Chapter V: Into the pits of despair…

Eve POV

After a few days of hard work and punctured fingers, I finally made it. I can finally buy a pocket watch for Alex! Grasping my high-waisted taffy skirt, I ran as fast as I could to get to the store in time.

When I reached the door, the owner was starting to close it. It was almost time for supper, after all. I reached for him: "Wait, sir! Do not close the store, yet! Please!"-The middle-aged blonde man turned towards me and inspected me: "I am sorry, madam. But I need to get home to my wife and children."

I push the satchel full of shillings into his chest and beg one more time with small tears running down my eyes: "Please, I have the money. I just need to buy that pocket watch for someone very important to me."

Noticing my state and the coins on his reach, he sighs and starts opening the door once more: "Oh, very well, but just the watch." Perking up at his response, I smile and grasp his hand with my hands: "Oh, thank you, sir! Thank you!"

Entering the store, he chuckles and goes to pick up the silver pocket watch I had pointed to: "Oh, I recognize that look on your face. You reminded me of when I was going to court my Cecilia. As a good luck charm, I will engrave something on it for free. Do you have any phrase or thing you want me to engrave?"

A clap of excitement made me retreat into my thoughts. (What should I say? Aha! I know.) "Could it be more than a phrase?" He nodded and readied his equipment: "Sure. What is it?" A tender smile appeared on my face: "We are entirely bonkers. But I will tell you a secret. All the best people are."

Confusion showed on his face, but he shrugged and started engraving the watch. A few minutes later, he showed me the watch with the phrase and placed it inside a small deep blue velvet sack. "Here you go, madam."

The excitement was so, that I just hugged it to my chest and jumped up and down in excitement. The owner and I got out of the store and I shook his hand vigorously once more: "Thank you so much, once again sir. How could I ever repay you?"

Patting me on the shoulder, he smiled like a father did to his daughter: "Go be happy with your loved one. He is a lucky fellow, to have someone so doting towards him." My hands covered my face as I felt my cheeks heat up: "I'll try, sir."

Then he waved me goodbye and went home. I inspected myself in the window to see if I was presentable. Well, I looked healthier. For the first time in years, I have been able to sleep without any interruptions and my appetite was back. All thanks to Alex and Nan.

The moment I realized how much I worried them, I decided to make an extra effort at getting healthier. I was still underweight, but I have a feeling that with Nan's hearty cooking I will get my weight back in no time. Brushing my hair back into a semi-tight updo, I draw a last shy smile and start my path towards The Mangled Mermaid.

(I can't wait to see his reaction!) Being in such a cheerful mood, I even greeted my phantasmagorical friends. The streets were practically empty so there was no problem in seeming odd.

Yet, as I was passing through a stone arch, in front of me I saw someone I never expected to see again: The red-horned demon. (No, no, no, no, no! It can't be him! Not again!) He was just as I remembered him.

Black waistcoat and trousers with a red shirt underneath which matched his horns, eyes, and hair. His skin seemed as torched as his soul. My legs couldn't move despite my situation. Then he talked to me: "My, my. Is that you Evelyn, dear? I thought you were your mother, for a while."

His voice chilled me to the bone and my body just told me to run, but I could not. Cold sweat ran down my back. (Run, Evelyn! If you stay here, you will have the same fate as your family.)

I took a deep breath and turned back, holding into the sack with all my might and I ran. "I see, this is how it's going to be. You cannot run from your fate, Evelyn. You belong to me as your mother and brother did!"

Running with him always on my tail, I tried to lose him, but he was so fast. (I don't want to die! Not without telling him how I feel.) Then I saw a tight dark alley and I entered it, knowing damn well that alleys are dangerous places for girls like me.

I ran as fast as I could through that dark space and then I saw light at the end and the demon was no longer behind me. It was like something was pulling me towards that light as if it were my salvation, but I was wrong for my heart was not ready for that sight at the end of the alley…

Two hours later…

Alex POV

I felt restless as I walked back and forth, in front of the dining table. I got here three hours ago, to the Mangled Mermaid, to help Nan readying dinner. Yet, Evelyn is nowhere to be seen. (Where is she? It's 9 p.m. She should've been here an hour ago. I am worried.)

Nan was as restless as I was, she kept knitting frantically in front of the fireplace. (No, we need to go look for her. This isn't normal. Evie always was punctual.) My hand felt for her gift, on my breast pocket and I turned towards Nan.

"I am worried, Nan. It's getting late and these streets are not safe, for Evie to walk around alone."-she stood up and threw her wool into a basket. "You're right. Let's go, I'll reunite the girls with free schedule, and we'll look for her."

We rush out of the room, with supper long forgotten on the table. Nan started knocking on every door, to join every protegee she had: "Amanda, Evie's missing."-she would say.

At the mention of their protegee/sister, they would gasp and join her. (Wow, Evie. You have so many people who care for you. I hope you're okay.) Soon enough, we had about eight prostitutes, Nan, Long Tim, and me.

"Listen up! Evelyn has gone missing. She said she worked around White Chapel in a clothing store and she should've been home, by now. Cover your usual working places for any mention of her. Alexander and I will scour the area where she lived. She could've been there."-Nan said to the workers.

They scurried away and we were the only ones left except Long Tim. Nan patted him on the shoulder: "Tim, stay here and protect the rest of the girls. And in case of Evie appearing, tell her that we are going to have a big conversation."

He nodded: "Don't worry, madam. She is okay. Evie is a tough lass." "But the world is tougher, Tim…"-she answered with a worried glance. Her eyes stared at me and she signalled me: "Follow me, Alex. We're going to the slums."

"What are we going to do there?"-I asked. "It was where Evelyn lived with her family, before they died."-Nodding in determination, we rushed to get there. (Hang on, Evelyn. We will find you!)

Some minutes later…

As we scurried around the decrepit streets leading to her house, the air started feeling heavy and I started coughing: "Cough…cough… I-is this smoke?" I looked around us and I saw the streets starting to get cloudy and ashes flying around.

The thought of fire made me go back to my own family burning in our house. I fell on my knees and started hyperventilating. "Alex!" "Alexander, run!" "ALEXANDER!"-a hand broke me out of the spiral of trauma. It was Nan shaking my shoulders.

"Alex, you're safe! I am here with you. Breathe with me."-she said in a soft voice. I tried to calm my breathing and soon enough, regained my footing: "Alex, we need to find Evie. She could be in danger."

The moment she said that it was like I gained a strength I didn't know I had. Standing up abruptly, I took a deep breath and started walking: "I'm okay, now. Let's go." Nodding at my determination, we ran towards where the smoke came from.

As we got closer to the source, Nan stopped and gasped: "Oh, no. That's where…" I looked at her: "Where what?" "Where Evie lived." My legs ran faster, and Nan followed behind me: "EVELYN!"

Then I reached a huge crowd being barred by the bobbies and the firefighters. They were all staring at a small shack in flames so high they seemed to reach the sky. I looked for her in the crowd, always hoping to see the auburn locks I loved so much: "Evie! Evelyn! Where are you?!"

I noticed Nan looking confusedly to an alley but there was nothing there now: "What is it, Nan?" She seemed pale and ran towards the bobbies, which grabbed her: "You cannot go there, madam. It's very dangerous!"

She kept struggling: "Let go of me, you bastards! My protegee is in there!" As I hear these words, I also go towards them: "EVIE!"-they grabbed me in a headlock. "Stop! Are you mad?"

"We need to put out the fire first!"-this words made me want to just jump out into the fire to see if she was there. I couldn't bear if I lost her too. As we were arrested in their grasp, we saw the firefighters putting out the fire as fast as possible.

An hour later, only ashes were left standing in place of the house Evelyn once lived. The moment they inspected the building, they released us. The head policeman approached us: "We found no corpses or any traces of human activity. Except for this box of matches. We will investigate further, but I am sure there was no people inside when it was set on fire."

Hearing these words didn't make me relieved in the slightest. Evelyn was still missing, and I had a really bad feeling. Nan walked among the ashes and teared up at the sight: "I am so sorry, Katherine. I failed to protect them. I am so sorry."

Her words made me confused. Did she know something I did not? We spent the entire night looking for her until we finally reached the brothel once more, completely exhausted.

As we sat on the bar, two of Nan's protegees approached her: "What is it, Lily?"-she asked in a rough voice. "Madam, we scoured our area and we found the place where Evie worked."

We stood up at the news: "And? Spit it out, girl!" They looked at each other with sad eyes: "Well, we talked with the owner of the place and she said that Evie got out at 7pm. She was quite excited when she left. The owner told us she was working to buy someone a gift."

They looked at me: "A gift for a boy she liked, madam."-I gasped at their words. (She liked someone? Is that why she was working?) The girls probably noticed my distress because they smiled and answered: "It was for you, Alexander."

I froze and stared widely at them: "Me?" Nan sat and facepalmed: "Oh, you silly lad. It was obvious that you liked each other. You were the only ones who couldn't see it."

Despite the happiness I felt right now about knowing that my feelings were not one-sided, guilt was the only thing going through my head. Sitting back on the stool, I brought my hands to my face: "You are telling me that I am the reason she is missing? That it is because of me that she could be in danger? Oh, Evelyn. Why?"

My fists beat up the counter in anger at this. They looked at me in pity, a comforting hand reached for my shoulder: "We will find out what happened, Alexander. Tomorrow, we'll keep looking."

I slapped her hand away: "Tomorrow she could be dead! I am going to look for her!"-and I ran out of the door, only listening Nan calling out for me: "Alexander, come back!"

Scouring every nook and cranny of the neighbourhood, I was looking for her till dawn and then my feet took me to the orphanage. Might as well wait for the orphans to wake up, they might want to help. They know this area well, after all.

As I entered the lobby and climbed the stairs towards my room, I only heard someone groaning coming from Doctor Bumby's room: "Ouch, this will take a while to heal. That bitch!"

My mind was so focused on finding Evelyn that I paid no mind to it. I closed my door behind me, and I sat on my bed. My eyes took in my drawings which could be a story of my life.

I do keep a diary and write everything in it. Evelyn recommended me to do it when she told me about my "amazing" skill to be a storyteller. (Oh, Evie. Today was supposed to be the best day of our lives. What happened to you?)

Laying in my bed, I looked right to the portrait of my family: "Mom, dad, Lizzie, keep her safe please. I don't what I would do if I lost her." And with these last words, I fell asleep from exhaustion.

When I woke up as I left the orphanage with the group of children who wanted to help, I noticed the doctor nursing his hand which was bandaged. I took no notice of this and off we went.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into two months. In this period of time, a lot of things have been happening. I have been getting closer to finding out the truth about my family, but nowhere closer to finding out Evie.

I fear the worst. The doctor keeps forcing me into successive sessions which leave me mostly out of it but thanks to it I've been visiting Wonderland more times. I have barely any strength or will to keep going.

The only reason I wanted to get better was for Evelyn and with her missing I feel like nothing matters anymore. Yet, I owed the truth to her. I needed to find out what happened.

As if things couldn't get any worst, Jack Splatter burned the Mangled Mermaid to the ground. If Nan hadn't taken me from there as I was knocked out by him, I would have died.

Was it that bad of an end, though? Dying close to Evelyn's possessions seemed like a peaceful death. Her disappearance affected all of us. Nan and her protegees barely smile anymore. And even Long Tim has returned to his cold brash exterior.

(Please Evie, come back. We need you. I need you. I love you so much and to know that I never told you, breaks me.) Today, after an insightful conversation with a hallucinated Insane child missing her lower part, I fell into the Dollhouse.

There, within the wasteland of abandoned toys, I met the Insane Children. Their leader asked for my help and offered a very cryptic explanation for what was going on, saying that "parts" of the children were being taken from them by the mastermind behind the Infernal Train and the Ruin monsters, the Dollmaker.

Running up the stairs of this dark gooey realm, I saw him. The one behind all this. The one who I thought was going to heal me: Doctor Angus Bumby.

It was all starting to piece together. Evelyn was right. Doctor Bumby was not to be trusted. He was selling the children as child prostitutes. And he was the one who killed my family, using a fire to hide the murder of my sister.

(Oh Lizzie, that monster! And Evie! She was so scared of him. I swear if he is the one behind her disappearance…I will make sure to see his head roll!) It was time to confront this monster.

As I confronted him with all that he had done as he kept stuffing the live dolls into an empty shell turning them into practically silent statues, I saw something on a pedestal behind him.

Behind a glass dome, laid a china doll with long red locks in a pretty white dress. What disturbed me most was the blood staining down her belly and the cracks on her neck. (Why was this doll so disturbing and yet so familiar?)

He noticed my gaze towards it, and I could almost see his gooey black smirk form: "Beautiful, is it not? It is my last possession. Yet, we know what they say: The most beautiful are usually the most fragile."

I felt nausea which permitted him to grasp me and turn me into a doll as well. He threw me into a hole and all I could see was dark. (No! I need to know what happened to Evelyn! I am going to kill him!)

When I woke up, I was in London once more. I had a goal now. I followed the queue of ghost like children who owned only a cardboard around their necks with numbers on it.

(Poor Evelyn if she saw this, it would break her heart.) The children leaded me to a train station, there in front of me stood Bumby. Anger filled every inch of my being: "You oozing sore of depravity…children wearing their names around their necks, as if they're breeding livestock!"-he turned towards me with a suitcase on his hand.

"A declaration of their pedigree. They're proud to display their provenance."-he laughed sarcastically. "You brute! They can't remember who they are or where they're from. How many minds have you twisted into forgetfulness?"-I approached him dangerously and he stepped back.

"Not enough! Yours would have been a triumph. And hers…oh it would have been so much sweeter. Still, you're an insane wreck. My work is done!"-with these words I go once more back to Wonderland, in the Infernal Train.

I see a door in front of me and I enter it. My body goes once more into London: "You've used me and abused me, but you will not destroy me."-I say determinedly to the fiend.

"No? The damage is done. The old Alex and his Wonderland retreat are demolished. You can't even recognize what's happened. And you're powerless to change it or move against me. I've made certain of that."-he crossed his arms.

I found myself in Wonderland and I slayed the Doll master. Now, it's time to deal with the real monster, behind all this. One last time, I was in the real world, in front of Bumby.

"You're mad. Like your sister." I snarled at him: "Don't speak of her. You didn't know her…" He smirked: "Your sister and your little friend were a tease. Pretended to despise me. They got what they wanted…in the end."

Then my mind returned to my past and I realized that Angus had raped my sister and…No, please tell me this isn't real.

"Oh no…poor Lizzie. And Evelyn! What have you done to her?"-I screamed at him. He circled and licked his lips: "Oh Evelyn. That red-haired beauty. I understand now why everyone wanted her to sell herself. She was quite sweet, indeed. And you should have seen her tears! Crystal pristine as I showed her what happened when you stir me up too much. Yet, what a pity. She saw too much, so she had to go. All it took was a little creak of the neck and poof. Gone."

(So, that doll was… Evelyn. H-he… N-no…Please, no. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) I took a step back completely frozen with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. Clenching my fists and my jaw, I glared into his eyes: "YOU WILL PAY!"

The usual adrenaline rush I felt when I switched to my Hysteria Mode, ran down my skin and I felt myself change in his eyes, as he started walking backwards with open wide eyes: "I-It can't be…You are a monster!"

Looking down, I noticed that my usual blue wonderland attire was white as my skin and blood tinted my hands, neck, and mouth. (I turned outside of Wonderland?...I see. If it helps me kill him, I will throw my sanity away.)

Taking in my hand the Vorpal Blade, I twirled it in my fingers: "S-Step back! P-please l-let me go!"-he begged. Getting closer and closer, I smirked: "You didn't do that, when Evelyn begged you to. So, why should I?"

I saw a wet spot appear on his crotch. He probably pissed himself with my demonic sight. "I will make you beg for death…after I make sure you suffer more than they did." Lifting my knife, I quickly stab his crotch with it, making him wail in pain: "AGHHHHHHH!"

"Oh silly me, … I missed."-he fell into me and I just turned the blade again and again. His screams were a bliss to me. After all he had done, he deserved this. "S-stop…cough…PLEASE!"

A maniacal laugh erupted from my lips: "You did not think I was done …right?" He shook his head in denial and I cut into him, always trying to avoid any vital organ. To make sure he lasted enough to see him die.

Some minutes later, the ground was a bloody mess as we both were. His suit was completely tinted red and my knife was dripping with his vile blood. Might as well kill him, or other people will notice soon: "Last words…?"

Coughing blood, he drew a weak smirk as he tried to lift himself but he was barely alive: "H-hahah-a…*wheeze*…s-sh-he j-just ke-ept…*wheeze* c-cryi-ing your n-name b-but she w-was the tigh-htest, I-I have e-ever f-felt. A-ahahaAHAHAHAHA!"

At his words, I saw only red and I stabbed my knife through his throat: "GO TO HELL!" Removing my knife, he felt into the train tracks and was run over by an incoming train. In my hands stood my sister's room key and I switched back to normal.

Looking around me, I saw a mix of London and my wonderland completely healed. Yet, despite the beautiful sight, nothing could make me smile now. I fell on my knees with my face between them.

My body shook with sobs as I cried out loud for the people I lost thanks to my naivety. (Oh Evelyn, if I had heard you, you would be alive today. If I never took you to that place, you would be okay. This is all my fault.)

In my breast pocket, I felt an extra weight. My hand reached for it and I cried into the box where her present laid: "I-I am so sorry, Evelyn. This is all my fault." Standing up slowly, my legs moved with no goal of their own.

I felt worst than when I was in the asylum. I rather be there, than to have her die. Dragging my empty shell with barely any will left, my legs took me to Nan's new brothel.

Long Tim saw me and greeted me briefly, but I didn't even remove my eyes from the ground. When I entered the brothel, she noticed my state and approached me carefully.

I don't remember what she said or what I told her, but I saw her falling on her knees as she sobbed out loud, the moment the words «Evelyn is dead» left my mouth. She grasped into me as if seeking comfort, but I just stood there.

It seemed like time walked so fast. From the moment Nan told her protegees what happened, to the local graveyard where we all stood in front of a grave with three names: Evelyn's mom and brother and Evie herself.

We haven't found the body, but she would wish to be remembered where her family stood. Her "sisters" cried into each other's arms, while Nan sobbed, and I just stood there completely frozen.

(I don't belong here anymore. It would be best if I just exiled myself in Wonderland. Yet, I have something I should do first.)

The next day after the funeral I knocked on Nan's door who was organizing some things she had. "Nan… I am leaving." She turned towards me and nodded sadly: "I figured you'd say that."

I offered her a dark blue cover book which was my diary with all my story: "I just have a favor to ask of you." Nan placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled weakly: "Of course. Anything."

Delivering her the book, I explained: "I want you to publish this. People should know what happened here. Perhaps they will start opening up their eyes to what's around them."

Grasping it tightly, she nodded and took a small drawing, with one of his corners burnt and a green lace ribbon, from her pocket: "I will. Here, have these. These were her only possessions which I could rescue from the fire. You should have them."

My hands straightened the drawing and I gasped. It was the first drawing I had made of us when I was in the asylum. (She kept it all this time. Oh, Evie…) The ribbon still had her faint lavender scent. I tied it around my wrist and saved the drawing in my pocket.

Then I turned back with my brown suitcase. "Alex…it was not your fault. She wouldn't want to see you like that." I took a deep breath: "Yes, it was. Farewell, Nan."

Walking towards the train station where I killed that monster, I saw a portal leading to Wonderland. At its feet stood Cheshire as if waiting for me: "Off to Wonderland again, Alexander?"

My clothes changed to my blue uniform as I entered the portal, with the cat behind me: "And to never return…"

And that was the last time I was seen in England ever again…or was it?

Chapter V-End