Radcliffe Asylum, Oxford
T om Truckle swallows two of his pills upon seeing me. He doesn’t even greet me. He slumps deeper into his chair, pushing with his feet against the edge of his desk.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I’m not here as a patient.”
“Then why would an insane girl who left the asylum come back?” He says, staring at me suspiciously from the corner of his eye. “You love it here, don’t you? You love being insane?”
“Calm down.” I roll my eyes. “I know the Pillar and I gave you a hard time, but you weren’t the most honest of men either. You should have told us Lewis made you build the asylum.”
“Trust me, even that, I’m not sure of anymore,” he says. “The many pills I took compromised my thinking.”
“I noticed.” I sit down opposite to him, slightly enjoying his involuntarily flinches. He reminds me of the old days when I first met the Pillar and snatched a Certificate of Insanity out of him. “Now calm down, seriously. I thought we’d become friends after we met in the future.”
“We met in the future?” His eyes widen.
“Now I’m sure the pills you take messed up your mind.” I wave my hands in the air. “But never mind,” The whole trip to the future is confusing me as well. I’m not sure how I ended up outside the asylum in the new timeline, but I have to play along. “Just tell me where the Pillar is.”
“The Pillar? Why would he be here?”
“He sent me a message a while ago, requesting I meet him here.”
“In the Asylum?” Tom pulled himself closer to the desk again. “I don’t see why he’d want to meet you here.”
“Me neither. I’ve been trying to call him since I came back from Russia, but he doesn’t answer. Finally, he sent me this message saying ‘it’s happening’ . Do you have any idea what he means?”
“It’s probably nothing. The Pillar is playing some game of his , like always.”
Did Tom just put stress on the word his , or is it my imagination playing games on me. “Tell me something,” I try to sound friendlier. “Do you still remember things from Wonderland?”
“Some.”
“Anything about the Pillar and me?”
“Anything like what?”
“Like us on a killing spree. All of this backstory most of you seem to know, but I don’t.”
“I didn’t mingle with many Wonderlanders back then. I was a teacher in some obscure school; I lived in the outskirts. I was a loner. A medicine nerd. No one wanted to talk to me. I think it’s why Lewis trusted me with building the asylum.”
“I suppose so.” I tongue my cheek from the inside. “So even Lewis didn't tell you about me and the Pillar? Something about me seeking revenge by joining him and figuring out his weakness?”
“Ah, that story. I’ve always assumed it was a myth. I don’t know much about it,” Tom says.
“Do you know anyone who does?”
“I do.” He shrugs. “Not a reliable source, though.”
“Who?”
“I don’t think you want to know.”
“Who, Truckle?” I rap a hand on the desk.
Tom stiffens with fear, mostly influenced by the pill, not my voice. Then he stands up and walks to the door. “Follow me.”