“I have,” he said. I lifted my eyes to meet his. He was staring through the windshield. He turned slowly to face me. “It’s different, and it will be scary to you at times, but I’m here to lead you, Dolly.” He lifted his pocket watch to beside his face. “This is my job, remember? I’m here to guide you on the adventure.” He put his watch back in his pocket. “Do you trust me?”
I stared into those silver eyes and immediately knew the answer. Smiling, I shook my head and laughed. “Silly Rabbit. Of course I do.”
“Then we go,” Rabbit said. “We have places to go and people to meet. We have to fulfill our destiny.”
I sucked in a deep breath and sat back in my seat. “I’m ready, Rabbit.” I reached up and clutched the vial around my neck. “I’m ready to see this new world.”
Rabbit drove the car forward, and I gasped as we flew past the broken gates. I glanced behind us at the house where I had been trapped. I frowned as I remembered my friend who used to live beyond the room of doors. I would speak to her sometimes. She was on the other side of one particular door, but it wasn’t a good door. It wasn’t the one that led to a nice part of Wonderland. It was a bad door, one where she got hurt. I didn’t want to ever end up in that part of Wonderland.
I hoped she was okay. I hoped that she would one day get out and away from the people who had hurt her.
“You good, darlin’?” Rabbit inquired. I turned my head to face forward and felt the wind slap at my cheeks. When I lifted my hand, I realized my cheeks were wet with tears.
“Dolly?” Rabbit pulled the car to a sudden stop. I looked around. There were bright green fields all around us. They were so pretty. “Why’re you crying?” Rabbit asked. I faced him and saw his jaw clenching.
“I . . .” I sniffed and wiped another tear from my face. “I had a friend in that house, Rabbit. One who I just realized I will never speak to again. If I leave . . . she will be all alone.”
“A friend?” Rabbit asked. His eyes seemed to darken. “Eddie?” he said through gritted teeth. “Eddie fucking Smith? Is that your friend?”
“Eddie?” I asked in confusion. “I don’t know an Eddie.”
“You don’t?” Rabbit sat back in his seat, and his dark eyebrows pulled down. “You don’t know an Eddie?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Should I?”
He paused. Then, “No . . . it doesn’t matter.” He looked away. When he faced me again, he said, “Then who?” He still seemed tense, and a bit confused.
My heart dropped in sadness. “Her name was Ellis.”
Rabbit froze. His skin seemed to drain to white. “Ellis?” he said, half whispering.
I nodded, fighting back tears when I thought of her soft frightened voice. “She . . . she was trapped behind one of the doors. She spoke to me sometimes.” My lip trembled. “She didn’t have a nice life, Rabbit. There were some men in her home that . . . hurt her. They hurt her so much.” Rabbit made a noise in his throat, as if he was in pain too. “She was so lonely. She would cry a lot.” I sniffed. “I tried to make her feel better by talking to her, but nothing worked. Then one day she stopped coming to the door. I . . . I don’t know what happened to her. I never heard from her again.” I blinked away my tears and looked at Rabbit. His face looked stricken. I knew he was sad for my friend too. “Do you think Ellis is okay?” I whispered, my voice getting trapped in my throat. “I don’t want to leave her there alone, if she’s still there, behind the door. Alone, afraid, scared of the men that come for her every night.”
Rabbit cleared his throat and dropped his eyes. When he looked up several seconds later, he said, “Ellis . . . your friend . . . I think she’ll be okay. In time.”
I nodded, heaving a sigh of relief. Rabbit knew Wonderland. He knew if she would be okay or not. I stared at him. “Ellis had a friend, too. Like I have you. She would talk to me about him. He’s called Heathan.”
A moan slipped from Rabbit’s mouth, and I frowned in panic. “Are you hurt, Rabbit?” He breathed hard and slammed his hand against the wheel. “Rabbit?”
“What happened to . . . Heathan?” His voice sounded strained. He was speaking through gritted teeth once again.
“He was sent away from her, and she never saw him again. She would cry when she told me about him. She was waiting for him to come back. But every day, when he didn’t return, she grew sadder and sadder. Her voice grew quieter and quieter until she spoke no more.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She told me she loved him . . . and that he had been hurt badly too, by the bad men, then they sent him away. She was left all alone. No hope and no Heathan.”