Wonderland

My hosts, king Pete and ace Patrick, returned shortly after Gabe's departure. I wasn't sure what to think, I was still confused with what I'd just seen and heard from Gabe. He seemed to have that effect on people. Or, at least, on me.

"So, Ryan. Are you ready to continue your tour of the grounds?" Pete asked, bouncing on his toes next to a smiling Patrick. I nodded, still pensive about what had just happened.

They both grabbed my hands, pulling me once more through the winding hallways and staircases of the mansion. It was an odd tour, they just dragged me along and pointed out odd things along the way.

We stopped at a door, it had the number 17 crudely carved into the wood. It had roses and ivy climbing up around the door, marking it as special. Marking it as something that was special, something that deserved to be higher.

They had what I liked to call a 'couple moment', where they leaned together and rested their heads on each other's shoulders. They looked at the room, not speaking, for a minute or two before moving on.

I felt awkward witnessing that, as if it were something private that I had walked in on. However, I didn't have time to think on that, as they kept walking away from the door and pointing things out.

"I think the kitchen is in that direction. Last I checked, at least." Patrick said, pointing down a few different hallways as he said this. "It might have moved since then, though." I sighed, walking behind them and listening as they went on like this for hours, it seemed.

"Ah, here we are. The main courtyard." Pete came to a stop in front of a door, right in front of it. His nose almost grazed the white painted wood, and his toes were pressed up against the crack at the bottom.

The door was much nicer than the others. I would even go as far as to say it was nicer than the entire rest of the mansion.

It was nicely painted a bright white, there were no scratches or random plants growing from odd places. It seemed well kept and clean, which contrasted with the cracked walls around it.

After staring with wide eyes at Pete's especially odd behavior for a few minutes, the door opened by itself. There wasn't even a creak from the hinges, which supported my idea that this door was taken care of.

"Come along, Ryan. There are some people out here to meet you, I'm sure." Pete said, taking large, slow strides out to the center of the huge courtyard.

I took a minute to look at my surroundings, expecting the same glorious looks that the rest of the kingdom so far seems to have. And it didn't let me down.

There were huge, tall classic brick walls surrounding it, each one had roses planted along them. Roses seemed to be a favorite flower of the King and Ace.

There were three weeping willow trees, dripping to the ground, and each one provided shade for a small table and a few chairs. Underneath one of them was an antique looking card table with two cards on it. This is where Pete and Patrick sat.

Another one shaded a fancy, but small, dining room table that had food set out on it. At the sight of the food, I realized how long it had been since my last meal. However, I didn't go and eat, as I had no idea what was expected of me, or who the food was for.

The last, and largest, of the trees had a small gazebo underneath it, painted as white as the door leading to the courtyard with, oddly enough, smoke pouring out of it. I couldn't see inside of it.

All around the courtyard there were mismatched garden statues. Some were classic cupids, others were stone pedestals cupping colorful orbs. One of the larger ones was a dragon that curled and stretched around sunflowers in one particular corner of the space.

Each statue was different, some modern art, and some looking antique. The weaved around, and stood beside more beautiful flowers and tall grass, each one with it's own personality.

They were placed seemingly at random places throughout the yard, but somehow it wasn't chaotic. It was somehow a uniform chaos, one that pulled everything together by pulling it all apart.

One of the statues seemed to be of Gabe, it was a cat hanging upside down, but its head was right side up. The grin was unmistakable; even though I'd only seen it a few times, I'd never forget each and every detail.

The grin was mad and crooked, with jumbled teeth and oddly shaped lips. At first, one would think it was made by an amateur sculptor, someone who didn't know how to make mouths.

But then, you think that it's more likely a master sculptor, someone who's so good that they're bad. Someone who makes it so real that it's barely art anymore, as it's not lying about how ugly it is.

But past the unappealing sight of the grin, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It was wondrous, hypnotizing. It was beautiful in all of it's hideousness, and I couldn't help but love it, though I hated it at the same time.

"Ryan! Come here, there's a few people here to meet you!" I heard Pete yell from somewhere near the white gazebo, snapping me out of my thoughts.

The smoke had died down a bit, but the inside was still hard to see. As I got closer, the inside became easier to understand, though not easier to see. It seemed as though there was another couple in there, one sitting on the other's lap.

I got even closer, and realized that it was two girls, locked at the lips sloppily with their hands in each other's hair. One had fiery red-orange hair, while the other had brown hair with a bit of blonde.

The red-head was wearing yellow skinny jeans and a black shirt, while the other girl on her lap was wearing a yellow vest and black skinny jeans. I could see the content smile seeping through the red-heads eyes as she kissed the other.

"Hayley and Cassadee!" Pete yelled, Patrick giggling slightly next to him. "We have a guest."

They broke apart for a second, staring questioningly at me intensely for a minute before going back to their embrace. "They're more pleasant away from each other. Too bad that has never happened before." Patrick said through his giggles. "Oh, well. I'm sure they'll come around eventually."

I took another look around the courtyard, noticing that the statue of the cat had disappeared.