I turned away. I disliked when inanimate objects began to look alive. Wonderland was a strange place that knew a person’s oddities, tugging on them like a loose thread so that one’s head would unravel into a fleshy mess. For a moment, I wondered if it had already unravelled mine entirely and all I was doing now was trying to organise it back together.
My eyes twisted forward and I looked at the dim hallway. The details on the wallpaper all seemed to shift, moving slightly as if swaying in a magic breeze. The compulsion to run came over me.Run away, Alice. Go back to England. You’re running so late already.I wasn’t very good at listening to my own advice though.
I stared at the wallpaper, looking through the illustrations of peculiar plants to a flash of white I hadn’t noticed before. There was a line of white rabbits leaping all together, all facing forward. And so I left my fate to them, deciding to go where they led me.
My fingers dragged over the texture of the wallpaper, touching each rabbit as I went. The music grew louder, a boisterous party going on inside Cheshire’s Den. The tune was fast-paced while a man yelled a single word quickly over and over to a beat. The wild yips of laughter were seducing me to join. I heard the stomp of boots on wood as if there were an entire group on stage all leaping and shuffling.
My breath quickened in want but I kept my fingers and eyes on the rabbits, seeing where they led. I was beginning to hope it was to the party though and not the exit.
Obsessed with the wallpaper, I wasn’t paying attention to the hall. That’s why I didn’t see the person laying in wait for me.
A body invaded my space. I saw the frayed patchwork of a coat and my eyes drew up their strange outfit until I was staring her in the eyes. They were wide, and the whites were bloodshot. She snapped her head to the side suddenly, as if hearing someone coming. Then her head snapped back just as fast, her large pupils barely allowing the intriguing purple colour of her eyes to be visible. It was a marvel her large, velvet top hat stayed on with all that head movement.
“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” I said, my teeth grinding together.
“But I want to talk to you,” she said without inflection.
“You told Cheshire about that picture I bought from you,” I said. The tang of simmered oranges tickled my nose. Her mouth spread in a smile that looked anything but nice. I hated Mad Hatter’s smiles. They never looked sane, they looked like she was a moment away from growing piranha teeth and lunging for my throat. Or really, they looked like she was capable of anything, as long as there was little logic.
My back pressed against the wall as I put space between us. She took another step forward, eating the space up once again. Mad Hatter never liked to touch but always liked to invade. Did no one here respect personal space?
The fringe of her green and blue striped coat was a mere centimetre from me. I swallowed and looked up at her. Thankfully, the smile was gone.
“He’s going to kill me,” Hatter said suddenly, her eyes growing even wider and rounder. She tugged her hat off and slid her fingers through her fluffy red ringlets. Hatter stood a smidge taller than me. Her plump, pink lips hung open the barest amount as she stared at me.
“Help me,” she whispered.
“What?” I asked in confusion. “Cheshire doesn’t kill people,” I said in disbelief. Mad Hatter leaned back, shoved her hat back on her head, and began laughing emphatically. Her hand slammed against the wall beside me. I jerked in surprise.
“Of course he kills people and he is going to kill me unless you can stop him.”
“Why me?”
“It’s because of you.” Her teeth snapped together before grinding. Her purple eyes never left me. Something in the thin slit of colour seemed to move for a moment, like the sparkle of flashing sequins.
Mad Hatter huffed and peeled her hand off the wall from beside me. She stared at her palm a moment before pulling it in and sniffing it.
She had to be insane but still, I found myself sniffing the wall just to make sure. Was there a smell? If there was, I'd grown too used to it to notice.
“Alice,” she said, bringing my attention back to her.
“Why would he kill you because of me? You aren’t making sense,” I said softly. She gave me an incredulous look.
“You want sense? Listen,” she said, leaning in so far that her cheek nearly brushed mine. “He came to me looking for you. I don’t like the claw marks he leaves on the furniture so I told him.”
“But…” I trailed off. How would she know where I was?
“Oh and yes, I did tell him about the picture. That was ages ago though,” she sighed. “Cheshire was silent when I first told him. Silent, Alice. The always-talking cat didn’t say a single word when I told him you fancied Caterpillar.”
“I know what silence is,” I said in irritation, my cheeks heating.
“Don’t you get it?” She hissed and I flinched away from the noise.
“No,” I ground out, shifting further down the wall to get some space. She slid after me, seemingly clueless I wanted distance from her.
“I said the wrong thing. Didn’t realise it at the time, oh, but I do now. I can feel his invisible eyes on me. You know that feeling, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I said softly, thinking back to the room while changing. Mad Hatter nodded, reaching into her pocket to rub an unseen item. I wondered what it might be. The sparkle of something twinkled in her eyes again. Madness could look so alluring sometimes.
