“Hmm. . . What time is this?” mumbled Kaien, looking for his watch at the same time. “Oh shit! Is it afternoon already?!”
Kaien jumped out of bed and ran to take a quick shower. After the shower he was wondering why Allen did not wake him up. He was wondering where everyone was. What are they doing? And more importantly, why was it so quiet? Kaien decided to check on Allen first before going out to check on everyone else.
He took a peek behind Allen’s door and saw Allen still on his bed. Kaien thought Allen was oversleeping like him too, and decided to wake him up. Slowly, he tip-toed to Allen’s bed and Allen did show no sign of his awake or aware that someone stood at the edge of his bed.
“Allen?” called Kaien, softly but did not get any response from Allen. He did not even move a bit. “Allen, wake up.”
Kaien slowly walked closer to Allen’s side and saw Allen still sleeping, but he was shivering and sweating a lot.
“Allen?!” Kaien raised his voice a bit and he placed his hand on Allen’s forehead. “Oh no! You are burning.”
Kaien quickly ran to his room and came back with a glass of water and his bag. He put the glass on the bed table and searched for medicine inside his bag. Slowly, he held Allen and tried to give him medicine.
“Allen, take this and drink the water,” said Kaien when Allen slowly opened his eyes. He held Allen from the back as Allen took the medicine and helped him lay down on the bed.
“Kai. . .” Allen mumbled, looking at Kaien with half-opened eyes.
“Yes? Sorry to wake you up. You should tell me last night if you didn’t feel well. I could help you, you know.” Kaien was babbling.
“Kai. . .” Allen’s soft voice stopped Kaien from babbling. “Do you. . . Trust me?”
“What? Y-yes, I do.”
“Stay. . . With me,” said Allen before falling asleep.
“Yes. Sure.” Kaien took a chair and sat next to the bed and wondered what Allen meant. But his thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang from his room.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kaien jumped from his chair and quickly ran to the door before the loud noise woke up Allen. It was Dominique, Nathan and Benji at the door.
“Did you just wake up?” asked Nathan, coming inside the room without being invited by Kaien.
“Yes, you could say that. Haha,” Kaien chuckled in embarrassment. “Oh yeah. Allen is not feeling very well. Please let him sleep and rest here for today.”
“Really?” asked Benji, shocked. “He was just fine during dinner last night.”
“Yes, I thought so too,” said Kaien and led them to Allen’s room through the bathroom. He sat back in his chair while the other three stood beside Allen’s bed. “Did any of you see him after dinner?”
Three of them shook their heads. While Allen was in deep sleep and unaware that there were four pairs of eyes that were staring at him like he was a piece of meat.
“Dominique, do you have any medicines or vitamins here?” Kaien asked. “I had brought some with me, but I don’t think it’s enough.”
“Yes, I’ll look for them,” answered Dominique and immediately left the room.
Kaien turned his gaze on Nathan and Benji who just stood still next to the bed like a statue. “So, what did you two do today?”
“Oh! Oh! We found Wonderland! Haha!” Nathan suddenly came back to life and answered cheerfully before Benji could open his mouth. He was hoping to share his discovery with Kaien and Allen.
“Wonderland?” asked Kaien, intertwining his fingers. “Tell me about it.”
“Well, you know. There’s a room, a door. But inside of it, there’s a beautiful garden. A very big and beautiful one. Everything is there,” explained Nathan, excitedly. “Like Wonderland! You know, the story, Alice in wonderland. So beautiful! You should see it yourself.”
“Wonderland. . . That sounds so. . .” Kaien mumbled slowly, “. . . Scary.”
“What?!” Shouted Nathan and Benji in unison. “Why?” Nathan asked.
“Don’t tell me you're afraid of the Queen of Heart? Jabberwocky, perhaps? Hahaha!” Laughed Benji.
“No, no, that’s not it. Hehe. It's just that. . .” Kaien chuckled and stood up. He walked closer to Benji and Nathan. He placed his right hand on Benji’s shoulder and his left hand on Nathan’s shoulder. Then he said with a scary voice, “. . . WE’RE ALL MAD HERE!”

Benji and Nathan froze on the spot, unable to say anything. Kaien’s words made their blood run cold.
“Come on. Play with me!” Demanded Kaien. “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” When none of them responded, Kaien looked Benji in the eyes, “Ask me, Benji. Ask me the ‘question’.”
Benji knew well that Kaien asked him to recite the question from Alice in Wonderland’s story. It was just a story, and yet it made him nervous now. “How. . . how. . .” Benji started to ask while stuttering and shivering. “How do you know I’m mad?”
“You must be,” said Kaien, trying not to laugh. “. . .or you wouldn’t have come here. Hehe. . .”
Both Nathan and Benji still stayed silent and said nothing while Kaien seemed to be in his own world. They went pale and Kaien noticed that.
“Hey, hey, these are just the quotes from the story. Hehehe,” laughed Kaien, trying to break the ice. “Come on, you two. Relax. By the way, could you stay with Allen? I want to check on Dominique.”
Without waiting for Benji or Nathan to respond, Kaien left them with sleeping Allen.