I Thought It Was a Fairy Tale but the Genre Is Strange

Episode 2 – Alice (2)

This is insane, insane, insane! Why did I come here? Why did I follow the black rabbit like I was the protagonist of a fairy tale and end up filming a horror movie!

“Kya-hahaha!! You’re good at running~ This makes playing tag fun!”

My heart felt like it would stop at the sound of Alice’s creepy voice nearby. What the hell is this world!!! I ran for my life. If that maniac caught me, I’d be flattened and riddled with holes like a trump soldier.

“Huff, huff!”

Damn it, I should have exercised! I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling my breath already catching and my legs aching, desperately hoping Alice wouldn’t find me. The only saving grace was that this wasn’t an open plain.

The giant bushes, much taller than an adult, served as excellent cover, hiding me from Alice’s view.

Rustle, rustle!

But I couldn’t hide the sound. As I ran through the giant bushes, the inevitable noise of the branches hitting my body echoed, and it was the same for Alice. The chilling sound of the bushes rustling behind me was getting closer.

“Ha, ha!”

What should I do? Sweat dripped from my forehead, and my lungs, unaccustomed to exercise, screamed at me to stop and rest. At this rate, I’d be caught for sure. I’d be captured and killed. There was only one thing I could do.

I gradually slowed down and lay flat on the ground. This was my only option. Rather than making noise and giving away my position while running, I had to hide and pray she wouldn’t find me and pass by.

Thump, thump

The loud pounding of my heart echoed through my body like a ticking time bomb.

“Kya-haha~ Where are you~ My dear black reaper~?”

She was really close. Alice’s soft yet chilling voice came from right nearby.

Thump thump.

Rustle. Suddenly, the bushes right next to me moved roughly. I was so startled that I almost let out a sound, but I quickly covered my mouth, preventing any noise from escaping.

“Kya ha ha ha! So, this time, you want to play hide and seek instead of tag?”

Step, step. I swallowed hard. Each second felt like an hour. Through the thick bushes, I could see her feet. Shoes stained with blood, their original color indiscernible.

Please go away! Please!!

Thud!

“!!!!”

I almost screamed for real. Right in front of me, just a centimeter closer and it would have hit me, Alice’s mace came down. My whole body started trembling, and I couldn’t even breathe. I wanted to close my eyes in fear, but for some reason, my eyes moved on their own, slowly looking up.

“Strange? I thought it was around here?”

Alice tilted her head, leaning on her mace. If she moved just a little to the side, she would find me. My lungs shrank, and a terrible sensation like all the cells in my body were fainting made my hair stand on end. She looked around with a bright smile, like a child playing a prank, her eyes filled with madness.

“Hmmm~ Where are you hiding? Hide well, or your hair will show~”

Step, step, step. She left. I clearly saw her figure disappear into the bushes. But I couldn’t move. I felt that if I moved even a little, she would come running back, laughing like a madwoman.

How much time had passed like that? When I no longer heard any sound, I finally let out the breath I had been holding.

“Phew!”

Then, I slowly looked around and cautiously stood up. I listened carefully, afraid that Alice might come back, but nothing happened.

“I-I survived.”

I sighed in relief and left the spot. Then I pondered what kind of place this was. Talking animals and Alice, who was mad with slaughter. At first glance, it seemed like a really warm fairy tale land, but in reality, the genre was horror. It wasn’t Alice in Wonderland, but Alice in the Land of Madness and Horror.

It seemed like I had come to a world that was completely twisted. To escape this insane place, I had to find the damn black rabbit that lured me here. It was crossing between this world and the real world, so it must know how to get back to the real world.

But the problem was that the black rabbit had vanished. The only thing I could do here was to walk silently in the direction the rabbit had disappeared. Damn it.

I shouldn’t have followed that rabbit in the first place. I should have just gone straight home. Because of my unnecessary curiosity, I fell into this perilous world. And for some reason, the mad Alice was obsessively fixated on me, a terrifying situation.

My head is already spinning.

If only I could turn back time, I would do it right away.

While I was lost in various thoughts, something suddenly jumped out in front of me. I was startled, but I was relieved to realize it wasn’t Alice.

It was a Trump soldier. The Trump soldier, who had not yet been defeated by Alice, had a heart pattern on a white background and was holding a heart-shaped spear. And he wasn’t alone. Trump soldiers kept appearing one after another.

“Hmm? Who are you! How dare you block our way!”

The Trump soldier who spotted me glared at me with a wary look and pointed his spear. Seriously, why is everyone doing this to me! I wanted to shout to leave me alone, but I was afraid of being arrested, so I cried inside but forced a smile and said,

“I-I’m just a passerby.”

“Hmm, you look suspicious.”

“What’s going on ahead?”

A dignified woman’s voice was heard from behind the Trump soldiers. I peeked my head to see who the voice belonged to. The Trump soldiers emerging from the bushes were carrying a palanquin with a throne adorned with ruby-like sparkling and splendid gems. Their slender limbs were trembling.

On the throne was a heart-shaped head. Well, it was really a terrifyingly large heart-shaped head. It looked like a person, but the head was so huge that it seemed bigger than the body. There was a middle-aged woman with an enormous heart-shaped head. Her face was painted white, and her lips were thickly coated with bright red lipstick.

She was the owner of the voice. The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. Seeing her like this, she really looked creepy.

One of the Trump soldiers hurriedly ran to the queen and bowed his head, reporting the situation.

“T-that, a strange-looking boy suddenly appeared!”

“A boy? Hmm.”

I felt a sinister energy creeping up my spine. The woman with the creepy, sparkling eyes looked at me and licked her lips.

“Quite a cute boy. Just to my liking. How lucky to meet such a boy on the way to catch Alice. Hey, seize that boy and bring him before me immediately!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“W-what? No, why is the story going this way!”

I tried to run away, but the Trump soldiers had already formed a circle, blocking my escape route. They thrust their spears and charged at me, and I was captured by the soldiers and forced to kneel in front of the Queen of Hearts’ palanquin.

The soldiers were pressing down on my shoulders to prevent me from getting up, and the Queen of Hearts looked down at me with a satisfied yet haughty expression. Up close, her head looked even bigger. If she fell, she probably wouldn’t be able to get up because of the weight of her head.

“You strange-looking boy, consider it an honor! I, the Queen of Hearts, will bestow a great favor upon you!”

As the Queen of Hearts babbled her strange words, the soldiers beside her struck the ground with their spears and shouted.

“Favor! Favor! The lovely Queen of Hearts’ favor!”

Anyone would think it was a musical. The queen continued, her eyes gleaming ominously.

“Tonight, you shall have the special honor of sharing the same bed as me. I will show you what true pleasure is.”

“Eek! Absolutely not!”

I shouted without thinking. But how could I hold back? My whole body was covered in goosebumps, and her words sent shivers down my spine! Just imagining being in the same bed as that big-headed woman made me shudder.

“……!”

The trump soldiers were aghast at my shocking statement, their mouths agape as they looked at the Queen of Hearts with fearful eyes. Some of them trembled all over or clattered their jaws with their hands in their mouths.

“How dare you, how dare you speak to me like that!!”

The Queen of Hearts’ face, painted white, began to turn as red as a beet. I was doomed. Even in the original story, she was a crazy queen who executed people on a whim, and now I had angered her.

“Execution! Execution! Off with that insolent boy’s head!!!”

“Wait, wait! I misspoke! I made a mistake!”

“Shut up! How dare you insult me! I will never forgive you! What are you all doing? Off with this insolent boy’s head immediately!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

As the Queen of Hearts shouted, the trump soldiers pressed down on me so I couldn’t move. Then, the mustached trump soldier, who seemed to be the leader, drew the sword from his waist with a swish.

“Uh, wait. No, this isn’t right! Wait!!!”

“For the crime of insulting the queen, you shall pay with your life!”

The mustached soldier raised the blade high into the air. As I saw the blade glinting in the sunlight, I felt a sensation of blood rushing backward.

I’m going to die. Really die. Am I going to die here like this?

The blade trembles. If that comes down, I’m really finished. Think. The best move to get out of this situation. Use your brain. If you don’t want to die a dog’s death, use your brain!

I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Alice!!!!!! I’m here!!!!”