HI YA! UMM…I WOULD HAVE UPDATED SOONER, BUT MY ALL TOO FRIENDLY CAT DECIDED TO GIVE BIRTH…IN THE CARRIER DIRECTLY NEXT TO MY HEAVILY PREGNANT DOG! I LOVE THAT CAT, BUT FRANKLY SHE'S JUST WAY TOO DOCILE. T_T' NOT TO MENTION TRYING TO CALM MY SISTER DOWN WHEN SHE FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UMBILICL CORD. -_-'WELL, ENJOY THE NEXT CHAPTER! PLEASE REVIEW, OR I'LL SEND BLACK AFTER YOU!

Ch.25: This D*** game Blows!

My scream rattled through the room, frightening the creature into taking a dive to the floor…well… MAYBE my scream was just murder on his animal ears. He clapped his hands over his ears and shouted, "I have no intention of harming you C.J! Just calm yourself, please!" It was about that time I realized it was no creature in my bed, but a human. A human MALE. I took in a deep breath to scream again.

Taking advantage of that moment for breathe, the stranger leapt forth and clamped his hand over my mouth. He hushed me as soothingly as he could, "Please, just listen to what I have to say. I have no intention of harming you or anybody. I will explain who I am, and what I'm-!"

A fantastic moment to pick for the whole tower (excluding Alister,) to barge in. But, my poor luck prevailed once more as Alice came running into the room, followed by Gray, Julius and Nightmare. All jaws dropped to the floor as they saw me, seemingly trapped and wide eyed in the arms of stranger. Alice stammered, "G-get away from her you p-perv!" with that, she hurled a fire place poker at him. He jerked away from me and hit the floor, the poker inches from taking a nice portion of his skull off. Gray pushed pass her and stormed in. He raced around the bed and yanked the creep up by the scruff of his neck. An instant before Gray could decapitate him; I halted him, "WAIT!"

I scooted to the farthest corner of the bed as possible and curled my legs up to my chest. I glared at him, taking him in. This one, like many others in Wonderland, had animal parts, though I wasn't sure what he was supposed to be. Crimson tipped ears were perched on top of a silvery white mess hair with a long, matching, bushy tail. Golden eyes stared at me from a white, smooth young face. Really cute, actually…in a devilish way. His frame was sturdy, but rather lanky. Though he was one of the only average height guys I'd met in Wonderland. He couldn't have been older than me!

Gray huffed and shook him instead, "Well? What should we do with him?" He pinned his ears against his head, "Please, I beg of you to allow my explanation!" My eyes widened as I heard his voice. Pointing and glaring accusingly, "Your accent! It's just like Alisters!" The others eyes widened as they also noted the similarities in the two strange role holders' speech patterns. Julius's eyes narrowed, "Alright then, start explaining." I glared even harsher at him, "Start with who you are, and why the hell you were in my bed!"

He nodded and looked directly at me. "My name is Yuri Petrov." His lips curled into a small smile, "But until now, you have called me Patch."

….

I gently took my cup of pumpkin and coco from Alice, (Apparently Vivaldi had given her some) and noticed that she was shaking like leaf. I didn't blame her. My insides were coiling like snakes. Alice then distributed the rest of the tea to the other residents, whom were all seated in front of… Yuri? Yuri/Patch took his tea, "Thank you Miss Alice." He was very polite and said this with a bright smile. I continued to stare at him, sipping my beverage. Alice set down the tray and rushed to her seat. An awkward silence ensued, which was driving me crazy.

You see, after the disturbing revelation of the…fox mans (I guess?) identity, no one had really believed him. He, however, told a few things only Patch would have known. Like the color of the monster that had attacked me in the Badlands, and the conversation Gray had had with Alister for the first meeting. Still skeptical, I had pushed everyone out of my room and had gotten dressed. So here we all are, sitting in the…sitting room, getting tea in preparation for the extremely awkward topic ahead of us.

We all shifted and sipped uncomfortably as we all eyed the new role holder. He met all our gazes, unlike Alister, whom was too shy to do just that at first. Finally, I put down my cup. "Alright, I'm willing to buy that you're Patch, what with this world being the nut sell that is. But could you care to explain how you have the same accent as Alister? Are you two from the same place?" He answered me directly, "I haven't the slightest clue."

I groaned, "You must know something! What village you came from, your parents' names, general, personal, anything!" "C.J, I honestly wouldn't dare to hesitate to tell you anything. But I'm afraid I honestly don't know a blasted thing. The farthest back I can recall is hearing your voice in that forest, and my own name. My mind is a blank slate." I was frustrated, but I calmed down a bit when I saw the worry on his face. That's right…it's HIS mind that's been tampered with.

I sighed and put my head against my fist, "Back to square one. Except this time, I have two amnesia ridden guys to deal with." Yuri's ears leaned back, "I really am sorry to cause you trouble C.J." I waved him off, "It's not your fault. I just have to piece all this crap together. I'm good at that."

We all sat in silence for a moment. Alice suddenly hit her fist in her palm, "Oh! Why not let him see Alister? Maybe seeing him through human eyes again will stir some memory!" Nightmare smiled broadly and waved his arms toward the stairs in a dramatic flourish, "An excellent idea Alice! We should do that now!" I shrugged, "As good as any." I got up and followed the extravagantly waving incubus to the guest room they had dumped Alister in the night before and flung open the doors.

He stepped through the door, only to stop on short notice. Alice bumped into his back, causing me to bump into her back, and so on in the classically comical fashion. Only there was nothing comical about this situation. I looked around Alice to yell at Nightmare about the sudden nose bumping, only to find an empty room with the curtains fluttering pleasantly in the breeze from the window.

….

P.O.V Change: Alister

I stumbled through the dense forest as quickly as I could, but only to fall again and again over one object or another. No matter, the pain that seared my mind canceled whatever pain was in my rough and bloodied palms. Since yesterday, the pain had been wrapping itself like a viper around my head, only to loosen its grip when I moved the way it seemed to wish I move. I had awoken to this strange pulling, only for it to lead me out here.

Finally, the pulling stopped, but the pain then spread over my mind, unchecked by whatever had previously controlled it. I dropped to my knees, grasping my temples for fear the serpents would burst through my skull. Oblivious to the world around me, I continued to grasp my head and beg to the Dealer to make this pain cease.

"Does it hurt, Alister?" I blinked at the call of my name, the voice sounding horridly familiar, but I couldn't place it. The pain tightened its grip and burned through the wisp of recollection like a photo in flame. "You mustn't do that Alister, it only makes it worse."

I gasped, finally able to form a question, "Do…what?" "Remember, Alister, you tried to remember. You mustn't remember, for it is not yet time for your awakening." I shivered, "What do you mean-" "You disobeyed me in trying to call upon your memories, but you see, I set a…failsafe, you may call it." "Whoa are-" "No matter, I'm sure you won't try to break schedule again."

I blinked my blurry vision until it was clear enough to see a gloved hand reaching to me. The hand set itself on my forehead, the thumb between my eyes and the fingers above it. "Don't worry, old friend. I feel the time will soon be upon us."

….

P.O.V Change: C.J

"WHERE THE F*** DID HE GO!" (Take a guess at who that was.) Alice waved her hands, "Calm down C.J!" Julius looked out the window, "A better question is how far he can go? His condition was still unstable last night." I tugged him out of the way, shaking with panic. I peered out the window, "Apparently he either isn't conscious enough, or doesn't care if we find him. An elephant might have made that trail." I blinked, "Maybe we should have put him in an upstairs room."

Gray jumped down to the ground, "No matter. We better find him before dark."

Suddenly, night fell. We all sat in the new darkness a moment. I hear Julius groan, "Way to go Gray." "How could I have possibly have done this?" "You jinxed us!" I sighed and started to rummage through my bag while they continued to bicker. Hopping down to Gray, I shoved one of my many emergency flashlights into his hands. " We can't just let him wander around in the dark! We'll cover more ground if we split up. Gray, you with Nightmare. Alice, you and Julius. Yuri, you're with me." I handed everyone a flashlight as they all hopped down.

Alice shifted nervously, "Splitting up? Isn't that dangerous?" I smiled, "Relax! Each group has at least 1 member who can defend themselves. And it's not like we're some stupid teens in an unrealistic horror movie. There's nothing to worry about…" I clicked on my light and held it under my face and turned on my scary voice, "or is there?" She squeaked and hid behind Julius. Yuri snickered behind me. I waved my hand at her, "I'm just kidding!"

I hear a crack of some branches and the frantic fluttering of wings. "We should all get moving. We rendezvous back here at daybreak." With that, the designated teams split off in different directions.

….

P.O.V Change: Alice

"Julius! Did you hear that?" "Relax Alice, it's just a bird." I gulped and ran up a little closer behind Julius. Why is everything scarier at night? I shivered. I loved novels, but I just couldn't tolerate scary anything! Movies, books, campfire stories, they all made me freak out! I silently thanked the Lord C.J had gone with Yuri and not me. She would probably be telling a scary story to freak me out! (Yes, yes she would)

Though Julius's lack of speech was almost just as bad. I looked at the back of his head, "Umm, Julius?" "Hmm?" I dumped out the drawer in my brain; searching for a topic that even he would have a lot to say about. "Umm…what do you think about C.J?" Ha-ha! No one, not even him, can have little to say about her! "She's fine." I stand corrected.

"Surly you're capable of caring on this conversation longer than two words." "What for? You asked my opinion of her, and I said she's fine. If you want details, I think she's very loud, hyper, strong willed, stubborn, and a good friend. Is that sufficient?" All this was said in a flat tone, the same that Julius always speaks in.

"Oh…." I looked down; glad the darkness was hiding my rising blush. "…so…what do you think of…me?" He looked back to face me directly this time, "What? I-" SNAP!

I squealed as Julius turned to look at the source of the noise. I shivered at the sound of footfalls came closer and close, until a shadowy shape emerged from the forests darkness.

….

P.O.V Change: Gray

"Nightmare-sama, I think we're lost." "What on Earth makes you say that Gray?" I pointed to the side, "We've passed that tree three times already!" "How in the world can you tell one tree from another in this forest? They're all the same!" I sighed, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him over. I shone my flashlight on the bark to reveal a carved 'G&N were here' in the bark. "You see! We've been going in circles!"

He stared at it for a moment, "…That could be anyone's mark!" "No it couldn't!" I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I shone my light around. "This time, we go that way." I grabbed his wrist again and dragged him off to the left. We continued walking until, "Gray! Did you hear that?" I heard it. I cautiously stepped forward until shadowy figures showed through the dense forest branches.

….

Back to C.J!

I continued to plow through the brush of the forest, Yuri right beside me. (There was no way in hell we were going in single file. That's just what the creatures of the night want us to do!) We had been walking side by side like this for at least an hour and a half. I sighed, I've got a feeling this is going to be one long night. "Is something troubling you C.J?" "No, I'm just trying to suppress the thousands of horror icons from my world that have been hiding under my bed since I was little." He looked at me curiously, his interest peaked, "Do tell."

"Well…don't suppose you have movies where you come from?" He gave me a puzzled look. "Thought not. They're moving pictures that tell a story. For entertainment. I'll show you one later. Anyways, Penny Wise, the Grudge, Samara of the Ring, Michel Myers, Freddy Kruger, and Chucky are just a few famous horror icons." "And who are they?"

I thought for a moment, "Mind you, their just characters, but Penny Wise is the original reason people don't like clowns. I watched It when I was 7, d***, I was afraid of the drains for 3 years after that one! The Grudge is said to be the lamest ghost movie ever, but it still freaks me out every time I see it! Then the Ring kind of set the bar for creepiness on ghosts. And is the reason the majority of ghosts are female. Then Michel is a freaking indestructible slasher from the Halloween franchise, but none of the sequels are as good as the original. They never are. Then Freddy Kruger is crazy dead guy who kills people in their dreams! Always fun to watch. And Chucky is the reason I hate the hell out of dolls." I shivered.

He chuckled, "These 'horror movies' sound like fun! I really must try some!" I rolled my eyes, "You'll be singing a different tune after the right movie."

GRRRRRR. SNAP! I turned in front of me, grabbing up a large stink in my free hand. Yuri blinked at me, realized he was unarmed, and followed suite. Twigs and braches cracked as the U.N.O (Unidentified Noisy Object) came closer and closer. I looked over at Yuri, "I think we should be ready to run." Wise words.

PHEW! 2,589 WORDS THIS TIME! MY LONGEST SINCE COMING BACK. HOPE YOU ENJOYED! NOTICE: MY POLL FOR WHO C.J WILL END UP WITH IS STILL UP! PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE AND REVIEW! SERIOUSLY, REVIEW! I WANT TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK TO MAKE MY STORY EVEN BETTER! CONSTRUVTIVE CRITISISM AND EVEN FLAMES WELCOME!