Wonder

“I do.”

This part really dizzies me, because, according to the timeline, tomorrow I will stuff a bunch of Lullaby pills in her and she won’t remember anything after. But today? “How could you possibly know?”

“Mrs. Tock told me.” She smirks. “For the sake of accuracy, Mrs. Tock, the one you met tomorrow, found a way to tell herself today.”

I have to blink at the confusion of the past-tense verb used with the word “tomorrow.” But I get it. The future is resisting change. It’s pushing me in every possible way to follow the timeline of killing the students.

Two Reds suddenly restrain me from behind and the Queen stuffs a mushroom in my mouth. They don’t even need to force me to chew on it, as it melts instantly. Not just that. I find myself craving it, because it slowly turns me to my real self. The girl who works for Black Chess.

It’s a terrible and conflicting feeling. The shift from here to there is like being high on drugs. I am not sure who I am now.

“It will take a while until you’re fully yourself again,” the Queen says. The Reds let go of me. “But we’ll be watching you until you get on that bus.”

I fall to my knees from the pain. The Pillar is lying comatose on the ground next to me.

“Why is it so important I kill my classmates on the bus?” I’m trying my best to use the better part in me, as long as it’s possible.

“Don’t ask, Alice,” the Queen says. “No one questions their role in the Wonderland Wars. Not when working for Black Chess.”

Resisting the need to vomit, I am aware I don’t have much time before I fully turn into a Black Chess employee. The damned Mrs. Tock is right again. It seems like I’m destined to kill my classmates.

But at least I saved Jack.

The Queen returns to her car. I clench a fist and try to fight the pain in my stomach. Then the worst of my nightmares manifests itself.

“Alice?” Jack kneels down next to me. “What are you doing here?”

I raise my eyes and stare into his, seeing how concerned he is.

“Gosh, you look awful. What did you eat?”

My face reddens with pain. No words come out of me.

“Come on.” He gently pulls me up. “We need to get you ready, or we’ll miss the bus.”

Chapter 72

THE PRESENT: INSIDE THE INKLINGS, OXFORD

“It looks like things are going to work,” Mr. Tick remarked, staring at Alice lying on the bed.

“The future always finds a way,” Mrs. Tock added, secretly biting on one of his brownies behind his back.

“What are you two talking about?” Fabiola scowled.

“The Queen of Hearts corrected Alice’s path, and now she is going to kill everyone on the bus,” Mr. Tick said.

“Corrected the path? How?” Fabiola’s mind was frying with all the paradoxes of time travel, which she wasn’t interested in, not the slightest. All she cared about was Alice’s death.

“It’s a long and complicated story,” Mr. Tick said. “All you need to know is that she met Jack and now they’re going to get on the bus.”

“And soon she’ll kill them all,” Mrs. Tock said around a mouthful.

“Are you eating my brownies?” Mr. Tick inquired.

“Ate your brownies, you mean.” She giggled. “As for you, Fabiola, be very afraid. Once Alice kills her classmates, everything will go the way Black Chess pla

“How?” Fabiola said. “You still haven’t got your keys.”

“I’m sure the keys will show up along the way, now that she’s returning to the Bad Alice again,” Mrs. Tock said.

“Even so,” Fabiola said. “The keys don’t worry me. We’ll fight over them in this life. As long as Alice doesn’t find her Wonder, I’m not worried.”

“I was just thinking about this, White Queen.” Mr. Tick plunked two sugar cubes into his thirteenth cup of tea. “You may have not understood what her Wonder really is.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you say her Wonder is the one thing she’ll always be proud of in life?”

“Exactly.” He turned the spoon, making clanging noises. “But that’s the Wonder of a so-called good person.”

“Explain yourself.” Fabiola tensed.

“A good person’s Wonder may simply be his children,” Mrs. Tock said. “Or the one time they saved the life of a dog when it was in dire need.”

“So?”

“So how about a bad person’s Wonder?” Mr. Tick snickered like usual.

Fabiola grimaced. The implications were disastrous.

“Let me put it this way,” Mr. Tick said. “The Bad Alice’s Wonder may be different from the Good Alice’s Wonder.”

“Meaning, her Wonder at this time might be killing someone,” Mrs. Tock explained.

“Like her classmates, for instance.” Mr. Tick clanked his spoon against his china, as if he were calling boxers for the next round of the fight.

“Genius, Mr. Tick,” Mrs. Tock said.

“I know, Mrs. Tock.”

“Are you two saying that Alice’s Wonder may be killing her classmates?” Fabiola said.

“It would be a Wonder in Black Chess’s eyes,” Mrs. Tock said.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“Love it when nuns swear.” Mr. Tick smiled. “It means evil is wi

“Me too, Mr. Tick. Would you please clank that spoon again? Sounds like Alice’s time has come.”

Chapter 73

THE PAST: OXFORD STREETS

“What do you mean you don’t want to get on the bus?” Jack pulls me by my hand in the most enthusiastic way. “You’ve always wanted to take that ride. You said your life depended on it.”

“Stop.” I try to wriggle myself out of his embracing arms. “I thought you like Lorina?”

“Your sis?” Jack laughs. “I admit she keeps chasing me. But I only use her when I need her. Like a few minutes ago I was betting on cards with stupid men and lost the game. She was a good escape with your mummy’s car.”

So that was it?

“Look.” He pulls out a handful of pounds. “I won that off the men.”

“What’s it for?”

“For us, Alice. Who else?” He keeps dragging me along the street.

“Us?”

“The trip, Alice. We’re getting on that bus. I know you’re worried about money, but once we’re there, I’ll take care of you.”

“Jack.” I finally stop. “Slow down, please.”

Jack’s face pales a little. “What is it? You changed your mind?”

“Changed my mind about what?”

“About us?”

Jack is only killing me — if I don’t kill him in a few, that is.

“I thought you realized how much I love you,” he says. “How can I explain this to you?”

“I — ”

“I know. I know. I’m a crook. A thief. I don’t even go to school. But I’ll be a good man, Alice. You can’t just let me go.”

It’s right now where I can stop it all. I just need to tell him I don’t love him. I can tell him to freakin’ walk away from me. Damn it. Why am I not saying it? It’s just a few words. I don’t love you. I don’t want to see you again. Why can’t I?

“Look.” Jack pulls me closer. “Only you know me. Only you.”

“And you don’t know anything about me.”

“I know enough. It’s not like you can turn out to be worse than me.”

“I am worse than you, Jack.”

“Nice one.” He flicks his nose against mine. “Now, don’t be silly. The bus is coming.”

And you’re never getting out of it, Jack, if I’m on it.

“It’s our time, Alice,” Jack insists. “We need to have fun together. A life. We need to get on that bus. Hell, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to get on it.”

“I can’t.” The words slip out of me. “I just can’t.”

Jack gets the message this time. He realizes I’m not being bratty. He can read it in my eyes. “You’re not in love with that old douche, are you?”

“Old douche?”

“That professor. What’s his name?”

I stop myself from laughing. And though I can just tell him that I am, I can’t bring myself to break his heart.

“So what’s the problem, Alice?” Jack says.