I take the tea cup with trembling fingers, making sure not to spill any more as I set it in front of me. Remembering the last cup of tea I almost drank, I pick up a spoon and swirl it in the lavender liquid. Nothing. No steam or answering sizzle. I set the spoon back down on the table and pick up the cup again.

“Good.” The Hatter nods. “You’re learning already.” He tilts his head to the side. “A smart Clara Bee, you are,” he sings.

I lift the cup to my lips and take a hesitant sip. I close my eyes as the flavor hits my tongue. I’m pretty sure I moan as the taste of ambrosia floods my mouth. My whole body warms. I have no idea what it is I’m drinking, but it certainly can’t be tea. I’ve never had anything like it. Tilting my head back, I down the entire teacup before placing it back on the saucer it came from. My head feels a bit fuzzy, the tips of my fingers tingling.

I open my eyes slowly, feeling like I’m coming down from a high; my vision is even blurry. I’d had the same feeling once when I tried some sort of pill in my college days. Ironically enough, my friend had said it was called Wonderland. What are the odds? When my vision clears, I stifle a squeak when the Hatter’s face comes into view. He must have moved when I was drinking the tea. Either he’s a ninja, or I was so absorbed with the tea, I didn’t hear him move. Now, he crouches beside me, his face level with mine, as he looks at me with wonder in his eyes. There’s something else there, too. A heat I can feel, the same heat answering in my own body. I shift uncomfortably, staring into the Hatter’s golden eyes.

“It’s been so long since I’ve had tea with the living,” he whispers. “I forgot, I forgot.”

Hatter leans forward, his hand coming up towards my face. It’s the first time I notice his nails are painted black. Normally, the detail wouldn’t do anything for me besides thinking the man is high maintenance. On him though, it fits his personality, and I find I like it. His fingers touch the corner of my lips, tickling with the slight touch. When he pulls his hand away, there’s a bead of moisture on the tip of his finger, a bit of tea that had clung. As I watch him, he sticks the finger in his mouth and sucks it off, his eyes locked with mine. He pops it free and smiles.

“If it was up to me, Ms. Clara Bee would sit forever and sip my tea,” he sings softly. “Ms. Clara Bee.”

I watch him, weirdly enthralled. There is something calling to me, begging to be acknowledged. I find myself leaning slightly towards him, like he’s pulling me into his gravity. It’s a pleasant feeling, like I’m meant to be there.

“What was in the tea?” My voice is husky, and I cough to try and cover up the fact it’s because of the Hatter.

He smiles wickedly.

“Poison.”

I feel the blood drain from my face. Had I been tricked? Was this all some ruse to get me here and kill me?

“What?”

“The anti-venom for the Beezle,” he says. “It’s made with its poison.” He looks at me thoughtfully. “Clara Bee will live to see another day to spend with me.” Singing, again. I’m beginning to see a pattern.

“So, you saved me?” I ask softly, a small smile curling my lips when I realize I had been worried for no reason. He was only trying to save me. I’m already softening towards the lunatic. Whatever that said about me, I don’t want to know. I’m enjoying the intrigue I feel either way.

“Yes,” he replies, that grin still on his face. He leans closer, entering my space, but I don’t pull away. I don’t even think to. “Nothing is free in Wonderland. I’d like a kiss for payment.”

I wrinkle my nose in confusion.

“A kiss? Seriously? Right now?”

Even I can tell my voice is breathy, and I curse the telltale sign in my head. His face softens when he hears the tone.

“Not now. Not now.” He leans away from me and claps his hands together, making me jump again. He stands. This close, I notice the muscle rippling across his stomach, the chiseled abs that were easier to ignore when I was wary of him. Now, they’re right in front of my face, and the ache to touch slams into me hard, but I do my best to ignore it. Trouble. The Hatter is trouble.

“Gentle Creatures,” he calls to the four other guests at the table. “It’s time.”

They all set their teacups back on the saucers and stand, happiness apparent on all their faces. That sense of peace increases, and I find myself wanting to go with them, to find the same calm as they have.

“Come along, old friend,” the Hatter says to the latecomer, squeezing his shoulder affectionately.

“Would you tell my wife I love her?” the man asks in a daze, the crown on his head catching the light and sending sparkles around the room. It makes me blink when they shine across my eyes.

The Hatter hesitates. I can see it. His eyes look away from the man and find me instead. Whatever he sees seems to steady him, and the next time he speaks, he sounds saner than I’ve yet to hear from him. He smiles before returning his attention back to the man.

“When she joins you, you can tell her we all did.” His voice is warm when he says it, echoing of long ago memories. I don’t ask, but I file it away for later.

And then the Hatter is leading them off, further into the ballroom and towards a particularly overgrown section in the back. Giant Mushrooms arch over something, but I can’t see where exactly they go. I assume there’s some sort of door there. The mushrooms don’t move; no mouths open as the people walk towards them. They leave White and I behind in silence.

“Where are they going?” I ask White as I lean to the side to try and get a better look. There’s a bright flash, but that’s all I can make out. The growth is too thick, forming a wall between us and them.

“The Hatter’s tea party is the last stop before the Hereafter,” White answers, sadness on his face. “Hatter sits with them all.”

“Those people were dead?” Surprise catches me off guard. I had been sitting with dead people, and I hadn’t even known it. “They didn’t look dead.”

“They look more alive than when they were living.” He meets my stare. “We shed our misery when we die. And the Hatter,” he pauses, his eyes haunted. “The Hatter sees us in both skins.