Alice and What Came After: Between the Glass

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the original characters.

Chapter Thirty: Ending Helen

A few stitches closed up the deep gash in Sarah's neck. She welcomed the drugs that kept her from feeling the pain in her neck and the pain in her heart. Connor had been there, holding her hand, when she learned the news.

Chase Heart—her Chase—was dead. He'd been killed in the fight.

His body had been prepared for burial and was awaiting transport back to their Wonderland. Her friend, Connor Temple, was working on securing transportation for them. He was hard at work on fixing the Looking Glass with her brother's help.

Her double, Jessica, was cleaning up Wonderland and restoring order. Kyle was helping her getting the kingdom running again.

But no one was helping Chase. Her lover was dead and he was staying dead. There was no medical cure in this alternate Wonderland that could bring him back to life. The technology had never been invented here.

That left Sarah alone in a hospital room where doctors and nurses kept an eye on her and her neck wound.


"That should do it," Connor announced, making one final adjustment to the Looking Glass.

The mirror hummed to life.

"Yes!" her brother rejoiced, giving his double a high five.

"That's brilliant," Hatter said. "Just brilliant."

Temple beamed.

"Now what?" asked Jessica. The blonde had been keeping an eye on the two man crew for the past week. She had been crowned queen a few days before.

"Now we run a few tests," Temple said.

"How long will it take?"

"Maybe two days?"

She sighed. "Okay. What do you need?"

Temple shrugged his shoulders, facing the small crowd of his double, Jessica, Sarah, and Hatter. "Any volunteers?"

Hatter stepped forward. "Do you need an anomaly jumper?"

"Yeah, that's a good start. Umm, Sarah, can you get a list going of the places the Glass needs to open to?"

She nodded, still not talking. Her throat was on the mend, the bandages covered with a bright colored scarf snitched from her twin brother.

"Queen Jessica, are you going to stay for the demonstration?"

"Of course," the blonde said.

"Okay. Let's try… one of the US locations from… two weeks ago." Connor Temple made a few hasty adjustments as everyone, minus Sarah, watched.

The mirror's surface changed, rippling.

"Hatter? Would you do the honors?"

The older man tipped his hat to the assembled group and jumped through the mirror.

Both Connors and Jessica waited several minutes before Hatter jumped back through. He landed with the grace of an experienced jumper. In his hand he clutched a newspaper.

"Well?" Temple asked.

Hatter proudly held up the paper, displaying a date from two weeks ago. "South Dakota, USA," he relayed.


In the wilds of Wonderland, on the fringes of the palace, Helen Cutter lay in wait. All of her targets were inside the palace along with the opening device and Temple's latest project. All she had to do was get inside, kill the queen and her guards, and kill Temple.

Anyone who got in her way would die. She had to fix her world. The ARC had to be destroyed.

Connor Temple and his inventions needed to go up in smoke.

But first, she had to deal with Temple's daughter. According to what she'd overheard, Sarah was still in the hospital wing.

Helen swung her backpack on her shoulder. It wouldn't take long to dispatch the brat.


Sarah went back to the hospital wing to get her wound cleaned again. She'd already started a list of necessary portals based on her knowledge of Wonderland. All she had to do was double-check with the reference books in the palace's library later.

She lay down on the bed, Connor's scarf in her hands. She'd unwound it from her neck to allow the nurses to see her neck. The scarf helped cover the white bandages, making Sarah feel more normal. It still hurt to speak and probably would for some time.

The doctors had insisted she'd been lucky to survive the knife wound. She didn't feel lucky most of the time.

Her eyes closed, exhaustion setting in. She had enough time to take a nap before a nurse came to check on her neck.


Helen pulled a scrub top over her shirt to help blend in. She looked like most of the nurses in the hospital wing.

She grabbed some medication from a storage area along with a needle. She smiled at the label. Orphenadrine citrate—more commonly known as norflex. It was meant as a muscle relaxant. The best part was that by the time Sarah Temple dropped dead, no one would be able to trace it to the hospital wing or to Helen.

The girl was asleep on a hospital bed when Helen spotted her.

She filled the syringe with a large dose—large enough to ensure death in a person twice the size of Temple's diminutive daughter—and flicked the air bubbles out.

The needle was in her arm before the girl woke.

"Ssh, it's just to prevent infection," Helen said, not looking at Sarah's eyes.

"But, I—"

"All done." Helen patted her arm.


With her neck cleaned and rebandaged, Sarah went to the library alone. She wasn't there long before her brother slipped into her head.

You outta the hospital?

Been out. What's new?

Just waiting on you.

Did dad go mirror-jumping?

Yup, been there, done that. How was the hospital?

They gave me another shot. That nurse sucked.

Really?

She must be new. Sarah closed her eyes, feeling a wave of nausea. Ugh, I don't feel too good.

Medication got ya down?

Don't start with me.

Want some company?

No, bro. I'll be fine. I've got work to do, remember? Go play with your fun toys. I'll see ya soon…


"Jabberwock? Time to go, luv," Hatter called, opening the library door.

His daughter sat in a plush chair, not moving. She didn't even look up.

"Sarah?"

He shook her, frowning when she went boneless in his arms. She didn't stir at all.

"Luv?"

He tapped her cheek, trying to wake her up. "Sarah?"

Hatter touched her neck, feeling for a pulse. There was one, but it was uneven. She was barely alive. "Connor! CONNOR!" he shouted toward the hallway.

His younger son skidded into the library. "What?"

"Page the hospital wing. Get your mum. Something's wrong with Sarah."


Connor Temple stood across the hall from Sarah's room. The young woman was on a ventilator across from a heart monitor. Her pulse was slow. Her heart was failing.

The official diagnosis was a coma. Sarah was trapped in a coma.

"How soon can we get through the Glass?" Alice asked him, her eyes falling to her unconscious daughter.

"Whenever you want, I should be able to set it. The Glass seems to be holding steady. Do you think she's gonna be okay?"

Alice shook her head. "Too early to tell. The sooner we get her home, the sooner we can get her really good medical care."

"So you want to go straight to New York?"

"That would be great, Connor."

"It's no trouble, Mrs. Hatter."


Helen watched Connor head off to the Looking Glass Hall on his own. The rest of the gang stayed in the hospital wing. They'd found Sarah before the girl was truly dead. She was close to death, but not close enough for Helen's satisfaction.

She had wanted to finish the new queen off first, but Temple was her primary goal. She needed the opening device.

He had his back to the door when she slipped inside.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," Connor said, still not turning around.

"How did—"

"I saw you shoot us. I knew you were still here. It was only a matter of time. You're the reason Sarah's hurt, aren't you?"

"I'm impressed that you were able to put that together without Abby or Nick holding your hand."

Connor didn't turn. "Go ahead, Helen. Shoot me in the back like the coward you are. It won't change anything."

She scoffed. "Are you that eager to die?"

"It doesn't matter. You won't leave Wonderland alive."

It was her turn to be surprised when a gun cocked in her ear.

"Hello, Helen. Sarah's told me a lot about you. None of it was good," a thickly accented voice hissed. It sounded a lot like Connor, only not. There was an edge to his voice—an edge of danger and violence.

She turned, glaring down the barrel at her would-be killer. The man was a younger Connor.

"You think you'll kill me? I'd be surprised if you knew how to work that."

"I've had lessons. And that's my sister you put in the hospital. You shot her before. You're a part of this entire mess. You're the reason we got stuck here."

She couldn't help but grin at the kid's show of bravery. Or stupidity.

"And what are you going to do about it? Can you really pull that trigger on an unarmed woman?"

"You're not unarmed and you're not a woman. You're a monster," the miniature Connor hissed.

"Conn, I can do it…" the older Temple suggested.

"No. I'll do it. I have to."

The gun shook. "You're not a killer," Helen taunted. "I can tell."

"Shut up!"

"You're the weak one, aren't you?"

"I said shut up!"

"Conn, calm down," Temple said.

"I…I…"

Helen watched as the meek geek in front of her changed, becoming a bit more of a dangerous person. He didn't look the same.

"You won't pull the trigger. You don't know how," Helen said, walking closer to the gun. Temple couldn't use a gun—even a tranquilizer gun. She knew this version of him couldn't either.

But Helen Cutter was wrong.

The bullet sailed through Helen's forehead. Connor Hatter didn't blink. He couldn't. This woman was behind all of their recent troubles. She'd broken the mirror and stranded him and Sarah. She'd shot at his sister multiple times and killed people that both she and the other Connor knew.

Helen had to be stopped.

Connor Temple knew she would show up again. That's why they'd decided to work together. But the plan had never been for him to shoot Helen. They'd never gotten that far.

But the Madness grew in him. He couldn't help it.

He killed Helen Cutter with one shot.

Author's Notes:

Sorry it took so long – I've been sick, without 'net, and attacked by multiple animals. Anyways, here's the last chapter. The epilogue will tie up all the loose ends concerning everyone's fate, I promise.