by Tim Miller
Alice threw the poker onto the floor and walked around. The man was glaring at her, his eyes wide as tears ran down his face. She had a feeling he wasn't enjoying this as much as the queen let on. She also wasn't sure why she had done that. She had just caused this man a great deal of pain. The queen hadn't really threatened her. It actually disturbed her that she had done it with so little convincing. These journeys through these strange lands were so surreal that she feared she was just becoming jaded. Plus, nothing in these places seemed real yet seemed all too real at the same time.
"Can I go now?"
"Of course not. We're just getting started."
Before Alice could reply, a soldier came into the chamber. He was tall and wearing black armor and carrying a huge sword. He leaned toward the queen and whispered into her ear. She nodded, walked to the back of the room and slipped a tight fitting dress on and a pair of boots.
"Let's go!" she said to the man as he followed her out of the room. Once they were gone, Alice looked at the man she had just burned and began undoing his ball gag.
"I am so sorry," she said. "I…I don't know why I did that. This place is so…"
"It's ok. You didn't have a choice. Please untie me before she comes back."
Alice reached up and undid the buckles that restrained his hands. He collapsed to the ground once he was free.
"Do you need any help?"
"My clothes. Can you bring them to me? They are in the corner on the floor."
She walked over and brought them to him. It was just a baggy shirt, a ratty pair of pants and a pair of boots. He gingerly put them on, wincing as he did so. Alice was sure he wouldn't be sitting down for a while.
"I'm Alice. I'm not from here."
"I know. Neither am I. I'm Thomas."
His answer took her by surprise. Yet somehow it should have made sense. If she fell through a portal bringing her to this place, what's to say that there wouldn't be others like her? If there were others just how many were there? The though quickly turned depressing as she wondered if any of these people ever made it back or were they doomed to flounder around these bizarre alternate dimensions for the rest of their lives.
"Where are you from?"
"Later. Let's get out of here."
Chapter 4
They slipped out of the chamber and crept along the hallway and down the winding stairwell. When they reached the bottom, they almost got ran over by a group of soldiers running by carrying swords and spears wearing full armor. Alice thought for sure they would grab them, but they ignored them as they ran past.
"What is going on?" she asked.
"Must be an attack or something."
"By who?"
"I don't know. I've been in the dungeon most of my time here."
"Dungeon? For how long?"
"I don't know. Awhile. Queen would drag me out occasionally and use me as her sex toy which was usually shoving things up my ass."
"Ouch."
"Yeah. Let's go this way. I think it leads out." He pointed to their left and wound around a long corridor. Plus, it was in the opposite direction in which everyone else was running. They followed down the long dark hall until they reached an opening that led to an outdoor stairway. They ran down the stairs and toward the wall when they heard the commotion and saw the mob.
"What in the fuck?" Alice said looking around. It looked almost unreal. The queen's army was lined up along the top of the wall with archers firing into the mob. They were launching flaming fireballs from catapults as a group of swordsmen were massing near the gate. The mob they were facing was an army of dwarves.
"I thought there were only seven?" she said.
"Yeah, seven older ones. They're the elders. These are their children."
"What the fuck? Are they rabbits? And none of the elders are women."
"No. But their wives are dwarves and yes, their time to give birth isn't' nearly as long as humans. So they multiply fast."
In the midst of the dwarf army was Snow White herself on a horse holding a bow and arrow, picking off archers from the wall one by one. Fireballs were exploding around her, incinerating groups of dwarves only to have more filling them in.
"I thought she was in hiding. Fuck?"
"Yeah, they’ve been planning this for a while."
"How do you know all this?"
"I kind of was dating Snow White for a while."
"Dating?"
"Ok. We were fucking. When I first came here, they took me in and helped me hide out. We kind of messed around during that time."
"Are you kidding? She's a psycho bitch."
"She comes across that way at first, but once you get to know her, she's not so bad."
"Jesus Christ." Alice wasn't buying it. Yet, wasn't sure why she felt jealous. Thomas wasn't a bad looking guy by any means, but she had just seen him tied up with weights hanging from his balls while shoving a hot fire poker up his ass. Not the sexiest of first meetings. Plus, there was a war going on.
"How do we get out of here? Can we go out there and get like asylum with the dwarves or something?" she asked.
"I wouldn't try it. They get kind of crazy in the heat of battle."
"Then what do we do?"
"Go back inside for now," Thomas said.
"What? How are you so calm? After the hell, you were just put through?"
"This became a daily routine. I just sort of shut down."
"Well, I could use your help, so please boot yourself back up. No way am I going back inside."
"Trust me. I have an idea."
"Oh, God."
"Come on."
He took her by the hand as they ran back into the castle, down the hall and back to the queen's chambers. As they ran into the large room, Alice wished another portal would just open up and take her anywhere but here.
Chapter 5
As they ran into the chambers, there was an explosion from the other direction. They stepped out of the chambers and headed toward the front of the castle. The dwarves had broken through the walls and were pummeling the queen's men. Despite the soldier's size and armor, the dwarves were way too fast. Before any of the knights could even lift a sword, the dwarves had literally cut their legs out from under them and processed to rip their helmets off and remove their heads.
The dwarves moved through the courtyard as it quickly became saturated in blood as severed heads bounced around the crowd like beach balls at Lollapalooza. Alice looked on at the mayhem as Thomas took her by the hand and began pulling her back into the castle. They ran back toward the queen's chambers, but there were footsteps behind them closing in. Once they reached the chambers, Thomas went to lock the doors, but they burst open before he could.
The queen's guard and the queen came bursting in.
"You!" she screamed pointing at Alice and Thomas. "You did this!"
"What? I didn't do anything!" Alice screamed.
"Take them both and strip them, and tie them up."
"My queen, the castle has been breached. Is that the best idea right now?" her guardsman asked.
"Do not question me!"
He looked at Alice and rolled his eyes.
"Yes, my queen."
They approached Alice as she backed up toward a set of curtains. Thomas tried to grab her as he yelled.
"No!" But Alice bumped into the curtain which flung open as she hit the ground revealing a huge mirror covering the entire side of the wall. A blue light shot out of the mirror, vaporizing the queen's guard instantly. Their remains fell to the ground, nothing but bloody chunks of skin and bone. The queen looked so furious her eyes were wild with madness.
"Look what you've done! Thomas! Kill her!"
"Thomas stood looking confused as a huge face appeared in the center of the mirror. The face appeared in the center. The face was white and featureless besides a pair of eyes and a mouth. When it spoke, the whole room vibrated.
"What is the meaning of this!"
"Mirror, mirror on the wall," the qu
een began. "We are under attack. This wench and her plaything have plotted our downfall. Snow White and her dwarf army are at the gates. Can you save us! Please show us mercy!"
"They are attacking because you are a psycho cunt! I have warned you time and time again."
Alice was shocked to hear the queen's mirror cursing at her in such a way. From the way the queen spoke earlier, she was in charge.
"How dare you insult me! I created you!"
"You trapped me in this damn mirror. My power has grown since being locked in this prison. You'd be best not to test me!"
The queen walked over and picked up a large chair, dragged it over to the mirror, picked it up and swung it at the mirror, but it just bounced off harmlessly. She repeatedly hit it over and over as the mirror taunted her.
"You having fun?" the mirror asked. "That won't hurt me."
Alice was trying to figure out if the queen had magic of her own or not. The mirror implied as much, but she was acting like a pissed off fourteen-year-old. She had moved to the other side of the room and was flipping over couches and dressers.
"Get yourself together! You are about to lose everything." The mirror ordered. The sound of screaming, crashing and footsteps came from down the hall.
"Why won't you help me?"
"Because I hate you."
The door burst open, and a band of dwarves came pouring in along with Snow White carrying her bow and arrow. The queen stood and looked at the mirror and back at Snow White as the dwarves circled her.
"Please! Just leave me be! I'll give you anything!"
"You tormented us long enough. Fortunately, we stayed hidden long enough to build our own army. Right under your nose." Snow White said. "Now it's your turn to be afraid."
Snow White drew the bow and released the arrow, piercing the queen right in the face. The arrow came out the back of her head, splattering chunks of skull and brains onto the mirror. The mirror laughed as Snow White stood over the queen's body.
"You have won, my dear," the mirror said.
"Who are you?"
"I will be your guide and your chief advisor. You just saw, I can make or break you. Having me on your side is a good thing. The queen was a vile monster. So I helped you destroy her."
Snow White looked around the room and saw Thomas.
"I thought you were dead?"
Thomas shrugged as she looked at Alice.
"And you? You fucking him too?"
"Jesus! I'm not fucking anyone!"
"These two have been through enough. I know of your journey. Step forward for the next step," the mirror said.
"What journey are we on and why?"
"You'll know in time. Step forward into your reflection. It will be ok."
Thomas walked up next to Alice and took her hand. She hoped when they got to wherever they were headed; he could explain more to her about what was going on and what he had experienced. They took a step forward toward the mirror. As they made contact, the glass began to bend as they submerged themselves as if it were a giant block of Jell-O. They pushed through until the pressure gave way and they were falling into an open field.
They stood as Alice realized she didn't need the stupid bonnet on her head. She removed it as they looked around. A woman was walking by carrying a basket of fruit, stopped and looked at Alice and Thomas.
"Hi! Never saw you two before?"
"We're kind of new here I guess."
"Oh! Neat! I'm Talia."
"Hi Talia, where are we?"
"Oh this is…" before Talia could finish, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell to the ground unconscious. One of the men working in the field behind them called out.
"Hey, guys! She's asleep again!"
A dozen men came running from the field. Alice stepped aside to let them in to help the girl. Except they weren't helping. They pulled Talia's dress off of her as they each removed their pants and took turns fucking the unconscious woman where she lay. The rest were clapping their hands and cheering each other one yelling "Go! Go! Go!" As they each took turns. Alice looked at Thomas, who shrugged again.
"Well, we know this isn't home," he said.
Narcoleptic Beauty
Chapter 1
"What are you doing to her?" Alice asked. One of the men stopped what he was doing long enough to look up.
"Just having some fun! She likes it!"
"No, she doesn't, you asshole! You're fucking raping her. Get off her."
The rest of the men stood around staring at her as if she were speaking some alien language. Thomas stood by watching while she shoved each of the men away from Talia, who just lay on the ground naked as each man took his turn.
"Can you help me?" she called out. Thomas snapped out of whatever trance he was in and began pulling men away. One took a swing, but Thomas managed to duck aside and take the guy down to the ground in an arm-bar. He snapped the man's arm and left him on the ground screaming, as he went to the next one, who had picked up a club and swung it at Thomas' head. Thomas grabbed the club and twisted it away while thrusting it into the man's stomach. The man doubled over as Thomas hit him over the head, knocking him to the ground.
He wasn't about to stop there. Once the man was lying on the ground, Thomas reared back with a scream and brought the club down over and over on the man's head until the top burst open like a pumpkin as his gray matter oozed out onto the ground. The other men stopped struggling and took several steps back as Thomas looked around holding the staff out.
"All right. We'll leave her alone, ok? Calm down, buddy!" One of the men called out as the rest turned and headed back to the fields. A group of women came running over as Alice knelt down to check on Talia. She was still out cold. Her face was covered in mud from having the men push on the back of her head while pounding her.
"Oh my God! I've never seen anything like that!" one of the women called out. "How did you do that?"
Thomas looked at the club and tossed it aside.
"I don't really know. Guess I’ve been holding in a lot of frustration."
Alice was also impressed, if not a little turned on. The guy had barely shown any signs of life since she'd found him. All of a sudden he went all Neo on everyone. He knelt down next to Alice and picked up a blanket one of the men had dropped. He wrapped up Talia's naked body and picked her up in his arms.
"Right this way," one girl said. "I'm Cinna. Talia is my best friend. They've been doing this to her for months."
"Why?"
"No one knows. She falls asleep all of a sudden for no reason. As soon as she does, it's like a party for those weirdos."
"That is horrible," Alice said.
"I'll say. A bunch of damn animals."
They reached the cabin and walked inside. Thomas carried her to a cot in the corner and lay her down. Cinna went and got a wet cloth and began to wash her off.
"I'm worried about what you did to those boys, though. Those are the McClaren boys. They pretty much run things in this land. You might want to hide somewhere before they come back."
"McClaren boys?" Thomas said. What the hell is that? And will she ever wake up?"
No sooner did he speak when Talia coughed and looked around.
"Oh my, did I fall asleep again?" she said.
"I'm afraid so, sweetie. The boys came after you again. These nice folks helped. You should have seen this fella. He was like an angry gorlak with a stick!"
"What the fuck is a gorlak?" Alice asked.
"Oh, these big creatures who live in the wilderness. It's fields and farming around the village, but once you stray away, it's more desert and such. They can hide in the sand, and they come out caring big sticks. They're super-fast and strong. They got big heads like pigs or boars and bodies like werewolves or something. I've only ever seen them from a distance. They come out at night, usually. They don't come here as long as we stay on our land."
"Nice," Alice said.
"Thank you for helping me," Talia said. "I don't know how to st
op this."
"How often does this happen?"
"Just depends. Some days it's happened five or six times. Then I've gone weeks without falling asleep. Today was the first time in almost a week."
Alice looked up and shook her head.
"Well, that sure explains those guys' enthusiasm. Are there any other women here beside you two?"
"Oh yes," Cinna said. "Most of the McClarens have wives. They just enjoying going after our little sleeping beauty here."
"Do you know what caused it?" Thomas asked.
"Not for sure," Talia said. "It started a year or so ago after we went to see Hans. He's the noble that owns these lands. We went to ask for additional provisions to get us through last winter. He said he'd offer them only if I slept with him for a night. He gave me some wine, but it tasted funny. Ever since then I've been having these episodes."
"Ok, Alice said. So whatever that was, maybe he has something that can stop it."
"Could be but it's a long way from here. The gorlaks will get you first. If they don't get you then the trunkors will." Cinna warned.
"What are trunkors?"
"These huge flying creatures that fly so high you can't see them. They are so fast they can swoop in, snatch you up and have you thousands of feet in the air before you know what's going on."
"Well, that's discouraging," Thomas said.
"So, how did you get there?"
"I rode a trebuton. It's a big, powerful horse. Well, not a horse really, but kind of looks like one crossed with a lizard. They are super strong. Gorlaks won't mess with them, and they are too heavy for trunkors to try and pick up. So ride one fast and don't stop for any reason and you can make it there fine."
"Great. Where can we find one?"
"They run wild. So you kind of have to catch one. The McClaren boys rounded one up for me last time."
"Are you fucking serious?" Alice asked. "So we have to go out in the desert and play rodeo with some giant fucking horse creature?"
"I guess so," Talia said. "You can't tie them up. They fight too hard."
"Great."
There was some shouting from outside when Cinna ran to the window.