TWO DAYS LATER,
THE PILLAR’S CELL, RADCLIFFE LUNATIC ASYLUM
“Y ou’re all I have in this world,” I tell the Pillar, having asked Dr. Truckle for permission to visit him.
“I wouldn’t count on that,” he says, smoking his hookah. “At some point, I will leave you in all this mess, Alice. I am just guiding you until you find your purpose.”
“Fair enough. I don’t like you that much anyway,” I tease him.
“Never liked me that much, too.” He rolls his eyes. “So did you make up your mind, whether you’re one of them or against them?”
“I’m on Lewis’ team all the way,” I say. “I saw them in the dream. Lewis, Fabiola, that mysterious girl, Jack, and the March Hare. I am going to find them all and gather them to face Black Chess before they mess up this beautiful world.”
“Beautiful?” The Pillar raises an eyebrow. “I thought it was a mad world.”
“Mad is beautiful,” I say. “It has its flaws, but when shared with the good-hearted, it’s beautiful.”
“So, you’re going to continue to save lives next week?”
“Like I did this week,” I say. “I know you think it’s just a rabbit, but I am very okay with having saved one.”
“Rabbits are cute.” He took a drag from his hookah. “Just stop following them into their holes.”
I let out a light laugh. “You’re definitely right about that.”
“Did Margaret tell you about who this Hatter may be?”
“Nah. She just made her offer, and I refused.”
“And you’re sure you don’t have grudges against people, having been put in the circus with the others in the past?”
“First of all, I am not sure that happened. Second, there is no point in holding grudges. Some people kill and do horrible things; other people are most lovable in this world. I need to learn how to tune my inner compass to find the good ones.”
“That’s poetic.”
“How about you, Pillar?”
“What about me?”
“Were you in the circus as well?” It’s an important question to me. I wonder if I’ll ever understand his motives.
“I was.” He nods, but he seems wary about talking about it. I wonder what they did to him. “I am surprised you didn’t see me in your dream—or whatever that Wonderland portal was. Which reminds me, do you still have that Wonderland map on your phone?”
“Nah, it stopped working when I woke up,” I say. “Why? Looking for something?”
“It’s just that there was this store that sold music in Wonderland.”
“What about it?”
“Instead of selling CDs, they sold flamingos that memorized every tune in a certain album,” he says. “So you go pay for the latest Taylor Swift album, and they give you a flamingo...”
“Who sings all the Taylor Swift songs?” I laugh. “That’s bonkers. But you can still buy any song here in real life.”
“The one song I am looking for, you can only find in Wonderland.”
“Really? What’s it called?”
“‘What if God Was Mad Like Us, Just a Nut Like Most of Us.’”