A Curious, Mad Dream

“Excuse me?” Sinclair questioned in confusion at my reference. I waved away his question and repeated the questions he had yet to answer.
“Who are you? And what must end before I can leave?”

He finally lowered his blade; a tired sigh escaping his lips. He swung the sword over his shoulder and returned it inside its sheath that was strapped to his back. It made me wonder if he didn’t possess the same power Vincent did when turning ordinary objects into weapons.

“Let’s speak about this inside. I’m tired and there’s no telling who might be listening in on our conversation,” he suggested turning his back to me.

“What do you mean? We’re hundreds of feet above ground. Who could possibly be listening?” I scoffed doubtfully.

“In Wonderland…you learn to believe in all things impossible,” he quietly stated over his shoulder. A panel I hadn’t noticed before slid back to reveal a dark set of stairs leading down into the tower. Sinclair turned his head towards me. His hood still shadowed the top half of his face with darkness.

“Now, you can either come with me and stay where it’s warm and safe or you can stay out here in the cold with the creatures of the night.” Although the statement was worded in a way that gave me a choice, it was his tone of voice that told me I had no options. I was supposed to follow him.

“Well since you asked so nicely,” I sarcastically replied walking toward him. He let out a short, unamused chuckle before stepping down onto the staircase and heading down. I cautiously followed down after him letting out a small yelp of surprise when the panel above me slid shut.

“Uh…I can’t see…” I told Sinclair grabbing for the stone wall to my left. “Aren’t there any torch lights or something in here?”

I jumped a little when I felt a warm hand intertwine calloused fingers with mine tugging me forward down the stair.

“H-how can you see?” I asked trying not to focus on the way his hand warmed mine and sent chills racing throughout my body.

“It’s not that I can see,” he began. His deep voice echoed off the walls inside the building. “I’ve just walked this path many times.”

My feet touched flat ground as I felt him lead me around in a semi-circle. We approached a door that stood off to my left, but before I had a chance to ask him about it he led me down another flight of stairs.

“Hey, Sinclair, where does that door up there lead?”

“The clock balcony,” he curtly answered coming to a sudden stop in front of me. I bumped into his back mumbling my apologies as I released his hand.

He swung open a door stepping to the side allowing me to head inside first. I nervously watched him from the corner of my eye as I made my way into the room. Once he had closed the door behind us, my eyes swept across the large oval room. In front of me appeared to be a makeshift living room with a black faux leather loveseat couch sitting in front of a large television that was built into the wall above a massive stone fireplace. On either side of the fireplace was a black door.

Over to my right was a medium sized kitchen with a bar that separated it from the dining room. In the dining room was a small square table that could seat only four people at most or so. It was obvious that he lived alone just by observing the small space of everything and lack of personal touch.

Switching my gaze to the left side of the oval room, I noticed that the space over there was devoid of any furniture of any kind. The only thing that made that side of the room even slightly remarkable were the ceiling-to-floor length windows that spanned the entire width of the wall. The moon’s pale light shone down from the night sky casting its translucent white glow across the floor making it illuminate as if by magic.

Captivated by this wondrous sight I slowly made my way over to the windows. High above me in the sky I could see the moon. Here in Wonderland the moon was large and bright; the moon here was closer than I’d ever seen it before back home. It felt like I could just reach out my hand and brush my fingertips along its various craters. Thinking of that made me wonder…was I still on Earth? Or was this…Wonderland…some sort of alien planet? Sinclair had called me an outsider earlier, so did that make ME the alien in this case?

I turned around to ask him whether I was on another planet or not, but noticed he was nowhere to be found. At least the lights had been turned on in the room. The only side that wasn’t lit by artificial lighting was the area where I stood on the left side of the oval room. Then again the moon illuminated this side quite well anyways.

I walked over to the couch and took a seat stretching my legs out in front of me. My muscles sighed in relief as they began to relax considering they had begun to knot with tension ever since I had been kidnapped earlier. The arm of the couch made the perfect cushion for my head as I lay out on the couch and wrapped my arms around myself to stay warm. I did my best to keep my eyes open especially since I had so many questions to ask Sinclair, but with each second hat passed I found that harder and harder to accomplish. The soft cushion of the couch molded around my tired body making my eyes grow heavy.

I opened my mouth in a large yawn and dug my hand into my pocket to grab out the clock pendant Henry had given me for my birthday. Even though the clock itself didn’t work, I still found it worth so much. It was the only thing I had left to remember my home and my friend by.

“I promise you, Henry, I will return to you no matter what. Just don’t forget me,” I whispered to the pendant.

I fell asleep clasping my gift tightly to my chest.

~—~|~—~

Sinclair’s P.O.V.

I exited the bathroom after having taken a refreshing shower. With a towel wrapped around my waist I padded over to my dresser and grabbed out a pair of gray sweats and a black tank. My body still seethed with anger over how the rabbit had brought her here especially against her will. Not only that, but he had left her completely clueless about everything. How idiotic! Then to have the gall to threaten me on my own land?

I met steel grey eyes in the mirror above my dresser. I watched as my eyes grew dark with anger as I thought of all the ways I wanted to kill White for what he did. He had made things grow more complicated than they were before and now she was trapped here until all of this was over. Angry, I punched my fist into the glass mirror that reflected my scarred image back at me. Shards of the reflective material fell to the dresser; some bounced and slid off the dresser to land on the hardwood floor. My eyes fell to gaze at the blood that trickled out of various cuts on my knuckles to drip thin rivers down my fingers onto the ground. I scoffed at the sight of the ruby liquid that contrasted against the tanned skin of my hand. I turned my back on the mirror not even needing to glance back to know it had already fixed itself.

My hand throbbed with a dull ache as I flexed my fingers making sure nothing had broken or worse: glass had imbedded itself under my skin. I headed back into the bathroom and ran cold water over my hand. This wasn’t fair to her…bringing her here like this. None of it was fair really. Although it did surprise me that she hadn’t known where she was. Hadn’t Alice told her about this world? Or was she still haunted by the past and what had happened here?

I sighed turning off the water and meeting my reflection’s metallic grey eyes in the mirror once more. Before my anger got the best of me again, I switched off the light and left my bedroom. Upon exiting the room I stopped in my tracks. On the couch, sleeping peacefully comforted by her dreams, was Acelin. Her flowing black hair spread out across the arm of the sofa surrounding her head like a halo of darkness.

I approached her and squatted down next to her to gaze more closely at her face. Her skin was a flawless ivory that was tinted pink from the coolness of the room. I could remember the way those violet-blue eyes had pierced my soul as she searched for any answers that may have been hiding on my face. Fortunately she had been unable to see my eyes thanks to the shadows of the night. When I had first caught glimpse of those eyes and long, black hair all I could of was that she looked so much like him…

I headed back into my room just long enough to grab the blanket from my bed and gently position it across her sleeping form. Seeing she still had her shoes on, I made careful work of removing them and laying them beside the couch. I brushed some of the black strands of hair away from her face; my fingers lingered on her smooth, ivory skin reveling in the softness of it. She sighed in her sleep burrowing further under the blanket. My hand jerked back afraid I might have woken her, but she went on dreaming.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, my head snapped up in alarm only to relax once I saw who it was.

“Is she staying here? With us?” Deidre asked gazing down at Acelin from behind the couch.

“For tonight,” I answered heading for the kitchen. “Whether she stays for the rest of her time here…is up to her.”

“Do you think she has any idea?” Jared inquired following behind me and hopping up onto the kitchen counter.

“No.”

“No?” Deidre repeated surprised. Her eyes left Acelin to snap up and look over at me.

I folded my arms across my chest and leaned back against the counter opposite Jared. I shook my head.

“I’m hoping that by explaining things to her…”

“She’ll remember?” The 13 year old boy finished for me.

“Surely her mother—” His twin sister began joining us in the kitchen.

“There’s no guarantee of that,” I interjected glancing back and forth between the twins.

“What Alice went through while she was here…the blame that was placed on her shoulders…the heartbreak…it’s possible she refused to recall such a story to her daughter.”

“But wouldn’t forgetting be near impossible for Alice since—”

“Jared,” I sternly said stopping him from continuing on with his sentence. “It’s none of our concern whether Alice chose to forget or not. What’s important right now is that Acelin knows what she needs to do to return back home safely. We have to make sure Lydia doesn’t get her hands on her just yet. We can’t have another war break out.”

The twins nodded their agreement. All was silent inside the room of the clock tower as each of us thought over what we could do to keep her safe and away from the queen’s hands until she was better prepared. At least…that is what I was thinking of, but if she was anything like her mother then she may find the queen on her own. Or worse. The Hatter may get to her first.

“Does he know of her presence yet?” I inquired of the twins speaking of the Hatter. They exchanged glances before shaking their head.

“He’s still unaware,” Jared answered.

“At least when we left,” Deidre tacked on.

“Then how did you two find out?”

Their lips curled upward to form a mischievous grin that split across their face. I rolled my eyes. I should have known HE would have already caught wind of this.

“Haven’t I told you two to stay away from him?” I sighed scrubbing a hand down my face.

“But…he’s the only one willing to play games with us,” little Deidre pouted.

“Yes and he also can’t be trusted. We don’t know for certain which side he plays for,” I firmly reminded her.

“He says the same thing about you,” Jared chuckled meeting his sister’s eyes where she stood beside him.

“I’m on my own side. I don’t support either the queen or the Hatter which is why I created Xonia,” I ground out between clenched teeth. Avira had no right to question my loyalty.

“But shouldn’t you be on the side of your own—”

“No!” I shouted angrily. Jared and Deidre flinched at my sudden change of voice; all three of our gazes turned to Acelin sleeping on the couch. She showed no signs of stirring.

Jared hopped down from the counter to intertwine his fingers with those of his sisters. I gazed down at the twins I had taken into my custody after their parents had passed away during the war.

“You know I’m only trying to keep you guys safe. I promised your parents,” I softly reminded them.

“We know and we thank you, Thane,” they sadly smiled up at me before leaving the kitchen to head to their bedroom. They disappeared through the door that was on the right side of the fireplace.

I released a tired sigh; my gaze drifted back over to Acelin’s sleeping form. There was so much she needed to know and in such a short amount of time. If the queen was dead set on having her, then Acelin didn’t have long before she ended up captured by Lydia. Something told me that what Lydia wanted her for…it wouldn’t be good. So it was up to me to keep her safe for as long as I could. Not only for Alice or for my duty as a protector…

I needed to keep her safe for him. I needed to keep the promise I made to my friend that when and if this occurred…I would protect her from harm.

I was a man who kept his promises.