I’d done a lot of stupid shit in my brief life, but I’d never thought I’d add falling through a quartz cylinder to my list.
The marble floor I’d awoken on was moving, and sparkling silver orbs were sliding across it. Shifting my hand, I captured some of the sediment material. It sent a burst of pain into my palm, and a yelp of surprise escaped, echoing down the length of the moss-covered hallway as the silverish material sent pain into the fleshy part of it.
“What in the Alice-fell-into-an-acid-trip shit is this?” Rising to my feet, while avoiding touching the strange orbs, I squinted at the hallway as it slowly widened until I could see light at the far end. “I better get a Cheshire Cat. That’s all I’m saying,” I muttered crossly.
The moment I stepped forward, the silver that covered the marble floor merged, forming several mirrors. By the time the orbs had finished, they lined both sides of the hallway with the reflective surfaces. Then I looked into one, and instead of my face reflecting back at me, a scene was unfolding.
A couple was dancing gently, his arms were covered in dark, inky tendrils wrapped around a woman, with platinum hair past her hips. Stepping closer, I paused as amber eyes drifted to me. Thinning, they drifted down my frame before the purple-blue eyes of his companion slid toward me as well.
The moment she did, he spoke. “That doesn’t look like Destiny.” His raspy timbre had my head tipping to the side, sliding my eyes over his massive build.
“I have no idea who she is. Definitely not her though, Fairy.”
Fairy? Not sure what she’d meant by it, but I dismissed them to look into the next glass. A woman was within it, her body covered in a strange meat suit. My face scrunched up as she opened a fridge, shoving lush, red curls over her shoulder.
“I’m back early, Fred.” Was she speaking to the freezer? Cerulean eyes landed on me, even as mine turned as round as saucers at seeing what was inside the freezer.
“Pity, I had prayed they’d successfully skewered you with a blade.” The talking head said from inside her freezer.
“Hello,” the woman called, even as she moved toward the mirror. The blood drained from my face as I realized she was wearing flesh like a sweatshirt, the head still attached, like a hoodie.
Horror rocked through me as I darted forward, glancing through the silvers lining the hallway. In one, a man with huge, ink-colored wings slammed into a woman, who was bent over a desk. His angry thrust caused her whimpers to reach my ears. Turning at the sound of my gasp, sapphire eyes locked with mine, glowing. Dark, thin tattoos slithered over both arms, then down his torso. Lowering my gaze the moment he moved, I watched a massive cock pulling from the woman he’d been railing. Shooting forward, I shivered as the sound of people’s hushed voices slipped from multiple portals.
In another, a redhead was placing what looked like steel into a press. The entire room around her looked like an armory. Frowning as her ample belly was exposed, I began moving forward once more. The next had a dark-haired male, who was holding a tiny baby with horns poking from his head. Smiling at the cute little demon, I flicked my eyes to who I assumed was his father.
“Hello, lovely. Are you lost?” he asked, his darkening eyes filling with curiosity.
“He’s adorable,” I whispered, not sure he’d hear me.
“As was his mother,” he returned before the mirror shifted, returning to silver. As I regarded the silver, it swirled like a vortex, then solidified once more. When it returned, a man with dark hair and vibrant, blue eyes held a little girl. Beside him, a woman with a rounded belly, and a toddler, who was resting his head on her shoulder. The male moved toward the mirror, forcing me to rush forward. He hadn’t looked the least bit friendly.
A woman’s whispered moan forced my eyes to drift to the one on the other side. In it, a man had his head leaned back on a small couch, his arms extended over the back of it. The woman was on her knees, pleasuring him. “Either get in here and join her on your knees, or move along, pretty kitty.” His head raised, even as the woman choked, lifting from an impressive cock lined with a Jacob’s ladder. My eyes grew owl shaped as a whispered breath explosively expelled from my dry throat. Snaking my tongue out, I wetted my suddenly dry lips. “Here kitty-kitty. Does the pretty pussy want some cream? Or are you the type who needs to be caught in the spider’s web?”
“Do I look like a cat?”
“Trust me, kitty. You’ll be purring so prettily for me if you let me play with the fire burning in those lovely eyes.”
“Hard pass, but thanks for the offer?” I hastened my movement. Fucking hell. Maybe it was some sort of hostel or a sex club? Did they have sex clubs here? Where the hell was I? Who the hell were they?
I took another step, eyeing the next. A meadow covered in delicate violet-colored flowers swept out as far as I could see. The adjacent one was awash in darkness, yet tiny, gold specks pirouetted against the velvety-black canvas. Several more held similar scenes, like the first few, which appeared to be portals into other worlds. At least, I assumed they were since some creatures didn’t look like ones we had here. Maybe I’d been supposed to choose one? How would I choose? There had to be a reason they were within the same hallway I’d been pulled into, right? But how would I know which one took me back to where I’d been, before I’d ended up in Wonderland?
“A little help would be nice right about now. Not from those people, either,” I grumbled. “Alice had a guide. He might have been batshit bonkers, but I enjoy riddles.” My words reverberated through the seemingly endless hallway.
Abandoning the portals, I allowed myself to be led toward a dark doorway. It appeared to be the end of the long, winding corridor I’d traveled down. Grabbing the knob, I twisted and pushed it open, peering into a darkened forest. If I entered it and ended up lost . . . what then?
If I got lost, I had a feeling that it wouldn’t matter if I never moved another muscle again, no one would come looking for me here. Esme was probably threatening my father and all present by now, which meant I had to get back to her. We’d promised to stay together, but it wasn’t as if I’d intended to fall down the rabbit hole, per se. I inhaled deeply and stepped through the shimmering surface of the mirror, gasping as the sensation of falling began anew.
The moment I’d exited the hall of mirrors, I was dropping swiftly toward the ground. A moment before I could crash against the boulders rushing up to meet my face, something grabbed me and tossed me into the sky. A scream of horror ripped from my lips as I landed on a slippery rock face, teetering on the side of a cliff.
“What the actual fuck? I should’ve gone in the stained-glass window, but no. Not me. No, I have to run toward the one drawing me in, as if I ever choose anything correctly? Nope. Not me. I’m the idiot who refuses to take the simple path forward. Why? Because I’m that bitch.” I groaned as I softly beat my head against the rock. It was then that I noticed what, exactly, I was kneeling on, and I flinched. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I didn’t wait around to plummet to my death. Instead, I began scouting a forward escape from the slate I knew was treacherous and deadly. Knox wasn’t here to save me this time, which meant if I were careless with my life, it’d be game over. I wasn’t a damsel. I carefully inched over the precarious pathway, needing no one to save me because I could save myself—or, at least, that was what I told myself.