Insanity (16 page)

Chapter 47

“Come here," the White Queen says, now that we're done with the Alice issue. "Give me a hug." I let her hug me. I feel the same way I did when Constance hugged me. I feel warmth, a surge of easiness as if returning home. "The Pillar wants you to think you're the real Alice," she whispers in my ear so he can’t hear her. "He has plans of his own for Wonderland. Use him, but don’t trust him." She pushes me away gently and holds me by the arms. "But I will help you save the girl."

"A chessboard-tiled floor," the Pillar breaks the whispering. I bet he is curious about what Fabiola told me. "I didn't know the nuns were into chess."

"It's not for chess," the White Queen says, winking at me. "I'll show you. Why don't you step on it, Alice?"

I comply right away, then stop before taking my first step. I remember I can't step on black tiles. My legs step on the white ones spontaneously, making my walking look awkward. But I finish the walk and end up on the other side.

The White Queen claps elegantly, barely making her hands touch. She looks at me as if I am an infant who just learned to walk. "The good at heart only walk on white," she explains, and now I know why I couldn't step on black in my cell.

"Oh," the Pillar says, taking a step away.

"Don't you want to try it, Pillar?" the White Queen teases him.

"I don't feel like playing Hopscotch today," he says, pretending to be checking the artistic design all around.

"So how do we catch the Cheshire?" I ask.

“Before you catch him, I need to tell you about the seven girls in the photographs,” the White Queen says. “The Pillar sent them to my phone anonymously an hour ago,” the Pillar never wastes time.

“Any ideas?” the Pillar asks her.

“Actually, yes,” the White Queen says. “The theory you sent me is brilliant.”

“It’s my theory,” I say.

“Don’t be picky, Alice. We’re a team now,” he turns back to Fabiola. “But it’s flawed. Constance wasn’t born in one of the towns with a church that has a grinning cat statue in it.”

“That’s true,” Fabiola says. “But it doesn’t mean she isn’t a perfect fit to the puzzle.”

“I don’t follow,” I say.

“Most of the girls Lewis Carroll took pictures of have a significance in the events that happened in Wonderland,” she explains. “One of those pictures the Cheshire requested is of a girl name Alice Westmaccott,” she pulls out her phone and shows the photo to me. I have seen it before. This Alice isn’t me. It’s just another seven-year-old girl in a sepia-like photograph. “The name Alice was very common in Carroll’s time,” she continues. “This one is precisely the key to solve the puzzle of the seven girls.”

“How is that so?” the Pillar asks.

“Alice Wesmacott’s real full name is Alice Constance Richard Wesmacott.”

“Okay?” I tilt my head, sensing a resolution coming my way.

“Alice Constance like a two-part name,” Fabiola said. “Some people liked to call their kids with such names.”

“So she could have been called Alice by some and Constance by others,” the Pillar nods.

“Is that why Constance told me her mom wanted to call her Alice?” I wonder. “Was she giving me a hint?”

“I’m not sure about how much she knows about this," Fabiola says.

“This is mind boggling,” the Pillar says. “The present day Constance didn’t live a hundred and fifty years ago.”

“That’s true. But bear with me,” Fabiola says. “The modern day Constance’s name is Constance Albert Westmacott.”

“She is a descendant of the Westmacotts.” The puzzle starts to unfold for me. “But still, she wasn’t born in a town with a Cheshire in a church.”

“That’s where you both missed it,” Fabiola says. “Sir Richard Westmacott was a well-known British sculptor in the time of Lewis Carroll. They knew each other well. His is commemorated by a blue plaque in his place of death in London.”

“A sculptor?” I am trying to follow the complicated puzzle.

“Please don’t tell me he is the one who carved all those grinning cats all over England?” The Pillar caught on faster than I did.

“Yes, he did,” Fabiola said. “I know this because I talked many times with Lewis when he was obsessed with locking the doors to Wonderland in the past. He told me that each Wonderland Monster needed a special charm or magic to be locked away. He worked with Richard to trap the Cheshire.”

“Let me get this straight,” I am waving my hand over my head and walking around as I speak. “In order to trap the Cheshire, Lewis Carroll asked his sculptor friend, Richard Westmacott, to design those grinning cat statues. Each statue is in a town where at least one of the girls the Cheshire killed came from, right?”

“So far, yes.” Fabiola nods.

“And Constance counts as one of the seven girls since she is a descendant of the man who sculpted those statues.” I really hope I am making sense. “Now, the Cheshire is killing the girls because they’re descendants of those girls in the photographs. I suppose there is a reason for it other than the carvings in their towns."

“So why is the Cheshire killing them?” the Pillar asks.

“I don’t know,” the White Queen says. “In all cases, they are the key to his freedom from whatever Lewis bestowed on him. All I know is where you can find the Cheshire at this time of year.”

“And why haven’t you said that from the beginning?” the Pillar rolls his eyes.

"In Belgium," Fabiola says. "A town called Ypres."

"Why would he be there now?" I wonder.

"There is a festival called Kattenstoet. The weirdest festival of all," Fabiola says.

"Are you talking about the Cat Throwing Festival?" The Pillar rubs his chin.

Fabiola nods.

"Cat throwing?" Again, I am having a hard time accepting things I hear.

"That's a long story," the Pillar cuts in. "We know what we came here for, and we better go now."

"Wait," the White Queen says. "I haven't yet told you why he attends the festival. I haven't told you why he has a grudge against humanity."

Suddenly, we hear voices outside. I hear someone thud on the floor, and a nun screaming briefly.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Don’t tell me it’s the..." the Pillar exchanges looks with Fabiola.

“You didn’t let them follow you here, did you?” Fabiola is suddenly furious.

“Who is it?” I can’t stand not knowing.

"Who else? The Reds," Fabiola says. "You have to escape."

Chapter 48

Fabiola runs to a fireplace nearby and pulls an umbrella from inside—I think all Wonderlanders have a thing for fireplaces. It's a pink umbrella. It looks silly, and the color doesn’t match the grand holiness of St. Peters. She throws it at me. "You will need it,” she says as I catch it. “And when I say you’ll need it, I mean it.”

I want to ask if it’s going to rain inside the basilica, but the situation is too dangerous for questions. The doors are pounding. The Reds who killed the nuns outside want in.

"And I believe you will need this?" she throws a hookah to the Pillar.

"Thank you for thinking of me, Fabiola," he smirks, catching it as the doors outside bang harder.

"As for me, I will need this," she pulls out a sword from the same fireplace. The sight of the White Queen with a sword in her hand confuses me. Since she’s heard the pounding on the doors, she has turned into some warrior nun.

"What's that, Fabiola?" I wonder.

"It's the vorpal sword," she stares at her sword with pride. "Time to stand up to the face of evil."

I am the most bewildered Alice of all.

“Holy Borgroves!” The Pillar enjoys this, staring at Fabiola like she’s a superwoman. The glimmer in his eyes is unpredictable. I think the Pillar feels something for the White Queen. “I miss the old days,” he tells her.

“Don’t get any ideas, Pillar,” her words are sharp. “We’re not fighting on the same side. We’re only fighting the same enemy.”

The three of us turn to face the doors. I can’t help but feel like the worst twisted version of the Three Musketeers. The doors bang open. Finally, I will see the Reds.

Chapter 49

Tens of red hooded men with hollow faces rush in. Their hoods over their heads are heart-shaped, and most of them have Latin numbers sewn in gold on their back. The numbers vary from one to nine. They are the Reds, my new world’s twisted version of Lewis Carroll’s playing cards.

Some of the Reds have swords, some holds spears. None of them talk. They are here to kill us all. A brief thought runs through my head: why isn’t anyone fighting with real guns? A spear swooshes next to my ear. I am not going to ask anymore.

"Lock the doors behind them!" the White Queen orders her nuns outside. “Trap them inside.”

The Pillar whips his hose at the first hooded man approaching him. It's like he is Indiana Jones on crack. The hose snakes around the Red’s hollow neck and chokes him. The Red falls to the floor in the form of an empty hood with no body inside. "Ace that!" the Pillar cheers and runs for another intruder.

Fabiola is surrounded by five of them, flashing her vorpal, and taking a fencing master's position. She even signals to them to approach her with her other hand, then pulls the hem of her white dress up again. I can't believe my eyes.

It only takes one of them to approach her before she goes nuts on him, stabbing and beheading him with the vorpal.

“The Vatican would be proud of you!” the Pillar cheers.

Fabiola is fast. She can walk briefly on air to get her kicks, her veil floating behind her as if it’s her swirling hair. When she spins her dress swirls with her, like a princess dancing underwater. She fights like a Samurai. Empty red hoods fall all around her.

“I never had a nun superhero when I was a child, you know that?” the Pillar tells me while choking a Red. "But then again, nuns and priests were not that fond of me."

“Shut up, Pillar,” Fabiola says, still fighting. “I doubt you were ever a child.”

I duck as another spear comes my way and hits the window. When I look outside, there are masses of people walking in prayer, holding candles and reciting hymns. They have no idea what's going on in here.

"In the holy name of Wonderland!" The Pillar chokes another Red to death. I catch his eyes while he enjoys his kill. But suddenly his face changes. He tosses his victim to the floor and runs on the church's banks toward me with that expressionless face again. It's like I am looking at death in his eyes. I don't know what's gotten into him, but I am paralyzed with fear again as he hops like a rabbit on the tips of the banks. He lands before me, pulls my head down and slashes his hose at one of the Reds who was about to kill me.

"If I were you, I'd start to use the privilege of having a Certificate of Insanity and kill some Reds." He takes a drag from his hookah, before he slashes the hose at another Red. "Look at them,” he holds the hollow red hood in his hand. "They are the best kill. It's like they have never existed in the first place. A perfect crime."

"Stop talking and come and help me!" Fabiola demands from afar, still sword-battling a few on her side.

"She takes her job very seriously," the Pillar winks and runs off.

I kneel down and look at the red hood in my hand. I don't know what to with it, but it looks like I could use it. One of the Reds approaches me and I hit him with the umbrella between his legs. He screams in pain and his hollow hands reach between his legs. He lets out a big whiz then says, 'Jub Jub' in pain.

"Pull the umbrella tighter so the hook totally destroys him," the Pillar says, standing behind the podium now. I do, and the Red man falls to the floor like the rest. "Ladies and gentlemen," the Pillar shouts, his hands on the church podium. "I am Pillar the Killer. Approach me and I will go off with your heads." He adjusts his tie as he got the attention of most Reds darting his way. "Always wanted to say 'off with their heads’ in a church," he murmurs and starts fighting.

I keep hitting Reds with my umbrella. It's one hell of a strong umbrella, but I am not sure Fabiola gave it to me for that purpose. In a flash, I find her behind me as she pulls me away. She stabs a number of Reds on the way as she tucks me into a confession booth. "It's better you stay here until this is over," she says.

I hold the door before she closes it. "Be careful, White Queen," I grab for her free hand. “I...I mean: we need you.”

She smiles broadly, as if no one has ever appreciated what she does.

"I have to kill them fast," she says. "I have to attend prayers in a few." She slams the door behind her.

In the darkness of the booth, the screen on my left opens. A pair of curious eyes look through. They don’t belong to the Reds, because these eyes have a face.

"Hey Father, are you there?" a boy says. I recognize the voice. It's the annoying and arrogant Jack Diamonds.

Chapter 50

"I am, my son," I do my best to sound like older folks.

"What's with your voice, Father? Ah, it must have softened from gazing at the holy face of the Lord,” Jack says. He's dead serious. I didn't know he has this side to him. "Tell me Father. What does he look like?"

"Who?" I frown in the dark as I hear the battle taking place outside.

"The Lord, Father. I bet he is a cool guy, right?"

"How dare you even think to speak of the Lord?" It takes all the breath in my stomach to imitate such a voice.

"Oh, I am sorry." Jack's eyes are trying to see deeper through the dark. "You see, I came to ask your opinion on something. I am in love with a girl. Her name is Alice. Alice Wonder. She is awesome, like marshmallow awesome."

I don't say anything or I will laugh. I am not affected by him saying he is in love with me. I don't even know him, and he is weird. Also, I think he is a player. Good-looking guys like him must have a lot of girlfriends.

"I am crazy about her," he says. "I mean, really. I have no idea why. You know what I think, Father? I think she is insane. Like, really insane. Tooty fruity insane."

"Then why are you telling me this?" I cough to hide my voice.

"I thought you could talk to her about me. Tell her that I am a great guy. All I need is a date with her."