The Wonderland Murders Read online

  “Off with his head!”

  Glower turns, glancing at me quickly, curls his lip dangerously, a hiss escaping from deep within him.

  As my court charges toward him, he sprints the rest of the way out of my palace leaving me angrier than before.

  Wonderland The Environs

  Chapter Ten

  Insomnia has hold of me again.

  Ever is sound asleep against the largest tree we could find deep in the forest, and I’m propped up against him. It’s not fair that he’s here—the Queen will do him harm just to get The Fear back from me and I can’t let that happen.

  Maybe I can find her and try to reason with her. If she agrees to let him leave unharmed, I’ll give her The Fear and be her prisoner so that he can have a chance.

  A rustling in the woods makes me jump, and with as tired as I am, I’m now on high alert. Ever hasn’t heard it. Hell, I don’t think he can hear much of anything right now, and I’m jealous. I’m so damn jealous of him sleeping as peacefully as he is while some new threat is making its way toward us.

  But when I see our potential assailant, I let out a sigh of relief and gently push away from Ever. It’s the cat and for the first time since I can remember meeting him, he looks serious and determined.

  I walk over to him and drop to my knees so that we’re out of Ever’s earshot in case he does wake up. If this isn’t good news, I don’t want him to hear it.

  “She knows you’re here. She’s raised an army to find you. She wants The Fear back, Alice, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get it,” he warns me quietly.

  I look at the cat.

  He’s talking to me and watching me from the orange side of his face, with his blue eye and it makes me wonder if that’s the wisdom in him speaking. I glance over my shoulder at my friend.

  “Can you get him out of here?” I ask, turning back to the cat. “I’ll go to the Palace and face the Queen, but can you get him back to the other plane?”

  “You know as well as I do that he won’t leave you behind,” the cat answers me with the shake of his head. “And to be quite honest with you, I don’t think he should go.”

  I run a hand over my face irritably. How is it that everyone in this place seems to think that they know what’s best for me and Ever than I do?

  “I GOT HIM!”

  I damn near jump out of my skin and the cat arches his back in preparation to attack as we both look over at Ever. He’s awake now and he’s on his feet, looking as victorious as I’ve ever seen him, his eyes visibly wild even in the dim moonlight.

  And in his hand, he’s got the white rabbit by its neck.

  The cat is up in the tree above Ever now. I’ve convinced him not to harm the rabbit until I’ve had a chance to interrogate it, but I can see it in his eyes that he wants to do it harm desperately.

  “Come on, you little snitch,” he seethes, giving it a violent shake. “Answer her questions and I might make this quick.”

  The rabbit tries to wriggle out of his grip, and for a moment, Ever almost drops him. He quickly rectifies that by grabbing its legs as well and holding it out flat. Almost like one would rock a newborn baby, only not stretched as thinly as he has it.

  “Did you tell her?” I ask, stepping closer and peering down into its red eyes. “Did you tell the Queen that I’m here?”

  The rabbit nods as best as it can and I have to fight the urge to tell Ever to kill the fucking thing. But I have more questions that need answering.

  “Did you tell her that I’m not alone?”

  The rabbit closes its eyes for a moment, then opens them and nods again.

  The Fear that the Queen wants so desperately to regain control of the Strange Lands begins to course through me. If she’s been told that I’m not alone, then she knows she’ll have an upper hand that she didn’t have before.

  A growl escapes from somewhere inside of Ever and I glance up at him, wide-eyed and blinking rapidly. I’ve never heard that sound come from him before but for some reason, it soothes me as much as it frightens me.

  The cat chuckles from the tree above and when I look up at him, he smiles and tilts his head. Black side, green eye—the sign that he knows something I don’t know.

  “Any more questions for this fucking thing, Alice?” Ever asks, his voice dipping low.

  I cross my arms over my chest and think for a moment before I shake my head. He looks at me with this big blue eyes, and grins.

  But there’s something different about him now.

  When confronted with the opportunity to take a life in the Strange Lands, Ever is … changing. His bones begin to crack as his body starts to convulse, and somehow through it all, he manages to keep hold of the rabbit.

  He hunches forward, lets out a guttural growl as his back begins to expand, his bones snapping and popping in a painful symphony.

  Ever lets out a pained scream as his body bucks backward and I watch in horror as his fingers become elongated and claw-like. Thick, coarse fur begins to grow all over his body as he becomes taller, wider; something not quite human.

  Once his transformation is complete, he opens his now overly large mouth and bites the rabbit in half, letting it fall from his claws. I take a step back in fear—The Fear the Queen is so desperate to control again—but his yellow eyes soften when they fall on me. He drops down to all fours and lowers his head, almost in shame, as he turns his gaze away from me.

  From the tree above, the cat makes the formal introduction.

  “Alice, meet the Bandersnatch.”

  Chapter Eleven

  That’s why so many of the Strange Land creatures we’ve come across have said they knew him. That’s why he’s always been so protective of me; it’s how he’s always been.

  “I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted,” the cat says as he hops down from the tree and picks up the pieces of the rabbit. “And I’ll get rid of this,” he mumbles through the gore and fur.

  I wait until he’s gone before I turn my attention back to my only friend. He’s sitting on his haunches, his head lowered, refusing to meet my eyes. I take a deep breath and walk over to him, placing a hand on either side of his face and raise it to look at me.

  “Ever?” I ask softly.

  He lets out a low, pathetic growl and I ran a hand over his head. It makes sense now that he kept asking me about the Strange Lands—he wanted me to remember him; the real him.

  “She did this to you, didn’t she?” I press gently. He looks away again, a tear rolling down the side of his face and I sigh. It would make sense that the Queen sent him out of the Strange Lands to follow me. She cursed him to be a human when she realized that his alliance lied with me. She probably thought she could turn him against me and now … now he’s home and this is where he belongs.

  Without me.

  She played her game well and neither of us realized it, but now I wonder if he’s secretly longed to come home the entire time.

  “It’s okay, I promise,” I whisper, leaning down to nuzzle his face. His fur is much softer than it looks, and it tickles slightly. Ever snakes his tongue out, giving my cheek a gentle lick, and I smile sadly as I sit down in front of him.

  Now I’m facing my fear.

  A world that doesn’t have Ever in it listening to my stories of a place that shouldn’t exist, to play endless games of chess that he always lets me win, and watching the rain fall outside the barred windows of our prison where he belongs.

  A life in Carroll’s Home for Troubled Youth; alone like I’ve always been.

  “You have to stay here. In the Strange Lands, I mean,” I tell him sadly. “When this is over, when I leave, you have to stay, okay? This is where you belong.”

  Ever grunts and pulls away from me. He gets to his paws and walks away from me toward the clearing and sits with his back toward me. Even as a big, hulking creature, he’s stubborn as hell.

  “You’ll always be my best friend, and this won’t be good-bye,” I tell him quietly as I join him in the c
learing. “But I can’t watch you go through that again. Not for me.”

  He leans over and nudges me with his head. I turn my gaze toward him and I can see the tears dangerously pooling in his eyes. Something comes over me seeing him so damn vulnerable and I reach over and kiss his cheek softly. It moves something inside of him because he pulls back for a moment, then leans forward and gently licks my face in return.

  I smile and rub the saliva away, but Ever does it again. It’s almost as if he wants me to walk around with Bandersnatch spit on my person and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that.

  “Stop that, silly,” I tell him, giving him a gentle shove. He nudges me again with his head in response, but this time he does it with such force that I lose my balance and fall on my side. “Ever!” I scold him, but he’s much faster than I am and a hell of a lot stronger now. He moves his body over mine, hovering over me, his eyes showing me a flash of what I’ve seen before on occasion.

  I arch an eyebrow.

  He leans down and licks my face again, this time slowly, deliberately, his breath hot against my skin and I reach up to put my hands on either side of his face again.

  It’s nighttime.

  I have insomnia.

  And I can hear his question now even though he can’t quite ask me. What do you want to do tonight, Alice? His breathing is becoming labored as his mouth hangs slightly open. A small drop of spit lands on my shirt and he looks down at it, then back up at me with curious, wanting eyes.

  I reach a hand down and rest it on the hem of my shirt, sliding it up to expose enough of my belly to entice him. If this is what he wants, for the pain that he’s endured so far, it’s what I’ll offer.

  He moves back slightly, then leans down and uses the tip of his nose to start nudging my shirt up. I reach down and do the rest of the work, pulling it over my head, and tossing it to the side. He lays down on top of me, careful not to crush me with his weight as he runs his tongue up and down my stomach.

  I close my eyes for a moment, putting my hands on his shoulders, before I pull the straps of my bra down. Ever turns his animal eyes up to watch me, the tip of his tongue lingering on my stomach as I pull my breasts free and wait to see what he does.

  He lets out a huffing sound as he licks my nipple, before he begins to suckle. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Because he’s so big in this form, because he’s so fucking hungry for me, it hurts more than it should, but I refuse to tell him. I don’t want to discourage him and I feel like I owe him this much.

  When he’s had his full of suckling, he uses his teeth to gently pull my bra further down my body and I sit up slightly, to undo the strap in the back before he pushes me onto my back again and reaches for my pants with his teeth.

  We ended up here in the same clothes we escaped in so I know I won’t miss them if they’re totally destroyed, but he’s being gentle with them because I’m sure he doesn’t want me walking around the Strange Lands completely naked.

  I hook my thumbs into the waist of my pants, gripping my panties as well, and shimmy out of what’s left of the clothing I’m wearing. He uses his paws to move my legs apart and when I look down, I feel the fear again. He’s much thicker and longer than what any man should be now, but in this moment, he’s no man.

  Not anymore.

  I take a deep breath as he positions his dark red, thick, pointed cock at my opening, and when he hesitates, I do the only thing I can to let him know that it’s okay—I lean up and lick his face. He begins to purr and nips my neck in return as he pushes himself into me.

  It hurts.

  It burns.

  It stings.

  The way his length and girth stretches me scares me and makes me wonder if I should stop him.

  But as he begins to slowly move his beastly cock in and out of me, I can’t help but feel that this wouldn’t feel right between us any other way. Once Ever has his pace, and once I’m able to stand the pain, I wrap my arms around his large back as much as I can and hold him close.

  He’s animalistic, raw, and careful not to hurt me more than necessary.

  Like he’s always been.

  As he continues to piston his hips, I close my eyes and hold on tightly. This won’t end until he’s done and I’m fine with that. It’s what will make him happy. It’s what will pay him back for the years of hell he endured on my side of the plane.

  Ever pulls out of me and nudges me with his head. I nod and roll onto my stomach, then push myself to all fours. He gets up behind me, resting his body on top of mine , an arm wrapped around me to keep me from falling down and he enters me again. I let out a loud moan, my eyes rolling back into my head as he again finds his pace.

  His tongue is hanging out of his mouth now, resting against my shoulder and I lean back as best as I can to lick it. We can’t kiss now, not like this, but I can do the best I can in this moment and let him know that I love him as much as I know he loves me.

  It doesn’t matter that he’s not a man anymore. It doesn’t matter that he’s a beast. Ever Hart has always loved me, and deep in my soul, I know that I’ve always loved him too.

  Chapter Twelve

  I wake up the next morning sore, but happy. Even though I can feel that today will be my last day in the Strange Lands, I was able to give Ever something he’s wanted for so long and I hope he’ll wake up happy too.

  I get to my feet and walk around the clearing, collecting my clothes, deciding that I should probably take a dip in the stream while Ever sleeps. I don’t want to smell like a Bandersnatch all day, and I hope he’ll find a way to understand.

  The cool air feels euphoric against my bare skin and when I clear the trees, I find myself confronted by the twins who are sitting on the edge of the woods.

  It’s almost as if they were waiting for me.

  I quickly use my hands to cover myself, and take a step back, but there’s something different about them. They’re unusually calm and aren’t the least bit chatty which is not in their character at all.

  “Oh my God,” I breathe as I take a step closer.

  And the closer I get, the more I realize why they aren’t themselves today.

  They’re dead.

  Propped up in their favorite seated position, leaned against each other, and watching me with those white, vacant eyes that really are full of vacancy now. I can see the wooden spikes that have been driven through their bodies, helping them stay seated like broken marionettes.

  I can see their insides have been hollowed out and how their entrails are neatly piled by either side of them.

  I can see their mouths twisted in silent agony, and even though they’re obviously dead, I can almost feel it too.

  I realize immediately that I can’t stay here and turn to run back toward the woods, when I bump into the cat again.

  “It’s about time you shed that skin,” he tells me indifferently. “I never understood why humans wear so many layers of skin.”

  “The twins …” I say in a shaky voice.

  “I know. I watched it happen.”

  “The Queen?” I ask quietly.

  “Her minions,” he says as he sits down and begins to bathe. “They almost found you and the Bandersnatch, but his howl scared them away. Why did he howl like that?”

  My face turns crimson red.

  They almost found us when he reached the height of his euphoria and howled when he released his seed deep inside of me.

  The cat chuckles as he continues to bathe himself.

  “I thought that might happen. It’s why I left. Coincidentally, I buried what was left of the rabbit. You’re welcome,” he continues when he finally finishes cleaning himself.

  “I have to go back to Ever. I have to get him out of here. If she’s coming, he needs to go somewhere safe,” I say erratically as I turn away from the shore and begin to make my way quickly back into the woods. The cat catches up to me in no time, keeping pace at my side, offering no words of wisdom, of sarcasm, of any kind.

 
But he’s not there when we get back.

  The Ever that I left sleeping is gone now and the huge pool of blood where his body peacefully rested begins to boil a rage inside of me that I’m not sure I’ve felt in my entire life.

  “Seem that we’re too late,” the cat finally says as he walks past me and disappears up into the trees.

  The Price of Fear

  Chapter Thirteen

  I was delighted when the walrus and carpenter worked together to bring the Bandersnatch in. They told me they waited until Alice left him alone, then took a hammer to his head repeatedly until he was no longer able to fight. That’s how they were able to drag him back to me.

  I may reward them eventually, but for now, they need to understand that they were just doing the jobs as assigned to them.

  My mind wanders back to the Bandersnatch as I drum my fingers on the arm of my throne.

  He’ll wake up with a headache, but he should be thankful that he’s the monster I always knew him to be. If he were human, one well placed blow would have taken his life. Not that it will stop me from following through; I just want his beloved Alice here to watch it happen.

  “She’s on her way,” the eaglet announces as she comes flying into the throne room. I get to my feet and begin my walk down the aisle. I’ve told Henry to stay inside, that this fight is mine, and that no one will end this little bitch but me.

  “Tell your King to bring the Bandersnatch,” I call back to her as I reach the palace doors.

  A sadistic smile begins to take over my face and I can feel myself becoming manic. In the distance, I see the long flowing, white-blonde hair. I can see the form of the girl that escaped so many years ago and the closer she gets, the more I see her for what she really is.

  A thief and an intruder.