The closer we get to the castle, the more crushing the atmosphere becomes. At first, the amount of talking flowers increases. They litter the forest floor, so many that I purposely stay in the center of the trail. When we come across one in the middle, Cheshire immediately stomps on it when it tries to bite us. I shoot a look of thanks towards him.

“Morsels,” they all hiss, an endless stream of the word. “Give us a taste.”

“Fucking flowers,” Cheshire mumbles, stomping on another one.

At first, it’s just the tiny ones but the closer we get, the bigger they grow, until we start weaving to avoid the big ones. Cheshire pulls out a sword and chops through the vines that are brave enough to reach forward.

The Beezles thicken around us, attempting to bite at our skin. Clara warns that their bite is poisonous which sets me into a fit of slapping the weird insects away. They make loud smacking sounds when they hit the stones beneath our feet. Clara pulls out a small bottle from her waist and sprays it on each of us. Suddenly, the Beezles slip away, and we’re left alone. I don’t know what she sprays, but it smells sweet and drives away the swarm, so I don’t even ask.

Then, the forest turns into a grotesque art gallery, and the contents of my stomach roll as we stumble upon the first scene. It seems Alice uses the trees around the castle to display her handiwork.

The first body we come across is nailed to a tree, the skin long since decayed and hanging from the corpse in strips. I cover my nose and mouth and fight the tears in my eyes. Behind this unrecognizable corpse, there are more bodies nailed to the trees, some only skeletons, others fresh enough that I recognize a horse and man hybrid.

Some bodies litter the forest floor where flowers happily munch. Their tongues flick out to taste the air as we pass before they return to their meal.

Above us, corpses hang from the trees, swinging on a phantom wind. Clara covers her mouth on a gasp when one body swings in front of us, low enough that we’re able to see the details. The body wears a military style outfit, white fur molting from the skin. The skull is decidedly wolf-like, I note as we pass. Clara turns away and vomits onto the stone. Cheshire doesn’t comment. He just rubs her back and looks at the corpse solemnly. As soon as she stops, he ushers us forward. We don’t linger.

The wind carries the smell of rot, coating my tongue like fur and making it hard to breathe. My eyes water at the scenes that only grow worse. So many innocents slaughtered, so many lost. Bodies are propped up like scarecrows around us, swinging from trees, mutilated.

The heads start far away from the castle. They line the pathway like a direction marker, warning that we’re heading towards our deaths. At first, the heads on stakes are only skulls, their bone old and weathered. They slowly turn into newer skulls, whiter bone. When they turn to different levels of decay, I fight my rolling stomach again. Even Cheshire covers his nose as we draw closer. Some of the heads have their mouths open in a scream, their eyes white with death, the terror still there. Some look as if they’re only sleeping. I try not to focus too hard on them, afraid I’ll see someone that looks familiar.

When we reach the end of the path, the blood isn’t even congealed yet on those displayed, and though the air isn’t as thick with rot here, it’s dripping with the metallic aroma of blood. There’s no escaping it. The castle comes into view as both Clara and I cover our noses to block the smell. Cheshire’s ears lay flat on his head as he stares up at the black spires above us.

Alice’s castle is all black and sharp points, threatening those that dare to come within its walls with nothing but destruction. If you go in, you don’t come out. Those that do are just displayed like art forever around its walls. Hedges surround the castle where it sits on a hill. The heart motif is everywhere. The spires look almost like melted candle sticks, or like they’re leaking blood. We’re shielded at the moment where we stand by the hedges, but we can see Cards–Faceless soldiers–and Bandersnatch patrolling around the gates.

“What’s the plan?” Clara whispers, eyeing the Cards. I don’t want to know what they do that incites the unease displayed on her face.

I pull the tiny vial from my side and hold it up. The liquid inside is already blue from where we started the enchantment.

“I have to add the feather then swirl it clockwise and contrariwise. Then I need to soak the cord and wrap it around the Red Queen’s neck or wrist.”

Clara nods her head and moves on silent feet to my side. Cheshire keeps watch, his eyes taking in every position of the soldiers. I drop Doe’s feather inside the vial. The liquid inside changes from blue to gold and glows so brightly I worry for a moment the Cards will see, before it fades away. I swirl the liquid clockwise and then contrariwise. The glow flickers once before turning back into normal liquid. I push the cord inside, making sure to coat it before pulling it out and holding it up for them to see. That slight glow spreads along the cord, barely detectable unless you look at it very closely.

“Now what?” Cheshire asks.

I frown and meet his eyes.

“Now,” I whisper, “I get caught.”

“Jupiter! Stop running! You know I can’t catch you,” Neptune huffs. She doubles over and braces her hands on her knees.

“Maybe if you bothered showing up to practice, you could keep up with me,” I tease, tugging my hair back.

“You know I hate softball.” Neptune straightens and shoves her matching hair from her face. I don’t bother mentioning that the other things she’d started doing with her boyfriend probably didn’t help. We’d argued about it too much lately. I just want to spend time with my sister.

“Then you should join something else. Something to keep you busy.”

Neptune gives me that look, the one like she knows what I’m getting at but doesn’t actually want to talk about it. I sigh. Nothing I say will get through to her. We are going to be eighteen in two weeks, and I’m already dreading it. Something is different, some kind of cloud hanging over us.

“Let’s go on an adventure,” I say suddenly. “We can go backpacking across Europe, or apply as dancers on a cruise ship.” I have the insane urge to take Neptune away from it all, to remind her about the good things in life. After graduation, the world is our oyster.

Neptune smiles sadly at me, and it tugs at my heartstrings. I never like to see my twin sad.

“Oh, Jupiter. Only one of us will have adventures, and it won’t be me.”

“That’s a stupid idea,” Cheshire says, frowning. “She’ll kill you right away.”

“It’s a chance I’ll have to take. I need to get close enough to tie the cord. And I’m willing to bet she’ll let her pride get in the way and gloat.”

“You won’t make it within ten feet of her before she sics her creatures on you.”

“We have no choice,” I grind out. “Do you have a better idea?”

“We wait for the Hatter,” Clara says.

“To do what?” I spread my hands. “It’s my prophesy to fulfill. There’s a reason we’re here, Clara. We bring about the fall of the Red Queen. If it was anyone else, it would have been done already.”

She frowns.

“You can’t die in the process.”

“If it means I save Wonderland, then it’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

Clara studies me closely before nodding her head.

“I don’t like it, but you’re right. We have to do this.”

Cheshire scoffs. “You do realize you both can die, right?” he asks. “You won’t heal like we do.”

Neither of us answer him. There’s really no need. We know the odds.

“I have to go in,” I say, mostly to myself.

“You’re not going in alone.” Clara wraps her fingers through mine. “Two parts of the triad. We’ll do this together.”

I smile shakily. For all my words, I’m terrified of what exactly we’ll find on the other side of those walls. There’s a very strong chance we can die, and I could never get to see White again, but I can’t stand by while Alice destroys Wonderland. I won’t let any more people suffer. I won’t let anyone else struggle with the urge to kill themselves. If I could have stopped Neptune, I would have leapt at the chance. This is my moment to stop another person from going through the same thing.

“You’re both going to die,” Cheshire growls. “You’re not going in there.”

Clara turns to Cheshire, letting go of my hand to grab his face between her palms. Cheshire surprisingly lets her. He doesn’t flinch, doesn’t pull away. He just looks into her eyes.

“Cheshire,” she says, making sure he’s entirely focused on her. “You have a job to do in Wonderland, and so do we.”

“A job I can’t complete,” he whispers. Clara nods her head.

“If we fail, your mate never comes to Wonderland. If we fail, Wonderland dies. If we fail, it will have all been for nothing. Danica, Alexander, the Old King and Queen, everyone who has died at the hands of Alice. It’s time to step up, Chesh.” Her eyes shine as she urges him to listen. “Wonderland needs you on the side of good,” she whispers. “I need you.”

Cheshire’s face twitches, emotion springing to his eyes for a split second before he quickly hides behind his mask again. I watch in fascination as Clara releases his face and squeezes his shoulder.

He grins suddenly, his tail moving double time behind him as he looks towards the castle in front of us.

“Then, let’s go cause some madness.”