“No, no Finn. Do you… Do you see the… The rabbit?” I struggled to squeeze the word out. I didn’t want to see things that weren’t there, let alone stupid rabbits.
Heather’s mouth opened a little, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she followed my gaze, stared right at the exact spot where I saw the rabbit, and then slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry, Alice. I don’t see anything.”
I licked my lips, not sure what to think. If Heather didn’t see the rabbit, then it couldn’t be there. But it looked so real to me! And I had never suffered hallucinations or anything before. How could someone just start imagining rabbits, of all things?
“Does it move?” Heather asked while she stood next to him. “Or is it standing still?”
“Completely still.” I didn’t want to tear my eyes away from the rabbit out of fear that if I did, it might just disappear again.
“And you’re seeing it clear as day?”
“As clear as you and me.”
“God.” Heather shook her head softly. “I don’t see anything.”
My phone chose that exact moment to start ringing, and instinctively, I looked down. Finn, the caller ID said. When I glanced back up again, the rabbit was gone.
Finn was calling, though! Which was infinitely more interesting than a rabbit no one else could see. “It’s Finn,” I told Heather, who raised an eyebrow, not in the least impressed with the boy I hoped would be my first kiss.
I picked up. “Hello?”
Finn mumbled something in return, but I could barely make it out over the noise of the music.
“Sorry, I can’t hear you,” I said. “Can you repeat?”
“I’m… outside,” Finn said on the other end of the line, half the words droned out by the music. “Come… outside… babe?”
“He really shouldn’t be calling you ‘babe’ after ditching you for over two hours,” Heather said, pointing demonstratively at the clock hanging over the gym entrance. My best friend was good at a lot of things, but eavesdropping on other people’s phone conversation was obviously her strong suit.
She had a point, but still, I was so thrilled he had called me that I was willing to forgive him everything.
“Do you want me to come outside?” I asked Finn, trying to make sure I understood what he was trying to say.
“Yes!” he half-shouted.
“Okay. I’ll be there.” I ended the call, and grabbed Heather’s arm. “Come on, let’s go.”
Heather pursed her lips. “Heck no. I’m not going. Mr. Loverboy doesn’t deserve one minute of your attention, Alice. He’s not worth it.”
“Please don’t be like this,” I pleaded with her. “Not now. I just want us to be happy and enjoy this night.”
“I am happy, and I am enjoying it,” Heather said. “But I don’t want to see you push your own needs to the side again, and come whenever Finn calls you. You’re basically at his beck and call, without an ounce of self-respect.”
I blinked, surprised at her sudden outburst. “I… You think I have no self-respect?”
“Not if you jump every time he says jump, and if you instantly forgive all the bad things he does to you, then no,” Heather said, turning away from me. “He stood you up for hours, and now you’re going to crawl back to him like a lovesick puppy simply because he asked you to.”
“You’re not being fair.” I backed away from Heather, my good mood ruined. When Finn had called at first, I was thrilled, but hearing Heather say horrible things like that I had no self-respect, or I let him walk all over me, completely destroyed my good mood. Maybe because I realized she was right.
“Anyway, I don’t care what you think,” I told her, perhaps the biggest lie told in the history of the world—of course I cared what my best friend thought. “I’m going outside to see him, and if you don’t want to come, I’m going on my own.”
Heather shrugged and waved at me dismissively. “See you later, when he gets bored of you and you have to come crawling back to me.”
Her words stung more than I wanted to let on, so I quickly turned around and hurried out of the gym.
While I didn’t want to tell Heather that, I knew she was right. Finn was not the catch I had thought he was, and if I had any ounce of self-respect, I would’ve told him ‘no’ when he asked me to come outside to meet him after first standing me up.
But I liked him. Being with him made my heart do funny leaps in my chest. And even if I was mad at him, at the same time I desperately wanted to forgive him.
Ever since he asked me to prom, I had spent many nights lying awake in my bed, wondering what prom would be like. How it would feel when he asked me to dance with him, our hands entwined. How it would feel, the touch of his lips on mine.
I wasn’t ready to give up on that dream just yet.
Chapter 7
Four Days in Wonderland
Morning rolled around way too soon. The early sunlight peeked through the barred window of the bunk room, and I realized that last night might have been my last night alive. It was a creepy thought, but I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as a few minutes later, the guards already pushed open the doors and came waltzing in.
“Showtime, losers,” the head guard, with a blue emblem embroidered on his tunic, said while the others rounded us up and ordered us to march outside, in a straight line.
Hare walked first, followed by Billy. Then came the twins, Snark, and I closed the line.
The guards led us outside, to the gardens of the Red Palace. It was strange to think that despite not having been in Wonderland for a very long time, I was already willing to risk my hide to save it. But in a strange way, Wonderland already felt more like home than the real world had ever done.
We paused in front of the entrance to a maze. Next to the maze was a platform on which the Queen’s throne was situated, towering over the rest of the gardens. Next to the platform was a lifting system, which I guessed was then used to lift the platform up in the air so that the Queen could overlook the inside of the maze. She really had thought about everything to fulfil her own wicked desires.
“The prisoners, your Majesty!” A herald introduced us, shouting so hard my eardrums protested.
The Queen gestured for him to be quiet, and then looked down at each of us from atop her golden throne. “You have all been deemed guilty of a variety of crimes,” she said as she rested her gaze on us one by one. “Your punishment is to participate in the Tournament. Know that no one has survived the Tournament thus far. You can still back out, and choose the easier option.”
The Queen of Hearts gestured at the black-clad executioner standing next to the platform, holding an enormous axe.
“It might look cruel, but it’s swift and relatively clean,” the Queen said, probably as a reaction to the disgusted look on the twins’ faces. “The Tournament is a brutal experience, and it will test you in every single way imaginable.”
“We will take our odds,” Billy said.
“Very well then.” The Queen acted as if she couldn’t care in the slightest, but I noticed the smirk appearing on her face for just a second. It was there one moment, gone the next, but I had seen it all right. The monarch was enjoying this; like the White Rabbit had said, she really got some wicked kind of satisfaction from watching all of us die gruesomely within the confines of the labyrinth.
“Before you start, there is one more who will join you,” the Queen said. “A last-minute arrival, so it appears. Guards!”
From the other side of the stage, another group of guards appeared, holding between them the limb form of a young man not much older than myself. He had brown, wavy hair, was wearing a ridiculously tall hat, a long coat and chequered pants. He looked as if he had just come strolling out of a novel by Charles Dickens.
“Hatter!” Hare gasped from next to me, which promptly earned him a poke in the sides courtesy of one of the guards.
The man, who I now presumed was named Hatter, slumped to the floor as the guards let go o
f him. He slowly lifted up his head, revealing a blackened eye. The guards had messed him up good.
“I’m relieved to say we’ve finally caught the crafty criminal known as the Mad Hatter,” the Queen said, sounding genuinely proud of herself. “The Hatter has chosen for Death by Tournament rather than Death by Axe, so he will join you in your quest.”
The Hatter struggled to get up, and promptly fell down again.
“Just toss him in the labyrinth when the doors are opened,” the Queen said to the guards, scrunching up her nose as if she felled something foul.
“Today is a merry day,” the Queen decided while she pushed a gigantic green button lying on the table next to her throne. “For you will all enter this labyrinth as criminals, and if any of you survives and beats the odds, you will be the new Heir to Wonderland!”
I wondered if she really believed someday someone would defeat her stupid test, or if she was just raving mad. My money was on the latter.
A groaning sound erupted from behind us. I abruptly turned around, my mouth dropping to the floor as the hedge in front of us opened in half, each piece moving to the side, creating an opening for us to enter the labyrinth.
The guards tossed the somewhat-lifeless Hatter into the labyrinth and then surrounded our group, forcing us into the labyrinth one by one.
This was it now. Now it was real.
Hare, Billy, the twins and Snark all disappeared into the labyrinth, and now it was my turn.
My life’s mission. My purpose. My destiny.
Alice Carroll, who I had always thought was destined for mediocrity. Today was my chance to show the world I was destined for something more after all.
Chapter 8
One Day Before Wonderland
“There you are!” Finn yelled at me, holding his arms out and trying to hug me rather awkwardly.
He was drunk. I smelled the alcohol on his breath the moment I came close to him. So, that was what he had been up to while I was waiting for him. He had gone and gotten wasted with his stupid goofballs of friends.
The four of them were huddled around a bench outside on the parking lot, taking turns sipping whisky from a bottle they had wrapped in brown paper.
“I missed you, babe,” Finn slurred, trying to kiss me on the cheek. He stumbled against me, barely able to stand.
I could barely look at him. His suit was all messed up, his shirt stained from booze. He was hardly the dreamy prince I had hoped he would be.
“This was a misake.” I tried to push him away, but he kept clinging on to me.
“What was a mistake?” he asked, while he pulled me closer toward him. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Give the guy a break,” one of his friends, a buffoon called Ricky, who had more brawls than brains, said. “We just had a drink, is all.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been waiting for two hours.” I tried to push Finn off of me, but he wouldn’t budge.
“Why are you acting so angry?” Finn said. “I’m here now, aren’t I?” He had the audacity to sound upset at me—as if I was the one doing something wrong in this scenario.
My cold approach was starting to make him sober up a little, and the lovey-dovey look in his eyes was replaced by a cold, hard stare.
“I had no idea you were such a drama queen, Alice,” the boy I had thought could be my prince charming, said. “Way to go act all bitchy.”
“Go to hell, Finn.” I turned to walk away from him, and then my gaze fell on the rabbit. It was standing in the doorway now, blocking the entrance to the gym.
“We’re late! We’re late!” the rabbit said, holding up its antique watch to further stress its point.
I gasped, frozen to the ground. Okay, it was official. I had lost my mind. A rabbit no one else could see dressed up in Victorian-style clothing, was one thing; I might even chalk that up to stress or hallucinations, or whatever. But when that rabbit started talking, then I was fully aware I had obviously taken the first train to crazy town.
“If you go now, then it’s over,” Finn yelled after me. “I have no time or interest in drama queens.”
I took a deep breath, feeling anger flooding over me. Of course, Heather had been right all along. I would have to hear it for months on end if I ever told her that, so I would never say these words out loud, but Finn was a prick, and Heather was spot-on about him.
I glanced at Finn over my shoulder, while keeping one eye on the rabbit. “Hey, Finn,” I said to him. “Why don’t you go screw yourself?”
Sniggering at his baffled expression, I turned all my focus back on the rabbit. Prince Charming was officially out of the picture, so now it was time to see if that rabbit was real, or I was as crazy as I feared I was.
“We’re late,” the rabbit said again, holding up the watch demonstratively. The watch was almost the same size as the rabbit.
I walked over to the rabbit calmly, trying not to scare it, although I was no doubt more freaked out about the rabbit than the rabbit was about me.
As soon as I had almost reached the rabbit, it darted off to the left. Adamant not to late it escape this time around, I gave chase.
To Finn and his buffoon-friends, it probably looked hilarious, or they were too messed up from the cheap alcohol to notice me chasing an invisible creature. Either way, I couldn’t care less. Finn was history, and Heather was right, it was time I found some of my self-respect again.
The rabbit paused around the corner of the building, waiting for me to catch up, before it disappeared behind the building. If I didn’t know better, I would say the rabbit was actually leading me somewhere—but where could a dressed-up rabbit with a gigantic pocket watch and obviously pressed for time want to lead me?
“No time! No time,” the rabbit said hastily when I stopped mid-way toward it. “We’re already running late.”
“Late for what?” I asked. What if this was some kind of new, high-tech fancy way of kidnapping children; lure them away by using a talking robot made to look like a rabbit?
I figured even criminals weren’t messed up enough to come up with a plan as crazy as that one.
“Late for everything!” The rabbit gestured for me to hurry up, almost jumping up and down on its spot.
“Everything?” I picked up my pace, and followed suit, until I was almost walking in line with the tiny animal. “Where are we going?”
“To the tea party, of course,” the rabbit said, as if this was self-explanatory. “Ah, here we are!” The rabbit pointed at the trunk of a giant oak tree in the back of the school playgrounds. We paused right in front of the tree, a lonely remnant of a forest that had once stretched all the way to here. Behind the tree was another good fifty meters of playground, and then a small patch of trees, none as big as this oak tree, were the last that remained of a forest I was told once spread several kilometres.
“It’s just a tree trunk,” I remarked, half-expecting the magical rabbit to conjure up some tea cups and cupcakes, and hold the tea party right there.
“Yes, of course it is.” The rabbit tapped the side of the trunk three times with its watch, and then jumped backwards. “Watch out!”
I moved back just in time. The top part of the tree trunk sprang upward, nearly hitting me in the chin.
A secret passage? In a tree trunk? No way. This had to be a prank, a hidden camera. No doubt Heather was in on it, the whole part with her not seeing the rabbit was obviously fake.
“Ha ha, very funny,” I said. “None of this is real. You can drop the act now, I’ve figured it out. Where is the camera?” I inspected the rabbit left and right, even checking out the watch. “Is it in there?”
“What in the world is a camera?” The rabbit asked. “Never mind, don’t bother to explain, we haven’t got time for any of that.” The rabbit gestured at the opened tree trunk. “Ladies first.”
“No freaking way. I’m not going in there with you. Drop the act, now!” I grabbed hold of one of the rabbit’s ears and pulled it. It obviously had to be a costume,
albeit a very good one.
“Aww! Aww!” The rabbit yelled, struggling in my grip. “Let go of my ears!”
Taken aback, I immediately let go of him, and he flew backward.
“Your manners are horrible!” the rabbit shouted while he stroked his ears. “Who pulls a rabbit’s ears?”
I was trying to make sense of everything that was happening, but none of it made any sense. If there was no hidden camera, if the rabbit was no human being in a costume, then… Could it be real?
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I thought your ears were fake.”
The rabbit scrunched up its nose. “How can ears be fake? We don’t have time for jokes, Alice Carroll. The tea party is in full swing, and everyone is expecting you!” He gestured at the tree trunk again, growing more impatient.
“How do you know my name? Who are you?” Maybe I had fallen asleep and this was all part of a horrible nightmare. At the moment, that sounded like the most plausible explanation.
“I’m Theodore McRabbit, also known as the White Rabbit,” the bunny introduced himself, giving a small bow. “I keep forgetting that in this timeline, you don’t know me yet.”
“In this timeline?” I frowned, growing more confused with every passing minute.
“We have no time. We’re late!” The rabbit hobbled toward the tree trunk and lifted itself up on the edge. “If you don’t want to go first, then follow me, Alice Carroooooooooooll.” He started tumbling down into the tree trunk the moment he said ‘Carroll,’ which accounted for the drawn-out ‘o’.
I rushed toward the tree trunk and glanced inside. Only darkness, as far as I could see.
“Rabbit!” I yelled down the trunk. “Theodore!”
All I kept hearing was the echo of the ‘o’, nothing else.
My mind went into overdrive, trying to figure out what the heck I should do. What do you do when a talking rabbit that knows your name tells you to jump into a pitch-black abyss that might very well kill you?
Any sane person would walk away. For all I knew, I had been drugged, and this was all part of some feverish drug-induced dream.
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