Chapter 78: Hello Rabbit

The alarm bell continued to ring.

The deep metallic sound rolled across the farming outpost like distant thunder.

GONG.

GONG.

GONG.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Workers abandoned carts full of grain.

Children disappeared into reinforced shelters.

Armed guards hurried toward defensive positions.

Even the massive sheep outside seemed uneasy, bunching together in sparse groups while letting out nervous bleats.

Gene watched all of it from the observation tower.

Nobody was actually panicking.

That worried him more.

People only remained calm when they had already survived something terrible enough to become used to it.

And apparently this Rabbit qualified.

The guard who had delivered the warning stood near the staircase, sweating heavily.

“He’s still waiting.”

Mary swore under her breath.

Bo tightened her grip around her shepherd’s staff.

Emily shifted closer to Selene.

Gene looked over the edge of the tower.

Then he finally saw him.

The Rabbit?

At first glance he looked almost like a normal person.

Almost.

A tall man stood outside the gate.

His clothing was immaculate.

White suit.

White gloves.

White shoes polished to a mirror shine.

A silver chain disappeared into his vest pocket where an ornate pocket watch rested.

Long white rabbit ears protruded from his head.

One stood upright.

The other bent at an unnatural angle.

As though it had been broken and healed incorrectly.

The man appeared perfectly calm.

Perfectly polite.

Perfectly civilized.

Which made the blood stains splattered across his sleeves stand out all the more.

Gene frowned.

“That’s him?”

Mary’s expression darkened.

“Unfortunately.”

The Rabbit slowly removed his pocket watch.

It clicked open.

The instant it did, Gene felt something crawl down his spine.

Not physically.

Something deeper.

The sensation was like standing too close to a cliff and suddenly realizing the ground beneath your feet wasn’t stable.

The ticking was audible from hundreds of feet away.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The sound seemed wrong.

Each tick echoed too loudly.

Each one felt heavier than it should.

Like reality itself was counting something down.

The Rabbit stared at the watch.

Then smiled.

Then frowned.

Then smiled again.

Then burst into laughter.

A loud cackling laugh erupted from him.

The sound bounced across the fields.

Several sheep immediately ran.

The Rabbit laughed so hard he doubled over.

Then without warning he stopped.

Instantly.

Like someone had flipped a switch.

His face became completely blank.

Gene felt his skin crawl.

“Okay.”

Gene muttered.

“That’s not normal.”

Bo barked out a harsh laugh.

“You think?”

The Rabbit suddenly looked up.

His gaze locked directly onto Gene.

Hundreds of feet separated them.

It didn’t matter.

Gene knew.

He wasn’t looking at the group.

He was looking specifically at Gene.

The Rabbit waved enthusiastically.

Then began speaking.

His voice carried unnaturally far.

“HELLO!”

The cheerful greeting echoed across the fields.

Nobody answered.

The Rabbit waited.

Smiling.

Still nobody answered.

The smile twitched.

Then widened.

Then widened further.

His cheeks stretched farther than they should have.

The grin became almost painful to look at.

“Hello?”

Silence.

The Rabbit tilted his head.

Then tilted it further.

And further.

Until it was nearly upside down.

A loud crack echoed.

Emily made a horrified noise.

The Rabbit didn’t seem to notice.

His neck slowly rotated back into place.

“Oh.”

He nodded.

“Are they ignoring me.”

He glanced at his watch.

“Good.”

Another glance.

“Not Good.”

Another.

“Good.”

Another.

“Not Good.”

Another.

“Good.”

Gene watched uneasily.

The Rabbit had checked the watch five times in less than ten seconds.

Then twenty.

Then thirty.

His movements became faster.

More frantic.

The pocket watch clicked open and shut repeatedly.

Tick.

Open.

Tick.

Close.

Tock. 

Open.

Tick.

Close.

Like a nervous compulsion.

Like he physically couldn’t stop.

Mary quietly spoke.

“Don’t let him start a conversation.”

“Why?”

“Because he cheats.”

Gene blinked.

“Cheats?”

“The stories.”

She pointed toward the Rabbit.

“He cheats.”

The Rabbit suddenly shouted.

“I HEARD THAT!”

Everyone jumped.

The Rabbit laughed hysterically.

Then immediately stopped.

Then started laughing again.

Gene watched as tears streamed from the Rabbit’s eyes.

He was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

Then he abruptly slammed his fist into his own face.

CRACK.

Blood sprayed from his nose.

The laughter stopped.

The Rabbit calmly straightened his tie.

“As I was saying.”

Gene stared.

“What the hell…”

The nose rapidly twisted back into place.

The blood vanished.

As if the injury had never happened.

The Rabbit smiled pleasantly.

“Sorry.”

“Lost my train of thought.”

A pause.

His expression turned confused.

“Did I have one to begin with?”

Another pause.

Then he laughed again.

Bo groaned.

“He’s getting worse.”

Gene glanced toward her.

“Worse?”

Mary nodded.

“Every year.”

The Rabbit approached the gate.

His shoes made no sound.

He placed one gloved finger against the reinforced steel.

The enormous gate immediately groaned.

Not from force.

It was something stranger.

The steel began rippling.

Flowing.

Like liquid mercury.

Gene watched in disbelief as a section of the gate slowly folded inward.

Not broken.

Apparently being ‘Convinced’ to get out the way of the rabbit.

The metal seemed to genuinely believe it was supposed to move.

The Rabbit smiled.

“Thank you for getting out the way. I am late for a very important meeting.”

The steel folded further.

Gene’s eyes widened.

Athena immediately flashed warnings.

WARNING

LOCAL REALITY INSTABILITY DETECTED

LOGIC FAILURE

CAUSALITY COMPROMISED

The Rabbit patted the gate affectionately as he passed.

“There.”

“That’s better.”

Mary cursed.

Several guards raised weapons.

The Rabbit looked hurt.

“Guns?”

He sounded genuinely offended.

“Against me?”

His face darkened.

The air around him shifted.

The temperature dropped.

Gene suddenly saw dozens of shadows standing behind the Rabbit.

Thousands.

A crowd of vague figures.

People.

Children.

Knights.

Travelers.

All transparent.

All distorted.

All staring.

The vision lasted less than a second.

Then vanished.

The Rabbit smiled again.

“I remember these guns.”

His voice had become quieter.

Sadder.

“They didn’t really help them either.”

Silence followed.

For a moment the rabbit’s insanity disappeared.

For a moment Gene saw something else.

Pain.

The Rabbit slowly looked toward the horizon.

His eyes seemed ancient.

Far older than his appearance suggested.

“I tried.”

Nobody spoke.

The Rabbit continued.

“I really did.”

His smile trembled.

“I was supposed to protect everyone.”

His hand tightened around the watch.

The metal began bending.

Crushing.

The silver casing dented beneath his grip.

“I knew every road.”

“I knew every traveler.”

“I knew every story.”

The Rabbit laughed softly.

“And then…”

The watches glass cracked.

The smile vanished.

“And then I was too late.”

The words came out almost as a whisper.

Gene felt cold.

The Rabbit suddenly looked terrified.

Not of them.

Not of the world.

As though those words represented his greatest fear.

Then the moment passed…

His grin returned.

One of his eyes started to drift around lazily.

Wider than before.

Much wider.

Far too wide.

The Rabbit pointed toward Gene.

He had somehow gotten very close to the group.

“You.”

Gene sighed.

The Rabbit clapped excitedly.

“AND ALSO YOU.”

Then he pointed at Selene.

“Dreamseer.”

Then Emily.

“Spider girl.”

Then himself.

“Rabbit.”

He paused.

“This is such a wonderful cast of characters!”

The Rabbit clapped his hands together.

The sound exploded across the valley like thunder.

Several windows shattered.

Everyone flinched.

The Rabbit looked embarrassed.

“Oops! Forgot I could do that.”

Then he laughed again.

Far longer this time.

Gene was beginning to understand why the sisters didn’t like him.

The Rabbit wasn’t simply insane.

In Gene’s old world, he would be considered a character that broke the fourth wall of reality.

He was a character in a story that knew he was a character in a story.

That made him much worse.

Gene realized that the rabbit may be the only person here with the answers they are looking for.

Eventually the laughter died down.

The Rabbit checked his watch again.

The ticking was growing louder.

Gene could actually hear multiple ticking sounds now.

Not one.

Many.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

Like countless watches were ticking beneath the earth.

The Rabbit froze.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

His head turned toward the distant horizon.

The smile vanished.

Something moved in the distance.

A shadow.

Massive.

Towering.

Even from this distance it looked impossibly huge.

The Rabbit stared.

Then sighed.

“Yup I was right.”

His voice sounded exhausted.

“Good thing I came early.”

Gene frowned.

The rabbit looked toward Gene again.

For the first time since arriving, the Rabbit was completely serious.

Only for a moment.

“Listen carefully.”

Gene did.

The Rabbit pointed down the road.

“Hearts Crossing.”

His smile returned.

“A lovely place.”

Then his eyes widened.

“A terrible place.”

Then he frowned.

“Mostly terrible.”

Then he nodded.

“Definitely a terrible place to go.”

The mood swings were getting difficult to follow.

The Rabbit pointed directly at Selene.

“Don’t drink the tea.”

Selene blinked.

“What?”

The Rabbit’s expression became deadly serious.

“DO.”

“NOT.”

“DRINK.”

“THE.”

“TEA.”

Every word carried enough weight to make Gene uncomfortable.

Then the Rabbit laughed.

Then stopped.

Then laughed again.

Then stopped.

Like a broken machine cycling through emotions.

Then he suddenly announced,”The Queen is awake.”

He looked around at them.

“The Queen isnt always awful when she’s awake.”

The Rabbit looked genuinely sympathetic.

“Good luck she is worse then me.”

He tipped his hat.

Reality bent around him.

The road twisted.

The sky rippled.

Colors stretched.

The Rabbit’s body elongated into impossible proportions.

His limbs became too long.

His smile split his face nearly ear to ear.

For one horrifying second Gene saw what the Rabbit truly looked like beneath the human disguise.

Thousands of twitching rabbits holding clocks.

Endless staring eyes.

A body made of glass and fractured stories.

A thing that had forgotten what shape it was supposed to be.

The vision lasted less than a heartbeat.

Then it vanished.

The Rabbit was gone.

Complete silence followed.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody moved.

Finally Emily quietly whispered:

“I think the thing that came out the spider was less scary.”

Gene immediately nodded.

Far away, another roar echoed across the dream world.

And somewhere beyond the horizon, the Rabbit’s laughter drifted faintly through the wind.

As if he were still watching.

Still waiting.

Still counting down the seconds until something terrible arrived.