Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. It's been a long time coming. I've had all these little ideas in my head for a long time and never got a chance to do anything about them. My focus has been prior to about a month ago, my main story, and finishing that monster up once and for all after four years of writing and re-writing. Alllllsssssooooo...I have started another original work that I have really wanted to hang on to, and am trying very hard to keep writing it, thus another excuse for no updates. I will still work on this though I promise! Oh a very special thanks to my reviewers: Ashasmasher, CupofTeaforAliceandHatter, Phoenixica24, and Red Rose Ladybug. I love you all like the siblings I don't have!...sorry getting a tad creepy there. XP I surely hope you enjoy this chapter. I wrote the first part at a before-Christmas party, to give you an idea of when I started this!

Chapter 9

Barabbas Thayer had waited long enough.

For everything.

He had been putting off what he knew was coming, biding his time and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. But when he had, it had turned out disastrously and he had lost all the minions he had sent out. It was this that thoroughly convinced him to take matters into his own hands. He would no longer rely on his crooked companions alone, but rather he would have to go along with them; control them in person. He entered a place that he did not often venture with the intent of collecting his means of force, and a hazardous form it was at that.

He was going in person for young Alice.

And he was certain that no one would hinder him.

000

The trip back to Marmoreal was silent. There was not the celebrating that Alice had hoped there would be, but instead an endless void of bad feelings. Fear, sorrow and worry namely. She often found herself looking around, praying that she would not see any evil entities watching her...or malicious smiling black rabbits for that matter. Alice uttered no words, walking by the sides of a pair of white horses who bared her friend's unmoving body - she had refused to ride for the time being - without further attempt at interaction. The soldiers that had accompanied the queen to the off beach had formed a type of vertical platform atop the two animals on which the Hatter now laid on his back, secured.

Her mind was possessed by Barabbas Thayer. His darkness consumed her; all his intricate emotions made her whole body feel strangled with confusion. In her dream, his overpowering demonic lust had been too much. His teasing was a surreal hell that she could not escape. One day he would come for her. Not some apparition in her nightmares. Not a shape-shifting hallucination. No. When he appeared, he would be a real flesh and blood man, like he had been the horrendous night she had met him. He would claim her, and kill her along with her innocence. Underland would be the death of her - it had already begun.

"Alice?" The White Queen asked, riding side-saddle on her horse off to the left. Alice lifted her head, golden curls falling around her petite shoulders.

"Why are you so silent?"

Alice lowered her gaze once more. "I fear for my life, Majesty..."

The Queen looked puzzled. "Why Alice, why haven't you expressed these concerns before the present time?"

"I wasn't sure before, but now..." She trailed off. "I'm almost certain that people are out for my blood."

"Who are these villainous beings?"

"A man called Barabbas Thayer and his minions. They reside in the Outlands, and the leader himself is far more cunning then any Red Queen could ever be" - Alice paused for a slow breath - "He has...these...ways of getting into my head. Convincing me of things that...that cannot be true."

The ruler's brow creased daintily, and she bent over just a bit, as if to get closer to the struggling girl. "How long has this been going on, Alice?"

Alice balled her hands into her dress at her sides, clenching her teeth together when a wave of anger washed over her. "Ever since the night of your celebration. He just...turned up in my quarters and told me things...yet...said nothing of importance and he...just disappeared after that like he had never been there!" She was close to shouting by the end, confused and frustrated; she wished she knew more about him: who he was, where he originated from, what he planned on doing to her - though the latter one she had many colorful ideas on, despite the fact that such assumptions were utterly un-ladylike.

"My dear, you must not let this get the better of you...If there is a threat to you out there somewhere, we must see that you are properly taken care of. It pains me to see you suffering like this."

She tried to put her antagonism for Thayer aside and asked desperately, "Will he be all right?"

"Tarrant? Oh yes...I do believe so." The Queen had a hopeful look in her eye at the mention of the Hatter. "He is a very fast healer, and with the proper treatment I am certain that he will be...right as rain in a few days time." She smiled pleasantly, but Alice did that feel the warmth that radiated from the expression. She was far too preoccupied with other fears of what could potentially go wrong. "Keep your hope alive, Alice, we might soon see the sun yet!"

Right at that moment, Alice looked up and saw that the sun was already out.

The queer colloquialisms of the Underland people would be her distraction for a while.

000

A few days later, Tarrant Hightopp's eyes began to flutter, and with a muffled groan of protest when the unwelcoming light pervaded the small gap between his eyelids, he tried to remember what had happened. Yes, it all came flooding back to him then, memories that were very tangible when he thought hard enough about them. He recalled it, that was certain. He recalled the beach and the willingness he had held when it came to helping Alice receive some clarity. And he also recalled those hellish creatures who had tried to kill them, the property of the man who haunted his female friend so. His fingers moved painfully slowly, and he came to realize that he was alone in whatever room they had put him in. His legs felt rather funny; strange sensations traveled up and down them. This was, of course, because he had lost so much blood from them, and he was surprised that he had actually survived. It was not exactly a bad feeling, per say. For instance, it didn't actually hurt, or anything of the sort.

"Thank you Alice Kingsleigh..." He gave his gratitude silently, though no one was there to be disturbed anyway.

He wondered to himself how long he had been in the pristine room by himself - how many days had passed without his presence in the awoken world? With great effort, he pushed himself in the bed he lay in and stretched his fingers, popping his pale knuckles in the process, as well as his back. Who knew how long he had been laying, almost dormant in that position. No one was there to tell him that he could not walk, so he simply swung his legs over, placing his feet firmly upon the white marble floor. Standing, it seemed like a new concept to him. Oh my goodness gracious...He thought moving one leg and then the other, I must have been out an awfully long time for such a common thing to feel so bizarre...

His top hat, a clean overcoat and shirt sat on an empty white dresser with a large mirror on it. One look at his appearance made him scrunch up his nose, for there was a large dent in the back of his hair. It was very comical in all actuality, but if he was to look presentable it would have to be sorted. With no grooming objects in sight, he fluffed at it with his hand, feeling oddly like a woman, which made him chuckle happily. And he had much to be happy about to! One: he was awake. Two: being awake meant he would see everyone again! Three: everyone meant mostly Alice. More contented still, he threw on the clean clothes, discarding whatever he had been wearing before on the floor and simply overlooking them as he tread out, still a bit insecure, but getting somewhere nonetheless.

The first of his friends that he encountered was Thackery, who had no reason at all yet every reason in the world to be aimlessly rambling about the castle talking in strange tones to himself. The March Hair literally fell over and spasmed when he laid eyes on Tarrant, probably thinking that he was some sort of ghost. When at last he contained himself - as much as he could - he stared long and hard at Tarrant and threw himself to the ground again, pulling his grungy ears over his bug-eyes and mumbling incoherent things in a variety of different pitches. The Hatter frowned, prodding the jittery animal in the back.

"Um...hello in there?" He asked timidly. "I will not eat you...if that is indeed what you have been implying?"

Thackery lifted one ear to peer at the colorful man. "Yih won't?" His mouth hung open a bit, and then he clacked his front teeth together. "Oh...well that's a right relief!" And he bounded straight into the nearest wall, his body a blur. With each word he said he crashed into the flat surface. "This. Wall. Needs. Some. Bloody. Wallpaper!" He laughed as well, and Tarrant could only cringe and let nature take its course. Thackery would stop eventually and calm down, but the persistent little bugger was not one to force reason upon...but "reason" was something Tarrant struggled with comprehending also.

"Where is Alice?" tried Tarrant, speaking up over the hare's yowling.

He stopped. "Aliiice? Wee thing is out in the garden I think...where there are lots of delicious chrysanthemums..." His last note was ended with a blissful sigh, spacing out. "I do love eatin' them."

Figuratively brushing him off like an insect, Tarrant was on his way, and Thackery yapped on behind him, most likely unaware that he had even walked off. He knew he should find her Highness first before anything, but Alice was the only thing on his mind. He needed to make sure that she was still alright. Who knew what could have happened to her within whatever period of time he was away from the real world. He went down a winding staircase as fast as he could under the circumstances, and as he neared the exit that lead into the garden, an indescribable joy filled his being. He would be able to see her smiling face again, and that would make everything else seem so trivial...at least for a few blessed moments. His pace quickened, and his mind was unnaturally clear for once, focused on what lay ahead. He felt all to normal, despite his mad reputation, and it was quite an unusual consciousness.

He reached the marble archway that separated him from his friend, and crossed over it without a single second thought.

That...was a bad mistake.

He saw just a glimpse of her golden hair, before a hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed him roughly by the collar.

Choked by the sudden drag he experienced, Tarrant struggled not to call out as he was pulled face to face to a man with black hair and a black top hat. The dark eyes stared back at his bright green ones, and he felt the undeniable evil wash over him.

He was looking at Barabbas Thayer.

The man was there in the flesh, justified by the tug at the material around his neck.

He was pulled back around behind the arched doorway, and was made to stay there.

Tarrant opened his mouth to yell.

"I would not do that if I were you, Tarrant Hightopp..." The voice was deathly quiet. "There is no point wasting your breath, for we cannot be heard at all..." A few seconds passed as Thayer waited for the Hatter to calm himself. "Now, I want you to do me the honor of looking over" - he pulled Tarrant out to stand in the threshold, scanning the area for a moment until he found what he seemingly was looking for - "there." A sharp-nailed, bone thin index finger was pointed over to the right of where Alice had been.

Tarrant looked, although he truly dreaded knowing what was there, and saw something terrible. The ground on the spot he watched was moving - cracking and crumbling as a form slowly emerged from under it. A large figure clawed away the earth around it, silent as the grave, and pushed itself up onto the stable surface on huge arms. Concealed within the white rose bushes, it could not be seen crouched down on all fours, but clearly bipedal. It had a face sheathed in a crude cloth with black circles for eyes and a stitched mouth. It's body was obsidian colored, appearing rough, and was built for agility. The most frightening part was, that in its hand, it held a long dagger, pressed to the ground like it would to a victim's neck.

"Take a good, long look at that Tarrant...And tell me: would you really want it to kill precious Alice if you made a...ahem...scene, hmm? Would you really want it to slay the girl in cold blood?"

Tarrant's eyes widened in horror and he hissed. "No! You - you can't!"

"I can assure you that I do not wish to, but having no other option presents us with a problem now doesn't it, my good man?" Thayer regarded him with a cruel smirk. "So I take it you will not be a hindrance then, for the time being?"

"And if I am? What then?"

"Now, now, I just told you!"

He pried the hand from his collar. "I know you would not kill her until you have thoroughly broken her...I know what you want to do, and you will not be satisfied until you do it." Tarrant could feel the other side of his personality taking over his actions, and knew that, judging by the raise of the eyebrow Thayer provided, the skin around his eyes had reverted to a much darker shade, his irises turning as black and empty as the detestable man before him. "You will take her. Abuse her. Do contemptible things to her innocent soul?" The sudden Scottish accent made Thayer's smirk all the wider.

"No, no...I would never hurt her, it is something reserved for the scum of this land, which I am far above."

"Says you."

"You have my word..."

"Your word means bloody nothing!"

His voice was raised as he said it, and the other man immediately swung him around with little trouble and slammed his back against the wall. He grunted upon impact and struggled not to choke the life out of Thayer in a fit of madness. But he knew even through the fog of lunacy clouding his reasoning that he could never triumph. Not in these circumstances. A hand was clamped over his mouth for an instant.

"Not another word...or you will die." Thayer went again to the archway and gave one small flick of the fingers at the humanoid hidden within the bushes. It instantly sprung up from its hiding place and latched a hold of Alice. She shouted and kicked at the attacker, but it was not shaken, and quieted her with the contact of the dagger against her throat.

Thayer looked to Tarrant. "If you try anything...I'm afraid my work will be broken." - revulsion flickered across the Hatter's face, which gradually relapsed back to its normal, colorful hues - "Yes. I think you know what that means." Thayer tipped his hat mockingly.

He could do nothing but watch as the evil man went towards the female and minion. As soon as Alice saw Thayer, she froze in panic.

"Why hello..." He took a lock of her hair in his gloved fingers like he had known her forever. "It has been awhile hasn't it? I'm sure you remember when we last met...do you not?"

Nothing.

She said nothing.

"No reply to that? What a shame." He dropped his hand and his head shot to his slave. "Let us be off. We have no time for any more...delays."

As they moved out, Alice looked behind her, and saw a very confused and solemn Hatter standing out a few feet from the doorway, his face contorted painfully. He was doing nothing to save her - just being still as she was taken farther and farther away from him. She could barely hear herself as she threw out one arm and screamed for him to help, but he seemed not to perceive sound, dazed in a queer way that she had never seen him in before.

It was when she saw this that she gave up, losing the will to fight back, and going limp in the minion's hold.

So? What'd ya think of that one? If anyone has any suggestions of what I should do next, feel free to say so and I will try my best to incorporate them into the grand scheme of things! Once more I must apologize profusely for the many-month wait for this, but I sincerely hope that you will still take the time to read and review!

Thanks ~ Nyhratak