Wonder (Insanity Book 5) (21 page)

A tear threatens to squeeze out of my eye. But I lock it in. Jack has to believe I mean this. And the boy, well, he is enjoying this a lot.

Images of Tiger and Lily flash before my eyes. Maybe I am not going to marry the one I love, but the one whose children I will love.

After the kiss, and the incredible scene I made, I slowly catch Jack’s reaction from the corner of my eye.

Oh, Jack. I’m so sorry.

Jack is simply dying in front of my eyes. The damage is done. Mission accomplished. Everyone lives happily ever after, except Jack.

Chapter 79

T
HE
P
RESENT:
T
HE
P
ILLAR’S LIMOUSINE, OUTSIDE THE
I
NKLINGS,
O
XFORD

“She sacrificed her love to save the students on the bus,” said the mousy chauffeur, having just arrived from eavesdropping on Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock in the Inklings.

The Pillar, sitting in the back, smiled. He had both hands rested on his cane. His smile was thin, the chauffeur thought. But he understood. The situation was complicated. Alice, evil or good, was doomed.

“So is that it?” The
chauffeur felt uncomfortable about the Pillar’s silence. “She saves the world, fails to find her Wonder, and ends up dead in the past?”

The Pillar tapped his cane. Said nothing.

“That’s not fair,” the chauffeur said. “I mean, she really changed the world. Why does she have to die, let alone live in this kind of misery?”

The Pillar resorted to silence again and again.

“Shouldn’t we see changes in this future because of the things she changed?” the chauffeur tried one last time.

The Pillar leaned back, staring out of the window. It had started to rain, and looking outside was like looking at a mirror buried in the mist. “You ever been in love?” the Pillar said.

The chauffeur shrugged. “Once.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Everyone must have been in love once.”

“Not an ugly mouse like you.”

The chauffeur knew the Pillar was joking. “I fell in love with a girl, mousy like me. We suited each other. In fact, she loved me a lot.”

“If so, why aren’t you with her now?”

“Because I’m with you, professor.”

“Why are you with me?”

“I believe in your cause—morally controversial, yes, but I’d like to help.”

“I didn’t know you were a miserable liar,” the Pillar said.

“Liar?”

“You’re not here because of me. You’re here because of the money I pay.”

“What’s wrong with a man needing a job?”

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong,” the Pillar said. He leaned forward, one hand gripping the back of the passenger seat. “You’re not spending time with the one you love, thinking that making money and securing your future will help you prosper, so you can finally spend time with her.”

“Professor.” The
chauffeur shrugged. “What are you telling me?”

“Go back home,” the Pillar said. “Give me the keys, and go back to your loved one. Forget about me and Alice. This war that’s coming isn’t for everyone, unless you’re really ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To give up on your loved ones.”

Chapter 80

T
HE
P
AST:
B
US STATION,
O
XFORD

Making out so bluntly with my future husband is like reaching the last rung on the ladder of insanity — let alone the fact I just said
future husband
.

My lips on that boy are in severe pain. A strange pain. I close my eyes, wishing Jack would just disappear behind me. Hoping he gets the message and hates me for the rest of his life.

But Jack doesn’t.

He taps me on the shoulder. I try not to turn around. I’d prefer he walks away with my back to him.

“Hey,” the boy says. “She’s mine.”

I come to understand the boy and Jack might get into a fight. So I give in and turn to face Jack.

Keep the tears locked inside, Alice. Just for a minute. If Jack sees you crying he’ll figure out something is wrong.

“Is that why you were surprised I came back from the bathroom?” Jack’s pain is painted like a Picasso on his face. “Is that why you suddenly didn’t want to get on the bus?”

“I—”

I have nothing to say.

Lorina takes the opportunity and backs Jack up. I can’t quite hear what she says. All my senses are focused on Jack’s pain. Generally, she is calling me all kinds of bad things.

Jack’s eyes lock with mine. He must be seeing a stupid teenage girl, reckless and selfish. I see beautiful eyes that will enjoy a prosperous life and will not die young.

The tension breaks with the bus’s ticket thrown at my face. It’s not Lorina who does it. But Jack. Lorina smiles broadly and takes Jack’s arm.

“I never want to see you again,” Jack says. “I should have known. You’re weird.”

“She is mentally cuckoo,” Lorina offers. Her friends laugh. “Trust me, I know. She’s my sister.”

“I should’ve listened to the rumors,” Jack says.

“Rumors?” It’s all I can say.

“They said you were some kind of a witch or something. You and your Wonderland creeps.”

“Let’s go, Jack,” Lorina says. “You don’t need this trip. I have a surprise for you.”

Jack’s last stare at me is full of disappointment. Borderline hatred. I’m sure it can’t be fixed in the future now.

Go away, Jack. Go with Lorina. Stay alive.

My future husband senses the tension and holds me before I collapse under the weight of my pain. I pretend I like it, watching Jack walk away.

With every step, I get this warm feeling up my nostrils. I realize it’s blood. My time in the past is scant. I may have saved Jack, and the bus, but I haven’t found my Wonder. I haven’t saved myself.

But Jack returns for one last scene. An unexpected one, really. “Here.” He hands me a necklace. “It’s yours, and I don’t want anything that reminds me of you.”

“Mine?” I stare at it, remembering he talked to me about it earlier. But I don’t recognize it.

“You don’t even remember you gave it to me?” Jack says. “I bet you give it to all the boys.”

“What’s this for?” I stare at the necklace in my hand and realize there is a key attached to it. The key has a drawing of the Six Keys on it. On the back is that strange number 14 again. This is the key to where I keep the rest of Six Impossible Keys.

The irony.

I stand with the necklace in my hand. The keys. The reason why I embarked on this journey from the beginning. I’ve exchanged Jack’s life for the keys. No wonder they never found the rest of them. I kept them with Jack.

“I don’t want the necklace,” I scream at Jack. The pain is too strong. I don’t know why I do it, but I throw the keys back in his face. They’ll end up in Black Chess’s hands if I keep them with me. Jack catches them, as if a tiny piece of him still wants to carry a memory of me.

Then he disappears.

My bleeding intensifies and I begin to feel dizzy. In only minutes I’ll die, it seems. All I need now is to make sure the bus is safe.

I watch it arrive. The yellow school bus slows down by the curb. Most girls forget about the drama, excited by the trip they’re about to take.

You did it, Alice. You did it.

I watch the girls get on the bus, my nose bleeding faster, but my heart is fluttering with victory. It’s hard to imagine that I started this journey looking for a bunch of keys. Here I am, ending up with a bitter victory. But it’s the right thing to do.

Without me on the bus, the future can change. Who said we can’t change the past, Mrs. Tock?

Chapter 81

T
HE
P
RESENT:
I
NSIDE THE
I
NKLINGS,
O
XFORD

“Did we just get the keys back?” Mr. Tick squinted at the dying Alice on the table.

“I’m not sure, Mr. Tick,” his wife said. “Alice found the keys, but I think she threw them back to Jack.”

“She also looks like she is going to pass on killing her classmates.” Mr. Tick didn’t look happy about it.

“Can’t have all the cake, Mr. Tick.”

“Of course I can have all the cake.” He pointed at the brownie in his hand. “I always do. Figure out a way for Alice to kill her classmates and make sure she gets the keys.”

“I don’t know how to do that, Mr. Tick.”

“Mr. Jay will be very upset.”

“Margaret hired us to send Alice back in time to get the keys. She never said anything about keeping the timeline intact.”

“But this will change a lot of things.”

“I know, Mr. Tick. She will also die without killing her classmates. Because she will not have found her Wonder.”

“Which means we will not even get the keys, if she has them.”

“We don’t need to, Mr. Tick. We know that the keys are with Jack.”

“So?”

“Last I heard, the Cheshire managed to possess Jack’s body. With a few tweaks and digging into his mind, the Cheshire will know where they are.”

“That’s genius, Mrs. Tock. But how about Alice? Doesn’t Black Chess want their fiercest warrior back?”

“Can’t help her now,” Mrs. Tock said. “Like I said, if she doesn’t kill her classmates, she dies.”

“She is already dying.” He pointed at Alice on the bed. “Look at how fast she is bleeding.”

“Farewell, Bad Alice,” Mrs. Tock said. “We’ll miss you. You were real fun.”

“Look at the endless number of kids she inspired for a century and a half,” Mr. Tick said. “Did the kids know she was the Bad Alice?”

“Some did.”

Mr. Tick let out a long sigh, took another brownie bite, then combed his hairies. “I guess that’s it, then. Alice dies and we get the keys from Jack.”

“I believe so, too.”

“I’m just really unhappy with the passengers on the bus staying alive,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve seen someone capable of changing the past so dramatically. It’s always been a few small changes, but not enough to change the course of the future.”

“I agree, Mr. Tick. We all know those on the bus must die.” Then an idea hit her. She rested a forefinger on her lips as if she’d discovered time itself. “Don’t you think time won’t let her change the past?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that the future always finds a way to stay on course. Rule number 47 in the
Wonderlastic Guide to Time Travels
.”

“I read the rule, Mrs. Tock. But every rule has an exception.”

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “Maybe not.”

Chapter 82

T
HE
P
AST:
B
US STATION,
O
XFORD

Instead of slowly withering away, the terrible Alice inside me surfaces again. I guess it’s because of my weakness that I can’t oppose her now.

With blood trickling down my cheeks, I stand up and push my future husband away, about to catch up to the bus I am supposed to kill everyone on.

Talk about schizophrenic.

The boy holds me back for some reason. “You’re still bleeding,” he says. “You need a doctor.”

I push him off me, realizing I still have enough strength to get the mission done. He falls back. “I really have no idea why I will marry you in the future,” I say, standing up.

“Wow, hold your horses, girl,” the boy says. “Not so fast. We were just fooling around.”

I don’t pay attention to him and run after the bus. All around me, Black Chess are still watching me, waiting for me to make it happen. Although I’m in evil mode, I wonder again and again why I have to kill those on the bus.

I run after the bus, realizing that I’m limping. Why not? I’m dying. Slower, I limp like a mad girl with blood on her face.

People make way for me. They don’t want to have anything to do with me.

The last girl gets on the bus as I cling to the rail on the back. I’m going to get on it. It’s the only meaning in the Bad Alice’s life. It’s the only way that I can live and return to the present, I suddenly realize. If I have no Wonder as a Good Alice then I bet it’s the Bad Alice with the Wonder of killing her classmates.

The bus starts up and I cling harder to the rail, my legs scraping against the asphalt.

My knees hurt like hell. I should be dead already. I am trying to gather the strength to climb up. The girls in the back window stare at me as if I am terrorist. Well, I am. A Wonderland Monster.

I manage to pull myself up, bending my knees, and begin to climb up toward the top of the bus, like a poisonous spider who’s come to finish the job.

“Let me in!” I pound on the glass. I must look like a demon now. “Let me in!”

The bus is full of girls. Why girls? Why do they have to die? Who are they?

One of the girls is so scared she submits to my threats and actually tries to open the back window. I smile wickedly at her, encourage her to speed it up.

Here she goes. Just a little wider, and I can set my foot inside.

But I don’t.

Someone pulls me by my legs. I slip back, dropping on that someone behind me in the middle of the street, watching the bus fly away.

“No!” I scream, reaching out.

“It’s all right.” The Pillar holds me tight, both of us lying on our backs. “Let it go, Alice. Just let it go.”

When he calls my name, I don’t know which Alice he is talking to. It’s worse than not knowing whether I’m mad or not.