Carpet Bagger:

So maybe he wasn't the best person. Maybe he stole, and swindled and conned.

Maybe he was a bloodsucking carpet-bagger.

But he was my bloodsucking carpet-bagger.

And, for once, with him, the thief, the drug dealer, the con man, I knew I was safe, because I knew he would do anything for me.

Sledgehammer:

I never dated a black belt. Why should I? I had trust issues. Why would I date someone who could-possibly-take me?

It was another self defense mechanism. I'd date a guy, goad him into trying karate, then breaking up with him if he showed any promise.

Didn't exactly work that way with Hatter. I knew the second I saw him punch a hole in the banister. (The solid MARBLE banister.) He could take me. He could kill me. I wasn't sure how things like this worked in Wonderland, but if an Oyster—Human got hit with that much force, their nasal cartridges would slam into their brains and kill them immediately.

But I wasn't afraid of him. I wasn't afraid of him, or what he could do to me, or the love in his eyes, or the way I knew, I knew, I loved him back.

In fact, the only thing that scared me about Hatter was what my mother would do to him if he broke another one of her 'flimsy Other-side teacups.'

Tattoo:

You might think it odd, but the first thing I did, after my good, cleansing cry with mom, was freak out about the tattoo. She walked out to get me some juice, and my eye caught my right arm.

It was still there, but it was faded. Almost unrecognizable really, I had to squint to see the white outline of it on my pale, pale skin. I might have never noticed it if I wasn't looking.

I could still see it though. Like how all those old stories described people with faerie sight. With one eye it was almost not there, and with the other it was clear as day, green on my skin.

It was sort of distracting, but my job required me to wear long sleeves, and all of my classes were freezing, so I probably wouldn't see it to much.

I jumped when my mom walked in, and guiltily shoved my arm under the crisp hospital sheets. She rolled here eyes, before taking a sip of her coffee and saying, "Really Alice, how dumb do you think I am?"

I stared at her, frozen in confusion, The nurse didn't see anything when she took my blood pressure earlier. How did mom?

"So," She said, conversationally. "Please tell me you accepted Jack's offer now that he's king of Wonderland."

When I didn't say anything, she just continued. "What? You think you're the only one to foray through the Looking Glass on vacation? Honestly Alice."

My mother, Carol Hamilton, was a crazy person.

Mad as a Hatter, some may say.

Twinkle:

She watched him from the ground. She'd watched him for a few days now, ever since she came into get her fix, and he wasn't there. She'd shook Dormie awake enough to find out he left.

She couldn't think of a thing that could tear her selfish, greedy, entrepreneur of a lover away from profit. After a little seduction, and more Truth than she could afford in just the right mouths, she found it out.

The thing that took her Hatter away from his office. The little Alice.

It figured, she thought, as she looked up at him, at them in the sky. Followed him for days, which wasn't hard to do, just look for signs of the sledgehammer, just to catch a glimpse of him, with that little it clinging onto him like a whore.

Dejectedly, she whispered, "Twinkle twinkle little bat, how I wonder where you're at. Up above the world you fly, like a tea tray in the sky." She wasn't about to hop on a flamingo herself, but she'd be damned if another Hatter, her Hatter, her betrothed, fell victim to another Alice. It'd be the death of that family. AN: Not quite sure what these are, but I wrote them a while ago, and figured I'd post 'em. Review, and I might write a few more. A few better than these. God, these suck. Have a good night, Mari.