A flash of brown and orange flew past, hiding behind the mute maid. It was a little girl, with two rather large mouse ears and shaking violently. She had short, wavy, chocolate colored hair and honey brown eyes, which were currently wide in fear. She had on an orange knee length dress with short yellow sleeves and two yellow pockets. On her feet were black Mary-Jane's and yellow ankle socks. A curly looking brown tail hung between her legs. She was the cutest little girl Alyce had ever seen, but what could have scared her so much? Alyce was about to go over to the small mouse girl, when a deep voice stopped her.

"Oh Del-i-lah. Where are you? Come on out now, don't make this harder than it needs to be," the voice called, and the small mouse girl, apparently named Delilah, whimpered. A chuckle could be heard, but it was different than the Mad Hatter's. Alyce couldn't explain how, but it was just as frightening. Loud footsteps echoed through the hallway and into the bedroom, increasing in volume as they got closer to the trio. A figure entered the doorway, but he certainly wasn't what Alyce was expecting. She had been expecting a tall, bulky man. Instead, there in the doorway was a tall, fit man with...cat ears? There fixed onto his head and surrounded by a mess of vibrant purple hair, were a set of cat ears a shade lighter than his hair. His eyes were different colors, the right one a vibrant green, the left a shining gold. His grin could outmatch the hatter's any day. He was wearing a black and white checkered hoodie, which covered a dark purple t-shirt. A pair of dark loose jeans hung around his waist, with various chains and safety pins decorating them. His feet were clad in heavy combat boots. His physique was similar to that of the Mad Hatter's, but he was slightly thinner, almost lanky. His multi-colored eyes left little Delilah and focused on Alyce. His grin, if possible, got even wider.

"Well, well. What have we here? You must be Jack's new little toy," he remarked, and snickered at Alyce's confused expression. Who is Jack? Is Jack the Mad Hatter? Toy? I'm a toy? Alyce felt the color drain from her face at this cat man snickered again. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he was gone. Alyce looked around frantically, and yelped when she felt arms snake around her waist. She struggled, but to no avail, and her fear only fueled his amusement.

"Aww, come on now," he purred,"I won't bite. Much." Tears pricked Alyce's eyes as she struggled harder, her fear spiking and becoming harder to control.

"Cheshire."

All movement stopped. No one even dared to breathe. There, in the doorway, stood the Mad Hatter. But he wasn't wearing his usual grin, or even a smirk. No, his mouth was pulled down in a grimace, and his eyes portrayed a great fury. Alyce had never been more frightened in her entire life. She held her breath and tried to steel herself- she wasn't going to let him see her cry again Suddenly, the little dormouse girl bolted from her spot behind the mute maid, and over to the Hatter. She clung to his pant leg, and he put a hand on the top of her head, as if to soothe her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, cat?" His voice was strained, and he looked ready to kill someone.

"Aw c'mon Jack," the cat man, Cheshire, whined. He relaxed his tense muscles as the smug expression returned. "you won't let me have my fun with little mousy over there. Why not let me play with your new toy for a while?"

Through her panic, Alyce concluded that Cheshire probably shouldn't have said that. The entire aura of the room seemed to darken. Without warning, Jack whipped out a huge machine gun literally from nowhere. Alyce could no longer contain her tears, and began to sob out of fear. The cat man's arms fell from around Alyce's waist and he stepped away, holding his hands up in submission.

"Alright, alright. I get it. I'm gone, Jack. No need to blow my face apart." And with that, Cheshire stepped back and disappeared into thin air.

Alyce fell to her knees, sobs bubbling past her lips uncontrollably. She was shaking, and felt that she was going to be sick. She was crying so hard, so caught up in her fear, that she didn't hear the Mad Hatter's heavy footsteps approach her, nor did she see him kneel down in front of her, so she was very startled when she felt his hand on the top of her head, petting her hair in a calming fashion. She looked at his face, and was dumbfounded by the expression on it. His eyes were calm, and his smile was gentle. There were still traces of insanity in the depths of his eyes, but the calm gentleness overpowered it for the time hatter continued petting her head until Alyce was completely calm. Her sobs quieted to small hiccups, and her shaking decreased to a minor shiver. Jack said nothing, only smiled as little Alyce calmed. Everything was silent, until Delilah suddenly spoke up.

"Hey Jack?"

"Hmm," the Hatter responded, turning his head slightly to address the small child.

"I'm sleepy," she said, and upon looking at the girl, Alyce could see that she was exhausted. Her eyes were drooped and she was slouched over, with one of her tiny fists rubbing her eyes. It was as if the entire Cheshire ordeal didn't just happen.

"Sophia," Jack said, as he turned to face the mute maid, whom Alyce had temporarily forgotten existed, "take Delilah and put her down for a nap. Now."

His tone was harsh, but Alyce didn't really notice as she was tired as well. The mute maid, Sophia, nodded and took Delilah by the hand, leading her out of the room and shutting the door behind them. Once they were gone, Jack turned his full attention back to Alyce, who was half dead with exhaustion. He chuckled, and scooped her up in his arms, bridal style. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down, then fastened the chain around her collar once more. Alyce couldn't process any real thought, all she knew was that the bed was extremely inviting. As she drifted to sleep, she missed the insanely evil look that took over the hatter's face once more.