Insanity (20 page)

"When is he getting his power back?" an activist asks.

"Patience, my friend," the Piper says. "The awful Lewis Carroll hid it in one of the sculptures of grinning cats all around the world. He then asked his friends to sculpt as many grinning cat statues and carvings as possible to elude the Cheshire Cat, so he could never get it back."

"What's in the mask?" an activist asks.

"What else, my friend," the Piper says. "His grin. The famous Cheshire Grin holds his power."

I know the Pillar and I can't wait to know the rest. But this is getting so surreal; I'd rather believe I am insane. This is all about the Cheshire getting his grin.

"The power in the mask was bonded with one of the girls Carroll took photographs of," the Piper continues. "The power was in the mask, but the key to unlocking it was in one of those girls’ souls. All the Cheshire had to do was to kidnap the girl, suck her breath like cats do, and then take her soul. He made them look like murders to elude any Wonderland enemies out there. Six souls had been killed with no success, but the seventh must be it. And she is here with us today."

My eyes dart around looking for Constance, as the activists ask where and who the girl is.

"Her name is Constance," the Piper says. "And within a few moments the Cheshire will perform the ritual when the clock ticks 'brillig.'"

"What is brillig?" one asks, and I too would really like to know.

"Brillig is four o'clock in Carrollian language," the Piper explains and then recites a small line from Carroll’s most whimsical poem, the Jabberwocky, "'
It was brillig, and slithy troves.'"

I miss the Pillar explaining these things to me. He hasn't talked since we came here. All he cares about is spotting the Cheshire. And all I can do is crane my neck to look at the clock tower afar. It's only ten minutes to brillig.

Chapter 61

"The ritual is simple," the Piper says. "When the clock ticks four, the Cheshire will appear and suck the girl's soul wearing the one and only Carrollian mask that holds his power."

"Meow!" The Pillar finally breaks lose, shouting from the top of his lungs. Crazily enough, all the other activists follow him. He doesn't look at me and I can't interpret his face.

"There will be one last thing needed to complete the ritual," the Piper says. "In order for the Cheshire to regain his power, he will need our help."

Everyone says they'd do anything for him. The Cheshire literally has a following.

"I know you'd do anything for the Cheshire, but it will be of great satisfaction for you as well," the Piper says. "Because today you get to avenge your ancestors! Now open your boxes, please."

The Pro-Cats begin opening their boxes and pulling out the cats, which aren’t really cats. They are small tigers. Not the cute ones you see on TV, but viscous ones, ready to sink their fangs into others. Somehow, they are obedient to the Pro-Cats. They are held in small cages that the Pro-Cats ready to throw out of the window overlooking the parade. The Pillar and I have no choice but to pretend we'll be doing the same, then we stare back at the Piper.

But the Piper is gone.

Instead, there is an old woman holding Constance in her grip. I know she is an old woman from the look of her body and her white hair flapping behind the mask. She raises her arms and shows her claws then nears them to Constance's neck.

"It's the Cheshire," the whole room snaps. They snap out of happiness, not fear.

"I wonder if Jesus Christ got that kind of attention," the Pillar mumbles next to me.

The Cheshire's presence is even scarier than the Pillar’s. Scarier than the scariest thing I have ever seen, even that scruffy bunny in the mirror. It's as if I'm looking at death and can do nothing about it. He is so confident, even if he is hiding in the body of an old woman. He doesn't need to speak. He doesn't even need to show us his face. I think the unbearable fear I see on Constance’s face is mirroring mine. The poor girl doesn't recognize me because of the mask I am wearing. I am torn between just running and crashing into the Cheshire and waiting until I see a window of opportunity to do something more effective. It puzzles me why the Pillar is stranded when it comes to the Cheshire.

The heck with it. I take a deep breath before I run recklessly toward Constance to save her. God only knows what the consequences may be.

Chapter 62

The Pillar holds me tight before I run. He doesn't say anything. His grip is just too strong, kicking me back into to reality. If I attack the Cheshire, neither Constance nor I will survive. We have two minutes left. I need to find another way.

"Once before, they threw us from the top of this building," the Cheshire woman says behind the mask. I am still puzzled about him being a woman. I imagine it's the human soul he chose to steal, but why an old woman? So he'd fool everyone? "Now, we'll show humankind what it means to have cats falling from the sky. Big cats this time. Vicious cats who will eat at them one by one. These cats in your hands will kill them, their wives, and their annoying children with red balloons everywhere. Just the way they killed us." The old woman’s voice peaks. For a moment, I think I know the voice, but I can't recall it.

The Pro-Cats pull the lids open to allow the cats out. These cats have no fear. They stand ready at the edges, ready for the clock tower to strike four.

I almost hear the ticks in my heart. The Pillar said I am supposed to save lives. Now I am torn between the ones down below on the street and Constance. My God, the fear in her eyes is killing me already.

Tick. Tock. Almost four o'clock.

I pull my hand away from the Pillar, and neglect his voice when he says I should wait.

"I know now why need me., I whisper to the Pillar. "You can't face the Cheshire by yourself." I decide I will go for Constance if there is no other choice. I can't let the Cheshire have her soul. Before I attack, the Cheshire does something I didn't see coming. He pulls his orange mask off and prepares to put on the Carrollian one from Pott Shrigly. In that brief moment, he, or she, is without a mask. I see the old woman's real face.

It's someone I know. How in the world didn't I see this coming? How in the world did the Cheshire fool and mock me this way?

I swallow hard and fist my hand to stay as calm as possible. The Cheshire is the old woman from the Great Hall. The woman with the grin who told me about the teacups.

Chapter 63

"And the madness begins," the Piper stands next to his locked box by the window. I am really concerned about his helplessness when it comes to the Cheshire.

The clock rings four o'clock.

"Revenge time!" the Cheshire says in his woman's voice. He sounds like a wicked old witch and signals for them to throw the big cats.

"It's raining cats," the Pillar raises his cane, pretending to be one of them. "Hallelujah."

At this moment, I realize that the Pillar really doesn't care about humans. With all his powers, he hasn't stopped the activists from their wrongdoing. His hate for the sane world is so real, it's scary. The only difference between him and the Cheshire is that he is temporarily on my side. The White Queen was right when she told me not to trust him.

I pull my mask away and run toward the Cheshire. "Hold on, Constance!" I yell as I wave the umbrella against him. The Cheshire grabs onto it midway, grins at me, and says in his female voice, "Haven't I told you we're all mad here. I remember I did more than a century and a half ago."

I am sweating as I try to push harder with my umbrella, but it's not working. He is much stronger than the Reds. His grin makes me doubt myself. I glance at Constance for a brief moment, afraid she'll be disappointed with me. I promised I'd save her.

The Cheshire pushes me harder to the floor, and I fall on my back and lose the umbrella. Behind me I hear screams from below. God knows what kind of massacre is happening in the parade. I hear women and children screaming, and big growling cats sinking their fangs in their flesh. The Pillar doesn't do anything when it comes to the Cheshire. He is standing there watching. Some of the activists recognize him as an intruder, and now he suddenly has to defend himself.

"Time for me to get my powers back," the Cheshire woman roars. She is holding Constance by her neck and has the grinning mask in the other hand. A lightning bolt strikes somewhere in the distance as she inhales deeply.

I stand up, run into her again, trying to knock her over. She slashes her claws at me and sends me back to the floor. Her claws cut through my pullover, and I am bleeding from my left arm.

"No one can stop me from what righteously belongs to me," she grins at me while the Piper brings more boxes for the activists to throw on the parade. "You don't know what this power is, do you?" Her grinning is constant, and she enjoys showing it to me. I have a feeling that this is personal. Not just between the Cheshire and the humans, but between him and me. I wish I could remember the past.

"What is it?" I shout, as a snowy wind whizzes through the tower. I'm trying to stall the Cheshire by making useless conversation. "Tell me what Lewis took from you."

"My nine lives," the woman laughs. "My priceless nine lives. Once I get them, I will be immortal."

"But they are only nine lives," I am stalling, watching closer for a weakness in the Cheshire's woman body. "Not all that much."

"Oh, they are more than enough. If you only knew," she lifts the mask up and puts it on. "It's time to get back my grin, the one Lewis stole from me." The mask begins sparkling like stars. "Lewis bonded the grin with Alice Constance Westmacott's soul by photographing her," the Cheshire is proud to tell me all about it now. Why not, when he is only seconds away from getting what he wants? "They weren't joking when they said that photographs captured the soul. Lewis was a genius and invented that kind of camera long ago. Luckily, Alice Constance Westmacott passed her bond down to her descendants. Now, all I have to do is suck this girl's soul and retrieve my powers." He means Constance. I watch him pull her closer to him. Behind me the world is in chaos, and the Pillar is in a vicious war with the activists. He’s killed a lot of them, but there are too many.

The Cheshire is about to suck Constance’s soul the way a cat sucks an infant's breath in real life.

Chapter 64

Although I am bleeding, I have no choice but to run and bump the Cheshire again. This time I close my eyes briefly, and try to remember what Jack Diamonds told me about the art of None Fu. He said that only if I believe in the power of nonsense can I acquire it. The world is mad after all. The only things that stands up to mad is nonsense. All I have to do is any one of those Kung Fu Ninja moves I see in the movies. It's not the move, he said. It's how much you believe it. It's ridiculous, but I have no choice but to try it. I run and imagine myself jumping in the air and kicking the Cheshire in the stomach.

Here I come with my None Fu powers.

I end up bumping into the Cheshire and falling again. None of what Jack promised me worked. I must be doing something wrong. Suddenly, I wonder why Jack’s help doesn't appear to work. I mean, I'd go on a date with him now to save Constance.

"You really think you can try to stop me?" the Cheshire woman seems insulted by my attempt. She bends over me while I am on the floor, Constance choking in her grip. "Can't you see you're not the real Alice?" she says. "I have to admit, the Pillar had me fooled into believing it was you when you saved Constance in the Great Hall. This is why I invited you here, to see if you're the real Alice. But you're not. You have none of her strength. The real Alice is dead!"

The Cheshire keeps bending over me and grinning. I stretch my arm, hoping to find a stone to throw at him. I have succeeded in stalling him, but I have no idea what to do next. My hand comes across that useless umbrella again. I pull it near, knowing that it's not good enough to hit the Cheshire. All I do is point it at him to keep distance. I do it as if I am holding a gun. Wouldn't it be frabjous if this umbrella turned to a sword, like the one the White Queen had?

My hand accidentally pushes the umbrella's button and it springs open, separating me from the Cheshire who has already stretched back to suck Constance’s soul. It all happens so fast, but the umbrella doesn't really block the view. It's rather transparent on my side, in the craziest way. I see coordinates and measurements all over it, as if it's a soldier’s navigator.

Through the umbrella, I watch the Cheshire open Constance’s mouth and start to inhale from it.

Suddenly, I realize there is a small trigger on my side of the umbrella. This little thing turns out to be one nonsensical gun. In a flash, I adjust the target on the Cheshire and pull the trigger.

If I was in my sane mind, I'd contemplate and try to find a meaning to of all this. But this is the mad world I am a living in. I watch as a surge of rainbow lightning hits the Cheshire like an electric current. The old woman falls on her knees. Not dead, but she lets Constance go and meows in pain.

I look at the umbrella in my hand in wonder. This is the silliest, most provocative weapon ever. I mean, it's even better than the Pillar's hookah.

The light gets the activists’ attention. Seeing their tribal leader in pain, they let go of the Pillar and turn to me, all claws, all fangs, all mad.

I stand up and take Constance by the hand, running to the door leading down the stairs. The activists block the door and purr at me. I am a weakened human in Catland.

"If the umbrella is a gun, it must do other things too," the Pillar shouts. He is nodding at the cloistered windows while he’s whipping at the activists with his hookah. I am not sure it's a good idea, but there is no way out and the Cheshire will be back on his feet soon. "Go on, Alice. I'll take care of these silly cats," the Pillar says.

I take a deep breath and run with Constance toward the window. No one stops me because there is nowhere for me to go. I stand on the edge and pull Constance up with me.