Wonderland: Escape From The Mad House [Book One]

Chapter Five: Fight Or Flight

My eyes were filled with hatred and fear. I didn't know whether to punch him or hide. With this aching fear, I froze. It was the man from the dream, the one who had killed me. He was in the carnival, too, he pushed me down here in the first place. Hel looked no different, besides a black hat that occupied his head. "Now, I do not believe we have formally met. You may not know or remember me, but I remember you, Alice, and I know you all too well."

"You pushed me down here," I replied angrily.

"Indeed," he replied smugly. "And if I hadn't, you wouldn't be here. We all need a bit of a push when it comes to difficult decisions. But then again, you will find out later."

"Hatter," Jack snapped at him. He looked passed meet Jack's worried expression. Yet, he remained calm, smiling as if all troubles were irrevelent to him.

So, that's Hatter, I realized. That's the guy who's supposed to help us. I somehow doubted that we were this desperate.

"As you are aware," Jack started, "We are in an extreme need of change. We have found Alice, thanks to your expertise, but that's only but a fraction of the issue. Somehow, we need to make it to the Red Kingdom, so we can invade the Scarlet Castle and defeat the Red Queen. However, this task is much easier said than done. We will need to traverse the Dark Forrest in order to get anywhere close to the kingdom."

This wasn't the dark forrest? I began to feel a bit discouraged.

"Are we in need of weapons," Hatter asked, nonchalantly.

"Cheshire and I already have weapons, but Alice has none. To my knowledge, at least."

"Really?" he asked, half to Jack and half to me, "Not even a dagger or bow? She's Alice, I would have thought that she would have something."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not the type to always keep a sword handy."

He gave me a look of disbelief. "Well, lucky for you, I have a few to spare. I would have thought the King of the Diamond Division would have something at least."

"I do," Jack replied, "But I thought that we should stop here before we traverse the armory. It is quite a distance."

"It is," I asked curiously.

"The Queen is smarter than to allow an armory to those who wish her dead, so we had created an underground armory, bigger than all others combined. This is where we keep our best weapons and, to this day, we had no need for them."

I marveled at the thought. I Supposedly the biggest armory in the world, just under our feet. Such a thing is impossible.

But then again, what isn't here.

"Well," Hatter announced, "let us make haste. We shall discuss our plan there, where it is safe."

Jack nodded, but I groaned. "This whole time, I've been doing nothing but walking. Can't we rest, just a little?"

"I do apologize, Alice" Jack started, "but this is quite a pressing matter. We have not the liberty, nor the time to rest. However, we do have an alternative, if you'd prefer."

I shrugged. "Sure."

All of a sudden, I felt something warm wrap around me, but I couldn't move. "You may want to cover your eyes," Crow suggested. I did so, and felt a cool host of air hit me like a fan on high, right in front of your face. And then, it felt normal. I opened my eyes, and saw that I was about fifty, fifty five feet I'm the air, with a giant, outstretched black wing on either side of me.

I tried screaming, but my words were lost in the beating of his wings. Suddenly, his wings shrink from a thunderous beating to a slight flap. "You may open your eyes now," he said, "if you haven't already."

As a kid, we've never been far from our home, so flying anywhere was out of the question. This, this was- indescribable. With the clouds below us as we became one with the sky; watching the birds soar below us, it was euphoric. Peaceful wouldn't begin to do it justice.

"First flight?" he asked.

I nodded. "How'd you know?"

"Because you have been smiling ever since you've opened your eyes."

I smirked, but saw something disturbing. The area below us was dark, almost pitch black. I couldn't tell if there was any movement in the area, because the whole thing was a large shadow. I felt as we dived down towards it.

When we hit the ground, I saw the dim light of a torch.

"We are here," Jack noted.