Malice in Wonderland Prequel by Lotus Rose Read Free Book Online Page A

drawn girl and she was holding her hand out toward it, but the chain wasn’t long enough to reach. There was a big frown upon the girl’s face. Alice felt like she wanted to draw tears, but that might be a difficult thing to draw.
    The guard card who watched over her was no good company at all. He was seated in his chair, dozing.
    She heard the sound of the door opening and grinned. Here comes my surprise birthday party! Oh, this just has to be it!
    But when the door swung open, there before her eyes, was a girl she couldn’t recall ever having seen before.
    The girl was wearing a white lace veil over her face. She looked to be a teenager, wearing a long, fluffy black dress much like Alice’s own. There were splotches of what looked like dried blood splattering her dress. The girl’s right hand donned a black metal gauntlet like from a suit of armor, adorned with ornamental engravings and an odd, repeating symbol. She held a box with a handle atop it in her other hand.
    Alice gasped and called out to the guard.
    “Eh?” the guard said as he lazily opened his eyes. He saw the older girl and began to stand, as the girl calmly walked up to him and punched him so hard he knocked back into the chair and toppled backward into it with a crash. He lay unconscious upon the ground.
    “Oh no!” Alice cried.
    The girl was kneeling. She took the gauntlet off, then began rummaging through the metal box. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t harm you. I’m here to warn you.”

    At the Queen of Heart’s ballroom, Humpty Dumpty was throwing a hissy fit. “Where is Alice!? I have a bucket of paint I had prepared especially to pour over her head!”
    “Yes,” said Tweedledum. “It’s quite rude for her to show up late for her own birthday party!” “Yes, quite!” said Tweedledee. They crossed their arms.
    “Yes,” added the March Hare. “Doesn’t she know how to tell time? She knows what time the party starts correct?” He was peering at the large oversized clock he wore around his neck.
    The Queen of Hearts tried to control her irritation. “Yes, of course she does. It was right on her invitation, just like with all of yours.”
    “Well, then it’s quite inconsiderate of her,” said the March Hare.
    The Queen of Hearts said, “Well, she’s still not too late. Perhaps she’ll be along shortly. But in the meantime, let’s have some of her cake, shall we?”

    “Warn me of what?” asked Alice. She watched as the veiled girl brought out two handcuffs from her metal box and put them on the card’s wrists.
    “I am from the future,” said the girl. She began putting the other pair of cuffs around the guard card’s ankles. She stood, kicked the card’s spear away, then looked at Alice, said, “I am here to warn you not to let your heart grow black.”
    Alice chuckled at the very idea. “Well of course I won’t, but why exactly did you want to tell me that?”
    The girl sighed. “Listen. You’re still new here. But I know…from personal experience. This place, the creatures and people here can be very cruel, and over time, it can, I mean it will really tear you down, make you start thinking negative thoughts. You might start thinking about getting revenge, hurting those who hurt you…”
    Alice giggled. “Oh, that’s silly! You can only get negative thoughts if you allow yourself to. That won’t happen to me, because I always stay positive.”
    “I’m sorry, but all their cruelty, over time, it can get to anyone. It happened to me.”
    Alice frowned. “Well did you think positive thoughts?”
    “I did for a long time, until I didn’t.”
    She frowned more. “But did you look on the bright side?”
    “I did, but then after all those years, the bright side disappeared, and it became all dark side.”
    Her smile wavered a bit, then reasserted itself. “But did you tell yourself everything was going to be okay?”
    “Yes, I did everything you do, but still, over time, I let my heart grow