The Red Queen - (Alice In Wonderland)

A Trap Laid - Chapter 24

 The girls made their way to Alice's room, Cat's gasp made Alice jump in surprise. "Your door! Oh, Alice, it's amazing, this is the most beautiful door in the house. Do you understand what these symbols mean? I am not sure what they all mean, but I can guess at one or two. Tell me everything!" She squealed in excitement, as Alice blushed slightly and smiled at Cat.

As Alice opened her door and led Cat inside she said, "A lot has happened since you left, we have so much to catch up on. I'll fill you in and then I want to hear everything that happened to you. It all started the morning you came and woke me up, after you departed, I came downstairs, and..." Alice weaved the story of going to Jabberwocky Island, of some of the special moments she and Hatter had, and of their first kiss.

Then she filled her in on what Hatter taught her and quickly made a seal in the room. After the seal was made she told Cat her suspicions about who the spy could be. Cat made many different expressions throughout the whole story, from surprise, to pleased, to speculative. Often interrupting to make comments, especially during Alice's retelling of her and Hatter's relationship, she was enthusiastic, to say the least.

"This whole spy business keeps getting more intriguing. I totally can see the Duchess as being a spy, she is crazy, mixed with the side of psycho. But then again the twins are all brooding and scary, and the story they told you is suspicious. I am leaning toward Duchess though, especially after all the times' Hatter bypassed her for other women. Also, can I just say wow! I told you he was interested in you! I think the potential danger added to you guys coming together quicker. When it's meant to be, you just know, just like with Harrison and me." Cat sent Alice a small mischievous smile.

"WHAT!!! Tell me everything immediately. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk your ear off, especially after seeing you so down. What exactly happened to you?" Alice asked concernedly, setting her hand on Cat's arm, giving it a slight squeeze.

"No, please don't worry, trust me it was a much-needed distraction." A brief smile eclipsed her face before a frown took its place. "I... I'm not sure what happened, I think I've gathered enough information to know exactly what happened. I was standing in the map room, looking over some documents. I was trying to figure out anything that could lead to who our spy could be. Something interesting caught my eye, I can't quite remember what it was now, which bothers me now that I think about it. When all of a sudden I felt pain exploding at the back of my head... and then nothing until I woke up in a jail cell. That's when Lizard showed up," Cat told her in a somewhat confused voice until she vehemently spoke Lizard's name.

"There was a Lizard in your Jail Cell?" At Cat's look, she gasped in shock, "Noooo... you can't mean that was someone's name! I hate him already, what happened next?" Alice replied worriedly, rubbing Cat's arm in comfort.

"It's a suitable name, believe me, I knew him as a teenager. I know what you're thinking, let me just tell you the story. My brother was a few years older, and one day he brought home a few of his soldier buddies. One of them was Harrison, I think I fell in love with him on sight, at first I thought it was your typical 16-year-old crush, you know the one, girl who falls for her brother's best friend. But I realized it wasn't; anyway, the other was William Archibald, something about him gave me the creeps. He was closer in age to me and made his interest in me quite clear. My brother made the joke that they called him the Lizard in their unit because he could slither his way to an enemy and they wouldn't realize it until too late. You could tell he hated our laughter and the nickname, but none of us thought about it. I couldn't stand being close to him, he kept trying to put his hand on my waist, shoulder, back, or arm." Cat had a fond tone in her voice when talking of her brother but quickly grew pensive, and then angry.

"Cat..." Alice cautiously said, she was fearful of what Cat may say next. Already sympathizing with her, she was taken by this psycho again. "He didn't... you weren't... did something happen?"