Page 7 of Madness

If she has returned to Wonderland, it is possible that she still knows how to escape, and perhaps if she were to escape again, she could take me with her.

I gaze at my mural mournfully. I don’t want to leave it behind; it is some of my best work, after all, but my survival is the most important thing, and I need to escape Wonderland if I wish to live.

“Don’t be silly, Red. Not thee Alice, she’s dead.”

“Dead? How?”

He stands, brushing his trousers off with his hands, and runs his index finger over his throat, “Beheaded. Clean off.”

“Who?”

“No one knows. They think it was a different Alice, but they won’t talk, so they are being sent here.”

“So, Alice killed Alice?”

“Yes – well, apparently so, but it isnae guaranteed.”

“Okay, then. Are you sure you do not want me to help you search for Doris?” I ask him one more time.

The blood trapped between my hand and skin is starting to dry, and my mood has been soured by the news that the only person ever to escape Wonderland has been murdered.

The revelation sours my mood further, ruining any hope I had of finding a way out of this place without losing the people I love.

With every day spent here, I have a new urgency to escape and seek safety outside of the walls of Wonderland, but the dread creeps in, and the ticking clock above my head for my impending death tells me that I may be trapped here forever.

No longer in the mood to paint, I walk to my ensuite bathroom and wash away the wasted material, “Actually, since I have nothing left to do anymore, I insist on helping you,” I tell him, using this as the perfect excuse to try to get closer to him.

His green eyes flick to the mural on the wall and then back to me, an uneasy look travelling across his face. “You don’t want to finish?”

“Nope, I’m good,” I smile.

I move closer to him, breathing in the woodsy scent of the outdoors that seems to cling to him, and brush my arm against his. When he doesn’t move, I take it as a win, one step closer to getting what I want – him.

It’s been him for the last ten years, and while I haven’t refrained from having sex with other people, Harry has called to me like no other person here has… well, other than the two others who have stolen a piece of my soul, but they are forbidden.

They are too treacherous and out of reach to consider a future, even if it tears me apart to think of a life without them.

Harry is sweet, kind, and caring, and he shows it in how he treats sweet little Doris, the field mouse, and Thatcher, his rabbit.

We leave my room, and I shut the door behind us.

I don’t want people to see the mural until it’s done; only a few have, and they know it’s been a work in progress for months since I got my art supply privileges revoked.

My mind gets crowded without my art, and I started to slip into dangerous territory without it – thankfully, I learned a good way to cope by merging both of my coping mechanisms.

“Red! Look!” Hare shouts from down the hall, his feet already running towards us. A piece of paper is held high above his head in his hand. “Wocky gave me paper!”

He stops in front of us, his chest heaving, and his face transforms into a bright smile.

“Did he now? That’s so cool!” I exclaim, “Do I get a hug today?” I hold out my arms for him, but I let him make the choice if I’m gifted a hug today or not.

He’s a good kid, and not long after turning seventeen, his mind is stuck at the age of three on bad days and four on good ones.

Hare steps into my open arms and wraps his arms tightly around my midsection until I can’t breathe, and the paper in his hand crinkles against my back. “Are you helpingWocky?” I smile at the name given to the warden that guards us.

All wardens at Wonderland are known as the Jabberwocky - ruthless and terrifying. They rule over Wonderland with an iron fist, but Hare is the exception to the rule, and he’s somehow managed to gain a place in our Jabberwocky’s cold black heart, developing a bond with him as though they are brothers.

“I am!” he chirps as he steps back. Hare assesses Harry next to me, “Can I have a hug?”

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