A tree of thorns and blood red roses grew from the center of their wooden floors, golden apples dangled from its branches, tempting the unsuspecting to reach out and take one. But the apples bloomed from the seeds of knowledge and one bite was said to turn the eater instantly insane. Only the Hatter and Alice were immune from its deadly charm. Alice swore they made the best apple turnovers, Danika was sure she’d never know.
Rainbow crystals grew from the ceiling, casting prisms of variegated light around the cozy family room.
In all, the home was as mad and as beautiful as the couple that inhabited it. She was sure it was a constant thorn in their side that their beloved daughter hadn’t had a chance to get to know it, and them nearly as well as Danika now did.
Chrysalis had been locked away in one of the Hatter’s many private gardens for almost the length of her short life. That was partly why having her run amok through Wonderland right now was such a problem, the girl did not know her way. And like a caged, wounded animal, anything that startled or frightened her would likely be met with death and destruction.
The door to the bedroom clicked shut. One would never know the inner turmoil the two lived with as both Alice and Hatter walked out with an air of regality.
Alice was dressed in a black silk, strapless gown that flared out at the knees in a sort of mermaid style. It was one of Hatter’s designs, in fact the Hatter usually fashioned her clothes. He’d shifted his talents from hats to dresses, mostly because Alice wasn’t much into covering her glorious head of jet black hair.
What made the dress she wore so stunning and unique was that the material from the knees below took its color based off her mood. Right now the fabric was a dark smoky gray.
Alice’s make-up was also magic. The scrollwork of her eyeliner was a constant and shifting pattern, the black line undulated between an infinity pattern and a bleeding heart that represented Chrysa’s birthmark.
Alice was literally wearing her heart out for all to see.
Hatter was holding tight to her elbow, standing tall and proud beside her. Reminding Danika of a regal lion the way his dark, shaggy mane framed his rugged features. There was a day’s growth of beard on his square jaw, and the molten brown of his eyes were cold, but not distant. Danika knew her boy well enough to see the pain welling behind the seemingly broody gaze. Wearing his traditional black suit full of pocket watches, they appeared a striking pair.
Leading Alice toward a beige duvet, Hatter waited until she’d settled before sitting. The moment he did, Alice rested her legs on his.
“I’m sorry for that, Dani,” Hatter’s voice was a deep inflection of sound through the eerie quiet of the home.
Danika waved off his words. “I am sorry to have caused you and the lass such distress.”
Alice’s eyes squeezed shut as her gown shifted to deepest blue. “You told us once, Dani, that Jericho said there was a way to overcome this curse. Please, for Gods sake, tell us how.” Her honeyed eyes pleaded. “Give us some hope. Something.”
Nibbling on the corner of her lip, Danika watched as Hatter patted Alice’s thigh over and over like one would with an upset dog. She’d just told them of bloody entrails she’d found sprinkled liberally throughout the woods, it seemed beyond cruel to whisper words of “it will get better” or “it’s alright, it’s all going to be all right”. That would be nothing but a pack of lies and well Danika knew it.
Not that she saw a problem with the occasional white lie, but at this point she was drowning in them. Ever since she’d noticed the change in Chrysa, it seemed like that was all she ever did with Alice and Hatter. Lie to keep their spirits up. Why she’d even created a false playmate for the child, telling them that Chrysa was playing with Gerard and Betty’s child, Shayera, now seemed like a horribly, cruel idea. In truth Danika had known that Chrysalis’ curse was so extreme it wasn’t safe to keep her around others not of her immediate family. The Shayera that’d played with their daughter had been nothing more than a golem.
It sickened Dani that they still didn’t know either.
She swallowed hard. Be sure your lies will find you out. Bloody hell what a mess.
Nodding, Danika said, “Yes, Jericho did mention that we’d be able to break the curse, but that was many years ago now. He’s not mentioned it since and truth be told, I’m not exactly certain there is. I’ve looked at this from every angle.”
Hatter’s nostrils flared as his hands stilled. “What are you saying, fairy?”
“That perhaps we ought to consider changing tactics,” the last came out a squeak of sound.
Cocking her head, scrollwork pattern shifting into a question mark, Alice’s words were soft but tempered with an edge of steel. “What the hell does that mean?”
Gazing heavenward, praying for strength, Danika fessed up. “Look, what I know of moon curses is that they only get worse. In fact, all I’ve read suggests they never get better. It’s akin to the moonlight madness a werebeasty feels.”