Free Insanity by Cameron Jace

Tock.
    "Interesting how mad behaviors always entertain the sane," the Pillar whispers in my ear.
    "Shut up!" I yell at him, spitting Cheshire Cheese on the tourists.
    They clap even harder.
    "Tell me, Alice," the Pillar says. "Why is your head ticking?"
    What? How can he hear the ticking in my head? Now, this is absurd.
    "It's like Tick Tock, all the time," the Pillar says. "Do you have a time bomb somewhere?"
    I can't believe he hears my own thoughts. I can't live this way if he truly does. Suddenly, my teeth hurt really bad. I have bitten something made of steel. My eyes widen, as I keep chugging through the cheese like chattering teeth. The message isn't a piece of paper. It's something made of steel. Finally, something falls off the cheese. A watch.
    "That's why I thought I was ticking," I mumble. The tourists laugh. They're on cloud nine now.
    "A watch?" the Pillar wonders. "Please tell me it is not a pocket watch, or this Cheshire’s sense of humor is atrociously absurd."
    "It is a pocket watch," I pick it up and rub the cheese off it. "It has a rabbit drawn inside. His two hands show the minutes and the hours."
    "That’s brilliant. Show me!" the old woman says.
    "Don't you dare come near me," I sneer at her, and get back to the Pillar. "The watch isn't working. It stopped once I touched it, I think."
    "That’s even more interesting," the Pillar says.
    "Do something!" I shout at him. "We have to save the girl."
    "Don't yell at me. I am not the killer here," he says. "Well, I kill people, but not this one. Tell me Alice, anything unusual about the watch?"
    "Other than that it’s not working, I don't think so."
    "A pocket watch that isn't working," the Pillar thinks aloud. "What time is it stuck on?"
    "Six o'clock."
    "That's the message," the Pillar says. "I don't really know what it means, though.”
    "What? How can you not know? I thought this was some kind of sick game you were playing with the Cheshire. You have to know."
    "I don't," the Pillar says firmly. "Sorry, kid. We're going to have to give up on the girl. It's almost noon, and the Cheshire wins this round."
    "I'm not going to give up on her!" I shout.
    "Why? You don't even know her. She means nothing to you," he says.
    I say nothing, because I don't know why. I just have to save her. I can’t stand knowing that I could save someone then bail on them.
    "Did a Cheshire eat your tongue?" the Pillar says.
    "Okay, okay," I try to calm myself down. The tourists are taking pictures of me. They are filming me with their phones. That old woman keeps grinning at me. "Let's see. The watch is fixed on six o'clock. Now it's around twelve-thirty. The Cheshire said I have until noon, so six o'clock can't be a number. It can't be time."
    "Interesting," the Pillar says.
    "It's a location." I raise my hands in the air. "Like snipers and policemen in movies, when they say shoot this one in the six o'clock direction."
    "Frabjous," the Pillar says. "And where is six o'clock as a location?"
    "Right behind me," I turn around, back to Lewis Carroll’s portrait.
    "Like the Cheshire used to say: if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there,” the Pillar says.

Chapter 23
    It doesn’t matter how long I inspect Lewis Carroll’s portrait, I don't find anything strange. It's devastating. Even the tourists start to get bored, all except the old woman. She is most attentive.
    "Tell me Alice, does Lewis Carroll grin in the portrait?"
    "No." I double check, in case my eyes are giving up on me. I had one shot of my medication early this morning. I might need another one, since I'm beginning to tire.
    "Damn. That would have been classic," the Pillar says.
    "Maybe it's something behind the portrait," I suggest.
    "I know what six o'clock might be!" the old woman interrupts. Her grin is ridiculous. She is enjoying this more than a seven year old would enjoy an Alice in Wonderland book with pictures.
    "Okay?" She might be my last resort.
    "Six o'clock is when the Mad