WONDER ( Twisted Forbidden Tales ) Book Three

Mad Lab Part Three

“I guess you want to know what it says too, huh? Can you understand what it says, Happy?” she asked, and I froze for a moment but did not respond to her words. Instead, I just lightly wagged my tail across the envelope. Making Haku pick it up again and finally open it.

“What are you saying, Issa? Happy is just a cat after all. Even though he may be smarter than the average cat, how could he understand, let alone read such a letter?” said Haku in disbelief. He took the letter out and displayed it on the table. There were three pages in total. What would Delia reveal to us at that moment?

My eyes began reading the words on the first page of the letter while those two continued to talk.

“Hmm. I don’t know Whitey. Happy has never seemed normal since I found him. Have you forgotten what this place is? Anything is possible, so I won’t rule out Happy having this ability. It would be amazing if he could talk, though maybe I could understand better, after all. This letter was addressed to Happy too. What do you think that means?” Alissa said, her brows furrowing for a moment before returning to the letter on the table and reading with vigor along with Haku and I about its contents.

Silence ensued following the intake. Christine’s hands were ever insatiable as the letter unveiled just how deep she dug her claws into this world. On another note, I also came to realize just how annoying this smiley cat expression truly came to be. I wondered if back home my family found it annoying too. After all, that’s how I came to be known as Happy, but the ones closest to me knew that it was the facade I hid behind before unleashing the storm brewing within.

As Haku and Alissa discussed the contents of Delia’s letter, my mind wandered about getting to that vial of powder inside Alissa’s cape cloak. I was useless like this and itched for some action. Ripping into that Zuri Tweedle had ignited a fire under my paws. Things here felt similar to what happened to Walden, Aaron, and the Night Wolves. Maybe the source of what they were subjected to started here. For a time, many of them had been circulating through time loops from Christine’s spell.

Haku was against his queen being a part of the missing here, but according to the letters, Heartland palace was the place we needed to head to next. We needed to meet with the queen. Whether Haku wanted to believe she wasn’t involved or not.

The sound of a bell jingling echoed throughout the cabin. Haku furrowed his brows and then reached into his packsack to retrieve the ringing device. My cat's hearing must have picked up the sound along with his rabbit senses. He took out a small earpiece and attached it to his ear.

“I’ll take this outside, Issa. It’s a call from the Palace,” said Haku as he got up and headed outside the cottage to take the call.

“Well, I guess that’s my cue to change and head to the lab soon,” said Alissa as she too got up and headed to the nearby bathroom by the bed. Giving her some space, I sauntered around the place. In all respects, the cottage appeared to be a sanctuary, a haven from the outside world, where time seemed to stand still and troubles melted away.

But beneath this facade of domestic tranquility, the cottage pulsed with arcane energy. This had to be the hidden lab’s presence reaching out to me. Maybe because of my change, I can feel things more independently and strongly. These abilities were amazing, but did me no good when I had paws instead of hands. The trap door in the floorboards caught my sight and I took my leisure time to lie on top of it to wait for Alissa to return, and we could soon get to work.

Haku returned his call and took it outside. Just as a blaring alarm rang out in the forest. Alissa came out of the bathroom in a hurry, her eyes meeting with Haku in yet another understanding if the alarm was anything to go by this meant trouble for us.

“Go do what you have got to do kid, they are sending in the Diamond Crows just for this. How bothersome,” said Alissa. Where are these diamond crows, the queen's men or those of the Morse and Chester dudes they mentioned earlier?

“Stay low for now Issa, this a good thing. I will find out exactly what's going on. It may not be what you're thinking,” Haku said with a sigh. Did he mean someone else had the power to summon the Queen's men other than the queen? If so, shouldn’t she be in the know about these things? For a queen who was unaware of so much going around in her kingdom, she made for a pasty at best and not a good leader in my eyes.

“I won’t argue with you. Just buy us time and gather the facts since you're so sure. Happy and I will be fine here for a while. There are some things I have to do as well. Stay safe and keep your guard up, now go. If I'm not here when you return, then meet at the next checkpoint.” Alissa said, shooing Haku out the door. The door, with a final click and a surge of energy, surrounded us and I knew what that was. It was a protection barrier.

This place would be hard to find and that was a sign of relief for me. Taking a closer look at Alissa, she seemed at home here as well-dressed in an off-shoulder-white top and dark blue-colored skinny jeans. Her feet were bare in her hurry to reach Haku after the alarm sounded. Her blonde locks were slightly askew, but quite cute framed this way around her face. Now that it had died down after Haku's departure, the only thing left now was the eerily yet comforting silence. I moved myself from the trap door to head toward a pair of fluffy pink slippers by the bed. Letting out a sharp meow jolted Alissa from her distracted state to notice, and she let out a warm smile.

“Are you worried about me catching a cold, Happy? How sweet of you. Don’t think I didn’t see you find the trap door just now. Such keen eyesight on your part, let’s head to the lab shall we.” Said Alissa as she donned her fluffy slippers and carried me in her arms.

Concealed beneath a trapdoor in the floorboards lay a hidden staircase as if descending into the depths of the earth. In the basement lies the true heart of the cottage, the lab. Descending a hidden staircase, we entered the basement.

The atmosphere in the laboratory is charged with an almost palpable energy, crackling with the promise of discovery and experimentation. The floors are tiled in cool stone, illuminated by the faint glow of phosphorescent fungi that cling to the walls. Tables littered with vials and beakers stand alongside intricate machinery and esoteric contraptions, while ancient runes are etched into the very fabric of the room, warding off any who would dare to trespass.

The excitement in me built up to an all-time high. This was it, we were moments away from me returning to myself, unbeknownst to Alissa. In one corner, a shower stall stands ready for quick clean-ups between experiments, while sturdy tables provide ample workspace for tinkering and invention. Everywhere you look, there are tools and equipment of every shape and size, each one whispering promises of discovery and innovation.

“Alright now, Happy you can hang out with me over here, but don’t move around too much. There are many things here that may be harmful to you, okay, Happy? As for me, I’m going to get to work on the bad boy here,” Alissa said as she put on a lab coat hanging near one of the tables. She produced a hairband from who knows where and tied her messy hair in a ponytail just like when we first met. She encased her hands in a pair of latex gloves. Then, after safety goggles were in place, she quickly got to work on the pouch and the vial of powder inside, gaining a profound amount of respect and admiration from me.

Could she be a chemist? She seemed highly knowledgeable in what she was doing. She didn’t seem a part of this world and yet somehow she fit in perfectly. A blurry image flashed through my mind quickly, then disappeared. That smile, that face was just like Alissa’s but younger. How could that be? We had never met before until I landed here in this place, right? My head began to hurt as I tried to bring the images back to mind again.

After a while of trying and only getting an even greater headache, I decided to drop it for now. Putting my thoughts on those Diamond Crows being sent out on the hunt. We had yet to know if it was for us or something else together, but thoughts of Haku’s story about his missing friend kept making me feel something was off. He was hiding something for sure and my instincts were telling me there was more to this friend of his that met the eye. Many people had gone missing before now, but he only came to ask for the Mad Bandit’s help when his friend was involved.

It made me think something else was at play here, but it would only be revealed once we got to a certain point in our mission. Was Haku’s friend truly missing? Or was he leading us into a trap we had yet to see? Friends could easily turn into enemies if given the right incentive to do so. Though Delia’s letters were the odd man out in this situation, I would not let anything happen to Alissa, for I deeply felt that if I did, I would severely regret it.