Wow! We've made it up to chapter 10! This so exciting! Alright, a moment of seriousness. This story is being published into an actual book. I am holding a contest to see who can submit the best cover art, and I will use it as the cover to my book. If you are interested, please send your submission to my inbox here. If it doesn't work and you still want to send it in, message me and I will give you another option! I hope you guys will submit! May the best artist win! Now, on with the story!

Alyce groaned as awoke. Disoriented, she tried to sit up, only to hiss as a sharp pain spread throughout her abdomen. Alyce whined as the events of last night flooded her memory, increasing the pounding in her head. Slowly, Alyce sat up, doing her best to ignore the pain in her ribs and head, and turned to look at herself in the mirror. She gasped as she saw the after effects of the Hatter's beating.

Her face was swollen and bruised, and there was a long line of stitches running across her temple. Her left cheek was one giant, black and purple bruise, and her right eye was swollen shut. She reached up to feel it, only to freeze as she noticed the cast on her broken right hand. Biting back a whimper, Alyce looked down and noticed she had been changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. She carefully lifted her top, and gasped at the large purple bruises that decorated her stomach.

"Well, look who's up."

Alyce jolted and turned towards the voice, her eyes locking on Kaleb, who was casually lounging in an armchair. Alyce gulped as she tried to bury her fear.

"What do you w-want," she asked, mentally cursing herself for stuttering. Kaleb chuckled.

"Jack asked me to keep an eye on you while he was out," he explained. "He said you would might need help when you woke up. Now I can see why." The March Hare got up and walked over to the injured teen. "He really beat the shit out of you, didn't he?" Alyce tried to shift away from him, squeaking as the pain flared again.

"Well, I'm awake, so you can go away now." She glared weakly at him, though her words were laced with venom more venom than she intended. The Hare raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Well someone's feisty today." He shook his head, snickering. "You're too much like her for your own good."

Alyce looked up in confusion.

"I'm too much like who?" At this, the man looked surprised.

"You don't know," Kaleb said incredulously. "Jack didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what? What's going on?" The March Hare cursed under his breath.

"Damn Hatter," he mumbled. His eyes bored into Alyce's. "Jack kidnapped you because you are the spitting image of his former fiancee, Pandora."

Alyce sat there, wide eyed as she tried to process what the man before her just said. A wave of shock went through her as his words sunk in.

"You mean, someone actually wanted to be with him?"

Kaleb threw his head back and laughed, and Alyce's face flushed in embarrassment.

"Well, aren't you full of spunk, today. And to answer your question, yes, Pandora wanted to be with Jack very much." Alyce stared up at the March Hare. How? How could anyone love him, she thought. He's so evil and cruel! Kaleb sighed.

"It was centuries ago, when they first met," he explained, "Long before you were even born. They met at a party Valentina was hosting at her castle. The spark between Jack and Pandora was instantaneous, and they soon became inseparable. They did everything together, and after just six months, they had moved in with each other and Jack proposed. She, of course, said yes. They were so happy that Jack's madness started to fade away. Slowly, mind you, but it was still fading. However, three months after they became engaged, Jack left early one morning before Pandora woke up to take care of some business . I was with him, and it wasn't anything exciting. But when we got back-" Kaleb paused, and took in a shaky breath. "When we got back, Pandora was lying there in front of the staircase, gutted and drenched in blood. Her insides were strewn everywhere, and her eyes-I'll never forget the look in her eyes-were wide open in terror. To this day we don't know who did it. Her death took a great toll on Jack, he was so devastated that he went on a killing spree and massacred thousands of people, Faceless or otherwise. His madness returned full force and has been growing ever since."

Kaleb stopped talking, and Alyce let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The two stayed silent for a long time, until Alyce broke the silence with a question.

"You said," she started, "this all happened centuries ago. How can that even be possible?" The pained look on Kaleb's face vanished, and he smirked. Not the mocking kind of smirk that Alyce had gotten use to seeing, but more of an amused, almost friendly smirk.

"In Wonderland," he began, "once a person stops celebrating their birthday, they stop aging. Most of us have been around for a very long time. Delilah is the only one who still celebrates, since she's only seven. The youngest of us to stop celebrating was Cheshire, who is frozen at twenty." Alyce nodded as if she understood what the Hare was telling her.

"And what about the rest of you? What age are you all frozen at?" Kaleb snickered.

"Well," he answered, "Jack is frozen at twenty-five and I'm twenty-four. Shayde whom I believe you know, is stuck at twenty-seven, though acts like some wise old goat half the time. He's a philosopher, even though he's usually found smoking hookah on a mushroom. William, the White Rabbit, is twenty-three, and Sterling, the Knave of Hearts or the guy with blue hair, is twenty-two, but he's way too serious for his age. And then the ever so lovely Queen of Hearts, Valentina is the oldest of us all, which is thirty, though she adamantly swears she's twenty-one. In case you hadn't noticed when you first met her, she's basically a whore." Alyce snorted. How could anyone not notice?Kaleb chuckled too, but before Alyce could ask anymore questions, the lock clicked on the door.

"Ah, that'll be Jack," Kaleb said. "I'll be seeing ya, girly." With that, the March Hare walked over to greet the Mad Hatter as he entered the room, and fear settled in Alyce once more.

She sat still, staring at the two as the conversed quietly. Jack's gaze flickered to her every now and again, causing her to fidget and play with the hem of her t-shirt. They continued their quiet conversation for five minutes, Alyce awkwardly half lying half sitting the entire time, until Jack patted Kaleb on the shoulder, and the March Hare left the room. As the door clicked shut, the Mad Hatter turned to face the teen stranded on the bed. She stared back at him, unwilling to allow him to have the satisfaction of seeing her weak and powerless. Jack said nothing, just smirked as he sauntered over to Alyce. As the Hatter stood before her, her fear of the man took over and she looked down.

Jack stopped when he was standing directly over her, and Alyce fought to keep her breathing steady. He carefully slipped one finger under her chin and pulled her face up to meet his. His brown eyes bore into her icy blue ones as he inspected the cuts and bruises that decorated her face. The Mad Hatter kept his face blank, and Alyce couldn't tell what he was thinking. Is he still angry? she asked herself. Is he going to beat me again?

She was jolted from her thoughts when the Hatter released her chin, and even more so when he started petting her hair. Her shock must have shone on her face, because the Hatter let out a snicker. He gently pushed out her back down onto the bed, before he turned on his heel and strode out of the room, leaving a confused Alyce behind.

Well, that was weird.

R&R! Don't forget to submit cover art to me!