by Cameron Jace
Chapter 62
THE PRESENT: A HOTEL ROOM IN OXFORD
The Cheshire booked a room in the hotel after they’d told him they had a DVD player inside. In spite of being penniless, he used Jack’s charm on the receptionist, a blond girl, whom he showed a card trick. One of the benefits of having access to Jack’s mind — and a possible generous source of income in the future.
The Cheshire entered the room and turned on the DVD, then pushed a stolen version of Titanic in. People had told him Titanic was the cheesiest when it came to illogical portrayals of romance on film.
The Cheshire liked that. He was experiencing the same thing in Jack’s head; his continuing love for Alice both annoyed and amazed the Cheshire.
An hour and a half into the movie, the Cheshire was weeping into tissues—he was glad no one was watching him.
But he couldn’t help it. Love and sacrifice were new concepts to him, let alone coming from the freakin’ humans.
He began regretting the way he’d earlier celebrated the Bad Alice’s return with the Queen of Hearts on the phone. Of course, Alice being the Real Alice satisfied his insatiable desire to hurt humans in this world. But only if he hadn’t entered Jack’s body and brain.
Why did I ever possess his soul?
Now, sitting here, his tears wetting his cheeks, he didn’t know whether to help Alice become a hero or resort to the evil one she had always been. It was a shame she didn’t know someone like Jack loved her so much. Even the Cheshire had begun having feelings for Alice.
How he wished someone loved him this way. The last cat he’d loved back in Belgium was a fraud. She was after the delicious rat he’d just caught.
But maybe the Cheshire was destined to become Jack. Alice’s lover. As weird and creepy as it was, even to him, it seemed his only way out of his pain of being a nobody.
Possessing any soul he wished didn’t prove him as invincible as he’d always thought. It was time for the Cheshire to be somebody. Jack seemed like a good choice.
Besides, he had begun to fall in love with the card player.
But still, sometimes the older Cheshire rose inside and wanted to vomit all of this love out. Yuck. It was as bitter as expired milk.
The Cheshire, confused like never before, sat on the bed with one last idea in his head. The most interesting, actually. He vowed not to make a decision about Jack’s love for Alice, not before he knew why Jack came back for her.
If he could only locate that part of the memory in Jack’s brain.
Chapter 63
THE PAST: BIG BEN, LONDON
“Go away!” Mrs. Tock shrills. “Who are you? Time travel isn’t possible.”
“Please, Mrs. Tock,” I say. “You promised to help me. How else do you think I figured out your hiding place?”
“Go away, you creepy girl in the wheelchair.”
I use her fear and wheel myself after her, creeping her out. “Think of it. I know a lot of things about you. Things no one else knows.”
“Like what?” She steps away from me.
“Like Mr. Tick loves tea.”
“So?”
“And brownies.”
“So what?”
“He never lets you near his brownies.”
She stops and stares skeptically at me. “It still doesn’t prove you’re from the future.”
“Tell you what.” I squeeze her against the wall with my wheelchair. “Forget about who I am. If I make Mr. Tick love you back, will you help me?”
“Says the young, inexperienced girl in a wheelchair.”
“Just humor me. Go now and stop time. He will like it.”
“We’ve stopped time a million times. It’s boring.”
“Because it never occurred to you to mess with people,” I say. “Stop time and push a car over the cliff. Make one woman bore into another’s nose. Switch things. It’ll be fun. He will like it.” Sorry, world. I have to do it.
“You think?”
“Just do it!”
***
I spend the next hour trying not to think about the crazy accidents happening in London when time stops. Mrs. Tock returns with a broad smile on her face. “He liked it.” She jumps in place. “He even swore to forget about Lorina Wonder. Who are you, creepy girl?”
“Says the creepiest woman in history.” I roll my eyes.
“What did you just say?”
“Was just coughing. So are you going to help me?”
“Only because you made my husband like me.” She sits next to me and rubs her chin. “Why do you want to travel back in time?”
So it’s possible, Mrs. Tock. “I need to go back to yesterday to save a few friends from dying.”
“Every fool’s wish.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone thinks if they go back in time, they can change the future. It never works. Whatever you do, time will find a way to stay on course—a few casualties and tiny changes might occur.”
Tiny changes. Like Jack staying alive? I’d like that. Also, I’d like to know what happened on the bus. “I’ll take whatever time gives me.”
“Time is sneaky and unreliable, I must warn you. Besides, if you’re from the future like you said, you’re going to die either way.” She eyes me. “I see you already know that. How long do you have?”
“Ten hours. Give or take.”
“Then I’d advise you to spend them messing with people’s minds here. You’re doomed, crippled girl.”
“Unless I find my Wonder in the past.”
Mrs. Tock laughs, throwing her head back. She raps on the table and addresses her husband. “Did you hear what she just said, Mr. Tick?”
“She wants to find her Wonder so she stays alive,” Mr. Tick says, sipping his tea and reading tomorrow’s news. A special Tick Tock edition.
“What’s wrong with finding my Wonder?” I say.
“You know what that even is?” Mrs. Tock snickers.
“The one thing we do in our lives and are forever proud of—or something like that?”
“You know how long me and Mrs. Tock have been alive?” Mr. Tick says. “We’ve never known what our Wonder is.”
That’s because you’re two mad morons, obsessed with the misery of others. “Leave that part to me. Just send me back in time.”
“Are you sure?” Mrs. Tock says. “Sometimes it’s better not to go back to yesterday.” She points at the tattoo on my hand. “Sometimes it’s better not to know.”
“I know the worst about me already. I don’t think it gets worse than that.”
“Send the poor girl back, Mrs. Tock,” Mr. Tick suggests. “At least she’d enjoy not being a cripple for the next few hours. Or were you a cripple yesterday, too?” he asks me.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“As you wish, my lovely husband.” Mrs. Tock rubs her hand on my eyes. “Now close your eyes and count to seven. Can’t guarantee you’ll wake in heaven.”
Chapter 64
THE PAST: ALICE’S HOUSE IN OXFORD, A DAY BEFORE THE ACCIDENT
The best thing about the past is that I’m not crippled. I wake up in a bed in a room I now remember well. The room on the second floor of the house where I’ve spent most of my adult life with my foster family.
The sun outside is shining brightly. There are no hints of the possibility of rain or greying skies. It looks like a beautiful day — unfortunately, the day I will kill my classmates.
I take a moment in front of the mirror, admiring my seventeen-year-old look. It boggles my mind how innocent I look. If I were the Bad Alice all this time, why don’t I feel like it in the past? Is it really the fact that the Pillar exposed me to the possibility of becoming a better person in the future? Do I really have a chance to rewrite my evil ways? To change the world?
I dress up for school and descend the stairs.
“Alice, darling,” my mother addresses me, fixing me sandwiches in the kitchen. Either I managed to fool her into thinking I’m innocent, or I really hav
e the power to change. “I fixed you the tuna sandwich you love.”
“Thanks.” I take it and then slowly say, “Mum?”
She kisses me on the cheek. “Please forgive your sisters,” she says. “They’re horrible. One day they will know your worth.”
“Forgive them?”
“For what they did yesterday, locking you in the basement. Don’t you remember?”
“Ah, that.” I wonder if I should confront her with the knowledge that they’re not my sisters, and that she isn’t my mother. But what’s the point, really?
I need to ask practical questions. “Did you see Jack?” She must know him at this point — or doesn’t she know about my relationships at this time?
“What about Jack?” Lorina descends the stairs.
“I wonder where I can find him.”
“Why?” She snatches my sandwich and tucks it into her bag. “Tuna. Yuck!”
“Do you know where he is or not?”
“You better stay away from Jack, Alice.” Edith arrives.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Jack is mine,” Lorina says. “All mine.”
“And you’ve been looming for some time,” Edith says.
I thought we were a couple by now.
“It boggles my mind why you think he’d be interested in you,” Lorina says. “He is mine.”
“Not yet,” Edith reminds her.
“I always get what I want,” Lorina says, chin up.
I don’t have time for this nonsense.
“And what’s with the thinning hair?” Edith points at my withering hair. I guess it haunts me everywhere I travel in time. I think it has something to do with the time I have left alive.
I comb my head with hands. No time to be embarrassed about it. My mother has already disappeared somewhere.
“We shouldn’t lock her in the basement too often,” Lorina says. “It looks like rats are ripping out her hair.”
“Looks better that way,” Edith says. “She looks mad. To the point.”
The sisters giggle.
I need to know where to find Jack, couple or no couple. Or should I just stay away from him? If we’re not a couple, why would he get on the bus with me later? I’m confused here.
“I know he’s yours,” I tell Lorina. “Can’t you just tell me where I can find him? I need to return a pen I borrowed.”
“A pen? Such a lame excuse.”
Why can’t I just be the Bad Alice and choke both of them right now?
“Tell you what,” Edith says. “I’m suggesting you forget about school today.”
“Yeah,” Lorina says. “I’m seducing Jack into kissing me today. Better find something else to do.”
“Like what?”
“Like your favorite mad professor at Oxford University.” Edith giggles. Lorina giggles back.
“Mad professor?”
“The one whom you trust over everyone else,” Lorina says. “The one you think understands you.”
“Aren’t you too young for him?” Edith laughs.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Don’t pretend you’re naive.” Lorina waves her hand, dismissing me. “Go to him. Professor Carter Pillar, who believes that Wonderland exists, like you do.”
I am speechless.
“Honestly, it’s a joke,” Edith says to Lorina. “You won’t believe how many young girls attend his free lectures, escaping school. Each one of them believes she is Alice.”
They both laugh and walk away.
In my mind, I think that finding the Pillar isn’t a bad idea. He always has a way out in these situations. I follow them out. Going to Oxford University wouldn’t be a problem.
Chapter 65
THE PAST: LECTURE ROOM, OXFORD UNIVERSITY
The girls swarming outside the lecture hall are all teenagers. Most of them are certified nerds. A few pigtails here, thick glasses there, and of course they all carry an Alice in Wonderland gadget. Several goth-like girls are also present, loud talkers and jokers, wearing silver piercings and black tattoos, hair dyed in pink and dressed like rock stars, and wearing t-shirts about an evil Alice. Last but not least are the girls in costumes. All Wonderlastic masks, disguised as the Hatter, the Rabbit, and Queen of Hearts, and more.
Oxford University has turned into a simple Comic Con, waiting for Professor Carter Pillar. What can I say? It’s the Pillar. Always influential and doing what he likes to celebrate madness.
I walk among them, hugging my books and strapping on my backpack. The girls talk about their crushes on the professor. His free spirit, and the fact that he understands them.
“I hope you don’t end up in an asylum,” I mumble, chugging through.
“You know Alice is real?” a girl suggests to her friends. “Professor Pillar says so. There is a Wonderland War coming.”
I roll my eyes and stay silent. I think we’re all waiting for the lecture room’s door to open. There is a bulletin board that talks about the Pillar’s theories on insanity. It basically spreads the idea about the world going nuts. It also promotes hookah smoking.
A few professors, wearing ties and smoking pipes, pass through the corridor. They stare at us, Wonderland believers, as if we’re parasites. One of them mentions the committee’s disgust with the Pillar’s ways, wondering how the university permits him to gather those teenagers and poison their thoughts.
Then the doors open.
The girls compete to be first inside. I wait for the clatter to subside and follow in. The lecture hall is almost full, so I resort to a lonely bench in the last two rows, and watch the Pillar enter.
My plan is to wait for a chance to approach him and talk him into helping me with finding Jack. But my plan is thrown out of the window when I take a better look at the professor.
How could this be?
The vicious serial killer is nothing but a nerdy professor like I have seen before.
Chapter 66
Professor Pillar wears a multicolored jacket too short at the waist. It’s battered and probably hasn’t been washed since Wonderland. His trousers are pink, too large, and he wears flip-flops. His eyes hide behind thick glasses with black frames. Glasses that desperately need wiping. The man stutters when he welcomes his students. He has a tic of adjusting his glasses whenever he says something. For God’s sake, the Pillar blushes when a girl compliments him.
I sit, mouth agape, unable to fathom what’s going on. How is this going to help me? I suppress a shriek when he mentions his idol is Indiana Jones.
I spend the lecture in a terrible kind of awe, waiting for him to finish. I need to go talk to him. Wake him up.
When he is done, all I have left is seven hours. I slither through the crowd and pull him by the arm. “Professor!”
“Yes?” He adjusts his glasses. “How may I help you, kiddo?”
“I need to talk to you.”
His eyes dart sideways. “Aren’t we already?”
“In private,” I whisper.
His eyes widen. He blushes and worries. Says nothing.
“It’s important,” I whisper. “I’m Alice.”
“Alice?”
“I’m the Real Alice you’re looking for.” I grit my teeth.
He backs away, suspiciously scanning me from head to toe. Then he slouches, hugging his book, about to leave.
“We need to talk alone.” I pull him back again. “I need your help.”
“Who are you?” He stops, irritated now.
It’s going to be hard to explain things to him among all those girls. Then I remember seeing a poster out in the streets of the upcoming Star Wars movie. It gives me an idea. “I have tickets for the next Star Wars. Front row. Premiere day.”
His eyes widen again. Immediately he excuses himself and pulls me into his office. He locks the door behind us, gets behind his desk, and glares at me. “Is Darth going to be there?”
Really? I fist one hand. Is this really happening, or is he making it up?
<
br /> I rap my hand on the desk and lean forward as he slumps back in his seat. “Look, whoever the Jub Jub you are now, I’m Alice Pleasant Wonder. Mary Ann. I used to know you in Wonderland. We go back then. Not in Wonderland, but in the future. I have seven hours to save myself from dying because of a lapse in time travel. According to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Wonderlastic Time Travels, I need to find my Wonder or I will die. But even if I can’t find it, I need to save Jack. You know Jack? In fact, I need to save my classmates, probably the hordes of girls outside, from killing them in a bus accident a few hours from now. I need you to stop me from doing that. No, this isn’t right. I need you to help me stop me from killing my classmates and ending up in an asylum for the next two years. Do. You. Get. That?”
The Pillar sinks deeper into this chair, shielding his face with his arms. The look on his face is priceless. He stares at me and says, “Is the hookah you’re smoking that good?”
Chapter 67
THE PRESENT: INSIDE THE INKLINGS, OXFORD
“What’s going on with her?” Fabiola said. “What’s happening to Alice?”
“Not good,” Mr. Tick said, reading the paper, some unearthly publication called Newsweek. No, it was actually called Nextweek. “Tell her, Mrs. Tock.”
“Alice can’t find Jack,” Mrs. Tock explained.
“So?” Fabiola said.
“She can’t save him.”
“I don’t care about Jack. What about her Wonder?”
“Well, she can’t find that either.” Mrs. Tock seemed worried. Unlike earlier when she had all the fun, now she knew if Alice died, they couldn’t get the keys.
“Good,” Fabiola said.
“Good?”
“As long as she can’t find her Wonder, she will die in the past.” Fabiola sat down, relieved.
“Really?” Mrs. Tock said. “You want her to die?”
“The Real Alice must die.”
“I thought you loved her,” Mrs. Tock said. “You’ve repeatedly helped her fight monsters.”