Emma was a utterly normal teenager. She wasn't special, she had this brown hair with no precise cut and green eyes with no special glow. She wore normal clothes and she lived a normal and simple life. 

That was until she went at a car boot sale to redecorate her bedroom. You see, she liked vintage, retro stuff. She wanted to recycle, reuse her stuff for her room. The sale was in a street in the dark, a place normal and boring but kind of creepy at the same time. 

Her parents had given her a maigre amount of money, they didn't want her to overbuy: she did that sometimes. 

At first, nothing was interesting. Everything was pretty ordinary. They were wooden tables, acacia ones, old lamps and nasty chairs. But then she saw it. The perfect mirror. The glass was kind of spent but the wooden carvings around it— it looked magic!— made it ten times more beautiful. 

The best part about it was.... It was FREE. 

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As she arrived in her bedroom that night, after rearranging in with her new furniture, she looked at her reflection and saw herself in a way she'd never seen before. Her hair was curly and long, like a woman from a few centuries ago. She wore a long gown with a corsage and her lips were plump and pink. Then she saw it: the gaudy hat, purple and big on her hair, and her heart stopped when she saw the black hole behind her that would swallow her whole. 

She blinked twice, scared as hell. 

Then it was gone. 

Everything. The beautiful blue gown and the corsage and the beautiful lips and the beautiful hairdo and the blackhole. She laughed to herself. She needed a good night's sleep. 

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The next days it happened again. Every-time the weird stuff would happen again, on the surface of the polished glass. But she'd blink and once she'd look again, it would be gone. She didn't dare speak about it— she was probably going crazy and people would send her away, she was sure of it. Her friends didn't ask her why she was on edge when she saw mirrors, they probably didn't even notice. 

Nightmares started terrorizing her nights. She'd see magical people and ladies wearing gowns and deadly black holes. She'd wake up panting and screaming. It didn't get better: it was worse day by day. 

A whole month had passed since she'd bought her beautiful mirror. Tonight, she was coming home from practice— she had been accepted on the cheerleading team— and she walked to her mirror to brush her hair. 

It arrived again. 

Her hair became the long curls of an English lady, her lips became plump and pink like baby lips, the long blue gown— a princess one no doubt— appeared, her waist thinned by the corsage. The gaudy witch hat was on her head again and behind her the matter had dissolved and a black hole was gaping the air. 

She couldn't breathe, as if the corsage was on to tight. It felt realer than usual. 

— This isn't real. At three, I'm going to blink and it'll disappear. I know it. I did this several times. 

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could hear the air behind stuck behind her. The hallucination was realer than ever before. Her breathing was getting irregular. Her heart was beating extremely fast. And she opened her eyes. She was prepared to see her cheer outfit again, her messy hair coming out of her ponytail, but it didn't appear. She was still the beautiful English lady. And behind her, the black hole was still raging. 

— No. No. No. NO! This cannot be happening !

Her voice had changed also. She spoke with a thick British accent, something she was not ready for. She turned towards the black hole. The room had also changed. It was a room of a young lady in the Something Century. Emma gasped out loud. This couldn't be real. 

Her hand was pale when she held it up. 

— How is this real? Am I utterly and completely crazy? 

Under her naked feet was a thick rug. She hadn't noticed yet and she tripped, falling straight into the black hole. The scream she let out was absorbed by it also, even though it was horrifying. The hole closed behind her. 

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Everything around her was green. Her head throbbed and she wanted to hurl out her diner, but otherwise she was okay. She wasn't dead. She could feel the pain in her legs, in her arms, so she knew that for sure. 

Getting on her forearms, she stared around her. The green was grass, grass that didn't seem to stop. Nothing but grass for a whole lot of a distance. The sky wasn't green though: it was a dark shade of red, it looked a lot like blood dripping from the Neverlands. 

— How do I know that...? 

She shook her head. Her British accent still wasn't normal to her. After all, she was the literal definition of an American girl. She lived in Texas in a small town with some extremely bizarre characters, she wasn't a British girl from a far away era. 

— I'm dreaming, I must be. No way am I in this messed up place.

She paused. 

— Is anybody here, though? I don't wanna be stuck in this forsaken place! 

She added a tad louder. Her words weren't hers and her accent was confusing. She barely understood her own sentences. 

Earth started trembling all of a sudden. It was similar to an earthquake, but way to high on the Richter thingie. Emma started hyperventilating. It felt like the earth under her would rip apart at any given moment. 

But then she saw it: the huge, enormous; ginormous rabbit that was hoping towards her, wearing a grin on his face. LITERALLY. Her heart skipped a beat. 

— Bella! You're back! 

The Rabbit had a human voice a few octaves too deep. She wanted to scream. She had to be having one of the nightmares she had at night. She'd probably fallen asleep early after cheerleading or something. She was in the car against the window or something. 

But yet again, if she was dreaming, she wouldn't be thinking about the fact that she may be dreaming. 

— I'm... Yeah I am! Back where though? 

The big creature giggled. The Earth started trembling again. She cursed under her breath in a very British way. It's too vulgar to say, though. 

— Here silly! You haven't come for centuries, I was worried. Have you found the looking glass again? Wasn't to hard. hope? 

Something inside her switched and she heard herself answering against her will. 

— The looking glass was too well hidden, mate. It was in a lost place in Texas. How could I find a host if you lost me in the middle of the New Land? I'm so stocked to see you again, Billie, though! I missed you and Wonderland. 

Wonderland? What the hell was happening? What was she saying? 

— Your father missed you. Mind if we go get some tea? 

— I'd love to. Don't forget the sugar though! 

Billie laughed again. The whole earth under Emma/Bella trembled once more. Emma was starting to panic. She didn't control this at all. Her legs ( Bella's legs?) were walking to the huge rabbit quickly, completely at ease. The pristine hand then grabbed the enormous paw of the giant animal and they walked in the grass for a long moment before arriving to a random pink table covered with plates, cakes, cupcakes and teacups. At the end of it was a giant man with curly pink hair and an enormous hat on his head. 

— Oh my tea! ISABELLA! You are back! Finally! You're extremely late, now. I thought you'd never come for your unbirthday. 

— I'm sorry Pops. I was... Stuck on the other side of the looking glass. I finally found a host! 

Emma connected the dots. A rabbit, a mad looking hat wearing man and a glass. She was dreaming about Alice in Wonderland. She had to be. 

— THIS IS WRONG! I'm DREAMING! 

She screamed.  Her knees buckled and her hands started strangling her own neck, words sputtering out of her mouth. Fear overcame her again. 

— STOP.... INTERFERING.... YOU STUPID....  HUMAN! 

The world started spinning, and she could see chess colors and then the enormous rabbit, the Mad hatter, her own feet, and then she was laying in a castle with red everywhere. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and air had left her body. She could feel her heart slowing in a chest, and she knew she was really dying. 

— Stop.. Bella... Please... I'm sorry... 

The hands let go of their grip on her neck. She had been strangling herself— NO!— Bella had taken control of her body— their body— and had hurt her for speaking. She wasn't allowed to live anymore. She started sobbing again, silently. She couldn't use her hands, her will had left her. She didn't want to fight this weird situation anymore. She was too tired. She wanted to wake up, but she knew she wasn't sleeping. She couldn't be imagining this. 

She realized with horror that card-like guards were standing in front of her. 

— Isabella Hatter, to honor your return, the Queen has summoned you. We are sorry you had to be tele transported to the castle, she couldn't wait for your lame horse to bring you here. She's excited, you see. 

— Of course. Take me to Her Highness please. 

Emma didn't want to know what the actual Queen of Hearts looked like. The rabbit had already freaked her out and the Mad Hatter was way too creepy for her taste. But the guards were already accompanying her in the Throne room covered in red roses and a beautiful chess-like floor with red and white tiles. On the Throne, a ten year old with long bright red hair in a hairdo and red eyes was looking at her. She had a literal heart shaped face and long eyelashes. Her lips were a heart form, bright red too. 

— Your Highness. 

— Bella! she squeaked the Kingdom is so please to have you back! Especially me. Your father told me you were back. I'm so happy. GUARDS! Go get her some food. She must be starving.

Minutes later they arrived with a head on a golden platter. What happened next was horrifying: Bella, well Emma just opened her mouth very wide and ate the whole head in one sitting. Emma wanted to puke. She felt disgusted and used and wanted to wake up. 

She couldn't do it anymore. This was too harsh on her sanity. 

— That was the head of Alice. Hope it tasted sweet enough. I added special sugar on it for you! 

— It was perfect, My Queen. 

YUCK! Yuck yuck yuck! 

What is happening, Emma thought. She couldn't believe she'd just done that. She had seen way too much in this weird place. Her room called her. 

— There's also another special someone waiting for you. 

Bella clapped excitedly. Emma wanted to stop her, but she couldn't control her hands anymore. 

The door next to the thrones opened. It was the Jaberwookie. Tall and beautiful. 

— I'm happy you're back too, Bella. 

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Emma gasped for air. She was laying on her wooden floor, her hair soaked and glued to her forehead. 

— This was all a dream... I'm fine... It's fine...

She got up, her knees still weak. That dream had been vivid. Way too vivid. Then she saw it all: the blue gown laying on the floor next to her, the gaudy, the grass stains on her feet, and the tattoo the jaberwookie had given her on her arm: a cross made of blood. 

She wanted to puke. 

— This doesn't prove anything... right... Right.

The wind picked up in the room. How could it? Every window was closed and she literally lived in Texas. 

— It's just the beginning, Emma Nightdale. 

The voice was the voice of a British woman....