“The Card Kings?” I asked as I followed him downstairs to the basement. “You just said that I was the heir. Maybe you should rethink your delusions.”
“Ugh.” He rolled his eyes. “I don't have the patience to explain all of this to you, just hurry up!”
“Where are we going?”
“To Wonderland!” He stopped and turned to stare at me in bafflement. “Are you a bit slow? Theodore never told me you were stupid.”
“I am not stupid!”
“All right then,” he growled, “let's go.”
“I'm not going anywhere with you! I don't even know your name.” I stopped midway down the stairs.
“I am Warren White.” He bowed. “At your service, Queen Alice.”
“Oh, now I'm a queen.” I chuckled. “I can't believe this day.”
“You must!” Warren declared. “If you do not believe, we are all lost, Your Majesty.”
“All right, easy now, Warren.” I held up my hands. “It was an exclamation. Although, I'm not too sure what you want me to believe in.”
“Why, in yourself, of course! And it would be foolish not to since so many others already believe in you. Truly; how much belief does one woman require?”
“Who believes in me?”
“Nearly all of Wonderland,” Warren growled. “Enough of this! Let's go, Alice! We're already late!”
“Okay, Warren.” I rolled my eyes and followed him down to the basement.
I know it sounds crazy, but I was just happy not to be alone. I didn't care if the man was a lunatic, at least I didn't have to think about Theodore lying dead in the ground while I laid in an empty house. Anything was better than that.
“Aha!” Warren was in my uncle's laboratory, at his desk, and had found an envelope in the drawer. “Here it is. I knew he'd leave word for you.”
Warren handed me the envelope, and I saw that it had my name scrawled across the front of it in my uncle's handwriting. I scowled at it a moment before I tore open the sealed envelope and read it aloud.
“Alice, my sweet girl, there is so much that I haven't told you, but I'm sure that Warren will explain; either him or Nicholas. You can trust them completely, as well as the Card Kings. They all have your best interests at heart because your best interests are also theirs. Things are about to get topsy-turvy for you, Alice. I wish that I could be there to help you, but if you're reading this, it means that time has come to an end for me. It runs here, not like over there, and I have lost track of it, it seems. But your time is now, Alice. I have done the best I could for you. I have given you the tools you'll need in the days to come. Fight, my sweet girl; fight for Wonderland and her people because both belong to you. You are the last of the Wilds, and Wonderland needs you. Remember what I've taught you; all the stories are true. Keep your heart and mind open; love is not always what we expect it to be. All my love, Uncle Ted. PS Follow the white rabbit.”
“Okay, are you ready now?” Warren asked impatiently.
“No, I'm not ready now,” I huffed. “What does this mean? Wonderland needs me? I'm the last of the Wilds? Follow a damn rabbit?”
“That last bit would be me,” Warren said. “But first, we need to make you small enough to follow me.”
“Will this start making sense soon?”
“Absolutely not,” he declared primly. “Sense is for earthers; wonderlanders know that the best sense is non. Ah, yes, here it is!” He took a crystal bottle down from a bookshelf and handed it to me. “Just one sip. Too much and you'll be the size of–”
“A pea,” I finished as I took the bottle.
“He did tell you! Excellent. Drink up.”
“This is absurd,” I said as I took the bottle. Then I noticed the label tied to it. Again, my uncle's handwriting. I read, “Drink me, Alice.” I grimaced at the bottle. “Well, that's to the point. Oh, why not?”
I uncorked the bottle and took a sip.
“Hurry; hand it over before you drop it,” Warren said as he snatched the bottle away from me and tucked it into his vest.
His voice seemed to echo around me as my world grew, or I shrunk, rather. I jolted in shock as I stared up at Warren's massive body. His legs were like redwoods.
