Malice in Wonderland Bundle 2

by Lotus Rose

  Malice tries tapping on the top of the cage, calling out to her, rattling the cage. All to no avail.

  The Cook explains, “My apologies, Queen. It’s my sleep concoction. It shall probably be another thirty minutes till she—till they both awaken.”

  And so they wait. Malice and the Cook take the opportunity to chatter. Mostly the Cook talks about his wide array of magical donuts, including ones that can enlarge upon command, those that explode when a flame is touched to them, and of course, those that put the eater to sleep.

  In the middle of him talking about his super elastic donuts that can be flung like rubber bands, the fairy yawns and opens her eyes.

  “Queen Malice!” she shouts. “And the Cook!”

  “So you know who we are,” Malice says. “Who are you, pastry thief?”

  She sits up with a frown on her face. “I’m known as Starfrost. And I’m so very very sorry for stealing your holes. You’re such a good cook!”

  “Why, thank you,” the Cook says, “but you’re in big trouble, young fairy. Why were you stealing my pastry?”

  Starfrost answers, “I had no choice! A very very mean person has captured my brother and won’t release him until I bring back enough donut holes.” While she’s talking, the Hatter sits up and looks down at the cage in confusion.

  Malice looks at him and presses one finger to her mouth.

  Malice says, “Someone’s making you? Who?”

  Starfrost says, “I don’t know who it is. I only know she’s female. She only communicates through written notes, but she made me put on the donut, or else she was gonna kill my brother!”

  Malice is definitely confused. “Donut?”

  The fairy unwraps the heavy scarf, to reveal a donut just the right size to fit around her neck.

  Malice gasps, the Cook sucks a breath through his teeth, and the Hatter says, “My word! Did you know you have a donut around your neck?”

  “Why, yes, I’m aware,” she says then pulls a face.

  “A Collar Donut of Control,” the Cook mutters.

  Malice turns to him. “You know of this form of pastry?”

  The Cook’s eyes look as if he’s staring off in the distance. “Yes. I thought I was the only one who knew how to make them—there was only one other.”

  The fairy says, “Well, that one other must be the one who trapped me in this confounded mothercuddling pastry!” She scowls and stomps her foot.

  “You can’t break it?” Malice asks.

  The Cook says, “Only strong magic can break them, or the death of the person who created it. That is, if it is actually a Collar Donut of Control.”

  “Well how would you be able to tell?” Malice asks.

  “Well…” the Cook says. He asks Starfrost, “What qualities or powers does it have?”

  She answers, “The person who made me put it on can cause it to make me go to sleep, sometimes for hours, and then wake me up again. And also, if I don’t do what she wants, she has used it to choke me. She says she can kill me if she wants. And I can’t remove it. It’s waterproof, and if I even try to remove it, I get that choking sensation again.”

  The Cook pinches the bridge of his nose. “It is just as I feared. It is a Collar Donut of Control. You say you have no idea who made it or who the person is who’s been contacting you?”

  She shakes her head. “None. She’s only ever written notes. She told me to use my fairy magic to steal the donut holes or she’d kill my brother.”

  The Cook says, “The donut shrank to fit around your neck?”

  “Yes!” she wails. “And now I’m completely under her control. She said she wouldn’t release me and my brother until I gathered enough of your donut holes.”

  “For what purpose does she want them?” the Cook asks.

  “I don’t know!” Starfrost wails. “But your pastries are wonderful. I hated having to steal them, but she has my brother!” She puts her face in her hands and sobs.

  Malice feels such pity for the poor fairy and is inclined to trust her, but then Malice’s programming tends to make her feel that way.

  “Damn her,” the Cook says.

  “Do you know who it is?” Malice asks.

  “I have my suspicions. It would have to be a cook on my same level, which is very rare. And I’ve guarded the recipes closely. Only one other I’ve known would know how to do it, and might have a motive to steal from me personally.”

  “Who?” Malice says.

  “The former cook. Her name was Nellie.”

  “Oh my,” the Hatter says. “I thought you killed her.”

  “I thought I had,” the Cook mutters.

  Malice says, “I heard there was a cook before you, serving the Queen of Hearts, but I don’t know all the details…”

  The Cook answers, “I studied under her. She was truly one of the greatest cooks of all time, but she grew jealous of me. One day, she challenged me to a duel to the death. I ended up throwing her off a cliff into a river below. I had assumed she died in the fall… After our duel, I was assigned as the Queen of Hearts’ official cook. No one has heard anything from her since.”

  “Until now,” Malice says. “But why would she want to steal your donut holes?”

  “I don’t know for sure. But I suspect it may be for nefarious purposes. Before our duel, I suspected she was meddling in dark pastry magic. And the donut holes of a master chef hold particularly strong mojo—perhaps she is trying to get back at me by attacking my donut magic.”

  Starfrost offers, “She told me when she collected enough holes, she would let us go. I’m not sure why…”

  The Cook says, “I don’t know much about dark pastry magic, never having dabbled in it myself, but I know that the power of donut holes can be harvested—they can be combined. But I’m not sure exactly what she could do once she gathers enough. But I’m guessing it’s not good.”

  “The dark pastry mistress must be vanquished!” the Hatter shouts overly-loud, causing everyone to jump.

  Malice says, “Well the pastry thievery cannot be allowed to continue, that’s for sure.” To Starfrost, she says, “Are you willing to help us apprehend her?”

  With a shaky voice, the fairy says, “I’m just scared she’ll kill my brother, and she could kill me too, as long as I wear this control donut!”

  Malice says, “I promise we’ll do the best we can to help you and your brother. There will be risks, but this woman can’t be allowed to continue her evil-doing. So are you willing to help us?”

  Starfrost lets out a breath of air. “Yes, I want to make this right. I feel terrible for what I did.”

  Malice says, “I understand you were forced, so as Queen, I can guarantee there shall be some leniency in your punishment. But let’s focus on freeing your brother and bringing the pastry witch to justice. Now, you are supposed to deliver the donut holes. I think you should make that delivery, with us watching from a safe hiding place…”

  Chapter 44

  And so, they choose to trust Starfrost—they return the sack of donut holes to her.

  She is scheduled to drop the donut holes off at a set location at 2 PM. She says the Collar Donut of Control is always used to put her asleep for several hours after each drop-off.

  The drop-off point is a tree stump from a cut-down tree, in a forest, making it easy for Malice, the Hatter and Cook to hide.

  And so they hide and wait.

  A minute before 2, the fairy sets the sack upon the stump, before lying upon the ground—she says she does so to avoid falling when she’s put to sleep.

  A few dozen seconds after 2, she lays her head down and closes her eyes.

  A few minutes pass, then from amongst the trees comes a woman in a white cook’s uniform and hat. She looks to be in her thirties.

  “It’s her. It’s Nellie, the former cook,” the Cook whispers.

  The former cook looks around, then picks up the sack, while the fairy sleeps just inches away from her feet.

  The plan is to f
ollow her—they want to get back to wherever she lives, in order to rescue the fairy’s brother.

  Malice and the others trail the former cook as she departs. They travel that way for about ten minutes, until the former cook approaches a log cabin in a clearing in the forest.

  They are astounded to see a giant donut hole next to the house! It rests upon a cellophane sheet on a platform and the confounded sphere of pastry must be about eight feet in diameter!

  An outside iron oven is a few feet away from the donut hole. Numerous tables are set about, covered in utensils and cooking tools, as well as a few chairs. Malice doesn’t see the fairy’s brother, but hopefully he’s inside the cabin.

  The former cook sets the sack upon one of the tables as the group watches from their hiding spot behind a large tree. They are each armed with a little bag of magic powdered sugar, that when inhaled, puts a person to sleep.

  All they have to do is sneak up on the former cook and blow some of the powder in her face.

  They watch, waiting for an opportunity. When the former cook enters the hut, they know the opportunity has come. They can wait outside the doorways, and when she comes out again, easily cloud her face in sleeping-sugar before she even realizes what hit her.

  Malice whispers to the Cook for him to sneak around through the forest to the back of the cabin, to cover any possible rear door. He nods and departs.

  The Hatter will cover the front door, and Malice intends to inspect the sides for any doors there. They cautiously step forward, as they begin their approach. There is a single lone tree next to the cabin, and they rush to hide behind it.

  While they’re making their way around the tree to the front door, Malice feels something across the front of her calf. She looks down to see the tripwire.

  It’s too late. White powdery substance falls on them, then everything goes black.

  “Wake up,” someone says, as Malice feels a slap across her cheek.

  She blearily opens her eyes to see the former cook’s face grinning wickedly at her.

  “Thought you could sneak up on me, aye?”

  Malice blinks in confusion, trying to regain her bearings. She is seated next to the Hatter, who is already awake.

  They are both tied to chairs, facing that giant donut hole about ten feet away, behind the former cook.

  Malice struggles to focus on the blurry image of the former cook.

  The former cook says, “Why were you two trying to sneak up on me with your sleeping sugar, Queeny?”

  Finally, Malice’s vision has cleared. “We received word that you had kidnapped a fairy.”

  The former cook cackles. “Why so I have! I was using him to force his sister to steal your cook’s donut holes. I can see on your face that you’re just dying to know why.” She gives forth a little smug chuckle. To Hatter, she says, “How about you? Would you like to know?”

  He answers, “Is it nefarious?”

  “Indeed. Quite nefarious.”

  “Then, yes.”

  “Very well, you crazy son of a bitch. I’ve heard how mad you are. But you want a story? I have secretly been gathering the Cook’s stolen donut holes, and have been using dark magic to combine them to create that giant donut hole you see before you, the donut hole that shall be the instrument of your death!”

  Malice gasps.

  The Hatter giggles in an unhinged manner, before saying, “Are you going to roll it atop us?”

  “No, my little crazy Hatter, I intend to have it absorb you! For you see, I intend to turn you two into donut holes, yourselves.”

  The Hatter giggles. “That’s silly.”

  Malice frowns. “What are you going on about?”

  The former cook gives a quirky grin before walking to a table where two large glazed donuts sit amongst the various cooking implements. She picks one of the donuts up—it’s about five feet in diameter.

  “Crikey!” the Hatter exclaims. “That shall definitely give me a tummy ache trying to eat that thing.”

  The former cook says, “I don’t intend you to eat it. I intend you to wear it…to your funeral!”

  The Hatter sniffs. “Does it require a tie?”

  Malice opens her mouth to speak, but the former cook raises a finger to silence her. “Allow me to explain. The reason I have been making that huge donut hole is because I have used dark magic to turn it into a donut hole attractor. The larger the huge donut hole gets, the stronger its attractive force. It is a bit like the gravitational pull from a planet. And I can tell from your faces that you are confused.”

  “Yes, I’m not quite sure I follow you,” Malice says.

  “I’ll try again,” the former cook says. “The giant donut hole pulls the center of donuts toward itself with a magical force.” She waggles the donut in her hand. “Now, this donut has nothing in the center, so the giant donut hole doesn’t attract it. But, if it still had its doughy center, the giant donut hole would suck it out and pull it in, like gravity.”

  “And then what would happen to it?” Malice asks.

  “It would be absorbed inside.”

  The Hatter, in a sad voice, says, “It would kill the donut hole?”

  The former cook answers, “Its pastry material would be absorbed into the totality of the ball. I know that for a fact. But I am most curious as to what will happen when it draws in human flesh.”

  Malice’s mechanical heart thunders in her chest. “You intend to throw us into that thing?”

  The former cook says, “Aren’t you curious as to why I’m building a giant donut hole?”

  The Hatter says, “So you can suck out the holes from all the donuts?”

  The former cook grins. “You may be mad, but there’s some intelligence there.”

  Malice says, “Maybe it’s because he’s mad that he figured out your insane plot.”

  “It’s not insane at all,” she says. “Merely a matter of building the donut hole up big enough. At its current size, it will suck the holes out of any donut within a fifty foot radius. But as I build it up, using the Cook’s donut holes, eventually the donut hole shall grow big enough to instantly suck out the holes of any donuts in Wonderland.” She leans her head back and cackles. “Mwahhahaha.”

  “Good god, woman!” the Hatter proclaims. “You’re mad!”

  “Quite,” she says, and gives him a wink. “Like it?”

  He says, “Well, yes, it is alluring, but you’re applying your madness to nefarious purposes.”

  “Nefarious! That’s me!” She gives forth another cackle.

  The Hatter says, “One thing I don’t understand, is why are you stealing the Cook’s holes. Are they really so special?”

  The former cook lets forth a howl of rage. “Yes! Of course they are! He’s the greatest cook in the land, so the power of his pastries are particularly strong!”

  With a raised brow, Malice says, “So he’s better than you?”

  “Yes!” she shouts. “He’s bloody better than me, alright? His morsels, his pastries, even his barbecue are all heavenly and divine. Nothing I can make could ever surpass his culinary delights! But I shall make him pay! I shall make you all pay! Oh, I shall! For soon, all his donuts shall have their holes stolen. And so too, shall all of the donuts throughout Wonderland!” Again, she cackles. “But unfortunately for you two, you shan’t live to see the fruition of my global domination of donut holes! Mwahahaha!”

  Malice stares, terrified and wide-eyed at her, at a loss for words.

  The Hatter says, “There can be no fruition of pastries. They’re totally different food groups! Totally different food groups!” he repeats for emphasis.

  The former cook peers at him for several long moments. She cocks her head to the side to ponder him, before shaking her head to clear it. “You shan’t live to see the results, because of these…” She waggles the overly-large donut in her hand.

  The Hatter says, “But the donut hole has already been cut from it.” He is obviously very confused.

  The fo
rmer cook grins amiably. “I shall have to explain it to you, so you may be suitably terrified.” Meanwhile the Cook creeps from the side of the cabin, sneaking up behind her. “You see, these are special, magical donuts known as Donuts of Constriction. When they’re placed around a person, they shrink until they’re constraining them.”

  “But we’re already tied up,” the Hatter says.

  “Ah,” she says, “but when I put these donuts around you two, the result shall be much more attractive. For you see, once the donuts close around you, you shall essentially become the inside filling of the donut, a human donut hole that the giant donut hole shall draw into itself. But due to the magical bonding properties of the donuts, you won’t be sucked out of the donuts. Instead, it shall suck both you and the donuts into its pastry hug of doom! Mwahhahaha!”

  The Hatter shouts, “You defile the notion of pastry!”

  The former cook turns and looks behind herself, to the sound of the Cook’s footstep.

  “Pastry blasphemer!” he shouts, then rushes toward her while blowing a cloud of powdered sugar from his palm.

  But he’s too far away, and the former cook steps to the side of the Cook. She rushes at him, attempting to press the donut over his body, but he blocks it with his hands, gripping both sides of the donut.

  They glare at each other with their faces inches apart.

  “You!” the former cook snarls. “I’m going to kill you!” She jostles at the donut, still trying to press it onto the Cook’s body.

  The Cook snarls back. “And you, are already dead! Because you betrayed the goodness of your own pastry!” He places one foot behind the former cook’s leg and presses her body backward, causing her to trip and fall to the ground.

  As she falls, she lowers her arms to break her fall, and the Cook slips the donut over her head, over her upper body, over her arms.

  The donut tightens immediately and her arms are tightly bound to her side. “No!” she shouts. “You were always the best! It’s not fair! I was supposed to kill—”

  The donut hole sucks her towards itself, lifting her through the air. For a moment, she is pressed to the outer surface of the donut hole, screaming in terror, before the hole absorbs her.