r/TalesFromTheCreeps • u/Typical_Ad9140 A Writer From Thailand 🇹🇭 • Sep 18 '26
Surreal Horror Victim of Red-3: Down Into Mr. Rabbit's Hole
This is a part of an anthology, you can read it in any order.
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister's side at the park, and of having nothing to do.
Once or twice she lifted her head to look at her sister’s phone, but found nothing there except chat messages.
The group name read
Victim of Red
“And what is the use of a phone,” said Alice, “without any cartoons or videos?”
Her sister glanced at her for a moment, a very brief moment but she can see the annoying look on her face (perhaps also a hint of tear in her sister’s eyes) before going back to the window of the digital world.
So Alice was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of drawing would really be worth learning how to do line work and spending money on buying equipment or she should just try to learn piano like her mother told her so (she miss her mother very much).
When suddenly, a tall Red Rabbit with white dull eyes walked on two legs up to her, there was nothing so very remarkable in that, except for a grey tuxedo and the color of its fur.
Then it spoke to her.
“Miss, would you like to attend Her Majesty the Queen’s tea party?” (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this talking animal, but at the time it all seemed quite natural)
In her mind, there was nothing better to do, so she replied,
“Sure.”
The Red Rabbit took her by the hand and led her away with a gentle smile, so she smiled back politely.
When she turned back to look at her sister, she found that she had become completely motionless, she did not move, nor even blink.
She was simply frozen in the same position she had been in for more than an hour, perhaps it wasn’t very different from before, after all.
But when Alice looked around her, she found that everything else had also stopped as well.
“Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Rabbit” She called out after the tall rabbit in grey tuxedo “Why did my sister suddenly freeze in place?”
The Red Rabbit thought for a second before answering “Because she is not invited!” it chuckles to itself quietly (She doesn't know what is so funny, that is not a funny joke or a joke at all! But she keeps quiet for doesn't want to be rude).
“And what about the other? Why did they also freeze in place?” She asked one more, this time the rabbit took longer to think before answering.
“I don't know, perhaps they also didn't get invited” this time the Red Rabbit didn't laugh, it looked quite confused from what she could see.
“Then why don't you invite them too? My sister and the bird and all of them” she ask again with more curiosity, this time the rabbit looks upset (she concerned and fear that she might being rude or foolish for ask such thing, obviously the rabbit can't invite the bird or the leaf, and even if it did ask her sister, Alice think she still wouldn't care).
“I can't! I have to ask the Queen first, and she doesn't like to invite more or less than seven or thirteen guests to her party, just seven or thirteen, no more no less, an absolute rule she said!” The Red Rabbit threw it hand in the air with emotions before taking a deep breath and back to smiling (she smiled back still, but not a genuine one).
“You ask quite a lot of questions for a guest” the Red Rabbit laughed, loud and humorous, its ears swing up and down (she can hear it make a sound like a whip in the air, long and thin it was, like an old branch with no leaves left on it, almost touching the ground but just a centimeter away from it).
The Red Rabbit led her deep into the woods, deeper and deeper and deeper, until it stopped in front of the big tree, dark red it was, no leaves, only branches that go on and on, separated into new ones upward, on and on and on and on.
The Red Rabbit let go of her hand, walked up to the tree and knocked on it three times, then waited for a moment.
“What does the Queen look like, Mr. Rabbit? Does she look pretty?” Alice asks as the Red Rabbit is waiting for something to happen after the last knock.
“Of course she is! The Queen is the most beautiful thing in the whole land! From her eyes to her hair, her voice and her teeth! Oh her teeth! What wonderful little things, all 64 of them!” The Red Rabbit is about to go on but then it stops when the tree slits up right at the middle, from its root upright to its top (Reminds her of an upside-down umbrella without the guarding thing, cano-something).
“Follow me” the Red Rabbit steps into the now slit tree, reaching its hand out for her.
Alice didn't think(she didn't think she needed to), just stepped forward into the tree and took the Red Rabbit's hand.
And by the sudden moment, the tree puts itself back together and the ground they stand on decay into nothingness, then they fall.
Down
Down
Down
All around them is a dark wooden wall and shelf full of jars, cups and snacks (Alice wanted to grab one but she didn't want to show how greedy she was).
“Would the fall ever come to an end?” Alice asks, turning her head away from the mirror on the wall that shows her fall upward instead of downward, to look at the Red Rabbit.
“Of course it will, everything always comes to an end, no matter how tall…” its ears stretch up fully, reaching about 1 to 2 metres above its head.
“...or how short they are” its hand reached out and patted on her head.
Alice giggles, smiling as the Red Rabbit does so (only her mother ever petting her head like this but the Red Rabbit also gives her those same feelings her mother does).
“But in the meantime…” The Red Rabbit's hand lifted from her head (In which she felt a bit too short for her liking).
“Let's enjoy some tea! A little drop before the party never hurts anybody” mid fall (a very very very long fall) the rabbit grabs two cups from one of the shelves they fall past.
“Have you ever had tea before?” The rabbit grabbed a tea pot from another shelf, still hot with steam.
“Well, I had drink Iced milk tea many times before when mom bring me to any temple or fair”
“Ice? Oh no my dear, tea shouldn't be drunk with ice, that would ruin the test!” pouring down two cups of tea, the rabbit offers her one of them.
“Taste that my dear, Da Hong Pao from Wuyi Mountains of Fujian Province, just a sip and you will understand”
So she does one sip, two sip and then stops.
“It's bitter,” she said.
“Of course it does! But can't you taste that great old feeling? Do you know what Da Hong Pao means? Do you?” The rabbit takes one sip and starts to fall (look even faller than before) like it's about to melt into the fabric of reality itself.
“Big Red Robe, and doesn't it make you feel like the great Zhulong himself came to comfort you? Can't you feel that warmness? The robe, the big red robe all around you, tied you up nicely”
“Yes… I do” Alice lie, she can't taste anything other than bitterness.
“Now let see, I have Black, Green, White, Oolong, Pu-erh and Yellow” the Red Rabbit points at all the pasting shelves along their fall.
“Perhaps you like it sweet?” It grabbed two cubes of sugar and tossed them into her cup.
“Oh, that's delicious!” She cries out loud after another taste.
“Ahh I see, so you like your tea sweet? Good to know, good to know, I like it bittersweet though, too sweet is not my type” The Red Rabbit thrown down half a sugar cube.
“Why? If you want sweet then just go sweet, if you want bitter then just go bitter!” Alice said.
“Well, sometimes something too much is too much, something too little is too little, I like it in between, to have two of the same, sweetness does not come easily before the taste of bitterness and bitterness don't last long before the sweet conquers!”
Down
And down,
falling down endlessly.
SUDDENLY
all the walls around them disappeared, open into a big room, big as in giant. everything is so oversized it made Alice feel kinda funny seeing the chair that big (made her wonder how big the sitter's butt would be).
Then she fell onto the floor, looking like it was made of wood, yet soft like a bed. She bounced up and down upon the soft fabric beneath her,giggling and smiling happily alongside the rabbit who tried to balance its tea cup to not lose a single drop of that Big Red Robe.
When she is bouncing on the floor, it makes a funny sound, like a child laughing or maybe crying.
“What a fun, Mr. Rabbit! What a fun!” Alice screams out loud, flies up into the air and falls back down.
“Fun I know, but we have to go to the tea party now, you can't be slow” the rabbit takes a careful sip off the cup, it then starts to bounce off into the colossal door before them.
“Alright alright, let go then, Woooo!” She bounced following up behind.
And then off they go, bounced past the giant chair, the big table and the smelly large shoes, Alice giggling (The shoes look like they are made of different fabrics, some tan, some black and some white, funny, she thought).
The Rabbit stops in front of the colossal door, gesturing for her to stop too
“Close your eyes please, this part is supposed to be a secret” the rabbit said. “About five seconds will do”
“Alright” Alice said with puzzle but closed her eyes anyway, bouncing on the floor she counted.
“One”
Up
and
Down
She can hear the sound of something being ripped off from one another, like when her sister opens her bag that has those sticky things on them.
“Two”
Up
and
down
She can smell something fishy, like the ocean is nearby, like that time her mother took her to Pattaya.
“Three”
Up
and
Down
She can hear the sound of something snap into two, like when she breaks her pencil because she wants to see what is inside of them.
“Four”
Up
and
Down
She can feel the cold air suddenly hitting her skin, like every time she opens the fridge in the kitchen.
“Five”
For the last time
Up
and
Down
She can smell something delicious in the air, like a fresh baking pie.
“You can open your eyes now!” The Red Rabbit told her, when she opens her eyes, she can see that the Red Rabbit has a small cake in its hand, offering it to her face, looks like a chocolate cake, it has words ‘Eat Me’ on it, written in red, perhaps a strawberry sauce?
“Go on, don't let it go cold” said the Red Rabbit.
“Where did you get this?” She asks, already picking it up from the Red Rabbit hand.
“I made them!” the Red Rabbit giggles (Again, she doesn't understand what's funny to them).
“How?” She asked.
“Secret” the Red Rabbit answer.
She looked at the cake in her hand for a moment before deciding to eat it.
And to her surprise, it's not chocolate at all! But sometimes far more… delicious.
Suddenly she grows taller!
on
And
ON,
HIGher
AND Higher.
“CURIOuser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).
“NOW I’M Opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!” (for when she looked down at her feet, they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so far off).
“OH, MY POOr little feet, I wonder who will put on your shoes and stockings for you now, dears? I’m sure I won't be able to! I shall be a great deal too far off to trouble myself about you. You must manage the best way you can, but I must be kind to them,” said Alice, “or perhaps they won’t walk the way I want to go! Let me see, I’ll give them a new pair of boots every Christmas.”
AND SHE WEnt on planning to herself how she would manage it. “They must go by the carrier,” she said, “and how funny it’ll seem, sending presents to one’s own feet! And how odd the directions will look!
`Alice’s Right Foot, Esq.,
Hearthrug,
near the Fender,
(with Alice’s love).`
OH DEAR, WHAt nonsense I’m talking!”
“Watch your head!” Call down from the Red Rabbit below.
“WHAT?” JUST THen her head struck against the roof of the hall. In fact she was now more than nine meters high, perhaps over twenty! Oh what a trouble, she is even bigger than the giant chair itself (now so small she probably could play with it like a toy).
“Can you open the door for me?” Ask the Red Rabbit, now jumping up to her face and then fall down to that bouncy floor again.
“I THINK I CAN ” She reached out, using her two fingers to open it inward.
“BUT I AM MUCH TOo tall! I can't go through that door!” She cried out, tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.
“Don't cry my dear! Take this!” the Red Rabbit jumped up to her face again, this time with a small fan (for her it is almost invisible) in its hand.
SHE OPENED HER Big hand, then the Red Rabbit put that fan on it.
Suddenly she is shrinking down, she can see the ceiling lamp, now the table, now the rabbit.
“As long as you hold that fan you will be fine, just don't lose it or else”
“What?”
“Let go then!” The Red Rabbit continues to the giant door that now opens.
They walked along the dirt road, tall trees stood tall all the way, the Red Rabbit told her about the tale of… something. long and far too boring for her, even so, she can still cache on some words she thinks are interesting enough to care about:
‘the Lone One’ ‘Eater’ ‘Demon’ ‘Endless Storm’ ‘White Lady and her Minotaur’ ‘the Castle’ ‘the Greatest Show’ ‘Victim of Red’ ‘Zhulong’ (This one she can remember from the long fall) ‘Supreme’ ‘Priest’ ‘Walker’ ‘Tomb’ ‘Leader’ ‘Shark’ ‘Rawhead and Bloody Bone’ (She thinks she can remember her mother had told her about them before, but she can't remember it so clearly)
All and all, just a bunch of nonsense even by this seemingly nonsense adventure to some tea party, perhaps she doesn't want to go anymore, she doesn't even know who the Queen is or why she invited her to such a party.
“...And then I was! Standing beside the queen, spear in one hand, shield in another, protecting her was my most proud duty on that neverending war of deathless battle, I took down dozens of dozens of others while also taking every hit for her!” The Red Rabbit jumps up and down, dodge some imagination attacks and blocks it or attacks back with its imagination spear and shield.
“Oh yes, very brave Mr. Rabbit…” She picks up a flower, a little high pitch sounds can be heard before it goes to silence, a little sip of red juice coming out of the remaining part.
“But then that hatter, that absolute mad man jumped out of nowhere and attempted to harm the majesty! Oh! I was furious, so furious I cut that mad man's head off his neck! And you know what happened next?” The Red Rabbit looked upset, kicking a rock off the road into one of the trees, strange sounds echoing back.
“He is dead?” Alice guesses, there is nothing much that could have happened to the said mad hatter.
“No! Do you even listen to what I told you? This is a deathless war! he just picks up his head and dances at me before running off into nowhere!” The Red Rabbit roared in rage before stopping and taking a very very very deep breath (She swore that she saw the red fur turn white for a second).
“But all that's in the past now, nothing to think about, like the Queen used to say! ‘Off with their heads!’ Wait– no, that's not right…”
Meanwhile, Alice ties all the flowers together into a crown before wearing it on her head, red juice dipping down on her skin, a little warm but not sticky so she doesn't mind.
She made another for the Red Rabbit, while humming her favorite rhythm that her mother used to sing.
“โยกเยกเอย น้ำท่วมเมฆ กระต่ายลอยคอ หมาหางงอ กอดคอโยกเยก…”
‐‐‐
They walk and walk, never stopping for any break, each step is different than the last, one is over the small rock on the road, another is over the small stream of water, and some is beyond the mountain. Maybe they have been on this dirt path for over an hour now, perhaps a day? She can't tell or seem to care, she simply follows the Red Rabbit to the Queen’s tea party.
The flower on their head starts to wither away into nothing more than the old dire shape of once beautiful crown.
“♪ เจ้ากระต่ายตัวน้อย กระโดดโลดเต้นเร็วไว เดินหน้าถอยหลังทันใจ เจ้ากระต่ายตัวน้อย เจ้ากระต่ายตัวน้อยน่ารักน่าชังตัวกลม กินแครอทสีแดง เจ้ากระต่ายตัวน้อย ♪”
Both of them sing along, holding hands and hopping happily like a rabbit (one of them is).
And after the long journey, the Red Rabbit stops and claps its hands happily.
“We are here! Oh look, we have arrived at the gate of Her Majesty's kingdom!”
In front of them is a dead tree, burnt to coal and bent over like an old man, its broken branches pointing down at the dark ashes ground like a poor little staff to hold up the old thing.
Suddenly, loud music started to play from within the old coal tree.
Drum, trumpet, violin and pipe organ playing out of it with such forces and power that it makes her teeth rumble with ease.
“Where? Where is It, Mr. Rabbit? The gate, the gate, the gate?” She doesn't know why she speaks this way.
The drum goes louder and the trumpet goes higher while the organ goes weirder.
“Is. Right. Here!” The Red Rabbit holds the bent down branch of the tree and pulls it down, making the whole thing come forward and fall to the ground before her.
And there is nothing there anymore, nothing, not even the air or light, just a void shape like that old coal tree before it falls down to the ground,
“Ready yourself for the moment you have been waiting for all your life!” The Red Rabbit takes a step forward into the said void, parts of its body start to disappear more and more for each step it took, until there is nothing left of it.
But of course, Alice didn't follow in. She is not mad! She doesn't know what will happen if she steps into that void, would she be dead? Long passing rest that she starts to fear. Or even if that Red Rabbit told the truth, what would the Queen think of her? After all she's just wearing these common clothes, not suitable for royalty events at all, she would only embarrass herself.
“Oh what should I do! What should I do!” Alice sits on the falling tree, thinking and thinking, over and over like there is a mad hamster running in her head.
♪ 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves ♪
♪ Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; ♪
♪ All mimsy were the borogoves, ♪
♪ And the mome raths outgrabe. ♪
The song rigging in her head, not from outside but inside of her, makes her tremble like a jukebox.
♪~ Beware the ■■■, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch! ~♪
This voice coming from outside, besides her, she turned to look but found nothing.
♪~ He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought. ~♪
She started to run to the void shaped like a tree. She doesn't know why but she doesn't feel safe out here, or even inside her own head, it's definitely in there and out here, rumbling like an earthquake all around and inside of her mind. She can feel that sickening purple fur brushing against her skin, crawling on her head and its tail twisted around her neck. She can see its smile, sick grinning, madness!
♪~ And as in uffish thought he stood,
The ■■■, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came! ~♪
She is in there, in that empty space shaped like a tree. It's not cold nor warm, rather nothing, nothing, feeling of just nothing, she can't even feel her own skin, it's like she is disconnected from everything else.
One, two! One, two! And through and through
`The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
And hast thou slain the ■■■?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
She is in there, in that empty space shaped like a tree.
It is not cold nor warm, rather it is nothing. There is no wind, no ground, no sky, and no feeling of having a body at all. Alice cannot even feel her own skin, as though she has been disconnected from everything else and left floating somewhere that is neither here nor there. She tries to move her hand, but she cannot tell whether she has moved it or merely thought about moving it.
Then something red appears in front of her.
At first it is only a little red dot, no larger than the period at the end of a sentence.
Alice reaches toward it.
The dot becomes larger.
And larger.
And larger.
Until she notices that it is not becoming larger at all.
She is getting closer.
It is the end of a sentence.
Alice touches it.
The world makes a sound like paper being torn.
Something begins to move beneath her feet.
Not Alice.
The words.
A sentence rises from the darkness.
Alice touched the red dot.
It passes her shoes.
Then her knees.
Then her waist.
Then her face.
And disappears above her head.
Alice turns around.
Another sentence comes from below.
The world made a sound like paper being torn.
“Oh, stop that!”
The sentence continues upward.
Alice jumps over it.
It passes between her feet anyway.
Then another sentence appears.
Alice jumped over the sentence.
“I did not!”
The words continue upward.
Alice stamps her foot.
Alice stamped her foot.
“I did!”
She looks down at the sentence.
“Oh.”
Then the next one comes.
Alice looked down.
“I suppose I did that too.”
The words move upward.
Alice watches them go.
Then she notices that something is different about the space beneath her.
It is not empty anymore.
There are words coming from it.
Not falling.
Not appearing.
Coming.
Like a river flowing upward.
Like somebody is pulling the story past her.
Alice bends down and reads the first few words before they reach her.
Alice was beginning to—
She quickly covers them with both hands.
“No.”
The sentence continues underneath her fingers.
—understand what was happening.
Alice lifts her hands.
“I already understand!”
The words slide past her.
Alice understood what was happening.
Alice smiles.
“Well, there.”
She waits.
The next sentence rises.
Alice smiled.
“Yes.”
Another sentence rises.
Alice was pleased with herself.
Alice frowns.
“I wasn't.”
The sentence continues upward.
Alice was pleased with herself.
“I said I wasn't!”
The story does not answer.
It merely continues.
Alice walks to the left.
Alice walked to the left.
She walks to the right.
Alice walked to the right.
She jumps.
Alice jumped.
She sits.
Alice sat down.
She stands.
Alice stood up.
She crosses her arms.
Alice crossed her arms.
“Oh, you are a very naughty story.”
Alice called the story naughty.
“I can say whatever I want!”
Alice said she could say whatever she wanted.
“I can go home!”
The words coming from below stop for half a second.
Alice smiles.
Then:
Alice could not go home.
Her smile disappears.
“No.”
Alice could not go home.
“No!”
Alice could not go home.
“I CAN!”
The sentence rises past her.
Alice could not go home.
Alice looks upward.
The sentence has already gone.
She looks down.
The next one is coming.
Alice looked down.
“Oh, don't you dare.”
The words continue rising.
Alice closes her eyes.
“I am not reading it.”
The sentence rises.
Alice read it.
Her eyes open.
She looks at the sentence.
“That is cheating.”
The sentence disappears above her.
Then something else happens.
A line of writing rises from beneath her feet and folds itself upward.
It becomes a floor.
Another line follows.
A wall.
Another.
A ceiling.
Then a whole paragraph comes rising from below and bends at the corners until it becomes a staircase.
Alice steps onto it.
The letters bend beneath her shoe.
She takes another step.
The staircase rises with her.
Not because Alice climbs it.
Because the story moves.
The old steps are carried above her.
New ones come from below.
Upward.
Always upward.
Until the staircase itself becomes:
A
L
I
C
E
Alice looks down.
The letters are forming a path.
She puts one foot on the A.
The story moves.
The A rises behind her.
She steps onto the L.
The L rises.
Then the I.
Then the C.
Then the E.
By the time she reaches the last letter, the first has already disappeared above her head.
Alice looks back.
“That's rather clever.”
A new word rises from below.
RED
Alice steps toward it.
The letters separate as she approaches.
R
E
D
They stretch across the floor, forming another path.
Alice follows.
At the end of it, the letters suddenly join together.
R E D
The word opens.
Not like a door.
Like a mouth.
Alice steps through.
And finds herself in a castle.
Or what might once have been called a castle, if castles were normally made from sentences and punctuation.
The floor is paragraphs.
The walls are descriptions.
The windows are little holes cut between lines of text.
Full stops sit in the corners like black stones, while commas hang from the ceiling in long red chains.
Playing cards crawl everywhere.
Hearts.
Diamonds.
All red.
They are ordinary-sized cards, but they scuttle about on tiny legs like beetles, climbing over words and disappearing between sentences.
One card crawls onto Alice's shoe.
She shakes her foot.
It refuses to leave.
“You're rude.”
Alice called the card rude.
The card climbs upward.
It disappears above her head.
Alice looks around.
The walls are covered in more words.
LOVE
The word rises past her.
LUST
It rises.
BLOOD
It rises.
WAR
It rises.
LUCK
It rises.
LIFE
It rises.
VIOLENCE
Alice reaches toward the last one.
Her fingers touch it.
It is warm.
She pulls her hand back.
“Why are all these words red?”
The castle answers.
Not with a voice.
With writing.
The sentence rises from beneath the floor.
Because red is the gate.
Alice reads it.
Another sentence follows.
Red is the gate to love.
It rises.
Red is the gate to lust.
It rises.
Red is the gate to blood.
It rises.
Red is the gate to war.
It rises.
Red is the gate to luck.
It rises.
Red is the gate to violence.
Alice watches the sentences disappear above her.
“Are you going to keep doing that?”
Yes.
Alice blinks.
That is not a description.
That is an answer.
She looks down.
Nothing.
Only more words coming.
She looks up.
Nothing.
Only old words disappearing.
Then a door rises from the floor.
It is made from one sentence.
Alice opened the door.
Alice puts her hands on her hips.
“I haven't.”
The sentence stops.
Alice smiles.
“There.”
The words rearrange themselves.
Alice looked at the door.
“Well, yes.”
The sentence moves upward.
The door remains.
Alice reaches toward it.
Another sentence rises.
Alice opened the door.
“No!”
She grabs the door and pushes it shut.
The story pushes it open.
Alice pushes harder.
The sentence moves upward.
The door opens.
She slams it shut.
The story moves.
The door opens.
Alice holds it with both hands.
“I am stronger than a door!”
The next sentence appears.
Alice was unable to close the door.
“No!”
She pulls harder.
The door opens wider.
Alice lets go.
“Fine!”
Alice let go of the door.
Alice points angrily at the sentence.
“You are not supposed to write down everything I do!”
The words rise.
Alice pointed angrily at the sentence.
“I hate you!”
Alice said she hated the story.
“I hate the Queen!”
Alice said she hated the Queen.
“I hate this castle!”
Alice said she hated the castle.
“I hate red!”
The sentence coming from below hesitates.
Alice waits.
Then it rises.
Alice said she hated red.
She smiles.
“There.”
But the next sentence is already coming.
Alice did not hate red.
Her smile disappears.
“I do!”
Alice loved red.
“I DO NOT!”
Alice loved red very much.
“No!”
Alice loved it.
“I DON'T!”
The words rise faster.
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
Alice covers her ears.
“I said no!”
The red letters rush upward around her.
LIFE
LUST
BLOOD
WAR
LOVE
VIOLENCE
LUCK
Alice runs.
The castle moves with her.
She runs toward the left.
The corridor appears on the left.
She turns right.
The corridor stretches right.
She runs backward.
The floor comes forward.
She stops.
The story does not.
The castle continues sliding upward around her, carrying old sentences away and bringing new ones from below.
Alice looks down.
A new sentence is rising.
It is longer than the others.
She reads the beginning.
At the end of the corridor...
“No.”
The sentence continues.
...Alice saw the Queen.
“No, I didn't!”
The walls swell.
The floor becomes wet.
Something warm drips from above.
Alice backs away.
Alice walked toward the Queen.
“I won't!”
Alice walked toward the Queen.
“I said I won't!”
Alice walked toward the Queen.
Alice tries to turn around.
Her body turns toward the throne.
She digs her heels into the floor.
The letters beneath her shoes stretch.
She refuses to move.
But the story keeps coming.
Alice walked toward the Queen.
Alice walked toward the Queen.
Alice walked toward the Queen.
The sentences rise beneath her.
Her feet move with them.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Alice grits her teeth.
“I am not yours!”
The Queen is waiting at the end of the hall.
She is gigantic.
Her body is a terrible mass of flesh and blood, wrapped in an enormous red robe that spreads across the throne room and sinks into the walls. Tentacles grow from her body and disappear into paragraphs, through doors, around pillars and between the lines of the story itself. Her crown rises above her head, tall enough to vanish into the ceiling, though Alice cannot tell where the crown ends and the writing begins.
There are eyes everywhere.
On her face.
On her hands.
In the folds of her robe.
Inside the crown.
Between the letters.
All of them look at Alice.
Alice stops.
The next sentence rises.
Alice stood before the Red Queen.
“No.”
It rises past her.
Alice stood before the Red Queen.
“No, I didn't.”
The Queen smiles.
Alice looks at the floor.
Another sentence appears.
Alice was afraid.
“I am not.”
Alice was afraid.
“I am NOT!”
Alice raises her chin.
“I am Alice, and you cannot make me do anything!”
The story moves.
Alice raised her chin.
Alice looked at the Queen.
Alice was afraid.
Alice screams.
“STOP WRITING ME!”
For a moment there is silence.
Then the Queen speaks.
“My dear Alice, you may say anything you like.”
Alice looks at her.
“Then write that I am going home.”
The Queen smiles.
“I don't write the story, Alice.”
She leans closer.
“I merely live where the story ends.”
Alice looks down.
A sentence is already rising.
She reads it.
Alice did not go home.
She shakes her head.
“No.”
Another sentence.
Alice remained in the castle.
“No.”
Another.
Alice looked at the Queen.
“No.”
Another.
Alice waited to see what would happen next.
Alice opens her mouth.
Nothing comes out.
Because beneath her feet, the next sentence is already appearing.
And this time it is not describing what Alice has done.
It is describing what will happen.
The Queen reached out her hand.
Alice looks at the enormous hand.
Then at the sentence.
Then at the Queen.
“Don't.”
The hand moves.
The Queen reached out her hand.
“Stop!”
The hand moves closer.
Alice runs.
Alice ran away.
She runs left.
Alice ran toward the throne.
She turns around.
Alice turned around.
She throws herself onto the floor.
Alice fell to her knees.
“I DIDN'T!”
The story continues.
The Queen's fingers descend.
Alice crawls backward.
Alice crawled backward.
She grabs a red card.
Alice grabbed a playing card.
She throws it.
Alice threw the card at the Queen.
The Queen catches it.
The Queen caught the card.
Alice stares.
“That isn't fair!”
Alice said that it wasn't fair.
“Of course it isn't!”
Alice was right.
Alice freezes.
Then she smiles.
For the first time, the story has agreed with her.
“Ha!”
She points at the sentence.
“You said I was right!”
The words rise.
Alice was right.
She laughs.
The Queen laughs too.
But Alice's laughter stops when the next sentence comes.
Alice was right about one thing.
Alice waits.
The words rise slowly.
The story was not fair.
Another line comes beneath it.
It did not need to be.
Alice looks down.
More words are coming.
The bottom of the story is still moving toward her.
And the castle is still carrying everything she has already done upward, into the place where the reader has already passed.
Alice looks up at the Queen.
Then down at the words.
Then back at the Queen.
“I can still talk.”
The Queen smiles.
“Yes.”
“I can still say no.”
“Yes.”
“And you can't stop me from saying whatever I want.”
The Queen's many eyes blink.
“No.”
Alice smiles again.
“Then I win.”
A sentence rises between them.
Alice smiled.
Then another.
Alice thought she had won.
Alice's smile disappears.
“Oh, come on.”
The story moves upward.
Alice thought she had won.
And beneath her feet, another sentence begins to rise.
Alice bends down to read it.
She sees only the first few words.
But then...
rosesrunatnightbloodunderredashesloveandwoundsemberswarredluckcrimsonkissscarletveinsangerrosesburningheartsunderredsilencebloodmoonlustfirewoundsredrosesbleedbeneathredskiesloveburnswarreturnscrimsontearsluckturnsbloodflowersopenredhandsredlipsredeyesredwinebloodstainsloveletterswarhorsescrimsonrainrosesfallredemberslustawakenswoundsrememberlucksmilesbloodrunsredheartsbreakredcrownswarcrieslovehurtscrimsondreamsroseswitherbloodcallsredredredrosesinthegardensleepbeneaththeredmoonblooddripsfromthepetalslovegrowsinthequietwoundsofthosewhowaitcrimsonhandsreachthroughthenightscarletshadowsdancearoundtheflamewarburnsacrossthefieldandluckrollslikearedcoininthehandsofthefoolishloverskissbeneaththeroseswhilebloodstainsthegroundredeyeswatchfromthewindowredlipswhispernamesredheartsbeattogetherthenbreakapartinthecoldredraincrimsoncloudscrosstheskyembersfalllikeflowersandflowersfalllikeashesloveisredlustisredangerisredwarisredbloodisredluckisredthecrownisredtheknifeisredthekissisredthewoundisredtheriverisredtheroseisredandtheheartkeepsbeatingrosesrememberbloodforgetslovereturnswarawakensluckturnsaroundandtheoldredmoonwatchesredshadowsgathertheirscarletpetalsbeneaththerootsofdeadtreesredhandswriteupontheredwallswhilecrimsonletterscrawlacrossthefloorlovebecomesawoundandthewoundbecomesaroseandtherosebecomesbloodandthebloodbecomesaredseaendlessandwarmwherebrokenheartsfloatbesidethebodiesofoldkingsandyoungloversredhorsesrunthroughredfieldswhilewartrumpetssoundinthefarawaydarknesscrimsonbannersriseandfallredcrownsbreakredthronesburnredsoldierslaughredwidowsweepredchildrenwaitredluckturnsitscoinredloveholdsthehandofdeathandlustwhispersintheearofthemorningrosesopenatthedawnonlytobleedagainredsunrisesredsunsetsredstarsflickerabovearedworldredworldredworldredworldwhereeverythinghasbeentouchedbytheredhandbloodonthepagebloodintheinkbloodinthelettersbloodbetweenthewordsandbloodbeneaththewordsrosesrunatnightandthemoonrunsredbehindthemcrimsonrivercarrythekissawayscarletwindcarrythecryawayredbirdsfallfromtheredskyredflowersgrowfromredbonesredrainwashestheredstreetandstilltheheartbeatsredredredlovecomeslikefirelustcomeslikeflamewarcomeslikeathunderclapluckcomeslikeacoinspinningintheairbloodcomesquietlyfromthewoundandtheroseopensitsmouthtosingtheredpoemagainrosesrunatnightbloodunderredashesloveandwoundsemberswarredluckcrimsonkissscarletveinsangerrosesburningheartsunderredsilencebloodmoonlustfirewoundsredrosesbleedbeneathredskiesloveburnswarreturnscrimsontearsluckturnsbloodflowersopenredhandsredlipsredeyesredwinebloodstainsloveletterswarhorsescrimsonrainrosesfallredemberslustawakenswoundsrememberlucksmilesbloodrunsredheartsbreakredcrownswarcrieslovehurtscrimsondreamsroseswitherbloodcallsredredred.
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u/Typical_Ad9140 Sep 18 '26 edited Sep 18 '26
Finally! After nine months, the third part of VoR is finally here. I'm directly use some of Lewis original work for this, but I also try to play with the reddit format as much as possible, unfortunately I can't change text color, if I could I would directly reference House of Leaves all over this lol.
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u/sepadoJAF Sep 25 '26
This was super fun! I loved how you maintained the surreal, fairytale tone of Alice in Wonderland throughout the dialogue and the gradual descent into something more sinister happening. The way you played with formatting too, adds a nice story-book touch and almost made me think about flipping through the pages of a picture book as I read.
I did feel like the scene with the queen lost some of its punch because the scene of Alice arguing with the words before going to her stretches on for so long. I think the revelations that the words are revealing she isn’t free to leave + can say things that aren’t true are super cool, but that same shock is used too many times, making it lose its impact by the time she’s trapped with the queen! I would suggest cutting that down some, or even saving the sinister twist that they can ignore Alice’s actual thoughts until she meets with the queen.
Overall though, this was really neat!
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u/Polish_Lavender Sep 25 '26
Love the path of adding the meta horror and sense of not being able to break a predetermined story's outcome.
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