Wonder (Insanity Book 5) Read online

  “I made sure they’re taken,” Mrs. Tock explained.

  “Taken?”

  “I’ve had someone pull them out of Carroll’s pockets,” she said. “The ones the Pillar will find, if he so takes that route to save her, are water pills. Useless, just like diet pills.”

  “Pretty cruel.” Mr. Tick tucked a napkin into the collar of his vest, getting ready for his six o’clock brownie. “And fabulous, I must admit. I can’t tell you how much you have entertained me today.”

  “My pleasure, Mr. Tick.”

  “So the girl dies now?”

  “You know we don’t want that to happen.” Mrs. Tock snickered, reaching for a piece of Mr. Tick’s brownie. He slapped her hand away. “Alice needs to live. We’re just preparing her for the big showdown, so we can get the keys.”

  “Poor girl.” He gorged on his brownie. “She has no idea what’s going on.”

  “It’s the only way to get the keys.”

  “And to know if she’s really the Real Alice,” Mr. Tick remarked.

  “That too, of course,” she said. “According to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Wonderlastic Time Travels, she will die in the future if she is not the Real Alice.”

  “And if she survives?”

  “There is a possibility she might be Alice.”

  “That’s rather contradictory. If she dies, she isn’t Alice, but if she lives, she may be Alice?”

  “Wonderland logic. Can’t argue with that,” she said. “It’s as confusing as the concept of time.”

  “Whatever.” He waved a hand after downing the last piece of the brownie. “I’m curious to see how it plays out.”

  “Me too, Mr. Tick.”

  “But I’m starting to get bored again,” Mr. Tick said. “Not that I haven’t been entertained by this piece of time travel. But I feel there isn’t much pain involved. I need to see tragedies. People in dire pain and agony.”

  “I understand. Seeing people in agony makes you tick, Mr. Tick.” She chuckled. “I have an idea. Why not stop time from freezing inside the Inklings?”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “You’d wake up Fabiola.” Mrs. Tock snickered and shrugged. “This way, you can see her suffer when she sees Alice spasming and coughing blood.”

  “What a brilliant idea, Mrs. Tock,” Mr. Tick said, and snapped his fingers to unfreeze the White Queen.

  Chapter 41

  THE FUTURE: OXFORD STREETS

  “Alice!” I still hear the Pillar screaming.

  I’m sinking into my own rabbit hole toward the other side of the spectrum of life.

  “Is she going to die?” I think that’s Tom shouting, but I’m not sure.

  Then someone arrives — I think.

  “What are you doing here?” the Pillar roars at the guest.

  “I can save her.” I think I know the voice, but can’t focus hard enough to remember.

  “Another trick of yours,” Tom says. “Go away.”

  “I always have a few tricks in my sleeves,” that someone says. “I’d even admit I switched the pills on Carroll’s corpse.”

  “What corpse?” Tom asks.

  What are they talking about? Who is this stranger?

  “That’s why she is dying.” The Pillar sounds angry. “I’m going to kill you.”

  “No need to,” the stranger says. “I have her cure. The real pills.”

  Really? Am I going to live?

  “And what do you ask in return?” the Pillar says.

  “I’ve always liked your practical methods, Pillar,” the stranger says. “I’m going to give her the pills if she promises me a favor.”

  “Whatever it takes, Cheshire,” the Pillar says. “Just give them to me.”

  “Don’t call me Cheshire, please,” the Cheshire says in Jack’s voice. “I’m neither the Cheshire nor Jack now. I’m both. Not as naive and hapless in love as Jack, nor am I hating humans like the Cheshire.”

  “And I’ve seen this sentimental rubbish of a movie before. Spare me the bullshit and hand me the goddamn pills,” the Pillar says.

  “She has to listen to what I want first,” the Cheshire, or Jack, demands. “I know you think I’m still working for Black Chess because I fooled Tom and took the keys from him, but you’re wrong.”

  “Then what’s right? Enlighten me.” The Pillar is impatient.

  “I stole the keys so I can have my bargain with Alice.”

  “Bargain?”

  “Yes, bargain. The keys and her life in exchange for Jack’s life.”

  “Jack is dead,” Tom interjects. “Even long before you possessed his body.”

  “That’s what Alice has to fix for me if I give her the pills,” the Cheshire says. “She has to time-travel to the past and let Jack live.”

  I reach out a feeble hand, not seeing where it’s pointing.

  “What’s wrong, Alice?” the Pillar asks.

  I try my best to keep my hand steady, until the Cheshire gets the message and reaches back for me. Not the Cheshire, really. But Jack. I squeeze his hand. I understand what’s going on. This Cheshire/Jack mix produced a different person who cherishes his life and blames me for killing him. Even fourteen years later, this new person demands to live. If time travel works for finding keys, then it should work for saving life.

  All Jack is asking me is not to kill him on the bus. He wants me to go back in time and stop the accident. I want it, too. I’ve always felt guilty for killing Jack. It’s time to correct the past.

  Jack’s hand warms up. I think he feels me somehow. Slowly, I feel another pill tucked in my mouth. It’s the right pill; I know it. It tastes like those I took back in the asylum.

  “Promise me you’ll save my life, Alice,” Jack demands.

  “I promise, Jack,” I say. “I’m really sorry I killed you.”

  Chapter 42

  Life seeps back through the pores of my skin, the veins in my head, and the blood in my heart. Funny how we’re not grateful for breathing until the time comes when it’s our last breath.

  The Pillar helps me straighten up again, brushing my hair back. “Are you all right?”

  “All right? I’m not sure.” I chuckle. “But I’ll live.”

  The dog comes and licks my face, welcoming me back to life — or should I say the future?

  Tom just stands there, saying nothing. He has that look which I can’t understand. He exchanges brief mutters with the Pillar then turns back to me. It’s almost as if he’s not so happy I am alive.

  But I don’t have the capacity to interpret what’s behind all of this.

  Jack stands with a straight face piercing through me. This isn’t Jack. This isn’t the Cheshire. It’s someone in between. Who’d have thought? The most lovable boy possessed by the most vicious cat.

  “Thank you,” I tell him.

  “Don’t thank me,” he says. “Just save me. Do all you can to make Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock help you go back in time and save me — save the bus, Alice.”

  “I don’t even remember why I did it.” I want the Jack inside the Cheshire to warm up to me, but he doesn’t.

  “No excuses,” he says. “I don’t care if you don’t remember. I care if you save me instead of me ending up sacrificing myself for you and later getting possessed by this vicious cat in me.”

  I realize that if I can go back in time and save the bus, Jack will never get possessed by the Cheshire for fourteen years. It makes me want to do it more. But I still have a question. “Since fourteen years have passed, Jack, I only want to know why you came back for me. You said you wanted to tell me something, warn me about something—or someone. I believe I have the right to know before I go back in time.”

  Jack doesn’t answer me. He exchanges another look with Tom and the Pillar and then turns and walks away.

  I reach for him, but I’m still a bit tired. I don’t even have time to cry. The Reds arrive and surround me, Tom, and the Pillar.

  A pressure-filled moment passes, all of us star
ing at each other. I’m surprised the Reds don’t attack us.

  “You’re really hard to catch, Mrs. Wonder,” a Red leader says to me. “We weren’t going to kill you under any circumstances. We just know you don’t belong here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “No more games, please,” the Red says. “We know you’re from the past. You and Mr. Pillar.”

  “How do you — ”

  “It doesn’t matter how we know,” the Red says. “We just want you to leave our world and go back where you came from. That’s Mr. Jay’s orders.”

  “Mr. Jay?”

  “You don’t have to know about him. Not at the moment. Somewhere in the past you’ll meet him, and you’ll understand a lot of things. Now, would you mind?”

  “I will leave.” I nod, eyeing the Pillar. He nods at the dog. “What about him?” I say.

  “After you’ve taken the pill, all you have to do to leave is kiss the dog on the mouth, and he’ll be all right,” the Pillar explains, shaking his shoulders.

  “That’s silly,” I say.

  “Blame it on the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Wonderlastic Time Travels.”

  Chapter 43

  THE PRESENT: OUTSIDE THE INKLINGS, OXFORD

  Fabiola stood outside her bar, smoking a cigarette. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the Pillar.

  The eccentric professor arrived with his cane and a pout on his face. “Is she alive?”

  “She is.” Fabiola killed the cigarette on the ground. “Those two lunatics, Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock, were just messing with her mind. Yours, too.”

  “Why would they do that?” the Pillar asked. “Entertaining themselves?”

  “Worse. It’s a trick. A master plan by whoever hired them.”

  “I’m not doubting that at all. They fooled me into listening to Margaret’s conversation, and made me think I managed to time-travel through the Tom Tower when it was the doing of the Tick and Tock couple. The question is why.”

  “Because according to some book concerning the rules of Wonderland time travel, whoever cheats death in the future is vulnerable to die within the next twenty-four hours as a consequence.”

  “So getting the keys from the future was only a game?”

  “I can’t believe we fell for their trick,” Fabiola said. “The keys can only be found in the past where Alice hid him them. Now Alice is obliged to travel to the past to get the keys and save her life. That’s what it’s all about.”

  “How can she save her life in the past?”

  “By finding something called the Wonder.”

  The Pillar shrugged. Fabiola realized he knew what it was. “What’s the Wonder?”

  “Something she shouldn’t find,” he said stiffly.

  “What does that mean?” She was about to lash out at him again. Deep inside, she didn’t want to have this conversation with him. But she had to, so she could save Alice’s life, if possible.

  “It’s a paradox. Two things that contradict each other. She won’t live if she doesn’t find her Wonder, and horrible things will happen to her if she does.”

  “Don’t do this to me, Pillar. Don’t play those games with me.”

  “Let’s not fight, Fabiola. Not now.”

  “Then what do you suggest we do?”

  “We have no choice,” the Pillar said. “Alice has to go back to fit into whatever plan they cooked up for her. She needs to get the keys and find her Wonder. The rest of the consequences are going to shatter us all. But they’re undeniable now. I’m such a fool. I should’ve read between the lines.”

  “You messed up, Carter,” Fabiola said. Only she called him by his first name. Only she knew him well enough to do that. “Why don’t you just leave us be?”

  “It’s you who called for me, Fabiola. Remember?”

  “I hate you so much,” she said, gripping the door.

  “Nothing new with that,” the Pillar said. “You always did. In return, I’ve always loved you.”

  “Don’t start!” She loosened her grip and waved her other hand at him. “Just don’t. You don’t even know why I hate you now? It doesn’t have anything to do with the past. This is about now.”

  “Why do you hate me now, Fabiola?” The Pillar sighed.

  “Because this girl inside apparently isn’t Alice,” Fabiola said. “I’ve forced myself to pretend she was, over and over again. I tried to make it easy on her and not tell her the truth. And now, the poor girl is risking her life, and for what? If she dies within twenty-four hours it’s going to be your fault.”

  “I’m aware of that,” the Pillar said without the slightest hint of sympathy. She couldn’t stand him being so cruel — or was he just too tough? “This still doesn’t justify why you hate me so much right now. What is it, really?”

  Fabiola hesitated then said, “Because I love her. The girl is energy of light. Smart, ambitious, and has a heart of heroes.” She stamped one foot on the ground. “I bloody love her. And I swear to God, I’ll kill you if anything happens to her.”

  Fabiola wiped away her tears and prepared to go back inside. She hated it when her anger surfaced like that. She had sworn not to give in to the woman she was in the past. Back in Wonderland, when she wasn’t a nun or a bartender, but the bravest of warriors.

  “Fabiola,” the Pillar called after her. “When it’s over, I’ll be in Tom Quad in Oxford University.”

  “So what?”

  “I think you’ll want to see me once Alice returns to the past. Something horrible is going to happen then. We’ll have to talk about it.”

  “You arrogant prick,” she said. “Why are you always sure of yourself? I don’t want to see you ever again.”

  “If I had a mushroom for every time I heard you say this.” The Pillar rolled his cane in the air and walked away. “I’ll be waiting in Tom Quad. Trust me, you’ll come.”

  Chapter 44

  THE PRESENT: INSIDE THE INKLINGS, OXFORD

  I’m back to the present life. My name is Alice and I hardly know who I really am. Names are the just the layer on top. You peel it off and there is the real you beneath. Have you ever seen the real you? Have you ever tried to?

  Now that I’m back from the future, Fabiola returns to the Inklings, helping me drink a lot of water, cleaning off all the blood from my nose. She helps me sit and hands me a cup of milk and some food. We’re alone in the back room, waiting for Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock to return. Although I want to smash their heads against the wall, there is nothing I can do to them. They’re practically immortal. I hate time so much right now.

  “What about the March Hare?” I say.

  “He’s still unconscious, but not dead,” Fabiola says. “The creepy couple forcefully leak some of their magic tea into his mouth every now and then, so he stays alive.”

  “But that’s not the real antidote that will bring him back to life. Right?”

  “It isn’t.” She wipes off my sweat. “And we don’t know how to get it. Listen, Alice, you don’t have to do this.”

  “Go back in time?” I say. “Of course I have to.”

  “Maybe the March Hare’s time has come in this life. Maybe it’s his time to die.”

  I can’t believe she said that. I can’t forget the image of the Columbian children gathered around his bed, crying their eyes out. But Fabiola isn’t herself anymore. She is slowly morphing into whoever she was in Wonderland. I am beginning to think she was borderline heartless in Wonderland. A good warrior, but sometimes heartless.

  “It’s not just about the March Hare,” I tell her.

  “Don’t tell me it’s about the keys. We can find them one by one in this world.”

  “Not just the keys. I’m going to die if I don’t find my Wonder, remember?”

  “And we don’t have an idea what it is.” Fabiola scowls.

  “That’s why we need to talk to Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock again. They want me to go back to get the keys. But I’m not doing it until they tell me what my Wonder is.” I d
on’t tell Fabiola that I promised Jack I’d save his life in the past. I don’t think she’d like that. All in all, there seems to be all kinds of reasons for me to go back in time.

  Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock open the door and enter the room. They smile and sit on their chairs opposite each other, as if nothing bad ever happened. Time will always smile at you, even when it’s ripping you of the days and nights of your life.

  “She is a strong girl,” Mr. Tick tells his wife, pointing at me. “I think she is up to the job.”

  “She may also be the Real Alice,” Mrs. Tock says.

  “I’m the Real Alice,” I interrupt. “And stop talking to each other as if we’re not in the room.”

  “Badass, too,” Mr. Tick whispers to his wife. “I like her.”

  “But she isn’t the Real Alice.” Mrs. Tock rubs her chin. “We can’t be really sure until she finds the keys in the past.”

  “Stop it.” I am about to get up and scream at them. Fabiola holds me back. “Let’s get into what matters,” I say. “What the hell is my Wonder?”

  “She’s practical, too,” Mr. Tick says to his wife.

  “She probably got that from the Pillar,” Mrs. Tock says. “But really, Mr. Tick, we should tell her about her Wonder.”

  “Agreed, Mrs. Tock.” He turns back to me. “Your Wonder, Alice — everyone’s Wonder, in fact — is the one thing you do in your life that you’re most proud of. The one thing that when asked on your deathbed, ‘What did you really bring to this life?’ you’d tell us about.”

  Chapter 45

  “And how am I supposed to find that?”

  “That’s up to you,” Mrs. Tock says. “While you’re back in time, find the thing that if you do, it will be so important, and so good, that life will grant you an extension.”

  “Pretty shoddy, coming from two lunatics like you,” Fabiola comments.

  “Did she just call us shoddy, Mrs. Tock?” Mr. Tick says.

  “I think she did. Although you always arrive on time, Mr. Tick.”