Behind Sanity

Chapter Sixty

Behind Sanity

Chapter Sixty

1

John did not know how to describe where he was other than to say that he was not where he had just been.  He knew he had just been in the dark basement at the asylum, but what was he doing on this forest?  Had these trees spouted from the stone floor?  Before him was an enormous maple that reached up further before him than his neck would crane, and at the base of it was a gaping hole with roots dangling over its edges.  Slowly, John took steps toward it, peering over the side into the black bottomless pit.  Somehow, he understood where he was.

He had never thought that he would see Wonderland – though how many times had he hoped? – and now that it was here before him, he wanted nothing more than to be back home. 

Come to us, a voice whispered from that depth.  You belong here.

The wind began to push at his back, hoping to make him lose his balance and send him over the edge.  He backed away, unwilling to be forced.  He knew what awaited him down in that darkness, and he would not give in to it.

Though unsure of where he would go or what he was doing, John stepped away from the hole and began to run through the strange woods.  Around him, the forest seemed to grow taller and more menacing – dark and dead – but he ran as the whispers grew more constant in his ears.

I will not give in to this, he told himself.  But John was a doctor, not an athlete.  He could not run forever, and actually winded quicker than he’d expected to.  He pushed himself to run until he came into a clearing where he intended to rest and seek a better plan, but when he looked around him, he found that he was back in the same spot where he had begun.  The rabbit hole was there before him – but it was not the only thing.

Laying in the dirt in front of him, there was a creature – clearly dead, it’s blood across the ground – and though he didn’t want to go near it for the stench, he was pulled to it despite his better judgment.  When he had stepped closer, he knew the horrible thing by sight.  It was the corpse of that terrible cat which he’d wished many times he could murder himself.  Someone had killed, and it had not been him thought he couldn’t say he wasn’t grateful for it.  But what was this body doing here before him?

His answer came in the form of a voice whispering in his ear.

Skin this creature and put on its skin.  Do this, or there is no way out. 

John was appalled by this suggestion, but he could not escape imagining that this had happened to someone else before him.  Was this how the Queen forced those she kidnapped into the roles she had destined for them?  He imagined himself putting on the skin of the Cheshire’s face over his own and he could not bear the idea.  He would not give into this!  The Queen would not have him.

He lifted his head to the churning sky that made him dizzy, opened his mouth and gave his answer to whoever might have been listening.

“No,” he said.  “You won’t have me for a pet!”  

2

The realm past the ruined throne room was an abyss,  an unformed portion of Wonderland – the end of the world.  A violent wind ripped around the area in an invisible whirlwind that did not quite cool her searing skin.  There was nothing but several stone platforms that hung freely in the void.  They formed a circle around a pit that was a black as the Queen’s heart.

In the center of that circle was her giant, bloated enemy.  Alice could think of no other way to describe what she was seeing other than to say that it was an enormous mass of red flesh and tissue.  It had no face, but those yellow eyes burned out of the darkness.  Was this form chosen to intimidate her?  What had the Queen hoped to accomplish, because Alice was not afraid – long past fear.

“You will not take my crown, you pathetic girl!” an angry voice bellowed.

Huge tentacles headed straight for Alice, but she moved quickly to the next slab of rock as the tentacles collided with what remained of the wall, breaking the stones and shutting off any escape she might have had.  This was fine – expected.  If they were to sealed together here forever, they would both die in this place. 

She moved again, onto the next slab.  The agility of the demon was amazing.  There was no worry of falling off into the endless space.

The Blunderbuss was raised.  The tentacles were moving at her again.  The monster’s head was in sight, the tentacles only a few feet from her, closing.  She pulled the trigger.

The force of the gun and the impact of the tentacles threw her back, and luckily or unluckily, she slammed into the remains of the castle wall that was now a pile of broken stone.  It hurt down to her bones.  Alice thought her back was broken.  But then the demon made her lift her eyes, and she watched the magical gun’s bullet hit its mark.

The Queen’s head was penetrated, and a loud roar shook the very air.  The gigantic creature began to fall apart in bloody clumps, and they all faded away into the darkness.  It was over.  Had it been simple?  And what had it cost?

The demon left Alice then, and her body returned to normal.  She was left there alone, bleeding and broken against the rocks.  The Blunderbuss slid from her twisted fingers. 

In her mind, she could hear a thousand voices cheering, laughing with glee.  She could see them smiling.  She smiled too.  Alice closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

3

Elisa looked from the girl on the bed and then to John, whose head she cradled on the floor.  What was going on?  It was almost too much for her mind.  After all these years and all the things she’d witnessed, she thought her own sanity might be tearing.

She thought it even more when the comatose people around her began to rise up from their beds one by one and move toward her.  She shook her head.  She blinked and tried to make the images go away, but they would not leave her alone. 

The people said nothing.  They continued to advance, and Elisa slumped over, hid her eyes in John’s shirt and began to cry. 

She missed all of what happened after that.  Elisa didn’t see Alice’s body rise up along with them.  She didn’t see how the others parted for her, and how they unconsciously returned to their own beds, trusting her to take care of this.  The nurse didn’t watch Alice move to the bed or see her climb atop the girl that laid there.

Elisa missed all of it; too busy mourning for the sanity she thought was fleeing.  It was better that way.

Without feeling or awareness, Alice’s hands gripped the girl’s throat.  Their eyes were open, watching each other but not really seeing.   The girl couldn’t scream, couldn’t fight.  Alice’s hands gripped harder.  She strangled the girl’s life away, and it didn’t take long.

The child’s head lolled back, her face purple.  Her eyes stared at the ceiling, completely lifeless.  There was no pulse.  Alice seemed to know this and she released her.  The others were all resting in their beds once again, finally at peace. 

And Alice fell over, unanimated.