Hookah (Insanity Book 4) (15 page)

My eyes start to see things clearer now, but the Scientist’s image is still blurry. I guess it’ll only be minutes until I see who he is. Am I supposed to think he is someone I know?

“And the truth shall set you free,” the Pillar muses. “Free enough to kill one another.”

“Stop looking at the world from that angle,” I tell him.

“Soon there’ll be no angle to see the world from, dear Alice.” The Pillar sighs. “So tell me, Mr. Scientist, shouldn’t lying be a cure for the truth?”

“It should,” the Scientist says. “But even if I knew how to cook that kind of cure, how long would it take to reach everyone? The Hookah of Hearts have been sold for more than a year. I designed it to take effect about a year in. Let’s say, hypothetically, I cook a cure of lying now. How will you give it to the people? How long will it take to work?”

“So all this adventure was for nothing?” I tell myself. “At least I saved the kids.”

“And what world will they live in?” the Pillar muses. “Mr. Scientist, there must be a cure.”

I know this tone from the Pillar. He is planning on threatening this man once he retrieves his full vision like me.

And here we go. I can almost see everything in its normal size. Including the Scientist.

But this isn’t quite right, because the Scientist is one of the Reds. I can’t see his face wearing the cloak.

The Pillar, back to normal too, steps forward to pull the cloak, but is immediately stopped by the many other Reds squeezed into this room.

“I wouldn’t come near me again if I were you,” the Scientist says from under his cloak. “Let’s keep it that way.”

My first impression is not to struggle with those Reds. Because let’s think about it. Something here isn’t right.

“Then I assume you have nothing against us leaving.” The Pillar flips his cane and pretends he’s walking away.

“Not so fast, Senor Pillardo.”

The words send a surge of fear through me. Is that the Executioner?

Queen’s garden, Buckingham Palace, London

“A
nd the beauty of this plague is that it doesn’t affect Wonderlanders,” the Queen continued telling Margaret, “along with most of the South American cities where it was cooked. Fantastic-ballastic!” The Queen hailed.

“Does that mean that ordinary people can’t handle the truth?” one of the guards asked curiously.

“Yes. Of course. Those two-faced hypocrite humans.” The Queen grinned, then her face dimmed all of a sudden, sneering at the guard. “Who gave you permission to speak in the first place? Off with his head!”

Margaret watched the guards take him to execution, not really caring for him. “But truth or no truth, My Queen. We need to find a cure.”

“No, we don’t. I changed my mind,” the Queen exclaimed. “The Jub Jub with the cure. I have a better idea.”

“But you said—”

“Don’t interrupt me, Margaret.” Like a monkey, the Queen jumped on her chair again, pointing a finger straight into Margaret’s eyes. “Forget everything I told you about sending someone after the Pillar.”

“Forget about the Pillar?” Margaret thought the Queen had lost her mind—not that she possessed a healthy one in the first place.

“Yes, Margaret. I have a genius plan. One that, if it succeeds, will have me ruling the world.”

Brazil

T
he horror I see on the Pillar’s face is scaring me.

And this time, there is no doubt about it. The Executioner is the Pillar’s bogeyman, not matter how he tries to hide it.

“He doesn’t die,” one of the Reds answers in return. “The Scientist never dies.”

“The Scientist is the Executioner?” I am thinking out loud.

The Reds laugh at me, enjoying it a lot. I want to shut them up and tell them they’re nothing more than playing cards.

“That’s impossible,” the Pillar mumbles.

“Even if he didn’t die in the explosion, why send us here?” I tell them.

“And why hide behind the cloak? It’s not like him.” The Pillar desperately wants to step closer, but is held back by the Reds.

“Maybe he’s disfigured from the bomb. Besides, wasn’t he depicted as a card with clubs for a head in Lewis Carroll’s book?” I comment.

But no one answers me, not even the Pillar. A wicked silence fills the room for a while, and then one of the Reds nudges the Executioner, as if to permit him to talk.

Something isn’t right, but I can’t put my hands on it. I remind myself that we’re wasting time here. We only have twenty-four hours left before the plague reaches irreversible measures like Carolus said on TV.

“It doesn’t matter how I survived,” the Executioner says from behind the darkness of his cloak. “I ordered the Reds to bring you to me for a reason.”

“It’s the key, right?” I say. “You want the Wonderland Key. I’ll give it to you if you give me a cure.” I’m lying, of course. I’ll never give him the key, but I have to try my best. I realize it’s funny that I’m lying to get to the truth.

“I don’t want the key,” the Executioner says. “At least not now.”

“Then what do you want?” I am surprised the Pillar isn’t talking. He keeps staring at the Executioner, wanting to pull off the hood.

“I want you to kill Carolus,” the Executioner says.

“Why?” I ask.

“Because I lied to you. The plague is connected to Carolus’s existence. Kill Carolus, and the world is cured.”

Alice’s House, Oxford

T
he Cheshire watched Edith and Lorina Wonder locking themselves with their mother inside the house. The three of them seemed to have been some of the few people who’d never tried the Hookah of Hearts. And only those were the uninfected.

It had taken the Cheshire a long time to reach the Wonders’ house. Not only was it the distance between London and Oxford, but he had to possess an infinite number of souls to get here. The driver, the old woman at the ticket booth, the police officer, and at some he’d had to possess a toddler when his mom turned out to be infected while the Cheshire was possessing her.

“Possessing you is a dirty job but somebody has to do it,” he’d mumbled when he’d had to enter a rat’s soul at the end of his ride.

But he stood outside the Wonders’ house in a police officer’s soul, peeking inside to take a better look at Lorina and Edith Wonder.

The two sisters were definitely on the dark side of evil. But were they who the Cheshire was looking for?

The problem with finding Tweedledum and Tweedledee was that, like Alice, none of them could remember their faces. Why? He had no idea.

All he remembered was how scary the twins were. Two lunatics walking through Wonderland. He also knew they were siblings. Brother and sister? Two brothers or two sisters? He couldn’t remember.

Earlier, he had contacted someone who believed he knew who they were in this world, but that man turned out to be a liar. Now, the Cheshire roamed England, searching for the Tweedles.

Why the Tweedles?

Because only they and the Pillar were said to be able to enter Mushroomland and deal with the Executioner.

The Executioner who had once managed to chop off the Cheshire’s head in Wonderland. If it wasn’t for the Cheshire’s knife right now, he’d be dead and gone.

He stuck his face to the window to take another look at Lorina and Edith. Could they be Tweedledum and Tweedledee?

They sure looked like it. But they weren’t twins.

There was one way to find out. To possess one of them. Because the Cheshire, with all his powers, could never possess a Wonderlander.

Since neither of the sisters was going to open the door for anyone in this kill-fest outside, he had no choice but to possess another rat to get inside.

Yikes.

Brazil

“T
hen why didn’t you say so when we met in Mushroomland?” the Pillar demands, still held back by the Reds.

“What does it matter?” the Executioner says. “You want to stop the plague. I told you how to stop it.”

“I’ll call Inspector Dormouse.” I pull out my phone. “I know he couldn’t do it, but I’m sure there are excellent police officers who could if he contacted them.”

“That won’t work. Not just anyone can kill Carolus.”

“I didn’t know Carolus could be killed,” the Pillar says. “He is a figment of Carroll’s imagination.”

“True. And only Lewis can kill him.”

“So we’re back to square one again,” I say.

“He wouldn’t have sent for us if that was all of it.” The Pillar points his cane at the Executioner.

“Smart, Senor Pillardo.” The Executioner laughs.

“Is he suggesting I go meet Lewis Carroll through the Tom Tower in London and ask him?” I turn to the Pillar. “We know the Tom Tower doesn’t always work.”

“No, Alice. I don’t think it’s that. He is suggesting that Lewis told you how to kill Carolus.”

Hearing this, I close my eyes, trying to remember if he ever told me. But I am sure he didn’t. “I hate to disappoint the world.” I open my eyes. “But he didn’t tell me how to kill Carolus.”

“Of course he did,” the Executioner says. “Carolus assured me Lewis told you how to kill him.”

“He could have lied to you, just to let you think there was a cure,” the Pillar suggests.

“I know a scared man when I see one, Senor Pillardo.” The Executioner grunts at the Pillar, implying something about their past, which I suspect I will never know. “And Carolus shivered when I mentioned Alice to him.”

In spite of the Executioner having denied my existence and trying to kill me in Mushroomland, I try to think of this as a confirmation that I am the Real Alice. Ironic how killing Lewis Carroll’s split personality is the only way to find out now.

“So.” The Pillar sighs. “I guess that’s it. We know how to stop the plague. Come on, Alice. We have work to do.”

“Is that it?” I wonder. “Don’t you want to know how the Executioner survived?”

“Why would I? Clearly the man is invincible.” The Pillar waves his hand. “Let’s go.”

Reluctantly, I follow his steps to the door, watching the Reds make room for us.

Then the Pillar pulls out his hookah, whips it at Reds, chokes a few of them, and heads straight toward the Executioner.

“Time for some None Fu,” I say and begin the show.

Queen’s private prison, Buckingham Palace, London

C
arolus banged his head against the wall.

Part of it was the pain. But another part was his disappointment with the plan. He felt weakened needing to collaborate with the Queen of Hearts to get his medicine to relieve himself of the migraines.

This wasn’t his plan at all.

Tomorrow was going to be the third day the plague had taken hold of the world. It was supposed to be the peak moment to execute his real plan. The real reason he had infected the world with his hookahs.

But now he’d become the Queen’s slave, and she was going to use his weakness in her favor after their secret conversation in her chamber. She had an even more insane plan of her own now.

Not that he cared for her. All he needed was to play along until she gave him the Lullaby drug, and then, once the headaches were gone, he would proceed with his plan and force the Pillar to show himself.

For now, he has no choice but to wait, but no longer until tomorrow, or everything he’d planned would be gone with the wind.

Brazil

T
he Reds aren’t an easy fight, but my None Fu skills have progressed a lot.

I hit the first two Reds with straight kicks to their faces, which sends them both with their back against the wall. Then with two simultaneous fists, I punch their hollow faces underneath the cloaks. The first one drops into nothingness, leaving a red cloak lying on the floor behind him. The other, much stronger, strangles me with the fabric of his cloak, almost choking me.

Turned around now, I see the Pillar mass-finishing a few other Reds. I wish I’d learned to use that hose of his hookah. It’s much more efficient than my yeeha-jumping techniques.

The Red choking me is too strong. I kick him with my legs and try to free myself from his grip with my hands, but it’s all in vain. My choking noises are getting louder, like scattered vowels of lost words.

“You’re saying something?” the Pillar says in the middle of his own fight. He strangles an attacking Red and then waves a hand behind his ears, pretending he can’t hear what I’m saying. “Louder, Alice. Can’t hear you.”

I choke harder, now starting to lose my voice instead of getting louder. To top it off, another Red attacks me from the front. I stretch my legs against his chest to stop him from approaching. Now I’m squeezed between the two.

“That must be an awkward position you’re in,” the Pillar says, whipping his hose at other Reds. “Is that None Fu, too?”

My soul burns with revenge. I’m provoked like I have never been before. If I manage to kill the two Reds, it’ll be mainly to prove to the Pillar I don’t need him.

A crazy idea presents itself. I pull Lewis’s key from my pocket and stretch my hand backward into the Red’s face, attacking him with the small golden weapon.

Surprisingly, it works.

Well, kind of, as he sneezes red bubbles all over my hair and face. At least my neck is free now.

Freed from his grip, I land on the floor and pull the Red’s cloak and bind it with the other Red’s cloak in a heavy knot. The two mercenaries struggle to free themselves. No one must have done this to them before.

“Now that’s None Fu,” I tell the Pillar, kicking another Red in the face.

“See? I knew you could handle yourself. That’s why I didn’t help.” He is about to pull off the Scientist’s cloak when three of them strangle him from behind, pulling his hookah away.

“Need some help now?” I kick the Scientist in the back then hit his head, knocking him unconscious.

“Not in a million years,” he says but struggles to free himself.

I use the Scientist’s hand like a baseball bat and hit the first Red with it, then slap the other with the other hand. It’s not much of a fight but enough distraction for the Pillar to handle the rest.