Malice in Wonderland Bundle 3

by Lotus Rose

I summon the body that goes with the heart!”

  She pierces the plushy heart and pins it to the doll’s chest.

  Fred angrily shouts, “Did you invoke magic?”

  The doll begins to glow with a red light, as Martina sneers at him, says, “Know where I went? To visit a witch, so I can summon the Tin Knight to come capture Alice!” She lets go of the doll and raises a fist in the air. “All hail Dorothy!”

  Malice gasps and drops the doll, while Fred rushes Martina, grabs her arm to pull it down and put it behind her back.

  “Oh, bother,” the Cat mutters. “Maly, look...”

  There, about six feet away, a human figure is materializing on the Road. It looks like someone sitting on the ground with their back to them—though the details are still unclear.

  Martina grins wickedly. “He’s coming! Coming for you!” She unleashes a torrent of mocking laughter.

  The body seated on the ground has its bare back to Malice. A ponytail sways as he or she jostles up and down upon something silver-colored. Malice is pretty sure it’s a female as the details fill in more—now Malice hears the girl moaning. She’s wearing a blue and white checkered dress on her lower body underneath which issues sound that is like a combination of whirring and buzzing.

  Malice struggles to process what is appearing before her. The girl holds a stick of some sort in one hand. Puzzled, Malice says, “In her hand?”

  “A riding crop,” the Cat answers. “How naughty.”

  “Hmm?” Malice says.

  “The Tin Knight is gonna get you!” Martina says.

  “Shut up!” Fred shouts. “Road! Do not allow the intruders to interfere with Malice’s path. Send them further back!”

  In dazed confusion, Malice mutters, “That’s not the Tin Knight.”

  “Yes it is,” Fred says. “Underneath her.”

  The girl has fully materialized now, and Malice now realizes the two silver things on the ground are legs. The girl’s back blocks Malice’s view, but she now realizes a metal man lies on the ground—the arms and legs look like suits of armor. The girl is seated upon his groin area. Malice can’t see the metal man’s face, but who else could it be than the Tin Knight?

  The topless girl stops jostling up and down, but the whirring sounds beneath her dress continue. Malice now sees that the top half of her dress has been pulled down, bunching around her waist. Malice spies part of a red stiletto heel on the girl’s right foot, peeking partially out beneath the fabric of her dress.

  Malice hears the Tin Knight’s voice: “Why’d you stop? What?”

  “Where are we?” says the topless girl.

  “Tin Knight!” Martina shouts. “Alice is here! Capture her!”

  “Send them backward!” Fred shouts. “Give them their own path!”

  The topless girl turns to look over her shoulder—her face is of a teenaged girl, her eyes open wide in surprise. “Alice?” she says.

  “Dorothy?” Martina shouts. “I brought you here!”

  “Capture them!” the girl shouts. She begins to rise up—as she does, the whirring sound grows louder beneath her dress.

  Fred removes his hand from behind Martina’s back. He points at the pair upon the ground, and shouts, “Back with thee!”

  A rumbling sound issues forth from the bricks of the Road, as if the bricks are grating against each other. The girl and the Tin Knight seem to glide backward as the Road grows more bricks in between the two groups, widening the gap between them.

  The teen girl’s eyes widen in alarm as she grows further away. “Alice, we must talk!”

  “Hail Dorothy!” Martina shouts, raising her freed fist in the air again.

  The girl and knight vanish from sight. Malice hears movement. She turns her head to see Martina whirling on Fred. A loud smack issues forth as she slaps him hard across the face before pouncing at him, clawing at his eyes, but Fred manages to spin her around again, so that he’s behind her. He presses his hands to her jaw and head and snaps her neck, lets her body crumple onto the Road.

  “Wicked!” the Cat exclaims excitedly.

  “Crikey!” Malice exclaims. “You just killed her!” For a moment she wonders if she can revive her with her tears, before she remembers.

  Fred gives a curt nod. “Quite. I must apologize, Miss Malice, that your previous guide’s behavior was below par. A new female guide shall be assigned to you. And you still have me to assist you.” He smiles cordially.

  The Cat says, “Yes, consider Martina fired.” He sniffs.

  “Was that really Dorothy?” Malice says.

  “Indeed it was,” Fred says. “The Road recognizes her, though she was younger last time she was here.”

  “Where did those two go?” Malice asks.

  “Further behind us. The Road shall provide them with their own situations to deal with, to prevent them from interfering with you. But take heed: if you tarry too long, the Road won’t stop them from catching up with you, so you must make sure to travel at a decent clip.”

  “Why was Dorothy summoned also? Martina only mentioned she was summoning the Tin Knight...with the doll.” Suddenly remembering it, she searches the ground, but it’s gone. “Where’d it go?”

  Fred shrugs. “I know not. Perhaps it traveled with those two when the Road receded.”

  “But doesn’t the Road know?”

  “Probably, but it doesn’t share all with me. The ways of the Road are mysterious. You asked why Dorothy was summoned as well... Perhaps it was because, when the Tin Knight was summoned, since they were both joined together at the time, Dorothy was carried along, in a sense.”

  Malice’s face screws up in confusion. “Joined together? What do you mean? She was sitting on him, if that’s what you mean.”

  The Cat snickers.

  Malice looks at him. “What?”

  “How old are you, love?” Fred says.

  “15.”

  “Oh! Well, then, yes, Dorothy was brought along because of the way she was sitting on him.”

  “Which is why they both ended up coming!” the Cat exclaims and chuckles.

  Malice looks at him and makes a face. “Yes, we all know that. Is there some joke I’m not getting? You seem awfully amused at yourself.”

  “I’m just amused by how humans sit sometimes,” the Cat says.

  Fred says, “Why don’t we attend to the upcoming situation. You don’t want Dorothy catching up with you, do you?”

  “No,” Malice says. “Why don’t you have some of your munchkin friends capture Dorothy? Then that problem will be prevented.”

  “The Road won’t allow it,” Fred says. “The Road has its own code of honour. All travelers who enter the road, may travel upon it, and they shall be presented with their own tailor made situations, presented by the Road. Such as the one up next. Follow me, if you please.”

  “Um,” Malice says, afraid to sound too imposing. “Are you just going to leave her there?” She points at Martina.

  “The Road shall take her.” He begins walking toward Sleepy B, and she and the Cat follow.

  As they walk, they hear the Road rumbling behind them. They turn and watch as more bricks form before them, making it appear as if Martina’s body is being carried away with the tide, before it vanishes from sight.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  THEY STEP UP TO THE bedside of the peacefully-slumbering Sleepy B. Her bed looks exactly like the one in the Storyteller’s castle.

  “Hey, psst, Sleepy B, you awake?” Malice says.

  Malice says to Fred, “How is it that she slumbers? She’s not supposed to be able, anymore.”

  Fred says, “The Road has allowed her to, so long as she stays on, or near the path. The Road has great powers, within its domain. But the Ways of the Road are mysterious—it may grant things, or take them away, at its whim—we are all at the mercy of the Greatness of the Yellow Path.” He bows slightly for some reason.

  “I don’t understand. Does the Path wish me to wake her, or let her lie?�
��

  “The Road wishes you to decide these things for yourself. You will be presented a choice. You both shall be...” He snaps his fingers, now looks to the tree, and two munchkins step out from behind it, each holding a platter covered with a metal dome.

  The Cat exclaims, “Ooh, is it brunch time already?”

  Fred shakes his head. “No, Toto. I mean, no, Cat, my assistants are each holding an item, that Malice must soon decide between, but not just yet.”

  Malice considers the two munchkins, standing quietly off to the side. A male and female munchkin, both in their teens, dressed in green. The female munchkin is wearing a plain green dress. The boy munchkin is unremarkable other than a dangling small feather earring he wears.

  “Allo,” Malice says to them and gives a little wave, which gets very slight nods from them, before they go back to their rigid non-speaking servant stances. “Okay, Fred, my good guide, guide me...”

  “Sleepy B is in a fairly deep slumber, but she’s only been asleep a few hours, so the truly deep sleep has not yet begun. You may speak to her briefly, if you are a bit more forceful in your rousing of her.”

  “Should I jostle her?” Malice says.

  “That would be advisable.”

  The Cat says, “Perhaps a few slaps across the face might do her some good. After all, she did tackle you, twice.”

  “Oh, hush, vicious kitty.” Malice shakes Sleepy B’s arm, through the blanket. “Sleepy B, Sleepy B, wake up, love. It’s Malice, I wish to speak to you.” She shakes her arm harder.

  “What? What?” Sleepy B murmurs. “I’m in the middle of a badass dream here.”

  “I’m sorry, love,” Malice says. “But it’s really important I speak to you, right now. Dorothy is after me, so I’m in a bit of a time crunch.”

  “Wha— Dorothy?” One of her eyes cracks open. “Where?” She drowsily sits up against the headboard.

  “She’s not here,” Malice says. “She’s further down the road. She’s with the Tin Knight, and if I take too long, they’ll catch up with me. So, real quick, my guide Fred here—”

  “Oh, hey, Fred,” Sleepy B says. “He and Martina helped me get to bed last night.”

  “Ah, wonderful,” Malice says. “Well, he wanted me to speak to you about a choice. So, wait, what was the proposal?”

  Fred says to Sleepy B, “The Road can offer you eternal slumber, here in its realm. Or, you can get out of bed to accompany Malice on her journey.”

  Sleepy B says, “And then I wouldn’t be able to sleep and have amazing gory dreams anymore, correct?”

  “That is correct,” Fred says.

  “Wait, gory?” Malice says. “I thought you were having a ‘badass’ dream.”

  “Where’s the confusion?” the Cat says.

  “Yes,” Sleepy B says, “It was so glorious because it was gory. Before I was so inconveniently interrupted, I was dreaming that I was a jabberwock, chasing down little girls and tearing them limb from limb.”

  “Oooh,” the Cat says, his voice dripping with appreciation.

  “Blech. Gross,” Malice says and briefly sticks out her tongue in disgust. “I would point out that you yourself are a little girl, Sleepy.”

  “Yes, but it’s a dream. I would never really wish to drench myself in the gore of girls in real life, but in dreams, I can be anything, do anything I want. Why would I ever wish to wake up?”

  “Because your dreams aren’t reality, Sleepy. And our team would miss you. Jabby would miss you. And you’d miss him.”

  Sleepy B gnaws at her lip. “Jabby hasn’t known me that long. He’ll get used to me not being around. And then, he can go live with his fellow monsters, without me around, bugging him.”

  “Aww,” Malice says. “I think he’d miss you terribly. I think you’ll have a lot of time together, in your future, if you just get out of bed. I’d miss you too.”

  The Cat says, “And I’d miss you too, little squirt.”

  “Aww, that’s sweet,” Sleepy B says. “I’ll miss you all, too, but honestly, I can make dream versions of you, and I’d not know the difference. And plus, I’m used to sleeping—it’s even in my name! This bed is where I’ve spent so much of my time. In a way, I’m back home...”

  “But it’s too easy,” Malice says. “You need to face challenges in life, to—”

  “Enough!” Sleepy B snarls. “Now, I’m going back to sleep, and I’m going to sleep forever and ever, and absolutely nothing you say shall ever change my mind! Now, goodnight!” She slumps down and pulls the blanket over her head. The not-very-convincing sound of her snoring begins to issue forth from under the blanket.

  Malice contemplates pulling the blankets down, but Fred says, “Wait, for there are other factors to consider. I speak of those items that lurk beneath the small domes, that you must decide upon—those things that now shall be unveiled.”

  Sleepy B pulls the blanket off her head. “Ooh! It’s like Christmas! Are they presents?”

  “In a way,” Fred says. “But only one item may be selected. And it is Malice who must decide.”

  “Ooh, that’s foreboding,” Sleepy B says.

  “Foreboding?” Fred says with furrowed brow.

  “I just felt like using that word. So what are the two items? And why can’t she choose both? And what does this all have to do with me?”

  Fred presses his palms against the air. “Please, hold off. I’m your guide, so please let me guide you.”

  Sleepy B says, “And so is Martina a guide also. I like her because she’s a fellow girl. Where is she, anyway? You shouldn’t just hog all the guiding fun for yourself.”

  Fred says, “Unfortunately, Martina had to be let go.”

  “Yeah, after you snapped her neck,” the Cat quips.

  “Huh?” Sleepy B says.

  Fred says, “Martina summoned the Tin Knight and Dorothy. There was an incident, and Martina was killed.”

  “Whoa,” Sleepy B says.

  “Yes, it was regrettable,” Fred says. “But let’s move on. Now, Malice, as your guide, you must know that I speak on behalf of the Road, which orchestrates things within this realm. And so...I am informing you, Malice, that you are hereby presented with two choices...”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  FRED WAVES HIS HAND at the two munchkin servants dramatically...but he fails to follow through, and merely stands there expectantly.

  “Unleash the platters!” Sleepy B says and giggles.

  Malice says, “Why don’t you come and stand next to me? We shall face the platters together!”

  “Ohhhh no, Maly. I shall stay snug as a bug here in my bed. I’m just curious what the presents are, that’s all. And as soon as I find out, I’m going to sleep for ever and ever and nothing shall change my mind!” She pulls the blanket over her head.

  Malice sighs. “Enough of the suspense. Let’s see what’s under the platters.”

  “Very well,” Fred says. “I’ll let you select which one to unveil first.” He points at the male munchkin’s plate. “A gift for Sleepy B...” He points at the female munchkin’s plate, as, out of the corner of her eye, Malice sees Sleepy B sneakily pull the blanket off her face.

  Fred says, “Or this platter, an item for you. A present to yourself, as it were.”

  “Let’s see the Sleepy B prezzie.” She hears Sleepy B take a little sharp intake of breath, but doesn’t let on.

  The male servant responds to Fred’s gesture, lifting the dome with a flourish to reveal a long narrow stick-like object, about five inches long.

  “It’s a magical eyeliner pencil,” Fred announces. “It applies black eyeliner that lasts an entire week without smudging or fading. The liner is completely waterproof and stays on during sleep—lasts for seven days, then vanishes completely.” (Sleepy B keeps saying “ooh” and “ahh” and, “whoah.”) “In fact, the only thing that can remove or smudge its application is the special magical smudger tip on the end.” Sleepy B lets out a whistle of appreciation.

  �
�Crikey,” Malice mutters. “I could use such a pencil, myself.”

  “But the pencil will only work on Sleepy B’s eyes, if you choose to gift it to her. But make no mistake—there are limitations to its magic. Sleepy B would still have to apply the eyeliner herself, using a looking glass.”

  “Ooh, but the longevity. A whole week, no smudging,” Sleepy B says, with her voice full of wonder.

  “Oooh, Sleepy B, were you listening in this whole time?” Malice says with a smirk.

  Sleepy B rolls her eyes. “I heard snippets.”

  “Well, what if I were to select this gift for you to have?”

  “I dunno...” Her face screws up as she thinks it over.

  Fred says to her, “You of course realize that in order to use the pencil, you shall have to look in a looking glass, with your eyes open. That means you shall have to be awake.”

  Sleepy B is shaking her head to herself. “But I want to sleep. I want my dreams.” She lets out a whimper.

  “Well there is another object to consider,” Fred says. He gestures at the female servant, who lifts her dome to reveal a black rose flower in a flower pot.

  “Well bugger me,” Malice says. “You sure know my weak spot, don’t you?”

  Fred answers, “Not me. The Road. The Road can offer to you this magic black rose that shall always replenish. However, unlike the eyeliner pencil, the black rose will only work on you, Malice, as long as you never stray far from the Road’s realm. But as compensation for your loyalty, you shall be provided with eternal intoxication.”

  “Ah, much as Sleepy B will be provided the oblivion of eternal slumber.”

  “Ah, that sounds nice,” Sleepy B remarks.

  Malice stares intensely at that potted black rose. She’d thought she’d gotten over her yearning for it, since it had been many days since last she took any. But the sight of that rose has brought her urges surging through her, just as strong as before. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be under the influence of it all the time, for the rest of her life? Maybe that’s what she’d needed all along. No more stupid adventures, and nerve-wracking love triangles—only dark, poetic intoxication, and a blissed-out existence on the Yellow Road.