Malice in Wonderland Bundle 3

by Lotus Rose

  “That’s the next line of the song!” Sleepy B exclaims delightedly, and she claps her hands.

  Malice is feeling unsettled and wants to stop and discuss things—maybe they should walk away—things are getting too strange.

  But, though Malice wants to stop, she can’t seem to make herself. She walks along with the rest of the team—the rose is about fifty feet away.

  “What does that line mean?” Humpty says.

  “I tried to stop walking, but I can’t,” the Jabberwock says. “Why can’t I stop?”

  Malice’s eyes are focused on the Jabberwock, but she notices a flicker of movement in the black rose and shifts her eyes just in time to see the rose suddenly shrink in a flash, to disappear from view.

  “Crikey!” the Cat exclaims.

  “Oh, that’s not good!” the Jabberwock moans.

  Malice says, “I admit it’s a good time to abandon our pursuit of the flower.”

  “The missing flower,” Hatter corrects.

  Malice tries to stop or change direction with all her might, but alas, she keeps on walking—and she lets out a cry of frustration.

  Her teammates also shout out and mutter curses.

  “I told you this was a bad idea,” the Jabberwock mutters.

  “Oh, blast it all!” Humpty exclaims.

  “The song is like a siren call...” the Jabberwock says.

  Hatter says, “Luring us to crash our ships upon the rocks?”

  “There are no rocks, prat,” Sleepy B says.

  “There are too,” Hatter says. “They’re part of the gravel. Admittedly, they’re small.”

  “The song is luring us to the black rose,” Sleepy B says, “or at least, to where it used to be.”

  The Cat says, “It seems I’m along for the ride. I can’t seem to teleport away!”

  Sleepy B says, “Now you know how we feel, bratty catty. Most creatures can’t simply poof out of danger, you know.”

  “I know that!” the Cat exclaims. “Ooh, I hate being like you sorry lot!”

  “Likewise!” Sleepy B shouts.

  “Oh, dear!” Malice exclaims. “What awaits us where the rose used to be?”

  “A looking glass, perhaps,” the Jabberwock says, “as indicated by the song...”

  “Perhaps doom awaits us,” the Cat says woefully.

  “Perhaps,” Hatter says, “but I get the sense, that as we draw closer, the other two lines of the song shall be revealed to us... Tip of the tongue.” He sticks his tongue out.

  Malice nods, because she has that feeling as well.

  “But there’s nothing there, where the rose was,” Humpty says hopefully. “Just a bunch of dirt, like the rest of this desert. Perhaps it’s nothing. A mere joke of sorts.”

  “You’re a twit,” Sleepy B says.

  “Queen Maly!” Humpty whines. “She called me a twit!”

  “This is not the time for your silly bickering—” Malice starts. “We could be—”

  The earworm in her head suddenly intensifies—and the words of the song pop into her head.

  She and her teammates don’t even have to signal to each other—they bop their heads from side to side in synchronized movement—even the Cat’s head is bopping.

  “Oopa dee doo, oopa doo dee,” Humpty sings. Sleepy sings, “Once you have a mirror, there’s much more to see.”

  “Oopa doo dee, oopa dee doo,” the Jabberwock sings.

  Hatter sings, “For when you have a mirror, you can see you!”

  The Cat sings out, “Ohh yeahhhh...”

  Malice can’t think of a good line to sing so she says, “Wooooo!” while making shaky jazz hands.

  And they continue walking.

  “Great,” the Jabberwock mutters, “a song explaining how mirrors work.”

  “I’ll have none of that negativity,” Malice warns him.

  But all conversation ceases as the song becomes more powerful and they sing the same four lines over and over whilst bopping their heads in synchronized motion.

  Things become a bit clearer the closer they get. At thirty feet away from where the giant rose had been, Malice can now see that a large mirror is lying on the ground. As they get closer still, she can see a single small black rose rises up from the ground in front of the mirror.

  How curious, she thinks, but she doesn’t discuss with her teammates, because they’re all singing the song over and over.

  The song is like a compulsion in her mind, compelling her to keep walking until she reaches to where the large black rose used to be...had the mirror somehow been used to make the black rose look bigger?

  The whole situation is worrisome—it may indeed be a trap, but there is literally no turning back now.

  Finally, after more walking and singing, they arrive in front of the little black rose.

  As they do so, the compulsive urge to sing leaves them, and they stand in awkward silence.

  “It’s curious,” the Jabberwock says. “Black roses aren’t supposed to grow in such harsh conditions.”

  Sleepy B tilts her head. “It looks a bit off for some reason...”

  “So, what now?” the Hatter inquires.

  “Now, I pluck,” Malice says. She squats in front of the flower, extends her hand—that’s when she notices that she agrees with Sleepy B. “You’re right. There’s something odd about this thing. It looks like it’s been painted with black paint.” She tilts her head as she ponders it.

  That’s when she feels the ground drop out from under her. She looks at everyone’s shocked expressions—her team is falling. Her senses slow down, so it seems like slow motion—she finds herself wondering if the Cat will fall as well—he’s not within her view.

  She lands on a tilted surface. She and the others tumble and roll downward, and come to rest in a tangled heap on the ground.

  Malice’s face is planted on someone’s tunic.

  Ah, so it was a trap.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  MALICE GRUNTS AS SHE tries to get up—the others are grunting as well, and Sleepy B is screaming. But whoever is underneath Malice shifts, and Malice fumbles and cries out, “Ack!” She rolls off onto her side onto the hard ground.

  Malice realizes now that she had been on top of Hatter, who is next to her, rising on his knees.

  “Ooh, sorry, my dear,” he says. “Let me help you. Are you alright?”

  Malice turns her head and gasps as she sees the trap door spring back up into the wooden-beamed ceiling about fifteen feet above them. She realizes that it had dropped down to form the ramp they had rolled down. Much of the dirt that had been covering it, above, to conceal it, is now thickly clouding the air and she fights the urge to cough.

  Malice shouts, “Sleepy B? Cease that shrieking. Are you hurt?”

  Malice hears Sleepy B behind her, saying in a whimpery voice, “I don’t think so.”

  Malice extends her hand to Hatter, who pulls her into a sitting position. She winces from a pain in her elbow and her right side.

  “Is everyone okay?” the Jabberwock says, to Malice’s left.

  Malice says, “I think so.” She looks around as the others say, “Yes,” or “I’m not sure.” Humpty says, “What happened?”

  Hatter says, “I’m just a bit jostled.” He searches around for his hat that fell off his head, and locates it a short distance away.

  Everyone, at least, looks conscious and with no obvious serious injuries...except for the Cat, who she doesn’t see.

  Malice stands and looks around, as best she can through the obscuring dusty air.

  They are within a narrow tunnel roughly carved into the underground granite. They are at one end of the tunnel—behind them is a dead end blocked off by a solid wall of stone. Ahead of them, the tunnel goes on about fifteen feet, where an arched entrance leads to places unknown.

  Above them, a huge chandelier blazing with hundreds of candles shines down upon them.

  “So dusty!” Sleepy B complains while waving her hand through the a
ir.

  Humpty and the Jabberwock are looking about with dazed expressions. The floating Cat’s head is now materializing next to the Jabberwock.

  About ten feet up, a walkway is carved into the side of the tunnel, forming an upper level, with an arched opening, as well.

  It is from this opening, now walk out two children. They stand on the upper walkway and peer down at the team. The male wears a green suit, the female, a green dress. Malice realizes now that they’re not children, they’re teenage munchkins.

  Meanwhile, the Cat, who has fully materialized his head now, says, “Oi! That was atrocious! Is everyone okay?”

  The female munchkin calls down to them, “We apologize for our inhospitable acceptance of your company.” She curtsies. “I am Ada, and this is my brother, Rick.” She gestures at him and he bows.

  The Jabberwock calls up, “Was it you who triggered the trapdoor?”

  “Aye,” Rick says. “I’m afraid we tricked you all, Queen Alice and entourage.”

  “By using one of our special mirrors,” Ada says.

  Malice says, “It made the black rose look bigger?”

  “Aye,” Rick says, “that was its magic power, to make the reflection of something small, look big. And it used magic to make the reflection look real, and not like looking at a regular mirror.”

  Ada says, “But it wasn’t a real black rose. We used a fake one, to lure Queen Alice.”

  “We painted a red rose,” Rick explains. “We saw you when you were still far off, and knew a black rose would be the way to lure you, because of what the Tin Knight told us about you.”

  “That confounded knight!” Hatter exclaims. “Do you intend to deliver us to him, then?”

  “By the way, I’m not Alice, I’m Malice, so no need to turn us in.”

  “Is that so?” Rick says. “Well it remains to be seen whether we shall contact the Tin Knight, but if we do, you may certainly explain it all to him.”

  Ada says, “If you all fail the trial of the mirror, we’ll return the carrier pigeon to the Tin Knight saying we’ve captured...um, ‘Malice’, you said your name was?”

  Malice nods.

  Rick says, “The Tin Knight told us about you via pigeon—that’s how he likes to communicate with us, since we’re so far away from the tribe.”

  “What is this ‘trial of the mirror’ of which you speak?” Hatter bellows.

  “That’s the real reason why we beckoned you here,” Ada says. “Capturing Queen Alice, I mean, ‘Malice’, would only be a lucky bonus. Ladies and gentlemen...oh, and felines and decapitated jabberwocks too...welcome to the Den of Mirrors!”

  “You mean there are more of those things?” Hatter says.

  “Of course!” Ada answers. “That’s why this place is called the Den of Mirrors!”

  “Makes sense!” Hatter replies.

  Rick says, “Yes, this place is home to all manner of magical looking glasses. The one you saw is what we use to lure potential mirror tenders here. But before, we always enlarged little mounds of gold or a water fountain. This is the first time we used a flower as a lure.”

  Ada says, “But the first time was a charm, because no one ever fell for our bait before. You’re the first!”

  “Of course, we haven’t been at this very long,” Rick says. “There was a fairy tale being who used to live here, but he vacated the residence when all the fairy tale beings flew off to the Outside World.”

  “How about you let us go?” Malice says. “After all, I’m not Alice, and you’ve never put anyone through the trial yet, right? So why start now?”

  “No can do,” Rick says. “It’s part of the enchantment of this place.”

  “It’s more like a curse,” Ada says.

  “Yes,” Rick says, “We feel compelled (in a magicy way) to try to capture all passersby and make them go through the trial, and if you fail, the magic will bind you to this place, doomed to never leave, and to tend the mirrors for eternity.”

  “Like us,” Ada intones.

  Hatter raises his fist and shakes it. “Curses to your curse!”

  “Yeah, it’s bollocks!” Sleepy B shouts.

  “Watch your language,” the Jabberwock says. To the munchkins, he says, “I must say this is all rather inconvenient. We’re already behind schedule. We took a detour, because we thought there might be some black rose that Malice needs for her heart.”

  “Yes,” Malice says, “we don’t have time to be stuck here for eternity—we’re on a quest. And all this talk of mirrors... I have little to do with looking glasses, since I don’t have a reflection.”

  “No reflection?” Rick says. “That would certainly throw a wrench in the works. How’d you pull that off?”

  “Alice is my reflection. She’s currently in the Outside World. So when I look in a looking glass, I see no reflection—I only see what’s behind me.”

  “How curious,” Ada says. “If that’s true, then trials of mirrors shan’t work on you. But we’ll simply tie your fate to your team’s. If any of them fail, they’ll all stay to tend the mirrors, and we shall turn Malice in to Dorothy and the Tin Knight.”

  “But if all your teammates pass,” Rick says, “We shall let you all go.”

  The Cat says, “Why would you just let them go?”

  Rick says, “It’s part of the enchantment. Well, enough fiddle-faddle. I know you said you were behind schedule. So are you ready to get the tests under way?”

  Sleepy B raises her hand. “Not so fast. I have some questions...”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “WELL, WE’D GLADLY ANSWER some questions,” Ada says, “but we thought you were under a time constraint.”

  “Our time isn’t that constraining,” Malice says. “You haven’t even told us what the looking glass trial of yours entails.”

  “Well, there is a magic mirror out there.” Rick gestures at the archway. “Each teammember must approach the mirror one at a time, to face its challenge. If you all pass the trial, you shall go free and receive an extra bonus gift from us.”

  Malice says, “What’s the bonus gift?”

  Rick and Ada exchange glances.

  Rick says, “We decided on your gift before we captured you, when we still thought you were Alice.”

  Ada says, “But perhaps you’re enough like Alice, so that it’d still be useful for thwarting Dorothy.”

  “What will?” Malice says.

  Rick says, “If she were to succeed, we wanted to give Alice some of the poppy dust, so she could visit the Wizard of Oz and have her age set, just like we did.”

  Ada says, “And maybe, since you’re Alice’s reflection, that’s what you should do, too.”

  “Why?”

  Hatter says, sounding worried, “Wait! That sounds like it might lead to...petting.”

  Sleepy B giggles. “Not to mention it sounds rather...intoxicating.”

  Malice perks up in delight. “Oh, is it? I could use—”

  The Jabberwock interrupts, “And she really doesn’t need to be consuming more intoxicants right now. It could lead her down a bad path.”

  Ada and Rick chuckle.

  At their puzzled expressions, Ada explains, “The poppy dust is literally supposed to lead her down a path.”

  “Yes,” Rick says, “taking the poppy dust is how one comes to see the beginning of the Yellow Brick Road, which you must follow to get to the Wizard.”

  Ada says, “And then, if you follow our advice, you’ll ask him to raise your age to forever stay one second before the age of consent, just like we did.”

  “Wait,” Hatter says, “did you say poppy dust?”

  “That’s right,” Ada says.

  “Ohhh,” he lightly slaps his cheek. “I thought you said puppy dust.”

  Malice groans and the two munchkins roll their eyes.

  Malice says to the munchkins, “Why did you ask the Wizard to do that to you? And why should I?”

  Sleepy B says, “Yeah, if it was me, I would ask him to
raise my age above the age of consenty, so people’d stop treating me like a little kid!” She crosses her arms and pouts.

  Rick says, “But trust us, if you were one of Dorothy’s personal servants, like we were, you would never want to reach that age when Dorothy would start to ‘play’ with you in that perverted, twisted way she likes...”

  Ada says, “Yeah, she got some sort of sick thrill out of the idea that we’re twin brother and sister. She was ever-so-looking-forward to spending time with us, both at the same time, once we reached that special age when she was allowed to start playing with us in that way adults do.”

  Malice listens to the gasps and exclamations of all her teammates, and she watches them shake their heads, and she scowls because she doesn’t know what the munchkins are talking about and she hates being kept in the dark about things.

  So she straightens up and regally proclaims, “Explain to me specifically what this ‘playing’ entails. Don’t be vague about it.”

  “Malice!” the Jabberwock says. “You’re still too young to be told of such things!”

  “Yeah!” Sleepy B says, with her hand upon her hip.

  Malice snarls at her, and says, “What do you know? You’re younger than me!”

  “I’m more mature than I look.”

  “So then, you do know, specifically, what form of ‘playing’ they’re talking about?”

  “I do,” Sleepy B replies.

  “Well, tell me, then.”

  “I can’t. You’re too young for me to inform you.”

  “Arrggh!” Malice exclaims. “Such a liar.” She looks back up at the munchkins, says, “So you had the Wizard raise your age?”

  Rick nods. “Yes, our ages jumped ahead, but now it always stays one second below age of consent. Now Dorothy can never make us her playmates.”

  Hatter says, “Did she lose interest in you after that? Because somehow you’ve ended up in this place, far away from her.”

  Ada says, “The Den of Mirrors was uninhabited after the fairy tale being who lived here left to go to the Outside World. So Dorothy sent us here to tend the mirrors, knowing full well about the curse here.”

  “Yes,” says Ada woefully, “when we were forced to come close to the Den of Mirrors, the song of the mirrors drew us here. We went through our own challenge and failed. And so we are doomed to be mirror tenders, traveling from mirror to mirror, cleaning them, and waiting for others to be drawn into our snare, and be forced to go through the tests.”