DOWNSTAIRS, ALICE WONDER’S HOUSE, 7 FOLLY BRIDGE, OXFORD, 11:05 A.M.
E dith doesn’t stab me. She screams. She sounds as if she’s choking all of a sudden, while Lorina looks appalled again.
I turn around. It’s the Pillar, choking Edith with his hookah.
“Such a fantabulous family you have, Alice,” he says, pulling the hose tighter around Edith. He doesn’t wait for my reaction, as he pulls Edith’s knife and hurls it over my shoulder toward Lorina. “No more games, Barbie doll, or I choke your sis to death.”
I turn and see Lorina has ducked the knife. She straightens up again. “You?” She frowns.
At first, I think she is talking to me. Then I think there is a third party in the room—my mother, maybe? But then I realize it’s the Pillar Lorina is talking to.
“You know each other?” I ask, not knowing what to make of it.
But then the Hatter’s phone buzzes in my pocket. Another message: Tick tock. Tick tock. Is it already twelve o’clock? Wait for me to send you the next clue.
I wait for the rest of the message, but nothing comes.
“Let’s go, Alice.” The Pillar drops the unconscious Edith, holding his phone up. “I’ll try to call Inspector Dormouse to arrest your sisters.”
“You didn’t answer me,” I say. “How do you know my sisters?”
But none of them answer me. I see the Pillar staring right into Lorina’s eyes. It’s that piercing look he is capable of. Lorina stares back in silence. Somewhere between those two lies another, greater secret I don’t know of.
“I saw them visiting you week after week,” the Pillar replies.
I am not convinced. But Lorina doesn’t object or comment. She looks scared of the Pillar.
“Let’s get out of this circus.” The Pillar picks up my umbrella from the floor.
Dazed, I comply and walk out with him. If I don’t, Lorina might try to kill me again—whatever the reason is. I will deal with my sisters later.
“Alice!” Lorina says from behind. “You don’t know what you’re doing.” Her voice is concerned, but not about me. Something else bothers her. “That man you’re walking with is using you. Stay away from him.”
“Coming from my sister, who just tried to kill me?” I say, fighting the tears and not looking back.
Lorina doesn’t comment. And I can’t wait to walk out of the house where I was supposedly raised. All I know is that nothing has really changed since the last time I was outside my cell. The world is still mad. Nothing makes sense. And the only thing that keeps me going again is wanting to stop this bomb at all costs.