I laughed. Carlotta glared at me.
"You think this is funny?"
"Yes actually, I do. I'd heard you had a reputation in torture, but I never realised you went for such a gameshow style." She scowled at me.
"We'll see who's laughing afterwards." Suddenly she disappeared.
"Nice party trick." I mocked. "What you gonna do? Pull Nivens out of my hat?" There was no reply. Suddenly, the world began to spin. I began to feel giddy. Everything went black.
I awoke, my vision still fuzzy.
"This is just great," I groaned. I had passed out. AGAIN. It was then I noticed I was somewhere new. I was surrounded by thick, black forest. I was in a small clearing. The wood was so thick, I couldn't see anything past the trees. There was an eerie silence. I thought I saw something dart behind me. I turned around, but I was alone. I heard nothing but my own breathing and my heartbeat quickly gaining speed. I pondered for a few seconds, deciding which way to go. I eventually headed off in the right-ish sort of direction. Twigs snapped under my feet. Dead leaves rustled. Everything else was hushed. I don't know why, but that forest brought back memories. I was six years old, and I was at an old friend's house. We were playing in his garden when we discovered a passage into the woods behind his house. We spent hours playing in that woods, straying further and further away from the house. By evening we were hopelessly lost. It was as the sun set I began to get scared. Then my friend's Dad had found us. I remember counting the nettle stings in my bath at home. But this forest was different. There was no light, but everything was clear. I continued on into the woods. I had no idea what this woods was about, but it didn't feel right. I walked on and on, and eventually I came to another clearing. In the centre was an enormous, dead tree. It reminded me of that tree in sleepy hollow. At the end of a branch was a noose. In that noose was a man. He was revolting, had obviously been dead for sometime. His skin was greenish and looked slimy, his hair was full of spiderwebs, with various bugs scuttling in and out of his ears. His eyes were bloodshot and cold. He swayed gently.
"Gross," I muttered, examining him.
"Gross indeed" the man said as his head jerked up to look at me.
I gasped and backed away. This man looked in his twenty's, but his festering features were disgusting. He grinned at me, with the few yellowed teeth he still had. He loosened the noose and fell to the ground. He stared at me.
"I know I'm no fruitbowl," he said waving a decaying hand carelessly. One of his fingers fell off. He glanced at it like he'd dropped his spoon.
"Must be careful where I put me'self," he laughed. He looked me over.
"You're a new one," he remarked. "Where'd you come from?" I shrugged. I wasn't about to let him know that he disgusted me.
"Passed out in a dungeon," I said cooly. "Woke up here."
"Not another one!" the man grumbled. "I tell you, someone do someone a favour and they never leave's ya alone."
"A favour?"
"That Carlotta. She did me a favour a while back and now she expects me to do all her dirty work. She sent another one along yesterday." He stroked his mouldering chin in thought. He came right up close to me, and sniffed my hair.
"Come to think of it," he said. "You look an awful lot like he did."
"We're related" I lied. "I assume you are talking about Tarrant?"
"Yeah, that was it. Tarrant. Nutty as a fruitcake. Put up a good fight, kick me right where it hurts he did. He got away. I let him."
"Who are you?" I asked.
"They call me Joe. Now, I got a job to do. You gonna come quietly or am I gonna have to fight ya?"
"A Hightopp never gives up without a fight" I grinned. Joe smirked. His nails seemed to unroll, to reveal enormously long, sharp claws.
"Uh-oh," I uttered. He charged at me. I had seconds to react. I spread my arms out and stiffened my legs. I shot upwards and Joe collided with the tree. He groaned and rubbed his head.
"That ain't fair!" He yelled. Then he grinned. He stuck the end of his claws into the trunk. I could instantly see his intentions. He was climbing the tree! I held my breath and leapt from the tree branch. I gripped the next tree as I landed hard against it. He had only just looked up to see me gone. I stiffened my body and leapt of the tree. I slammed my green boots into Joe's back. He screeched in pain and rage. I ripped out his hair and scratched at his neck. Suddenly he ducked under his arm and slammed his foot into my stomach. All the air left me as I was slammed against the tree behind me. I groaned and shot up into the branches. He snarled below me and tried a run up. He got a good height on the tree. But I was ready. I plunged from the tree and my boot collided with his jaw. He howled in agony. I saw blood trickle from somewhere. Suddenly he grabbed my foot and slung me to the ground. He leapt onto me and swiped at my arm. I screamed as the blood welled up on my arm. He put his arm around my throat and dragged me along. He slammed my head against tree, over and over again. The world was spinning, and my head was throbbing. I sank my teeth into his wrist and did my best to do some damage. He dropped me and roared. I sprung into the dead tree. He raced towards me and grabbed the noose. As he was climbing I grabbed his hands and slipped his head back into the noose. I tightened the rope, tighter and tighter. I could see the rope digging into his neck. He gurgled and choked.
"Even zombies have to breathe," I whispered. His head lolled and he lay silent. I waited in the branches above, panting. My arm bled a little, but not much. I had worked out the system. If I'd killed him I'd move on, if not I still had work to do. I leapt out of the tree and grabbed my hat which lay on the ground. I dusted it off and placed it back on my head. Suddenly the world began to spin. I collapsed on the ground and everything went black.
Trial one over, I thought as I regained conciousness. I analysed my surroundings. I was leaned against a wall, no, not a wall, a mirror. There were mirrors
everywhere. It was difficult to tell where the mirrors ended and the corner began. I stood up and looked at my reflection. Same old me, ginger hair, plae skin, brown eyes. But there was something wrong with my reflection. There was something sinister about it. I stared at it for a moment, then tried to make out which way to go. I began walking in one direction, and slammed into a mirror.
"Ow," I muttered, rubbing my nose. I was careful to keep my hands in front of me at all times from now on. I came to several dead ends, and had to keep turning back. In five minutes I was hopelessly lost. I resorted to wandering round aimlessly. I suddenly came against a mirror I hadn't been concentrating on. I gasped. It was me, but I was in my school uniform, purple jumper, grey skirt. I couldn't believe it. I turned to another mirror. It was me in my normal clothes. Black skinny jeans. Black boots. Nightmare Before Christmas Shirt. Leather Jacket. Netter gloves. It was starting to creep me out. I turned around and came face to face with another mirror. It was my newest outfit, but my face was creased. It glared at me. I glared back. Suddenly, it's hands reached out and grabbed me. I squeaked and struggled, but it was slowly pulling my are in. Then another mirror grabbed my other arm. They both pulled. I screamed in agony. It felt like they were pulling my arms out of their sockets. Other hands tugged at my hair and my clothes. Suddenly I stopped screaming. I had to concentrate. I loosened my muscles and breathed slow. The arms seemed to faltered, as if they saw no point in wasting extra energy. My shoulders burned, but I had to concentrate. Just when their pulling was at its weakest, I pulled my arms as hard as I could. The glass shattered into a million tiny pieces. I heard the screams of my reflections. Tiny shards of glass pinched my face like hail on a blustery day. I gritted my teeth and held my place. When the glass stopped flying I collapsed on the ground, exhausted. I rubbed my aching arms and closed my eyes. I couldn't tell if I was passing out, or just falling asleep.
I awoke again somewhere new. I was on a cliff on a windy day. It was beautiful, but the beauty was interrupted by terrified screams coming from below me. I looked over the edge to see what I most dreaded. Chess and Queenie were both dangling below me, screaming for help.
"Oh god!" I yelled. "What do I do?"
"Choose quickly!" Chess yelled. "You can only save one of us!"
Oh god, I thought, the ultimate choice. Chess, no Queenie, Chess, Queenie, Chess Queenie Chess Queenie CHESS! No, QUEENIE!
"I DON'T KNOW!" I yelled, tears streaming from my face. "Can't I save you both?"
"The longer you stand talking," Chess yelled. "The closer we are to both dying." I couldn't make my mind up. I had to make a desicion, and fast. I decided to take a risk. I backed away, and took a run up. I got down on my knees and skidded to the edge of the cliff. I hauled both of my friends up, but now it was I who was dangling at the edge. To my suprise, Chess and Queenie just walked away and left me.
"This can't be real," I said aloud. "Chess and Queenie wouldn't do that!" Suddenly, my fingers slipped from the cliff, and the last thing I heard was my own scream.
I heard Carlotta laughing in the darkness.
"Why are you toying with me?" I whispered. "I thought you wanted to let me die?"
"Oh I want to see you die," she replied. "I just wanted to skip that one."
"What was the point of that last task?" I asked. "There was no goal."
"I wanted to see how much you would put on the line for your friends. Besides, I'm not good with ideas. Oh by the way, I'm blocking your powers. Suddenly her voice faded, and I was alone with darkness.
When I opened my eyes I was stood on a tiny platform. A huge galeforce wind was blowing against me.
"OH SNAP!" I yelled, but my voice was lost in the wind. I saw a path of platforms in front of me, but the gaps were dangerously wide. I could see nothing underneath me. Grit pierced my face, my jacket flapped about. My hat tried to take off, but I held onto it. I desperately tried to keep my balance. This wind was extremely strong. I felt it pushing against me, slamming into my body. At one point it grew so strong that I was knocked clean off my platform. I screamed as I flew through the air. My fingers just caught the platform, and I lay dangling. My heart was pounding. Sweat was instantly dried by the wind. I could hardly breathe. I tensed up and tried to heave myself onto the platform. On the fourth try I heaved myself onto it. I clung to the platform for a minute, but the wind forced me back onto my feet. I hugged myself tightly. I hunched over, shivering. The wind whipped through my hair, tugging at my clothes and trying to push me over. I kept my feet together, desperately trying to stay balanced. The platform seemed to sway underneath me. I stared into the dark, desperately trying to see what was beneath me. Suddenly something the Hatter had said came to mind.
'Just illusions' Just illusions, just illiusions. The words played in my head like a stuck record. Finally I came to a conclusion. It may not have been right, but what choice did I have.
"Just Illusions," I whispered to myself, but the words were lost in the raging gale. I held my breath, edging closer and closer to the edge. Finally, I jumped.
My feet landed on the ground that was less than a meter below me. The wind had stopped. I stood for a moment, panting. I now understood. All I'd seen and experienced, it wasn't real. But it was real as long as I believed it was real. That's why Joe's claws had hurt. If I had fallen from the platform believing I would die, I would have died. But now I knew, what could possibly hurt me? All the same, I prepared myself for the final challenge.
