Never an After

Eleven

I'd never thought I'd be scared of an overgrown kitten.

Oh, have times changed.

I giggle with insanity. I'm in shock, in shock of these wonderfully terrifying things, meeting the most legendary of tales. But I mustn't be worried about that now.

No, not now.

My spine felt like it was ripped clean through my backside, nothing's been solved at all and- of course -  our favorite Cheshire Cat wanted to talk.

"Oh, hello there. I was wondering when you'd... Come around? Heh. But how does one come around when..."

"When what?" I asked, desperate for an answer.

"Never you mind... Why would a villain of all people not know what this was? I'll have to ponder that on a rainy day..." He floated ever closer to my face, surrounding me with creepy cat fur. "Now, have some tea."

A cup of tea appeared on a newly-conjured table, innocent and pristine.

I wasn't in the mood to object, given that I currently was having knives being stabbed repeatedly into my back, so I kneeled as much as I could and I sipped the tea.

"Have you ever wondered how you were... Ah, what's the word... Born? Created... I've thought about it many a time..." His grin seemed to falter a little. He looked down at his shadow, which was moving of its own accord.

I shook my head and drank more of the delicious-smelling tea in front of me. It's pretty natural to be abandoned the day you were born because your 'parents' regret everything, so I just assumed I went the same way.

How wrong I was. How utterly wrong.

"Oh, look. Here she comes now. She's like you, I think, so she'll know. Anyway, think about it. What I said."

And with that, his ever-grinning face and his luminous yellow eyes just...
Vanished.

His place was taken by a young girl with light, weightless blond hair and soft blue eyes. There was something a bit off about her, though. The smile looked a bit too longing, and her eyes seemed a little too hopeful for my taste.

"Summon a little fire for me, if you please, and burn this place down."

***

"I-- I can't."

An arch of her eyebrow. "I'm quite curious as to why this is... Allow me to, ah, test you..."

"For what?"

"Never mind that."

"How? There's nothing here!"

"I have my ways. Wait, you thought this was real? That proves my theory even more."

"What the hell?"

"Never mind." Alice grins. "I love letting people actually think about it."

The sharp, stabbing pain returns in my back, throbbing and pulsing like a second heartbeat of agony.

"Hah. You honestly thought I'd simply not tell you?" She mutters quickly under her breath, saying something like "Well, I was contemplating it..."

Now I see why the Queen of Hearts wanted an Off With Your Head.

"So, my theory. Probably far-fetched, but you didn't know this was a magic-induced hallucination.

There's no idiot like a Magic-Born idiot."