Chapter 23 Invisible Monsters
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
INVISIBLE MONSTERS
“Tell me! Tell me the entire story,” I beg. “No one around here tells me a thing. I know Hatter made me leave, but you told the Red Queen where the scrolls were.”
“I did.”
“Why? Hatter said you’re his oldest friend. Were we not friends? Do you hate me?”
“I do not hate you,” he says, coming into view once more in a puff. “I have a job to do, and if the job changes, if the trajectory of what’s coming requires a change in tactics, I must abide. It’s the law of Wonderland.”
“The Red Queen has Hatter then?” I ask.
“She does.”
“Is he alright?”
Prospero inhales his pipe deeply, and I register Beau circling the table as if in thought, but I know he’s ready to leap if I need protection.
I’d hope Hatter’s oldest friend wouldn’t harm me, but in Wonderland, one never knows.
The absurdity of what my life has become is bearing down on me, feeling like a weight of delusion on my shoulders.
“Define, alright,” Prospero says.
“Unscathed, his body and spirit intact,” I spurt.
Prospero smirks. “This is why I always liked you, Eleanor. You’re quick-witted, like me.”
“If you liked me, you wouldn’t have told the Red Queen I helped you escape. You wouldn’t have given her the scrolls.”
“I do as I must for the narrative of the story.”
“We’re not in a story, Prospero! This is real life, and Hatter isn’t safe!”
“He’s not unharmed, but he lives,” Prospero finally answers, causing my heart to lurch into my throat.
“Ariadne?”
“Safe, but planning things that will not keep her so.”
Of course she is. She won’t let her brother remain at the whim of the Red Queen.
“Is Hatter where you were being kept?”
“No.”
I close my eyes, tears skittering from beneath my lashes. “Why are you here?”
“I came to help.”
“You can’t help clean a mess that you’ve made.” My eyes flutter open, pinning him.
His eyes are a deep cerulean, thoughtful and warm, even though his nature directly contrasts their appearance.
“Sure, you can. Cleaning messes you’ve made shows your character, dear girl.”
Taking a deep breath, I lean forward, gripping the table’s edge firmly as I try to calm down.
Beau is sitting on his haunches to my right, growling in warning as I get closer to Prospero.
“I was tasked with finding you,” Prospero says, and my anger is cooling somewhat.
“Tasked with finding me? Hatter knew where I’d be…” Backing up, I realize Prospero could be working for the Red Queen.
“He also knew you’re a hot-headed, think later, act first, kind of person.” Prospero grins, and it does nothing for the knots my stomach twists in.
“What were you to do with me when you found me?” I ask.
A series of loud cat-like yowls rend the air, and my breathing catches.
Prospero’s eyes grow wide and fearful. “No one can help you now, Eleanor.”
“What do you mean?”
Prospero disappears from atop the table.
“Prospero! What do you mean? What is that?”
A loud screech nearly freezes my blood in my veins as it ripples through the air, electrifying it.
“The Fettersnatch,” Beau whispers.
“The what?”
Beau takes off toward the house, barreling inside as a massive cat emerges from the edge of Cheshire Wood.
“Oh my God,” I breathe, backing toward the house like it’ll save me.
It is as big as an elephant, covered in dark gray fur, and its yellow eyes are honed in on me.
“It will obey once it’s tamed,” I hear Prospero whisper from around me.
“How the fuck do you tame a mammoth cat?” I ask, but no answer comes.
I’m on my own, it seems.
One doesn’t know how they’ll die. It’s the looming fear everyone in life has, but I never once thought I’d die by the hand of a magical cat.
Running from the Bog, I kept looking over my shoulder at the enormous cat giving chase behind me. In my head, I knew running would be futile, but instinct took over, and it seemed like the imminent thing to do.
The Vorpal Blade is heavy in my hands, giving me some assurance I’ll live through the fight, but I was fighting a giant man with the damned thing during training.
Not a bloodthirsty cat.
The hungry beast’s snarls behind me send shivers up my spine, and the hairs on my body stand on end as I run as fast as I can. My muscles burn and my lungs ache as I pull shallow breaths of cold air into them.
Searching the treeline of the path I’m on, I find no place to hide and nothing that’ll help me defeat the damned thing, either.
“Running is futile!” Prospero’s voice booms from somewhere, causing me to snag my foot on a rock and fall ass over tea kettle.
A scream rips from my throat. Rolling onto my back, I stand the Vorpal Blade upward, hoping the massive cat will run right over me and I can open it up from beneath with the tip.
No such thing happens, though.
The beast comes to a skidding halt over the top of me, its ugly face dipping into mine, drool dripping from its teeth.
“You must tame it!” Prospero yells.
“Really helpful!” I grit out, jutting the blade upward into the feline’s chest.
The cat hisses, fury blazing through its yellow eyes. Snapping its teeth mere inches from my face, it nearly bites me.
I press further into the ground beneath me, digging my feet into the dirt and moving backward. The Vorpal Blade sinks into the cat’s chest, with a popping sound ripples through the air, and I feel the moment the tip enters its body.
A whimper gets caught in my throat. “I’m sorry,” I tell it. “But if you’d just cease trying to kill me, we can both be on our way!”
“Give me one good reason,” it says.
“You can speak?” I squeak out.
“Yessss. Why wouldn’t I be able to speak?”
“I just thought… Never mind.”
“Give me one good reason not to kill you,” it repeats.
“I’ve done nothing to you?” I float.
“But I have my orders.”
“Orders?”
Holding the blade steady is hard with my shaky hands, but I do my best.
Wonderland won’t kill me.
I refuse to let it.
“The Red Queen ordered you to kill me?”
“No.”
My mind boggles at who else could want me dead in Wonderland before landing on one conclusion.
“The Knave.”
“They all say you’re smart. It’s why they want you dead.” Leaning down, the cat forgets the blade pressing into its flesh and sniffs up my face.
Turning away, I wince in fear, gripping the Vorpal Blade tighter.
“Give me one good reason not to kill you,” it whispers against my ear, and a tear blinks out of my eye as I open them and see Prospero appear in the tree line.
He’s mouthing something, and I can’t quite make it out.
Narrowing my eyes, I try harder to understand what he’s saying.
Freedom?
Turning back toward the cat, I say, “Freedom.”
It freezes. “Excuse me?”
“Change allegiances. You belong to the Knave of Hearts, correct?”
“Yessss,” it purrs.
“Change allegiance. Fight beside me, and you’ll have freedom.”
“He promised the same centuries ago. Why should I believe you?”
“Because…” My eyes flick over to Prospero.
“Blood vow,” he mouths.
“I’ll make a blood vow,” I rush out, not knowing what it entails but knowing I must do something to survive.
The cat backs away from me, sitting on its haunches as blood trickles down its chest. “You would do this for my alliance?”
I’m doing it to live, but now’s not the time to mince words. “Yes. I would.”
The cat seems to mull the idea over, its eyes growing contemplative. “You have a deal, Eleanor of Earth.”
I swallow, nodding quickly. “I don’t truly know how to make a blood vow.” Standing, I dust myself off.
My pants and shirt are ripped, but I’m alive. That’s all that matters.
I feel I’m wasting time while Hatter and Lewis are missing, but I’ve noticed that Wonderland has a way of getting you off task.
“Spill your blood and say the words,” the cat says, deadpanning at me as if it’s still testing my follow-through.
“Alright.” I sheathe the Vorpal Blade, not wanting to mix my blood with the beast’s, still coating the tip.
I remove a small blade that Cirius gave me when I finished training. I can flip it open and keep it in my pocket. Shoving the tip across my palm, I open up a minor wound.
“I, Eleanor of Earth, promise that if you fight beside me against the Red Queen, you’ll have your freedom. Now and always.”
The cat seems satisfied, lifting onto all fours and walking closer.
“I accept your blood vow and will walk beside you now and always.” Dropping its head toward my palm, it licks up the blood.
The wound closes before my eyes. It’s like magic, and it’s not the most unusual thing I’ve seen in Wonderland, but I still gape in awe.
“Now that’s settled, will you accompany me to the Red Queen’s palace to save Hatter and the March Hare?” I ask it, feeling silly having the power of a magical creature.
“No.”
I sigh.
Well, at least I’m alive.
“I will take you to them directly, though,” it answers.
Lowering down into a crouch, it says, “Get on.”
Looking toward the trees, I search for Prospero, but he’s nowhere to be found. I sigh and climb on the cat’s back, holding handfuls of fur tightly, but not too tightly.
I don’t want this beast as an enemy again.
“Might I ask your name?”
“Sable.”
“Sable. I like that. What are you, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I am the Fettersnatch,” she coos with pride, taking off at a run and forcing me to grip tighter onto her fur.
Flattening myself against her back, I’m too fearful of falling off to ask why she’s headed back toward the Bog when Hatter and Lewis are at the Red Queen’s palace.
My looming question is answered when Sable slows to a walk as we step off the path and out into the Bog beside the tea table, where Hatter is sitting with Lewis, worrying over him.
Hatter spies me and stands, knocking Lewis backward.
“Tiger Lily,” he warns, his eyes widening as he watches me slide off Sable’s back.
“It’s fine. She’s with us now.”
Sable bows. “She speaks true.”
Finlo scoops me into his arms, holding me tightly.
It’s been over two weeks since I’ve seen him, since I’ve smelled him. His hug feels like the comfort of the sun after weeks of rain.
“You tamed the Fettersnatch?” he whispers, pushing me back by my shoulders to look at me.
And that’s when I get a good look at him, gasping. “Hatter,” I whisper, lifting my fingertips over his face.
“I’m alright. Now.”
“What did she do to you?” Tears well in my eyes.
“Nothing I wouldn’t endure again to keep you safe, Tiger Lily.”
His words hit me dead center, and my tears overflow over my bottom lids, tracing paths down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“No. It’s not. It’s fate. You were always meant to come back. You were always meant to fix what’s broken in Wonderland. I stood in the way. I didn’t want this for you.”
“I was always meant to be yours.” I grin, wiping away my tears.
His battered lips spread across his face in a beautiful smile. “You were. But the timing wasn’t right.”
“Well, it is now. And for the harm she’s brought to my friends, I’m ready to do what needs to be done.”
“Your training? Did you finish?” Finlo asks, worry painting his features.
I grin. “I did. I beat Cirius ten times over before he released me from training.”
My eyes flick over to Lewis sitting down and dabbing the blood off his lip.
“Not you, too,” I whisper, moving out of Finlo’s arms to crouch before my friend.
“I’m alright.”
“You don’t look it. You look dreadful.”
“Loyalty sometimes comes at a price, Ms. Eleanor.”
“I see that.”
“Ariadne?” I ask Lewis, unable to look at the hurt on Finlo’s face at the mention of his sister.
“She’s—”
“Eleanor! Good, you’re back!” Ariadne’s voice carries down the hill as she comes into view.
I give Finlo and Lewis each a look as smiles grace their faces, pride welling in their eyes.
Ariadne pulls me into a tight hug. “It’s good to see you outside that awful place,” she says.
“You, too. Are you alright?”
She nods. “I’m ready to take her down. It’s time to end the Red Queen’s reign of terror.”
“Yeah, it is. The question is, how?”