“Don’t worry,” Chase yelled back at me. “He’s a horrible shot and I can hear where he is going to shoot next. We will be fine.”
I didn’t understand how he could “hear” where he was going to shoot next, but I didn’t bother to ask for an explanation. Knowing Chase, he wouldn’t answer anything just for laughs. For some reason it felt like deja vu with him saving me, but I had no idea why. It must have been because of some strange dream a while back.
We delved deeper into the forest. I had never been this deep in the woods before and nothing seemed familiar. Everything seemed darker and more eerie, as if it was possible some witch would appear and try to get us to eat her gingerbread house. Just as I thought about that, we came upon a small shed or maybe even a house. My heart began to race faster and I knew I would scream if some old lady appeared. Chase ran straight at it. He wasn’t even slowing down as we headed towards the closed door.
“Chase, you better slow down!” I tried to pull him back but he didn’t waver. I almost tripped but caught myself and kept running even though I didn’t want to. I really had no choice.
He laughed. “Nah, this will be fun Alice! Just hold on to me!”
I screamed as he quickly turned around and wrapped his arms around me, still laughing as if he thought this was all fun and games. As he grabbed me, he leaped forward towards the closed entrance.
And through the door we went. Falling down and down and down.
CHAPTER 6
This feeling, it felt so familiar. A black pit of nothing surrounded me and colors swirled around like paint going down the drain. We kept falling and falling and I wanted to puke but I restrained myself. I felt as if this had happened before, perhaps even recently. I didn’t know what was going on and my head felt like it was spinning even more than the colors around me.
When it all finally stopped, I found myself laying in darkness on top of Chase, as his hands were still wrapped around me. I didn’t know what to do; it was awkward lying on him, my face towards his. I could feel his hot breath against my mouth. This was the closest I had ever been to a boy and although I didn’t really have feelings for him, I still could feel my heart begin to race.
He let out a brief chuckle. “Are you gonna stay on top of me all day or are you going to move? I mean, I’m not complaining but we do have some things to get done here.”
I quickly got up off of him, embarrassed I didn’t do so earlier. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to— “
“Just teasing you Alice, a lot has happened, I don’t blame you for wanting to stay in my arms.”
If it wasn’t so dark, he would have been able to see the look of me wanting to punch him for saying that and because of how red I was getting. That was not why I didn’t get off of him, it was because of the shock of the sudden landing. I knew he was probably joking but it didn’t mean I still didn’t want to punch him. I glanced around, the smell of grass filling my nostrils. Grass, that seemed familiar—and not the ‘I’m from Oregon, everything smells like grass’ familiar.
“Where are we?” I asked. Chase didn’t answer but got up and headed towards the other side of whatever room we were in. “Chase?”
He slowly opened a door. The light hurt my eyes at first but then they adjusted and I couldn’t believe what I saw.
Buildings covered in flowers surrounded us. Just like in my painting, just like the vision I had in my mind the other day. Speaking of my mind, my head began to hurt. Pain shot through it like a bolt of lightning.
“Ow, my head.”
Chase put his hands on my shoulders. “Hold on Alice, everything will be all right. We just have to hurry, okay? Can you trust me enough to do what I ask? I promise everything will be explained soon, I just have to get you to the person who can help.”
I held my head and tried to nod but the pain was almost overwhelming. I bent down. I had been in a lot of pain before with migraines, but this was beyond overwhelming. I felt like someone was trying to split my head open.
“Hang on, Alice. It will just be for a little longer. You can get past this, I believe in you.” He picked me up in his arms. On a normal day I would question this, probably slap him, but there was no way I could walk. I had to let him carry me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep myself steady and leaned my head against his chest. He didn’t say a word but started towards whatever our destination was. I wanted to ask more questions but it was nearly impossible. My head ached to the point where I could hardly think straight.
Chase took me outside and the bright sun made my eyes and head hurt even worse. The buildings around me looked like the ones I painted just the day before. It all seemed so familiar, even the roads were made of grass just like I had envisioned. The air smelled so sweet, almost like a field of roses.
As for the people, something about them seemed off—other than the fact they were wearing Victorian clothing, though after going to
