All those times where Alice had watched horror movies, whether she was at a high school sleepover with her friends or because Billy had just found what he thought was the most perfect video to rent, she had always closed her eyes at the scary parts. Considering those tended to be most of the movie, she usually hadn't had much to remember them by, especially when she ended up keeping her eyes closed so much that she'd fall asleep. Whether it was werewolves, knife-wielding slashers, or zombies, her eyes always ended up staying closed. Yet there had been one movie, only one, where she had kept her eyes open and locked on the screen the entire movie.

It hadn't been particularly scary now that she looked back at it, and her younger self had probably thought the same thing. It had just been one of a handful of old VCR tapes that her friends had brought to a birthday movie night. They could have watched a romantic comedy or drama film, even a cheesy sci-fi film, but somehow her friends had decided on the horror movie. And while it played, she watched every moment from beginning to end and didn't even get up to pop another bag of popcorn like her friend Ann had.

The film had starred a young girl dealing with the ghost of another. In a way, it had been a depressing film, and there was a point near the middle where she had almost been crying. Had the murder scene not come and blood filled the screen then she just might have shed a tear. Even then, where she would have shut her eyes had this been any other movie, she kept them open and on the old TV's screen.

Looking back, it had been quite a waste of two hours. Not only had the special effects been nothing short of terrible, but the facts on ghosts were wrong.

Ghost, she thought. The word was so strange but there was no other way to describe it. A phantom was a haunting figure and she could hardly be one if no one ever noticed her. Surely the term "poltergeist" would never apply, at least so long as any noise she made went unheard.

Ghost, she thought again. Ghost, ghost, ghost.

The word echoed through her head as she slowly floated into Billy's apartment. His boxes, which he had begun to pack ever since they had decided to move in together following their engagement, were still packed though they looked untouched. Every day she had entered, seen the same scene again and again. He was always there, usually crying and if not at least looking grim faced, if he was even in at all. Looking at him, it was like she was seeing a whole different person who just happened to have a matching face and voice.

Floating through the small apartment, she saw no one. A few empty dishes were stacked in the sink, a book folded down on its spine to mark the page was left forgotten on the coffee table, and a small layer of dust invisible to none but the keen eyed covered everything. It had lost the presence of being lived in, as if he had simply left one day and never returned.

But he'll be back, she reminded herself. The lights were still on after all and the food in the fridge, at least what she saw when she stuck what was left of her head into it, all looked fresh and newly bought.

He'll be back, she repeated. He always comes back.

He had come back before, when she was sure that nothing would ever be the same again. Even after he had broken their engagement he had come back to her, proposed all over again. It had been even better than before, and he had brought flowers with him and even gotten a brand new ring with an even bigger diamond than the first.

If he could come back after that then surely he could again. And maybe today would be different, the day that he finally noticed that she was there. If they could just connect again then perhaps things would be better.

Alice thought back to the movie, to the stories that she had heard as a child. Ghosts in those stories always needed closure to move on. If there were ghosts then surely there were also places beyond here, better places. Maybe those places weren't filled with clouds or singing angels, but surely they had to be better than wondering the earth, watching life move on without her. Almost anything had to be better than that.

Why, there were hundreds of thousands of possibilities! Perhaps there were places filled with nothing but doughnuts and chocolate, or lands full of animals. A whole place filled with puppies certainly seemed like a nice place to spend eternity.

She hugged at the air, as if there were a small Golden retriever like the one her parents had adopted when she was a child, when the door opened. Alice turned to the door and had to keep from closing her eyes.

Work had never been one of the high points of Billy's life, but it had never taken him quite like this. There were bags beneath his eyes and his hair was a mess, as if an entire windstorm had blown on it. His face looked to be the color of flour. The tie of his suit looked like it would fall off of him at any moment, and his jacket's sleeves were rolled up. His pants were disheveled and wrinklier than an elderly person.

"Bill-" The word wasn't even completely out of her mouth before he walked forward and right through her. He didn't so much as react, just continued towards his room before slamming the door behind him.

For a few moments, Alice simply blinked, the world in front of her spinning slightly. When the haze finally ended, she wrapped her arms around her chest and slowly floated out of the door as if it weren't even there at all.

There was always tomorrow.

"Remember," Dr. Leland said, "recreation hour is a privilege here and quite a few of the other staff members would love to have it revoked from you, Jervis."

Jervis gave her a shaky smile. "I understand." His eyes turned towards the ground. As they walked, their footsteps echoed across the otherwise silent halls.

"I want to warn you of something."

Jervis raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong?"

"A few of the patients might be a bit," she began. She was silent a few moments longer. "Well, it is likely that they will be a bit curious."

Curiouser and curiouser! Jervis thought.

"You do not need to feel obliged to ask anything that they ask or to confirm or deny any stories or rumors that they might have heard. Whenever a new patient comes, the others tend to question them more than any police officer or doctor ever did." Her lips, once held in a straight line that rivaled even the greatest of poker faces, settled into a deep frown. "I won't tell you to not admit anything to them if you'd like. Certainly, I could hardly be able to stop you. But if you feel unsure, if the idea bothers you, then please do not tell anyone inside. If there's any pressure from the other patients then tell me or any other doctor or security officer that you can."

Jervis nodded. "Why did you do this for me?"

She paused, turning to face him and stopping mid-step. "What do you mean?"

"You told me yourself earlier, most patients don't get this," he paused once again, his eyes turning back towards the ground, "this privilege so early."

"As you surely already know, I am your doctor. My job is to help ensure that you get the best treatment possible, and while you're here I doubt that staying alone will help you." She turned to face him again, her dark brown eyes freezing his gaze. "Are you uncomfortable with this arrangement?"

He shook his head. "No, of course not. Thank you, doctor Leland."

She nodded. "Alright, just remember what I mentioned about seeing me if the other patients are bothering you."

"I understand."

The recreation area was smaller than he had expected and had at most about fifteen people inside of it. All wore matching grey uniforms and had everything from face splitting smiles to frowns so heavy that they seemed to make the wearer's entire face sag.

For a moment, all eyes in the room were on him. Jervis felt his heart skip a beat. Even when a few faces turned away, he still stood frozen staring ahead, barely even to breathe.

"Looks like someone finally went bonkers enough to end up here," a heavy voice said. "Considering what the doctors say he calls himself, it's hard to believe that he didn't do it any sooner."

"Probably just got mercury poison," another voice, slower than before, responded. "Isn't that what happens in his supposed job?"

"Not really a hatter," another voice popped in. "Just pretends to be one."

"Isn't everything a game of pretend?"

The voices all came so fast that he could barely tell who was speaking before another voice joined into the conversation.

Dr. Leland's words echoed in his head and he slowly turned away from everyone. The conversation stilled, though the few remaining eyes did not leave him as he walked towards a bookshelf in the corner.

There was everything from ex-library books with scribbled out markings to battered paperbacks with cracked spines that looked as though they would fall apart if he even lay a finger on them. He stared over them, searching the spines and scanning words yet never finding what he needed.

If he could just get a copy, either Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass (both if he was lucky), then he would know what to do. No matter how many times Jervis read Carroll's, there was always something new hidden away in the words that only could be found when read again.

"Excuse me," a voice said.

Jervis turned, looking up. Above him stood a tall man, over six feet tall and so thin that he could see the outline of his bones. Messy, uncombed orange-brown hair fell partially over his forehead and nearly hit the rim of his glasses. He held a book in one hand, the other held up and curled slightly with his nails out.

Jervis quickly moved.

Wordlessly, the man leaned forward and deposited the book back on the shelf before picking another up just as quickly. He turned away, yet only after he had moved two or three steps his head turned back. "If you're looking for what I think you are, then you aren't going to find it here. The staff probably believe that the books would have an adverse effect on the patients."

Jervis nodded.

I suppose it only makes sense, Jervis thought. We're all mad here.

He turned back to the bookshelf. Striking up conversations had never been his strong point, and if Dr. Leland's hypothesis was correct then they would not ask him anything but why he was at Arkham. Carroll's work or not, a book was always welcoming.

He blinked, once, twice, a third time, and then so many times that he could barely tell when his eyes were open and when they were shut. All the while, the glowing figure floating on the opposite side of his room did not vanish.

"Alice?"

"Jervis." It was most certainly her voice. She had only spoken this low before once, when she had arrived at work especially tired and irritable after already having been forced to stay in and do overtime the previous night.

He opened his mouth and then just as quickly closed it.

Arkham, he had learned, was rather predictable. There was never a chance to do six impossible things before breakfast.

He shook his head and held his hands over his eyes. No, no, no! This wasn't happening. Alice was, Alice was-

Dr. Leland had explained it earlier that day when she was seeing him. "I know we have not discussed in depth what brought you here, even when you have been here for over a week, but I really do at least need to explain one thing."

Her words had been a knife to the gut, and not even a fresh wound at that, but another strike meant only to inflict more pain. Jervis knew, he had always known! The queen had demanded the trial and had called him to the witness stand. A jury full of animals had watched him with their beady little eyes as he spoke. And when the sentence came, when her majesty's words were expressed...

Well, who was he to deny his queen's orders?

When he finally looked up, she was closer than ever before. Though he could see the collar of her dress and her head, there was no neck holding them together. Her lips were set into a heavy frown and her eyes were nearly impossible to read, the irises and pupils having blended together.

"I know what you're thinking." For a moment her voice softened, and she looked away from him to her arms which were clasped together around her waist. She was still wearing the costume from earlier, the apron neat and her skirt wrinkle free, though her headband was gone. "This is impossible."

"'Only if you believe it is.'"

She looked up suddenly, an eyebrow raised.

He let out a chuckle. Oh, how could he try and deny it? He had witnessed far stranger things before; ghosts were certainly more believable than flying bread and talking animals and yet he had seen those as well.

"Oh, Alice, 'you're not the same as you were before. You were much more...'" He paused, rubbing at his forehead. "'muchier. You've lost your muchness.'" He put his hands to his face, blocking the light from reaching his eyes. Oh, how could he have not known that something like this was going to happen? The only way to live with the unexpected was to know that they were going to happen after all.

Perhaps he should have expected her sooner! Oh, but how could he be surprised? His clock was two days slow!

If this were a movie then Alice's eyes would have been closed tight and her hands held to her ears. Arkham certainly showed its age, even with its shiny, sterile floors in the medical ward that probably had the same bleach-scent that all hospitals had. Its security systems may have been advanced, but it could do nothing to hide the stone walls or the ancient wood that somehow held the building together. The metal sign alone, the one that she had seen when she had first arrived, had looked like it had stood for an eternity.

Yet, despite what was happening in front of her, she couldn't help but look forward.

Perhaps he was laughing or perhaps he was crying. Either way, Jervis was acting as mad as his namesake, and with his face covered and body curled up onto his body, it was impossible to try and read him.

He pulled his hands away, his face paler than before and tears slowly streaming down them. He rubbed at them, his lips turned into a frown.

It was then that there was a knock at the door before they were wrenched open. A tall black woman, dressed in a wrinkle-free white lab coat and holding a clipboard tightly in her hands, stood by the door next to a stout security guard dressed in blue.

"Jervis, what's going on? We could hear you from across the hall. Did something happen?"

He gestured towards her, and Alice instinctively tightened into herself even when the the gazes of both the doctor and security guard looked right through her.

"'Oh dear,'" he said with a sigh. "'I do wish I hadn't cried so much.'" He chuckled and looked past the other two, meeting Alice dead in the eyes. "'Oh, come on now. Crying won't help.'"

Renee sighed, clutching her notebook tighter. If she could just get this trip done quickly then she could get back to the station and work on something else. Knowing the city of Gotham, there would never be just one case that she would need to work on.

When she had first walked inside of Arkham, she had been a new officer who had only been in for less than a year. It had seemed intimidating, the building a little too tall (even when it was nothing compared to Gotham's many skyscrapers), the lighting a little too low, and the walls just a little too close together.

The nurses at the front desk did not give her so much as a second glance when she arrived, though one, an older woman, smiled to her. She gave a weak smile back before walking to the elevators. It came quickly, the doors opening with a slight metallic creak. Stepping inside, she pressed the button to the third floor with a shaking finger.

Whenever she passed by the prisoner's rooms, she had to wonder just what they were thinking when they looked at her. She may have not been Gordon but she wasn't a regular cop either. Chances were, she had probably directly caught them at least once. Considering Arkham's unspoken revolving door policy she would probably end up doing it again.

She turned the hallway and, despite herself, smiled. Some days she had to walk through what felt like the entire place to find whom she was looking for.

"Joan," she spoke.

The woman turned and smiled. "You're here early, Renee."

"I got busy with something back at the station, but I still managed to finish and come back here early." She held up her notebook and police folder. "I do believe you know what I'm here to discuss with you."

"I'll see you in the meeting room soon," she responded. "Right now I still have to finish something with one of my patients before I can speak with you."

Renee nodded. "Please, take your time."