tale that was now half hanging off her dress.
Shaking and breathing hard, she put a hand to cover her mouth. She could see their shadows now. They were returning from a party too, she could tell by their clothing. One was wearing an elegant suit with a shiny top hat, and the other was a scarecrow.
She stayed quiet, hoping for them to just go away. Maybe she was safe, maybe they were finally gone.
That’s when she felt someone grasping her by the shoulder and pulling her back. She screamed, but her voice was muffled by a damp rag that was placed over her mouth. Breathing into the chloroform, her eyes rolled back into her skull and she fell, like a rag-doll.
*
“Are you sure she’s the one?”
“Yes. Yes, I am.”
“Well, then. Let’s wake her up, so we’ll start with the procedure.”
Her head was throbbing painfully, her sight wasn’t clear. She couldn’t tell where she was, but she could feel her arms and legs were restrained. She was laying down on a cold table, and all she could see was the dirty ceiling.
Two faces joined the picture; the Hatter was smiling happily and the Scarecrow was dead serious. They were both wearing hospital masks.
Once again, she wanted to scream, but she was too weak to do anything. She closed her eyes, hoping that it was just a horrible nightmare.
Something stung her – a needle – on her neck and she felt the foreign liquid entering her bloodstream.
When she was forced to reopen her eyes, the world was not the same anymore.
The Hatter’s skin was purple and his hat had a bloody mouth on the top. “Welcome home, dear Alice” said the mouth. It was full of pointy teeth.
Alice wasn’t her name. “No,” she mumbled. “I’m not- I’m not who you think I am” she cried, as big tears rolled down her cheeks. She wanted to go home, to hug her mum and prepare her bag to go to school the following day. “You got the wrong person.”
“NO!” roared the Hatter, as he faced her and his eyes were yellow and red with blood. “You’re Alice.” What he said next, he said it in a whisper: “My Alice.”
“No,” the girl cried again, sobbing and trying to breathe normally. “My name is Julia, I’m not Alice. Please, let me go...”
She heard a noise of shuttering glass. An angry scream and something thrown across the room.
“Don’t worry” a distorted, yet comforting voice reached her ears. She stared at the Scarecrow, worms were crawling into his mouth as he spoke, “we’ll find her, my friend.”
“Another one. Another wrong one. Where is my Alice?” she could hear by his voice that the Hatter was almost crying, too. “Let’s get rid of this sham.”
“No...” she had the strength only to murmur the words. “No, please, please...”
Another needle. “It was a nice game” said the Hatter as she started to feel light-headed and sleepy. “But you lost. Only my Alice can win this game, and you’re not her.”
Darkness swallowed her, she couldn’t see anymore. Voices started to call her, and she followed them into the void, beyond the veil, and everything went silent, and calmer.