ACT 1
Familiar Friends in an Unfamiliar Country
Alice had no idea what was going on.
Maybe it was just that those treacherous, prankster twins had decided to take adult form and were playing around with their axes. Or were just messing around in general.
But the situation was shocking . Had someone told her it was a particularly perverse nightmare, she would’ve believed it.
“Listen, Alice! ” Elliot would always rave. “There's a new shop that opened a little while back. And the Carrot Mont Blanc there kicks ass! ” His eyes would sparkle, belying his position as the rough, secondin-command boss of the Mob. The bounce bounce of his ears would punctuate his delight.
Alice couldn’t count the number of times she’d seen him like that. The only time he’d ever threatened her with a gun was when they’d first met. When they didn’t know each other yet.
Yet here she stood, her breath caught in her throat, the sun glinting off the dull metal pointing in her direction. The adult twins stood behind him, their axes ready in their clenched fists.
She made a strangled croak.
Elliot didn’t flinch. “Bye,” he grunted as he flexed his finger over the trigger.
“What’s all this racket? That last job was aggravating enough, thank you.”
Elliot stopped at the familiar voice from behind Alice. He lowered his gun and stared past her.
Dee brightened. “Boss, you’re back! That was quick.”
“Welcome home. Boss!” Dum chirped.
Alice sank to the ground, her mind racing. She twisted her head around.
One look at the man walking through the gate made her think her nightmare might be over.
Faceless mobsters started pouring from the mansion, rushing to greet their returning boss. As they spilled out into the open, they lifted their voices in a chant.
“Welcome back, Boss!”
“Right,” the man replied, only sparing a quick glance at his people. Then his utterly bored eyes met Alice’s.
His clothing was strange: a tailored suit that looked like a cross between formal wear and an equestrian uniform. But there couldn’t be two men in Wonderland with roses and a numbered card sticking out of his top hat. He ignored the loyal mobsters who crowded around the area, his attention locked on Alice.
She swallowed. “Blood...”
He didn’t reply.
Why wouldn’t he...?
“Who are you?”
Alice went rigid. “Huh?!”
His stare wasn’t the flirtatious gaze she was used to. That rude, searching look from those blue-green eyes...
Her memory pulled her back to the Country of Hearts—when she’d first met him. Blood’s gaze had been exactly like this.
The look of someone who doesn ’t know me.
It was definitely Blood before her, tapping his cane against the ground as he sidled closer. But he kept a healthy distance from her; his appraising eyes were dark with suspicion.
And that suspicion wasn’t familiar. Blood had never been suspicious of Alice in the past—he’d never had any reason to doubt her.
“What are you saying?” As Alice tried to stand up, she pushed a steadying hand against the ground. “I’m—whoa!”
Every mobster in the area pulled out a gun and aimed at her. Her brow creasing, she slowly lifted her hands into the air.
“This isn’t funny, Blood! Why are you doing this?!”
He hummed. “I couldn’t tell at first glance, but now that I look closer, you’re an Outsider. You seem like someone who would only bore me, and yet I drew to a stand at the sight of you, didn’t I? Hm”
“Drew to a stand?” Alice furrowed her brow at the unfamiliar phrase. She had no idea what was going on, but at least this was familiar—only Blood used such vague phrases.
“An Outsider who isn’t used to the world yet, I guess. It’s not unheard of...but you’re a strange girl. It’s death to come here. Ignorance is no excuse, even for an Outsider.”
She waited for him to expand on that, but he said nothing more. Remembering how shaky her legs were, Alice stayed huddled on the ground and held her breath.
“.. .Have you forgotten me?”
If he had, that would explain the attitude of the people in Hatter Mansion. But the answer to her question didn’t come from Blood—it came from Elliot.
“Don’t be stupid. Blood’s smarter than anyone— he hasn’t forgotten anything in his life!”
Alice unconsciously cringed at the force in Elliot’s voice. She’d been thrown around this world plenty of times, and she was always facing guns and
knives pointed at her...but she wasn’t used to the hatred. And considering who was throwing it at her now...
Blood seemed to notice her fear, but he only looked curious. He made no move to restrain Elliot, which confused Alice even more.
Even assuming that Blood had forgotten her, the Blood she knew would never act like this. He’d play coy and tread lightly—like the way he’d acted when she first met him in the Country of Hearts. He wouldn’t be so.. .defensive.
“Outsiders are rare around here. And even if I don’t know you, you seem to know me...which can’t be a coincidence.” Blood released a breath through his nose. “Fine. Join me for some tea, young lady. I make a rule of inviting people to my tea parties.”
He was clearly pretending not to care. She could tell he was trying to hide how cautious he was being. Blood was the type of guy to act casual so he could lure an unsuspecting enemy into a trap.
Elliot sucked his teeth. “The hell with this! It was bad enough having the Gravekeeper’s men screwing
things up. I’d rather just kill you,” he added as he raised his gun again.
“K-kill me?”
Alice glanced around at the twins and the other Hatter mobsters in a plea for help, but they didn’t seem bothered by Elliot’s attitude. If anything, they glared at her, as if half expecting her to attack them.
It was all so wrong. This wasn’t a nightmare—it was worse.
Alice knew how short-tempered Elliot could be— and he seemed worse than usual. If anyone was going to stop him... Her gaze came full circle and landed back on Blood.
Blue-green eyes glittered at her from under that hat brim. He didn’t look completely indifferent, but if he felt an inkling of sympathy, he didn’t act on it. Those eyes said he had no desire to protect her.
She clenched her clammy hands into tight fists.
“Blood!” she pleaded.
“Stop calling the boss by his first name like he’s some kinda friend!”
Blood cocked an eyebrow at Alice’s cry and opened his mouth—but before he could say
anything, Elliot advanced on Alice and shoved the muzzle of the gun against her forehead.
“Ah...!”
“I won’t miss this time, girlie.”
Alice couldn’t take the pressure of the metal grinding into her skull. She closed her eyes.
Maybe she’d wake up after the gunshot, back in her familiar bed in Heart Castle. A part of her hoped desperately for that. But the chill of the muzzle and the murder in Elliot’s voice were too real for a dream.
BLAM
Her body flinched back—but she felt no impact or pain. She timidly cracked her eyes open as the gunshot’s echo faded in the air.
She had no time to be surprised at the rising smell of gunpowder from somewhere else.
“Did someone just shoot at us?!” a mobster shouted.
“I’ll call for backup!” someone yelled back.
The atmosphere around Alice abruptly changed as the mobsters aimed their guns past her and barked
orders. She looked down; a scar charred the ground where a bullet had buried itself. And as she followed the collective gaze of the Hatter Mafia, she finally saw the shadow of a man in the adjacent woods, holding what looked like a lit explosive.
Before he could throw it, fire erupted from the end of Elliot’s gun.
“It ain’t that easy!”
“Hrgh!” The shadow collapsed with a moan. An instant later, an explosion shook the trees and released a rush of air that reeked of gunpowder.
Elliot jauntily twirled, his brown ears poking up at the sky, then practically scampered toward an exit from the mansion grounds.
“Was that supposed to be an attack?!” he mocked. “The Gravekeeper’s punks think we’re idiots, huh?! C’mon, boys—you’re all with me!”
“Yes, sir.”
The Mafia men sounded less than enthusiastic, but they followed Elliot without question—except for the axe-bearing twins standing guard at the door. They simply scowled at each other.
“Hey!” Dee shouted back. “We’re not goin’— we’re doin’ our job at the gate. An’ we’re not your men, bunny boy!”
“Yeah!” Dum agreed. “Runnin’ into gun fights is your job, bunny barf! I’d never stick my neck out like that without gettin’ paid more!”
“Shut up!” Elliot snarled, shooting his gun for emphasis. He was clearly in battle mode. “If you’ve got time to complain, you’ve got time to kill something. Move your asses!”
But despite the urgency, Dee and Dum wouldn’t even look at him. They shrugged at each other and leaned against the gate.
“Gatekeepers,” Blood called, his low voice booming as loud as the gunfire. “Go with Elliot— that’s an order. Killing people before they break through the gate is part of your job.”
Alice had a funny feeling about the new, metallic noises mixed in with the clamor of battle. She turned; sure enough, the click of turning chambers came from Blood’s hands. His cane from a moment before had changed.
Now he held a silver pistol.
“What?” Alice squeaked, the word barely leaking
out of her mouth. The question was drowned out by the twins groaning.
“Crap... If it’s the boss’s orders, we gotta do it, huh? I wanted to clean up that stupid rabbit’s mess an’ steal the glory.”
“Yeah. But remember us bein’ so good when you’re givin’ out bonuses, Boss!”
The twins took off at a light run, grumbling more complaints and demands. Blood didn’t deign to reply.
Although Alice felt a squeeze of nostalgia at the sound of their banter, she never took her eyes away from Blood’s weapon.
“Is that...new?” she asked, not sure if he could hear her.
The boss of the Hatter Family Alice knew owned a weapon, sure—but it wasn’t a pistol. She was used to his rose-covered machine gun spitting out a deadly stream of bullets, mowing down anything in his path. This new gun was smaller, sleeker... although the rose design was just as pretentious.
Blood’s blue-green eyes snapped to her.
The chill of that gaze dropped her stomach, even
as he flicked it back to wherever he was shooting. He tilted his head at a few remaining servants.
“Take the girl into custody,” he ordered. “But don’t kill her. Yet.”
Panic welled up in Alice again as she scrambled to her feet. Two gun-toting maids popped up on either side of her.
“Yes, sir-!” they chirped.
And with that. Blood turned away and walked out. Alice stared at his retreating back as the maids gripped her arms.
“Now, if you’ll come this way-.”
“The boss won’t let us kill you, but please don’t resist-.”
Alice swallowed. “I-I know,” she murmured weakly. “I’ll come quietly.”
If Blood’s order was the only thing keeping her alive, she knew better than to run. She thanked God the maids wouldn’t casually murder her, at least.
She let the maids guide her to a wall by the gate. But she had to ask, so she carefully cleared her throat.
“Urn, listen. About Blood’s...I mean, your boss’s weapon. When did he switch from a machine gun?”
She remembered him saying it was “a pain” to switch to a new weapon, so something must have changed...
The two maids tilted their heads in unison at Alice’s question. They exchanged startled looks.
“Machine gun-? Did Boss ever use one of those-?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about-. The boss has always used a pistol-.”
Alice blinked. “Always? That pistol?”
Alice expected more of a reaction if they were lying, but the woman nodded breezily.
“Of course-. I remember him saying that he wished it had a little more firepower, but...-”
“Yeah-. But then he decided to keep the pistol and see how things went-.”
Alice gripped her temples in confusion. “That can’t be right,” she insisted. “He—aah!”
A dull boom shook the gate that hid them. Was that a bomb?! Alice thought frantically as the two maids drew their guns.
Still keeping a watchful eye on Alice, the maids took up positions where they could shoot at the enemy outside the mansion. As Alice clapped her hands over her ears at the splitting blam of their guns, she realized something: at the Hatter Mansion she remembered, nobody was asked to keep their eyes on two targets at once. Blood never gave his Faceless that much responsibility.
It was almost like.. .the mansion had turned more hardcore. Or Blood was more desperate.
Alice could almost write off the maids’ hostility, since she didn’t know these particular Faceless; the mansion often changed out servants or gunmen to fight attackers or participate in turf wars. But if Blood, Elliot, and the twins acted like they didn’t know her, and the attitudes of the entire mansion seemed different...
She kept thinking about that silver pistol. How Blood had “never” carried a machine gun, even if he was interested in it for the future.
She knew, from painful experience, that common sense didn’t always work in Wonderland. If some insane truth was staring her in the face, then she had to accept it.
Alice gasped, the smoke and stink of iron twining around her body.
“Is this place...the way it was before I came...?"
Her tiny voice melted beneath explosions and gunfire. It was so weak, she hardly recognized it as her own.
She didn’t want to believe it, but the theory fit. It even explained the battle currently raging so close to the mansion—the first time Alice had met Blood in the Country of Hearts, the Hatters had already claimed this territory, and everyone knew to fear it. Hardly anyone even visited.
Alice knew the rumors: if you arrived when the Bloody Twins were at work, you’d be cold cuts in no time. Even if you lucked out and they weren’t around, you’d still become a victim of torture for the mobsters who lived inside the mansion. The threatening stories were common knowledge in the territory, which was probably why Alice had never even heard of the Hatters having to defend against a frontal assault.
But if this was the past...a world where the Hatters were still building up a reputation and position in the world...
One of the maids made a face at her. “Why do you keep mumbling to yourself-?” she asked as she fired beyond the gate. “It’s dangerous here, you know-!”
“Huh...? Ah!”
A bullet grazed the gate with a high-pitched screech. Ripped out of her thoughts, Alice ducked into a crouch. She’d become used to guns in her time in Wonderland, but that didn’t mean she had a death wish.
“They don’t give up easily, do they-?”
“Over there-. Here they come-!”
The maids didn’t sound nervous as they returned fire, but that didn’t make Alice feel better. She scrambled back to her feet and peeked around the gate.
Outside—right around where Elliot had attacked a shadowy bomber—she could see a branch shaking. She hoped the surrounding gunfire and explosions had caused it.
Her stomach tightened as a man jumped out of the shadows of the tree. He raised a gun.
Sweat trickled down Alice’s back. “Over there!” she whispered at the maids.
“Could you please be quiet-? We’re a little busy here-!”
Alice tried to warn the maids again, but they were too busy shooting. The muzzle of the man’s gun trained itself on one of the maids.
Alice didn’t stop to think. She tackled the maid to the ground.
“Get down!”
“Whoa-!”
The bullet exploded into the wall above them, sending bits of stone to sprinkle into Alice’s hair. The maid twisted up on her knees and returned fire.
The gunman by the tree crumpled to the ground.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief. As the maid pushed herself up to her feet, her gaze briefly met Alice’s.
A hint of gratitude flashed on that indistinct face. “Thank you-,” the maid breathed.
“I’m just glad you’re okay.”
The maid resumed shooting by her partner’s side as if nothing had happened. Alice got back to her feet and took a small breath.
She had no idea who the Hatter Family was even
fighting. Maybe this was a dispute between mob families, or part of some turf war...or maybe it was just the result of some “rules” Alice couldn’t possibly comprehend.
She only knew one thing for certain now: this place was different from the Wonderland she knew. She wiped sweat from the back of her neck as bangs and explosions rang in her ears.
Then, unexpectedly, the sound of gunfire melted away into a flurry of retreating footsteps. Alice blinked as the two maids lowered their weapons.
“I think they’re done-. What a pain-!”
“No kidding-! I’m beat-!”
The maids sighed as their eyes met, their guns smoothly flowing from a lowered position to Alice again. Alice stared at the trained muzzles, then raised her hands in submission.
“I know,” she said quickly. “I’m not running away.”
“She catches on fast, huh-? I still don’t know what you were thinking when you covered me with your body-.”
Alice let out a breath. “Your boss ordered you to
stand guard over me, right? So is it worth it for me to fight that?”
Alice knew the Role-Holder leader of each territory had absolute authority, especially when it came to Hatter Mansion and its tight-knit mob family. In the Countries of Hearts and Clover, Blood could only accept her as a visitor caught between warring factions because he stood at the top of his organization. But now, if Alice’s relationship with him didn’t exist anymore, all she could do was give up quietly.
“You’re a smart prisoner—you should stay that way-. That’ll help us out-!”
“Because if you run, even though the boss ordered us not to shoot, we’d still have to kill you-.”
“Yeah, right.”
Alice couldn’t figure out whether they didn’t want to shoot her because of the mess it would cause, or because they didn’t want to disobey orders. But before she could decide, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps outside the gate—and smelled a drifting stink of iron.
The Mad Hatter—followed by his lieutenants
and Faceless mobsters—walked in, scowling in the aftermath of the battle. Fresh blood was splattered all over the place.
“Ugh,” Dee grumbled. “That was kinda sticky. I did a lotta cuttin’, but I never thought there’d be so many. I’m pooped!”
“We oughta get hazard pay, Boss!” Dum chimed in.
“Fin,” Blood grunted. “Maybe.”
Elliot whipped to the twins, his eyes blazing. “You little maggots! We told you it was part of the job—no way are you getting bonuses out of it!”
One of the maids guarding Alice took a step toward Blood, her gun still trained on Alice’s forehead.
“Boss-... There’s something we’d like to talk to you about-.”
“...Right now?”
Blood looked like he wanted nothing less, but the maid still started her report. She spoke in a low enough voice that Alice couldn’t overhear.
Alice wondered what the maid was saying. With a restless heart, she stared at Blood.. .until he turned
those blue-green eyes back to her.
They were still cold as ice. She remembered a time when he’d turned that look on her before, but the recollection just made her feel even further removed from the man. He finally stepped toward her, his mouth twisting slightly.
“You protected one of my people, young lady. That was a pretty reckless thing to do... Perhaps you thought you could weasel into my organization that way.” He sneered.
Alice couldn’t say she’d never acted out of selfinterest, but this time, she’d had no ulterior motive. She’d simply saved the maid instinctively.
“I just...don’t like seeing people die in front of me,” she argued. “I wasn’t trying to win any favors.”
“Oh?” Blood seemed mildly interested in that answer. His eyes narrowed beneath his hat brim.
He is like the first time l met him.
He’d always been so fascinated by unusual things that he couldn’t hurt them, even if he knew they were dangerous. It was a bad habit of his. But before Blood could reply, Elliot cut across him.
“Ugh. Are you still here?” The March Hare still
hadn’t bothered to wipe the blood off his cheeks. He casually lifted his gun.
A shiver ran down Alice’s spine. With no apparent hesitation, Elliot put his finger on the trigger.
“Just die, will ya? Pain in the—”
“Wh—NO!”
Alice squeezed her eyes shut as the gunshot cracked. A heavy thud sounded at the same moment.
“Nngh...hggh!”
Miraculously, the groans didn’t roll up from her own throat. They came from Elliot.
Alice opened her eyes and gave a short yelp. Elliot was down on his knees, Blood’s foot grinding into the small of his back.
“Who told you to shoot her, Elliot?” Blood murmured, glaring down at his minion in contempt.
“B-but Blood...!”
“We were having a conversation. Never interrupt your boss.”
“But when she said ‘Blood,’ she—urg!”
Maybe Blood just wanted to stop the argument; he dug his heel into Elliot’s side. He kicked the obviously hurt man again, then whacked Elliot on
the head with his cane. Blood flashed a sneer.
‘7’ra the one who decides what happens to the girl. Raise your gun to her again and I’ll shoot yow.”
“S-sorry, Boss...”
“Clearly I need to pound that into your body or it doesn’t stick.”
“I won’t get in your way anymore, I promise!”
“You’d better not.”
Alice watched the beating, dumbfounded, but the rest of the Hatter Faceless all averted their faded eyes. None of them complained about their boss’s high-handed savagery. Elliot didn’t even resist.
Alice felt a sense of deja vu. She remembered a time not long after the White Rabbit had dragged her to Wonderland—when this kind of cruelty was common within the walls of Hatter Mansion. As time had gone on, she’d witnessed fewer and fewer of those scenes, but they’d probably never stopped completely. Maybe the Hatters had just hidden them from her to be polite.
Now, clearly, they didn’t feel the need.
The twins suddenly stepped up from behind
Blood, absently twisting their hands over their axe handles. “Hey,” Dee interrupted. “If the bunny’s punished now, Boss, what are we gonna do with her? Ya want ma to kill her?”
“Eh, I want bonus money if I’ve gotta do somethin’ extra. I hate doin’ freebies. We can throw her in the body pile an’ add her kill to our bonus cash.”
Blood shrugged. “I know the girl looks like trouble, but we can kill her later, if I feel like it. For now, just throw her into one of the cells. At least until we decide how to deal with her.”
The maid Alice had saved nodded her head. She lowered her gun and re-gripped Alice’s arm.
“As you wish, Boss-. Miss, if you’ll come with us—.”
Alice recoiled slightly. “If I...have to?”
The maid led her into the compound, and down to the inner depths of the mansion.
Alice had walked the same route countless times in the Country of Hearts and the Country of Clover. The mansion had some different decorations this time around, but it was essentially the same structure as ever.
What country was she in? And who was in it? Alice wished she knew who the Hatters had been fighting outside. She had a million questions to ask...
But she knew the Hatters wouldn’t answer. Not if they suddenly didn’t know her—or couldn’t remember her. Whatever the heck was going on.
The maid eventually brought Alice to a basement hallway Alice had never entered before. Alice’s anxiety flared up at the dim light and chilly drafts. They walked past a long line of doors until the maid opened one on the end.
“In here, if you’d be so kind-.”
“Uh...thanks for the hospitality,” Alice muttered awkwardly as she stepped inside.
Her eyes trailed over the stone floors, a bed that could only charitably be called a cot, and a tiny window with iron bars that choked the outdoor light. Like a typical prison, as far as she knew.
As she stared at the cell in a daze, she heard the clang and chak of the door closing and locking behind her.
They didn't have to lock it, she thought. They know I’m not gonna run.
Every employee of the mansion was in the Mob— nobody could escape a place filled with gangsters on guard. Even though Alice knew the mansion pretty well, there was no way she could escape without someone noticing her.
With nothing else to do, she sat on the cot attached to the wall. The rock-hard mattress was a good match for the damp air. As she considered sleeping on that thing, her lips unthinkingly curled into a sardonic smile.
“This is actually pretty good treatment for a stranger who just happened to appear in a Mafia headquarters.” She rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. “At least I’m not being tortured.”
Only a few time periods before, the Hatters had insisted she stay as a guest in one of their lavish rooms. And it was more than just her guest room— she’d been invited into the twins’ room. Into Blood's room.
Each and every room was a top secret within the Mob. But they’d also housed good friends, and so she could easily remember the interiors of all those rooms.
What happened to those friends... ?
As she lay down on the cold cot, questions spun through Alice’s head. Had there just been another “move”? Did this count as “moving”? But she hadn’t just gone to a different place—the flow of time seemed to have gone upside down on her.
Alice reached toward the ceiling in the dim light and clenched her hand.
She knew that no matter how much she reached into empty space, nothing would come into her grasp. But she still reached out and closed her hand, over and over.
A queen who constantly lost her temper and ordered beheadings. A strange knight who was always lost. A stalker rabbit who never listened to what anybody said. Now she longed for them, but she didn’t even know if they existed in this country...
Her vision started to swim. She felt a sudden, heavy drowsiness suck away her strength.
“Huh...?”
Her eyelids fell, as if an unseen hand pressed down on them. Sure, it was nighttime, but she couldn’t remember ever feeling such an insistent
stupor. She couldn’t stay awake. Maybe it was physical and mental fatigue after everything she’d gone through.
She wished that when she awoke, she’d be back in the red castle.
But even as she wished it, some part of her knew it wouldn’t come true.
“Please let me know when you’re done eating, ’kay~? The boss is calling.”
Of all the conversations Alice had had with the maid through the cell door...this was different. She frowned as she accepted the tray sliding through the slot.
“You mean Blood?” Alice asked.
“Yeah-. So eat that up quick, please-. He isn’t very good at waiting-.”
Alice heard the maid’s footsteps quickly tap away. Alice stared at her tray.
She could tell the approximate time period
through the barred window, so she knew it had been about ten periods since she’d been locked up. She figured Blood had his reasons for imprisoning her, but still...this Blood was a little slower to act than the Blood she knew.
Whatever. She was sick of sitting in that dreary cell and twiddling her thumbs. Alice practically inhaled the soup and bread, and by the time she was finished, the maid’s footsteps returned.
“Finished eating-? Then come this way-.”
A key turned in the door with a chak. Alice watched the door finally, finally open again.
Even if the maid had heard that Alice was an Outsider, she clearly wasn’t taking chances. Another Mafia member stood in the shadows behind her, his gun holstered but ready.
“This way.”
The two of them flanked Alice as she carefully stepped into the hallway. As they escorted her out of the prison area, she felt harsh stares from all the Mafia members they passed. But she was just walking. How threatening did they think she was?
The Hatter mobsters she knew had always drifted
around with an air of boredom, but these guys were different. It was like...they were restricted, hardened.
They passed Blood’s bedroom; Alice was instead led to a room way in the back of the living quarters. Alice had a distinct memory of staying in one of these rooms before. Was this the only place Blood would see her now? The maid stopped her in front of a fine set of doors, where two mobsters stood guard.
This was something else Alice had never seen— someone standing outside when she visited the boss. After one of the guards rapped on the door, a haughty voice drifted from behind it.
“Enter.”
“If you please-.” The maid motioned for Alice to go Alice sighed. “Excuse me,” she murmured.
She passed through the door and into a room that she remembered. It was decorated much like a parlor with two large sofas facing each other. Blood sat in the center of one, and as her eyes met his, the comers of his mouth raised slightly.
An unexpected line of mobsters stood behind him.
“Long time no see, young lady. You look healthy, for a prisoner.”
“You’re too kind. I should thank you for all your consideration—”
Alice made to casually sit down on the opposite sofa, but she froze at the clack clack clack of the men suddenly drawing their guns.
Alice lifted her hands in her defense. Blood snapped his fingers.
The guns returned to their holsters.
Alice was losing patience in this whole mess. She furrowed her brow at Blood.
“You called me here, and you’re just sitting there, and you still haven’t offered a lady a seat. I think that’s a little rude.”
“It’s not very ladylike to sit with a Mafia boss without an invitation,” he answered thinly. “Now I’ll invite you. Have a seat, young lady.”
He spread a white-gloved palm and indicated the other sofa. She settled into the seat.
The distance between their couches felt like a thousand miles.
“I’m happy to be out of that dank cell,” she said,
“but what do you want from me?”
She tried to choose her words carefully so as not to provoke the mobsters, but she had a lot of experience with them so she knew she could be direct. The Blood of her experience, as a typical mobster, hated toadying and flattery. She hoped this version of him shared that sentiment.
Sure enough, her words didn’t seem to bother him. Quiet the opposite—a wicked smile spread across his face.
“I thought I’d hear what you have to say. The talk we would’ve had before we were interrupted.”
“What talk?”
“I wanted to hear the reason you protected my employee.” He impatiently tapped the table.
Blood Dupre, the Mad Hatter, was a territory leader—an extraordinary position among the RoleHolders, someone who attempted to control the game played by everyone living in Wonderland. He tended to be ambiguous, and never relaxed his superior attitude. She liked that flair of his, honestly.
But the actions of this Blood were a little easier for Alice to read. Was he acting more obvious on purpose to lure her into a false sense of security?
I doubt it. To him, she was just some unknown Outsider. He didn’t need to play tricks.
“Was it that unthinkable for me to save your maid?”
“Not unthinkable. Just pointless, as far as I can tell. You're not replaceable, so why would you risk yourself for someone worthless like her? It’s suspicious.”
“ Worthless? That’s a nasty thing to say about your servant!”
The Hatter leaked his breath out in a cold, hissing laugh.
“Have I disappointed you? Maybe, but you can see how baffled I am at your actions. You risked your life for someone else, maybe hoping I’d spare yours in exchange...but life is too cheap in this world for that. It was a stupid thing to do.”
His words were cruel, but Alice gave up on trying to argue with him. She could never successfully talk down the old Blood, and he wasn’t this.. .new guy.
“So,” she said at last. “You called me here just to tell me my actions were pointless?”
“I’m too busy for that. I want to know what you’re after .”
“After?”
He slowly nodded his head. “You’re an Outsider, but you spoke my name as if we were... close. You knew where this mansion is. Since you seem to know me from somewhere, I need to find out how much you know and what you’re planning.”
He spoke the words with an indifferent air, but she kept catching hints of a threat. She knew being humble was her safest bet.
But Alice decided to talk back.
“Make any assumptions you want,” she replied. “I don’t think you’d trust anything I could say right now.”
“...Oh?”
Blood looked a little surprised, but not angry. A small chuckle escaped his lips.
It was Alice who felt weird at his unexpected reaction. “What?” she asked.
“I never expected anybody to use the word ‘trust’ when dealing with the Mafia. Or to imply that you want me to trust you. Should I take it that way?”
“So you’re an optimist.” She tried to keep her tone light, but her stomach churned.
Of course Alice wanted him to trust her. But because she knew that was impossible at this point, she held back. She felt empty enough without having her hopes dashed.
She looked around. “Does that end the interrogation?” she asked. “If so, I’d really appreciate it if you set me free.”
“No, I still have business with you.”
“Really? Then could we maybe finish it up quickly?” Alice flashed him an expectant look.
“No matter your goal, the fact is that I still owe you.”
“Owe me...? You mean for protecting your maid?”
“Yes. The question is how to make good on the debt.”
With a thin smile. Blood peered into Alice’s eyes. The intense stare—as if he didn’t want to miss anything—was a little different from the stare of the Blood she knew.
But she was still sure he didn’t waste time on meaningless words. After all, he was Blood Dupre—
the man who had publically revealed an enemy’s secret name, who had a history of fraying people’s nerves and making enemies. Whoever the man before her was, she figured the awful parts of Blood’s personality weren’t going to change that easily.
Before things went from bad to worse, Alice opened her mouth. “So that means you’re in my debt, right?”
“I see you finally want something.”
Alice ignored the look in Blood’s eye that seemed to say, Not that you ’ll get it.
“If you’re in my debt, I want you to keep me in the mansion. Is that possible?”
Blood raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean, young lady?”
“It means exactly what I said. I want to stay in Hatter Mansion.” She cleared her throat. “I won’t go into any area you block off from me, and I’ll do my best to stay out of your way. Deal?”
It looked like Blood wanted to give her an immediate rejection, but then he closed his mouth. He stared at her, searching.
From Alice’s point of view, an escape would mean heading into the other territories—and she had no idea what other territories even existed here. She wanted to stay with what she knew. Or used to know, anyway.
Even if she hadn’t saved the maid’s life for this purpose, she needed all the help she could get.
Still, her anxieties resurfaced in Blood’s unexpectedly long silence. Did she seem more suspicious now? Through the pounding of her nervous heart, she blurted, “M-maybe I’m asking too much.”
Blood puffed out a short breath.
“You want to stay? Even when you seem to know so much about what goes on here?” His thin lips stretched into a smile. “Your mind works in strange ways.. .even for an Outsider.
“All right—you can stay, if a young lady finds so much appeal in a Mafia stronghold. Are you bored or something?”
Alice felt the blood come back to her face. “I...I wish it was just that. But ever since I came to this world, I’ve never had time to be bored.”
It sounded like he was treating her like an exotic pet. So I'm doomed to that every time I meet him, huh? Ugh.
“I’m not asking you to keep me here for free. In lieu of rent.. .well, you can put me to work, if that’s enough.”
“Work that a little princess like you can do? I’ll think about it. But it’s a shame.”
“What is?”
He tilted his head and lifted the brim of his hat a bit. “I could’ve had a different kind of fun if you were an enemy operative under cover.
She would never be stupid enough to try to slip into Hatter Mansion as a spy. “Sorry to disappoint you,” she muttered.
He gave a short laugh at her comeback, but it didn’t sound relaxed. He lacked that incredible sense of calm from the Countries of Hearts and Clover.
She couldn’t “handle” this man. He seemed fiercely private, cold, and intimidating. She could only benefit from his thrill at finding something rare.
On the other hand, he’d been like that when she’d first met him in Hearts.
She was a rare Outsider. Someone with a real heart who came from a different world. It was the only reason Alice could stay in Hatter Mansion without fearing for her life.
“I’ll expect you to show me a good time outside of work hours, too,” Blood drawled. “But let’s get right to it. If you’re going to live in this mansion, you’ll follow my one simple rule.” He flicked up his index finger. “Never leave the grounds without my permission. If you break that rule and leave the house, we’ll hunt you down like a fugitive.”
“...You think I could actually run off with your secrets?”
He’d acknowledged that she wasn’t an enemy operative, but he was still clinging to his doubts about her? She was a little...wounded, honestly.
He didn’t even blink. “I’m allowing an unknown entity to stay close. I think the rule’s reasonable. If you’re going to argue something this simple, I don’t see how you can live here.”
“Fine,” she said quickly. “I get it, kinda. I consider
myself warned.”
Alice still didn’t know for sure what kind of man this Blood was, but the back and forth made her feel a little better. He seemed...younger than the Mad Hatter she knew. Like he had the same abilities, but not full control of them yet.
And maybe he lacks confidence.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the door burst open. Two black shadows flew in.
“Hey, Boss! We got the orders for the next job, but that’d be overtime, an’ you said we had a butt-load of vacation time that we could take! Now you’re goin’ back on that?! We never get to go to the castle an’ have fun!”
“Yeah, an’ you’re sayin’ we might not get overtime pay?! Gah! Ya gotta motivate your workers, Boss!”
The twins, still in their adult forms, waved their axes around as they complained. It was always a little weird to see them acting like kids in those bodies.
Alice was familiar with that trick—every RoleHolder in Wonderland could apparently advance through time at their own pace, taking on the form
of a young or old person at will. More often than not, the Bloody Twins looked like youngish teenagers, not these 20-something adults.
In their underage forms, they were so much trouble that only Blood could tolerate them. As adults, they were even more dangerous, and even louder. It was like a storm had blown through.
Blood scowled, his tolerance for them clearly strained. “You two don’t know how to shut up, do you? Elliot was supposed to handle this.”
As if in response to Blood’s words, the shadow of the third man—beast?—came barging into the room.
“You little brats have balls to ignore me and piss off Blood!” Elliot shouted. “I oughta—hrck!”
Blood threw an ashtray at Elliot that knocked the man (beast?) to the floor.
“Shut up, all of you! Didn’t I just say that I’m sick of hearing about this?!” Blood took a long breath.
Dee kept going. “Boss—listen, Boss! Isn’t there a whole clause about vacation time in our contract? We lose our juice if we don’t get time off!”
“Yeah!” Dum added. “We work our butts off an’ deserve the extra pay!”
Blood sighed. “The noise never ends...”
The twins spent the next few minutes proving his point, although their clearly annoyed boss wouldn’t answer their demands.
Maybe Alice felt a little less tense in the noisy room, because she found herself asking, “Are you two ever going back to being kids?”
After all, they used the “we’re just kids” excuse for everything they did, even when no one asked. They’d used that excuse to run wild on her.
Alice asked it with a bit of nostalgia in her heart, but the twins just cocked their heads and exchanged glances. When Dee answered, he had an odd tone to his voice.
“What’re you talkin’ about, lady? Go back to bein’ kids?”
“Yeah, I just mean—”
Dum laughed. “Man, you’re weird! Maybe you think we’re somebody else. Nobody in the Hatter territory’s gonna hire kids!”
“Wait... what?”
Looking at Alice’s surprised face, Blood continued where the twins left off.
“You wish they were younger? I never thought your tastes would run that way, but... Sorry to disappoint you, but there are no children here. Although you may see some at the upcoming event.”
Alice bristled. “Don’t talk to me like I’m some kind of pervert, okay? I just mean it feels weird when they... God, how do I put this?”
The first time Alice had ever seen the twins as adults, they’d all been at Assembly in the Country of Clover. After that, whenever she saw them take adult form on a whim, it unnerved her—since she had always thought of them as basically kids.
Elliot had recovered from the ashtray to the face. He twisted his head at Blood as he struggled to his feet.
“Event...? Crap, that reminds me.”
Blood sucked his teeth. “Exactly. I know it’s a rule, but it’s a pain.”
“A rule? Do you have to go to an entertainment event again?” Alice asked.
Blood’s eyes widened slightly. But he swiftly erased the expression from his face and raised an eyebrow in question.
“How long have you been living in this world?” he asked her. “You call us by name, not by title, and you completely lack respect. And now you know about our entertainment events?"
The only “entertainment events” Alice had experienced were the Ball in the Country of Hearts and the Assembly in the Country of Clover. She’d learned all about them by participating.
Was it stupid for me to say that? Blood looked... edgy.
“Urn... Yeah, I guess...” She tried to backpedal a little. “I’ve heard about those events before, but I don’t know which ones take place here. Would you please tell me?”
“It’s the Survey Meeting,” Dee cut in. “But you can make bets, an’ there’s even a party! Sounds fun, right?”
“You can get rich quick on one bet!” added Dum. “It rocks!”
A Survey Meeting? She didn’t know what that meant.
“We’ll explain the Survey Meeting some other time,” Blood said, as if reading her mind. “All you
need to know is that it runs over three separate meetups and is a pain in my ass.”
If it didn’t end in one meeting, it was closer to the Assembly than the Ball. Alice sucked in a breath.
She needed to mentally prepare before she asked her next question.
The White Rabbit had first brought her to Wonderland, leaving her in the Country of Hearts. The first time she’d “moved,” she’d ended up in the Country of Clover.
And then...
She paused.
Wait. Before finally arriving in this country, had she wandered into some hallucination, too...?
Shaking off the vague disquiet, she took a breath. “Blood,” she asked, her voice trembling slightly. “What is this country? What’s the name of it?”
She feared the answer. If he told her the name, and it was a place she’d never heard of.. .she would have to face that reality.
But the Mad Hatter’s reply just sounded bored.
“You don’t know where you are?” he asked. “This is the Country of Diamonds—under the rule of the Queen of Diamonds.”
“The Country of...Diamonds...?”
It took Alice a long moment to find the strength to nod.
040
The Country of Diamonds.
Alice rolled around in bed, ruminating over that. She wasn’t in a dimly lit cell anymore—which was a plus. She appreciated her new guest suite.
But the new knowledge had set her emotions churning again. She buried her face in her pillow.
“So is that why nobody knows me here?”
She knew that “moving” shifted the landmasses around Wonderland. But nobody had ever lost their memories in that process.
Actually, no—the Hatters couldn’t have just lost their memories since the last move, since everyone was acting like they were in a time before Peter had even brought Alice to the Country of Hearts. Or they hadn’t lost their memories, and the Country
of Diamonds was a place where Alice had never existed in the first place.
She groaned. “Peter,” she grumbled automatically. “Why aren’t you here to help me?”
Loneliness welled up in her. She filed internal complaints for the white shadow floating in the back of her mind.
Peter had brought her to Wonderland, by literally dragging her down a hole in her garden. He was supposed to be her guide.
Alice still knew nothing about the Country of Diamonds...but she had a hunch that Peter wasn’t in it. If he were around, she wouldn’t be alone and floundering for answers and recognition.
When they’d come to Hatter Mansion—no, when they’d entered the Country of Diamonds— Peter had suddenly disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. When she remembered that, an unspeakable emptiness opened inside her.
It wasn’t the first time the only person she knew had disappeared in a transition. But losing Peter... she couldn’t help but feel that she’d lost something
especially precious.
Are Vivaldi and Ace gone, too?
Heart Castle with all its proud red roses. The tea table set there, steam rising from the teacups amidst the huge assortment of sweets.
She couldn’t count the number of times the Queen of Hearts had announced a tea party with a bright smile on her face. The White Rabbit would coo Alice’s name and guide her through the goodies on the table. The Knight of Hearts would lean over and tease him. She loved that place. It was a precious sight burned into her memory. And even though she knew that common sense didn’t work in this world, it was still hard to accept that she could be separated from them that easily.
And even if they were in this country, they might be just like the Hatters—people who considered Alice a complete stranger. The thought sent shivers down Alice’s spine.
She tried not to think of Peter looking at her with a stranger’s eyes.
“...Agh, I can’t sleep like this!”
She sat up in bed and shook her head to clear it.
An indigo sky spread out beyond the window.
The maids had warned her that battles raged in every region of the Country of Diamonds, and she’d be wise not to wander, not even inside Hatter Mansion. But that meant she could only sit in her room and wait for the next time period to come.
She frowned. “I wonder if there’s something to change my mood... Wait, I know!”
Roses bloomed at Hatter Mansion in both the Country of Hearts and the Country of Clover. She thought a look at them might help her mood... Just imagining it made her heart dance a little.
She threw aside her gloom along with her sheets and hopped off the bed. She needed Blood’s permission to leave the premises, but she didn’t need that to check something inside the mansion grounds, did she?
She got dressed and headed out. But as she walked through the outdoor grounds, trying to enjoy her little night stroll, she still felt the eyes of mobster servants following her every move.
Supposedly, she was considered a guest now, but the servants clearly didn’t accept that. Which
probably meant their boss didn’t accept that.
Alice told herself they just needed time. There was no need to panic yet. But even as she told herself that over and over, she still felt her spirits sink under their suspicious eyes.
She needed that rejuvenating walk among the roses. She needed to feel better. But it was that very anticipation that made her crash when she found the garden.
“What the... This can’t be right!”
She’d expected a flowering rose nirvana, framing a finely carved tea table and other works of art...a garden to match the one in Heart Castle.
But instead she stared at a dirty spit of land covered in wilting brown plants. A foliage-draped fence only allowed the occasional space for a small flowerbed. Instead of flowers, weeds choked the ground. Alice fell into new misery.
Maybe it's just this small area? Alice hoped it was an isolated block of rot, but as she walked the grounds, she saw that it wasn’t. The entire place was an overgrown, dying mess.
If this was the Hatter garden, and the servants were all tightly wound brutes...Blood probably didn’t throw his tea parties at all. This was the Mad Hatter’s mansion in the Country of Diamonds?
Alice was honestly shocked.
After a few minutes of walking aimlessly through the ravaged garden, she came to a halt. She thought she saw a long, white shape.
“Huh?” she murmured. “Is that Blood over there?”
As she stared into the darkness, she saw the familiar lines of his back melt into the gloom.
He was a bit too far away to call out to. And more than that, Alice still wasn’t sure how to approach the guy.
Curious, Alice started to follow him. Almost immediately, two servants appeared to block her way.
They hadn’t drawn their guns, but their smiles were ice cold.
“Sorry, Miss-. No admittance beyond this point.”
Alice frowned. “Really?”
“Yes—it’s dangerous around here at night-. You should go back to your room-.”
Their voices were calm, but Alice could tell that she wasn’t going any farther in that direction.
“Okay,” she murmured at last. “Good night, then.”
“Good night-.”
Alice had no real reason to follow Blood, so she was willing to do as she was told. While walking back to her assigned room, she glanced up at the sky.
The half moon loomed like a lord in command of a sky of glittering stars. The moon was the only thing that stayed consistent between the countries of Wonderland, even as its phases forced it through an unending, shifting cycle.
She breathed a heavy sigh at the irony.
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