Madness (Madness #1)

Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

The moment the rumours started to circle Wonderland, I knew it would only be a moment before the news got back to White.

The need to protect Red thrums through my veins as I drag her back to my office, the others dragging along, and Hare rushes to get Bander from solitary.

I can’t chance bringing Al up, even if every part of me is screaming to do so.

This could be his baby, after all… it could be any of ours .

Red’s feet drag across the tiled floors, her face a pale white, and her hand clutched tightly in mine feels clammy.

“Red, my love, you need to try to stay calm until you take the test,” I say as we reach my office, “We’ll figure it out, I promise.”

Her eyes, wide with fear and confusion, lock onto mine. “I don’t know how this possibly could have happened. I get the shot. I can’t be pregnant, Jameson, I can’t. Wonderland is no place for a baby.”

“We’ll figure it oot, Mo ghràdh. We won’t let our baby grow up here in Wonderland,” Harry closes the door to my office once the twins are inside, and they all sit down, weighing our options.

I tighten my grip on Red’s hand, leading her around my desk and pull open the bottom drawer. The pregnancy test there glares back at me, and I fold it into her hands, nodding my head to the bathroom for her to take it, “I’ll be right behind you,” I say softly, kissing her forehead tenderly.

Bander arrives with Hare a moment later, his eyes darting around the room with worry.

“She’s in the bathroom,” I reassure him.

“She’s ok?”

I don’t answer him, instead making my way to the bathroom to check on Red.

I have no idea how we got here or how this happened, but I won’t let our baby be born in Wonderland for White to take from us the moment it’s born.

She’s done everything she can to ruin Red’s life, and I can’t watch her do this to her – it would kill her, and I would lose her forever regardless.

I knock on the door, not waiting for an answer and enter my ensuite, where a terrified-looking Red sits on the toilet seat with the test clutched in her hand, “It’s positive,” she whispers in awe and terror, “It’s positive Jameson. I’m going to have a baby and I can’t be in here when I do…” her breathing picks up, coming in choppy pants, “I can’t… she’s going to take it from me… from us.”

I clasp her face in my hands, “Red, listen to me. I won’t let that happen, I promise you. I have a plan, but I need you to trust me.”

She stands and looks me in my eyes, “Always.”

“So?” the twins speak in unison, sitting side by side.

“Positive,” Red murmurs, just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“Shit.”

“Shite.”

“We need to get you out.”

“What about Al?”

All the voices blend into one, and I can feel a migraine probing at the edges of my brain, “One thing at a time, please.” I guide Red over to the couch, settling her between Bander and Harry, and return to my desk, “I have a plan. ”

“Well, whit is it?” Harry makes a rolling motion with his hand.

“First, we need to make sure no one suspects anything,” I continue, my voice steady despite the chaos brewing inside of me, “We’ll need to keep everything as normal as possible for the next few days while I plan everything.”

Bander nods, “I can get some of my odium poppy to knock the guards out if need be.”

I open the left side desk drawer, something I swore never to do, and punch in the code for Red’s birthday into the safe.

The obnoxious beep sounds throughout the room, gaining everyone’s attention, and I pull the safe door open, the book entrusted to the warden before me staring back at me.

“What is it?” Red asks, tilting her head questioningly.

“It’s thee Alice’s escape plan,” I say, dropping the book onto the wooden surface in front of me.

“You had it all this time?” Red shouts, “I’ve been desperate, thinking she was going to get me at any moment, and you had the key to my escape this entire time?”

“There was a plan, but I no longer care about that. All that matters now is you and the baby in your stomach,” I say sternly, refusing to argue about the past when all that matters is the future that is sitting in front of me.

Red stands, her eyes locked onto the book, “Can I see it?” I nod, handing it to her, and she opens the cover, inhaling sharply, “Have you read it?”

I shake my head, “no.”

“What’s Al’s surname?”

“Lowe, why?”

She slams the book down in front of me, her finger tapping the name scribbled onto the first blank page.

Alice Lowe

Escape from Wonderland

“Well fuck,” I sigh, rubbing a hand down my face.

My body feels as though a heavy shroud entangles it, the weight of countless burdens press down on me, and it seems as though it’s suddenly too much to bear.

Hare sits happily on the floor, his pencils scratching against the paper, and guilt overwhelms me.

I’ve failed everyone – most painfully, I’ve failed him.

“Is thee Alice his mum?” Desmond inquires, his gaze fixated on the signature before me as if it might summon her ghost from the shadows.

“Seems to be, but why did he not tell us?” Dusty asks, hurt lacing his voice.

“He did not know,” I reply, determined to shield him from their misdirected anger. “He was aware she was a patient in Wonderland, but he believed she was that only. He has no clue that she became a legend. I had no clue that his Alice was our Alice.”

I flip open the pages, hating how much of a mess the writing is but knowing the plan is almost foolproof in making sure Red escapes here.

Bander watches us all with a careful eye, his prosthetic one doing little to minimise the damage to his face as it collapses on itself gradually, “The plan goes ahead then? We get Red out.”

“It does. I’ll need a week to get everything set up. Can you give me that?”

“Wait!” Red exclaims, “What about everyone else?”

“They’re coming too,” I rush to reassure her, hating how her eyes well up with tears.

“And me?” Hare chirps from the floor.

“I won’t leave without him. I will not leave him here for White to torment again ,” she hisses the last part, and I wince, knowing she’s seen his file and all it entails.

“Hare comes too,” I promise her, “As do the others, but you need to stick to the plan and do everything I tell you to.”

They all murmur their agreement, and I sigh in relief, knowing that I can finally get her out of this place – that I can give her a chance to heal before our baby is here.

“We need to tell Al,” Dusty interjects, “he needs to know he’s getting out of here too.”

“Bander, can you take Red and Dusty down tonight to tell him?” I barely begin to ask him before he nods his head.

“Anything. As long as we can finally leave this place.”

“That’s sorted then. Give me a day to sort a plan, and we’ll meet here tomorrow night,” I say, prying the book from Red’s hands and placing it back in the safe.

“What if we’re caught?” Red whispers, fear dancing in her eyes.

“We won’t be. I promise.”