“What is it?” he asks, not stopping his run.
“Whatever it is, it’s gaining on us.”
The crack of a tree trunk makes my point, so much closer than before. Whatever is chasing us is fast, faster than anything I know of. It sounds like the creature is tearing through the forest as completely as a tornado. The roar sounds again, and this time, it’s joined by a series of Shrieks that can belong to only one type of creature.
“Bandersnatch!” I shout as blood trickles from my ear.
“Fuck. Just a little further. How are you holding up, Jupiter?”
“Just keep going,” she growls, her voice strained. Every so often, the dome shimmers, as if she loses focus.
And then the creature behind us comes into focus as it crashes through the trees, toppling them like dominos. My eyes widen, my fingers clenching to Cheshire hard.
“What? What is it?” Cheshire asks, not daring to look backwards. He keeps his eyes focused ahead, knowing we’re running out of time.
“Fuck if I know but don’t stop.”
It’s as big as a fucking dragon, whatever it is. Black in color, covered in spikes down the ridges of its back. When it opens its mouth to roar again, giant dripping teeth rim its gums, yellowed and so pungent, that I can smell its breath from here.
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” it hisses, and I stare in horror as the beast smiles, flowing through the forest like a giant snake. Its wings snap out to push aside more trees, so strong, it barely stops them. “Come to the Jabberwocky.”
Double fuck. That can’t be good.
At the Jabberwocky’s sides, Bandersnatch leap beside him, fighting to be in front.
Cheshire is fast, but he’s not as fast as White. The beasts gain ground quicker than we can move, and Jupiter begins to sweat as she holds the dome.
“Just a little further.”
We don’t get any more time. The first Bandersnatch slams into the force field, and Jupiter cries out. The dome flickers. Two more slam against the sides. Cheshire stumbles when one skids to a stop in front of us but keeps going. The dome acts as a sort of battering ram, pushing the Bandersnatch out of the way, but it only works for one. Three more jump in front of us. This time, when we hit them, we bounce back, right into more of the vile creatures. Cheshire spins in panic, trying to find a way out, just as the Jabberwocky moves closer, and looks at us with one bright-blue beady eye.
“What is this fancy protection sphere you got, Cheshire?” he hums. “How much pressure can it take before it breaks?”
As if to test the theory, the Jabberwocky places one sharply-clawed foot on top of us and begins to push. Jupiter screams out in agony, her arms beginning to shake as she uses all the energy she has to keep us protected. The Bandersnatch start attacking the sides, pushing against the golden dome in an attempt to get in.
Cheshire squats down with me when the dome collapses a small amount, becoming smaller around us. He wraps himself around my body, and I reach out a hand for the ghost of Jupiter, where she starts to fade.
“I’m sorry!” she cries, a scream leaving her throat as she fights the force of the Jabberwocky.
“It’s okay,” I reply, because what else do you tell someone when you’re about to die? When my hand passes through her ankle, she glows brighter for a moment, the dome stretching just a tiny bit wider, but the damage has already been done. There’s no way out. I look up at Cheshire, knowing that he can’t die bringing a little peace to my soul. But these people, this creature will destroy him, and it’s that thought that makes me scream.
“Absalom!” I don’t know why I scream for her, why I think she can save us, but something tells me it’s meant to be, that she will be the reason we leave today.
As if by magic, she appears next to us, crouching in the golden dome, just as it begins to flicker faster. Time slows as the Jabberwocky presses down with all his might. Jupiter’s scream pierces my ears as her image flickers, and fades. The golden dome begins to drop, and Cheshire squeezes me against him.
Absalom chooses that moment to blow smoke from her mouth, taking the place of Jupiter’s trick, and it holds the creatures at bay.
“Go!” she shouts at us. “Two steps to your right, and you’ll be able to Fade.”
Cheshire practically drags me to the spot we were so close to but had been out of reach of in the dome. As we move, the smoke spreads around us, licking our skin, until we step on a piece of dirt that somehow feels less restrictive.
Cheshire reaches towards Absalom after he wraps his fingers around mine, but she shakes her head.
“My place is here.”
“But they’ll tear you to shreds!” Cheshire reaches for her again, and she backs away. The Jabberwocky laughs above us, the Bandersnatch slamming into the sides of the protection more frequently. The smoke keeps them at bay, but just barely. A paw swipes through on one side and withdraws with a yip, but it still manages to leave a nasty scratch on Absalom’s leg.
“Come on, Absalom!” I reach my hand out for her, too, my terror of leaving her behind forcing me to take a step forward, but Cheshire keeps me held to his side, refusing to let me move. “They’ll kill you!”
“I know.” Her words hit me, and I start to scream, fighting Cheshire’s hold to grab her arm.
As hard as I shove, as much as I claw at his arm, he doesn’t release me. He stares at Absalom, his jaw clenched hard. I meet her eyes as the smoke begins to swirl and fade. Another paw swipes in, the claw of the Jabberwocky pierces.
“Come with us!” I scream. “Come with us!”
Absalom smiles sadly at me, before lifting her arms at her sides.
“I’m meant to die here,” she says with no fear. “Now, go!”
I scream again, and Cheshire’s hold tightens, before I feel the creeping sensation of his powers start to crawl up my arm.
“Absalom! Come with us! Absalom!” The power crawls up to my chest, slowly taking over.
The smoke starts to fade at a rapid rate, and the Bandersnatch howl in victory. The first snout pokes through.
“Remember, child,” Absalom says. “Everything. It must be everything.”
I scream bloody murder as the Fade takes us over, my voice going hoarse with my fight to grab her, to save her, to fight whatever destiny dictates this. Fate is not always right. It can’t always be right.
Just before the world disappears around us, I watch the smoke scatter, and the Bandersnatch and Jabberwocky descend on the Blue Caterpillar.
My screams fade away to nothing.
Chapter 32
I stumble as we hit the ground faster than I expect. Cheshire lets me go, and I collapse to my knees on unsteady feet, my voice hoarse as a sob wracks my throat. In the distance, I can hear the howls of the Bandersnatch, telling me that we didn’t go very far.
The urge to threaten Wonderland, to let it die, eats at me. What kind of power is okay with letting its creatures die, the need to fulfill prophecies greater than the need to keep people alive.
“We can’t stay on the ground,” Cheshire whispers, scooping me up. I feel his powers wash over me, but nothing happens, and he growls. “Climb onto my back.”
I don’t know what he has planned, or why he suddenly doesn’t want to Fade, but I loop my arms around his neck, and he lifts my legs to wrap around his waist. Then he begins to climb the stalk of the giant mushroom in front of us. It’s larger than any redwood tree I’ve seen on the Discovery channel at home, bigger around than anything I’ve seen ever. Cheshire uses his claws to start the climb, doing some fancy maneuver that puts us on top.
Gingerly, I slide to my feet, and wipe at my face, getting rid of the tears that had escaped. I’d barely known Absalom, but it feels like I’ve lost a friend. Cheshire sits down in the center of the mushroom, and I follow suit, unsure of exactly what we’re doing. A roar sounds in the distance, and I flinch, but neither of us move. I trust Cheshire to bring us to safety if we need to be.
The phosphorescent glow from t
he mushroom casts everything in a green light, making Cheshire look even more otherworldly than normal. I’m tempted to reach forward and hold his hand, but I’m not sure if he will appreciate that.
“Absalom has been a constant in my life since I was a child,” he says, breaking out of whatever trance he’s sunken into. “And she died because a prophecy told her to.” He turns to look at me. “I could have saved her, if she’d only taken my hand.”
This time, I don’t hesitate to thread my fingers through his, his warmth comforting me as much as I hope mine does for him.
“I’m sorry about Absalom,” I whisper. “I know that doesn’t help to say that. It never does. But I’m here if you need to talk.”
We sit there in silence until the sounds of the Bandersnatch fade, until the roars of the Jabberwocky no longer reach our ears. And still we don’t move, content to sit on to top of a giant mushroom, in a make-believe world that’s come to life.
“I used to have a sister,” he says, so quietly, I almost miss it. We’ve been sitting for hours, listening to the sounds of the forest. I don’t particularly like the hissing trees or the flowers that try to nip you when you get too close, but the sounds are a little relaxing.
“Used to?”
“She died, when Alice first came back to Wonderland. We were both chosen by Wonderland to fulfill roles. We were a team. I’m the Hands of Justice. Danica was the Hope Bringer. Together, we came when we were called. Where my role is to be the axe, Danica was the negotiator. Before blood was spilled, she would attempt to remedy the situation. If there was no hope, then justice was served. But she made a mistake.”
I wait a moment for him to continue, listening intently. When he doesn’t continue, I ask, “What was the mistake?”
He looks over at me, such sadness in his eyes that I automatically lean forward, and the urge to smooth the hurt away takes over me. But I don’t reach towards him; I wait.
“She fell in love with the prince, and he fell in love with her.”
“Why was that a mistake?”
“When Alice came as a small child to Wonderland, Prince Alexander and she were inseparable. Young love, that wasn’t love at all. Alice was twisted, even as a child. And the prince just saw something different. But Alice focused on young Alex, fixated on him, as if he was the answer to all her problems. When she returned, one of her first goals was to enslave the prince, and he became her Knave.
We were called to the castle one day, the powers inside us screaming at us to go. When we arrived, it was a bloodbath. Justice demanded I act, but even then, I couldn’t touch Alice. I didn’t even know it yet. There would be no negotiations. The Hope Bringer joined with the Hands of Justice, and we sought to enact our duties.”
He pauses, such anger crossing his face that I have the urge to move away.
“Danica thought she could get through to her prince, thought that love would be stronger. In the end, she stood there and refused to raise her sword while the Knave skewered her. She died in my arms.”
I give into the impulse and pull Cheshire closer to me, holding him against me as he spills his heart.
“In Wonderland’s cruel fashion, it turns out that Justice cannot die, but Hope can. All hope dies.” He takes a deep breath, as if to clear his head. “And because of the Jabberwocky, I can’t touch Alice, even though my very being calls for her death.”
“What do you mean, that you can’t touch her?” I ask. My heart hurts for this man, who’s been left alone, and lost so much, who’s embraced his anger rather than let it all go. I wish I could take some of the pain away, but I have my own. We’re just two sad creatures, swapping stories.
“For years, I’ve wondered why I have the call to justice, and yet I never seem to be able to raise my sword to Alice to complete it. I thought it was just some sort of fluke, some Wonderland twist that Alice knew about. But then Jupiter revealed that Alice had a Jabberwocky.” He chuckles, no humor in the sound. “Or rather, the Jabberwocky has Alice.”
He nuzzles into my neck, seeking comfort that I willingly give. Slowly, I open my heart to him, accepting whatever I need to. Destinies will hurt, and fate is a bitch, but the least I can do is try my hardest for a world begging me to help. And it all starts with the Cheshire Cat beside me.
“Jabberwockies have a strange power. They need a host to feed their power into to survive. Like some sort of reverse leech. He feeds Alice power, and he takes it at the same time, in a never-ending cycle of growth. Jabberwockies aren’t Wonderland creatures. No one knows where they come from, and as far as we knew, they were extinct. So, my power doesn’t work on him, since he isn’t a creature of Wonderland. But Alice was accepted into her folds as a child, because this world wrapped her in its greedy hands, and claimed her.”
“Then why can’t you touch her?”
“Because she also has the jabberwocky’s power flowing through her, threaded into her very makeup.”
I nod in understanding, my hand slowly rubbing Cheshire’s back.
“You feel the call, but you can’t touch her, because she’s not completely of Wonderland anymore.”
Cheshire nods. “And it has eaten me alive ever since. She’s the reason my sister is dead, why my parents are dead, why my friends die every day. And Wonderland does nothing about it. She sits dormant and expects us to just fulfill her prophecies, as if she’s planned it all.”
The anger tenses his body again, but I continue to stroke his back until he relaxes. He shared some of his deepest feelings with me, and I want to do the same.
“I can understand anger, and wanting to get revenge,” I mumble. His chest rumbles, almost a purr, as I continue. “At least you have someone to direct that anger at.” I look up at the trees above us, my chest tight. “My mom is wasting away in front of me, and she doesn’t even recognize me when I tell her I love her.”
“How long has she been like this?”
“Too long. I had to raise Attie since he was ten, when it was no longer safe for her to live in the house with us. She drew a gun on us one night, thinking we were strangers in her home. Nothing prepares you for that, for the light to leave their eyes.”
“It must have been hard, raising him all by yourself.”
“I had to learn a lot of things, had to figure out how to make enough money to keep us fed. We had some hard times, where I didn’t get to eat dinner because I only had enough money to buy Attie something small. And teenage boys eat a lot. I’ll never forget the moment he understood what we were going through. He was thirteen, and I handed him an apple, and I told him I had to go find something else, because the cabinets were empty. I was planning on not eating—skipping meals isn’t so bad when you drink a lot of water–but he took a knife and cut the apple in half.” Cheshire looks at me where I’ve wrapped myself around him. “That thirteen-year-old boy looked at me and said, ‘Sis, I know you’ve been skipping meals. You need someone to take care of you, too, like you do for me.’ I barely managed not to cry that he’d grown up too fast, that because of me, he lost his childhood. But we made a deal. We were each other’s rocks, and we made it work.” I smile at the memory now. “We never skipped another meal again, and I hustled until I knew we would never have to.”
Cheshire holds me like I’d done for him, and I can admit that it feels nice, to have someone warm comforting me. I breathe in the scent of woodsmoke and wild honeysuckle, curling around him as if it’s so comfortable, even though we fight most of the time.
“When we get back, maybe March can help your mom,” he finally says, his fingers stroking my hip.
“The March Hare?”
“He’s the Keeper of Memories. He would know about a memory sickness more than anyone else. He can’t cure her, but maybe, he could help her remember.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, drawing myself tighter against him and into his lap, getting comfortable.
“What are you doing?”
“Just accept it, Cat.” I squish my face into his chest. “Don’t
get used to it, though.”
“I won’t,” he says, even as he draws me closer, his warmth surrounding me. “What did Absalom mean, about it has to be everything?”
I don’t answer, clenching against him so hard, there’s no space left between us. I feel that if I can just push harder, I can disappear for a little while, and pretend there isn’t a hurricane coming, that war isn’t just around the corner.
We stay that way until the glow of the mushroom dims, before Cheshire Fades us back home.
Chapter 33
Cheshire
I feel something is wrong as soon as we Fade near the Hatter’s house. There’s an energy around the house I haven’t felt in a while. Something is very wrong.
Cal must feel it, too, because she releases my hand and takes the stairs two at a time before throwing open the door and barreling inside. I watch her for a moment, sadness prickling my senses, before I follow.
“Hello?” Cal yells when no one comes to greet us. The house is silent, as if in waiting. My hackles rise immediately.
No one comes running. No one appears. But I can sense them all in the house.
“They’re here,” I say out loud, tilting my head. “Upstairs.”
We both move towards the stairs, and I focus on that link between Hatter, White, and me. I follow it like a tether. When we stop outside of the door to Cal’s room, I tense. I can smell it.
Death.
Or the beginnings of it.
I look over at Cal in worry, but she shoves me aside and pushed open the door. The smell gets stronger when the door swings open. Every eye turns to look at us. I don’t move from the doorway, not even when Cal rushes towards the woman lying prone on the bed.
“What happened?” There’s panic in her voice, so slight, I’m not sure anyone else picks up on it.
Attie is standing beside the bed, adjusting the pillows around Diana. Diana doesn’t answer, doesn’t move. Her eyes are closed, and her breath is wheezing in and out as if it’s a struggle to even do that.
Feral as a Cat (Sons of Wonderland Book 3) Page 15
