A/N
Oh, man! I love the ending of this! It is definitely a major twist!
Enjoy, my fellow readers, enjoy!
Gaz knew what fear was. If you were to ask her when she felt the most frightened in her life, she would reply with the time of her mother's passing. A little girl lost without her mom, understandable. After that, she was usually the one to evoke fear in others. Ask anyone: Gaz Membrane was a girl to be feared. But now, as she stared across the room at the jerking corpse hanging in the air, looming dangerously close, she found that she was again experiencing that strange feeling known as fear.
Tweedledee, Cheshire, and Gaz stared at the being. It was a woman with long, black, matted hair strewn in tangled masses. Frantic, tormented sobs trembled out of her throat. She floated inches off the ground where her glowing white dress drifted, concealing the knotted, malformed limbs working as her legs which dragged on the floor. One arm hung loosely at her side where as the other had been broken and was now nothing more than a stump twitching at her shoulder. A hand, one meant to belong to a child, jerked uncontrollably on the end of the disfigured arm.
"It is a Banshee," Cheshire whispered, engrossed in the being.
"No," Gaz breathed, "it's not. It's The White Queen."
The White Queen let out a moan. Blood dripped down her throat where a slit ran from the jaw down to the collar bone. Each movement she made caused her head to fall back, nearly tearing from the neck completely. She groaned in pain but quickly returned and made her way across the large room.
"Tak," Gaz groaned.
"I expected to see her in here," Cheshire sighed.
"You knew?" Gaz accused.
"The mirrors on the floor," he nodded, "they are here for a reason. Humans cannot look her in the eyes, Alice. If you do, you, too, will turn into a banshee and roam these halls for all eternity. That is the purpose of the banshee. They endlessly wander, crying their sorrows concealed within the walls of their heart, waiting to find someone they can transfer this dreadful curse to. If they find a soul unfortunate enough to look into their eyes, the pain of the banshee transfers to the victim where they suffer endlessly. Normally, people avoid the place of the banshee. We should have no such luck. The mirrors—you must look at her only through the mirrors."
"W-We have to get out of here!" Tweedledee cried.
"No," Cheshire grabbed his arm and held him where he stood. "If we run, she will simply follow. Besides, it is said that banshees carry wisdom meant to aid the vanquisher, should we kill it. We dispose of her now."
This caused a reaction from the Queen. Strained, hoarse cries gurgled out of her mouth. As she approached, Gaz saw that her mouth was sealed shut. A beige, spongy layer poured over her lips. Each time she strained to speak, the film twitched and trembled loosely.
Tweedledee scurried behind Gaz where he hid in her shadow. Her heart beat madly and her palms moistened with sweat. Still, eyes downcast, she scanned the ground and found a wrench thrown in the corner. Cheshire grinned deliriously.
"Choose your weapon wisely," he warned, "for your life depends upon that choice alone." He snarled, leaping into the air. His claws dug into the banshee's throat. She crashed to the ground, her arms flailing wildly. The flap spread open on her throat and released a pained hiss. "Now, Alice!" Cheshire ordered.
Gaz, moving so that she was always staring at the floor, pulled the wrench back to strike the banshee down when the Queen wriggled out of Cheshire's grip.
"Alice!" he cried, but the banshee slashed her nails across his face, hurtling him to the ground.
The White Queen dragged herself across the floor using one hand. She drew a fist back and slammed it against the side of Gaz's head. Gaz stumbled back, head pounding. The Queen quickly snatched the wrench and swiped it against her knee, causing Gaz to fall to the floor. Scrambling atop her, the banshee dug her claws into her face, trying to force Gaz to look at her.
With nails scratching frantically at her eyes, Gaz snatched the wrench and smashed it against the side of her head. A screech of pain cried out. Rolling out from beneath her, Gaz stood on wobbly legs and prepared for another attack. She could see the veins on her eyes pumping blood. Her muscles clenched. It's just a ghost, she told herself. You can take her. But as she readied the assault, adrenaline pumping, she found that the Queen was gone.
"W-Where'd she go?" Tweedledee whispered.
"Listen for the suffering," Cheshire shushed.
Silent sobs filled the air and echoed through the empty corridors snaking around the room. It came from the door, the ceiling, the floor—Gaz was not sure where it came from. Limping, Gaz scooted passed Cheshire and Tweedledee, snatching a broken fragment of mirror off the floor, and left the room where she stood in the hall, waiting.
Tweedledee clutched a screwdriver he had found and quickly followed after, calling her name.
"Gaz!" Cheshire's whisper hissed. He peered uncertainly at the blood trickling down her knee where the banshee had struck her with the wrench. "Are you foolish enough to attempt to defeat such a creature on your own?"
"You're alone with everything you do," Gaz replied. She tilted the mirror back as she scanned the hallway behind her. "At Skool, the counselor tries to help. Around town, the police officer comes. Hospitals have nurses and doctors that tell your father you're completely insane." She laughed. "And mental hospitals probably won't be any different. But I guess we'll see soon enough, won't we?"
"You are not there yet, Alice," Cheshire reassured.
"It's only a matter of time," she countered. "Maybe I am insane and I just don't realize it, but they say that mad people do not question their sanity—they are just oblivious to it." She smiled as she glanced into the mirror shard and found the banshee floating in the corner, fingers clawing at the tears she wept. "So does that mean if I keep questioning it, I will stay safe from the threat of losing my mind?" The White Queen's head twisted her way and she howled, jumping from her perch in the corner. Hands outstretched, she rushed towards Alice. Alice simply smirked and stole the screwdriver from Tweedledee. She stabbed it into the Queen's throat and watched her fall to the floor, blood spurting out the vein. "Does it?" Gaz whispered.
Cheshire hopped over and held the ghost to the floor. It was not much of a struggle for her hands pried at the tool stuck in her neck. Alice, emotionless, knelt beside The White Queen and grabbed her face. Though the blood of the banshee dried instantly and burned her flesh, Gaz turned her face so that they were eye-to-eye.
The White Queen wheezed. The film covering her lips dissipated, allowing her to speak. Her tears remained frozen on her cheeks in small, rounded drops. "I hold the knowledge you seek," she gagged, blood sputtering out as her hoarse voice broke through. "The knowledge that will free you."
"Tell me," Gaz demanded.
"Death is freedom in disguise. It releases the victims of life and delivers a new world to them."
"What does that mean?"
The Queen said nothing. Gaz sighed and twisted the screwdriver still lodged deeply in her throat. Her legs kicked, her arms thrashed, and finally, she screamed.
"Very well," she choked out. "I will tell you." She struggled to breathe and once she was able, it was nothing but a short, scratchy wheeze. "The Hatter already holds you prisoner in this world and the next. Should you become his bride, you will remain here forever." She coughed, blood dripping down her chin. Her voice sounded clogged, watery. If Gaz was not careful, she would die before she was able to tell her. "However, if you manage to kill The Hatter, you will be free."
"How? How do I kill him?" Gaz asked
The Queen smiled, her head wilting back.
"Tell me how!"
She squinted, trying to regain focus. "Tell me, how would you kill the one you love?"
Gaz groaned, annoyed. "What are you talking about? I—" Her eyes widened and she frowned. "Y-You mean Zim?"
Tak nodded.
"You kill an Irken through their PAK; at least, that's what Zim told me." Then, she realized just what the Queen was telling her.
"Exactly."
Her head drooped and her hands fell from the screwdriver. Eyelids closed, a frown stretched across her lips. One final, desperate moan breathed out. Resting her lifeless corpse on the ground, Gaz sighed.
"How am I ever going to destroy his PAK?" she thought aloud.
"We will find a way," Cheshire replied.
Nodding at the banshee, Tweedledee asked, "What did she mean about The Hatter already holding you prisoner in this world and the next?"
Gaz shrugged. "I guess she was referring to the nightmares."
Suddenly, Tak opened her mouth in hysterical laughter.
Gaz jumped.
She thought she was already dead. She had not expected this. Still, she crawled over to the ghost's body as it jerked from the hysteria, and bent over, confused.
"Why are you—?"
She gasped, her life fading. With her last bit of strength, she panted, "Y-You think I simply refer t-to the nightmares?" Tak sneered. "The Hatter has deluded you."
"What are you saying—?"
"You think you are still in the hospital, waiting for your father, don't you?" Tak snapped tauntingly.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Tak's smirk deepened. At this, Gaz grew angrier. "No. No, I know I am," Gaz retorted. "Whenever I entered Wonderland, I was waiting for the doctor and my dad to reach a decision."
"But they already reached a decision, Alice."
Her eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes narrowed. "What?"
Tak laughed at her uncertainty. "You have already been taken to the mental hospital." Her eyes danced as she screamed, "Alice, you have been there for a year!"
A/N
Man! I bet you did not see that coming!
And now, wallow in the cliff hanger! Mwahaha! XD