Wonderland Academy: Book 1

by Cheri Winters

  I ended the call and tucked my phone in my backpack. When I stood, I realized everyone in the library was gone. Which meant I had been left behind.

  Shit! I was going to be late.

  Chapter Eleven

  I burst through the Crimson’s house doors and outside. The queen’s words were warbled and a crowd cheered to my left.

  My backpack slapped against my back as I ran toward the sounds. Sweat dripped down my back. By the time I got to the field, I was panting for breath and sweaty. So gross.

  Goddammit, I hated running so much.

  Probably shouldn’t be late to everything then.

  On a wooden stage sat a throne and the queen. Eithanael and Will were on one side of her while Maize and Zack were on the other. Maybe it was because I was attracted to all four of them. Or had made out with two of them and also had Zack in my bed last night.

  Damn, I needed to stop crushing on these four guys and get my head in the game, or I might lose it.

  Except, they looked wrong up there next to her. Like they didn’t belong. Or more like she didn’t.

  I tilted my head to the side as the queen sneered down at me, disgust wrinkling the bridge of her nose.

  “You are late,” the queen shouted from the stage.

  A row of soldiers with their helmets on grasped their spears, ready to do whatever the queen ordered as punishment for my tardiness.

  I swallowed. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen at this point. She was unpredictable, basing her choices on her emotions.

  “Kill her.”

  The words came out of her mouth in a simple manner, as though she was ordering her tea. No emotion flashed across her face. I was as insignificant to her as a fly she wanted to bat away.

  “Wait, no.” I scuttled backward. I tilted my head down, trying to show her respect. My face felt hot and my hands shook. I couldn’t get here and then not do anything about it. I needed to have a chance. Which meant resorting to begging. “Please, give me a chance.”

  I hated begging, especially to her, but if it helped change their mind about my sentence, I would do whatever it took.

  The guards marched straight toward me, each footstep in succession. There was not one hair out of place. Everything about them was uniform down to the way they held their weapons and how they pointed their toes with every step.

  “It is my fault, your highness,” Eithanael said, stepping forward. “Alexis had a fright last night and I aided her with a sleeping spell. She must have had trouble coming to.”

  She glared at him, then bustled. “She broke the rules. Late, late, late.” She tsked, clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth.

  The entire academy stared silently at me during this entire exchange. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.

  “Kill her, kill her,” the queen ranted, waving her arms to gesture at me.

  In the stands, all the tributes began chanting the same. My mouth dropped open. I stared at the tributes. I wasn’t expecting them to be my friends by any means, but did they really need to call for my death?

  My heart skipped a beat as I stared into a sea of unfriendly faces. Oh god, I was going to die. Right here on this field all because I was a few seconds late. I had to do something. I had to make this right.

  “Wait,” I called out, an idea coming to me. It was a long shot, but I had to try. “Doesn’t the rulebook say there has to be twelve new tributes to start the competition? If you kill me now, there will only be eleven.”

  I held my breath. It was a way for me to prepare, to ensure I could survive. Maybe it wouldn’t work. Maybe this would backfire in my face and make me regret speaking out in the first place.

  But I had to try.

  The queen’s face turned purple, sputtering.

  To hopefully aid her changing her mind about my death, I dipped into an awkward curtsy, my entire body shaking. Maybe she would see how scared I was and that would please her.

  As I picked my head up to look at her again, I watched as her face returned to normal and she gave me a smile that didn’t calm my fears at all. “Fine,” she said, her word clipped. “She can participate, but she has to pay points for her lateness.”

  Everyone in the stands jeered, unhappy with the turn of events.

  I let out a sob of relief and clamped my hand over my mouth.

  She looked down her long nose at me. “You will need twenty points to enter and as everyone knows, you all start with one hundred,” she said, her voice piercing my eardrums even though she wasn’t exactly yelling at me.

  Nope, didn’t know that. I did know about her having to have twelve members to start. It was something my dad complained about to my mom often enough. About why that number and why they had to go at all. I didn’t understand it at the time, but at least I understood the context.

  “So if you pay your twenty, you won’t have enough to begin the trails,” she said, using her fingers to emphasize the point. “Therefore you forfeit. Therefore you lose and die. Kill her.” She nodded to her guards.

  “I have twenty extra points.” Fear choked me, but I raised my voice over the noise of the cheering crowd. This was a bit of a long shot. Will had said he and the other three could grant a total of five points randomly. I just hoped the others agreed and would give me a chance.

  “Do you?” the queen smirked as though she was humoring me. As though she thought I was cute for fighting. She must be the sort of person who liked to play with her food before consuming it. “Will anyone here speak up and tell us you granted this tribute points?”

  For a moment, the entire field was quiet. All I could hear was my pulse thumping under my skin. Terror seized my chest and I couldn’t take a deep enough breath. I didn’t want to die. And not here in this land that had taken my dad from me. And definitely not because I didn’t have enough points or some other ridiculous reason such as that. But what else could I do? I had no weapons, my cell wouldn’t work out here and even if it did, no one would reach me in time. Who would go up against a queen who decapitated people the way others breathed in air? I looked to my left, and then to my right. I couldn’t hear anything, save for my heartbeat pounding against my chest.

  The crowd was silent…deathly so. And their lack of noise strangled me. All I could picture was me dead and my mom weeping. And I would become another victim of the trials that no one remembered. And somehow, the queen would still find some reason to continue to torture her until she went mad with depression until she was dead as well.

  My throat clamped down so hard I winced. I never should have come here. I should have fled to some remote island with Mom. Hidden away where the queen of hearts couldn’t find me. Sure, it was a risk. Sure, I’d be looking over my shoulder constantly, but I’d be away from here. I might still be able. I definitely wouldn’t be on an open field, waiting for her to sentence me to die.

  “She has five points from me,” Maize stepped forward.

  I gasped out a hiccup. I had hoped… but I didn’t know. I was so happy, I could weep.

  “And five from me,” Zack added.

  “I gave her five full points yesterday.” Will met my gaze, his eyes shone with affection and I mouthed thanks.

  My legs trembled as I doubted the queen would be all-forgiving and I still didn’t have enough points. All of the recruits glanced down at the ground, none of them willing to meet my gaze and offer any help. Can’t say that I blamed them, because I’d be tempted to do the same thing. Keep my head down and not anger the queen further. Otherwise, my head would tumble from my neck. Besides, this was a race and everyone was in it for themselves. The fact that Maize and Zack had stepped up to defend me warmed a place deep inside.

  “That’s not enough.” The queen stomped her foot, her lips pursing into a tight frown. There were wrinkles around her eyes, indicating that she was not happy about these turn of events, and how she intended to make those that participated – me, included – pay for our actions. “She needs twenty.”

&nb
sp; My stomach dropped into my toes. There was no turning back from this. I lifted my chin, forcing myself to meet the queen’s smug expression. No recruits here would offer their points to help me. Doing so would be seen as going against the queen, even if mildly, it wouldn’t be forgotten.

  Why would anyone want to stand up for me? No one here knew me. I was just a number and one less person to compete for those in the race. Even as much as I hated this place, I didn’t think I’d be able to offer points if it was someone else standing here rather than me.

  The silence that stretched out of the crowd ate at my insides. What had I expected? I knew as soon as I first got that stupid summons letter congratulating me that my life was over. This place had killed my dad—why would I think I would survive when he hadn’t?

  “Well, that is unfortunate,” the queen raised her hand in a fist.

  “I grant Alexis, five more points.” Eithanael dipped his head to me, but the queen was turning purple again.

  She didn’t think I would get what I needed. I was surprised her head didn’t explode as she snapped her fist to her side. Her words sputtering out with spit. “This is outrage…I cannot allow this.”

  The Headmistress drifted up to the stage. “Your Highness, as the recruit said, the rulebook does demand that we need twelve to start,” she pointed out, though her voice was tight and hesitant, as though she did not want to be the person responsible for delivering the bad news to the queen and siding with me even though we were both right.

  Then the Headmistress lowered her voice, but I caught the words by catching a few words here and there and being great at lip reading.

  “And this could be spotlighted to show your…um…mercy. Silence those who seek to speak out against your ruler ship.”

  The queen puffed up, lifting her chest and chin, but waved a hand. As one, her advancing soldiers stopped at the same time, then marched back to her. “Fine,” she snapped. “You may join the others at the starting line.”

  My knees unlocked and I staggered forward a step. Not waiting for her to change her mind, I rushed forward to Tula and Vivian who had saved me a space between them in the vertical line. We each grasped hands and I squeezed them, letting both ladies know that I appreciated them still wanting to associate with me after the queen tried to have me killed.

  Before us, was a wall of energy that soared up to the sky. Pink, blue and purple gas swirled inside the vortex. It hummed with energy that made all the hairs on my arms stand up. I wasn’t sure whether I was nervous or a bit excited. It was probably both.

  “You have until midnight to finish the trails,” the queen explained, looking at each of the twelve except for me. “Anyone still on the other side automatically loses.”

  I shivered. That meant that we’d join her army automatically. The soldiers that had marched toward me when she commanded moved as one force. Like what was rumored about that was true. They were mindless zombies.

  So why did everyone here bow to the queen’s wishes? They could form a revolt or revolution and overthrow her. Why not simply tell her no? If everyone said no, she couldn’t control each individual, could she?

  All of the students and faculty clapped their hands and shouted. I wanted to turn and run. I hadn’t signed up for this. Who knew what horrors led to the other side of this magical barrier or whatever it was.

  And yet, I refused to run. I nearly died, trying to earn my place next to my friends. Tula and Vivian were counting on me. My mom had put her faith in me that I would survive this, no matter what may come. She needed me. If I were to die, I didn’t know if she would make it alone. I had to be strong, for her and for myself.

  I straightened my shoulders, looking to my right at Tula, then my left at Vivian. “You two ready to do this?” I asked.

  They both nodded. And together, we stepped through.

  Chapter Twelve

  I held my breath as stinging pain pinched across my flesh. Both Tula and Vivian clenched my hands so tight that I thought they were going to break my fingers.

  When we pushed through to the other side of the barrier, it looked the same as the rest of Wonderland that I’d seen. Except for the fact that the forest here was massive. Tall trees with rich green leaves blotted out the crisp, blue sky. There was a cool breeze that danced on the nape of my neck and teased the ends of my hair but I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

  Two guys who crossed over too high-fived each other.

  “Okay,” I said. “So now what?”

  “Right, you didn’t get the instructions earlier.”

  “I was only like two minutes late,” I said through a scoff, rolling my eyes. I didn’t want to be reminded of my near-death experience with the queen. “How much could the queen say in that amount of time?”

  “Enough.” Vivian rubbed her arms, trying to remove the chill that seemed to encompass her body. Whether it was the breeze or the mission we were now assigned to, I couldn’t say.

  “We have to make it across the ravine to the mountains, retrieve a sacred flower and return,” Tula said, tilting her head and looking up at the sky. “Yes, that’s it.”

  “That’s it?” I frowned. “What about all those decades where only one tribute made it through.” Or had that been rumors? Maybe this entire tournament wasn’t as dangerous as I thought.

  Then again, I had nearly been killed because I was two minutes late.

  “There are challenges and monsters on the path.” Vivian’s face paled as we continued forward. It wasn’t like her to show her hand, to reveal her emotions.

  Unease curled inside of my, clawing at my insides.

  “You should just like her—like the queen,” I said without thinking.

  Vivian snapped her head to me. Any fear she had suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by anger. “Take that back,” she snapped. “I do not. I-I’m nervous, that’s all.”

  It almost sounded as though she was trying to convince herself, not the two of us.

  “You don’t like the queen?” Tula asked.

  “Keep your voice down,” Vivian hissed. “What if someone overheard you?”

  “I thought you and the queen were tight.” I frowned, watching the five of the other tributes race ahead. What if we were doing this wrong by sticking together? What if we needed to split up?

  Vivian paced, muttering to herself, while Tula pulled out a small notebook from her boot and started flipping through it. I wasn’t sure Tula was allowed the notebook, but it wasn’t like anyone stopped her the second she pulled it out.

  No. Sticking with Vivian and Tula was best. We three together were better off and stronger than alone. Two more girls glanced over at us. Maybe they wanted to work with us. Maybe it would give us a chance if we expanded our group from three to five. I waved at them to join us, but they spun away going down a dirt path.

  Whatever.

  I wasn’t going to let their rejection bother me. Instead, I focused on our different options. We needed to take a path and there were five paths in total.

  I turned back to Tula and Vivian. “Any ideas?”

  “Give me a minute,” Tula pulled out a small pencil from behind her ear, “I’m trying to decode the sign that said which was the right way.”

  “Sign?” I turned in a complete circle. Besides the trees and the sky over us, I couldn’t make out anything that would even resemble a sign. Unless I was totally blind to something obvious. “There isn’t anything around except us and the trees.”

  “She means when we lined up in the circle,” Vivian explained, tightening her ponytail. Her eyes were focused, as though she was taking the trials seriously. This wasn’t a game to her, something she could get through like the lines in a script. It made me realize even more just how serious the situation we were in really was and that we had to play it smart if we were going to get out of this alive. “The spinning barrier thingy had hieroglyphics dancing across it in a circle.”

  “I think they are closer to runes,” Tula mused, not looki
ng up from her work.

  “Wait, really?” I furrowed my brow, shaking my head. How could I have missed something so obvious? “I didn’t see anything.”

  “Because you were busy arguing with the queen.” Tula scribbled in her notebook. “Plus you were late.”

  “I was not arguing with the queen. Just trying to keep myself alive for another minute.” I shuddered as fear clawed an icy hand down my back. “Anyway, thanks for waiting for me.”

  “Why were you late?” Vivian asked, raising a skeptical brow.

  “Long story, but what Eithanael said was true.” I wasn’t ready to share with even them that I had kissed two guys. Or had two others sleeping in my bed last night. And that I liked all guys equally, if that was even possible. “I needed help getting to sleep and my alarm didn’t go off, not that there are alarms or real electricity here to set one. And I had to call my mom.”

  Tula gave me a tight smile.

  But Vivian gave me a scrutinizing look. “What aren’t you telling us? You’re hiding something I can tell.” She flipped her hair over my shoulder. “As an actress, I’ve been trained to read people, body language, that sort of thing. The body says as much as the mouth and to be authentic, everything must sync up. You aren’t syncing, so you’re not telling us everything.”

  Heat burned my cheeks. Man, I was going to spontaneously combust if I kept blushing like this.

  “Shouldn’t we be going?” I asked, trying to change the subject. Even my voice sounded pathetic. “Everyone else has already left.” I shuffled from foot to foot.

  “Okay, now I agree with you,” Tula told Vivian, though her eyes were on me. She placed one hand on her hip and arched a brow. “She can’t keep still. Tell us, Alexis, or I won’t be able to finish this decoding.”

  A sudden thought popped into my mind. The whole reason why both Eithanael and Zack had stayed with me last night and why I had needed the sleeping kiss. Or had the kiss merely been a distraction while he weaved his spell? I’d let him kiss many anytime if that was the case.