Down the Rabbit Hole: Alice in Shifterland

Chapter One

Thanks to a busted wooden slat in her hurricane shutter blinds courtesy of one of her uninvited, overnight guests, the morning sun poured in through a nearby window, hitting Alice in the face and forcing her awake. With much reluctance she sat upright in her queen-sized sleigh bed, raising her arms above her head to stretch as she yawned.

Noting she wasn't alone, Alice was grateful to find herself still fully dressed in the jeans and tee shirt she had been wearing the previous evening. Further inspection of her sleeping mate soon brought a glimmer of recognition and more relief. Alex was a friend. No, friend was too strong of a word. He was a friendly acquaintance who exclusively preferred male partners, and he too was still completely dressed as he snoozed over top of Alice's burgundy and gold down comforter.

Alex was somewhat of a semi-permanent guest since his daddy cut off his trust fund. He wasn't about to stop partying so he sponged off of others. Usually, he stayed with one of several rich, older men willing to be his patron, but when he found himself on the outs, he showed up at Alice's until whichever idiot he was sleeping with sent the necessary amount of gifts to entice him back.

Alice found Alex much more tolerable than most of the hangers-on around her largely because of his complete lack of romantic and sexual interest in her. He only showed up when he needed something from her but at least she knew exactly where they stood and what his motives were. Alice couldn't say the same about most of the others buzzing around her. All she knew for sure was how completely disconnected she felt from all of them. She pushed the bedding off of herself and stepped down on the hardwood floor.

After she stepped over a couple sacked out together on top of a blanket on the large Oriental rug closer to the middle of her room, Alice scowled and sighed. She recognized one of them—Sandra Labrea, a socialite she'd known most of her life. They got along well enough though Alice couldn't say they had ever been close. Sandra was entwined in the arms of a handsome if rather common-looking young man. Mr. Collin Labrea, Sandra's wealthy industrialist father, would not be amused but Alice imagined Sandra's lover was solely for recreational use anyway.

Alice was accustomed to people she mostly felt indifference towards showing up to party at her lake house. Truth was she didn't mind. Late at night she craved the noise and excitement that came along with a full house of people ready to shake off their inhibitions. Even though she wasn't looking to mingle with any of them, the distraction helped keep her sane.

She'd always known something was missing inside of her. She played everything cool and close to the vest but even now on the inside she was screaming. Something primal within her was clawing at the surface but she couldn't release it, couldn't even get a handle on what it was though it was constant. Sadly, that dull, aching emptiness was the one thing in her life she could count on to always stick with her.

Regardless of her home's open door policy, Alice tried to keep everyone out of her bedroom and bathroom. Last night she'd gone as far as to put up "off limits" signs. Obviously not everyone had respected her wishes but as luck would have it, the master bath hadn't been obstructed by crashing party-goers. Before opening the door, Alice took a deep breath, half expecting some drunkard to be slumped over the toilet.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she found herself alone amongst the porcelain fixtures of her tastefully decorated powder room. She glanced in the mirror, pushing back her messy blond hair and wiping at her smeared mascara. Ugh!

Alice wasn't exactly looking her best, and her mouth was dry as hell. She looked around for the small, plastic cup she kept on the counter, rolling her eyes as her gaze fell across the white powder littering her hand mirror. Son of a bitch! If people are going to be rude enough to do illegal drugs in my bathroom, they could at least snort all of their damn coke. What am I supposed to do with this shit?