Damaged People: The Last Waltz
Chapter Five:
Time Ticking Down
When their exhaustion had slowly waned to almost nothing, Alice awoke to the sound of the mechanism under Hatter's skin whirring into motion again as he shuddered into life after their fantasy-like sleep. They had only vague recollections of the dream they both knew they shared, but the easy comfort of the other's presence banished all worry to the winds. But as the Hatter woke up more fully, he realized the looming danger that was always on his mind was not quite so easy to send away… Although his house could keep most everyone out, it was no match for a flood of the Queen's Cards. They could- they would clog the system with their bodies until the machine choked to a halt. But looking upon Alice, he could almost forget…So this was the safest place for them to be, for now.
-†-
Meanwhile, the Queen of Hearts' amassing army was gathering strength.
"I'll have her head!" The Queen of Hearts shrieked as she paced in front of her Ace-card officers. "How long has she been here? How long has she restricted us, forgotten us? Where is she! I want her alive, so I can have the honor myself!" She paused, looking at the quivering, pathetic men before her. One of them seemed to be about to speak, but kept shaking too hard to get it out. "You there!" she yelled, "What is it? You're annoying me with your hesitation!"
"M-my queen… I- Oh please don't hurt me! Alice is- is-" the Ace of Clubs stammered.
"Out with it!" the queen bellowed, starting to turn red.
"The White Rabbit… he didn't get to her in time-"
"What? That bumbling idiot! Where is she now? Find her, find her!"
The Ace of Clubs looked ready to faint, but he continued,
"B-but that's ju-just the thing, your Highness… She's with the Mad Hatter." The queen looked more like an angry tomato than anything else at that final note. She shook with seething rage, and cried,
"I'll have their heads!" She took several deep breaths before she spoke again. "I want every available man out there to find the Cheshire Cat…"
"My lady?"
"Don't question me!" she snapped. "We need him to get inside the Hatter's circle of trust…He can lure them outside." She laughed darkly, "Little will he know the Cat is on my side!"
-†-
The Cheshire Cat was on nobody's side but his own, but he agreed once the cards menaced his tree long enough to be downright aggravating. Since he couldn't sleep, he might as well go along with it… to a point. After all, he'd nothing better to do. He took a graceful leap off his favorite tree, out of the welcoming sunlight and out of sight as he faded away.
-†-
"Why hello…" the Cheshire Cat drawled lightly, startling them with his sudden appearance. They jumped apart, embarrassed at how they'd been tangled together. "…If it isn't my favorite madman and madwoman." Alice bristled some at that.
"Why do you keep saying that I'm mad?" she queried angrily.
"I would have thought… we'd been all through this already…" Seeing that Alice was still peeved, he quickly changed his next words to, "It's a compliment. You fit in here… after all- it's your mad world." Cheshire Cat said, and before Alice could speak again, he added offhandedly, "Oh, and by the by… the 'queen' is looking for you. Her troops will be here in about as much time as it will take you to… run." as he examined one of his claws rather closely.
It was Hatter's turn to be annoyed, but held his tongue because of experience with the Cat, grateful the cryptic creature had even bothered to tell them at all! Hatter gave a curt nod of thanks to the slowly disappearing Cheshire Cat. "Good luck..." the fickle feline said, quite honestly. They hadn't seen him come in, but were privy to the sight as he left, floating around and along with the many gears and twisting, twirling machines. Even as became not much more than a half-moon grin, Alice knew he was very graceful, beyond anything on her earth.
The Hatter looked over at her face to see her expression and noted again just how much she had changed. Her once cheery and innocent air yielded to her being almost always sad looking, unless she had something to distract her. The Hatter wondered just how much longer he could distract her before it became ineffective, and she would have to face her demons- alone. He would always stand behind her, a pillar of strength ready to catch her should she fall… but she had to take the plunge on her own.
Alice turned to smile wryly at him, and rather than brightening up her face, the smile only served to throw her sadness into stark contrast with her fairness… the fairness that was both inside her loving heart and without it.
"We'd best be on our way." Alice was saying as if through a thick fog in his mind. Hatter found himself saying, "Yes… yes…" as he stood hollowly. The faceoff was inevitable, yet he already knew the outcome… he would kill again.