Uncomfortable with the current situation, I returned to my conversation with Cheshire, attempting to ignore his eyes burning into me. I was failing horribly though, and was left with no choice but to turn around and question his cold stares.

"Do you... need something? You can ask, it's alright."

He replied in a sinister and seductive voice "Could you come with me for a moment?"

I froze in place. What did he want with me? Did he really just wish to speak with me, or was he plotting my death at this very moment. I considered saying no, but it was out of the question. If he really did just want to talk with me, then I would have seemed suspicious, not to mention rude. I hesitantly followed him through what seemed to be the back doors of a little house. Once inside the house and out of earshot of the others, he turned to me; his gaze everlasting. I couldn't take it any more! How much longer was he going to just stand there and stare at me! I stiffened and turned my head towards the ground, closing my eyes tightly to avoid his icy glare. I could hear him stifling a laugh and I clenched my fists - my nails digging into my already scarred skin. I could feel a hand pulling my chin up to face him.

"What's the matter?" He whispered innocently.

His eyes continued to bore into mine as my fists tightened. He knew damn well what he was doing, and it was torturous! He laughed softly at my reaction, and I refused to reply to his ridiculous question. What the hell was so funny about being harassed by him? He began to walk away, and I just stood there. I felt so relieved that he had finally left, until he came back and grabbed my hand to lead me away. His fingers entwined with mine and I blushed lightly. Damn, he infuriated me! Couldn't he just be normal and tell me what he was planning? Although, it's silly to even hope for that in Wonderland. He lead me into a small bathroom and began rummaging through all the cabinets, tossing random stuff out as he turned the bathroom inside out, searching intently for something unknown to me. What was it that he needed to find so badly?

"What are you looking for?" I finally spurted out, knowing right away that I'd regret asking.

"Echo, are you aware that nobody has bothered to bandage your scratches yet? He replied casually, setting some medical items on the counter.

I was only vaguely aware of the many cuts and other injuries that were etched carefully into my skin, until he brought it to my attention. They were actually stinging quite a bit, and now that I was paying attention to them, they were burning fiercely. How had I managed to ignore them for so long?

"Not really. They don't hurt too badly." Lies...

"In fact, they don't hurt at all." More lies...

"I really don't need any bandages. They can heal on their own." So many lies...

"Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow at my remarks before gently grabbing hold of my wrist, which had held several deep gashes in it, as well as countless smaller scratches.

He tightened his grip. I flinched and tried to keep up a look of vacancy and nonchalance. It seemed to be working until he lightly rubbed his thumb against one of the deeper cuts, which made me flinch, and I almost pulled away. Almost. But I couldn't pull away. I refused to. I wasn't weak, therefore I couldn't show weakness. I had to stay strong. He had a wide smirk on his face when I looked up. It was difficult to tell whether he was smirking at my attempt to hide the pain, or the pain itself.

"Are you sure that they don't hurt? Not at all?" He leaned in and whispered into my ear.

"N-no. N-not at all..." I said, although my stuttering and my facial expression obviously said otherwise.

I heard the faint sound of dripping, and a rather loud gasp slipped from my lips when I realized that my own blood was drizzling to the cold, hard, tile floor. At last, he released his grip on my wrist and proceeded to clean my numerous injuries.

"I think I've proved my point."

I grumbled something inaudible and finally allowed him to clean and bandage all of the visible cuts. When he was finally done, I looked into the mirror only to see that I had somewhat resembled a mummy - my legs and arms wrapped entirely in bandages. My hands had also been wrapped in bandages except for the fingers, which only had a few little band-aids on them. Although I'd never admit it (especially to Hatter), I did actually feel much better now that my scratches were covered. Even though I remained cautious and aware of my surroundings, I didn't seem to notice when Hatter slipped out of the room and reappeared directly behind me. His eyes were like daggers, cutting into my skin as he glared down at me. I could feel him watching me and my eyes widened in surprise when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me and leaned in.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to Cheshire now?" He whispered calmly into my ear.

I was speechless. I didn't know exactly what he meant by that, but I was too shocked to question his words; much less his actions. He was so... unpredictable. However, in Wonderland, I was expecting to need to expect the unexpected - if that even made any sense. His words confused even me and when he finally released me from his arms, I had nothing to do but simply stand up and return to the thickly enclosed backyard where the tea party was set up. As soon as I exited the house with Hatter, all eyes were on me. Cheshire seemed to be especially concerned about my sudden disappearance with Hatter, until he took note of the bandages that twisted around my arms like snakes. Still, even as he realized that I had only left to be bandaged up by Hatter, that same look of concern didn't fade from his face in the least.

Cheshire suddenly decided to speak up. "You should stay the night here." I didn't know what to reply to something so absurd. It wasn't even an option. I had to keep going no matter what. I had to get to the queen as soon as possible.

"Out of the question. I won't rest until I complete my mission."

"But you'll surely need your rest if you're planning on facing the queen. And I don't recommend you go out there at night anyway." Hatter said, cutting into the conversation now. Did I even tell them that my goal was to get to the queen and save/destroy this place? Obviously, they all knew now and it didn't matter how Hatter found out. It's possible I told him - or one of the others - previously when I had let my guard down, so I didn't bother to ask. It didn't make a difference whether they knew or not, even if they just so happened to be the bad guys. They couldn't stop me if they wanted to.

"I'll take my chances." I stated adamantly. I trusted them about as much as I trusted those stupid bushes and I wasn't about to give them a chance to attack me when I was most vulnerable. I was smarter than that.

"Please?" Begged Cheshire. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you." He looked up at me with those big, sad eyes of his and I knew I had to give in. Maybe I wasn't smarter than that. Or maybe I still was and I would just have to be even more alert than usual.

"Fine..." I sighed, and looked at the ground, not wanting to look at him anymore. I was too ashamed of how I had given in so easily. I only looked up when a small, delicate hand had grabbed my wrist and had begun to lead me away. Cheshire was so kind, but I just couldn't bring myself to trust him, no matter how much I wanted to. I'd feel far too stupid if he betrayed me after I trusted him, and I am anything but stupid. He brought me to a bedroom inside the small house - which was much larger on the inside - and told me how I could stay in that room and make myself comfortable. Clearly, I wouldn't be doing that, especially in Wonderland. The room did look rather comfortable, but I wouldn't be getting too used to it. I had to leave as soon as I woke up; no exceptions. When Cheshire finally left me to get used to my room for the night, Hatter entered. He just loved sneaking up on me didn't he? I had a feeling he would be crawling up behind me any second now, but it didn't stop me from being surprised when he actually did. He put his hand on my shoulder and I gasped when his cold hand sent shivers through my spine. I didn't turn around though. I already knew that it was him.

"What?" I said, getting reasonably irritated with his useless games by now.

"I just wanted to warn you." He said, darkly. His voice sounded much more grim than his usual playful tone. Even so, I just rolled my eyes and ignored his abnormal mysterious attitude. I still didn't bother with turning around because that would just give him the amusement of seeing my face when he tricked me - which I knew would be inevitable if I turned around.

"About what?" I snapped back, still aggravated with him.

"Cheshire." He responded gravely. "I don't think you should be trusting him."

"Why? What did he do?" I didn't even bother to point out that I didn't trust him. But, if there's was any trust coming from me, it would be more toward Cheshire than Hatter anyway. The fact that he would think to warn me about trust just made me even more annoyed with him. Just who did he think he was talking to? It was probably all just some silly game to him, and the second he would've thought he got me, he would have just walked away, laughing. Stupid Hatter.

"Just don't get too close to him." He sounded like he was starting to get irritated now too. I could feel his eyes burning through me once more, and it was painfully hard not to turn around and shout in his face about how much he got on my nerves just by being there.

"You can't tell me what to do." Who did he think he was, bossing me around like that?

"He's not who you think he is. Just stay away from him!" He just didn't give up did he?

"Well maybe I'm not who you think I am! You don't even know me!" I wouldn't let him win this time.

"Maybe I know you more than you think!" He snapped. He seemed furious now.

"So what? You're some kind of stalker now? You couldn't stalk me if you wanted to!" It was true; I didn't even live in the same dimension as him.

"Just stay away from him!" At this point I turned around, intent on giving him my famous "death glare", but was surprised by the look in his eyes. He looked so sincerely concerned about my safety that I faltered a bit and decided that maybe I didn't really want to win this fight. But mark my words, I had given up too many fights today, and I will not forfeit the next one, no matter what. I didn't have the slightest intention of staying away from Cheshire completely, just because he told me to, but I would give up arguing for now at least.

"I'll keep my guard up." I finally said, after far too many moments of silence. I just stared up at his big, crimson eyes and gave up for now, although I still stood my ground. That is, until he did something stupid and unexpected again. He wrapped his arms around me for the second time that night and whispered in my ear once more.

"Thank you." Damn, he never failed to irritate me more than anybody else I know. I just looked away and waited for him to release me. When he finally did, he didn't even attempt to hide his smirk. I sighed and threw the only pillow on the bed at his face. It hit him spot-on, and he was steaming red when he turned around and left the room, marching away furiously. I stifled a laugh until he was completely out of earshot. The second he was gone, I closed the door and fell back onto the bed, laughing hysterically. The look on his face was priceless! I wished I had brought a camera with me so that I could remember his stupid expression forever! I clutched at my aching side to control my laughter. I swear that I'll never forget that completely bewildered look on his face. I actually couldn't wait until morning just so that I could remind him of that and rub it in his face!

I sighed contentedly and lied down on the warm bed, closing my eyes and forgetting all my buried fears for once - hoping to get a good rest. I was also hoping to stay safe that night, but for now I could just sleep, and forget about everything. There was nothing I could do in my sleep to protect myself anyway, and this was probably the safest place for me right now. So for now I would just forget about my mission to save Wonderland; forget about Cheshire and whether I should be avoiding him or not; forget about Hatter and how he was so insanely confusing all the time; and forget about the future and what dangers I might be facing just by staying the night here. I couldn't worry about things that were out of my control. All I could do now is get enough rest to fuel my energy for as long as possible tomorrow, since I wouldn't get too much time to sleep any time soon. So, I just closed my eyes, wondering if I would be able to dream my own dreams in a world of dreams. It was a very confusing concept, and I dare not think too much about it. I was too tired to think anyway. I actually hadn't even realized it until now, but I was exhausted. It was a long day and I didn't think it would ever end, until I finally slipped under the covers and everything seemed so much more real than it was earlier. I would actually be getting some sleep. So, slowly but surely I drifted off to sleep, and let go of all my worries for just a little while.

A/N:

Okay, so first I'd just like to say sorry to the few people that might have been waiting for an update. I know it took me forever to post this (and its only the second chapter D:), but I recently had some major tests including the FCAT, so I haven't have much free time lately. However, I will be updating regularly from now on, probably every week, starting next Sunday. So just try to hold on until my next update :)

And remember to R&R! :D