Wonderland: Escape From The Mad House [Book One]

Chapter Two: Into The Abyss

She perked up as she first saw the carnival, her heart racing as we slowed to a stop. "Now," I instructed, "I'm gonna let you explore on your own, but when I call you, you have to come here. Okay?"

She nodded and ran off to one of the booths. You don't need to pay for anything, so I didn't see why not.

Most of the activities were classic carnival stuff. Tightrope walkers, lion tamers, magic tricks, you name it. One thing did catch my attention, though. There was a tarot card/palm reader and a fortune teller, I guess. When I was a kid, I was always interested in this stuff. Then again, I did think things would get better then. Reluctantly, I walked in.

The reader had spiked orange hair and deep green eyes with dark circles around them, and a Jack Of Diamonds symbol covered his right . He wore a dark purple suit, and he looked like an emo Willy Wonka. He grinned coldly as I entered.

"Well," he said, with a stunningly deep voice, "look what we have here. Tell me, miss, what interest does such an extravagant beauty have in magic." I blushed, not really used to such kind words. "Never mind that," he drew a deck of nicely painted cards from a pack and shuffled them, laying them out on the table. "Let's see what future is fortold for you."

Unexplainably, I knew the procedure, as I passed my hand over the cards. One seemed to stick to my fingers, so I chose it, and showed him. His face grew pale, but he tried to play it off. "The Dark Forrest, it represents the dark inner workings of ones soul and heart, and a dark road that lay ahead." A dark road ahead, seems realistic. I resumed the procedure again, this time when I showed him, he seemed as confused as I. "The Skull. A card of death. Not of you, necessarily, but of loved ones as well. It may alsi symbolize the fall of your enemies." I drew one last card, which didn't seem to fit. "T-the Queen Of Hearts," he stuttered. "A double edged sword, one might say. It could mean luck and love, but it could represent passion, evil, and sin. Many men have sinned in the name of love." He had taken the cards back, reshuffled them, and put them back in their holder.

"Now," he said, "if you don't mind, I'd like to read your palms. The cards are accurate, but not extremely helpful in predicting ones future. This will give me a better image." I shrugged as I showed him my hand. He pulled off his gloves, ans held my hand up with one hand, and traced the lines of my palm with the other. He pricked the center of it with a pin. "I do apologize," he said, "But another element of palm reading is reading your blood." I nodded, looking at my hand as perplexed as he did. He had such a look of concentration that I began to question if this was really fake. "How confusing," he said. "This seems to tell me no different from the cards. This has never happened before." I shrugged a thank you and left.

Soon, the sun began to set, and we were among the last to leave. I called for Chance, no reply. I called her name again, no reply. However, at last, I heard a shrill cry, and ran to the source. "Wonderland" the sign read. "Notice: what goes in, does not come out." I shrugged my shoulders. I was about to open the door, but a gloved hand held it shut. "Just what in God's name do you think you're doing," said the reader. "I'm going to save my sister," I replied. He looked grim, and defeated. "As you wish," he replied. "Just remember that you brought this upon yourself." He stepped aside, and I walked past him into the building.

It was a mirror maze; I've been in these. I navigated my way, until the lights went off. I continued on, until I saw a door. The knob felt icy cold in my hand, despite the 70 degree weather. In fact, now that I mention it, the entire building was cold. Hesitantly, I opened the door. The room was pitch black, making me all the more hesitant. All of a sudden, someone pushed me through and I fell, as if the room had no floor. As I fell into the dark abyss, I saw an all too familiar figure, grinning down at me.

Him.