The Vanishing (Wonderland Book 1)

by Rebekah Lewis

  THE

  VANISHING

  REBEKAH LEWIS

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 by Rebekah Lewis

  First Printing, 2014 by Breathless Press. Formerly published in the Wonderland Tales anthology.

  The author acknowledges that Lewis Carroll holds all the rights to any characters, locations, or references from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and "The Hunting of the Snark."

  All rights reserved.

  Editing by Leona Bushman

  Cover Design by Victoria Miller

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  www.Rebekah-Lewis.com

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  DEDICATION

  THE VANISHING

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BOOKS BY REBEKAH LEWIS

  DEDICATION

  To Justyn Perry and all the authors and staff of Breathless Press over the past five years. Thank you for believing in me and taking a chance on my books when no one else would.

  This short story was written to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Breathless Press. It was a good run, and I will never forget where I started.

  THE VANISHING

  "But if ever I meet with a Boojum, that day,

  In a moment (of this I am sure),

  I shall softly and suddenly vanish away—

  And the notion I cannot endure!"

  -Lewis Carroll,

  "The Hunting of the Snark"

  When her friends declared they wanted to search for a supposedly local bird called a snipe after a few rounds of beers, Cadence should have been skeptical. Instead, she'd been slightly buzzed and agreed without so much as questioning why she'd never heard of such a bird before, or why she needed a thimble and a bar of soap to draw it out of hiding. As she stood in the patch of woods, alone, behind a hole-in-the-wall bar, she started to suspect something was amiss.

  Gullible. So, so gullible. Her group had all spread out in different directions, probably filming her right then and there to post on YouTube later. Ugh. Screw this. She dropped the soap and thimble and pulled out her cell phone to GPS her drunk ass back to the bar. She would sit in air conditioning while waiting for a cab to pick her up and cart her back to her dorm room. Behind her, something ran through the underbrush, and she dropped the phone with a gasp. Cadence turned about in a circle, but didn't spot any threatening menace, a single one of her group, or signs of a tall bird with rainbow hued feathers.

  I'm getting new friends. Who the hell randomly carries a thimble and soap around anyway?

  As she kneeled to retrieve her phone, movement in her peripheral vision drew her notice. Initially, she thought it was a bobcat, and her heart skipped a beat in anticipation of the assuredly painful mauling she'd receive should it attack. Then the cat sat down, wrapping its long, fluffy tail around itself. It was a large tabby, possibly of the Maine Coon breed, but Cadence couldn't be sure. However, it sat nearly two feet tall on its haunches, and house cats didn't grow to that size, did they? She couldn’t recall the sizes of a Maine Coon, having only seen them in pictures.

  It regarded her with otherworldly cobalt eyes that almost seemed to glow. Cadence stared back, wondering what it would do. Then the cat smiled. Wait...what?

  With a mouthful of slender, sharp teeth, the cat grinned wider, and then the smile split a sideways crescent moon across its feline face. The world spun around her, and she toppled from her crouching position onto her rear. Bile rose in her throat and she closed her eyes to battle the urge to vomit the acrid fluid. Perhaps she shouldn't have had that last beer.

  Afraid to jar her stomach with any sudden movements and dispel its contents, Cadence squeezed her eyes shut and breathed heavily through her nose. It created a weird wheezing noise, which made her want to quit despite the fact it seemed to help.

  "Pardon me, miss... Are you all right?"

  Cadence opened her eyes and was met with the spectacle of well-worn, brown leather boots that folded over like a pirate's below leather-encased knees and thighs. Her gaze traveled up, and the figure moved out of her line of sight. Instead, her focus locked on to the gnarled purple tree trunk twisting up and up into bursts of magenta and sapphire leaves directly behind where the legs had been.

  What. Was in. Those. Beers?

  She was still gawking at the tree when someone gripped her by the underarms and lifted her, but her legs refused to cooperate and buckled. Meanwhile, the grinning cat reappeared, out of thin air, on one of the high branches of the tree. Cocking its head to the side, his smile broadened even more when the man with the pirate boots scooped her up against him. She had no choice but to throw her arms around his neck in fear of being dropped. The first thing she noticed when she faced him was his hair. Long, wavy, and a honey blond, the strands beneath her fingers were soft to the touch, but she didn't pay it much attention. Not when his face belonged to an angel.

  "Whaaaaaaat?" she managed to say, but couldn't form words past her question. The man was gorgeous.

  His lips moved. Sound came out but didn't register. She placed a finger against his bottom lip, lightly dragging the kissable edge of it down over the top of his subtly cleft chin, and watched it bounce back into place. She giggled, caught his gaze, and then sucked in a breath. His irises were a silvery, light gray. And he didn't appear to be amused by her antics in the least.

  "Devrel," the man called out. His forehead scrunched up, and she wondered what troubled such a handsome man so.

  The grinning cat appeared on the man's shoulder, towering over him as he leaned down and answered, actually answered, with, "She's rather odd, isn't she?"

  At this, Cadence lost it. She laughed, only to be forced into a fit of hysterical giggles when both the man and the cat glanced at each other and back at her.

  "Mayhap I broke her," Devrel said, smile faltering ever so slightly as he reached down and swiped at the air in front of her face with a huge paw.

  The man sighed and shook his head. The hair falling over his forehead bounced with the movement. "Why did you bring her?"

  "Bring whom?"

  He pinned Devrel with a glare.

  The cat snickered. "I jest. It's what I do. As for the girl..." Devrel faced her again. "Let me fetch her some borogove feathers. We can mash them up to powder and have her drink them with tea. I believe she's befuddled."

  They wanted to drug her with powdered feathers of some sort? She had calmed remarkably, but still couldn't shake the lightheadedness and nausea she'd associated with drinking too much. Although, she hadn't been nearly that drunk to begin with. Could she be dreaming?

  Cadence reached down and pinched her arm, hard. Her nail broke the skin. Nope. Definitely awake. Devrel became transfixed by the action.

  "Well, who needs a cat for scratching should one wish to scratch oneself?"

  "That tree is purple." She ignored him, and flicked her gaze back to the tree. Yep. Still purple.

  The man squinted at her as though she were simple-minded and replied, "'Tis a Tumtum tree. They are always purple."

  "Oh, that explains so much. Thanks. Why can your cat talk?" And smile, for that matter. And appear at will.

  "He is not my cat, and I do not own him. He is my friend."

&
nbsp; Devrel purred and gave the man a friendly head nudge. "I'm the last of the Cheshire cats," he said cheerfully.

  Cadence tensed. The Cheshire cat was a fictional character in a children's novel. Fictional, not real. The argument, of course, seemed completely invalid due to the fact the cat could talk and obviously had a Cheshire smile. "One more question." She gulped. "Where am I?"

  The cat's grin curled even higher. "You're in Wonderland."

  The world went dark.

  ***

  "Mayhap you should put her back where you found her."

  "Mayhap we should take her with us. If you go to the Red Queen's court unattached, she will try to match you to someone not of your choosing. She was very final about that the last time."

  "Is that why you took her from her world?"

  "She could see me. Rules are rules. Now she is mine...unless you want her as an un-birthday gift."

  Cadence's eyes fluttered open. There were trees all around, many of which contained leaves of every color imaginable. The man and the cat continued their discussion in the shade of a tree resembling a maple, aside from crimson, tear-drop leaves. At first glance, it looked like the branches were dripping blood.

  She utilized the opportunity to study her captors, if she could call them that, while they remained unaware of her return to consciousness. Devrel still seemed to be a gray and black cat, not much to see there—other than the creepy smile. The man, however, appeared to have stepped out of some medieval film. She'd noted his boots before, but Cadence hadn't gotten a good look at his whole getup. His leather jerkin was also made of worn brown leather, and beneath that was a white long-sleeved shirt hanging loosely over his arms. His—surprise, surprise—leather pants clung to his thighs, but were loose enough that he could move with ease. A sword belt hung about his waist, and a silver hilt sparkled in the light from the sun where it protruded proudly from the sheath.

  He glanced toward her, brow lifting. "You're awake."

  "Did I really faint?" she asked, cheeks heating. Hopefully she hadn't drooled. How embarrassing. She shifted her weight and found herself propped against the purple tree, the Tumtum tree, he'd called it. It was kind of comfortable and smelled like cotton candy. Cadence resisted the urge to lick it.

  "Aye. No worries though. It's my favorite spot in the Tulgey Wood. Now that you're awake, we can be on our way." He smiled at her then. Breathtaking.

  "Who are you?" she asked, and cringed. What she remembered of Wonderland came from a cartoon. She sounded like the blasted caterpillar. "What I mean is, I can't figure it out. You're not wearing a hat, so you can't be the Hatter. You're dressed in white, so does that make you the White Rabbit?"

  Devrel appeared on her lap, smirking directly into her face. For such a large feline, he was surprisingly lightweight. "Are you sure you aren't befuddled. The offer of borogove feathers is still available." He licked his chops, as if he relished the thought of hunting down what she assumed was a type of bird, but in this world could be anything.

  The man drew his sword, revealing a long steel blade and swished it in the air. The whistling metal gave a snicker-snack as it cut through the open space. Cadence wasn't entirely sure if he wanted her to see his skill, the sword, or if he was about to stab her.

  "Do you know what this is?" he asked, holding the sword in front of his face, vertically, in a pose Cadence recognized from romance and fantasy book covers.

  "Um...a sword?"

  Devrel toppled over in her lap and giggled. "A sword, she says. Of course it's a sword! But what does it mean!"

  "This," the man said, "is the Vorpal Sword."

  Aside from Devrel's steady hum of purring, the reveal was met with silence.

  He returned the weapon to his sheath with an exaggerated sigh. "I'm Gareth, slayer of the Jabberwock." Gareth was a good name for him. Totally befitting of his medieval appearance.

  "And what, precisely, is a Jabberwock?" Cadence asked, unconsciously running a hand down Devrel's back. His rumbling purrs increased in volume and he cuddled closer.

  "A foul creature that once terrorized the land and sky of our world," Gareth explained. "Many sought and failed to defeat it. Most hid in fear. In my youth, I went into the Tulgey Wood armed with only this sword and returned with its head, having defeated a beast the bravest of knights and heroes could not."

  "So it's like a dragon?"

  "What is a dragon?" Gareth asked.

  "Lizard with wings." She flapped her arms in demonstration. "Breathes fire."

  He considered it and nodded. "Similar, aye, but he stood on two legs and wore a waistcoat. He also had whiskers."

  Devrel rolled over to face her. "Not as handsome as mine though." He ran a paw over his own to demonstrate how very debonair his were.

  Ignoring the cat, Gareth bowed. "Alas, you have my name, but I haven't learned yours?"

  "Oh. I'm Cadence. Cadence Adams, college student." As Gareth opened his mouth to question what a college student was, she waved a hand. "It's not important. I need to go back though. I was in the woods with friends, and they will be worried." Inwardly, she took pleasure in imagining their faces when she was gone without a trace and they had to tell the cops they left her by herself while playing a dirty, nasty prank on her.

  Yeah, right. They will probably make a pact to never tell anybody they were there, or say they saw me go home from the bar. Jerks.

  Devrel stood, stretched, and yawned widely before rematerializing on Gareth's shoulder like a furry, maniacal parrot. "Here's the thing, Cadence." He lifted a paw and licked between the pads in a lazy fashion. When he glanced up and found her waiting for him to elucidate, he swiftly apologized and continued, "Once you arrive in Wonderland, you are stuck here for two days, until the thirteenth hour, at the dead of night, in which the sun and moon are both high in the sky and you close your eyes to sleep. Wonderland knows what the heart truly wishes, and should you want to go home, you go home. If you want to stay, you are here..." His ears flattened, and he added, "Forever."

  "But if you go back, you won't have lost time there. Everyone returns to the very second they left," Gareth added.

  "Eh," Cadence struggled to rise, using the Tumtum tree as leverage. "Two days isn't really a long time for a life altering decision." Of course she'd want to go home. She hadn't said goodbye to anyone, and she knew no one in Wonderland other than a dragon slayer and a grinning feline.

  Devrel tilted his head again. "Why should one use more time? If you fail to act on your desires, you may never taste their sweetness." With that, he vanished and didn't reappear.

  Cadence turned about, searching for the sneaky cat. "Where'd he go?"

  Gareth shrugged and crossed his arms. "Probably went to hunt after all that talk about sweetness and desires. He is ruled by his stomach. Come, we should have been on our way by now." He gallantly offered his elbow to her.

  "What about Devrel?"

  "He'll catch up."

  Not sure what else to do, Cadence took his arm and hiked alongside him. They strolled in silence for some time before Gareth inquired how she'd come face to face with Devrel. Having already embarrassed herself by fainting in his arms, she had no qualms in telling him of her deplorable gullibility. His laughter, as attractive as it was to her ears, she did not appreciate.

  "I don't think it's so funny."

  "I do."

  Cadence snorted. Of course he did.

  "It's no wonder Devrel was pulled to you. He never could resist a good Snark hunt in this kingdom or any other. He probably sensed it occurring, especially since you are one of the rare mortals capable of seeing him in your world. Most cannot."

  "Snipe. The imaginary bird is called a snipe."

  "'Twas a Snark hunt, no matter what you call it. You even hunted it with a thimble and soap. You were missing some supplies, but those are very important for catching Snarks."

  "Whatever." She removed her arm from his, and he opened his mouth to reply, but snapped it shut. Curious response.


  Finally he said, "I have offended you by correcting your word for the creature, and I apologize. However, you must understand why." He rubbed his chin, as though pondering where to begin. "Long ago, people would seek out passages to Wonderland by sea, rabbit hole, or looking glass to hunt for a creature known as a Snark. The Tulgey Wood is known for a vast number of creatures, many of which are dangerous. The bandersnatch. The Jubjub bird. And, once, the most dreaded Jabberwock. However, at the time, the Boojums well-populated the area. And Boojums, ever mischievous, invented the Snark as a way to trick people into the forest and mess with them."

  "Wow. It really is a snipe hunt."

  Gareth nodded. "Except the Boojums would wait until someone from the group was separated and then transport them to another realm, where they would quickly go mad and be locked away."

  "That's terrible." She shuddered. "Wait...I was transported here by Devrel, is he...?"

  "A Boojum? Aye. Though they came to prefer the term Cheshire cat after Alice called one by that name. Made them feel renown in this land and yours. Cats are ever vain."

  "Alice was real?" Cadence wondered how many other people had visited before or since.

  "Aye."

  "Did you know her?"

  "I was only a boy of eight when she arrived the first time, but she didn't visit the White Kingdom until her second visit, when she met with the queen and king. By that time, I was five and ten, and had just slain the Jabberwock. She heard of me, I am told, but we never met."

  Cadence frowned. "Alice was still a child when she visited the second time, according to the stories in my world. How could so many years have passed?"

  "I distinctly remember hearing she was a young woman on her second visit, but our world and yours do not follow the same notion of time. How many years has it been in your world since the notorious Alice came here? I cannot recall the last time a findling has caused such a stir."

  "A long time. I don't know exactly. Over a hundred years, at least." She'd never paid it much heed. Never thought it could have been based on fact!