Chapter Two

The demon screeched loudly, preparing himself to jump towards Ally. Ally was only left to stand in a stance, at the same time, she realized she is in the real world and has no weapons ready to pull; she decided to leave them all in Wonderland. Ally now realized that was a bad idea, given her situation. The creature leaped, his hands stretch out to Ally. Unexpectedly, the creature lost his concentration on Ally and fell midair, missing his target. He landed with a loud thud, the ugly groans spilling from his lips. Ally observed the beast closely, an arrow spear was sticking out from the back of the monster; someone shot the arrow from behind Ally.

The teenager turned her head quickly and saw a man holding a bow and arrow, ready to fire at the demon. He looks to be in his mid-40s to 50s. His blue and brown checkered, long sleeve, buttoned-up shirt is disheveled, tucked in his khaki pants, wrinkled and torn as if he was battling his own, Wonderland monster. His tired hazel-green eyes observe the creature with a watchful eye, careful about any movement or action that could cause the creature to stir again. Ally turned her back to meet with the man, "Mr. Jackson!?" Mr. Liam Jackson, the school librarian. "Alice..." The Wonderland monster gave its last breath and died next to Ally's feet.

Ally backed away from the fallen creature, her back hits the front service desk. He sets his weapon down, and Ally studied it, with a shocked expression that can be seen. The long curve bow has a red and black checkered pattern, and the spearhead of the arrow is the shape of a heart with a sharp point. "You..." Ally looked up to meet her gaze with her librarian, or so she thought was the school librarian. It makes sense, Ally thought to herself. Liam, according to his about page about an article that was written about him when started working for the district, arrived five years ago. Five years ago, Ally said goodbye to Wonderland. Ally's furrowed brows showed she is confused and is wanting to demand answers."You're the Archer for the Red Queen. How did you escape Wonderland? Did you follow me?"

"Alice Liddell - " "Ally." The teen girl sharply corrected."My apologies, Ally. To answer your question, I did not follow you out of Wonderland. In fact, I left it long before you entered it as a little girl. I left Wonderland fifteen years ago, with acts to spite my Red Queen. I have no reason or desire to return to that. There is another portal that was created in Wonderland, a gateway that is connected from your Wonderland to this world. Someone has left the portal open to let that thing escape." Liam meant the creature he killed.

"Wait... I was only two, fifteen years ago. Did, I have a way to create Wonderland as a toddler?" "It's hard to say, but for simplicity, yes, you did. Did you have, some kind of trauma, some kind of incident, you were able to bring Wonderland to life?" "No." Ally immediately interrupted, "Anyway, what did he mean, the Red Queen is gone?"

"The Red Queen, The Ruby Queen of Hearts is dead." Ally, with a smirk, scoffs as she turns to the man, "Come on, Mr. Jackson. The Red Queen, Ruby of Hearts is one of Wonderland's Guardians. They don't die."

"Not on their own. They don't age like you humans do, but it was one of the... higher... Queens, they proclaim to rule and create Wonderland." Ally's lips were thin, slightly gaped open. "Create?" Ally shook her head, "Whoever these 'Queens' are, they don't have the right title to be known as such." Liam's eyes soften on the girl, "What do you know, of Guardians?" Ally tsks, "Simple if you ask me. It was formed of the four royals - The Red Ruby, Queen of Hearts, The Yellow Topaz, Princess of Diamonds, The Green Emerald, Prince of Clubs, and The Blue Sapphire, King of Spades." Liam rubbed his chin, interested in his student's answers. Ally raised her shoulders and hands up, giving a gesture that this was all she knew about the Royals.

"Are you sure, you're not missing anyone?" Liam questioned, in a tone that could force the other person to provide more information. "That's all I know, honestly." "Hmm, Ally, you're here because..." Ally, as a typical teenager, rolled her eyes, "Mrs. Harriet. She sent me here for detention, specifically, because I wasn't paying attention in class. I mean, why should it matter? I get good grades, this shouldn't make that much of a difference." Liam turned around, his back facing her, hiding an amusing grin from a teenager's attitude. "I see."

Despite Liam and Ally going in an unusual direction of killing a Wonderland creature, Liam was still loyal to his job, he still had to make sure Ally was serving her detention. She worked on cleaning up the library while the librarian made sure to dispose of the body, using Wonderland magic. Ally's mind ran through numerous thoughts, unsure how to really comprehend the attack. Ally did miss out quite a bit, while she and the Red Queen of Hearts didn't exactly get along, she felt an understandable feeling of loss. A void filled with emptiness, the teen girl didn't have a healthy sense of coping.

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"Okay, Mr. Jackson, I've finished organizing the dictionaries." Ally returns to the front service desk, watching Liam clean his weapons. "Now, since it's past 4:30 pm and I serviced my detention, do you mind explaining to me what the hell an Archer of Hearts is doing in a library!? His hazel eyes met with Ally's ocean blue ones. "I used to be an Archer, serving the Queen of Hearts, but ever since she was dethroned of her title by the King of Blue Spades, I generously left my post and stumbled across a rippling mirror."

"The Looking Glass, you mean?" "Yes." Ally leaned back, her arms crossed, "So, are you still loyal to the Meanie of Hearts? She almost killed me last I met her five years ago, you know." Ally shook her head, "No, you wouldn't have known. If it wasn't for Hatter, I wouldn't still be standing." Liam pushed his thick, black-rimmed glasses up, the light caused his lenses to clear. "That lunatic is still alive? I thought the Jabberwock sliced his head off." "Well, that was the plan."

"By the way, it was no coincidence I picked this school. The moment I saw you leave the Looking Glass, you sealed the door and shattered the mirror. I had to follow you. I was hoping Wonderland was in peace, however, seeing the demon, I'm afraid I was wrong." A red flag immediately went off in the girl's head.

"Mr. Jackson, how did you know that Wonderland is in trouble? Besides you hearing it from the demon?" Liam gave only a relieving smile, "Hang on." He returned to his office, and at the same time, a rapid tapping sound could be heard on a hard surface. Ally could hear scurrying sounds; a big grin appears on her face. Liam returned to the front, holding something in his arms. Ally held her arms out. Jumping in them is a fluffy white rabbit with a black top hat and wearing a red and black vest with a grey collar. The chain of his pocket watch was sticking out. The White Rabbit also shows sky-blue eyes.

"Hey, you! You're here!" Ally said softly. It nods in agreement. Ally was patiently waiting for the rabbit to speak; only silence filled the room. The White Rabbit stretched his neck in the air; Ally looks and noticed a big cut, that turned into a built-in scar. Both Liam and Ally mentally agreed that some of his furs won't be growing to cover the scar. Ally's expression showed sadness and was slightly frustrated; how could someone hurt this little rabbit, Ally thought to herself.

"My, what's happened to you?" "Wonderland. that's what happened." Liam responded. He set another held item on the desk and - a black leather book, as thick as a Webster's Dictionary. What grabbed Ally's attention was the front of the book. It has the four symbols of cards - Red Heart, Yellow Diamond, Green Spade, and Blue Ace; it appears as if they are circling two symbols - A White and Black Star. Ally opened the book, the first page is an index listing different kinds of monsters and creatures from Wonderland. "Mr. Jackson," Ally turned her attention to the previous Archer of the Red Hearts. "If Wonderland is in trouble, and there are higher forces, what makes you think I can do this? The monsters, it's all gotten more powerful; five years of it."

Liam placed his hand on Ally's shoulder for reassurance, "You've fought the Jabberwocky. You killed it. You can do it again. You are the Slayer of Wonderland."