The Looking Glass

The girl, a boisterous 16 year old, awoke in darkness. Pain seared up her legs, along her spinal cord and assaulted her brain. She cried out as she slowly propped herself up on her elbows; another wave of intense pain washed over her as she attempted to move her legs. Nothing.

Approximately ten feet above her, a faint light began to illuminate. Gradually, the girl was able to see about an eight-foot radius of her surroundings. Looking down at her legs, she understood why she couldn't move. Sharp, jagged ends of leg bone split through her pale skin, just below both knees. Lower legs cocked in awkward, impossible angles.

The girl gasped as her eyes fell upon a lifeless body lying just along the edge of the dim pool of light. It was a man, dressed in what appeared looked like a rabbit suit. His face could be seen under the large googly eyes and rabbit ears; smashed in and bloodied. There wasn't much of a face left, as if someone bashed him repeatedly with a rock. Blood had spilled out of the man's ruined face and had intermingled with her own, which was oozing from her crushed legs.

On her opposite side, two identically dressed obese men sat bound back to back. Both were dead; arms and legs having been removed. Blood everywhere. The girl's eyes tried to penetrate the darkness beyond her little island of light. A very faint shimmer could be seen in the darkness, as the light reflected back at her. Turning her head, the shimmer before her followed her gaze. It surrounded her in all directions.

The reflection faded as light beyond it began to grow. She looked in horror as her surroundings came into view with the growing light. Thick, dirty glass surrounded her and the three dead men in all directions. A giant bell jar trapped her. Beyond the haze of the dirt, she saw another giant glass jar to her left and right. Before her she could see the interior of a room. She was on a shelf, high above the floor.

Directly in front, past the glass, past the room, was a door. Languidly, the knob turned and the door opened. A large, green caterpillar emerged from the shadow, filling the door as it entered the room. Its multitude of legs undulated as it drew closer to the girl's glass prison.

It reared up and pushed its face, hideous and bloody, against the jar. It had the face of a man, but it was a grotesque semblance, the creature's blood stained mouth pulled into a horrific grin.

"Welcome to Wonderland, Alice." it hissed, as it removed the jar.The last thing she saw before the darkness enveloped her was the man in the rabbit suit being devoured by the gruesome Cheshire grin of her captor.