The Unraveling (Wonderland Book 2) Page 3

  "I see." He turned on his heel and marched away.

  Not sure if she'd been more of a bitch than he was a jerk, she rushed after him. "Wait! I'm sorry! I wanted to phrase it better."

  He halted and Melody nearly ran into him. Sunny extended her claws deeper into her skin. When the man turned to respond, his gaze caught on her arm and he frowned. "Your beast has wounded you."

  "She's not a beast." Melody shifted the cat up a little higher and raised her chin. "She's scared, and she's making sure I don't put her down near that...thing."

  At her description of the strange cat, the man smirked. "Come with me. Devrel will... Devrel?"

  The strange cat had left them.

  "Blast that vexatious creature. We shall walk then. I regret it's not very close, but we should be there in more than enough time for tea."

  She hesitated, weighing her options. He hadn't exactly been welcoming, and more than that, she was now experiencing her sister's delusion. Of course, chances were she'd fallen, hit her head, and this was all a coma dream or something. In that case, what would it hurt to see what happened if she went with him?

  "Okay."

  Having nowhere else to go, she followed. Sunny's weight had long since become a burden, but she didn't dare put the cat down. They hiked in silence for what seemed like forever. To their left, a wide expanse of forest filled with rainbow-hued trees extended for miles. She paused to examine a sign with arrows pointing in varied directions. Two pointed to the forest and read TULGEY WOOD and RED KINGDOM. The one pointing in the direction they'd come from read SHIPWRECK COVE. Two more arrows pointed in the direction they were headed: WHITE KINGDOM and THE HATTER.

  "I see you have your own sign."

  The Hatter nodded. "I do."

  "So we’re close." It wasn't a question, but a severe hope. Pins and needles bit into her arm muscles, and her feet were killing her. She refused to ask for a chance to sit down, however, and the discomfort worried her that the delusion might be reality after all.

  "Close enough."

  With a sigh, she ambled to where he'd paused to wait on her. In the forest, an animal shrieked, waking Sunny from her light snooze and leading to more puncture wounds. "What was that?"

  Hatter put an arm around her shoulder and moved her onto his right side and away from the tree line. A subtle, spicy scent, like cloves, filled her senses, and she resisted the urge to lean into his touch. "We should keep moving," he said cautiously. "The bandersnatch pack doesn't usually come this close to the edge of the Tulgey Wood. It's best to stay away."

  "I don't even want to ask what a bandersnatch is." It sounded quite vulgar, whatever it was.

  "Hope you never run into one. Predatory pack animals, bandersnatches. They cannot speak like the civilized creatures of this land. Try to convince one not to attack you, and you're only giving the others time to sneak up behind you."

  She shuddered. "Wonderful. So far there's been a dead guy on a sunken ship, murdery animals in the woods, and a talking cat with nightmare teeth. Anything else I should worry about?"

  The Hatter pressed his lips together in a failed attempt of hiding a smile. "Becoming attached. At the end of tomorrow, your second day in Wonderland, you'll go home. From what you've revealed of your sister, she could have benefited from such advice."

  That was...rather sad. The Hatter seemed sad too, despite his prickly attitude.

  A while later, Melody spotted a large cottage style house ahead in a meadow. Close by, a pavilion sheltered several tables pushed together with chairs clustered around them. The famous mad tea party, but no one was seated there.

  This is surreal. If she'd been alone, she would probably run over and touch the teacups and caress the chairs. She wasn't alone though, and Hatter cast his judgmental stare in her direction. She stamped her curiosity down, not wanting him to think worse of her than he clearly did already. He'd welcomed her to his home, and she would maintain a sense of dignity and decorum during her stay.

  When they reached the house, the Hatter ushered her inside. Hats covered every wall on shelves, wooden pegs, and even racks taking up the middle of what appeared to be a show room or a shop.

  "Wow." She turned in a circle. The colors were vibrant. Some hats were gaudy with obnoxiously large buttons and bows, but others gorgeous and tasteful with just the right touch of ribbon or feathers. "You made all of these?"

  "I did."

  "They're beautiful. You're really talented." She faced him, but he quickly controlled a peculiar expression. His fingers twitched as he stared at her, and he moved his hands behind his back.

  "Thank you. I doubt Devrel is here, so feel free to release your creature without fear. I do not believe he would harm it should he come near." He scowled when he finished speaking and turned away. Did the thought of Sunny running free disgust him, or was it...the way he'd rhymed just now?

  Melody kneeled and tried to put Sunny down so she could relieve her aching arms, but the poor thing was still too scared to let go. "Come on, Sunny. You're okay. Nothing will get you." Finally, the cat hopped down, and Melody petted her soothingly.

  As she stood, Hatter moved closer and lifted her arm to examine it. "The creature has poked holes all over your skin." His gaze traveled up to her shoulder where red stains marred the blue fabric of her dress. "Turn."

  She hesitated, but obeyed.

  "Your gown is ruined." He pulled the material down over her shoulder and she shivered. "You should probably clean up. I can make you a new gown."

  "Oh, no. Really, there is no need to go through the trouble. Wonderland will kick me out like Cadence, right?" Which was what she wanted. So why did it seem almost unfair to know, from the start, her time there had an expiration?

  He didn't respond immediately, but then he nodded.

  "I can wear this until then."

  His dark expression told her that not only had she insulted him a second time, but she didn't have a choice. In his home, it was his way or no way.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Refreshed from a long, hot shower, Cadence pushed open the screen door and stepped outside to apologize to Melody, but her sister wasn't there. Her book was haphazardly thrown on the porch, which was not like her at all. She stayed organized beyond belief on most days.

  Shrugging, she descended the steps and decided to take a stroll down the bike trail to clear her thoughts. Dark clouds moved overhead, so she doubted she had long to enjoy the outdoors before a thunderstorm held them hostage within the house.

  Anywhere was better than inside. Since her return from Wonderland, her parents had withdrawn both from her and each other. Even her sister thought she'd gone nuts. Maybe she had. It would have been all too easy to let herself believe she’d imagined it all, but for the DNA evidence they'd found. None of her friends had touched her. While she didn't deny it had been enough time for a stranger to violate her, none of her clothing was out of place. No dirt or other proof was found to suggest her pants had been removed against her will for such an incident to occur. She'd been in Wonderland, and Gareth had been real. She knew he was real.

  Cadence kicked a pinecone across the trail and sighed. Two days hadn't been long enough to make a life-altering decision. While she had liked Gareth then, she'd had every reason not to trust him as well. She'd even had to convince him to take her to the Red Kingdom rather than leave her behind.

  Still, she'd gone with him, and her feelings for him had increased. He seemed to feel the same way toward her before she left. If they'd had one more day, just one, maybe she would have stayed. Maybe the first stirrings of love could have tethered her there. Now she was haunted by what could have been, and moving on seemed impossible. Adventures like she'd experienced in Wonderland never occurred in her world, in a small town where nobody believed a word she said, and she couldn't settle for a boring, average life. Furthermore, no other man could dare measure up to Gareth, so her prospects for moving on were null.

  A turn in the trail obscured the path ahead past
a cluster of maple trees. Cadence considered returning to the house as soft patters of rain began to crash against the bare skin of her arms, making her wish she'd worn a jacket. Yet, as if she were drawn by a magnet, she continued forward, only to discover the massive sinkhole as she rounded the trees.

  Footprints nearby, both from shoes and the soft pads of a cat were visible in the dampening dirt, soon to be washed away. By the hole, which was so deep and dark she couldn't determine how far down it went without moving closer—she didn't, since the ground might be unstable. Had Melody and Sunny been out here when it occurred? Oh God, did they fall into the sinkhole?

  A strange sensation settled in her gut. Fear, excitement, worry...all mingled and fought for dominance. She didn't focus on it, allowing her primary concern to be for Melody. The last thing she wanted was for her sister to be hurt.

  Frantically, she called out their names, hoping one of them would emerge from the woods. Maybe Sunny would poke her orange head out from a bush. But no one responded. That meant either they had gone back home, or her sister could be in the hole, injured or dead, while she did nothing to help them.

  Or she could have gone...

  A year had passed. No one had come for her, and she couldn't find a way back. If she were as insane as everyone thought she was, she'd let her mind wander to the conclusion that made her almost sick to her stomach from hoping. Maybe she was crazy. Isn't that what everyone kept telling her anyway? If she let herself believe, for one moment, Melody had fallen into a portal to Wonderland instead of a sink hole, then maybe she was.

  Cadence spun around, ready to sprint back to the house, when something shiny caught the reflection from the sun as it peeked through the rainclouds. Bending to investigate, she brushed leaves out of the way and picked up a tiny pocket watch by the chain. It looked more like one of those pocket watch necklaces made for women; the clock itself about the size of a quarter. The casing was gold, etched with a decorative heart and a tiny W.R. on the back. Using her thumb, she opened the watch and forgot how to breathe.

  The clock had thirteen hours rather than twelve. It tumbled out of her hand into the wet dirt. The second hand continued to tick, tick, tick as the clock face taunted her with thoughts she shouldn't be experiencing. She'd locked them down to attempt rationality only for this to now happen. She laughed out loud for no one to hear but herself. She even sounded crazy.

  If Wonderland isn't real, if I imagined it like the therapists and everyone else believes, this can't be happening. Was she having a psychotic break? Would she realize she had one if she did? I'm so confused.

  Cadence picked up the watch and snapped it shut. The W.R. marked the owner of it. Could W.R. stand for White Rabbit?

  She placed a trembling hand over her rapidly beating heart. Then her gaze shifted ever so slowly to the hole. It's the rabbit hole. She couldn't hide from the thought any longer, and judging by the prints and the marks around the side, her sister may have gone down it.

  Melody could be hurt, so why did she suddenly want to take a leap of faith into the hole after her rather than calling for help? If she was wrong, and that wasn't a rabbit hole into Wonderland, she could essentially kill herself by going in on her own. What scared her more than anything was she didn't know if she would be excited by having found the hole if Melody had been on the porch when she came outside or not. Would she have come out here and jumped blindly?

  I'm not crazy, but even that sounds ridiculously insane.

  She knew what happened was real. Still, looking for a passage back and finding it were two different things. The hole in the ground offered a possibly one-way drop that couldn't be undone. Unless, of course, it does go to Wonderland or a crane has to pull out my dead, broken body.

  "Cadence," she told herself, closing her eyes. "What if they are right, and you have gone crazy? The watch could be a toy. A prank."

  When she opened her eyes a second time, the W.R. was still there, clear as day, and she realized this had been left for her to find. Someone wanted her back. Had Gareth sent the rabbit? Devrel? Her stomach knotted up with anticipation and trepidation.

  "I'm sorry," she whispered. Whether to herself, her family, a higher power, she wasn't exactly sure. "I have to try. I have to see. What if I'm not crazy? What if I don't go and there is never another opportunity?"

  Not wanting the same issue as before to hold her back, she pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans and turned the camera on, filming the hole and then the watch. She flipped the screen to face her and took a deep breath.

  "I don't know if this is a rabbit hole or not, but I think Melody and Sunny fell into it. I found this watch nearby." She held it up to show the screen. "Wonderland's time ran quickly, but I expressly remember my time on my second day ended at thirteen o'clock. I am fairly certain this was left by the White Rabbit. I know how crazy it sounds, believe me, I do." She bit her lip and studied the hole.

  "Every bit of common sense tells me to walk away, but I have to do this. I have to know. If I am wrong and survive this, I will happily commit myself to receive psychiatric help. I won't fight it any longer. However, if I'm right and I don't return, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry I had to leave you. I love you, Mom. Dad. Thank you for everything. I wish I could have both worlds, but if I have to choose, I want a life of adventure. I want to know if Gareth and I can have the love you two shared, until my situation came between you. I'll never know if I stay."

  Cadence paused and quickly added, "If Melody is there too and Wonderland does not return her, I'm sure it's because she found a reason to stay. We'll always love you. Never believe otherwise."

  The rain picked up as she stopped the recording. She couldn't leave the phone there without the rain demolishing it, so she searched around for some sort of shelter. One of the trees off the path had a hollow opening in its trunk, about chest level. She shoved the phone and watch inside, allowing the chain to hang over the edge. For good measure, she removed her red belt from her jeans and strapped it around the trunk. Using sticks, she fashioned a trail of arrows pointing from the path to the tree. This time, regret from not saying goodbye wouldn't prevent her from staying. She only hoped she wasn't about to commit suicide.

  If this is the way back to Gareth, I can't let fear take it from me. I've tried to find this for a year. Take the leap of faith.

  If she didn't know any better, the size of the hole had decreased while she'd recorded her farewells.

  Or you're as mad as a hatter.

  Cadence snorted, sat on the wet ground, and then scooted as close as she could to the hole. She dangled her legs over the edge. She couldn't see anything below her dark gray Nikes, and her feet definitely hovered over empty space.

  Here goes nothing. She pushed off with her arms and dropped.

  Cadence tumbled over herself in the dark, unable to prevent the shriek that came out of her during the freefall. The light from above faded into a pinpoint of white before disappearing entirely. There weren't bookshelves and tables and lamps along the way like in the illustrations or cartoons. Only dark and the musky odor of damp soil. When she believed she would splat onto the ground at any second, her momentum slowed, like gravity no longer existed. She was an astronaut floating into the oblivion of space without the stars or sun to light her way. Then her body righted itself, and her feet planted on solid ground again, ever so softly.

  After her heart rate settled, she turned around in a circle. She was still in the dark, and the air was hot and humid instead of cool. "Uh...hello?"

  Her echo responded, but nobody came to greet her.

  Shrugging, Cadence held her hands out and blindly wandered until she felt a rocky wall. It reminded her of a cave she'd visited as a child. Maintaining contact with the wall, she scurried along until the surface changed to that of smooth wood.

  A door?

  She felt around for a doorknob and it twisted easily in her hand. Through the doorway, at the end of a wooden tunnel, bright light beckoned her. She did
it. She made it back! A rush of excitement mixed with the adrenaline from her fall, and she couldn't race through the tunnel fast enough.

  You also could have died and this is the white light at the end of the tunnel, moron. You jumped into a hole in the ground. Only crazy people do that!

  Ignoring her negative thoughts, she hastily jogged toward the light, promptly tripped over something sticking out of the ground, and burst out of a tree on her hands and knees. The size of the place she'd left couldn't possibly fit within it, but it didn't concern her. She'd returned.

  Climbing to her feet, Cadence brushed the dirt off, grinning wildly, and expected to see either a rabbit or Gareth or even Devrel waiting for her when she glanced up. Surely, they had arranged the rabbit hole to appear outside of her home. However, the brightly colored leaves of Wonderland trees at the edge of the Tulgey Wood were the only reassurance that she was where she wanted to be. She stood on a cliff, and the vast ocean churned over deadly rocks hidden beneath the crashing waves. A hulking mast of a shipwreck caught her attention. Her eyes widened.

  Holy shit, there's a dead guy.

  Skeletons were the least of her worries. She became distinctly aware her return might have been an accident after all. There wasn't anyone waiting to greet her, and no sign of her sister anywhere. Nobody knew she was there.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Hatter pretended to examine rolls of fabric as he observed the woman cleaning her cuts with a damp rag over a basin of water he'd filled for her. He'd behaved despicably, snapping at her for no good reason, but he supposed he had Alice to thank for the Mad Hatter title. He gritted his teeth and concentrated on his task.

  Every so often he had...episodes where he would babble or rhyme or create riddles. Not an illness per say, but a side effect of Wonderland. The White Queen had visions, whereas Marchy would start laughing uncontrollably at nothing for several minutes at a time. Those who only visited and didn't find themselves trapped should count their blessings. Remaining wasn't all that wonderful. It reminded Hatter that he wasn't born here. He didn't belong, but there was no way to leave.