I stand, staring at the crowd in the circus with my heart pounding in my feet. What are they going to do to me?

When I think of it, the only real human in the cage is Lewis Carroll. Still, they didn’t spare him. Of course, because he was defending the Wonderlanders—so Lewis didn’t always just think of them as monsters?

I assume they will do the same to me now.

Caught between running and saving those in the cage, I realize this is some sort of a memory. It’s doubtful I can change much about it. Whoever led me here wanted me to just see this.

Why? I have no idea.

Maybe he wants me to sympathize with Black Chess and their crimes in the real world.

I am confused. Who’s mad and who isn’t?

Those who turned evil after what happened to them in the cage, or those people throwing cotton candy at those poor souls?

“Run!” Fabiola shouts.

Her voice reminds me of the room she wanted me to see back in the maze.

I turn around and run, tears filling my eyes. On my way out, teacups smash all around me.

The way back into the maze seems easier. I think I know my way, and I wonder if any of those in the circus will follow me here.

As I run, I try to connect the dots.

So when I saw Lewis Carroll lock the Wonderland Monsters behind the doors of Wonderland, was he protecting the world from them, or protecting them from the world?

Fabiola said the circus happened in the last days before he locked them in, so it’s safe to think he was protecting them. Or maybe he was protecting some and locking up others.

I like this assumption better, because apparently not all of those in the cage turned out to be part of Black Chess. Fabiola isn’t, for instance. The event at the circus had a different effect on each of them.

Also, I am not sure why I haven’t seen the Pillar, but I could have missed him in all this mess.

Panting, I reach the door.

I turn the knob and step into a room where people are gathered around a meal in Lewis Carroll’s studio.

The image brings instant tears to my eyes, and I fight the weakness in my body that’s bringing me down to my knees.

Chapter 59

Meeting Hall, Buckingham Palace, London

Dr. Tom Truckle watched the Queen’s video with intent. It was hard to predict where this was going, but the crowd around him was shocked.

It seemed strange for a man like him to sympathize with the mad, but he did—at least momentarily.

He kept watching the video, eagerly wanting to know what the Queen had on her mind. What kind of revenge was she talking about? How did the mad have their revenge?

The video he was watching detailed what had happened to the Queen and Wonderlanders in the circus. The torture, the humiliation, and the human race’s fear of what was different or new to them.

Even Tom, a man who rarely sympathized with the insane, hated his own kind for the few moments he watched what had happened to the Wonderlanders.

Chapter 60

Behind the Door, the Maze, on the borders of Wonderland

Time remaining: 6 hours, 11 minutes

The people gathered inside Lewis Carroll’s studio are my friends. Those who, according to Fabiola, walked the white tiles on the Chessboard of Life.

“Alice!” Lewis cheers with a glass of wine in his hand. He is sitting at the head of a table filled with all kinds of colorful food. The place looks cozy, like how you would expect your family’s house to look.

To his right sits Fabiola, nodding and smiling at me. “We missed you, Alice. I thought we’d wait for you to say prayers before we began eating.”

I step closer and wipe the tears from my eyes. Is this room some sort of a dream?

A dream within a dream? A madness within hallucinations?

“You have to taste those vegetables,” says the March Hare, looking as sane and relaxed as he ever has. “I grew them myself in my garden.”

I am starting to assume this isn’t a dream. I think the door transported me to another time, maybe before the circus, when life seemed peaceful in Wonderland.

Those at the table may be all the friends I had at this time.

“Missed you, Alice!” A younger girl, next to Fabiola, waves at me. She has a cute smile, but I don’t recall meeting her before.

I wave back and approach the table.

“The best chicken soup in Wonderland,” a voice says behind me. It’s Jack. He brings a bowl of soup filled with playing cards to the table and sits next to the March Hare. “Come sit, girl.”

I sit opposite Lewis Carroll, wondering when this really happened. But in any case, I’m glad, because this means I am her. I am the Real Alice, right?

We start all holding hands, and Fabiola asks me to say a prayer again.

“I don’t know any,” I say.

“Just say what’s on your mind,” Lewis says. “We’re family now. We’ll accept what you feel inside your heart.”

Overwhelmed by the possibility of having had such a family at some time, overwhelmed by this peace and love, I stare at Fabiola’s angelic, motherly smile, Lewis’ fatherly care, the little girl’s innocence, and Jack’s loving eyes. The March Hare could simply fit as good uncle who takes care of us as much as his garden.

My phone rings suddenly. I pick it up while everyone glares at me. Not even Carroll imagined such a device in his time—I guess I will have to explain it to them later.

But there may be no later.

The message is from the Hatter, not the one I saw in the circus, but the one from real life:

Thank you for telling me the circus’s whereabouts; no one would have found it but you.

And, oh, all of this you see happened once in the past, Alice. Enjoy the very short moment, as it will turn upside down right now. Enjoy a glimpse of Wonderland as it was so long ago.

You led me to the circus, and I have to thank you for that. This is why I showed you this intimate moment of your past through this portal.

I raise my head to the questioning friends on the table, but I have to type back now, and explain later:

You got what you wanted. The location of the circus, although I don’t know why it’s so important. I need the location of the rabbit. You promised.

The response arrives sooner than I expected:

Go to the Six O’clock Circus in real life. You will find a device buried underneath the sand in the ring. The device can locate the rabbit’s every move. Good luck. Now, I leave with the last tragedy in the scene.

P.S. You will never find the rabbit if you’re not wearing the dress. And, ah, again, the fan and gloves you found are the wrong ones. But don’t worry, you should find them, and understand their importance, once you find the rabbit.

Find the rabbit, save the world, and find out who you really are.

I tuck my phone back in my pocket, and smile at my family. “I’ll explain what this is later.”

“Is that from the future?” The March Hare raises a thick eyebrow.

“Kinda.”

“Kinda?” Jack asks. “What does kinda mean?”

“Ah.” I sigh. “That’s a long story. Should I say the prayers now?”

“Please do.” Lewis and Fabiola exchange smiles and stare at me. I don’t know what it means, but suddenly I realize they maybe were a couple one day.

I grip Jack’s hand harder on my left, and this cute younger girl on my right, and begin...

But like the Hatter said, it won’t last long.

The door bursts open. Victorian police dash in and arrest Fabiola, Jack, March Hare, and the girl on account of being infected with the Invisible Plague.

Lewis stands and defends them. The police knock him down and take him along. “You’re infected, just like all of them,” the constable roars, and hits him on the back. “You all shall die before you infect the rest of the world.”