Page 88 of Madness

Al tilts his head, “But the rabbit hole… it’s just down the hall.” He points down the dimly lit hallway, and I shudder from the memories of the horrid ward that no one should ever be in.

“Al, there is no rabbit, and there is no rabbit hole. It’s just wards… you’re in Wonderland, remember?”

Al’s eyes widen with panic, “No, no, no! Wonderland… you’ll never escape wonderland. Stuck, stuck, stuck… following Alice’s path… legacy… off, off, off with her bloody big head…” he shouts, taking off down the hallway and runs to the doors that lead to the outside before we can even catch up with him.

Both me and Harry chase him in a desperate attempt to stop him, to pull him back to the safety of his room, but just as we are mere inches away, the guard steps up to him, grasping his arm tightly.

“Dennis! We have another one for solitary!” the guard calls out, refusing to let go of a struggling Al.

“No, no, no! I’ll lose my mind… mad… utterly mad, mad, mad. Bonkers…”

“Don’t take him to solitary,” I beg, “his new meds just reacted wrong.”

“Cards… guards, guards, guards are silly cards, cards, cards,” Al rambles, and my heart breaks for my friend as the depths of Wonderland seem to claim him before we can save him.

“We’ll talk to Wocky. We’ll make sure you are ok,” Harry says, his eyes shining with sympathy.

The guard hesitates for a moment, glancing between us both before tightening his grip on Al, “Orders are orders,” he says gruffly, “We can’t afford to take any chances.”

“Chesh…” Al growls, swiping at thin air, “No time for a tea party. The flowers need to be painted… Alice said so.”

We watch helplessly as the guard drags Al away, his wild eyes darting around the room, lost to the voices only he can hear.

The slam of the door to solitary echoes as Red and the others come back, Jameson tagging along with them, who rushes past us to follow them down to the depths of Wonderland.

“Do you think he’ll get him back?” I ask.

Red nods, “He’s the warden, what he says goes. We need to give them a while for him to work his magic.”

“I want her dead, Red. He’s my friend, and she’s pushed him too far… she needs to die.”

Chapter Thirty

“You’re lost, Alice… forever,”the masculine voice taunts me as I lie chained to the bed in solitary.

His words echo inside my head, and the sterile white walls seem to close in on me the longer I’m laid here with only the two voices in my head and Chesh for company.

I struggle against the restraints, feeling my mind fracture with each tick of the imaginary clock, but they hold firm, digging into my wrists.

“Tick, tick, tick goes the clock, clock, clock.”Queenie laughs, and I sigh, bashing my head against the soft padding under me.

“Don’t be like that, Alice. I told you to embrace your legacy, but all you’ve done is squander it. You are the son of thee Alice, and here you are, locked away down in solitary because you couldn’t control the madness.”

“Mad, mad, mad.”

“Will you shut up,” I hiss, “Can’t think straight because you both won’t stop bloody talking.”

Their laughter mingles together, echoing around me, a cacophony I can’t escape.

Chesh materialises at the foot of my bed, his grin wide, wide, wide, and his rows of pointy teeth seem to gleam in the fluorescent light.

“Ah, but thinking straight is a tad overrated, is it not?” Chesh purrs, his voice dripping with silky sarcasm, “Think back to Alice, Alice. She holds the key to your escape from Wonderland.”

I groan, the sound seeming to be swallowed by the shadows that lurk in the corners, “You’re not helping Chesh. I need to get out of here; I’m losing my mind.”

“Out?” Chesh’s grin widens, “Why on earth would you want to get out, silly? The key is inside of Wonderland – the only way out is through.”

Queenie’s voice cuts through my mind like a knife,“No escape. You’re trapped, trapped, trapped.”

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