Trapped in Wonderland (Wonderland Chronicles Book 1)

by Dani Hoots

I nodded, trying my best to ignore the singing, but it was nearly impossible. With every step I took, it got louder and louder, even when I covered my ears with my hands I could still hear it. It was that persistent. My mind couldn’t do it any longer and before I knew it, the voices had gained formation in my head.

  “Listen to our song, most majestic one, it’s just a little tune, to make anyone swoon. A lullaby just for you, help you sleep most precious Sue,” whatever it was sang in an innocent, child-like voice.

  My body became tired, weak, as if my energy was being sucked dry. I couldn’t think straight, everything started to turn into a blur. How could I become so sleepy at a time like this, it made no sense. But the thought of a soft, comfy bed was to die for. All I wanted to do was curl up with a blanket next to the fire, snow falling outside gently as the smell of cocoa came from the kitchen. It was perfect, something I just wanted to dream about and the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that if I fell asleep right now, I could enjoy it. I started to collapse on the ground when someone grabbed me.

  “Up we go.” Kenny pulled me up on his back to carry me. I didn’t resist but simply rested my head on his shoulder. “Don’t fall asleep, never fall asleep with that disastrous tune in your head. Bloody flowers, such a nuisance to anyone and everyone. They don’t care about anything except for their next meal.”

  My eyelids drooped but I tried my hardest to fight it. In between my slow blinking, I saw them, flowers rocking back and forth. Daffodils, roses, tiger lilies. They were all singing, they were the ones trying to make us fall asleep. Why we didn’t just bypass them, I didn’t know. Maybe there was no way around them, I didn’t know. My mind couldn’t think in a straight line, but I knew I had to try my best to stay alert, just in case.

  The sound slowly died away as we moved further and further into the forest. My strength started to come back to me at last, and I felt strong enough to be able to walk. None of the others seemed to be phased by the flowers, which made me feel a bit weak in contrast. I wasn’t used to this place, though, it wasn’t like there was anything in the real world that I could have any practice with. I slapped Kenny on the side of the shoulder to let him know I was awake and ready to be let down. He set me down on the ground.

  “What they hell was that?” I asked as I stretched. Energy was slowly coming back and it felt great.

  “The Garden of Live Flowers,” Malcolm answered.

  “Which means what?”

  “Which means,” Chase said. “That they are living beings that feed off anything that they find. They get their victims to lay on the ground and fall asleep, then they wrap their roots around you and suck the life out of your body. Your blood becomes their juice and everything else their food in a sense. Most of them have been destroyed in Wonderland, except in the Dark Forest. No one wants to deal with the things here so most people try and avoid the area. They must have been real hungry because they weren’t trying to hide the fact that they were there.”

  They sounded grotesque. I couldn’t imagine a plant doing such things. They were supposed to be such lovely things, not creatures that killed for food. Well, except for the Venus flytrap, but that was different. Well, it wasn’t, it was just like that but at a bigger scale.

  “Why didn’t we just go around them?”

  “Because there isn’t a way around them. They are essentially the wall that keeps people out of the Dark Forest. They are just the beginning of all the horrible things this forest contains. They don’t let anything in, but neither do they let anything out,” Malcolm explained. “That is, unless you are used to their lullaby.”

  I didn’t want to think of what worse things there could be in this forest. The more we strode further into the forest, the more I wondered if the Circus was indeed safer.

  “So does that mean you all are used to the song? How is that?” I asked.

  No one answered, but each of them glanced at Malcolm. Bill was the only who smiled. “Simple for me, really, I used to listen to their song for fun when I was exiled out here, hoping for a good night’s sleep. Even uprooted one and planted it in my room, didn’t I Malcolm? Those were the good ol’ days when we didn’t have to worry about any rules or nothin’. But I guess it’s better this way, having a sane mind and all.”

  “You are everything but sane, Knave,” Chase commented. “And the Mad Hatter here has never lost his name.”

  Malcolm shot Chase a look and before they began their never-ending argument, I decided to intervene. “How do we know Bill won’t follow us?”

  “Because, this place is too dangerous, even for him,” Melvin explained.

  “But what about the portal? Why didn’t they just use that?”

  “It would have been very tricky for him to open a portal in midair where if he messed up, he would crash into the ocean below,” Malcolm explained. “We actually planned it out, instead of just going on a whim and getting captured.” Malcolm eyed Chase. I had forgotten, Chase was the one who grabbed me and put me up in the tree where Bill had found me. I didn’t blame Chase, there was no way Bill should have been able to find the right portal, yet somehow he did.

  “It wasn’t my fault,” Chase argued.

  Malcolm stopped and turned around to face Chase. “What do you mean it wasn’t your fault? We had a plan and you didn’t stick to it!”

  “If we stuck to the plan, we would have all been dead and Alice would have still been captured!” Chase retaliated.

  Malcolm jabbed at Chase’s collarbone. “If you didn’t bring Alice to the Circus in the first place, we wouldn’t have needed a plan! Because of you and your big mouth, Howard is dead!”

  Kenny held out his hand. “Malcolm, calm down. It isn’t that bad. Just calm down.”

  “I would be calm if this cat didn’t always screw things up for us.”

  Chase frowned and the two boys glared at each other for a moment.

  Chase shook his head and turned away from Malcolm. “Fine, I can tell that I’m not wanted. You don’t need me anyway, this is your turf, not mine, Mad Hatter.”

  He turned and started into the forest, running away from the group. I watched in horror, as he would be all alone in the Dark Forest, a place where horrors simply awaited us all. I knew Chase was mad, but it was an idiotic reason to split from the group.

  I glanced to Malcolm. “You can’t let him just run off like that.”

  “I can’t?” he sarcastically replied.

  I shook my head. “No, because friends don’t leave other friends behind.” I started after him.

  “No, Alice, wait!” Malcolm called after but it was too late. I was already out of sight from them, as I headed after Chase.

  CHAPTER 23

  I regretted running off from Malcolm and the others, but Chase was a friend and I really believed that friends never turned their back on one another. Even if he messed up, it wasn’t a reason to completely kick him out of the group, especially when he was trying to do what he thought was right. Besides, they always tried to help me, it was my turn to return the favor.

  I pushed through the scraggly branches, the sharp edges hooking on my clothes and ripping them. Blood stained areas where my skin got caught as well and I grimaced, hoping that none of them were poisonous. It was an afterthought, really, so from then on I made sure none dug into my skin. I kept going on further, pushing myself further and further into the woods. There was no turning back now.

  Especially since I didn’t know the way I had come.

  Even though I had run straight after him, I still didn’t see any sign of Chase. There were no more singing plants, which I was thankful for, but the fog seemed to have grown thicker and thicker as I went on. Moisture began to form on my hands, reminding me of a dark moonless night I had gotten lost in when I was younger. I heard croaking of frogs around me but had no idea from what direction they came. The trees bounced every noise off of them, making everything seem to come from every which way.

  Just like home.

&nb
sp; I was glad Wonderland wasn’t in a desert because I don’t think I would have known how to handle that. No trees, and only sun and sand forever. No, all of those things were foreign to me, especially the sun. Being almost through October, that wasn’t something I was going to see for another five or six months. At least, in the real world. Here, on the other hand, was a different story. The sun existed, somewhere above me, I just had to get out of these woods and I would see it.

  At least I hoped there was a way out.

  Coming upon what appeared to be a clearing, I stepped out onto soft grass, at least I hoped it was grass. It was mushy like grass was in fog, but since the mist covered everything on the ground, I really wasn’t sure.

  When I got to the clearing I saw a rectangular figure covered in moss and blue-star-creeper. I looked up in the sky, or where there should have been sky as branches still covered the sky. Curious what the rectangle was, I got closer until I realized it was a table, or at least an object that used to be a table.

  “What’s a table doing way out here?” I mumbled under my breath. Even when I was alone I couldn’t stand silence and mumbled to myself. Yes, I was a freak, but I honestly accepted it.

  I touched the moss, the fuzz tickling my fingers. In random spots, there were hard bumps underneath. I stuck my finger deeper into the moss, which in retrospect could have been bad, and pulled the item out from underneath the table. It was half a tea cup.

  I gasped. “This is...”

  I dug for another item. A teapot. A spoon. A plate.

  “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. This is where the original Alice first met Malcolm.”

  I glanced around again. This wasn’t the happy scene that was told in the story. No, this was dark and dank. Question was, had it always been this way? And if so, what exactly went on at these tea parties? I wouldn’t think tea would be easy to come by way out here, especially if Malcolm never bothered to leave this place until Alice came around.

  I set the items back down on the table and laughed. I couldn’t believe what I had found. If only Malcolm were here, I could ask him more questions about what really happened, if he would even answer my questions. Thinking of Malcolm reminded me that I was lost, looking for Chase.

  As I began to move back towards the forest, I felt something brush up against my leg. Stopping, I looked down. I couldn’t see anything. Damn mist.

  I took a deep breath, trying to calm my beating heart down. “It’s all right, just a leaf or something. Nothing to be afraid of.”

  Then again something went past my leg. All of a sudden I was pulled down onto the ground. All I could see was white.

  “Come, walk into my parlor,” a voice whispered into my ear. It didn’t sound earthly, but something of a screeching nature.

  “Who are you? What are you?” I asked, trying to see if I could get a good look of what ever it was.

  The creature stepped forward, closer, with its eight red glowing eyes staring at me. It was a spider. A frigging huge spider. “Will you come, will you?”

  I shrieked as I scrambled to get back up. The worse scene in all of The Lord of the Rings and I was going to be living it. Why was I so unlucky all of a sudden?

  “No, no, don’t go, you must come and see. You must come into my parlor,” One of its eight legs brought me back down.

  “I don’t want to see your parlor!” I yelled. “I want out of here!”

  “Oh, but you must! You must! It is the nicest parlor you ever did see!”

  “No!” I kicked and kicked but I could not get loose from the spider’s grasp. It spat out white webbing, encasing me in the yarn-like material that seemed stronger than steel. I struggled and tried to reach for my katana but I couldn’t move my arms. I was trapped. As it wrapped me around and around with sticky webbing, I screamed for help. Now I knew how Frodo felt, but for some reason that wasn’t a reassuring thought whatsoever.

  “I have so many curious things to show you my dear—” It began when suddenly the creature let out a petrifying scream. It backed off of me and screamed again. Firm arms helped me up. Once I was out of the fog, I could see my rescuer’s face.

  “Chase, thank God!”

  He helped pull the webbing off of me, slashing it with his knife. “What are you doing here?”

  I took in a few deep breaths, still frightened about the spider. “I came looking for you.”

  “How could you be so stupid to separate from the others?” He exclaimed, serious fear in his eyes. Had he really been that worried about me?

  I frowned, mad at the attitude he was giving me after I came to help him. “I could ask the same about you.”

  “But I have lived in these woods before, you have not. I know what to look out for.” He pointed into the fog. “Like those spiders.”

  I shivered at the thought of that spider. “Thank you for saving me.”

  “I’m just glad you are all right, otherwise I probably would have been blamed.” He sat up on the table. “Just like with everything else.”

  I sat next to him. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Malcolm sure thinks so, and Davis and Melvin probably agree. I screwed up. I shouldn’t have told you about us going to the Circus.”

  I placed my hand on his back. “It’s all right, you knew I had the right to know. It was my choice, I should have been smarter and not followed you. Or stronger and not let Morpheus get in my head.”

  He shook his head. “No, there was no way you were prepared for that. We should have known.”

  We were quiet for a moment, the croak of frogs echoing around us.

  “How did you, well, you know, not let him into your mind?” I asked.

  Chase looked up, as if he was staring at the sky except all there was were trees. “I’m not afraid of anything, I guess. I have always been alone, going from place to place. I guess he just didn’t have anything to confront me on.”

  “You aren’t afraid of being alone?”

  He shook his head. “Not really. You get used to it, after a while. It has been a long time since I had any real friends or anything. But it has taught me how to live for myself, do the things I want to do.”

  “Well, I know I couldn’t be okay with being alone. I hate it, actually, it feels like no one will be there to catch me when I fall.”

  “That is why you learn to land on your own feet. You can’t only rely on others so much, and while it is great to have people around you to support you, it is up to you to make the final effort to stand tall. That is what I have learned and what I live by.”

  I stared at him for a moment, trying to take in what he said. I understood, in a way, where he was coming from. It was important to be able to stand up for one’s self, but it was also important to surround yourself with those who will make you stronger. It was all about balance. “You’re lucky, not to have any fears.”

  He shrugged. “It’s not that hard, really. Just don’t let anything bother you. Know what’s supposed to happen is going to happen and just wish for the best.”

  “If only life were really that simple.”

  “You make life what you want it.” He turned to face me. “And I know what I want.”

  There was a long pause where neither of us said a word. I finally turned away and looked down at my hands. It seemed like the only thing to do, especially since I could feel my cheeks starting to turn red.

  “There you two are,” a voice called at us. I looked up to find Malcolm and the others walking towards us. “I was beginning to worry.”

  Chase looked like he wanted to say something else to me, but only stood back up and held out his hand to help me. I dusted off the moss from my clothes.

  “What is this place?” I asked Malcolm, hoping he would answer truthfully. I mean, it was obvious this was the infamous tea party from the books.

  Malcolm stared at the table for a moment, as if he was somewhere else. After a few moments, he blinked. “Beats me.”

  I knew he was lying, I could see it in his eyes. I glan
ced over at Melvin and Kenny, who just stared at Malcolm. They knew the truth but no one was going to spoil any secrets. It wasn’t fair, I hated being left out of the conservation.

  “Now, let’s go. We need to find somewhere we can stay before it gets dark.” Malcolm started for the way he came.

  “This isn’t dark?” I questioned as I hurried to his side, glancing all around.

  “If you think this is dark, just wait until night comes.”

  I looked up at the trees. I didn’t want to know what kind of creatures would come out then.

  CHAPTER 24

  After what felt like an hour of walking, Malcolm stopped in front of a boulder that was at least the size of him, if not taller.

  “Kenny and Melvin, give me a hand,” Malcolm started pushing the boulder aside. I couldn’t believe they would be able to move something so large. After their help, it started to budge and I gasped. Was it just lighter weight than ones in my world, or were they really that strong? As it moved, it revealed a dark cave. How the hell he knew it was there, I had no idea. He must have come across it before. Malcolm looked inside for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, this is just how I left it. Doesn’t look like anyone has been here after I left.”

  “We are going to stay in there?” Chase questioned as he too looked inside. “It’s pitch black. I mean, I can see everything fine but the rest of you can’t see a thing.”

  “Which is why we are going to find some trisings.” Malcolm pulled out a vial from his pocket and tossed it to Davis. “Go find us some.”

  “Why do I have to do it?” Davis frowned as he examined the bottle.

  “If you are so scared, then take the cat with you.” Malcolm gestured with his hand. “Now go before it gets too dark.”

  “Fine.” Davis started back into the woods. “Come on cat.”

  Chase reluctantly left with him, rolling his eyes about the task.

  “What do we do now?” Melvin asked Malcolm.

  Malcolm sat down on a tree stump. “We wait for them.”

  “I know! Let’s play a game!” Kenny clapped his hands together. “Let’s play twenty-questions. Okay, I’m thinking of a person, place, or thing.”