Dollmaker

Chapter 4 ~ Castle ~

The front of the castle was guarded heavily, which made the whole building even more intimidating. They approached it and Alice's stomach began to tighten. She caught a glimpse of Robby. If he was feeling uncomfortable, he refused to show it.

"Are you sure we, uh, won't be disturbing her?" Alice asked hopefully.

"I am." Robby didn't hesitate, but he did take a second to look up at her, his red eyes piercing.

"Alice, I'll be with you the whole time," his words made her smile. Yes. Robby is my friend.

"Yes."

"Good. Then shall we go now?" he questioned just to make sure Alice wasn't going to try to back out of it. He received silence as an answer and sighed.

"Yes." Alice tried to sound sure of herself - confident even. She failed and Robby noticed, but he didn't care much, because it had to be done like regular check-ups at a doctor's or going to school every Monday.

As they approached the castle, the guards moved out of the way with respect, one by one, in an almost-wave, surprising Alice as she found herself growing closer and closer to the Gothic building. Her knees felt even more wobbly by now, almost to the point of collapsing. She didn't know why it made her act this way.

The main gate opened, letting them in. It didn't take Alice long to notice that as they were nearing the queen, the world was getting darker, until no light except for a few candles shone. Robby didn't even seem to notice it, but Alice began to unconciously slower her pace and quicken her breathing. The place felt like there wasn't any way to breath. It became difficult by the time they reached the palace door. She stopped walking and breathed unnaturally fast, but with an irregular pattern. It was hard. Breathing was hard. But she was dead. Why couldn't she just continue without breathing?

Then her lungs began to stop meeting her expectations completely. She was desperate now. She fell to her knees, confused and terrified. Can someone die again? Not wanting to find out, she clawed at the air and tried saying help, but a strangely dead sound came out instead. The pain in was agonizing. Tears were running down the corners of her cheeks. Robby, help!Robby...someone, he-

Two strong arms grabbed her from behind, shocking her. Before she had time to escape, they started dragging her somewhere. Then, instead of panicking, Alice felt weak. And tired. She stopped clawing at the air and gave up, closing her eyes and trembling, she fainted.

She was running. Running away from something she feared. Why did she fear it? She didn't know, but she knew she couldn't stop. Not now, anyway, because it was getting closer. She may have been dead, but this thing, chasing her, made her think that there were worse things than death. Unimaginable things she didn't want to imagine.She tripped over a stump and fell. It hurt. A sharp pain surged through her body. There was something sticky and wet under her. Even in the darkness she knew what it was. Blood. This was blood. Panicking, she turned around. The thing was close. Hysteria began to take over. She screamed and pulled at her hair, crying without any use. She couldn't stand up, soaking in blood, so she awaited for something worse than death. Something unimaginable. Something she didn't want to imagine.

Alice's eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times. Then she sharply sat up, making herself dizzy. Where was she? From what she saw, she was in a dark cell, maybe somewhere underground. Fear and panic began to crawl up her back. She recalled someone grabbing her previously. Where was this person? Who or what was it? She didn't want to find out.

Alice knew she shouldn't have come. And now she had to pay for coming.

Maybe i could try to run away. Maybe the person left for a little while, she thought hopefully. Where's Robby? Does he know I'm gone? The strange stillness of the air and deadening silence in the space increased Alice's terror. She jumped off whatever she was laying on before and waited for her balance to return. Then, she took a deep breath, inhaling the musty air and took off. She ran a few meters and then crashed into something hard. A wall. Alice fell to the ground.

"Hey!" Someone was coming. Loud footsteps echoed. Alice's eyes widened with a horrid mix of fear and expectation. She lay still and quiet, hoping she'll escape unnoticed. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Someone or something tall walked in with a candle. Alice screamed.

Author's note: Yeah, I know this one is shorter and it took me a while to finish it, but exams are coming up, so please bear with me. Thank you readers, for your views, votes, and all that.^^ Honestly, I wrote too much and once again, couldn't get to the point. Sorry^^

Hmmm, I wonder what will happen to Alice? Will she meet the queen? :)