More steps in, I stop in my tracks again.
Someone stands in front of me. Someone I didn’t expect to see in here.
“Fabiola?”
“Nice to see you again, Alice.” She is wrapped in white from head to toe. Her dress flutters to a light breeze and her smile is ever so enchanting.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” I say.
“I am not really who I am in this world, if that makes any sense.”
“No. It doesn’t make any sense.” I chuckle feebly. “But what does?”
“I understand.” She nods. “You’re in the Bridge of Time between past and present, real and unreal. It’s an aftermath of the March Hare trying to open portals to Wonderland with his gardens.”
“So this isn’t Wonderland?”
“It is... and it isn’t.”
“Here we go again,” I mumble.
“It’s like a memory where some things are true and some are lies.” Fabiola is trying her best to make sense of it. “I have no idea how I am here, just like you. But I know why I am here.”
“Why are you here, then, Fabiola?”
“To warn you. Whoever led you here with this maid’s dress and asked you to seek the circus wishes you harm.”
“What kind of harm?”
“The worst of all—emotional harm.”
“Why does he want to harm me, whoever it is who’s playing games?”
“It’s the only way for you to remember—at least a few things.”
“How I killed my friends in the bus?”
“No. That should come later,” Fabiola says. “You’re about to remember what really happened in the last days of Wonderland. Why the war is coming; a truth that I’ve tried to conceal for so long, even from myself.”
“I thought Lewis Carroll locked the Wonderland Monsters in here, so they wouldn’t bring chaos into the world,” I say. “I saw him do it when I was in the Tom Tower. Isn’t that Wonderland’s biggest secret?”
“Not at all.” Fabiola shakes her head. “Ever wondered why he locked them up?”
“I assumed they are evil.” I try to think of a better word. “That they want to hurt people in the real world.”
“That could be part of it, but it’s not the real truth.” Fabiola’s eyes are watery. “You see, there is a reason why the Wonderland Monsters, led by the Queen of Hearts, are incredibly powerful.”
“I had expected them to be led by the Cheshire,” I say. “I mean, he seemed the most evil, with his power.”
“The Cheshire is merely a hint to the dangers Wonderlanders could bring upon the real world. There is a reason why the Wonderland Wars could be the end of the world. A much grander reason,” Fabiola says. “Ever wondered why the Cheshire hates humans so much?”
“Because humans killed his ancestors in an eye-rolling story I have never heard anything like before.”
“That’s hardly scratching the surface,” Fabiola says. “Something happened to the Wonderland Monsters that made them this way—not that they weren’t obnoxious in Wonderland, but the twist of evil in their personalities happened later.”
“Why don’t you spell it out for me, Fabiola? Why all the puzzles?”
“Because memories are mostly visual. You have to see them to remember—of course, that’s if you’re the Real Alice. I’m not going to go over this again.”
“Apparently, this Hatter thinks I am her.”
“We all hope you’re her,” Fabiola says. “I know I didn’t believe it first, but trust me, I want to believe you’re her. But I don’t want to waste your time, as you have to go to circus and see what happened in the last days of Wonderland. I just wanted you to take notice of the door in the hedge to your right.”
I turn my head and there it is. A wooden door I hadn’t seen before.
“It’s okay that you haven’t seen it,” she says. “Sometimes, when we’re fixated on reaching the end, we miss the important things along the way.”
“You want me to open it?”
“Not now,” Fabiola says. “I’d prefer you open it on your way back. Its impact should be more to the point then.”
I let out a long sigh. I’m tired. I am really tired. My mind is about to fry. If I just get one normal thought to hang on, I think I’ll feel much better.
“I know it’s hard.” She steps over and touches my cheek. Her hands are warm. I feel at home. “And it’s your choice to walk the distance or not. I mean, you could have just given up on a rabbit with a bomb threatening the children in London. A sane person would have done that.”
“You mean only the insane walk the distance?”
“It’s an unusual way to put it.” She laughs. “But it’s true. Insanity isn’t always a curse. For those who know how to use it, it’s a bliss. Now, I have to go, Alice.”
She pulls her hand away and I feel lost. I feel without a family. Lonely, as usual.
I can hear the crowd in the distance cheering. Again, they sound so happy. I wonder how this could be bad at all.