by Cameron Jace
“I assume you know Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock from Wonderland.”
“They’re the worst of the worst. Exceptionally mean. But you can’t do anything to them. They don’t die.”
“Because they’re time itself.”
“That’s right.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because they wouldn’t approach you until everyone thought I was gone. I’m thinking this isn’t just about the keys, but something much bigger. So I let them think I was gone, and followed you here to help you. After all, it’s not a bad idea to find the keys all at once.”
“I’m sure you have your own devious intention to have them, as always.” I eye him. “But how did you time-travel yourself?”
“I used the Tom Tower. It was risky, but I had a secret parchment with a secret formula by Nikola Tesla — you know who that is, right? — about how to use the tower for time-traveling fourteen years into the future.”
“Why fourteen years? What’s with the number?”
“I never knew. I only heard Margaret telling Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock fourteen years.”
“This is so crazy.” I hold my head in my hands. “Why send me into the future, not the past, to get the keys? I asked them, but they told me some gibberish I couldn’t fathom.”
“It doesn’t matter,” the Pillar says. “Nor does it matter how you left a note to remind you about the whereabouts of the keys. Maybe you have been into the future before. What matters is that we find the keys as soon as possible, then figure out a plan to hide then. You can’t go back with the keys, or Black Chess will have them.”
“Okay,” I say. I like the Pillar when he is on point. “The note says I have to find the Mock Turtle in the Oxford Asylum. You know who he is?”
“Met him a couple of times in Wonderland. Don’t even remember how he looked. He was pretty much no one. Can we go find him now?”
“Yes. I needed to know a few things first. God. I can’t believe the university is an asylum now. And did you see Parliament turning into a circus?”
“Some things never change.” He drives ahead. “Have you seen Mac Burger? It’s Rat Burger now.”
“Nothing surprises me now.”
“All but the fact that we may need help to get into the asylum.” He points ahead. I look and see the Oxford Asylum is heavily protected with Red mercenaries after the fire.
“Just drive through them with your truck,” I say. “We can always fix the past later.”
“Can’t do it. We need to sneak into the asylum, not break into it, or we won’t have enough time to find this Mock Turtle.”
“How do we get inside, then?”
“I have an idea. A rather mad one.” He turns the wheel to the left and guns it through the streets. “Glad to have you back in the future, Alice.”
Chapter 19
THE PRESENT: LONDON
The Cheshire’s head was about to explode. Not that he’d found answers to what he wanted to know about Alice. But Jack’s continued thoughts, and caring, about the mad girl began to escalate to another level. A level of something the Cheshire had never experienced before. He thought humans called them emotions.
“Holy meows and paws,” he mumbled, rubbing his chest. “In the name of my nine lives, what’s that I’m feeling?”
Jack’s thoughts weren’t based on logic. No, not really. Not the way cats would calculate the speed, size, and distance of a scurrying rat. Jack’s thoughts were silver linen to a warm buzz that filled the Cheshire’s chest with light.
It was a good feeling, actually. A dash of anxiety, care, and total devotion to someone else other than the self. Something the Cheshire didn’t think he’d experienced before.
He sat down on a bank, opposite the Inklings.
He was supposed to be ready for when Alice woke up with the keys, deceive her with Jack’s looks, and take them from her, then bring them back to Margaret Kent.
But now the Cheshire doubted his capabilities. Not with Jack’s fuzzy and utterly silly feelings about Alice. Those weren’t the kinds of feelings of someone wanting to hurt another.
What in the name of paws and claws was that?
The thing that bothered him the most was that these were human feelings. The humans he’d hated all his life — and planned to hate for eternity.
How were they capable of this?
“Don’t fall for it,” he told himself. “It’s just a facade made by the hypocrite humans. They use it to pretend they love one another while they don’t. It’s a cliché. It’s cheesy; even more cheesy than Cheshire cheese itself. Jub Jub and slithy and full of rotten mushrooms.”
But still he knew it wasn’t really that. Because Jack was practically dead. And if not, the Cheshire had never possessed a soul that had the ability to mess with his brain.
These were Jack’s true feelings about a girl he met in school a few years ago. It was so weird that the Cheshire began seeing her picture before his cat’s eyes. Not the usual black and white, but very colorful this time.
The Cheshire heard his phone ring. It was Margaret. She was probably calling to ask about the progress of her plan. He picked up and said, “Jack speaking.”
“What did you say?” the Duchess roared.
The Cheshire hadn’t meant to say he was Jack. He realized that he was falling in love with Jack. Maybe Alice. Maybe both.
Because who the heck exuded so much emotion toward a person who’d killed them in a bus accident?
Chapter 20
THE FUTURE: OXFORD
“Where are we going?” I ask the Pillar.
“To meet someone who’ll help us with sneaking into the asylum.” The Pillar honks for the fun of it.
“Someone? Who? Are they going to lend us doctor uniforms?”
“That wouldn’t work with the Reds at this time. They can smell the likes of me and you a mile away.”
“Then who?”
“Someone who’s practically our enemy.”
“Why would we use an enemy to help us?”
“Because he has a gift like nobody else.”
“Stop the puzzles, Pillar. Who?”
“The Cheshire.”
I say nothing for a moment. I know how much the Pillar and the Cheshire hate each other. I also have no idea how the Cheshire might help.
“He’s lost his mind in the future. Really lost his mind. He is homeless now. Like most cats in this life.”
I glance back at the dog we saved. He’s sleeping serenely after a big meal. “Homeless? The Cheshire?”
“I know it doesn’t make sense. He should be Black Chess’s favorite monster, after all he did for them to win the war.”
“Then what happened to him?”
The Pillar stops the car near an abandoned building. “He’s fallen in love.”
“The Cheshire?” I laugh. “No way.”
“Yes way,” the Pillar says. “You didn’t ask with whom.”
“I don’t think I want to know. First I need the fact that he fell in love to sink in,” I say. “I mean how? He doesn’t even have a real face. Who’d love someone with no face?”
“I didn’t say he was loved back.”
“Wow. That’s even more surprising. Are you saying the evil Cheshire is a hapless romantic now?”
“Indeed.” He jumps out of the car, pulling his cane along.
I follow him down. Apparently we’re entering that abandoned building. “So who’s the unlucky girl? Or is it a cat?”
“No, it’s a girl,” the Pillar says slowly. “And it’s someone you know very well.”
“Waltraud Wagner, my warden, would be a candidate.”
“No, Alice. The Cheshire is in love with you.”
Chapter 21
We step into the abandoned building, passing by a few homeless people. Insane ones, the Pillar says. That’s why he has his rifle with him. I follow him, awaiting an answer to my question: Why would the Cheshire be in love with me?
“It’s complicate
d,” the Pillar says, looking sideways, in case we get attacked by another group of mad people. “Let’s start with him not really looking like a Cheshire at the moment.”
“What’s new? I wouldn’t be surprised if he is possessing a priest.”
“Worse.” The Pillar ducks, scanning the place. “This time he is possessing someone dear to you.”
“Dear to me?” I grimace. “All the people I know are Wonderlanders. I thought he can’t possess Wonderlanders.”
“Only if they’re still alive,” the Pillar says.
I stop, taking a moment to assess the possibilities. But who am I fooling? There is only one Wonderlander who’s practically dead, and so dear to me. And he has been missing for some time. “Jack?” I cup my hands on my mouth.
The Pillar nods. “Try not to scream. We don’t want to attract loonies.”
“Jack?” I whisper, gritting my teeth.
“Lowering your voice isn’t going to change my answer.” He rolls his eyes. “Yes. Jack.”
“But we’re in the future. How long has he been possessing Jack’s body?”
“Fourteen years.”
“How is that possible? This means I never saw Jack again since he disappeared from the asylum.”
“You got that right.” He crawls on all fours, and I follow him into a tunnel.
“That’s why I am not married to him.” The words are tasteless on my tongue. Not that I was sure I wanted to marry Jack. The thought just occurred to me as the natural progress of events. “This is why I am married to that stranger back home.”
“Exactly. Handsome man.”
“I didn’t meet him or see him. Couldn’t bring myself to it,” I say. “I freaked out when he called me ‘baby.’”
“Nothing wrong with your husband calling you baby once in a while.”
“Shut up.” I pout, still crawling toward a scant light in the distance. “Poor Jack.”
“The guy is a jinx,” the Pillar says. “Killed by his girlfriend, possessed by her enemy. He was better off dead.”
“Stop it, Pillar.” I grunt. “Tell me what all of this has to do with the Cheshire being in love with me. You know how creepy this feels?”
“Don’t you like his grin? I thought chicks always dig the grin.” He stops for a second. “That sounded too American. Didn’t it?”
“It did.”
“I’m not really myself in the future, am I?”
“More smartass than you usually are,” I say. “And how do you look young? You’re not a day older than when I last saw you.”
“Good genes.” He winks, and then crawls on all fours again. “Smoking hookah is good for the skin.”
“Spare me the cheesiness.” I sigh. “Now how — ”
I was going to ask about the Cheshire being in love with me again, but then it hits me. “Are you saying the Cheshire was exposed to Jack’s mind and soul?”
“We’ve arrived.” The Pillar kicks a small door open and steps out. “Try not to let the Cheshire see you before I talk to him first.”
I follow him into what looks like a large hall in a sewer. Then when I stand up, I see the Cheshire. Oh my God. What happened to him?
Chapter 22
The Cheshire is sitting on a chair in the middle of the stinking room. Water is dripping somewhere nearby. He is playing cards with a dead mad man on the opposite side of the table. I watch him lay his cards down while in Jack’s body. Then he possesses the man in front of him for the next move. Then back to Jack.
“Cheshire.” The Pillar approaches him with his rifle in his hand. I stay back like he told me. Seeing Jack having turned into a puppet on a cat’s string is breaking my heart. I doubt there’s anything I can do for him after all these years. Jack didn’t even flinch for the moment when the Cheshire left his body. The boy must be really dead now.
“Pillar?” Jack — I mean the Cheshire — says. “Want to play cards?”
I think the notorious cat has really lost it.
“I see you have a partner already,” the Pillar says, playing along.
“He’s dumb,” the Cheshire complains. “Every moves he makes, I already know.”
“Oh, it’s like you can read his mind.” The Pillar glances back to me for a second. Then back to him. “I guess it means you’re a genius.”
“You think?” The Cheshire’s grin is a lame, timid curve on Jack’s haggard and older face. Who would have thought? “Please come play with me, Pillar.”
“How about I tell you jokes?” the Pillar says. “I can make you laugh.”
“Jokes don’t work,” the Cheshire scolds. “I’ve been telling myself jokes for fourteen years.”
“Laughed your tail off?”
“On the contrary — I’ve never laughed once,” the Cheshire says. “You know why?”
“Depressed being in someone else’s body?”
“No, because I knew those jokes.”
“Maybe the greatest joke you never admitted was yourself.”
“It’s true.” The Cheshire lowers Jack’s head. I can’t believe my eyes. “I lost myself in someone who isn’t me.”
“Jack?”
“Yes. But you have no idea, Pillar. The things I heard in Jack’s mind. The emotions. The sacrifice. It’s addictive.”
“Addictive enough you gave up on your quest to burn every human being alive?”
“I don’t hate humans anymore.” He chuckles. It sounds as if he’s crying. “That’s why Black Chess gave up on me. They say I betrayed them.”
“Why do you love humans all of a sudden?”
“Jack.”
“You said that before.”
“And Alice.” The Cheshire holds the Pillar’s hand. Eagerly. For the first time, I see Jack’s eyes sparkle like they used to in the past. “If you only know how I — I mean Jack loves her. It’s mind-boggling.”
“Listen, Chesh.” The Pillar glances at his watch. “Since you love Alice so much now, she could use a favor. Can you do that?”
“Alice?” The Cheshire suddenly realizes I am in the room. The way he stares at me is the optimum of madness: to love the eyes looking at you, and hate the soul that occupies them.
Chapter 23
“Alice!” The Cheshire — Jack — or whoever that is — runs to me and wraps his arms around me.
I stand stiff with a tear on the verge of rolling down my cheek. I don’t know who is who. But I miss Jack so much. This body holding me smells of him. It talks like him. And I might want to kiss him like I wanted to kiss Jack.
“I missed you so much, Alice.” He holds my head between my hands, Jack’s eyes melting me on the inside.
“I missed you too, Jack.” I hug him back.
“Don’t fall for him,” the Pillar says. “This isn’t Jack.”
“But — ”
“Jack died inside the Cheshire a long time ago,” the Pillar says. “The Cheshire has gone mad, overwhelmed by human emotions he can’t understand.”
“You know what this means?” I pull Jack closer to me. “It means Jack’s love for me is so strong. Look what it has done to the devil himself.”
The Pillar waves a hand, unable to persuade me.
“I’ve been looking for you for fourteen years,” Jack tells me.
“I’m sorry I left you behind, Jack.” I run my hand over his face. Oh, those dimples. How I’ve missed them. “I should have saved you from the Cheshire.”
And it’s then when the Pillar’s pout makes sense.
It’s then when I realize the horror I’m holding in my hands. I was only fooling myself. Who I am holding, whether I like it or not, is the Cheshire.
Jack is dead. For good.
I push the Cheshire back and step away.
“But I love you, Alice!” he says.
“Don’t.” I lift a hand in the air, looking away from a beautiful face I’ve always loved — and killed. Maybe I can fix that later in the future. I turn to face the Pillar. “Why did you bring me here? To play games wit
h my mind?”
“Not at all,” the Pillar says. “You might not know it, but I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because the Cheshire can help us enter Oxford Asylum.”
“How so?”
A smile sweeps the Pillar’s face as he looks at the Cheshire. “Tell me, Jack,” he says. “Would you do anything for the one you love?”
Chapter 24
THE PRESENT: BUCKINGHAM PALACE, LONDON
The woman in the red fur walked into the Queen’s chamber. She had her black glasses on and said nothing.
“It wasn’t hard to find you,” the Queen said.
“The deal was that I’d stay away,” the woman said. Her words were stiff. Practical.
“True.” The Queen nodded. “You did well. Although you shouldn’t have been seen in Oxford University or the Wembley Stadium.”
“I couldn’t help watching the arrival of the Wonderland Monsters,” she said. “The Cheshire’s arrival to this world was epic. The watermelons stuffed with children’s heads, too. Later, I kept to myself and hid, like you instructed me.”
“Does that mean you know who is bringing the monsters back?”
“Not at all,” the woman said. “I was only curious. Other than that, I’m just here for one mission. You know what that is.”
“I know,” the Queen said. “You have what I need from you, then?”
“You mean what Margaret wants?”
“Semantics,” the Queen said. “I took from her what she needed; now she wants it back in exchange of a favor.”
“I have it.” The woman nodded. “Do you want me to hand it to you?”
“You brought it with you?”
“I’m not comfortable with calling it it, but yes, I have it.”
“Good. I will have my guards see you to a guest room with the chubby boy,” the Queen said. “Once I get what I want from Margaret, I will send for you.”
“Of course, My Queen,” the woman said, and turned to face the guiding guards.