Madness Solver in Wonderland

by E E Rawls

  Nico nodded, dumbfounded.

  “I know of a place, a wonderful place, filled with all the things you could ever want in life. And any person—no matter who they are—is welcome. Even orphans such as you.”

  “Where? What place?” Nico asked, entranced by the promise.

  The older teen leaned forward, stray blond strands falling into his thick eyelashes. “Wonderland,” he answered. “But there’s only one way to get there.”

  A hand took Nico’s shoulder, steering him around to face the forest. “You have to go through this forest. Wonderland awaits on the other side.”

  Nico gazed across at the forest whose trees resembling foreboding arms rose to the sky. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw something glow—a white orb peering through the overgrown brush and mist, watching him, before it blinked away. The hair on the nape of his neck rose. “What’s in that forest? People call it the Forest of the Haunted, don’t they?”

  The young man shrugged. “Same things that are in any forest, I should think,” he said. “It’s a short walk before it connects to Wonderland.”

  Nico’s gaze cut sideways up at him. “How do I know Wonderland is a real place?”

  With a flourish, black wings unfolded from the teenager’s back through slits in the coat. “Because that’s where I live—it’s my home. The place where people like us belong. There is no curse, only adult superstitions.”

  Nico looked from him and the startling pair of wings back to the forest. A place to belong—a home; they could finally have one.

  No more searching, no more sleeping in the rain and dark of night. God was taking too long to help them, so he would do it himself.

  “Will you lead me there?” he asked the crow person.

  A smile tilted Oz’s lips, but it did not reach the cold light of his eyes. “Of course.”

  DRISEL FOUND A SCRAP of paper next to her when her palm crunched down on it by accident. Curious, she smoothed the paper out to read the few written words. And then her face went still in fear.

  “What?” Ash noticed and reached for the paper. She stared blankly at nothing while he read, and she heard the paper crumple in his fist. “How could he be so stupid...?” he said, almost a whisper. “I’m going after him.”

  Drisel jolted. “No! No, you can’t go there!” She chased after Ash out of the brick alley, splashing through rain puddles.

  “I can’t leave him alone out there,” Ash shouted back, his bare feet taking the path out of town. “Curse or no curse, he’s like family and I’m going after him!”

  “You’ll die!” she shrieked behind him. “Nobody who goes inside that forest comes back—they vanish forever! The forest is evil.”

  Raindrops beaded on her eyelashes as she ran after him, the overcast sky swirling overhead like an angry sea. She hurried across the field they came to. The Forest of the Haunted loomed ahead, swathed in mist churned by the light rain. “There are things in there—undead things. The cursed ones of the forest.”

  Ash stopped at the very edge, his head tipped back, taking in the sight of the forest so thick it could have been a jungle from another world.

  “Aren’t you worried about Nico?” he asked her.

  She halted a pace behind him and clasped her hands together. “Yes, of course! But if it’s too late, and you get trapped in there...”

  “I’m the only one who can help him. Nobody else cares about us, Drisel.”

  At that she was silent, though her mouth worked, searching for words.

  “I’ll be back with him.” Ash sprinted forward without hesitation, crossing the boundary of mist, into the undergrowth.

  To her it seemed as if the branches and leaves drew back, allowing him through before stretching out and blocking him from her sight like a curtain of green drawn closed.

  “No...” Her breath quickened, and she shrieked at the pelting rain. “Ash!”

  Only a peel of thunder answered her desperate cry.

  Chapter 28:

  Into the Darkness

  HER BARE FEET SCRATCHED against the pavement as Drisel ran, dodging puddles from the new wave of pelting rain. She was focused on only one thing: finding help.

  But Ash was right, nobody cared—not for a pack of orphans who’d run away from the place all orphans were supposed to be kept. What they didn’t know was how awful a place the orphanage was—how most orphanages really were on the inside, full of bullies and managed by indifferent adults.

  Guilt nagged at her for not having helped Nico more. Maybe if she and Ash had given him more attention and support, he wouldn’t have run off like a hero determined to solve all their problems by himself, determined to find them a place to belong. Now he was gone, and Ash gone after him, into the Forest of the Haunted.

  Why go there, of all places? How did he get such a foolish idea in his head?

  Her ragged breath put out puffs of mist into the damp air. She had no idea where she was going, just that she had to find help. Not the police—they would drag her back to the orphanage and consider her friends unsolved missing cases.

  The empty soaked streets seemed to laugh at her. No one was here. No one would help. She should just give up.

  Exhaustion brought her to her knees. Soaked brunette bangs blurred her vision. Drisel tipped her head back, letting the rain wash her tears and drown her sobs.

  A curious glass door stood to her right, with a sign above it reading: Madness Solver: we solve cases, not shenanigans.

  MADNES SWALLOWED DOWN the last coffee drops in his mug. He was about to suggest that Harrey and Knight Pelur find something else better to do than munching lettuce and building gadgets in his office space, when the door suddenly jingled open.

  In from the rain came a pile of rags and matted brown hair. Madnes had to blink twice before he registered it was a human child.

  “Help! You have to help them!” The girl stumbled forward and collapsed on the floor.

  “What the—?” Harrey started, but Madnes was already at her side and sitting her upright.

  “Harrey, bring that towel over here.”

  A small hand gripped the front of Madnes’s shirt. “Sign says you solve c-cases, don’t you?” the girl asked. “You help p-people, don’t you?” she said again, more desperate.

  He nodded. “Anything that’s feasible, yes.” He wrapped the handed towel around her frail shoulders and head, working to soak up the rainwater before she caught cold. “Where are your parents? A kid shouldn’t be out on the streets alone, especially in weather like this.”

  But she pushed the towel away and faced him, her features weak yet determined. “Th-there’s no time to worry over me. You have to help them!” she insisted.

  Harrey knelt on the opposite side of her; he usually worked well with kids. “Calm down, now, little miss. We’ll help whoever it is. But you’ve gotta take it easy, first.”

  “You don’t understand!” Her shout rang in their ears. “They’re dying! Help them now, or it’ll be too late!”

  “Too late?” Harrey shared an alarmed look with him.

  Madnes kept outwardly calm. He held the girl by the shoulders, peering into her young eyes. “Tell me: who, what, and where?”

  She didn’t hesitate. “Nico and Ash, my family. Nico ran into the Forest of the Haunted—something about looking for a home in Wonderland, whatever that is. And then Ash...he ran after him.” Her eyes were pools of dread.

  Pelur made a sound, a low grumble, and Madnes looked up from her to him. “What? Do you know the place?”

  Pelur’s brow creased. “The Forest of the Haunted is one of several places in Oswick that is closely attached to Wonderland. That forest is linked to a very dangerous forest in Wonderland of the same name—a place Wonderlanders avoid at all costs.” Pelur’s sharp, elegant features turned grim. “Pockets of linked space open and close erratically there. If one happens to be open while you venture through that particular forest in Oswick, you will find yourself walking into Wonderland’s Fo
rest of the Haunted...and you will be lost and consumed by it.”

  SHRUGGING ON HIS MAROON jacket and top hat, Madnes followed Pelur’s lead into the rain. Thankfully, it was lessening. The little girl, Drisel, kept ahead of them, determined to see her friends rescued; Harrey tried to keep hold of her hand.

  When they reached an open field, and Pelur came to a halt, Madnes saw it: a looming forest at the edge of the grass, mist curling around its shadowed borders. Even from a distance he could feel a prickling energy in the air that made the hairs along his skin rise.

  “It’s like a living thing, that forest.” Pelur observed the trees, thick as jungle. “If there were ever a reason to believe Syn exists, it is that forest. It’s evil. It hungers...” he growled. “Hungers for more souls to make into its children. The Haunted Ones: they are the cursed children of the forest, those who wandered in and never came out. They can never leave its grasp, neither living nor dead, forever a part of the forest.”

  Madnes swallowed, fear caught in his throat. He was about to step forward when Pelur’s gauntleted hand grabbed his shoulder. “A person who enters has only 24 hours to live before the forest takes them.”

  “Takes them...what do you mean?”

  “After 24 hours, you will become a Haunted One—forever bound to the forest’s will. That is the curse people speak of.”

  The old Madnes would have guffawed and dismissed it all as fantasy, but he knew better now—you don’t just dismiss things.

  “But when did Nico enter the forest? That gives us far less than 24 hours to save him. Not that it isn’t doable, right?”

  Pelur shook his damp head. “It’s like a labyrinth in there. Once you go in, things change and shift. The forest will do whatever it can to make you lost and keep you within it.”

  “...Great. That’s just great.” Madnes fidgeted with his boots. “Tell me, is there anything in Wonderland that’s pleasant and happy?”

  Pelur cocked his head sideways, not getting the sarcasm.

  “Beware nightfall, Sir Madnes—that’s when the poor souls of those who’ve already been taken awake. They roam the forest in search of lost people...to turn them. You must beware of both time and them, Sir.”

  Madnes patted his top hat more securely on his head. “Keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it? Okay.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I’m off! Before I lose all courage.”

  “Wait! Use this.” Harrey placed a compass-like gadget in his palm. “Whatever that wicked forest tries, you use this to find your way back out.”

  Madnes hefted it in his palm. “Thanks.” He smiled past his nerves and buttoned the compass into a pocket. They had all wanted to come with him, but he refused, insisting a group would be more cumbersome and difficult to keep track of. Much as he didn’t want to go alone, he refused to put more lives at risk. Besides, he had the Madness Solver power.

  “Twenty hours; I’ll be back by then!” Madnes waved and trotted toward the forest.

  He stepped through the wall of curling mist and approached the trees. Leaves and branches furled aside for him. He ventured through the foliage.

  “I’m going with you!” Drisel appeared, and before he could protest, she dove in after him.

  Chapter 29:

  Forest of the Haunted

  A CROW CIRCLED THE treetops once before flapping away.

  “You will fail this time, Madnes,” Oz cawed to the air. “And it will finally break you...”

  “DRISEL!” MADNES GRABBED for the little girl’s arm. Heavy foliage moved to obscure the spot where they’d entered the forest.

  “Let go!” Drisel tried to yank free. “I’m coming with you—I won’t go back!”

  He knew how she felt, but the child would be in too much danger here, not to mention be a distraction for him.

  He shoved low branches and veils of vines aside, moving to take her back out of the forest. More greenery lay beyond what he’d just pushed aside. He sucked in a breath and pushed forward, shoving more leaves away. More and more and more.

  Where was the field? Why was the way out not showing itself?

  Madnes swallowed down a surge of panic. No matter how much he dug at the foliage, there was nothing but more leaves beyond his hands.

  Pelur’s words came to mind: “It’s like a labyrinth in there. Once you go in, things change and shift. The forest will do whatever it can to make you lost and keep you within it.”

  Madnes released the foliage, letting it swing back in place, and he backed up until he was beside Drisel on a narrow winding path. “We can’t get out the same way we came in, huh?” His voice sounded small and muffled in the thick atmosphere.

  Drisel blinked up at him. He had to keep his cool; she was counting on him, now. “Promise you’ll do as I say and won’t let go of my hand?” he told her, taking her hand in his.

  She tipped her face up at the green ceiling, and he took a moment to do the same. Faint light filtered down through a soupy, green canopy, mist spilling around it like small streams.

  “Okay,” he heard her agree.

  Hand in hand, their shoes squished dirt and rotting leaves as they followed the path that was more like a deer-run. The forest held an eerie glow from the rainy day’s filtered light above, yet not a drop of water touched their heads. A musty scent permeated the air: rich soil and moss, filling his nose. And there were no sounds but their footsteps through a graveyard-like stillness.

  Flap, flap!

  Madnes’s heart jumped, and he yanked the girl’s hand to a halt.

  “It’s a bird,” Drisel spoke up reassuringly. He looked to where she pointed at a blue jay. Something about the bird’s beak unnerved him, as if it were smiling grimly at them. He tugged her onward, eager to leave it behind.

  Large flowers opened as they passed by, some as tall as he was. A bubbling liquid spilled down their petals, and he was careful to steer clear.

  Yellow fruits hung down from tendrils of moss, some across their path, forcing them to duck under to get around them. The fruits put out a pungent scent. Drisel’s stomach growled, but he refused to let her taste one.

  After a while, it felt like they had been walking for hours—or was it just a few minutes? Time felt like a distorted thing here. He checked his pocket watch: 18 hours left.

  He had to pick up the pace. But to where? Where was he going? How do you find someone who’s lost in a forest?

  He racked his Madness Solver brain for ideas. Prints in the dirt, snapped twigs, places to hide...his eyes scanned, but he hadn’t come across any footprints or decent places to shelter. There were a few snapped twigs, but that could be from anything.

  The best option—and also the worst—was to make as much noise as possible and call out their names. He really didn’t like that idea. But it was the fastest approach—and fast was what they needed.

  “Hey, Drisel.” He told the little girl his plan, and her already wide gaze widened further.

  “You want the Haunted Ones to find us? Are you mad?” she said.

  “It’s still daytime, even if a bit gloomy from the rainclouds. The Haunted don’t come out until nightfall, remember? According to Knight Pelur, anyway.”

  “What if other things live here?”

  Madnes shifted uncomfortably, craning his neck and eyeing the trees heavy with moss to either side of the path. “It’s our only hope of finding your friends in time.”

  And so, that was what they did.

  “Aaash!”

  “Nicooo!”

  Their calls rang out, but the dense atmosphere wouldn’t let their voices carry far.

  Was it just him, or did the vines move closer? He checked his watch again: 17 hours left.

  Something broke free from a wall of bushes off to his left. A high pitch growl split the silence, hurting his ears, and a tangle of creature limbs came charging out at them.

  It moved like a blur. Madnes had time only to grab Drisel up and duck around a tree trunk. Claws scratched up the soil as it missed them. />
  Madnes lunged over a fallen tree and zigzagged through the forest’s tangle of trunks, roots and undergrowth, his free arm knocking aside low branches, his head ducking under what he could. It was like weaving through a thick maze. And as fast as his feet carried him, the creature could still be heard somewhere not far behind.

  Drisel clutched her arms around his neck as he held her, staring wildly over his shoulder.

  “What is that thing?” he barely spared a breath to ask her over the commotion of the chase. Her alarmed expression was silent. Maybe the creature moved too fast for any features to be identified.

  Madnes let the power carry his legs across the forest floor in wide strides. More high pitch growls drew near—more of the many-limbed creatures had joined in the hunt.

  Drisel whimpered in his ear.

  Madnes made a dodge around a large boulder that rose suddenly from the undergrowth and found his footsteps running across stone. A bird twittered above, and he realized the forest had suddenly fallen silent behind him.

  He slid to a stop and turned. The creatures were nowhere to be seen.

  Drisel wriggled free and plopped to the ground. An old structure had once been here, now nothing but ruins, a stone platform and broken pillars.

  “There’s a face in the tree,” she said.

  Madnes moved to her side, stepping around thick roots which wove through and broke up a portion of the platform. Protruding from the left side of the tree she pointed to, was something like cheeks, a nose, and what could be closed eyes. Something almost human, yet of bark.

  A chill crawled up his skin, and he pulled Drisel away from the face before she could reach and poke a finger at it. “It’s like a person. Is a person stuck inside the tree?”

  “...I don’t know,” he whispered.

  The Haunted Ones...the cursed children of the forest...neither living nor dead, forever a part of the forest...

  “Look, Mr. Madnes, there’s another one.”