Past: Yellow Bus, London
T he day Alice got on the bus to kill the Jabberwocky, Carter Pillar sat in the back, wearing his tennis outfit, trying to blend in. Alice looked away from him, wondering if he would risk his life being nearby.
Jack, on the other hand, wouldn’t leave Alice. As her boyfriend at the time, he wanted to stick around. Alice didn’t mind. She liked him, even though she had become his girlfriend to get to the Jabberwocky first, but then she realized how good a person he was.
She had faked loving him arriving to the real world, but then fell in love with him, so much that it compromised her judgment.
Jack was a good soul, her childhood friend, raised by bad parents and had no memory of who he really was.
Right now, she had no time for love. She waited to spot the Jabberwocky in human form so she could drive the bus off the bridge. But what did he look like in human form?
She turned and blinked at the Pillar who shrugged his shoulders out of disappointment. He meant to say, I don’t know who the Jabberwocky is. She had counted on the professor’s cunningness to recognize the Jabberwocky in human form.
Alice bit her lip and fisted her grip. This had to work.
She continued her investigative gaze all over the bus.
Fabiola was disguised as one of the teachers in front. She made brief eye contact with Alice as well, saying ‘Nah, I didn’t find him.’
Alice turned to Lewis who faked being a professor on the bus. Lewis blinked. It meant he couldn’t tell as well.
They were all on the bus to help her find the Jabberwocky. The plan was to get off once they spotted him and leave her with the mission to kill him.
Disappointment shrouded Alice. Not that it was a perfect plan, but she had thought that spotting the Jabberwocky was going to be easy. Evil can’t hide, even if it tries to look good, she had thought. She was naive.
The Pillar mouthed ‘We’re getting off at the next station, maybe you should too.’
Fabiola and Lewis were leaving as well. This wasn’t the first time they had failed to find the Jabberwocky.
‘Maybe ask Jack about him,’ the Pillar mouthed as the bus stopped.
‘I’m not going to use Jack to get to the Jabberwocky’ Alice mouthed.
‘I know you love him but he can help.’ the Pillar said, disembarking with Fabiola and Lewis.
Alone in the bus, Alice stared at Jack. She wondered if he would cooperate, and worried about the pain it would bring onto him if he did.
“All good?” Jack smiled at her with his dimples.
“I guess,” she let him hug her tighter. “I was just looking for someone and can’t find them.”
“I know,” Jack said, rubbing her shoulder.
Alice tilted her head and stared at him. “You know?”
“He is not coming.”
Alice’s eyes widened.
“Did you warn him?” Her face tightened as she slipped away from under his hands.
“I didn’t.” Jack looked forward as if this conversation wasn’t happening, probably not to attract attention. “He is just too informed. Killing him isn’t going to be that easy.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that you remember Wonderland?”
“Because I didn’t want you to remember how much you loved me.”
“What?” Alice grimaced. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I can make you win this without having to kill him.”
Alice said nothing. Jack was being cryptic, and she sensed too many lies thrown into the equation. She wanted to leave the bus.
Jack gripped her hard. “Wait.”
“Let go of me,” she grunted. “I should have known from the beginning that you would lie to me.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you’re the Jabberwocky’s son,” she hissed. “Why should you be any different?”
“You remember me in Wonderland,” he said. “You remember us walking in the fields, hand in hand. You remember seeing him stop me from being with you.”
“We were kids. People change when they grow up. They mostly become a version of their parents.”
“You remember him torturing me not to come near you?”
“I do, but let go of me, Jack.”
Jack’s grip began to hurt her. He said, “I won’t. I’m not like him. I will let you win.”
“You keep saying that. How can the Jabberwocky’s son save the world?”
Jack let go of her, his eyes still piercing through her. “If you can’t kill the devil, kill his offspring.”
It was a hard sentence to swallow. Alice stood in awe, not sure what Jack was suggesting. Did he just ask her to kill him to get to his father?