Cruel as a Queen

by Kendra Moreno

  “Are you ready?”

  Am I? Am I ready to wreak havoc on Wonderland? Am I ready to make them all pay, to kill their world like they killed mine? They betrayed me over and over again, made a promise to a little girl they never intended to keep. They told me I would always be a part of their world and then forgot me. White came to look at me in my prison, in my hell, and still left me there.

  They all deserved to die, so they could never do it again. No more little girls will fall victim to their world. The Sons of Wonderland must die.

  I meet Jab’s eyes, determination in mine. Am I ready?

  “Yes. Let’s go.”

  The bar that White supposedly frequents is a shady hole-in-the-wall called The Three Sons. I don’t know how much more appropriate that can be than it is. It’s smoky and grimy, and I get plenty of stares as I walk inside in a short blue baby-doll dress. Some just raise their brows and return to their drink. Others catcall me.

  Jab doesn’t follow me inside. We both agreed that it was best to keep his existence a secret, to remain our secret weapon. So, I walk inside alone and take a seat at the bar.

  “Can I get you something?” The bartender is a woman who’s seen better days, her voice husky from too many cigarettes. She sets down a lit cig to take my order, the smoke adding to the atmosphere.

  “Whatever doesn’t taste like piss water,” I reply to her question. I’m tasting a lot of things for the first time, but I figured out fairly quickly that I don’t like beer.

  She pours a glass of whiskey and slides it to me.

  “It’s not the greatest, but it’s better than beer.”

  I salute her with the glass and take a sip, savoring the burn as it travels down my throat.

  I feel him the moment he comes into the bar. I even feel him hesitate when his eyes find me. I don’t turn and meet his eyes. I just continue to stare at the shelves lined with dusty bottles, sipping my whiskey from a cloudy glass.

  Slowly, he comes forward and takes a seat next to me, gesturing for the bartender to give him a glass of Gin.

  “Hello, White,” I whisper.

  All of the fear, the anger, the agony comes right back to me. I have so many questions, so many things I need to hear come from his mouth, but I can’t ask. It’s not the plan.

  “Alice.” There’s an ache in his voice that I choose not to address. I don’t know if he regrets his actions or if he wishes he wasn’t here. “How are you here?”

  “I escaped,” I mumble. I leave out all the details because I can’t speak without giving Jab away. White will never take me to Wonderland if he knows my plans. “I want to go home.”

  “Wonderland is not your home.”

  “You told me otherwise when I was a child,” I remind him. “I’m here to beg you to let me back. This world,” I motion around us, “is not my home. They don’t accept me. I have nothing if Wonderland won’t accept me, either.”

  Finally, I turn and meet White’s eyes. I’m not prepared for the horrors in his gaze, the haunted look slamming into my own.

  “What happened to your eyes, Alice?”

  Jab and I had practiced my answer for this. I expected the question. “They did tests on me, stole everything. The eyes are a side effect of some of the tests.” Once I had started taking power from Jab, my blue eyes had turned completely black, turning me even more into a monster. They flash back and forth, unpredictable when they’ll be one color or the other.

  “I’m sorry for the atrocities you’ve been subjected to.”

  I want to scream at him, that they were atrocities that he could have prevented. He had chance after chance to save me, and he didn’t. But I don’t want to bring up any of that, or else my anger will get the best of me. I need to conceal my powers for now.

  “Just let me go back.”

  White shakes his head immediately. “I can’t, Alice. You don’t understand.”

  And my patience ends. My face morphs into a snarl. “Take me back, White!” He doesn’t look alarmed. Why would he? Sons can’t die, can’t be killed by my hands, at least, that’s what Jab told me. No, the way to kill a Son is to kill the world. I have to kill them all. “Give me a card.” White owns the key to Wonderland, something I plan on taking as soon as I’m able. His cards serve to open the portals, but the key is what allows him through the doors. I need the card first. Jab can get us through the door if the key isn’t on the table.

  White’s ear twitches at my anger, but his face remains motionless. I go with what I know he’s not expecting: my new powers. I move faster than he expects and grab him around the throat. My hand is inside the pocket of his waistcoat before he can shove me away. My fingers close around a card just as he jerks from my grip and stumbles away.

  “Have you gone mad, Alice?”

  I grin. “It seems no matter what world I’m in, I’m labeled as mad. See you in Wonderland, White.”

  The bartender stands watching us, her hand under the counter on what I suspect is a gun. Bar fights are probably normal around here, but I’m willing to bet she never saw a fight quite like this.

  “You’re making a grave mistake,” White warns as he backs away, always the rabbit, always running.

  “No,” I grin. “I’m fulfilling my destiny.”

  His eyes widen when I throw the card on the ground, uncaring who sees. White is pulled inside immediately, and I wait a moment for Jab to walk in the door. When he sees the swirling portal, he grins and grabs my hand.

  “You first,” he instructs. “That way he doesn’t see me.”

  I kiss him on the lips and with a wild shout, I jump inside.

  My entire life has been all about this moment. I’ve dreamed of returning to Wonderland, returning to the place where I felt like I belonged.

  As I begin to fall in the swirling lights, I smile, true joy spreading through me for the first time in a long time.

  It’s time to go home and destroy it.

  When I arrive, White scampers off without a second of hesitation, but I don’t need him. I swipe the key and kick the table over, choosing the door I know will lead me to the Hatter’s. Even if he can’t die, I want to see him suffer for just a minute.

  He’s standing on his porch waiting for me, White at his side, obviously the message bringer. Hatter looks worried as he stares at the sight I must be. As I travelled through the forest, I took out anyone who got in my way, any creature. Now, my dress is once again coated in blood. The red dripping from my knife is fresh. Cheshire stands on the porch, a bored look on his face as usual, but the flick of his tail belies his unease. He knows more than Hatter seems to.

  “What happened to you, Alice?” the Hatter asks.

  “I grew up,” I snarl, taking a step forward. There’s only ten feet between us, and I itch to punish. “When you abandoned me to the woes of reality.”

  “You’ve lost your muchness.” Hatter frowns even as Cheshire tenses. I watch as his claws slide out from his fingertips, but I only smile. He can’t hurt me. He just doesn’t know it yet.

  “No,” I reply, storming forward to close the distance. Hatter doesn’t move, trusting me. That’s his mistake. “I’ve gained power.”

  I thrust the knife into the Hatter’s heart before he can react. I watch in satisfaction as shock crosses his face before he collapses to the ground.

  “I’m home,” I sing, a terrible grin crossing my face.

  Chapter 14

  Immortal

  I storm the castle, Jab staying with me but out of sight the entire time. I never need his assistance, and it’s a great feeling. Power flows through my veins the likes of which I never imagined, and I will make this world mine before I kill it.

  The old King and Queen had been easy targets, their trust making it possible for me to get close and take their heads. The sickened sound of the wet meat hitting the ground had been music to my ears. Now, their bodies pave the ground beneath my feet, as I stand in a dress stolen from the Queen’s chambers. It’s bright red, jewels glitte
ring in the material, and I’ve never felt more like the Queen Jab has told me I am.

  I’m covered in blood when Alex comes into the room, his sword raised. He’s not as old as I am even though we were the same age when I left. Time in these worlds moves at odd bursts. Alex is beaten and bloody, one arm at an odd angle. I’m holding his mother’s heart in my hand as I wait, expecting the Prince to come to the rescue at any moment. I bring it to my mouth and lick the blood, savoring the bitter yet sweet taste that’s still not as satisfying as Jab’s. The Prince flinches, and I feel terrible for doing it, but he betrayed me, too.

  “Alice, you’ve become a monster.”

  It’s like a slap to the face, the word coming from his mouth.

  “I’m not the monster here,” I whisper. “I was left in an asylum to rot. You all promised I was a part of Wonderland, but you abandoned me.” I pull his book from the pocket of my dress and hold it aloft. “You said you loved me.”

  “We were eight, Alice. You’ve been gone for years and years. You never came back, so I moved on.”

  “Moved on?” My face twists into a grimace, and I drop the heart to the ground. Alex’s eyes follow the organ, his jaw clenching. He won’t let his fury get the better of him, a sign of his princely training.

  “Silly Alice. Can’t you see the truth?” Jab’s voice comes from behind a pillar. He rounds it after his declaration, meeting my eyes. “This is his little kingdom, and you’re not his Queen anymore.”

  “Who’s this?” Alex asks, holding his sword higher.

  “Alice,” Jab coos. “Do it.” I shake my head, and for the first time, a tear leaks from my eyes. I don’t want to hurt Alex, even if he did move on and forget me. “Do it!”

  “Do what?” Even after what he’s seen, what he knows I did, Alex moves the slightest amount in front of me, protecting me against Jab, as if he’s the real threat. It’s the only evidence I need as to why I can’t kill him.

  “If you can’t do it,” Jab sneers, “then you’re not the woman I thought you were.”

  My face hardens at his words, and I turn towards Alex again.

  “Alice?” he whispers, meeting my eyes. When he sees whatever is in my eyes, he takes a step back, but he’s still too close. “You’re not my Alice.”

  I can’t do it. I can’t kill the Prince. With tears leaking down my face, I thrust my hand through his ribcage and swipe my other down his face. I push my power inside of him, corrupting him, taking control. If he can’t be mine in heart, at least he can just be mine.

  I rip my hand free, and where I touched him, roses grow in their place, a sign of our time together. I’ll always remember painting the roses red.

  “Oh, Alice,” Jab sighs, staring at the Prince. “You should have just killed him.”

  “I couldn’t.” I wipe the tears from my face and compose myself. Alex stares at me waiting for his orders. “He’s my Knave.”

  Chapter 15

  Immortal

  I step inside the dungeon, a wicked smile on my face. I’ve fallen into my role nicely; the hardest part over. Jab urges me to make them all pay, and I agree with him. They should all be punished for what they’ve done to me, what they’ve created, how they destroyed me. I used to be such a curious little girl, until I grew up and became what they will fear.

  In front of me, the Hatter and the White Queen hang manacled to the wall. They were easy enough to capture. The White Queen’s nature dictates that she never fights. And Hatter still thinks that I won’t harm him, even after I stabbed him through the heart.

  “Alice,” he tries, jingling against his chains. I made sure they’re enchanted enough to hold him, that they can hold any Son. Jab taught me how to do that, sharing far more secrets for the future.

  There’s a pleading note in the Hatter’s voice, and it makes my anger flare up again. I turn on him, a snarl on my face.

  “You were supposed to be my friend! You were supposed to be there for me! Where were you, Hatter? Where were you when I needed you?” The words I repeated to myself in the asylum, when I prayed for them to come for me, slip from my mouth without meaning to.

  “We didn’t know, Alice,” he tries. Blood drips down his arms and bare chest with his movement. His hat and coat were stripped from him before he had been brought here. I couldn’t have him pulling a fast one and escaping to the Here After. “Time moves differently here. It isn’t linear. You could have left yesterday, or tomorrow, or a year before. There’s no way to track it.”

  “I left twenty-five years ago,” I snarl. “As soon as I left Wonderland and started spewing stories of talking flowers and rabbits and Hatters, I was thrown into the asylum. My own parents paid them to take me away for fear of embarrassment. They thought I was crazy! Do you know what they do to mad people in my world?”

  “Please, Alice. We were friends. This isn’t what you want to do.”

  I grin, stepping closer to him. I ignore his comment, continuing my story as if I never heard him speak.

  “Electroshock treatments. Lobotomies. Did you know they cut into my brain? Said they would fix the part that suffered from insanity. Ask me if it worked. Ask me if I screamed, and screamed, and screamed.” Rage drips from my words, fueling me. All the anger from my years in hell comes back like a hurricane, and I want to hurt and punish and make Hatter scream like I screamed. I want to make them feel what I felt.

  “You’re not my Alice,” Hatter rasps. The enchantments on the manacles starts to take their toll, draining him of energy, turning him into an even easier target.

  “This is exactly who I am, who I’m meant to be. The treatments didn’t work. They just made me angry. Angry at the doctors for cutting into me. Angry with Wonderland for showing itself to me to begin with. Angry at you for abandoning me. Now, I want to see if you can die, Hatter.”

  I thrust my hand into his bare chest, my claws wrapping around his still beating heart. He screams out in agony, a tiny bit of blood trickling from the corner of his lips. Blood drips from where my hand is still buried in his chest. I squeeze, satisfied when the organ beats in answer.

  “Alice,” Hatter gurgles, his head slumping forward. “Alice.” His voice lowers to a whisper, his body shutting down with the pain.

  “No,” I sneer, a laugh funneling up my throat as I rip his heart completely from his chest. I bring it to my lips, licking the blood, letting it drip down my chin and onto my chest. I smile even through the rage, even through the agony that this world has brought upon me. I crush his heart with a snarl. “I’m the Red Queen.”

  I will make sure to be the monster they made me. I will conquer this world, kill it, and move onto the next. Once upon a time, I’d been a naive little girl, but I grew up.

  I’m the Queen of Hearts, and I will be the deadliest piece on the chessboard.

  THE PRINCE & HIS HOPE

  Kendra Moreno

  The Prince And His Hope

  Danica and Alexander only ever wanted to be together, even at the expense of tradition. Nothing could keep them apart, or so they thought.

  * * *

  Hope is for the living.

  Prologue

  A scream is the only thing we hear as we crouch behind a sofa. The scream abruptly cuts off, and a snarl takes its place. I clamp my hand over my mouth, barely holding in the giggles. We’re going to be in so much trouble.

  Alex wiggles his eyebrows at me when the maid starts sniffing for our scent. She’ll find it alright, the scent of rotten Cracklebird Eggs. The maid is a hedgehog type creature, her nose sensitive. I feel bad sometimes about the tricks we pull on her, especially when she starts grunting, like she is now as she searches for us. The poor woman thought we were all bad as children. As teenagers, we’d only gotten better at pranking.

  The maid comes across one of the rotten eggs and gags, backing away from the curtain we’d hidden it in.

  “You children will be in so much trouble,” she promises, before leaving the grand room. It’s doubtful we will be. Alex is the p
rince, and Cheshire and I are only following his orders. That’s the excuse we always use, anyway. Alex is a talker; he can talk his way out of anything with his parents. It works out great because Cheshire would rather growl than talk, and I shut down under the King’s stern eyes. Win-win.

  “Do you think she knows it’s us?” I giggle, standing from our position. I crack my bones and stretch, my ears twitching in case the maid comes back. I like when she does, because then it’s a chase.

  Cheshire stares off into the hallway. “She definitely knows it’s us. Anyone with any sense would. Besides, she called us children. She knows.”

  “Who do we prank next?” I glance over at Alex, a grin on my face. “Should we try the guards?”

  “We just pranked them yesterday, Dani.” Alex shakes his head.

  “But that’s why they’re the best targets. They won’t be expecting it.”

  “Danica has a point.” Cheshire grins at me, his ears already twitching. “Yesterday, they had to worry about their uniforms being wet. Today, maybe we should help dry them out.”

  I bounce on the balls of my feet, excitement coursing through my body. The boys always have the best prank ideas. Alex’s are always harmless fun, like the rubber spider we dropped on the maid from above. Cheshire’s can get out of hand and border on destructive, but it doesn’t make them any less fun. I just have to keep a close eye on him. Together, we sort of balance each other out. I’m always in the middle just ready to have fun.

  “We should avoid fire,” Alex states, giving Cheshire a knowing look. “Last time, you almost burnt the whole castle down.”

  “It wasn’t the whole castle. I had it under control.”