The ride home was awkward.

Last year, Blaspheme had a dream in which Rafferty had flirted with a boy that Blaspheme liked. A boy who didn't even exist. Blaspheme had made a show of laughing when she told Rafferty about it.

But she had barely spoken to Rafferty for a week.

The ride home from Wonderland was a lot like that. Oscar and Lena were bickering, Cody seemed mistrustful of Sheridan, and Colin wouldn't even look at Blaspheme. Some of the things that were causing this tension were real, and some of them were not.

But they were all memories, and in the end, Rafferty realized, memories were really all we were.

The Jacks drove in short shifts. Whenever they stopped, someone would pipe up with a comment like "It will be good to get back." Everyone would murmur agreement, and then silence would settle back over the group. Out the window, the Breaks rolled on and on and on.

When they finally got back to the Abbey, things weren't much better. The Priory wasn't satisfied with the answers they were getting, anymore than J Hall was satisfied with the answers they were giving. Max was a stickler for things like one of his Jacks losing a finger without anyone being able to tell him how.

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Rafferty tried to improve the mood by inviting B Hall to unwind with them. She knew not everyone really got along, but Katrin and company knew how to throw a party, and never took anything too seriously, so she thought it might help.

It went all right at first. Katrin asked lots of questions, and didn't look at them like they were crazy. The special cup made another appearance, and the warm, fuzzy feeling it inspired relaxed everyone for a while.

But B Hall was B Hall, and they thought that Wonderland sounded like a blast, which wasn't exactly what most of Rafferty's friends wanted to hear. When Seth said "it all sounds so cool" after hearing about the Very Scary Laboratory, it was one time too many.

"No! No, it wasn't cool. It was scary and gloomy and depressing and weird. I was lost and alone and confused and being chased by monsters who were actually my friends, or being tricked by friends who were actually monsters, and, oh yeah, Colin lost his GODDAMN FINGER!" Cody shouted.

Katrin tried to apologize for Seth, but Cody was already on her way out. Blaspheme stood up and followed her.

Sheridan tried to stick it out. She even got pretty good at the match flipping game that B Hall played, but gave Rafferty a withering look when she lost a round and the other girls insisted that she had to kiss Erick.

Oh crap, that was really part of it last time? I thought I imagined that.

Rafferty tried to get her out of it, but Sheridan wouldn't hear of it, rules were rules after all. She scooted over to Seth's Jack, and followed through with clinical precision, but shortly afterward had excused herself and left.

Her B Hall friends tried to keep the mood light, and Briana even offered to go apologize to the other girls and try to get them back. Rafferty mumbled that it was all right, and Briana let it go. Rafferty tried to remember to speak when someone asked her a question. Mostly, her mind wandered.

Hey beautiful, didn't you hear? Wonderland stays with you, even after you leave.

Rafferty fell asleep on her bed while her friends were still there. When she dreamt, she dreamt of a giant bear with only one eye.