CHAPTER#119

Once any question was asked aloud, he automatically knew the answer. She had planned nothing. When he smiled, his teeth elongated into daggers, making him look very much like a hungry shark.

"I accept. You come willingly, and I shall never freely offer information on this home to my masters." Oliver stomped his foot, sending cracks all along the surface of the reflecting pool. "So it is done."

"Here I come, you fucker." Beth looked up just as the ice broke beneath her feet. The cold swirl of water around her ankles was chased away by the tight, hot grip of Oliver's hand on her ankle. Sinking beneath the surface, she locked eyes with Yuki, who had dropped her hand. Her right eye was nothing but a gray void that quickly spread across Beth's vision, a gasp escaping her lips. The world came crashing in around her and everything became gray.

Mike. Her final thought was like a prayer, and then there was nothing.

---

"What's happening?" Mike asked, stumbling into Yuki's room. He had tripped on the way up, bashing one of his shins on the stairs.

"An alarm system of some sort," she calmly replied from her place on the chaise. Several of the journals had toppled onto the floor and the bell kept ringing every few seconds. "It would seem that something is happening."

"That's... no shit something is happening," he sputtered. He pointed at the slate. "Daisy says it means danger."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't get mad at me, I'm not the one who set it up. And danger where?"

The bell rang again, the tone louder than ever. Daisy clutched her head and then tried signing to them. He looked at the slate and frowned when the letters that appeared were all jumbled up.

"Can you help me figure it out?" He tossed the slate onto the bed.

"That I can do." She closed the book and stood, her body shimmering until her robes turned into a kimono once more. "Lead the way."

They examined the armory first, wondering if one of the weapons had been stolen. Seeing no change there, they moved through the tower, checking the other rooms one at a time. The bell kept tolling, but they did their best to ignore it. Zel checked the gardens and the statues for anything different, but they couldn't narrow down the source of the disturbance.

The centaurs, however, were very upset. Several of them had left the trail, leaving behind only Orion and his most dedicated followers. He shouted at Mike upon seeing him standing on the wall, but Mike simply ignored him and went back inside.

Eventually, he and the others stood in Yuki's room, listening to the bell toll over and over again. The sound had further disoriented Daisy, who now hid in Mike's pocket. Attempts at flight had led to her banging into nearby objects, so Mike had caught her and stuck her there for safekeeping. Zel had gone through the trouble of climbing the stairs to join them, standing beside the bed with a frown on her face and her arms crossed.

Shaking his head in frustration, he looked out over the valley, wondering if some natural disaster had occurred. Seeing nothing of interest, he turned around to say something to the others when he realized that the ringing had stopped.

"Oh, thank god for that," he muttered, grateful that he wouldn't have to listen to that stupid tone anymore. Savoring the silence that followed, he heard a scratching noise from somewhere in the room.

"Is it just me—"

"Or is something on the other side of this wall?" Ratu finished, summoning a ball of fire in her hand. She hurled it at the stone where it exploded, knocking down a bookshelf nearby. Through the smoke, he heard a litany of curses flow freely from a very angry creature.

"Tink!" He didn't even make the opening before she threw herself into his arms, dropping her club on his feet and knocking him over.

"Tink find husband!" she cried, burying her face in his shoulder. His neck was immediately damp with joyful tears, and he worried that she might crack one of his ribs.

He didn't care. He squeezed her back as hard as humanly possible, fighting back tears of his own. "How did you get here?" he asked. His question was answered when several rats followed her through the opening.

"There was another room through here," Ratu said, stepping inside. He heard her shifting about before she returned with a grim look on her face. "It's another bedroom, but I have no idea why it was sealed away. There isn't anything in here, it looks like a sitting room."

Daisy squirted free of Mike's pocket and pointed at her hand. They had left the slate on the bed while searching the house, so Zel picked it up.

"She says that Yuki sealed it up because of Emily. Hold on, she's writing more. It's where Emily attacked her."

"So it wasn't sealed up for any reason other than it hurt her to look at it?" Ratu shook her head. "Love hath no fury like a woman scorned."

"Tell me about it." He set Tink down. "Do you have a way for us to get home?"

"Hold up, there's more. Something about the bell." Zel squinted at the board, confusion on her face. "What's that word? I can't read her handwriting. Or mind writing. Whatever it's called."

Tink nodded. "Rat make hole, we go home. Fight fox face, then turn dial."

"Finally, some good news." He smiled at everybody. "I feel like we're overdue some good luck, don't you think?"

The room suddenly darkened, and something heavy slammed into the stonework outside their room. The whole tower vibrated as a dark shape lowered its head to peer inside at them. Ominous red eyes were set deep inside of a hairy head with a distorted maw full of crocodile teeth and a hiss of steam emitted from all four of its hairy nostrils. Long claws at the end of wooly feet reached for them, gouging the stone floor. The creature looked like it had been cobbled together out of random parts with a complete disregard for function, but the giant bat-like wings on the creatures back were functional enough for it to have flown home.

The Jabberwock had come.