M y lips are trembling, but I have so many questions. “So I killed all those innocent people for nothing? I never found out your weakness?”
“You shouldn’t have tried to fight fire with fire. It’s your fault, not mine.”
“Why did you come back for me in this modern world then?”
“I needed to know something.”
“The Six Keys.”
“Something like that.”
“Don’t play games with me or I’ll shoot.”
“I find that hard to believe.” The Pillar’s eyes finally find mine.
“Because you, in some twisted way, are my biological father, right? What did you do? Leave me as child? Throw me out in the streets? Is that why I hate you so much? Is that why I’ve decided to rid the world of you in Wonderland?”
The Pillar’s breathing seems unstable. I can hardly tell what he is thinking. Every moment of silence slices through my soul like a sharp knife that cuts but never kills.
“I don’t think you can kill me, because deep inside you know we’ve always been together, doing the things we did,” the Pillar says. “We have a bond, Alice. We can do great things.”
“Great things?” I’m so offended by his suggestion that I point my rifle at him again, my forefinger trembling with an unmatched desire to shoot him. “You call killing innocents a great thing? What about the Wonderland Monsters? Were they innocent somehow? A part of your devious and meticulously calculated plan?”
Tom interrupts for the fourth time, actually raising a hand in the air. “Inspector Dormouse found out the Pillar killed the drug lord in Colombia for his own needs, not to rid the world of him. Turns out he was one of the fourteen he needed to kill. So, I assume every other Wonderlander he made you kill had a similar purpose?”
“What purpose?” I ask the Pillar. “I’m dying to know.”
The Pillar does not speak. He stares at Tom as if he is going to kill him.
“What purpose?” I repeat myself. “Did you want revenge because I managed to fool you? But you just said you knew from day one. Did you want to remind me of who I am? Did I find your weakness in the Six Keys and you’re not telling me?”
“I don’t think it’s the right time to continue this conversation,” the Pillar says. “Let’s get out of this ambush and I promise you I will confess all to you.”
“Don’t believe him, Alice,” Tom says.
“You’re goddamn right, I won’t.” I push his chest with the tip of the rifle so hard the Pillar winces with fear, then I stare him in the eyes, promising my finger I will shoot this man right now. “I think I will have to shoot without knowing the rest, Pillar. Talk about fighting fire with fire.”
Again, the March Hare calls for me from afar. “Alice,” he yells. “Wait!”