by Dani Hoots
“Alice,” I heard the voice call again. I saw a flicker of light but I resisted it. I didn’t want to leave this place, I didn’t want to answer who was calling. “Please wake up.”
I felt as if I was moving now, but I told myself it was just the current. I could see the storm above, the clouds a dark grey. That was the outside world up there and I didn’t want any part of it. I was finally free.
The ocean was a majestic blue. It went on for what seemed to be forever. There were no creatures, no people, just me. And I liked it that way.
Something tugged on me. Light flashed through the ocean. I shook my head and fought. “No! I don’t want to leave!”
The force was too great, whatever was trying to take me was succeeding. I felt like I was drowning, I couldn’t breath.
My eyes flashed open to find Malcolm’s lips against mine. Why was he kissing me? I tried to jump back but he held my head firmly in place. I kept pushing him away, trying to get him to let go, let him know I was awake. Mouth-to-mouth was not supposed to keep going. Then I felt something weird, something in my chest, in my heart. It hurt, sharp pain piercing my heart. Malcolm didn’t let go, his lips against mine. Whatever was in my chest felt as if it was coming to my throat.
Was Malcolm sucking? What the heck? What was going on?
He backed away and I saw his eyes. They were black, solid black, like something off of Supernatural. If I had salt, I probably would have thrown it at him just as a reaction. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When his eyes flickered open again, the black was gone.
I looked around to find myself back at the Red and White Kingdom. Everyone was there including Howard. Chase stared at me and it was the first time I had ever seen him scared.
“What happened?” I asked as I tried to catch my breath. “How did I get here?”
“We brought you back,” Chase explained. “I made a few portals, hopefully they won’t figure out which one is correct. They have a one in fifty chance of choosing the right one before they completely close.”
I thought back to the last moments I remembered. I remembered going to the Cirque de Rêves, Morpheus taking me inside. Then the lights shut off. “That darkness...”
“Was Morpheus, he can control the shadows and make you see anything you fear,” Howard explained. “He was successful in engulfing your mind into the darkness. Malcolm and the others brought you back here since you wouldn’t wake up. They had to get you out of there, Morpheus had you in his clutches. You are lucky they were capable of doing that.”
I placed my hand over my mouth, and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to remember that darkness, I didn’t want to ever go back. Everything I worried about, everything that I feared could happen. I had jumped… I felt tears form in my eyes.
“It’s all right Alice, it’s over now. You don’t have anything to worry about with us around.” Malcolm placed his hand on my shoulder. “We won’t let him get to you so easily again.”
I shook my head and pushed away his hand. “I can’t defeat him, not after what I’ve seen him do. There’s no possible way.”
Malcolm just stared down at me, not sure what he should say. I started shuddering at what I had seen, at what I had done. Morpheus was powerful, there was no denying that fact. If he could control me, control what I was thinking, how could I defeat that. I had watched him fight Malcolm with a sword, maybe if I had enough training I could last a while using a sword, but there was so much more than that. He was more powerful than I ever imagined. He could get inside people’s heads and that was the end of that.
How was he even able to do that? How was he able to know what I feared, what anyone feared? Each being here was someone’s dreams back in the real world. That meant that each and every person was dealing with the same darkness that I was facing. If that was the case, if Morpheus was able to get in each and every one of their minds, that meant he was practically in more places than once. How could I defeat that? How could I get him to stop being in my mind, making me see things that weren’t possible? I just wanted to cry, and was, in front of the boys I had just started being friends with. I bet that looked great.
“Alice.” Howard knelt down next to me and looked straight into my eyes. “You are brave, you can defeat him. You were able to go there and come back alive.”
“Only because Malcolm, Chase, and Melvin and Davis were there. Only because they pulled me out and got me to wake up. If I was there alone, I would be gone.”
“But that’s the thing, you aren’t alone. You have friends that will help you. That is where you are stronger than Morpheus. He has no one but himself, and at the end of a battle, that is obvious. You just have to figure out a way to defeat him for good. He is not that strong if you can overcome your fears. The real person you have to beat isn’t Morpheus, but your own thoughts. If you can do that, you can beat him.”
“But why me? Why can’t someone else defeat him with their mind? It already doesn’t affect any of you, why can’t you all just go against him?”
“Because we aren’t a dream. We aren’t connected to any human. It makes it impossible for us to touch him in the end. It has to be someone who has dreams, someone who can get past their fears and believe in something as pure as a dream.”
“But what if I can’t do that?” I asked as I wiped the tears away from my face. “What if he makes it so I never wake up again?”
“I will always be there to wake you up, just remember that,” Malcolm said.
Chase added. “All of us will be, you don’t need to worry about that. Malcolm isn’t the only one who can save you. You have all of us.”
“How did you even wake me up this time?” I asked Malcolm.
“I took the darkness out of you and swallowed it,” Malcolm explained as if it were that simple. I just stared at him. Was that how his eyes were black? Because it really was like having a demon inside of him? It was crazy to think about, and if I wasn’t in Wonderland I don’t think I could have believed it.
“But how?” I persisted. There were so many things that I didn’t understand, things that I wanted to know about. I wondered if I would ever be able to understand everything that was in this world. Probably not.
“Morpheus isn’t the only one who has lived in darkness for most of his life. I’m not afraid of it and have learned to live with my demons,” Malcolm explained. I wondered what exactly he meant by that, what kind of demons could be lurking behind those light eyes of his. Did I want to know? Whatever it was caused Chase not to trust him, to think so poorly of him. What could he have done that made him seclude himself in the Dark Forest?
“But what if you aren’t there? What if I am all alone? How will I wake up?” I asked. And it was a fear of mine, a fear that Morpheus could now use against me. God, I needed to stop thinking. My brain was just causing it to get worse and worse.
Malcolm grabbed my head and forced me to look at him. “You will never be alone, you hear me? I will always be here to protect you. All of us.”
I looked around and found the rest of guys nodding. Even Chase was smiling, trying to reassure me that he would always be at my side, and for some reason out of all of them, I knew I could trust him to be there the most. He never lied to me, always told me exactly what I needed to hear. I smiled.
“Thank you, all of you. I’m sorry I am so weak.”
“You aren’t weak, Morpheus is just very strong,” Malcolm added. “And knows how to find a person’s weakness. All we need to do next is figure out what his weakness is.”
Suddenly bells went off. They rang throughout the kingdom, echoing off all the buildings and statues. I jumped up, not sure what I needed to do. Was it a fire alarm, intruder? What did it mean? Everyone turned to the balcony, staring outside. No one was smiling anymore, a stern look covered each and everyone’s face. Howard pointed at me. “Stay with Alice. All of you. I will go see what it is.”
Quickly, Howard ran outside and stared towards the entrance of the city. I had no idea what t
o do, why I needed to stay where I was. Howard had looked scared and that made me begin to worry all the more.
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
Malcolm didn’t respond to my question, but kept looking towards where Howard had disappeared. “Melvin, Chase, watch Alice. Davis, you come with me.”
Melvin and Chase nodded and Davis hurried off with Malcolm to see what Howard was up to.
“Don’t worry Alice, it’s probably nothing. Sometimes these bells go off because of birds and such. Mosquitoes sometimes. Hell, even I have set it off a few times. Heh, that was fun, wasn’t it Melvin?” Chase smiled, trying to reassure me but I knew better.
Melvin didn’t seem to want to turn his attention back from the doorway. “Yeah, fun. You pulling tricks like that all the time is fun.”
“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?” Chase seemed more bothered by the comment than the alarms sounding. He could keep his cool in almost any situation it seemed. I envied that, and realized it must have been the reason that Morpheus couldn’t control him with fear. Chase knew how to put it in the back of his head, if he even felt fear. At the current moment, it didn’t seem like he did.
“I mean,” Melvin went on, frustrated as his cheeks were beginning to turn red. “This better not be one of your tricks, or I swear to God I will kill you if Malcolm doesn’t get to you first. Hell, if he did I would just find a way to bring you back from the underworld and kill you again.”
Wow, I thought. Harsh. I knew that Chase pulled some pranks, but I knew he wouldn't even go that far to scare us like that. At least, I hoped not. But it made me wonder what other pranks he has pulled to make them think that he could be behind something like this.
“It’s not,” he whispered. “Not after everything…” he stopped talking, realizing he shouldn’t bring it all up. Because we all knew, deep down, that there was only one reason those alarms would sound. Only one reason Howard would look so worried, why Malcolm would leave my side.
Someone was here. Someone had found the base.
CHAPTER 17
Melvin and Chase were silent as we waited for the others to come back. Although it was very likely that they had followed us to the Red and White Kingdom, I still tried to believe that something benign had set off the alarm. I tried to keep positive thoughts, but it was nearly impossible as I watched the concerned look on both Melvin and Chase’s face take shape. Even Chase was beginning to look worried.
I wanted to try and lighten the mood by talking about something, anything really, but I was afraid to make a sound. They could be near us, and if that was the case, then we needed to be extra careful. I wasn’t going to screw this all up again, not that I hadn’t already. It was my fault that they had found us, I shouldn’t have gone to the Circus.
This was really all my fault.
God, I was such a fool thinking I could be any sort of match for Morpheus, that I could make it through going to the Circus. He was stronger, greater than me on so many levels. He could get inside my brain and I had no idea how to get him out.
You are mine, Alice. You will never escape.
I blinked. Was that really him talking or had that just been in my mind, my fear letting him control me.
Does it matter?
I pushed back his voice. This wasn’t the time to worry about such things, this wasn’t the time to have self-doubt. I had to be strong right now, I had to stand up and fight with others if need be,
Howard, Malcolm, and Davis all came back into the castle, looking distraught. So an intruder had made it into the kingdom. We were under attack.
“We have to get out of here.” Howard grabbed a couple of swords and tossed them to Davis and Melvin. I patted my belt, making sure I still had my own katana at my side. “You two take care of her. Get her out of here. Chase, make portals to confuse them. Malcolm and I will hold them off.”
Melvin put his arm around me and guided me towards the exit. “Let’s go Alice.”
I shook my head. “No, I want to fight. I have to help you all. Please let me help.”
Malcolm was the one to respond. “No, you aren’t strong enough yet. We need to get you out of here.”
“But what if something happens to you? What if we don’t find each other again?” I asked, drawing my sword. “I can fight.”
“We will find each other, we will all be okay. But in order for me to fight my best, I can’t have you near the battle. I can’t be worrying about you the entire time, okay? If you want to win, if you want to help, listen to me. Get the hell out of here.”
I stared at him for a moment. He was right, I would be in the way. I would just be a liability. I put my katana away and nodded to Malcolm. “Fine. But promise me that all of you will be okay. Promise me you will come find us and we will defeat Morpheus together.”
Malcolm put his hand on my shoulder. “I promise. Now run.”
Turning to Melvin and Davis, I nodded as we made our way outside. The last thing I saw was the three of them talking to each other, figuring out their battle plan. I just hoped everything would be all right.
“Where are we going to meet with them? Was that even established? I asked, realizing that no one had said anything. My heart started to race even more.
Davis nodded. “We know where to meet up, don’t worry. It’s our second hideout, about eight hours out from here. It’s always been the meet up spot if we were ever attacked.”
That made sense, it wasn’t recently that they had to worry about getting caught. They probably had many backup plans to go off of. “Who is after us?”
“It’s Bill, the man who chased us through the forest earlier,” Davis explained. “He must have been at the Cirque de Rêves waiting for us, he is the only one who can reopen Chase’s portals.”
“And the White Rabbit?”
“No,” Melvin answered. “He can only make portals to your world, not within this world. We figured making so many would take too long to sort out, but if we knew Bill was at the Circus we never would have gone. None of us thought he would be there.”
“But that’s better than Morpheus finding us, isn’t it?” I questioned as we started to pick up our pace. While running, the kingdom seemed even larger, as we still were nowhere near the boundaries.
Davis shrugged. “Really, that all depends on who you ask.”
That was not something I wanted to hear, but I tried not to think about it. I tried not to think about getting captured and going back to that Circus, facing my fears all over again. I shuddered at the thought. No, I would not let him take control of me like that, I would not cower now and let him win. I focused on escaping and making it out fine. It was all I really could do.
We got to the edge of the castle courtyard and were finally in the city itself. I could hear men around us, yelling as they searched us out. We not only had to run, but we also had to be as silent as we could. Melvin grabbed my hand as we could hear a group of men get closer, pulling me around the corner into an alleyway.
At least I knew, that the people I was with had the home field advantage, as this was a place they hid in and knew it like the back of their hands. The soldiers that attacked however, probably haven’t been in this kingdom for decades, if they even had actually been here. I wondered how many of them were dreams, or if they had simply existed here forever like Malcolm and the others.
We didn’t slow down for an instant. Melvin and Davis had a lot more stamina than I gave them credit for. I, on the other hand, did not. The only thing that was pushing me forward was adrenaline and the fact I didn’t want to get caught. My legs ached like never before, even more than the one time I went to racquetball with my sister and her conditioning coach made us do drills like none other. Nice guy, really like a big teddy bear, but you didn’t want to disobey him. Ever.
More yelling surrounded us and I began to wonder if they would find us, if all this running was for nothing. We had weapons, but would it really be enough? Would we be able to escape them if we came face to fac
e? Maybe with the soldiers, but with Bill, I doubted it.
Although I understood how dreams could be clouded in the darkness, I wondered how exactly those who have always been in Wonderland could be affected. That had existed for so long, yet they still had fears. But of what? Melvin, Davis, Chase, and Malcolm hadn’t been affected because they had learned to live with fear, but could it really be possible that they were the only ones who weren’t affected? It was strange to think that people who have lived so long hadn’t learned to live with their fears. Didn’t growing up mean that you could overcome your fears? That was always how I looked at the world. I guess I was wrong.
We hurried further and further into the city, trying to get out into the woods where we could hide much easier, I presumed. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to climb up any more trees, especially without Chase. At least with him, if I fell, he could easily catch me by making a portal.
I wished he was with me, as I felt most safe with him. Even though Bill could open portals, at least Chase could get us away from here and try to trick Bill into going somewhere else.
I hoped that they all were okay.
A couple of soldiers appeared before us, but Davis and Melvin pulled out their swords. Davis had a claymore while Melvin had a saber. It was strange that a lot of the people had different types of swords, but I guess it made sense that after so many years they would all have their own preferences. The soldiers pulled out their rapiers.
Melvin was the first to attack, his saber slashing down towards the soldier. The soldier easily defended against it, but Melvin had only been faking him out. Quickly he turned the blade and swiped from the opposite side, cutting into the soldier’s leg. The man fell to the ground, screaming out in pain, but I could tell he wasn’t out of the fight.
The second soldier headed towards Melvin, stabbing his rapier straight at Melvin. Davis was the one who stepped in this time. He countered the attack with the claymore, which he held almost like a katana. Strength was found at the top of the handle and control near the bottom. It was starting to make more sense when I saw it in action.