SOMEWHERE IN THE STREETS OF LONDON
T he mayhem in the streets of London fascinated the Cheshire.
All those lowlife human beings getting in fights with each other, some of them taking it far, as in really hurting one another. That was just fantastic.
He roamed the streets on foot, possessing one person after another, and contributing to the madness. A punch in the face here. A tickle there. Setting a place on fire here. It was all fun.
Revenge on humankind felt so sweet he was about to purr like his ancestors once did.
Blood was everywhere on the streets. Traffic had stopped hours ago. This was better than anything he’d ever seen. He wondered what kind of plague it was, but couldn’t put his paws on it.
Lewis Carroll turned out to be one mad nut, even crazier than all the rest. How hadn’t the Cheshire ever known about this man’s crazy tendencies to spread chaos to the world?
But even though he enjoyed possessing a soul after another, it suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea of who he really was.
Of course, he was a cat in a way or another. But he’d even lost his recollection of what he looked like as a cat many years ago.
Who was he, really? What did he look like? What was the look that really suited his personality?
Had the Cheshire been lost among the many faces he’d possessed, now that he was just a nobody?
His thoughts were interrupted by a phone call. Yes, he possessed many souls, but always passed on his phone so he’d be in contact with whoever wanted to benefit from his expertise.
Like all cats, the Cheshire needed to make a living.
“It’s Margaret,” the Duchess told him on the line. “I need your help.”
“You know I stopped assassinating for you long ago.”
“Yes, but this isn’t about assassinations,” she explained. “I want you to send someone after the Pillar in Columbia.”
“What’s the Pillar doing in Columbia?”
“He’s looking for a cure for the plague.”
“Why? I was just beginning to enjoy it. Did you know it doesn’t affect Wonderlanders?”
“No, I didn’t. That’s good to hear. But the Queen made her point.” Margaret explained how none of them would benefit from the end of the world. Not an argument the Cheshire was fond of.
Who said I wouldn’t be happy with the end of the world?
Although he’d never been on good terms with the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland, he’d started to warm up to her and Black Chess a little. After all, he’d been a bit too lonely in this real world.
It was time to choose a side. Black Chess or Inklings.
“Okay,” he said. “I will send someone to Columbia.”
“You know what kind of someone that is, right? The Executioner will kill anyone who enters his territory.”
“Trust me, I know. That’s why I can’t go there myself. Whatever person I use as a disguise, the Executioner will recognize me. We didn’t all stay away from him for nothing in Wonderland. I will send someone.”
“Do you mean...?”
“Yes,” he said. “Only if I can find them. Because no one’s been able to since we left Wonderland.”