alices_nightmare Read online

  183

  The brutes both charge Alice at the same time, but this is their fatal mistake. The Six of Clubs trips, accidentally bringing his heavy cudgel down on the head of his companion. Knocked unconscious, the Seven of Clubs falls to the floor, dropping his own weapon hard on the head of the other.

  With both guards knocked out, Alice is free to come and go from the maze as she pleases. Turn to 213.

  184

  “Well whose idea was it to dig a pit across the path?” asks Alice, her brow crumpled in irritation. The only way across the obstacle is to jump across.

  If you want Alice to attempt to jump over the pit, take an Agility test; if she passes she clears the pit and continues on her way (turn to 90), but if she fails she misses the edge and plunges into darkness (turn to 204).

  If you would rather Alice not attempt to jump the pit, she will have to go back the way she has just come (turn to 510).

  185

  “Thank goodness!” exclaims the Caterpillar, the spiracles along its body opening and closing in breathless agitation. “I was starting to think I had lost you to a higher state of being, never to return.”

  “Return to where?” Alice asks, still feeling as if body and mind are not quite one.

  “Why here of course,” says the Caterpillar. “Wonderland! I only wish we were meeting again under better circumstances.”

  “So what circumstances are we meeting under?” says the child.

  “It’s the Queen of Hearts. She’s even madder than she was before.”

  “We’re all mad here,” Alice mutters under her breath.

  “Her lunacy has infected this reality, turning the dreamscape of Wonderland into a nightmarish realm of imagined horrors and manifest phobias. Do you see?” says the Caterpillar. “That is why the Queen must die.”

  Alice doesn’t understand half the words the Caterpillar has been using, but she understands that everyone she meets in Wonderland seems dead set on her doing away with the monarch of mayhem and madness.

  “Do you have any questions before you set off on your way again?”

  “Yes, I do,” says the child, after pondering the question for a moment. “If we’ve met before, and you were a caterpillar then, why aren’t you a butterfly now?”

  “Old Father William says I have a bad case of neoteny. Now, if you want one last piece of advice, steer clear of the Duchess’s madhouse. The Nightmare has already well and truly taken hold there. Make for the Palace instead and remember, keep moving forwards, never turn back. Now, be on your way.”

  Record the word ‘Metamorphosis’ on Alice’s Adventure Sheet and then turn to 316.

  186

  Stuck in the room as she is, all squashed up in such a small space, Alice starts to feel very hot. Picking up the fan from the table (which has been pushed into the corner of the room thanks to her unnatural growth) Alice starts to fan herself.

  “It was much pleasanter at home,” thinks poor Alice, “when one wasn’t always growing larger and smaller. I almost wish I hadn’t gone down that rabbit-hole! I do wonder what can have happened to me! When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied this kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when I grow up, I’ll write one – but I’m grown up now,” she adds in a sorrowful tone. “At least there’s no room to grow up any more here. But then shall I never get any older than I am now? That’ll be a comfort, one way – never to be an old woman – but then – always to have lessons to learn! Oh, I shouldn’t like that!”

  “Oh, you foolish Alice!” she answers herself. “How can you learn lessons in here? Why, there’s hardly room for you, and no room at all for any lesson-books!”

  Except there is room for lesson-books now, and a writing desk, and a governess, since Alice has started to shrink again.

  “How can I have done that?” she wonders, and then realises it must be the fan she is holding. She drops it hastily, just as she returns to her normal size, and in time to avoid shrinking away altogether.

  “What is going on in there?” comes a voice from behind the other door in the room.

  Curious as to the identity of the owner of the voice Alice turns the handle… Turn to 516.

  187

  The coin lands with a plop in the pool where it proceeds to sink to the bottom, and Alice’s wish is granted. Subtract 2 points from Alice Insanity score, and then turn to 241.

  188

  The Stone Satyr now just so much garden rubble, suitable only for using to build a rockery, Alice leaves the grotto – but which way is she going? South (turn to 420) or west (turn to 410)?

  189

  “If you’re run by clockwork,” Alice says, observing the Tick-Tock Men through narrowed eyes, “you must need someone to wind you up, to make sure that you keep time, but I don’t see a key anywhere.”

  The mechanical men hesitate at this, and look at each other, before resuming their advance. But as they do so their movements begin to slow, as does the ticking of their mechanical hearts. Beat by beat, step by step, the Tick-Tock Men finally come to a shuddering halt, leaning forward at the waist, their talon-hands hanging uselessly at their sides.

  Turn to 314.

  190

  The Basilisk is a monster of legend that put the fear of God into the hearts of those that heard tell of how this King of Serpents could make plants wither and animals die with its baleful gaze alone. And now this eleven year-old child has to fight one. (The Basilisk has the initiative.)

  BASILISKCOMBAT 9 ENDURANCE 9

  If Alice is victorious in her battle against the Basilisk, turn to 168.

  191

  Alice is brought to her senses again as she lands with a soft thud atop a pile of dry leaves. Lying on her back among the leaves, she finds herself staring up at what appears to be a circular well shaft.

  She feels like she barely has her wits about her; the blow to the head she received was clearly much worse than she first thought and has left her feeling quite dizzy.

  Deduct 1 point from Alice’s Logic score and 1 point from her Combat score as well, and then turn to 114.

  192

  Done with their childish rhymes, the Ogre’s two heads give a terrifying roar and the Ogre lumbers towards Alice, its huge club raised above its head. (The Ogre has the initiative.)

  OGRECOMBAT 10 ENDURANCE 11

  Every time the Ogre wounds Alice the gigantic tree-trunk club causes her 3 Endurance points damage rather than the usual 2.

  If Alice somehow manages to defeat the two-headed monster, turn to 295.

  193

  Alice has to fight the club-wielding gate guards at the same time.

  COMBAT ENDURANCE

  SIX OF CLUBS 8 9

  SEVEN OF CLUBS 9 8

  If Alice overcome her opponents, turn to 213.

  194

  Back in the entrance hall of the house, Alice makes her way towards the front door, passing a small teak writing desk with brass trimmings as she does so.

  With a raucous creaking of wood, the writing desk unexpectedly unfolds itself before reforming itself into an entirely different shape.

  Alice is taken aback to find a large wooden bird, with a brass beak and gleaming metal talons, blocking her way out of the March Hare’s house.

  The flapping of its wings sounding like a squeaky desk lid being opened and closed repeatedly, the bird goes for Alice.

  If Alice is still able to use The Pen is Mightier ability, and you want her to do that now, turn to 227. If not, or you don’t want her to use it now, turn to 207.

  195

  The Rock Lobster’s granite-like shell is so tough that successful hits against it will only cause 1 Endurance point damage. No matter what the outcome, this will definitely be a battle to remember. (The Rock Lobster has the initiat
ive.)

  ROCK LOBSTERCOMBAT 9 ENDURANCE 9

  If Alice somehow manages to defeat the lobster, turn to 238.

  196

  “Stop right there!” shouts the Knave of Hearts. Moving as fast as a striking cobra, he seizes Alice in a grip as strong as steel. And then, there at his shoulder, is the Red Queen.

  “I see you’ve already met my knight in shining armour,” she purrs. “Knave no more, he has been reborn as my champion, my Red Knight.”

  In her exhausted state, Alice finds herself unable to resist the Red Queen this time as the vampiress turns her penetrating gaze on the child once more. The Queen’s lips part, exposing elongated snake-like fangs, and as Alice stands there, not moving to protect herself despite the danger she is in, the leech closes them again about the child’s neck and begins her blood-feast.

  The part of Alice that is still Alice, thinks she hears the rumour of a voice carry to her on the wind, a voice that says, “Wake up, Alice dear!”

  But Alice can’t wake up. She is under the control of the Red Queen now. She will never wake up again.

  THE END

  197

  Hoping against hope that downing the rest of the potion will have the opposite effect of downing the first half, Alice gulps it down.

  She immediately starts to grow again. The room is no longer able to contain her continually expanding body. Frist the ceiling plaster cracks and the window shatters, and then the very walls give way as the house collapses around her gigantic form.

  Below her, a trio of curious animals scamper away from the house as the remaining walls, and half the roof, collapse in chaos about them. Free of the restrictions of the building, the once neat little house now just so much broken masonry and other building materials lying amidst its tidy lawns, Alice steps free of the demolished structure.

  “Oh, you foolish Alice!” she scolds herself. “Whatever made you think that drinking the rest of the potion would make you smaller?”

  (Reduce Alice’s Logic score by 1 point.)

  Angry at herself for doing something so foolish, Alice strides off towards a dark forest, and, with each step, she starts to shrink, until she is her old size again.

  Turn to 291.

  198

  “Good afternoon,” Alice begins, “or should that be ‘Good Morning’? I’m afraid I have no idea what time of day it is, although by the rumbling of my stomach it could be past luncheon. So instead I shall say ‘Good Day’.”

  The living topiary respond with snarls and growls and unearthly shrieks, and lash out at Alice with their thorny talons. Lose 3 Endurance points, and if Alice is still able to, turn to 299 and prepare for battle!

  199

  As Alice reads on she imagines the bookcases of the library becoming the tangled trees of a wood, haunted by the hoots and whistles of its bizarre denizens.

  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.

  And as in uffish thought he stood,

  The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

  Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

  And burbled as it came!

  “What was that?” Alice starts and looks about her. The library is gone, to be replaced by the encroaching branches and creepers of a dank forest. But what was it she heard?

  The noise comes again. It sounds like someone trying to talk through a mouthful of treacle.

  There is a tremendous snapping of branches and Alice turns to see a hideous monster bearing down on her from out of the trees. It looks not unlike a dragon, or a wyvern, with a beak-like snout, a serpentine neck, and a pairs of wings extending from its shoulder blades. Its hands and feet end in curling black claws. (Make a note of Alice’s current Endurance score.)

  The Jabberwock opens its malformed maw and gives another gargling scream before launching itself at Alice on the stubs of its ragged wings. The wretched child has no choice but to defend herself against its slashing claws and snapping beak. (The Jabberwock has the initiative.)

  JABBERWOCKCOMBAT 10 ENDURANCE 12

  If Alice wins the battle, turn to 172. If she loses the battle, turn to 162.

  200

  Keeping her wits about her, despite holding an angry bat in her hands, Alice declares, “I’m sure the poem actually goes ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star!’”

  As soon as she says the word ‘star’ the lanterns lining the well shaft flare into life, bathing the tunnel in light. The bat gives a pained shriek and immediately flies off to find some dark crevice among the bookshelves where it can hide.

  Turn to 62.

  201

  While Alice is battling the Slug she also needs to keep one hand holding on tight to the trunk of the toadstool, which means that for the duration of this fight she must temporarily reduce her Combat score by 2 points. The Slug, on the other hand, has no trouble maintaining its position as it spits acidic slime in her direction, hoping that some of it might hit. (Alice has the initiative.)

  SLUGCOMBAT 5 ENDURANCE 6

  If Alice wins the fight, the Slug curls into a ball and falls from the stalk of the mushroom, allowing the child to complete her descent unmolested (turn to 131).

  202

  Alice is rooted to the spot with fear before the mythological monster. The Basilisk lashes out with a clawed foot, striking her leg and sending her tumbling backwards. (Lose 2 Endurance points and 1 Agility point.)

  Shaken from her reverie by the attack, Alice prepares to defend herself against the monster’s next attack.

  Turn to 190.

  203

  As the Crocodile glides towards her through the water, the second verse of the strange poem enters Alice’s mind unbidden:

  “How cheerfully he seems to grin,

  How neatly spread his claws,

  And welcomes little fishes in

  With gently smiling jaws!”

  With that, a distinctive triangular fin breaks the waves, followed by a bullet-nosed brass body gouting clouds of steam from its scorched-metal gills. The oceanic predator’s jaws open, and in that moment the hunter becomes the hunted. The steam-shark’s jaws close upon the Crocodile and then both are gone, back into the briny depths below.

  Remember to tick off one The Pen is Mightier box on Alice’s Adventure Sheet, and then turn to 240.

  204

  Alice plunges in the dark depths of the pit, the entrance becoming a dwindling rectangle of light above her. But now, as she looks down, she can see a circle of light widening beneath her as she hurtles towards it.

  Wincing as she emerges into bright sunlight again, Alice lands with a bump on another gravel path. (Lose 1 Endurance point.)

  “Well!” Alice thinks to herself. “After such a fall as that, I shall think nothing of tumbling down-stairs! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!”

  Picking herself up she looks about her, taking in her new surroundings. Turn to 330.

  205

  As the harridan lunges at her, Alice dodges out of the way. The cannibal Cook comes for her once again, and once again Alice manages to escape the sweeping arc described by the cleaver.

  Alice can feel the heat issuing from the hearth at her back now. Shrieking like a lunatic, the hag comes at her one last time, trips over the large cat that has suddenly appeared in front of the fire and falls headfirst into the flames.

  The Cook pulls herself free almost immediately but her hair and mob cap are already on fire. Wailing like a banshee, the Cook runs from the kitchen, lighting up the passageway beyond as she goes until Alice can hear nothing but the crackling of the coal in the hearth and the bubbling of the human stew in the cauldron.

  Looking for the cat, Al
ice sees nothing but a lingering grin that must have stretched from ear to ear floating above the hearth, and then that too is gone.

  Turn to 242.

  206

  The coin lands with a plop in the pool where it proceeds to sink to the bottom, and Alice’s wish is granted. Add 1 point to her Combat score, and then turn to 241.

  207

  “Well now we know why a raven is like a writing-desk!” Alice says as she prepares to fight for her life once again. (The Raven Writing-Desk has the initiative.)

  RAVEN WRITING-DESKCOMBAT 7 ENDURANCE 8

  If Alice wins her battle with the unnatural bird, turn to 267.

  208

  On this occasion Alice is thankfully saved the unwanted attentions of animated effigies. Nonetheless she has no desire to linger within the gloomy grotto and so hurries through it; but in which direction is she headed?

  South? Turn to 420.

  West? Turn to 410.

  209

  The Tick-Tock Men prepare to meet Alice’s assault with weirdly lurching movements that are strangely out of time with the ceaseless ticking of their internal mechanisms. (As Alice has brought the fight to the Tick-Tock Men, she has the initiative in this battle).

  COMBAT ENDURANCE

  First TICK-TOCK MAN 7 7