Cheshire's House had lost all its spunk. To be honest, it never really was a dimension where fun and fairness reigned, but lately, the atmosphere had turned even more gloomy. The dolls that were usually laughing mockingly, now sat silently on their shelves, waiting to be shown a little bit of affection. The paintings on the wall patiently let time pass, longing for someone to remove the dust from the art that they were.
In between all that stuff, all those possessions that lay within this house, there was me. I had been waiting too. I had done so for so long, I couldn't remember how many years had passed. Whenever I thought he would never return, I could see his face clear as day. Those two wine-red eyes would pierce through my being, even though they weren't actually there.

A long time ago, right before Cheshire gained his sight, we had our very first visitor. One I couldn't get out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried. As soon as I saw his white hair and red eyes for the first time, it was clear to me; this guy was a child of the Ill Omen. He looked as if he had no reason to smile, completely broken and utterly wretched.
The look on his face made me wonder about what happened on the surface nowadays. The blue sky-ed, soft-sanded surface, somewhere I hadn't been for very long. The last time I was there, suddenly everything around me turned to darkness and I was sent to this dimension. Why I was here, or why I was alone were questions I hadn't been able to answer.
"Where am I?" The first words he spoke were understandable ones. Every being would've asked the same question, wherever they would have been sent to. This could all have been solved so easily; I'd answer him and within a few minutes, he'd be back on the surface. Even though he couldn't see me, he'd still hear a voice that would guide him towards the didn't happen and everything that did happen next, was my fault.
All because I couldn't speak.
"Man, that must have been some fall I made, my head is still spinning." As the white-haired one put a hand against his head, a row of pointy teeth showed itself right behind him.
I wanted to warn him, to do something in helping him to escape or hide, but all hope of rescuing this Child of Ill Omen faded as soon as Cheshire arrived. When the guy finally turned around, Cheshire had vanished, although I knew he was still somewhere around.

"Relax, Kevin, you're psyching yourself out." Poor guy, this wasn't some kind of hallucination, but he didn't know. The fact that he jumped up probably meant I wasn't the only one who had heard Cheshire's bell. "Who is there? Show yourself coward!"
The bell, worn around the cat's neck, made a second noise and the guy now knew for sure he wasn't alone. "Who are you and where am I?" He screamed into the darkness, pulling out a dagger-like object. Cheshire decided that upon this guy's act of defense, he had to show himself.
"What are you, human?" Cheshire's claws tried to reach for the one apparently named Kevin, but he almost lost them because of it. Looking back, being unable to see must have been horrible for him, poor cat. "Your name?"
Kevin didn't make a single sound as he crawled towards the other side of the room. "Yes, I'm human, or what remains of my human soul. My name is Kevin Regnard. You are?" Him answering Cheshire resulted in his whereabouts being given away. Within a second the cat stood in front of him once again.
"I am the Cheshire Cat, the owner of this house and host of the memories of the Abyss, it's very nice to meet you, Human Kevin." As he bow down exuberantly, Cheshire let out a mocking laugh, just like the ones the dolls in this room let out so frequently. His teeth showed themselves while bits were still shrouded in darkness. "I have a little favor to ask of you, human."

As soon as he had called out his dolls, I knew it was over. For a very long time, Cheshire had been blind, wearing a bandage around his eye sockets. He had always yearned for his sight to return and the candidate that arrived on a platter was one he just could not let go.

From that point on, Kevin had to learn how to live with one eye, he didn't have a choice. As he wandered around the empty hall, trying to stop the bleeding with his hand, silence was overruled by his voice. "I need to get out of here. Revenge, I want revenge. How do I get back at that filthy cat?"
There, right in that hallway, where the white-haired deviant fell to the ground, I showed myself to him for the first time. Now that a part of his body was shared with Cheshire, Kevin should be able to see me. I really thought he would be shocked to see another human here. After all, I looked somewhat like a ghost, only less pale, as a result of roaming here for so long. But no, Kevin wasn't startled. He didn't scream and he never freaked out.
"Ghosts, huh? I must be going completely mental." A tiny smile appeared on his face, leaving the impression he somehow felt peaceful. "Or maybe; are you here to kill me, to put me out of my misery?" Oh, how I wanted to tell him that I was here to help, I wanted to scream it from the highest point of Cheshire's house.
But I couldn't.
Not since Cheshire had stolen my laugh, my mouth. One of his dolls now possessed it and all that was left on that part of my face, was a string of black yarn, used to sow up the hole left behind. Because of my disability to speak, I could only shake my head, something Kevin understood right away.
"Do you know how you got here, girl?" Again, I shook my head. As I stepped in front of him to lead the way, he tried to grab my wrist. Instead, all he got a hold of was air. His eyes shot wider while he looked at me, still not completely sure what I wanted. I couldn't blame him. This surface-roamer just had his eye yanked out of its socket and was trying his hardest to bear the pain.
The grunting noise Kevin made as he tried to get up reminded me of an innocent puppy, trying to break free from a cage too small. There wasn't much more I could do for him, though. All I could try was to get him to escape from this hell-hole.
"What is this?" I stopped for a second and found myself in shock as I looked behind me. "Is this yours?" The ribbon Kevin held in his hand was mine indeed, one I had lost before I even came here. While wanting to ask him if I could have it, I realized I still did not possess the ability to do so. Instead, I nodded, still trying to get him to follow me.

There it was, the door that could free Kevin from this horrible place. By now, he fully understood that I wanted to help him, instead of doing harm. There was something odd about him, though. While I guided him towards this point, he kept asking me questions. What my name was, where I came from, how I got here, all kinds of questions were fired my way. Right after asking them, Kevin seemed to recall I couldn't answer him and he would just stare in another direction.
"I'm going to find a way to get you out of here, I promise." He sounded so determined when he said it, for a second there I believed him, only to find myself disappointed when the thought occurred I would never be able to leave this place. I had tried many times myself, but for some reason, I couldn't just walk out the door, unfortunately.
Then, for the last time, I shook my head as tried to push Kevin through the door -even though my hands went right through him- back to the surface. Once more, he tried to get a hold of me, but again, he only caught air. Maybe I couldn't return to where I came from, but I wanted my existence to have meaning, to be able to help others.

As I wandered around the dimension I hated so much, I couldn't help but shed a tear over the one that had arrived so long ago. He was probably living a happy life on the surface, surrounded by love and affection. It was okay he hadn't come back for me, it really was. Still, deep down I hoped I could see him once again. The one who had given my life meaning, the one who now possessed my precious ribbon.
The one who would later be known as The Mad Hatter.