Alice?

May often had dreams that she was being remote controlled, usually by an unseen force that held sway over everything she did. Before she could confront the thing that directed her, she always woke up. Sometimes, she felt disappointed. It was nice to have all the power taken away, even for a little while. If she had no choices, nothing was ever her fault.

The morning after the kiss, she woke up drunk after one of these strangely delicious dreams. May hobbled to the bathroom and stuck her head under the faucet until she was gasping. When she looked in the mirror her face seemed painted on, a false idea of the real thing. As she stared at herself, the mirror appeared to expand by an inch.

May shook her head to clear it. When she looked up again, the whole wall was her reflection.

It was like something out of *Alice in Wonderland*, the mirror kept growing and growing until it covered every surface and then suddenly she wasn't in her bathroom at all, but a giant room reminiscent of the Versaille Hall of Mirrors. Ironically, May had always wanted to visit.

In this new, ethereal space, May adjusted her bearings. So many fantastical events had occurred over the past week that she was able to recover from this change in location rather quickly. She stomped experimentally down on the shiny surface beneath her feet, then jumped up and down. Nothing happened. Nothing broke. May felt a visceral kind of fear. After all, there was no one to save her. HE would be glad if whatever malevolent supernatural demon that had captured her slit her throat. She let out a guttural scream of frustration.

**"Oh dear, perhaps we pulled her in too fast?"

"We followed protocol to the letter."

"She seems very uncomfortable."

"So was the last one, and that was before pain management was invented." **

The voices were inside her head, growing louder. "Where--" May jerked her neck back and forth but no one besides her was reflected in the mirrors. "What are you? How can I hear you?"

**"Hello May! We apologize for your current situation. Would you like a blanket?**"

May once again examined the sterile space. "I--don't--want--a blanket."

**"She doesn't want a blanket."

"I could do with a blanket."

"Get it yourself. I'm not your maid." **

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON," May shouted.

**"Yikes. She's very aggressive, isn't she?"

"Someone get her a chair."**

A comfy looking armchair materialized in front of May. She stepped away from it.

"MAY," a different, deeper voice took over and the chatter ceased. "WE HAVE BROUGHT YOU HERE TO ASK FOR YOUR HELP. YOU MUST CHOOSE LIFE OR THE EARTH IS DOOMED."

There was silence. "Yeah," May said tiredly. "I know. Boss told me already. Now can I leave?"

**"She said she knows."

"Boss has her own agenda. She doesn't know the whole story."

"This is very wrong. We do not hurt humans. She looks terrified."**

"MAY, YOU DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING."

"Ow, GOD. Can you stop shouting please?" May pleaded.

There was a beat.

"My apologies" the primary voice said. "As I was saying. You only know a piece of the whole. You do not understand what it is to be bound to a spirit."

May considered this. The chair suddenly looked appealing. "I suppose I don't. Will you explain?"

**"Such a rational little human."

"You already picked your pet project for the millennium, shut up."

"Your attitude is vile as usual."

"Did the human just laugh?" **

May coughed loudly.

The deep voice began again. "His power is tied to you and you will experience its after effects."

"After effects?" At this, May sat down in a slump.

"If you live, there will be a price." The voice continued. "Some of his suffering will be yours."

**"Nasty suffering it is too."

"Just like you to be sympathetic towards our enemy."

"He's not our enemy yet."

"Be serious, will you?" **

"QUIET," May yelled. Her concentration was divided between what they were saying and the fact that she could now see herself from every conceivable angle. "Why are you telling me this? Who are you?"

"We guard the points of entry between your world and ours." The primary voice addressed her with portentous gravity. "And we watch over all spirit/human interactions."

May's fingers froze. "All interactions? Are you--" she dropped her voice in horror, "are you in my head all the time?"

"No, no," the voice said as if it was attempting to be soothing. "We can rewind memories if we need to--"

**"Did you see what she's thinking about?"

"Stop replaying it!"

"It's just a kiss, don't be dramatic."**

"OK," May attempted to drown out the other voices in vain. "I REALLY don't like looking at myself so can we speed this along?"

"AS I WAS SAYING," the primary voice said as though he was rebuking his colleagues, "we watch over spirit/human encounters. What Boss did to you is not common. In fact, it is extremely taboo and has been a failure more than once over the centuries. And the kind of power that your Caretaker has now--" the voice paused, "it is unprecedented."

"So what?" May gave a choking sort of laugh. "I'll suffer even if I choose life?"

When the voice spoke, it was with a heaviness May felt in her bones. "We simply do not know."

May sank deeper into the chair. "I suppose you guys can't give me a job or financial security." The silence was her answer. "Let me out of here," May shut her eyes tightly.

There was a beat, and then the primary voice said thunderingly, "THE MORE YOU HAVE OF IT, THE LESS YOU SEE. WHAT IS IT?"

Before May could respond the rest had begun to repeat after him.

**"The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?"

"What is it?"

"What is it?"

"What is it?"

"The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?"

"What is it?"

"What is it?"

"What is it?**"

The chorus grew louder and louder and May's head throbbed. *What is it? What is it? What is it? What is it?* The question was being batted around her brain by an abusive baseball team and May couldn't take it anymore. In one fell swoop, she stood up, picked up the chair, and threw it will all her might.

She expected it to do nothing, bounce off her reflection maybe? Or disappear? Instead, it collided with a sickening crunch and the square patch of mirror directly in front of her shattered.

May thrust her arms in front of her face as she felt cuts pierce her body. Then, there was nothing.

She lowered her arms to find what looked like glass shards all around her and a huge, black, gaping hole into which the chair had fallen.

"HEY," May shouted. "WHERE ARE YOU? LET ME OUT."

Her voice echoed.

Time had passed, she didn't know how much. She stood looking won into the chasm before her, holding up a ripped piece of shirtsleeve to a small cut on her cheek.

What was she supposed to do? They hadn't seemed vicious. One of them had even said they don't hurt humans. So what? May had been fighting her panic since she had left the bathroom and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep it at bay for much longer.

*Think.

Think*.

There had to be a way out. She cursed herself for throwing away the chair. Maybe there had been a means of escape hidden in it somewhere?

*The more you have of it the less you see.* The words were still running through her head. Stupid riddle. Bad creatures in fantasy books always talked in riddles, like Gollum. *The more you have of it the less you see.*

May's spine straightened suddenly. DARKNESS. It was Darkness. It was so juvenile she laughed out loud. Then, she quieted, looking down at the abyss beneath her with new eyes.

Darkness. The answer is darkness.

Mustering every ounce of coverage she possessed, May took a halting step forward, then another. At the very edge of solid ground, she teetered on her tiptoes, facing complete blackness. Then, she jumped.