Mystery In Wonderland

Chapter 6

The Hatter's Memories

The Mad Hatter walked out of the palace and into a forest. According to the Queen, there should be a route that leads to the place where the murders have been happening. If the Hatter was right, she remembered the Red Queen saying......

" I need you to go and investigate the murders that has been happening around there. I really cant tell you much about what's going on, but the Tailor can. Now go! Your presence is starting to annoy me."

The Mad Hatter stumbled upon various signs. The first one read, "The Way of The Forgotten." The second sign said, "Allows Peek. " The third one had, "The Red Lake of Hearts." The fourth one said, "Yonder." The fifth said,"The River of Bodies." And finally the last sign read, "The Foul Scent of Man." The choices weren't exactly pleasant.

"No more reading signs that often say yonder. Let's just travel throughout the lake of the Red Hearts. This is a task from the Red Queen. Wouldn't it just be fitting for the moment?" Cheshire said, comfortably perched on her tree branch, eyeing the Mad Hatter boredly.

The Hatter looked at the direction where the voice was located at. "I suppose you're right. The Red Lake of Hearts is the place to start..... isn't that right, Cheshire?" The Hatter said with a big smile.

"Though I do love to see you struggle, I think I'll just meet you on the other side. Never know if troubles may cross our path. I rather avoid that, wouldn't you?" It didn't matter whether or not the Hatter agreed, for the Cat was already gone.

"Well...I suppose that's true.." Said the Hatter as she walked towards the third path, otherwise known as The Red Lake of Hearts.

As the Hatter walked through the path looking for the Red Lake, she came across two odd looking beings.
One of them was tall with a short bowl hair cut and the other one was short with long hair that seemed to pass her legs. They both stared at the Hatter intently.

They both were wearing red clothing. The tall one, a boy, had a suit on and the short one, a girl, had on a dress. Both of them had a rather disturbing smile on their faces.

"A guest?" The tall one asked
"Oh yes! A guest. A guest on a quest." Said the short one.
"On a quest? I guess." Responded the tall one.

To any other person, the two would look absolutely creepy, but to the Hatter their smile was rather welcoming. After all, haven't you heard? To survive Wonderland, you have to be as mad as the Hatter. The Hatter took off her hat and gave a low bow. "I am the Mad Hatter, sent by the Red Queen to investigate a series of uncalled for events." The Hatter introduced.
"A Hatter it seems." Said the tall one.
"But what does that mean?" Said the short one.

The Hatter looked at the two strangers and smiled. "Well, that means I make hats."

"Hats you say, out of clay?" Asked the tall one.
"Out of clay? That's something I wouldn't say." Said the small one.  "Well, you're right little one. I don't make my hats out of clay. " The Hatter laughed.

"Little one? But, I weigh a ton!" Said the short one.
"Oh my! We haven't told you our names! How rude of us!" Said the tall one.
"How rude of us! How crude of us!" They yelled in unison.

The short one introduced herself first, "I am Flu. It's nice to meet you, I might be a little one but I weigh a ton."
Then the tall one spoke, "I might be tall but that's not all. My name is Lime, and I can always bend time."

"Well, it's nice to meet your acquaintance Lime and Flu, but I was wondering if you can help me find The Red Lake of Hearts?" The Hatter asked.

"The Lake of Hearts? Well, that's just swell. " said Flu. "Just go down this path, and make a right at the well." said Lime.

The Hatter estimated the time it'll take to reach her destination, which was at least one hour. As she walked in silence, she heard a voice in the back of her head. "Well... This is taking quite a while." The voice whispered, seemingly echoing in her mind. "I guess you're right." The Hatter agreed.

"We haven't seen one single sane person for a while..." The voice said in a low whisper.
"Sadly,  we haven't." Replied the Mad Hatter.
"And you haven't killed anyone in a very long time." The voice said in a low tone.
"Do you want me to kill something?" The Hatter questioned. The voice laughed, it was a soft laugh, but still very disturbing.
"That would make me very happy, my dear Hatter." The voice said happily.

"Well... If we find out who is killing the towns people, then perhaps the Red Queen will let us kill them ourselves." The Hatter answered. After that, the voice fell silent for awhile before speaking once again. "That's not good enough. " The voice hissed darkly. The Hatter barely heard it, but could still make out the words. The Hatter was going to reply but before she could, she heard a voice. "Hatter, I believe that we can both agree that it is dangerous to not pay attention to our surroundings." Cheshire said lazily from her position on a tree a few feet away. The well was placed right in front of the Hatter. One more step and she would've fallen in. "Oh my!" The Hatter said, alarmed. "When did we get to the well?"

Cheshire appears behind the Hatter and gives her a soft push, sending her into the well. "I believe this is where I say... I told you so." Cheshire watched with a grin as the Hatter fell. The Hatter fell for what seemed like hours until she reached the bottom. Then she looked up, barely seeing the top of the well. She began to yell, "WHY WOULD YOU PUSH ME INTO THE WELL AFTER WARNING ME, YOU STUPID CAT!!!"

Cheshire merely grinned. "To show you a lesson. Besides, a cat needs to have a little fun every once in a while."

"It's dark in here! Can you at least help me!?" The Hatter shouted. "Oh dear. It's such a shame. I didn't hear the word...please." Cheshire chuckled.

"Can you please help me, my dear Cheshire Cat? It's rather dark in here." The Hatter pleaded. "And how do you think I'll do that? I suppose I can go down there and fetch you, but what's the fun in that."

"I don't know! Think of something! Please!" The Hatter cried out.

Cheshire sighed, "Very well then." Cheshire swooped in and helped the Hatter get out. "I hope you know that you owe me a favor now." Cheshire said with a small, devious smirk.

"Thank you for that short lesson, my dear Cheshire Cat." The Hatter said, sarcasm laced into her words, as she turned right from the well, following the directions she was given from the two earlier on. "I'll tell you when the time comes for that favor." Cheshire said as her body slowly disappeared, that never ending grin still placed on her face.