Midnight Law

by Geanna Culbertson

  “Go over to the Nutcracker King and Kevin,” Chance said. “Get Girtha and Blue there too. You guys are the biggest threats, so completely distract it together in one place. Try to injure, but don’t behead. If the creature dies then this won’t work, so it can’t lose all its heads. When I give the signal, get Blue to cover me.”

  I nodded and raced toward the girls, waving them to follow me to where Kevin and the Nutcracker King were. “Blue, shoot acid at the body, not any heads,” I said. “Girtha, same kind of shots with your lollipop.”

  “Why?” Blue asked.

  The Rat King swung its mighty tail and smacked five soldiers at once.

  “Chance has a plan,” I replied.

  Blue nodded. “Lead on. Girtha, let’s double-team.”

  “You got it, baby Blue,” Girtha replied. The girls bumped fists and went to work firing spit and knives and lollipop blows.

  Although I really couldn’t spare a second, I paused to admire the shift in Blue. I still couldn’t believe how much she’d changed in such a short time.

  Suddenly I saw the Nutcracker King moving in stealthily. He was going to try and chop off one of the three remaining heads.

  “No, don’t!” I ran between the king and the monster, raising my sword to block the blow. The king had been coming down with such force that the clash of our blades nearly brought me to my knees. The Rat King turned its attention to deal with Girtha, who smacked it in the gut.

  “Child, what are you doing?” the Nutcracker King asked angrily.

  “My friend has a plan, but you can’t cut off any more—”

  The monster roared again—much louder this time. Two of its heads plowed into the ground beside me. Kevin landed next to us on his hind legs, triumphantly stowing his sword back in its sheath. He high-fived one of the toy soldiers before thwacking away the nearest fallen rat head like a kickball. There was only one head left now—the main one. Emboldened, the soldiers charged all at once.

  “Blue!” I pointed at the ground between the soldiers and the creature. Thank goodness she and I always seemed to be on the same battle wavelength.

  Blue sprinted forward and spit three times, burning craters in the floor in front of the soldiers. The surprise and acid stalled them. I saw Chance behind the Rat King, moving stealthily to get as close as possible. Though it’d lost six heads, the creature’s extra arms and necks continued to flail as if each limb had a mind of its own and could sense inbound threats. Chance gave me a gesture with his hand.

  “Blue!” I shouted. “Fog!”

  She took a breath and an eruption of mist consumed us. I could see the vague silhouette of the Rat King, Blue’s glowing eyes, and then . . .

  A powerful golden sheen shone through the fog, growing brighter and brighter until—

  THUD!

  Everyone in the cavern must’ve heard and felt it. Blue withdrew the fog and we saw Chance stepping around a solid gold Rat King statue, which had face-planted to the ground. He patted it proudly. A second later, every zombie rat in the battle disintegrated to black smoke.

  The Nutcracker King and Kevin gradually came forward, their mouths agape. Stunned silence persisted until the king found his voice.

  “What did you do?”

  Chance shrugged. “I found a better way. You did say it was out there.”

  ason nodded. “So I’ll make sure not to die then. Promise you’ll do the same?”

  SJ looked me in the eye. “I am asking you to stand down while someone who cares about you rises to the challenge and risks everything for you.”

  Javier glanced back at me from the aviary door. “Your walls aren’t as high as when we first met, but you may find strength in bringing them down further so that more of us can get in.”

  The morning light hit Blue’s blonde hair as she regarded me. “In case it doesn’t go without saying, I’ve got your back. As surely as I know that you have mine.”

  She stood there—hair longer and face less serious than it had been in a while, but body language ever confident. “Um, hi. I’m Crisa.” SJ elbowed her slightly and she corrected herself. “Crisanta Knight,” she added more formally. She stuck out her hand and I shook it.

  The touch shocked us both and suddenly a typhoon of memories flooded into my head so fast it felt like my mind might explode. I saw a blinding light and then—

  I sat up, heart pounding. SJ knelt on my left looking extremely worried. Off to the right Kai lay unconscious on the forest floor, surrounded by shattered chunks of ice.

  “Kai.” I rushed to get up quickly to check on her, but dizziness overwhelmed me and I felt too heavy to stand.

  SJ put her hand on my chest. “Easy.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Kai dosed you with the potion Von Rothbart used on Odette’s prince. The Hatter and his friends gave me a cure called a Treacle Tart. When you ate it, you passed out and then this vast light burst from you and freed Kai from where I had frozen her.” SJ pointed at the ground where a pastry I think I remembered taking a bite out of lay in the dirt.

  Her words were clear in my head, but somehow, they didn’t translate. SJ offered me her hand. In a daze I took it and stood gradually. Suddenly Jubjub Bird screams echoed through the trees and we both jumped. The shrill call shook my spine. I was already confused and freaked out—the scratchy screams mixed with awareness that the memory sucking birds were near did not help lower my heart rate.

  “Daniel,” SJ tried. I waved her away and took a wobbly step back. My breath came in gasps like I was having a panic attack. SJ had told me what happened, but my brain and body couldn’t fully absorb the words.

  A groan drew my eyes to the right. Kai was awake. SJ stiffened defensively, slingshot in hand. Kai got to her hands and knees. It seemed SJ was about to fire on her. I put my hand on SJ’s to stop it. She paused—though resentfully—and lowered her guard only slightly.

  I looked back at Kai. A saddlebag rested a couple feet away from her, flap open from the way it’d fallen. She hadn’t been carrying a bag earlier . . .

  Kai reached for the bag hastily, but not before SJ and I noticed what had tumbled out. A doll-sized version of Mauvrey wiggled on the grass, gagged and tied up with string. Kai looked up and we locked eyes. Her face was panicked like an animal backed into a corner.

  At that moment my cognizance came rushing back—powerfully and full of emotion.

  “Kai, what are you doing? Is that Mauvrey? Is what SJ said true—did you wipe my memories?” I waited for her to deny the accusation, to explain it all away. Kai couldn’t have done this. No. She couldn’t have.

  Kai abandoned the saddlebag and stood curtly. SJ lowered her slingshot altogether and instead approached my girlfriend calmly and steadily. The two girls glared at each other, then SJ abruptly summoned a small knife from her potions sack and slit Kai across the arm.

  Kai cried out and put her hand over the cut as SJ backed away.

  I dashed forward. “SJ, what are you—” I stopped as Kai moved her hand from the injury. It was wet with black blood.

  “She gave Mauvrey the Magic Mite, Daniel,” SJ said, aiming her slingshot anew. “Mauvrey has been regaining Tara’s final memories from right before the two split apart. One of those memories revealed that Tara and Kai met prior to when we thought, and Tara turned Kai against us. She has been working as a spy for the antagonists since the Vicennalia Aurora. The Magic Mite was Kai’s way of silencing Mauvrey before the truth could be revealed.”

  More Jubjub Bird screams quaked the forest, closer now, but we held our ground.

  “No. No that’s not . . .” My eyes darted to Kai. “Tell me it’s not true.”

  She stared at me, so many emotions in her dark eyes they were difficult to parse.

  “I am sorry, Daniel,” SJ said. “Kai just tried to kill me for the same reason. And kidnap Mauvrey as well.” SJ pointed at our tiny, struggling friend.

  I bent down and pulled at the string she was tied with. It came unraveled a
nd the puny princess got to her feet and thrust off her gag. “It is true, Daniel,” tiny Mauvrey said, huffing indignantly as she dusted herself off. “After Kai dosed you and you passed out, she tackled me and force-fed me the shrinking mushroom before tying me up and stowing me in one of the Hatter’s bags. The others at the tea party did not seem concerned by it; perhaps they are not burdened by crazy.” She glared at Kai. “I am sure she was planning to take me to the antagonists so I could tell them the location of the genies when Paige’s memories return.”

  I stood and focused on Kai again, feeling immense betrayal welling up in my core. She took several steps away from me, stopping at the edge of the clearing.

  “Kai?” I said, my heart clenching.

  She opened her mouth to speak and WHAM!

  From out of the forest a Jubjub Bird with its jaws fully hinged back flew straight at Kai and consumed her entire head within its round, purple, fluffy body. She started waving her arms and stumbling around as the thing sucked on her.

  I raced forward and grabbed the bird by its two legs and in one mighty jerk ripped it off Kai’s head and slammed it to the ground. Kai fell on her butt. The bird didn’t have any teeth so she was fine beyond her head and hair dripping with bird saliva. Her SRB sparks took care of that, and in seconds she looked normal, though dazed.

  Coughing sounds drew my attention to the bird. I guess I’d slammed it so hard that it was hacking up its latest meal—Kai’s memories.

  With a final heave, the giant mouth upchucked a sizable ball of goop, which splattered on the ground and started sparking like a firecracker. A shining spectral mist drifted off it and expanded, forming a cloud like the one we’d watched Merlin’s memories in, only fuzzier. The Jubjub Bird shook its head and scampered off as Kai’s and Arian’s faces filled the cloud.

  “She doesn’t have a Shadow,” Kai said to Arian. “You can go ahead with your plan to capture Crisa in Dreamland. Manipulate her into taking Mark’s Shadow.”

  A bright flash filled the cloud as the scene switched to Kai opening a package with a glass jar inside it. The vision zoomed in to show a small insect crawling around within the jar.

  Another flash.

  Kai walked through a forest with Tara. “I thought you should know the truth,” Tara said. “Your suspicions were correct. Daniel’s protagonist book and prophecy appeared many years ago. He was always meant to be a hero, and Nadia had him sentenced to death preemptively like other protagonists that posed too much of a threat. Her men started a fire in his home to kill him, but he was not there so his family suffered instead. Shortly after, Nadia called off the hunt for Daniel. Our seers began to have visions of how he would impact the future. So his protagonist book was suppressed until the time was right. We released his book last year because of you, Kai. We knew you would be an asset, but only by truly seeing the negative impact protagonist life had on the commons’ struggle would you act. Your love for Daniel was a strong motivator and your hatred for main characters needed the right fire, the right face—Crisa’s face. I hope you understand. We value you so much and you, your father, Daniel, and your entire kind will be taken care of as a reward for your service.”

  Kai paused and reflected for a long moment. “I understand. And I know you did what you had to do . . .”

  The cloud burst with a final, lustrous flash. A few sparks dripped to the ground in its wake. My throat was dry; my palms were sweaty. Everything inside of me felt overheated and yet ice cold.

  “What . . . what was that?” I said.

  Kai opened her mouth as she stood, but SJ answered for her—still ready with her slingshot to fire at a moment’s notice.

  “Jubjub Birds eat memories,” SJ said solemnly. “I presume those the bird just spit up were the ones at the forefront of Kai’s mind, given our present situation.”

  “But you—how could you . . .” I stuttered, taking in Kai like she was a stranger. Then the rage kicked in. Anger built inside me and gave a voice to my shock. “Was all that true? You told Arian that Crisa could host a Shadow? You gave Mauvrey the Magic Mite? My family and . . . that fire was meant for me?”

  Kai shook her head adamantly. “No, Daniel. You don’t understand. Everything I’ve done, I did for you, for us.”

  I felt unsteadier than all the times I had been smacked down by monsters combined. I had only experienced genuine heartbreak once—the day I lost my family. The pain of that loss had been masked by time, but now it all came rushing back. All I could manage as I looked at Kai from across the clearing were three small words.

  “I loved you.”

  Kai sighed. Her eyes were full of genuine sadness, but bitterness too. “Exactly. You used to love me. That’s been fading because of this new life and those people.” She gestured at SJ. “I just wanted you back, Daniel. I wanted things the way they were before.”

  “I was unhappy before! I was broken and closed off because of what happened to my family. I finally figured out who I am and who I want to be because of those people—SJ, Jason, Blue, Crisa, and all the others. Why would you try to take that from me?”

  I felt myself trembling, so many conflicting feelings warring within me. The ground and trees also shook, but I was too distracted to question why.

  “We were happy. We had a life and a future planned,” Kai protested. “You pushed me away. What did you expect me to do, just let you go? I was trying to fight for you and protect you. We promised we would always do that for each other.”

  I stared at her as the layers of her betrayal hit me—pummeling me without mercy.

  “You knew the truth about my family and you didn’t say anything. You’ve tried to kill multiple people that mean something to me and it’s your fault Knight got captured in Dreamland. How is that protecting me? The only person you’ve been fighting for is yourself.”

  The accusation—the realization—made me sick. The world around me, from treetops to pebbles, shook and I wondered if I was going to collapse again. My entire life felt like a lie.

  Kai’s gaze fell to the grass. When she raised her head and met my eyes again, her expression had turned dark and steely.

  “I did what I had to do.”

  ROAR!!!

  SJ screamed. I whirled around just as the Bandersnatch—who’d leapt out of the trees—tackled her to the ground. Before I could react, the monster extended its slinky neck and shot its tongue toward me. The tongue stretched and snapped like a whip, wrapping around my wrist and pulling me to the floor with a violent thrust.

  I landed on my side and tried to spring back up—but I couldn’t move. What the frack? None of my muscles responded to my brain. I was paralyzed.

  The Bandersnatch’s tongue moved on to lick SJ’s face; she was still trapped under one of its paws. I glanced around for Mauvrey, but couldn’t see her. Suddenly I was lifted off the ground. The Bandersnatch picked me up by the jacket with its teeth, then twisted it elongated neck around and dropped me in the wicker basket on its back.

  My arm hung over the edge of the basket, keeping me propped up somewhat. I spotted Kai watching from across the clearing. Our eyes connected. She gave me a long, sober look . . . Then she popped the hood of her swan cloak. Kai transformed into a black bird and took off through the trees into the sky, leaving us to the monster.

  A moment later, SJ was dropped on top of me and the two of us collapsed into the depths of the basket. Neither of us could move.

  The basket jostled as the Bandersnatch started to run. Our bodies bounced more and more as it picked up speed. Spots and stars blurred my vision. I was almost glad when the blackness consumed me. It would be a break from the darkness that Kai had just drowned me in.

  Someone was poking my forehead. I opened my eyes. Tiny Mauvrey stood an inch from my face, poking me with a miniscule finger.

  “Daniel, wake up!” she urged.

  “Mauvrey?” We were still moving at an incredibly fast speed, but my body seemed to have wedged itself between SJ and the basket wall so that I did
n’t flop everywhere. I tried to sit up, but couldn’t quite manage.

  “Ow,” I groaned. “I hate Wonderland.”

  “Bandersnatch saliva has paralytic venom. I do not know when it will wear off,” Mauvrey said. “I also do not know when the effects of this shrinking mushroom will fade, but I consider my size a stroke of luck for now. I hid in SJ’s pocket when the Bandersnatch took her.”

  With a grunt I found the strength to grab the edge of the basket and pull myself up to see over the edge. Amazingly, the Bandersnatch seemed to be following our green trail of light, the end of which was plainly in sight. It was a lucky break, though I had a feeling our luck did not extend to the exact place where the light completed its journey, where the Bandersnatch was headed.

  Blooming red rose bushes bordered the road the monster raced down. At the end of the pathway stood two palaces. Our green light trail went over the structures—precisely between them—and arced down somewhere behind.

  The castle on the left featured beige towers with a checkered black-and-white pattern wrapping around them. Golden rods rose from red turrets and flew flags with red hearts emblazoned in the center. All the windows were heart-shaped. Everything was arched instead of rectangular, and the front gate was bright cherry.

  The palace on the right reminded me of black and red licorice. The main building and its extensions were tall, thin, and twisted; beams of black and red fused together everywhere. Rainbow stained-glass windows dotted the towers. The flags were half red and half black with two golden chess pieces—a queen and a king—embroidered in the middle. An epic gold queen and gold king chess piece stood on either side of the onyx gate to the castle.

  “These must be the castles of the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts,” I said to Mauvrey, who’d scampered up my arm to take in the view. “This rose bush path is the Crimson Line that the White Queen and White King told us about—the divider of their two kingdoms.”

  “Daniel . . .” SJ stirred and managed to pull herself up. She took in our surroundings, gripping the edge of the basket tightly. She seemed dazed at first, then her eyes sharpened and she looked at me. “Where is Kai?”