"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.