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bubblegumfanfictions · 6 months

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Down the Rabbit Hole |A Zack Foster Fanfiction| Chapter 1: Wonderland.

Fandom- Angels of Death

Ship- Zack Foster/Original Character

Warning(s)- Poisoning, Anxiety

Summary- Rachel goes Down the Rabbit Hole.

Word Count- 1,800

-Rachel-

The small blonde girl steps into the elevator, her legs shaky and uncertain. Her hands trembling, trying to find solace within the sleeves of her cardigan.

What is this play area? Why does such an innocent word invoke such deep emotions? The elevator doors shut behind her with a loud bang. The noise makes her jump, her heart began to thump and run faster than she thought was possible. Her legs wobbled and felt jelly-like at the weight of her body.

The elevator descended— ascended? She didn’t know, and this uncertainty made her feel worse. Was she descending into the depths of hell or ascending to the angels? either notion frightened her as both meant death, sure she was probably overreacting but waking up in a strange place with no memories other than your name would terrify anyone… Let alone a 12-year-old girl.

The sound of the elevator screeching to a halt, the doors sliding open to reveal the next floor. Rachel’s eyes widened, the view in front of her looked as if it had been taken straight from the pages of a fairytale.

The young girl's eyes flit to and fro, scanning the room as she takes tentative steps out of the elevator. A narrow cobbled path swerves between oversized, vibrant flowers of all species, intermixed with large evergreen trees and glowing mushrooms taller than her. The walls she could see were covered in watercolour swirls and illustrations from Alice in Wonderland.

She walks down the cobbled path, taking note of every little detail as she goes. Despite how beautiful this room was she couldn’t help the pounding in her chest and the sinking feeling in her stomach, something didn’t feel right.

Her gut feeling making her quicken her pace down the cobbled path, her foot slipping now and then. Her head aching as she stares at the night sky, the blocky lines of white swirls mixed with midnight blues and vibrant yellows.

The young girl tilts her head back down, focusing her sights ahead. It seems that when she was panicking the forest became thicker, denser… Darker. Rachel wraps her arms around herself, hoping to bring down her heart rate hoping that if she comforts herself, she will be fine. But it doesn’t work.

A faint jingle catches her attention, her head turns in the direction the sound came from and she slowly makes her way over. The sound came from a branch just off the cobbled path. Rachel picks up the culprit, a small ornate golden key. She puts the key in her pocket. “I may need it later.” She says.

–Acquired a Key.–

Rachel’s foot scarcely lifted off the floor when she heard rustling in the bushes to her left. The poor girl goes ridged, she isn’t alone here. There is someone else here. What if that person wishes her harm? What if it is nothing? Should she investigate it? Maybe she should. Dangerous thoughts ring through the girl's head like a cacophony of alarms. She takes a deep breath, picturing courage filling her as she breathes.

One step at a time she gets closer and closer to the bush. There is nothing there, she could have sworn she heard something. She circles the bush to find evidence that she isn’t going crazy and, sure enough there it is. On the floor behind the bush is a small piece of parchment with the words 'Follow Me.' written on it in a gorgeous teal colour forming a loopy cursive scrawl, in the corner lay an intricate drawing of Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

An iconic blonde-haired and blue-eyed girl stood in a baby blue dress and an inky black headband. Her doe eyes stared back at Ray innocently. Ray stared at the blonde before folding the drawing and placing it back onto the floor.

A question pops into the girl's mind. Follow me? Follow who? It was almost as if the floor could sense her inner desires as she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. It looked like a rabbit. Rachel rubbed her eyes, wondering if the room was playing tricks on her. Maybe there was gas in the air that was making her hallucinate, maybe she was drugged when she was on B8? She couldn’t be too sure.

Every fibre of her being was telling her to follow the movement but there is still a deep, lingering sense of dread filling her stomach like bile. She knows she has to follow the rabbit– if it was a rabbit. But she is terrified of what she would find.

The forest around her is thicker, and denser than before. She clasps her hands together trying to alleviate her anxiety but, much like the forest, it becomes worse, deeper, scarier.

Every sound and every movement seems to push her further to the edge. Her breathing hitches as tears form in her eyes, and she feels as if there is a heavy lead ball in her stomach refusing to leave– She wants her mum and her dad more than ever, especially when she hears a loud rustle ahead of her, her legs push her forward one step at a time, left, right, left, right. When she stops in front of another drawing, it’s a drawing of the White Rabbit, pocket watch in hand. Scrawled in more fancy ink were the words. “Not much further!”

Ray’s breath hitches, everything about this situation screamed danger, turn back now! But she knows she can’t, there was no turning back; no leaving, whether she wants to or not. She then recalls a coping technique taught to her by… Someone, she couldn’t quite make out his face, but the memory caused her to shiver uncomfortably.

She looks around the floor, taking in the sights. She sees the once bountiful and lush trees have now withered and shed their leaves. She takes note of the piles of leaves on the floor and the mysterious glint hiding in the shadows. Okay, that was three things she could see. The next thing was… What was it again? Think- think. It was sounds.

Ray calms her breathing and listens intently. She could hear the creaking of the dead wood, The chirp of some birds… More importantly, she could hear the clinking of a glass. Rachel’s eyes shot open at the sound, she wasn’t alone, someone else is on this floor. Maybe they would help her? Maybe they would kill her. No no, she shouldn’t think like that. She shakes the thoughts from her head and continues with shaky steps.

Rachel eventually comes to a clearing, her heart hammering in her throat. She couldn’t help but think of all the worst-case scenarios, she could be killed, maybe robbed? Kidnapped? Who knows.

Rachel’s thoughts halt as she looks ahead of her, right in the middle of the clearing is a long mahogany table adorned in a back and white checkered table cloth which she could barely make out through the piles of delicious-looking cakes and pastries. The table is a chaotic mess, covered in empty tea cups, dirty plates, half-full teapots and candles, coating the table in messy layers of wax.

She then turns her attention to the occupants surrounding the table, there are six chairs, each with a different style and wood. At the head of the table is a small hand-knitted human doll, presumably The Mad Hatter, to the left of him, is The Dormouse and to the left again is The March Hare. The thing that gets the young girl's attention is the woman, sitting to the right of the Mad Hatter, Rachel supposes that this girl is Alice. She is maybe 18 or 19; she is still a distance away from the woman so she isn't sure. The woman is sipping on some tea, she is dressed in an Alice-themed outfit. The seat next to her is empty. Finally, opposite the Mad Hatter sits The White Rabbit.

"Oh! I'm so glad you could join us!” The girl exclaims. “You're just in time for tea!" She stands up quickly, taller than Rachel thought, at about 5 foot 6.

"Please, sit.” She invited kindly. “Which tea would you like? We have Ginger, Chamomile, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Earl Grey, Hibiscus, Mint, Pumpkin which is my favourite, and Raspberry." The woman lists the words tumbling out of her mouth too quickly for Ray to understand her.

"U-Um,” She stammers, “may I just have the Vanilla please?" She sits next to the mystery woman and gives the woman a once over, unsure if she can trust her.

Rachel realises, as she gets closer, that this woman is older than she initially thought, she thinks she is in her early 20's. Her hair is a mousy shade of blonde and reaches just past her waist. Rachel can tell the woman is slim, even under the voluminous clothes. Though the oddest thing about her isn’t her clothes or demeanour, it is her eyes. They are a deep, rich shade of brown and then abruptly change to a sharp green around her pupil.

“Here you go,” The mystery woman passes a small, white teacup with lavender plants painted on it. Rachel doesn’t know if she can trust this woman so she sniffs the tea, unsurprisingly it just smells like Vanilla. Ray takes a sip of the drink, still weary of the woman sitting next to her, the sweet taste going down her throat immediately soothing any doubts.

"Excuse me, ma'am. What's your name?"

"Oh, my. How rude of me, my mother raised me with better manners than this! It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Elizabeth, but you can call me Elsie.” The woman— Elsie, gives Rachel a dramatic curtsy. “And what might I call you?”

"I’m Rachel” She gives Elizabeth a short response as she suddenly feels a rush of nausea hit her like a freight train. She covers her mouth with the back of her hand, the urge to puke getting stronger by the minute. “I’m sorry, I feel sick” The hand on her mouth is now clammy and shaking.

“Oh, that would be the poison,” Rachel pales at Elsie’s words, she can’t have been poisoned, surely. The rest of her skin begins to go clammy, her body slick with a thin layer of cold sweat. “Cyanide, my dear, very effective. Agatha Christie had the right idea. Of course, I have the antidote but you’ll have to work for it.”

Elizabeth goes up behind Rachel, gripping her perspiring cheeks, moving her head to the hand-knitted characters sitting with them. “Each of my friends is missing something important. Now, be a dear and find their things for me, then I will give you the antidote.” Elsie lets go of her face and sits back down.

“Judging by the dosage and your symptoms already, you might want to hurry, you only have around 30 minutes until you reach the point of no return.”

Art by Baicalpascal

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