A/N: OKAY, IM SO SORRY. Once again, I am busy and many things have happened the past month that really wrecked me up. Writing fanfictions is one of my medicines from reality. SO yeah! Anyways, sorry for the delay! Keep those reviews acoming!
Heres the chapter that might make you all kill me. Or Chessur.
ENJOY!
Alice watched the antique clock tick by idly, her eyes downcast, a small tight lipped frown upon her pale face. She turned to her left, her baby blue eyes settling on the Mad Hatter, who was busy observing a fascinating-looking teacup. He seemed to notice her gaze on him and looked up back at her, a playful grin on his sharp boyish like features. Alice turned away, frowning even more.
What the Gryphon had said; it did make sense. The Hatter, unfortunately, was a coward, why would he be helping her if he knew danger was inevitable? What were his real motives and why? Did he really want to help? Or was he waiting for the proper moment to strike?
He wanted to kill her before, didn't he?
She felt a sudden urge to run.
"Are you mad at me?" Tarrant spoke up, twirling the teacup with his long elegant gloved fingers, his intense green eyes fixing Alice's cool blue ones.
She didn't even realize she was staring at the Hatter.
Alice shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. "Why would I be, Mister Hatter?" She replied curtly, keeping her face neutral, in spite of all the whirling emotions in her heart.
The Hatter's eyes narrowed. He frowned coldly, pointing an accusing finger at Alice. "The words of the Gryphon, they have poisoned your trust, am I not wrong?" He folded his arms, looking sulky.
Alice bit her lip. She ducked her head down, trying to hide her face which contorted to guilt and hurt. "No, not at all." She muttered quietly, staring at the floorboards now.
She heard the creak of the sofa and the soft thudding of footsteps. Oh no.
"You're lying." Declared the Hatter, sounding rather close to Alice, "I know you don't trust me now because somehow you agree to what the Gryphon has said."
Alice kept mum, her eyes fixated on the floor.
"I will not lie to you, Alice. I am a coward, don't ever tell Chessur I said that, and it is true, I used to work for the red queen, and helping you now – it is jeopardizing my life."
The Hatter sounded angry.
"Fine, I was under the spell of insanity in Underland, I killed children and made them my slaves; my workers; experiments under my own madness. I did backstab Chessur and the rest, that's why they all hate me, but I've changed!"
He was yelling now, and Alice flinched lightly.
"I'm helping you! You can trust me! If I could've killed you, I would have killed you when we met back at the lair! YOU WOULDN'T BE HERE ANYMORE."
There was a long pause.
Alice shifted nervously from foot to foot. Is he going to kill me now then? She pondered darkly, not daring to look up.
She opened her mouth to hiss back an angry retort when the Hatter spoke again.
"What can I do?" He whispered brokenly, sounding hurt.
Startled, Alice looked back up, only to find herself staring into deep green pools of misery, inches away from her own face. Her heart skipped a beat. Why is he leaning so close?
"What can I do, Alice? What can I do to make you trust me?" Tarrant murmured hoarsely, sincerity forming in those green eyes.
"Tarrant –" Alice felt her face flush at the close proximity of their faces, just mere inches away from each other. Any closer and she could… kiss him.
"I'll do anything for you."
The Hatter was leaning closer.
Alice found herself moving towards Tarrant.
Underneath that pale sardonic mask was a different man, Alice realized, as she melted into those beautiful green eyes, there was a Hatter that had a heart, a brave soul willing to risk anything for her.
Her heart fluttered. There was no mistaking the affection in those eyes. She was about to find her lips against the others' when there was a loud 'crack' of a door being slammed open.
Swiftly, Alice jumped back, knocking onto the table, face flushed and heart thudding madly. What did she almost do? Tarrant, who seemed to be in a weird trance, glanced oddly after her.
"ALICE!" was the loud declaration of a very familiar March Hare and the loud thump of metal feet as they threaded across the room to meet her.
"Hey, Hare," She sounded rather flushed, her voice higher than usual as she bent down to hug the hyper Hare.
The white rabbit appeared next, his small white furry head peeking behind the door, pink nose twitching in delight, "Alice!" He greeted happily, moving over to the two hugging friends, "It is a pleasure, my dear!" He looked worn out and injured, but nonetheless filled with joy as he sat peacefully on the sofa.
The March Hare joined him, letting go of Alice, and waltzing over to sit next to the rabbit.
The last of all to enter was the Cheshire cat, and Alice heaved a sigh of relief as he closed the door shut and faced Alice.
There was a weirdly cold look upon his face.
"Chessur!" Alice went over to greet the cat, feeling puzzled at his expression.
"Alice," He sounded painfully tired. "We have bad news." He blinked owlishly, glancing at her, his cat features contorted to something of pain. His voice, however, seemed to awaken the Hatter from his weird trance.
"It's always the bad news with you, isn't it, cat?" The Hatter growled darkly from the corner of the living room, his green eyes filled with venom, suddenly aware of the Cat's entrance.
Chessur whipped around to glare back at the Hatter. "I am amazed you came out back alive, Tarrant, I thought you would've been killed in there, or most probably run away."
"Well too bad for you then!" Tarrant snorted, shaking his head, "I'm here and Alice is here. And we're both not dead."
Chessur floated towards Tarrant, "Shut your trap you stupid traitorous Hatter. I had quite enough of your insensitive humor and remarks."
They glared at each other, and Alice could practically see sparks emitting from both their eyes.
"Settle down!" Nivens called from the sofa. "We all are grumpy and tired. Let's gets some rest and we'll continue this tomorrow." He looked worriedly at the Hatter before glancing and nodding at Chessur, who sighed.
"Fine then. Come along, there are some beds on the second floor. I bet we're all moody from the lack of sleep." Chessur motioned for them all to follow him as he led them up to the second floor.
"Sleeping is a waste of time," The Hatter growled, but trailed after them, "While we're sleeping, the red queen's planning to kill us all."
"Please, Tarrant. Shut up." Alice rolled her eyes.
To her surprise, he did.
The Cheshire cat showed her to her room first. It was the second room from the stairwell. A small wooden bed and mirror resided in the large bedroom.
"It isn't much," The Hare shrugged.
"It's cozy and better than nothing, thank you, Chessur, Thackeray." Alice mumbled, why didn't he bring her up the last time they all slept in the living room couch?
She entered the room and bid the rest goodnight before shutting and locking the door.
It was going to be a long night.
The person to enter the second last room was Nivens.
Leaving both Tarrant and Chessur with the very last room.
"Goodnight." Nivens called out nervously before shutting his door. There was a click as he locked and the thumping of fading footsteps.
Tarrant frowned. That rabbit seemed to be wary of him. Painfully so, he shrugged it off. Everyone in the house treated him with suspicion and wariness, like he was some kind of hazard. Not that he didn't like it; but it was starting to get irritating.
Like the Cheshire cat, who was glowering at him.
"I propose I take the last room, while you take the living room, so we both don't claw each other's faces out in the middle of the night." Tarrant spoke, sounding bored.
"I couldn't agree more, but before we do…" The cat sounded really pissed.
Oh great, what did he do this time?
Chessur eyed him coolly. "Enjoyed your little private time with Alice, Hatter?" He asked, floating leisurely beside him.
Tarrant froze. His mind blanked out for a while. What did that cat mean?
"What's that supposed to mean, cat?" He retorted back, unsure of himself all of a sudden.
Chessur grinned smugly, "I saw it. I saw how you tried to almost…" He puckered his lips and made kissing noises.
Tarrant's eyes widened. How did that cat manage to… Oh that wasn't the real problem now. The real problem was his sudden attraction to the blonde female. He couldn't believe himself. Back just now in the living room, Alice looked so forlorn and hurt…
He couldn't resist. She was hurting because of him, and he felt his heart break into millions of pieces. It was so sudden, his urge to move towards the girl, his urge to well… comfort her. The sudden realization that she was indeed pretty, with that messy blonde hair and those startling blue eyes, that she wasn't the old little Alice with annoying curiousness.
Was he falling for Alice Liddell? The girl he wanted to kill only a few days ago.
How bitterly ironic.
"I – I was merely –" He wanted to finished his sentence, but the Cheshire cat brushed a tail over his mouth.
"OH GOD YUCK –" "Shut up, Tarrant, I know what you're aiming for. You are one despicable bastard, trying to earn her trust by getting close to her. Let me tell you this, you crazy buffoon, that will not happen, because I will protect her, and I will not let you steal her heart."
"I am not in love with her." Tarrant denied coldly.
"I never said you were. You're just manipulating her feelings, am I right?" Chessur hissed, baring his teeth.
"I am tired." The Hatter tried to shift the subject.
"Won't admit your mistake, now will you?"
"Goodnight –"
"DON'T YOU DARE –" Before the cat could finish, Tarrant rushed into the room and shut the door with a loud bang.
He leaned against the wooden door, hearing the cat mumbling curses outside.
No, I don't love her. He told himself, rolling his shoulders, never did, never will. What happened just now was just an accident.
Was just a mistake, a slip of the emotions that would be forgotten after a nice sleep.
He hoped.
The next morning, the Hatter headed down to the living room to see a blonde human boy sipping on tea.
His initial thoughts were DID ALICE REALLY CUT HER HAIR? But when the blonde stranger turned to face Tarrant, a sudden wave of shock passed him.
The boy had handsome features, a sharp nose and big green eyes. Green eyes comparable to Tarrant's own… Oh. Could it be?
He frowned. "Chessur?" He growled out puzzled.
"Ah, Tarrant." He greeted, his voice crisp and loud, grinning. "Well guessed, well guessed. Let's just hope Alice recognizes me."
Tarrant couldn't help but snort in confusion. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked, trying not to sound annoyed.
"Playing the game fairly. I've thought about it last night. You can't win Alice's heart, if I win it first, now can you?"
The cat … human … grinned, his pearl white teeth bared.
Tarrant was about to insult him when another voice was heard behind him. "Win what, Chessur?" Alice's voice echoed the living room.
Chessur's face split into a wider grin. "Ah! I see you do recognize me! No, me and Tarrant are just playing a game, right Hatter?"
Tarrant rolled his eyes and turned to Alice, who was staring delightedly at Chessur.
"Morning, Alice." He tried to sound uninterested.
Alice nodded at him before walking over to Chessur. "What's up with the sudden form?"
Tarrant managed to snort quietly.
"It's the game we're playing. One of the rules is that we both must be… well, human-like." Chessur grinned up at Alice, taking her hand, and leading her to sit beside him.
"How did you recognize him?" Tarrant shot at Alice coldly.
"Chester here," Alice punched Chessur's shoulder playfully, "Was almost my fiancé."
The Hatter's jaw dropped. "Wait, what?"
This is pure madness! He growled inwardly at Chessur's wicked grin.
"Oh, Tarrant, you wouldn't understand. It's a private joke," He seemed to be mocking the Mad Hatter, "Right, Alice?" Chessur grinned.
Alice giggled and nodded.
The Hatter frowned, a sudden urge to pounce and claw the cat's grin off his face.
He walked over to the couch to sit beside Alice, on her left. So Chessur wants to play it this way, huh. Then go ahead, let him do what he wants, I won't fall for his stupid childish…
Chessur placed an arm around Alice's shoulders, leaning towards her, "Oh Alice, if I were a cat, I wouldn't be able to do this." He purred, shooting the Hatter a jeering smile.
The Hatter couldn't help rolling his eyes, trying to act nonchalantly while his urge to kill the cat was getting stronger by the second.
"That's true." Alice nodded, leaning into his arms.
Tarrant had to punch himself from hissing. Just ignore them. He told himself.
"I look rather suave in this form, right?" Chessur teased Alice.
Tarrant let out a snort. Oh fine, fine, that cat wanted to play like that, sure.
The Hatter grabbed Alice's hand.
Alice, thoroughly stunned by the sudden grasp, and the sudden attention, shrugged Tarrant's hand off curtly.
Tarrant held his breath, feeling disappointed.
"You were about to tell me something yesterday, Chessur, what was it.. the bad news?" Alice pushed Chessur's arm off, and Tarrant heaved a sigh.
Chessur's face turned solemn.
"The white queen… She's been beheaded."