Story Based on Image Contest: The Gate - Wonderland and The Curious Ones

Alice Mclamb was not a curious girl. She did not have an appetite for the unknown and her head was not adrift in the clouds. She was about as ordinary as a person could be. Her tresses of golden locks was dull against her sister whose hair shone like glittering gold under the sun. Her face was symmetrical but had no distinguishing features. Boys admired her mild beauty but made no move to pursue her. After all, Alice Mclamb was about as boring as a girl could be--pretty but plain.

And Alice did not mind this. She was not curious as to why she remained the only one loveless in her group of friends. Alice was fine with being wed to her third cousin on her mother's side. She was the only girl under the Mclamb name and her lack of beauty and talent made her of little worth to society. Cruel as it may be, this was Alice's destiny, her only life's ambition.

After all, she was merely a girl with nothing to offer. And there was nothing curious about that.

The girl stood there, her hands raised above her head as her aunties tightened the corset around her waist. It was excruciating, the digging of her ribs into her flesh. She let out a small sound that was tutted against by her aunties and told 'unladylike'.

Alice was fine. She cared not about the pinching at her waist nor the vigorous painting of her face. A girl was bred to be beautiful and if Alice was the kind of girl to possess the curiousity to ask why this was so, she would not be sitting beside her husband-to-be, bound in matrimony.

Then, oddly enough, six years later, Alice was curious about a rather peculiar thing.

You see, Alice Períergos, née Mclamb was now 19 and a wife. A faithful one, easy on her husband's eyes and polite to her guests. She was the picture perfect representative for a regal lady of her standing. Still, Alice would spend a copious amount of time wondering if her hair was curled well enough and if her words were articulated beautifully enough.

As the sun sunk deep into the night, Alice laid upright in her plush bed. She worried her bottom lip as she recalled her actions that very day. She did as she was taught, laughing at the right moment and giving intellectual comments without arguing her point. She nodded to her husband's words and bit into her biscuits demurely. She wasn't sure if she had done anything deserving of her husband's spite.

And as Alice rubbed against the purple stains on her arm, she decided to take a stroll in the gardens. Her white nightgown billowed as she walked, her face pelted with a gust of wind. The young maiden carefully arranged herself on a bench, her eyes fluttering close as she took deep breaths. Alice had never wished for anything, she was content as she was.

But at this moment, the girl couldn't help but let a little despair leak into her heart. She made a silent prayer--a hope that maybe Alice would be able to be something more than an accessory on her husband's arm.

And when she opened her eyes, a gate appeared before her eyes. A curious sight of a glistening silver gate in the dark of the night. She approached the mysterious object, cautious in her footsteps. Her fingers trailed the metal, a light buzzing in her skin. The sensation was familiar, like a mother's caress but significantly more intense. A sharp tingling thread weaved its way across her arm and a gasp left her lips.

On her arm was a tattoo, a brand of black ink. A shadow of a rabbit, she presumed. And as her fingers touched her skin, the gate swung open ominously.

Within looking back, Alice Períergos, née Mclamb disappeared deep into the gardens past the gate.

A strange world greeted her. Trees uprooted and upside down, an overgrowth of plants and flowers. It was curiously green and vegetative. There were no buildings in sight and the white noise was rather lonely.

The young girl brushed past a wall of blossoming roses and found herself in a open field. Picture frames decorated the hedges and there was an empty bucket beside a straw bed. Alice felt her heart shudder at the prospect of witnessing another person after what seemed like hours of solitude.

She studied the picture frame. An ornate and rusty thing. No photo was displayed inside and there was a bronze inscription on the faded frame. The golden haired girl brushed her fingers against the words, "Gilford Dorset Períergos, He Was-", she trailed off as the words became illegible.

Gilford Dorset Períergos, the name was not familiar to her despite her knowledge of her husband's family tree. He must have been of distant relation then. Alice looked around the area, hoping to get a glimpse of the elusive Gilford Dorset Períergos but there was not a single peep. As she contemplated leaving the area to explore, a coughing sound filled her ears.

Alice jumped rather unladlylike, her dress catching on a branch and snaring. She made a sound of exasperation as she grumpily dragged the delicate silk from the grabbing branch. A booming chuckle echoed throughout the open field, causing Alice to further hide herself in alarm. She tried to find where the source of laughter was coming from but there was no person nearby.

Then, her eyes laid upon the empty picture frame and saw a man with a complexion as dark as the stark of the night and eyes reminding her of crushed velvet. He was beautiful with his immensely sharp cheekbones and luscious full lips. His hair was neatly combed into a ponytail adorned with a ribbon and his half-moon eyes held humour as she stared at him.

"My lady, what brings you to my humble abode?" He teased with a smile.

"I-I don't know. One minute I was at the Manor and the next I was here." She answered truthfully, there was something drawing her closer to the portrait. She felt an immense longing to touch the man even though she knew that it was not possible.

"Well my dear lady, you are welcome to stay. I am Lord Gilford Dorset Períergos and I welcome you to my kingdom. May you have a pleasant stay and find yourself well settled." The man introduced himself with an exaggerated bow, making her giggle.

The young woman introduced herself as well and they became well acquainted as the days passed. Or perhaps months, Alice wasn't sure. Alice? Was that her name? She couldn't seem to remember. All she knew was that Lord Gilford Dorset Períergos was everything she wanted and she wanted to be everything he needed. If it meant that she was to never leave and stay by his side, she would comply with a smile as her ears twitched and her body became smothered with white fur.

"My dear lady, what a lovely little rabbit you've become." Lord Gilford Dorset Períergos purred, his legs stepping out of the portrait and stretching to reveal a man outside the picture frame.

He picked up the rabbit, letting it fall into the bucket beside his straw bed. He muttered a few words under his breath as flames consumed the rabbit he had sacrificed. The flames flickered a bright green before subduing and the man let out a pleasure-filled groan. He flexed his fingers, idlely watching as the wrinkles evened out.

He strode towards his picture frame, his body now strengthened and his powers flowing. He eyed the inscription on the frame and idlely smirked. He waved his hand and the frame shone with a fresh lick of golden paint and the inscription finished itself with a flourish.

"Gilford Dorset Períergos, He Was Curious."

The end.

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