This was really all my fault.
God, I was such a fool thinking I could be any sort of match for Morpheus, that I could make it through going to the Circus. He was stronger, greater than me on so many levels. He could get inside my brain and I had no idea how to get him out.
You are mine, Alice. You will never escape.
I blinked. Was that really him talking or had that just been in my mind, my fear letting him control me.
Does it matter?
I pushed back his voice. This wasn’t the time to worry about such things, this wasn’t the time to have self-doubt. I had to be strong right now, I had to stand up and fight with others if need be,
Howard, Malcolm, and Davis all came back into the castle, looking distraught. So an intruder had made it into the kingdom. We were under attack.
“We have to get out of here.” Howard grabbed a couple of swords and tossed them to Davis and Melvin. I patted my belt, making sure I still had my own katana at my side. “You two take care of her. Get her out of here. Chase, make portals to confuse them. Malcolm and I will hold them off.”
Melvin put his arm around me and guided me towards the exit. “Let’s go Alice.”
I shook my head. “No, I want to fight. I have to help you all. Please let me help.”
Malcolm was the one to respond. “No, you aren’t strong enough yet. We need to get you out of here.”
“But what if something happens to you? What if we don’t find each other again?” I asked, drawing my sword. “I can fight.”
“We will find each other, we will all be okay. But in order for me to fight my best, I can’t have you near the battle. I can’t be worrying about you the entire time, okay? If you want to win, if you want to help, listen to me. Get the hell out of here.”
I stared at him for a moment. He was right, I would be in the way. I would just be a liability. I put my katana away and nodded to Malcolm. “Fine. But promise me that all of you will be okay. Promise me you will come find us and we will defeat Morpheus together.”
Malcolm put his hand on my shoulder. “I promise. Now run.”
Turning to Melvin and Davis, I nodded as we made our way outside. The last thing I saw was the three of them talking to each other, figuring out their battle plan. I just hoped everything would be all right.
“Where are we going to meet with them? Was that even established? I asked, realizing that no one had said anything. My heart started to race even more.
Davis nodded. “We know where to meet up, don’t worry. It’s our second hideout, about eight hours out from here. It’s always been the meet up spot if we were ever attacked.”
That made sense, it wasn’t recently that they had to worry about getting caught. They probably had many backup plans to go off of. “Who is after us?”
“It’s Bill, the man who chased us through the forest earlier,” Davis explained. “He must have been at the Cirque de Rêves waiting for us, he is the only one who can reopen Chase’s portals.”
“And the White Rabbit?”
“No,” Melvin answered. “He can only make portals to your world, not within this world. We figured making so many would take too long to sort out, but if we knew Bill was at the Circus we never would have gone. None of us thought he would be there.”
“But that’s better than Morpheus finding us, isn’t it?” I questioned as we started to pick up our pace. While running, the kingdom seemed even larger, as we still were nowhere near the boundaries.
Davis shrugged. “Really, that all depends on who you ask.”
That was not something I wanted to hear, but I tried not to think about it. I tried not to think about getting captured and going back to that Circus, facing my fears all over again. I shuddered at the thought. No, I would not let him take control of me like that, I would not cower now and let him win. I focused on escaping and making it out fine. It was all I really could do.
We got to the edge of the castle courtyard and were finally in the city itself. I could hear men around us, yelling as they searched us out. We not only had to run, but we also had to be as silent as we could. Melvin grabbed my hand as we could hear a group of men get closer, pulling me around the corner into an alleyway.
At least I knew, that the people I was with had the home field advantage, as this was a place they hid in and knew it like the back of their hands. The soldiers that attacked however, probably haven’t been in this kingdom for decades, if they even had actually been here. I wondered how many of them were dreams, or if they had simply existed here forever like Malcolm and the others.
We didn’t slow down for an instant. Melvin and Davis had a lot more stamina than I gave them credit for. I, on the other hand, did not. The only thing that was pushing me forward was adrenaline and the fact I
