White Hearts Hospital Asylum
“Y ou think they’re really breaking in?” Fabiola asked Lewis.
“They’re bluffing. Just trying to scare them to get out. This plan requires convincing the public that the Queen of Hearts and her men did the best before they shoot them dead.”
“I see,” Fabiola says.
Lewis stares back at her for a minute too long. The silence almost suffocates her.
“What is it, Lewis?”
“I’m wondering if you were going to leave to go to the asylum and take Alice’s side?”
Fabiola didn’t find the right words to answer. She never had.
“I mean you’re confusing me, Fabiola. Most of the time you want Alice killed…”
“You know how evil she can be.” Fabiola felt the need to explain.
“Then, in Russia, you took a stab in the back for her.”
Fabiola pursed her lips, thinking. “It was different in Russia.”
“How different?”
“The way she fought.”
“Tell me about it.” Lewis looked proud of Alice.
“She was unstoppable, so strong, as if she would not rest before she rid the world of every last Black Chess.”
“I assume she reminded you of yourself, back in Wonderland.”
“She did.” Fabiola nodded. “I had to stand by her side when I saw that.”
“Why not stand by her side now?”
“Because I still fear her, Lewis. Remember her family?”
“What she did would be considered brave by some.”
“Pure lunacy by most,” Fabiola said.
“She needs you, Fabiola.”
“I’m not sure she does.”
“She is young. It’s hard for her to ask for help. You were the same when you were her age, so stubborn.”
“I know.” Fabiola fumbled with the covers on her bed. “But then, it’s also you, Lewis.”
“What about me?”
“You never told me the whole truth.”
“Which part?”
“I have no idea what we’re fighting for. I mean, I know we should stand up to Black Chess, but what is the Wonderland War really about?”
“The most precious thing.” Lewis smiled broadly, so proud of something she didn’t understand.
“You’re being vague again.”
“Not at all. You’ll realize how precious the thing we’re fighting for is once it’s revealed.”
“Why can’t you reveal it now?”
“Many reasons,” he said. “One of them is that I believe we have a traitor among us in the Inklings, but it’s too soon to tell.”
“If there is a possible traitor, then it would be Alice.”
“You don’t really believe that.” Lewis patted her gently. “If it makes you feel better, I can tell about where the Six Keys are.”
Fabiola cupped a shriek. “You know? Are you playing games with us?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Lewis said. “However, I know who knows where they are and what they are for and what the Wonderland War is about.”
“Puzzles and nonsense, Lewis. You have to ease up on those.”
“How so? This is what people like about my books. Puzzles and nonsense.”
Fabiola reached for his hands. She was surprised she could actually touch them, though he was only a spirit of his real self. “Lewis, please,” she said gently. “Tell me anything that makes sense. Just one bit of information that gives me hope. I’m not going to argue about how you don’t know while this other guy knows. But tell me who knows about the Six Keys?”
“You want a name?”
“That’d be a start.”
“We used to call him Patient 14.”