Down the Rabbit Hole
Chapter 1 »
⋆｡𖦹°jason todd x fem!reader
⋆｡𖦹°synopsis: Your dreams are becoming stranger and it seems to be bleeding into your reality.
⋆｡𖦹°word count: 2,364
note: No need to read the teaser before this! This is pretty much an altered and extended version of it. And remember... never say always and always avoid saying never! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
⋆.ೃ࿔.𖥔MASTERLIST˖*:･༄
Your breathing is quick and ragged, your head hurts, and you can’t move. Shit, you can’t move. Where are you? You were on your way home, it was dark—God, what a stupid thing to do in Gotham, and you knew that at the time, didn’t you? As you search your memories you begin to wake, you feel restraints around your wrists and ankles, cloth around your eyes, the dampness of the floor, and you smell something. It’s rancid, suffocating, you almost choke on it. Wherever you are, something is rotting, bleeding out. Beneath the rot is the smell of paint? Paint and clay, but it’s not fresh clay. It’s the unmistakable smell of clay that has begun to mold, the putrid smell of slip that has sat for too long. You involuntarily gag and the smell invades your mouth, violating your insides. You choke and gasp, your body instinctively tries to escape but before you can make any sort of progress, something sharp pokes into your neck. A warm sensation travels through your body and it all goes dark once more.
You wake violently, but you’re no longer on that cold, wet, stone floor, you’re in your bed. The only thing wet is your shirt sticking to your back. You lay your head into your hands, trying to ground yourself, to calm the thundering in your chest. A nightmare, right? It had to be although it felt too real. Ugh, and that smell still lingers in your nose. You also can’t remember how you got home. Your last memory is walking the dark streets that lead to your apartment and then the nightmare begins. Did you somehow dissociate? Losing that chunk of time because you went on autopilot? Must have been that. But what is that noise, that ticking sound? You search your room for the source and your eyes fall on a pocket watch. It looks antique, a bit large but other than that it’s normal. Your hands reach out, shaking, the fear from your dream is lingering. The pocket watch sits comfortably in your hands, it’s quite pretty despite the tarnished gold. The numbers are in roman numerals and the hands are a deep red. When did you get this? You place it back on your nightstand and stumble out of bed. The watch lets you know it’s around 6 AM, but there’s no way you can relax now.
The Gotham University hoodie you put on is cold and you find no reprieve as you walk into your kitchen. You make something quick that won’t upset your already twisting stomach. You make your way to the couch and turn on the news. Traffic is not surprising and Batman has stopped the usual crimes. You focus on eating and the TV becomes background noise. You finish eating and you place your dishes in the sink. You decide to check your phone for the time but you’re met with an onslaught of notifications. Your eyebrows furrow as you go through them, the dates span across two days—two days?! No way you slept for two days! Your phone mainly has messages from your favorite coworker. Your head hurts but you remember you both were cleaning up the gallery after an opening, it was late so you both agreed to message each other when you got home but you never did. You message her:
Dina Are you ok? I’m going to file a missing persons report if you don’t respond soon. I’m worried about you.
I am so sorry Dina, I don’t know what happened. I must have passed out right when I got home, I’ve been sleeping this whole time. I must have been so exhausted from the week, prepping for that opening took a lot out of me.
You slip your phone into your pocket, anxiety swirling in your chest. You hope she’s not too angry. Ugh, and if you slept for two days that means you slept through your days off. Before you can move on to get ready, your phone buzzes with her response:
Dina OH THANK GOD YOU’RE OKAY!!!!
Dina I thought you up and died or something 😭😭😭
LOL no, I’m okay
I’m flattered you were so worried tho 🤭
Dina …alright buddy
Dina don’t make me wish you disappeared
LMAO
I’ll see you at work
…or will I muhahaha
You smile as you put your phone away, your morning seems to be returning back to normal, until your roommate stumbles out of her room. You two met in college and decided to move in together after you both graduated. You awkwardly wave as your name slips out of her mouth, she’s surprised to see you.
“Where have you been? Normally you’re lounging about on your days off,” her eyes gesture to your door, “or actually come out of your room.” She pours hot coffee into a mug, one that you made her.
You lean against the counter next to her, “Sorry Rach, apparently I slept through two whole days.”
Her eyebrows raise in shock as she blows on her coffee, “Jeez, do I need to set a bedtime for you?”
You laugh, your habit of staying up late is not a secret. She’s spotted you numerous times still awake after she comes home from a long shift at the hospital. Your laugh dies off and it’s replaced with a groan as you stand up straight, “I gotta go get ready for work, see you later?”
Rachel nods and hums in response, too busy enjoying her coffee to give a proper response. You walk off and get ready for the day, the dream and strange watch drift to the back of your mind.
══════════════════ ⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆ ═══════════════════
The door shuts behind you with a soft click and you’re slightly taken aback when you turn to walk towards the elevator. Your neighbor, who you’ve only seen a handful of times during the 6 months of you living across from him, is walking past. You won’t lie, you have definitely developed a little crush on him. You blame it on the mystery: the rare sightings, the scars that decorate his face, his black hair with a streak of white—you can’t help but be drawn in. You send him a polite smile joined with an awkward wave and he smiles back. The interaction is quick but it didn’t fail to make your heart stutter.
Before you know it, you make it back to your apartment, your body can relax and that horrendous dream has long been forgotten. Your night goes on and it ends in your bed. The blankets envelop your body and you fall asleep to the sound of ticking. Oh, the pocket watch, you totally forgot about it. You chuckle and let your mind slip out of consciousness.
You wake but you must be dreaming. Are strange dreams going to be normal now, should you be prepared to see a doctor? You look around and you seem to be standing in a forest. It’s the middle of the day but you’re protected from the sun with cool shade. The trees are a wonderful shade of green and amongst them are plants of varying colors. The breeze moves through the leaves, breathing life into the forest—as if it would need it with all of its colors. As you look longer, you notice that some plants are strange looking. They aren’t familiar and seem to be a bit larger than you’d expect.
“Nothing here is what you’d expect, but shouldn’t you know that already?”
The deep voice startles you, and you frantically search where it came from. You scan behind you, in front of you, to your left and to your right, until you spot it in between the branches. Teeth—no, a smile, just a smile. You stumble backwards, fear beginning to spread from your fingers to your toes. The smile fades and you feel something rub against your back, it’s soft and fluffy. You jump away and turn around. There, sitting, is a large cat, very large, licking its paws. Its fur is pink and purple, its right ear adorned with a silver hoop earring, and it reaches the height of your torso. The cat stops licking its paw and the grin returns on its face, staring at you with its yellow eyes.
“Then I guess that means I can’t expect anything from you either.” The cat's smile is almost insulting while it circles you.
Your shock allows you to muster out one thing, “You’re a talking cat.”
“And you’re a talking rabbit.”
“Rabbit? I am not a rabbit.”
“Then why do you have the head of one?” The cat teases and disappears, leaving behind its grin for a moment. You swallow a lump in your throat. The head of a rabbit? How silly would that be? Despite your thoughts your hands reach up to your head and then you feel it. The texture of a cloth stuffed animal. Your hands begin to quickly move along your head, your eyes are beads, your nose and mouth are embroidered, and you have floppy ears… that you can move. You look around for any evidence of the cat but you catch sight of your clothes instead. You’re wearing a red three piece tailcoat with matching shorts, the ruffles of your white blouse peaks out through the red sleeves and vest, it’s also adorned with a large red western bow tie. You’re wearing white gloves and white tights, with matching shoes that make your feet blend into your legs. As you look at your legs you notice the pocketwatch that has made its home on your nightstand hanging from your vest. Hm, falling asleep thinking of it must have triggered this dream. You look ahead once more and decide to walk deeper into the forest, but before you can make any progress that voice rings in your ears.
“Do you know where you are going?” The cat jumps over your shoulder, and stretches in front of you.
“This is a dream isn't it? There is no need for me to know where I am going.”
“Is it?” The cat's smile makes you feel uneasy, especially after delivering that question.
“What, are you trying to say this is real?”
The cat circles you and your eyes follow it, “Well, it’s not not real,” the cat laughs.
“What does- what does that even mean?”
“It means you are here.” That cat's eyes look right through you.
You huff and roll your eyes, or you try to. You have no idea if your beady eyes are capable of translating it. “What even are you?
“I am a cat.” The cat jumps into a tree and lays on one of the branches, its large tail swinging.
You cross your arms, beginning to become annoyed, “You know what I mean.”
“Do I?” That cat's head begins to turn clockwise, almost completing a full rotation before it goes back to normal.
The movement unsettles you but you think it would be useless to bring it up, “Who are you?”
“A cat, a cheshire cat.”
You can’t help but feel annoyed with the cat's answer, “Cheshire cat?” How clever.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be, White Rabbit?”
The change in conversation stuns you, “Um no, why?”
“How strange, you always have somewhere to be.”
Deciding to play into the rules of this dream, you respond with, “If nothing can be expected, then how can there be an always?”
The cat jumps from the branch and lays in front of you, “Because there isn’t a never.”
You sigh, that doesn’t make any sense. “If I have somewhere to be, where do you think that is?”
The cat's grin somehow becomes wider, “Press the crown of your watch, and it should become clear.” The cat's voice echoes as he disappears.
You shake your head, the cat must have been messing with you the whole time. He seems to know a lot more than he lets on. You pull the watch from out of your pocket and you press the button on the top. The ground beneath you begins to shift and spin, you become dizzy but then you wake. You stare at your ceiling and the world is still spinning. What a strange dream.
When the world finally stills, you roll over and grab the watch from your nightstand. You turn it around in your hands, it doesn’t seem that special—just old. You also haven’t consumed anything wonderland related in years, you can’t even remember the last time you watched the movie, so why dream of it now? As the question settles in your mind the cat's words echo in your memory—Press the crown of your watch, and it should become clear. You sit up and decide to press the button, humoring yourself. When you press it down you feel a sensation of falling, however, you’re still sitting up. Confused, you look back down at the watch and your stomach sinks when you see your hands. It’s the same gloved hands you saw in your dream. You look down and turn your head, the sight makes you launch out of bed, the watch clattering on the floor. It’s you?! You’re looking at your sleeping—or unconscious body in your bed. You must still be dreaming, you're sure of it. You pinch yourself and you continue to pinch yourself harder when the moment doesn’t end. That didn’t work so you run towards your shelf, ripping a book off it and flipping through the pages. If this is a dream you won’t be able to read—oh dear, the words are right where they should be and are completely legible too.
You pace the room, panicking, this isn’t too crazy right? Maybe this has happened to other people? If people can have superspeed or come from different planets, then surely shapeshifting—or whatever is happening to you is plausible? Your thoughts are interrupted when you catch your reflection in your vanity, your ears flicker as you look at yourself. You’re wearing the same clothes but it’s strange to see the bunny head. You shift your head and you notice stitches along your neck, the head is sewn on—Your head is sewn on?! With a measly running stitch?!
a/n: ar ar ar, first chapter DONE! Let me know if this is any good LOL Also, feel free to leave ideas or things you'd like to see! Good chance I'll include it because I'm coming up with this as I go >_<