(A/n) This chapter was inspired by another rendition of Alice in Wonderland. A 2000 PC game called American McGee's Alice. You all should check it out, it's just wonderful. So beautifully dark and poetic… :)


Chapter 11

"…I was thinking of a plan

To dye one's whiskers green,

And always use so large a fan

That it could not be seen.

So having no reply to give

To what the old man said,

I cried, "Come, tell me how you live!"

And thumped him on the head.

His accents mild took up the tale;

He said, "I go my ways,

And when I find a mountain-rill,

I set it in a blaze;

And thence they make a stuff they call

Rowland's Macassar Oil-

Yet twopence-halfpenny is all

They give me for my toil…"

The morning brought with it a sense of unease. The Hatter was not sure of how things were going to go about. As expected, he had not been able to sleep and so he had found himself remembering the middle of the old song he had sung from before. Those next set of lyrics had been stuck in his head until the sun was well over the horizon. It did not help him to sleep but it did help to refrain from dwelling on the strangeness of Helen. The previous night had been awkward and he was not sure if Helen would even acknowledge the fact of what had happened between them.

Would she remember?

The answer to that question was given at the breakfast table. The Hatter, fully dressed in his worn clothes and tattered top hat, had arrived at the dining area. The Queen was all ready seated and Helen, dressed in her dark blue outfit and newly made top hat, sat on the Queen's left hand side. The mad woman was gently running her fingers over and over the dark feathers of the raven that was perched on her arm, her dark eyes staring off into the distance. She was humming to herself her lullaby of Twinkle, Twinkle that the Hatter found that he liked. She didn't notice that he had arrived at the table and the only seat beside her had been taken by Chessur, who was grinning at the Hatter in a knowing way. Ignoring the cat, the Hatter made his way to the other side of the table and sat down across from Helen. She continued to stare off into the distance.

"Tarrant," said the White Queen as she smiled at the Hatter, a kind smile that did not go past the Hatter. She was aware of the tension that was crackling between Helen and him. Whatever had transpired, she was quick to bring their upcoming journey to the forefront of their mind. "You will need to eat a quick breakfast, there is not much time in the day I'm afraid."

The Queen caught the questioning glance the Hatter had thrown her way and she looked at the Cheshire cat, who was lightly sipping a cup of tea. Chessur's luminous eyes studied the inside of his white cup as his tail flicked with growing excitement. "We're to head northeast to the town of Loar on the border of Marmoreal and Queast." He glanced at the Hatter and his grin grew a little wider. "There we'll find the train station where we'll travel by rail to Bayar Malay. It seems an easy enough venture but it will be difficult since it will be a few days' walk to Loar."

"I will be providing you transportation," the Queen remarked, looking at the Hatter and giving a gentle smile. "You should be to Loar by nightfall…" she trailed off, leaving the rest of her thoughts unsaid.

Those shadows would prove difficult if they would decide to attack them. Who knew if they were simply watching Helen or perhaps were hoping to catch her? Whoever those creatures answered to was something the Queen was going to find out. It did not settle well with her that there were strange creatures prowling Underland without her knowledge…

"Shadow's play…" Helen broke in but her voice was but a cracked murmur, her dark eyes seeing something that the others could not. Erom ruffled its feathers at the mention of shadows, its eyes studying the Hatter with curiosity. Helen was more subdued this morning. Perhaps she was quite aware of what had transpired last night. The Hatter could not be so sure though, one could never be so sure with one such as Helen. The Queen noted the thoughtful look on the Hatter's face and quickly glanced at Helen, who was looking particularly haunted this morning. What had happened last night?

"To Loar… Nevar more…" Helen closed her eyes, her fingers ceasing in their movements over the raven's dark feathers. "Little dream… A cord, a string… Must weave a dream and tie the seam with a cord… a string…"

Erom smoothed its feathers and looked at the Queen, its dark eyes studying the ivory features of the monarch. It gave a single nod before fading from view, a telltale sign of gray-black smoke the only trace it left behind. Helen's hand remained in the air for but a moment before it settled down upon the white cloth of the table. The dark glove caressed the fabric and her dark eyes settled on the Hatter. "Must leave… Must weave… The Raven cries for her dreams…"

The Hatter studied the mad woman as her cracked voice wavered down to quiet murmurs. She closed her eyes and reached out to the chair beside her, her fingers finding the Cheshire cat. Chessur let out a surprised purr as her fingers began to scratch behind his ears. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against her hand, enjoying the attention.

The Queen had a light frown on her face, watching the shadowed look that played on Helen's marred face. No one said a word after Helen's eerie rhymes and the Hatter decided it would be a best to eat breakfast rather than allow his worries to further plague him…

Once breakfast was done, the Queen had swept from the dining room to prepare the group for travel. She would provide horses and a carriage for them, the fastest horses in Marmoreal to get them to the town of Loar. The shadow creatures would be following them, of that there was no doubt. Once the group was past the safety of the castle walls, who knew what kind of hell they shadows would unleash on the travelers.

While the Queen was distracted with the preparations, the Cheshire cat had excused himself in his usual fashion by evaporating from sight, his grin lingering above Helen's head before it too disappeared. The Hatter found that he was alone with the mad woman and he found that he was unsure of what was going through her mind. He lightly drummed his bandaged fingers against the table cloth, the muffled thumping doing little to attract Helen's attention. She was humming to herself, her voice wavering as her gloved fingers danced continuously over the table cloth.

The Hatter's drumming ceased and he cast his electric gaze to Helen, a light frown playing on his pale features. "I have a riddle for you." He watched as her black gloves stopped moving and her dark eyes flicked toward him. A light twitch of her lips indicated that she was aware of him and listening. He smiled; a somewhat chilling smile that would have sent chills down a person's spine. There were dark smudges beneath his eyes, from lack of sleep or his uncontrollable temper, it was hard to tell. "When is a croquet mallet like a Billy club?"

The corners of Helen's lips twitched again and she looked away, casting her dark eyes to the ceiling above. "When one wants… Do you want?"

"Want?" The Hatter's smile faded a bit, his eyes growing thoughtful. "Want… Do I want or do I need?"

"To need is to want," Helen replied in answer to his question before rising to her feet. "Round and round the sundial… Snicker snack… Will you forgive me?" she whispered this last part, her dark eyes searching the Hatter's before she turned away from him and left the table.

The Hatter stared after her, his confusion giving way to his own madness as he tried his best to ignore the ache in his own heart. Something had happened. Be it in his dreams or within hers, in his memories or in hers, something had happened…

He got up from the table, placing his bandaged fingers upon the white cloth. He stared at his hands for some time, studying the orange that stained his pale flesh. On the far end of the room, the sound of a clock could be heard ticking, the sound of Time marching on… Strange that Time seemed to be in such a rush this day…

.oOo.

Tick, tock…

Tap, tap…

Clip, clop…

The sounds stayed in time with one another. The sound of the Hatter's golden watch, now ticking the seconds; the sound of the raven tapping its beak against the door of the carriage for some unknown reason; and the sound of the horses' hooves against the cobblestone road that led northeast toward Loar.

Before they had left, the Queen had given the Hatter a letter of introduction to give to Alyiona of Bayar Malay. It bore the crest of the White royal family. She had also given a couple of books, which were wrapped in brown tissue, with strict instructions to keep them hidden. They had been placed in a traveling bag that belonged to Helen, which she had worn at her side. The Queen had wished them luck in their travels, warned against the skirmishes that were happening in Queast, and to be watchful of any signs of the creatures that waited beyond the walls. They were to be escorted by two of the white knights on horse back and a driver that hardly said a word to his charges.

The moment the white carriage had gone past the gates of the castle, Helen had gone as still as a statue. She did not speak or move, she simply stared out the window to the passing scenery. She was seeing something that the Hatter could not see but he could sense something was there. Every moment or so, he would see bushes that swayed or the branches of trees bending as they went along the road. They were being followed by those creatures.

Chessur was sitting beside the Hatter, studying the passing scenery with as much interest as Helen was. His eyes were looking past the sunlight that filtered in through the carriage window, catching the faint silhouettes of the creatures as they followed them. They had not made a move against the travelers, perhaps because of the bright day that it was. Chessur knew that would change the moment the sun went down.

"I used to dream of many things, terrible things of dread…" Helen had begun to sing, though her singing was not the off tune cracking that the Hatter knew. Her voice was a mere mumble, her dark eyes flicking from the raven beside her and back to the window. "Of candles and ravens and blood that was shed…" She closed her eyes and started to shiver, her olive skin taking on a sickly hue. "The fire that burns casts only darkness and yet only Time will shed the light-" She opened her eyes and looked at the Hatter, the haunting look striking a cord in his memory. "Have you considered things that begin with the letter M?"

The Hatter stared at his traveling companion, not surprised by her sudden question though the topic was not what he expected. "I've considered many things that begin with M," he said in reply, his electric eyes flicking to the ebony bird, which continued to tap against the carriage door. "Mind, memory, morning-"

"Moira," Helen interrupted, her eyes taking on the far off look from last night.

"What?" The name seemed to prick at his memory, a name he felt he had heard before. He leaned in close, studying the marred face of the woman as she reached up to pull down the brim of her hat. "Moira?" Why did that name ring a bell? A flash of bright red waves appeared in his mind's eye before it was gone.

His dreams…

Helen said nothing else as she curled into the white cushions, almost as if willing herself to disappear. The Hatter would have asked more of her but when he called her name, she did not respond in any way. It was a moment before he realized she had hid within herself, a tactic he had pulled himself many times when things proved too stressing. He sat back against his own seat and sighed heavily, ignoring the knowing look that Erom cast his way.

The hours had passed and the scenery gave way from forests to rolling plains. The sun was soon setting and Helen had not yet awoken from her self induced catatonia. What had proved to be an uneventful journey thus far was replaced by a sudden chill that rose into the air. Their breaths hung in silvery puffs and the temperature began to drop steadily. The Cheshire cat was floating in the middle of the carriage, his luminous green eyes studying the passing scenery. The raven had cocked its head, appearing to be listening to something, before it faded in a plume of gray-black smoke. No one had asked where it had gone and the Hatter did not care at the moment.

As the evening began to grow, the humanoid silhouettes of the creatures began to emerge, their wavering forms darker than the surrounding shadows. Their ice blue eyes brimmed with strange flames as they neared the carriage, their various swords and spears held at the ready. There were four of them, a considerable less amount than what Chessur had originally seen. His fur bristled as Helen opened her eyes and sat forward, her gloved hands braced on the edge of the seat. "No shadows please!"

"Brace yourselves!" the cat cried as he faded from view and a moment later the horses of the carriage reared. The driver tried his best to keep the animals steady but they took off on their own, the carriage dragging behind them. The Hatter was thrown back against his seat from the force while Helen was thrown forward, landing in a less than graceful heap against the Hatter's lap.

He caught her before she could fall completely and pulled her up on the seat beside him, his hands keeping her steady. The sound of clashing armor and weapons reached the Hatter's ears and he looked out the rear window to catch sight of the two white knights battling with the shadow creatures. A horrible scream filled the air and, just as the carriage turned the bend in the road, he saw that a white knight had managed to kill one of the creatures. He had stuck his blade through a crimson red stone that appeared at the center of its chest. So the creatures could be killed…

"Tarrant!"

The Hatter looked over at Helen, the sound of her calling his name catching him completely off guard. She was gripping his arms and looking over at a window, watching as a shadow creature was trying to climb through. Its ice blue eyes were only on Helen, more specifically, her very faint shadow. It was trying to aim its spear at her but could not fit all the way through the tiny window. The Hatter released the mad woman and grabbed one of the long needles that he kept within his top hat. He aimed and threw it straight at the center of the creature's chest. It let loose a horrible scream that sounded like nails scratching against a chalkboard, the long needle having found its mark against the smooth crimson stone that appeared. The needle had broken the stone, the pieces shattering like a broken mirror and falling to the floor of the carriage like frozen blood. The shadow's wavering form stilled for a moment before it too shattered into tiny pieces, the broken pieces fading into dark smoke.

It seemed to be the only one that managed to catch up with the carriage and the horses continued in their panicked race along the road. The Hatter remained on alert though, watching the windows for any signs of the creatures. It wasn't until they had crossed a small stone bridge, and the cobblestone road became hard-packed dirt, that the horses finally slowed. The driver managed to keep them from running off again and he voiced his concern to his passengers, barely getting a reply from the Hatter. The danger was no longer threatening and the town of Loar was drawing closer. They would soon reach the border of Marmoreal and Queast but whether they would be truly safe was a question the Hatter did not wish to think of at the moment.

"Are you both all right?" Chessur had appeared in the seat that Helen had been thrown out of, his tail twitching from side to side in a hurried manner as his luminous eyes flicked from the Hatter to Helen.

A muscle ticked beneath the pale flesh of the Hatter's jaw but he managed a nod. "Fair enough, considering those creatures…" replied the Hatter, his voice reverting to his native growl, his stress levels having risen. He took a moment to calm himself and when he spoke next, his fine speech had returned, lisp and all. "Thank you Chessur."

The cat's grin appeared, rather pleased to hear the Hatter's thanks. Apparently, the Hatter was well aware of cat's involvement in the startling of the horses. Had they not ran as they did those creatures would have done much more damage than they had. He hoped the white knights were all right though…

"They've killed all of the creatures that attacked," said Chessur, noting the concerned look on the Hatter's face. "One is wounded but they are on their way here now. They will need to rest before heading back to the Queen."

"Did you see any more of those creatures?"

"No," the cat replied, his grin fading as he glanced at Helen, who was staring out the window with a haunted look in her dark eyes. She was still holding onto the Hatter, the fear that played on her marred face was very real and very chilling. She was afraid of the creatures for good reason but they had no idea why those shadows were after her in the first place.

"Through the shattered looking glass," whispered Helen, her dark eyes looking out the window to the growing darkness of night. "How does the raven see the shadow that lies beyond the tree?"

The Hatter did not reply to her question, he kept his mad green eyes on the window, having noticed that Erom was flying beside the carriage. It was keeping a close eye on the surrounding area, acting as lookout for the travelers as they made their way to Loar. The silence that fell amongst them was heavy and filled with unasked questions. The sight of passing buildings did little to ease the tension that was building and when the carriage finally stopped in front of a large building that was the inn, the Hatter had no idea whether to be relieved or anxious…

"We'd best go inside and get some rest," said Chessur, not liking the sight of the anxious faces on the mad couple. "I doubt that the rail would be running this time at night and we do need tickets." He flicked his tail and faded from view, his eyes lingering for a moment before they blinked and disappeared.

The Hatter managed to ease Helen's mad grip on his arms and he got to his feet, doubling over to avoid bumping his hat against the ceiling of the carriage. He opened the door and climbed down, turning around to hold out a bandaged hand to Helen. "Come Helen, we must get inside. I do not wish to risk your safety out here."

Helen did not say a word in reply; she quickly got to her feet and reached out to take his hand. She climbed down from the carriage with the fluid grace that rivaled the Queen's, the dark feathers of her top hat swaying with the movement. She stood beside him, looking up at him with worry in her eyes.

"Go on Helen, I'll be in right behind you…" His voice had gone down to a soft growl, his native accent caressing the words in such a way that would make a normal woman swoon.

Helen didn't seem to be phased by the sound of his voice but she continued to stand there stubbornly. It took a moment of continual reassurances before Helen finally gave in. The Hatter closed the door to the carriage and waited until Helen had gone inside the building. He then looked to the driver and bowed his head. "Much gratitude to you, we would have had a much harder time traveling if not for your skills."

The driver only shook his head to the Hatter, his grip tightening on the reins. "The Queen asked to see ya safely and so I had. I'll be honest with ya sir, you'd best be watchin' those creatures. T'aint natural, the likes of them..." He touched the brim of his cap and nodded to the Hatter. "Be safe sir and watch that young lady, there's something 'bout that one. Safe journey to all of ya."

The Hatter bowed his head once more before he watched the carriage pull away, the driver looking keen to find a safe place to bed for the night. The Hatter looked around at the small town, the lights in the windows of the surrounding buildings revealing a sleepy peacefulness that the Hatter could not truly grasp. Unease and confusion at the entire situation at hand ate away at him as he turned on his booted heel and walked toward the door of the inn...