by Cameron Jace
Table of Contents
Prologue
Epilogue
Present: The River near the Radcliffe Asylum
The River
White Hearts Hospital, London
Past: The Poison Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland, England
Present: The River, London
Black Chess Headquarters
The River, London
Past: The Poison Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland,
Present: A helicopter above the River
The Vatican
A helicopter away from the River
Past : The Poison Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland, England
Present: Warehouse location, London
King’s Cross train station, London
Warehouse location, London
In London
Past: Wonderland
Present: Warehouse in the London
Past: Wonderland, Wedding Day
King’s Cross Station, London
Ice-Cream Truck, Out of the Warehouse
Present: Ice-cream Truck, London
Warehouse, an hour earlier
Ice-cream Truck
King’s Cross Station in London
Present: Fly Emirates Airplane
Present: King’s Cross Train Station
Somewhere in Chaos of London’s Streets
Present: Ice-Cream Truck
Present: The Bird Bar in London
The Bird Bar, London
Heathrow Airport, London
Mr. Jay’s Headquarters
Mr. Jay’s Interrogation Room.
Present: The Kew Garden
Mr. Jay’s Interrogation Room
The Kew Garden
A Phone Booth in London.
BBC REPORT
Outside the Kew Garden
The Mushrooms in the Kew Garden
Everywhere in London
Past: Alnwick’s Gardens
An Elementary school in London
Phone Booth, London
Somewhere in London
A century ago: Room 14, the Radcliffe Asylum,
Yellow School Bus
Yellow School Bus / Carolus
Afterword
Mushrooms
Insanity 8
Cameron Jace
Contents
Prologue
1. Present: The River near the Radcliffe Asylum
2. The River
3. White Hearts Hospital, London
4. Past: The Poison Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland, England
5. Present: The River, London
6. Black Chess Headquarters
7. The River, London
8. Past: The Poison Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland,
9. The River, London
10. Past: The Poison Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland, England
11. Present: A helicopter above the River
12. The Vatican
13. A helicopter away from the River
14. Past : The Poison Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland, England
15. Present: Warehouse location, London
16. King’s Cross train station, London
17. Warehouse location, London
18. In London
19. Warehouse location, London
20. The Vatican
21. Warehouse Location, London
22. Past: Wonderland
23. Present: Warehouse Location, London
24. Past: Wonderland
25. Present: Warehouse in the London
26. Past: Wonderland, Wedding Day
27. Present: Warehouse Location, London
28. King’s Cross Station, London
29. Ice-Cream Truck, Out of the Warehouse
30. PAST: Wonderland
31. Present: Ice-cream Truck, London
32. Warehouse, an hour earlier
33. Ice-cream Truck
34. King’s Cross Station in London
35. Ice-cream Truck
36. Past: Wonderland
37. Present: Fly Emirates Airplane
38. Ice-Cream Truck
39. Past: Wonderland
40. Present: King’s Cross Train Station
41. Somewhere in Chaos of London’s Streets
42. Ice-Cream Truck
43. Past: Wonderland
44. Present: Ice-Cream Truck
45. Past: Wonderland
46. Present: The Bird Bar in London
47. Ice-Cream Truck
48. The Bird Bar, London
49. Ice-Cream Truck
50. Heathrow Airport, London
51. Ice-Cream Truck
52. Mr. Jay’s Headquarters
53. Ice-Cream Truck
54. Mr. Jay’s Interrogation Room.
55. Past: Wonderland
56. Present: The Kew Garden
57. Mr. Jay’s Interrogation Room
58. The Kew Garden
59. Mr. Jay’s Interrogation Room
60. The Kew Garden
61. A Phone Booth in London.
62. The Kew Garden
63. Past: Wonderland
64. BBC REPORT
65. The Kew Garden
66. Outside the Kew Garden
67. The Mushrooms in the Kew Garden
68. Everywhere in London
69. The Kew Garden
70. Past: Alnwick’s Gardens
71. BBC REPORT
72. The Mushrooms in the Kew Garden
73. Mr. Jay’s Headquarters
74. An Elementary school in London
75. Phone Booth, London
76. The Kew Garden
77. Somewhere in London
78. A century ago: Room 14, the Radcliffe Asylum,
79. Yellow School Bus
80. Yellow School Bus / Carolus
Epilogue
Afterword
Other Books by Cameron Jace
About the Author
Prologue
Past: Wonderland
“March, wake up,” the voice said.
Pricking his ears, the March Hare stumbled out of his bed. His house was small. It smelled of carrots and six o’clock tea — for the six o’clock tea felt exquisitely different from a five o’clock tea.
“Don’t panic, it’s me,” the voice said.
The March’s house was dark. It was a rabbit hole he had dug for himself in the soils of Wonderland. The Hatter had offered him a teacup as a house once — a large teacup the size of a tree house — but the March preferred his own hole in the ground. He’d always wondered if he should have called it the Hare Hole instead of a rabbit hole, but he didn’t want anyone to know where he lived.
“I’m Carroll,” the voice whispered. “Lewis Carroll.”
“How can I know that for sure?” the March put his glasses on as if they would help him see in the dark.
“You can put the light’s on, March.” The voice said.
“I don’t have lights in here. It’s a hole,” the March said. “Besides, I have a light bulb in my head.”
“Stop that,” the voice kept whispering. It sounded impatient. “I’m Lewis Carroll. Charles Dodgson. I gave you your name: March Hare.”
“Okay?” the March leaned toward the opening of his house, a small window looking outside. In the dark, he could barely see Lewis’ face. “Holy carrots,” the March said. “It’s really you.”
Lewis looked worried, borderline scared. He wore his priest outfit again. “I need your help.”
“My help?” the March said. “No one ever needs me.”
“Listen. You’re wasting my time! I need to be able to trust you, March.”
“Trust?” the March’s ears pricked again. They hurt when he was excited. “You are going to tell me a secret?”
“A big one, March.”
&n
bsp; “How big?”
“Big enough that I’m afraid your head is too small for it. I’m afraid you will end up telling someone else.”
“I can’t keep a secret, but I really want to know.”
Lewis seemed disappointed. The March acted like a child most of the time, but he couldn’t help it. He liked being a child, full of hope and imaginary friends.
“I’ll tell you part of it, then,” Lewis said.
“Part of a secret is still a secret.”
“I guess so.”
“Why me, Lewis? I’m the stupidest person in Wonderland.”
“You’re not stupid. You’re kind — and naive.”
“Naive?” the March grabbed for a teacup. “Let’s have some tea then. You seem stressed.”
“There is no time for tea,” Lewis snatched the cup away. Usually, Lewis was never this tense. “Listen to me!”
“Of course, Lewis. Calm down. What do you want to talk to me about?”
“The Six Keys.”
“Six keys?” the March scratched his temples. “Ah, you mean the Six Impossible Things. I’ve never figured that out—“
“The Six Impossible Things is a metaphor I made up for the Six Keys.”
“Oh, impossible keys. I like that.”
“It’s all a metaphor,” Lewis insisted. “They aren’t really six keys.”
“They aren’t?”
“They are, and they aren’t.”
The March got dizzy.
“I know it’s puzzling. The Six Keys are the most important things in the world, March.”
“If you say so, Lewis. But why?”
“They protect a most precious thing.”
“Precious?”
“Precious beyond imagination.”
“Protects it from whom?”
“Black Chess.”
“And you have them?”
“I have them, and I don’t have them.”
“Hmm… this so hard to understand. But also why tell me about the most important thing in the world? I’m just a Hare. I’m useless.”
“You’re not. You’re going to play a huge role in saving the world.”
“The world? You mean Wonderland.”
“No, the world. The whole world with all its hidden dimensions and realms.”
“Oh,” the March scratch his temple. “So they are really keys? I mean like normal.”
Lewis smiled. The March had had a genuine concern. “March,” Lewis said. “This is the trick.”
“What trick?”
“As I said, the Keys are keys, but they’re also not keys.”
1
Present: The River near the Radcliffe Asylum
We’re in the river, stuck inside a boat, me, Constance, the March Hare, Tom Truckle and the Mushroomers. The sound of bullets is deafening. The shouting voices from the land are creeping me out. Waltraud and Ogier are lining people up, giving them guns or encouraging them to swim over and kill us.
A man, who could easily be some girl or boy’s father, is holding a semi-automatic and is staring at us. His loving eyes are two knobs of dark obsidian anger right now. He prepares to shoot at us.
“This isn’t Inklings against Dark Chess,” I mumble with fear. “This is World vs. Wonderland.”
“Which sounds bonkers already,” Tom Truckle can’t help himself. He shudders behind me. A coward with no ability to defend anyone. “You mad Mushroomers. Get away from me!”
I want to tell him to swallow some of his pills, so he shuts up, or I swear I will drown him in the river. But he has lost them in the escape. It’s Ironic how the Director of Radcliffe Asylum is the maddest among us now.
“Get out of the way, loser,” Constance pushes Tom away and addresses the Mushroomers. “Man up and fight back!”
All we have are a few boats. March and Tom are on mine. March is unconscious. Tom is talking gibberish and not helping.
I am still eyeing the man with the semi-automatic, wondering if he is going to shoot. Waltraud and Ogier seem to be organizing something. A proper way to attack us?
But no, I get it. They can’t swim over and have to wait for us coming to shore.
“I am sure that soon they will be shooting us from above or something,” Constance says. “They want us out of the water.”
“What do you think they have in mind?” I ask her.
“I don’t think. I know,” she points away. “Can’t you see it?”
“What?” I squint.
“Look, Alice. Look.”
Then I see it. “Oh,” I fight the urge to clamp a hand over my mouth. In the distance, troops of soldiers are arriving. “This is war.”
“And I thought we were at a picnic,” Constance makes fun of me. “Lead us, girl. You’re the chosen one.”
Her words cut through me. I am afraid I might not be the chosen one. But hell, I have to be.
“This is like a zombie movie,” another Mushroomer squeaks. “The world wants to wipe us out.”
“I can’t believe it,” Constance mumbles, still pointing at the soldiers. I look again and realize it’s not just troops that are coming for us. I see tanks approach the shore.
“This is going to suck,” I mumble back.
“Didn’t I tell you, you’re not the Real Alice,” Tom can’t stop, “You’re just a mad girl in the asylum. And the Pillar was madder. Now he is dead. We have no one to save us.”
Constance has her hands on her waist. She blows out a long sigh and stretches her neck. Then she pulls a rope from the bottom of the boat and walks over to Tom. In a flash, she binds his hands behind his back.
“If you don’t stop talking, I’ll duct-tape your filthy mouth,” she tells him. Then the tough girl comes back to me and says, “All good, boss.”
2
The River
Lost in my thoughts, I feel sorry for the Mushroomers. I feel like I have let them down. They must think life was much saner inside the asylum, in the comfort of a cell and guaranteed meals every day. The Mush Room and the pain are paradises compared to being outside. Being mad isn’t that bad. Being hated and humiliated tops the pain a million times.
I’d like to pretend I’m the strongest girl in the world, but I am not. I can save myself. I can save Constance — and the March. How am I supposed to get all those Mushroomers out alive?
“Alice!” Constance shouts at me, waking me up from my haze.
I hear her but am unable to speak. Tears are about to roll down my eyes. I hold them back. All the enthusiastic words I’ve just told Constance minutes ago mean nothing to me right now.
I know we need to get the Mushroomers to a safe place. I know we need to wake up the March and save his life, then find out whatever secret he wanted to tell us before he passed out. But none of this matters, as I start to feel lost and unable to help anyone, even myself.
“Alice!” Constance’s voice is getting fainter. The noise of the battle is just a hiss in the background. A monotonous silence clogs my ears. I am all in my head now.
All I am thinking about is that maybe I am just mad. Perhaps none of this is really happening. Maybe I am in a Mush Room somewhere, shocked to death, in hopes for a cure. It could all be a nightmare in the head of a girl struggling with facing everyday’s life, like everyone else.
What the hell is wrong with me? Even if I am mad, why do I feel this way?
My gaze diverts toward the asylum. Suddenly, I know what’s troubling me. It’s not that I am a coward or lazy or unable to stand for myself and my friends. I’ve done it a hundred times before. This time it’s different.
My eyes are still fixated on the place that has just burned down with Jack and the Pillar inside.
A bitter laugh tickles my lips. It reminds me that maybe Jack is all in my imagination as well.
Please let it all be a crazy girl’s dream.
“Alice!” Constance’s voice slowly surfaces back. “Alice!”
It’s not a dream. It just isn’t. And it sucks. I’ll have to wa
ke up and turn around and face the day. I’ll have to pretend that I know what I am doing and be there for everyone counting on me.
Before I do, the image of the burning asylum behind us reminds me of the Pillar. Damn you, strange and wicked man. If my life isn’t a dream, then who are you?
And Jack, whether you’re a figment of my imagination or not, I know I love you. I don’t have time to ask what you were doing inside, or why you pretended you were the Dude. I just don’t have time for the two most important men in my world, because now they are gone.
I take a deep breath, my eyes open wide. The world is in chaos. My friends need my help, and I have to come up with a solution. In the back of my mind, I wonder if I am anything useful without the Pillar. He has always been there for me, with all his devious plans and motives. I, Alice Wonder, now wonder if I can do it alone.
The man with the semi-automatic shoots. I pull Constance and duck with her, face planted to the bottom of the boat. She stares at me in shock.
“You saved my life,” she says.