PARKING LOT, UN HEADQUARTERS, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
I leave the meeting hall looking for Carolus.
There is no need to stay. Most of the presidents have been cured and are apologizing for what happened, talking world peace now—and of course what to do with the real plague that’s threatening the world.
I also left Fabiola trying to see if the March can cook more of this cure, although it’d be impossible to inject the whole population in their butts to save their lives.
Just a few feet out of the meeting hall, Carolus Ludovicus grins at me, although he still looks to be in pain.
“I was waiting for you,” he says.
“For me?” I am confused. Why would someone who I need to kill wait for me? But I have nothing to do but talk now. The sun behind me sets low, and I haven’t figured out how to kill him yet so I can save the world.
“I’ve been waiting for you for years, Alice.”
“Years?” I’m more and more confused.
“Since the first day I materialized into life. You have no idea how many headaches I had to give Lewis until he was weak enough to let me out into the world.”
“It’s a pretty hard concept to grasp, that you’re his darker side, I mean.”
“The Cheshire likes to say ‘we’re all mad here.’” He’s half circling me from a distance, his head tilted to the right a bit. “He is wrong. ‘We’re all schizophrenic here’ is the right phrase. Lewis is no different from the rest of us. Darkness lurks in all of us.”
“Don’t compliment yourself.” I’m still buying time. “You’re just a figment of your imagination.”
“Isn’t Jack the same?” His stare is piercing through me. “But you love Jack and don’t love me.”
“Don’t compare yourself to Jack. What do you want?”
“I want what you want.”
“I don’t think so.” I slowly step closer to him. Maybe I need to lock him up somewhere until I figure out how to kill him. “You want to laugh at the world by showing them that they can’t handle the truth.”
“And isn’t it fun?”
“No, it isn’t. If you want fun, ride a roller coaster. Now, what do you really want? Why aren’t you running away from me when you know I’m the only who can kill Carroll’s split persona?”
“Why do you think I’m not running, Alice?” He dares me and slowly limps toward me.
This is strange. I don’t understand what’s going on.
“You think I made the March Hare cook this plague to end the world?”
“It’s a plausible assumption.” I’m not going to stop. I try not to be scared of him. It’s like playing tip-top, only waiting to see who will kill the other first.
“And why would I want to end the world?” He flaps his eyes sideways, and balloons start falling from the sky.
This is surreal. I never thought balloons could scare me this much.
“So explain it to me. You plague the world but still don’t want anyone to die. Either I’m mad, or it’s you whose screws are loose.”
“None of us are mad, Alice.” Closer. “I created this plague for one reason—other than having fun by laughing at humans killing each other because of the truth, of course.”
“I have an asylum I have to go back to, so cut it short because I don’t have all night. Sleeping early is good for mad girls like me.”
“You want short? Okay.” He stops, his cheeks twitching against the pain. Maybe I don’t have to kill him at all. Maybe the migraine will. “I created this plague to find you.”
“You wanted to see me? Why not send an SMS?” I keep approaching.
“Because how do I know you’re the real Alice?”
Now I stop.
“I had to create an end of the world scenario because only the Real Alice would stand up to face me,” he says. “If you weren’t the Real Alice, you wouldn’t be standing here this very moment.”
There is a lump in my throat. “And why did you want to find me?”