YES! WELL EVERYONE, PLEASE ENJOY CHAPTER 19! AS ALWAYS, PLEASE VOTE, REVIEW, COMMENT…JUST CONTACT ME!

Ch.19: Great. Another One.

Ni-san lay on the floor, unmoving as his blood spilt across the hardwood. I screamed; my child's voice shrill. THEY looked up from my brother's body and paused in their laughing. SHE smiled, "I'm sorry baby, but he was trying to take you away from me. I can't just let someone take my little girl away from me." I pressed my back against the wall, my dress rustling. "M-m-mommy, why? W-wh-why did y-y-you…." I could hardly get the words out. Tears and sobs raked my small chest. Something in me shifted; all of my tears and fear were turned into boiling anger. I turned my head up to look at my mother. "HE'SYOUR SON! MY BIG BROTHER! HOW CAN YOU JUST STAND THERE AND LAUGH WHEN HE'S BLEEDING? HOW COULD YOU…." There was a click as she held up her gun. She sneered, "I see. So you want to leave your mommy to?" Her finger tightened on the trigger, "I DON'T THINK SO!"

There was another sound of banging as she pulled the trigger. I jerked my whole body to the right. The plaster of the wall went flying, sending a shard of rubble across my bare flesh, cutting my arm. I bolted to the back door. I shoved it open and ran as fast as my 5 year old legs would carry me across the small field. At some point, the ribbon that had held one of my super long pig tails came loose, sending half of my hair cascading back into the wind. I could hear the sound of HIM chasing me. I speed into the forest and tripped. I scrambled up and saw something flashing. I picked it up. It was a large, rusting knife; suitable for farm work. I clutched the handle and ran behind a tree. I heard his footsteps on the other side of the bark. "Come out; come out, wherever you are." I felt his shadow pass over me as he walked past the tree. He turned to see me and tried to raise his gun. I didn't give him a chance.

I rammed myself into his stomach, jamming the knife into him. It was rusty, but the force of my charge sent the knife deep into his flesh. He grunted and fell backwards. The feelings that ran through me as I remembered this man; when he'd threatened to turn me into chum; when he'd forced me to watch while he beat an innocent man to death; when he'd hurt and finally, shot Ni-san; were a big mixture of hate, anger, bloodlust, and fear. Once I started, I couldn't stop myself. I screamed and jumped on top of him. I jammed the knife into him, over and over again, until it seemed he had no blood left.

I stood, trembling, and ran to a bush and vomited. I stood again and wobbled out of the forest. I saw my mother, standing outside of the forest. Her green eyes turned to see me. First, she saw the blood on my dress, and then she saw the knife that I still clutched in my hand. She howled in grief and raised her gun to me, pure hate in her eyes. I stood there stupidly, eyes wide. I had watched her murder my brother right in front of me, and yet I couldn't believe that my mother would try to hurt me. "Mommy?" There was a sharp bang as the bullet sped towards me.

My eyes snapped open and I rocketed upwards, only to have my forehead smash into something hard. "Son of a bitch!" a male voice cried out. I rubbed my forehead as I stared at Black, standing next to my bed. "Black? What the hell are you…." He glared at me, still rubbing the red spot were my head had collided with his. "Damn bastard told me to wake your ass up. What the hell were you screaming about?" I blinked and swiped my hand across my face. It came away wet with tears. "Nothing. Just a bad dream." His eye narrowed, unconvinced. "Fine. Get dressed." He turned and left, closing the door behind him. I glanced down at Patch; who had apparently been thrown off the bed by my sudden awakening, and gave him a questioning look. "What's his problem?"

I got dressed and walked down to find the Jokers sitting at the table, eating quietly. I sat down at the empty seat and started eating my breakfast. I couldn't help but notice the looks those two were giving me. I finished eating and looked up, "I think I'm gonna visit Alice. It feels like I haven't seen her in forever!" Black remained silent while White looked up and smiled, "Are you sure you're all right?" I nodded, "Yup!" Black twitched and threw something at me. It plastered itself to my face. I peeled the large sheet of paper off to see a very detailed map. "Don't get lost." Black got up and left. I huffed a bit; he's being so cold to me lately. What the hell is his problem?

I said bye to White and left after getting detailed instructions…I guess they really didn't want me getting lost again. I followed the trail into the forest. Patch sat on my hat, watching the clouds while I studied the map. Wow, they really didn't want me getting lost. The map was so detailed; it looked like a satellite image, with the Joker's handwriting on it telling me what was what.

I was trotting along the path on my way to the tower when something fell out of the bush right in front of me. I jumped back and yelped. The thing was actually a person, lying on his stomach. I blinked and leaned down. From what I could tell he had a face, so that made him a role holder, right? But I thought I'd already met all the role holders…. "Hey, are you ok man?" I gently flipped him over. He was rather pale and tall, with a small and wiry build. He looked around my age, or maybe a bit older. A black jacket covered a blood stained white shirt over baggy dark blue pants. Shaggy, light fawn brown hair fell into his closed eyes. I gently shook his shoulder. "Umm, you ok?" His large eyes snapped open. The color was so dark, I could hardly tell what it was…maybe brown? The motion of my shaking him shifted his hair from his face, giving me a better view. Actually, he was quite handsome to… what the hell was up with Wonderland and hot dudes?

He jumped back in surprise at seeing me, jerking away. He tried to stand up and grunted as he failed, falling back to the ground. I finally noticed the blood from his side. I put a hand on his shoulder to keep him down. "Easy dude, you're gimped. How'd that happen?" He blinked and put his hand over the wound. He looked down and responded, his voice a monotone purr. "Umm, I was attacked by thieves…." My eyes widened, "Thieves? Are you alright?" He nodded a bit, "Yes. I'll be fine." He tried to get up, then winced and went back down. I sighed, "Yeah right, you're fine. You're definitely not going anywhere by yourself." I got closer to him and put his arm over my shoulder. I helped him up, him leaning heavily on me. He flushed a bit, "You don't have to-" "Yes I do. To the hospital?" He paused and shook his head. "No. No hospitals."

I nodded, "Pun!" He looked at Patch, who was on my head practically eye level with him, wide eyed. "Umm…." I smiled, "This is Patch, and I'm C.J. Who are you?" He looked away and mumbled, "…Alister Demos." I grinned, "Ok Alister, if you don't want to go to the hospital, then I'll take you to the Clover Tower. That Ok?" He thought for a moment and nodded. I smiled and shifted to pull out my map. "Good. Let's get going!" It was slow going, due to Alister's limp, and we only managed to cover a little ground when the night fell suddenly. I helped Alister to a log a little bit off trail and let him down easy.

"It's dark, so I guess we should wait for daylight. I heard there're dangerous animals up and about at night." I plopped down on a large boulder and let Patch down from my head. Alister was quiet for a little while then spoke up in that monotone voice of his. "…You…are a foreigner, yes?" I noticed the strange way he spoke. Kind of a mix of old-timey politeness and street slang. Not at all like the accent that everyone else here had. Or really, any accent I've ever heard…not British either…. "Yeah. Where do you come from?" He cocked his head, "Behind me." I raised an eyebrow. Was he mocking me? "So where were you trying to go when the bandits attacked you?" His face remained completely straight, "In front of me." Now he was getting annoying.

"Could you please give me straight answers, and not this cryptic crap?" He tilted his head in minor confusion, "But I am." I crossed my arms. "No, you're either avoiding the question, or trying to be funny and failing miserably. Try giving me answers that actually help me. Now, what town did you come from?" He shook his head as what I thought might be the shadow of a smirk played on his lips. "My, aren't you an ill tempered one. Very well, I grew up in small remote village with few people. Is that helpful enough?" I twitched. "Much better. What was your family like?"

He opened his mouth to speak when there was a loud snapping sound as something came tumbling from out of the forest brush. I jumped to my feet. Alister looked like he was ready to bolt; that is, if he was capable of getting off the log without having help. Patch panicked and curled up at the base of the boulder. The red jacketed thing looked up, "Oh, hi there C.J! Who's that guy?" I nearly blew up, "DAMN IT ACE! WHY THE HELL IS THAT EVERY TME I SEE YOU, YOU EITHER BUMP INTO ME, OR SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF ME!" He scratched his head and laughed, "Sorry C.J. I was on my way to the tower when it got dark. I heard your voice and headed over!" I sighed and rubbed my temples. At least he's ALMOST on the right track for once.

Ace got up, dusted himself off, and padded over to Alister. "I've never seen you before…and you don't seem like a foreigner…who are you?" Alister avoided eye contact with Ace; just as he had when he first met me. Is he shy or something? "…Alister Demos. And you are?" Ace grinned his big Ace smile. "I'm Ace! So are you another foreigner?" "No. I'm not." "So, you're a new role holder?" Alister's eyebrow twitched, "Supposing I have a face and am not a foreigner, that would leave my being a role holder, would it not?" I blinked in surprise, yikes. So monotone boy is capable of sarcasm.

Ace somehow couldn't catch the hint and instead of backing off, continued to ask Alister questions. "Right, so what's your role?" Alister hesitated, "…I do not know." Ace stared at him for a little bit. Then he turned to me and smiled. "So, where were you two going?" Sudden change in subject…sketchy. Did he say something weird? "To the tower, same as you." He smiled, "Great! We can all wait for sunup and head to the tower together!" He turned a bit to Alister, "I have bandages. C.J can fix you up till we get there." Alister nodded a bit, "Yes. Thank you." Ace gave me a thumbs up, "Right, I'll set up the tent!"

He walked past me over to the small clearing behind me. I stood staring a bit before turning around, "Tent? What-" My jaw dropped to see a mid-sized blue tent now sitting in the clearing. "Where the hell did that come from?" Ace poked his head out from inside it, "What do you mean where'd it come from? I just pitched it!" Yeah, but where the hell were you keeping it?

Ace tossed me the promised bandages. I sighed and turned to look at Alister. He was already peeling off his jacket. I walked over and tugged at the sleeve of his blood stained shirt. "Hmm…you're going to need a new one anyways, so I'll just cut it off." His face flamed, "No! Please don't cut it!" a question mark floated over my head. He looked away. I sighed, "Alright then, off with it." His face went crimson again. My eyes widened in realization, oh. So he IS shy…. I sighed and pulled out my pocket knife and knelt down to inspect his side. I cut a long slit up the shirt, revealing the wound and giving me some room to work. "W-w-what are you…." I looked up at to see his face aflame. Poor guy must have been painfully shy.

I held up the bandages, "Hold still." I started to patch him up. He winced when I brushed the gauze over his wound, but didn't complain. I finished wrapping the wound and stood up. "Alright, until we get to the tower, that's the best I can do." Alister pulled his jacket back on, avoiding eye contact. "Yes. Thank you Miss." Alister turned to look as Ace finished nailing in the tent spikes.

His expression was blank as he stared at the tent. "…It's too small." I looked back at it to see that he was right. Maybe it could fit two of us, but not three grown adults. Ace stood next to it and scratched his head, "Hmm, you're right." He grinned, "I guess you and I'll just have to share C.J!" I gave him my deadest look, "Not on your life. Alister's hurt, so he should get to sleep in the tent. And there is no way in hell I'm sleeping in a small space with you OR him. I'll just sleep in a tree." Ace tilted his head but didn't argue. However, Alister looked up at me, slightly alarmed. "Sleep in the tree? Miss it's alright, you can take the tent." Oh, the chivalrous type, eh? I waved my hand and padded over to sturdy looking tree. "It's no problem. And don't call me Miss, my name is C.J."

I made my point by jumping up to grab the nearest branch and hulling myself up; of course, right after making sure Patch was nice and safe under my hat. I continued climbing until I found a wide and sturdy branch with a cozy little dent in the trunk that would keep me from falling in my sleep. See, I had slept in trees a lot from stake outs, so I was kinda used to it. I snuggled into my spot and let Patch curl up in my lap. Ace's voice sounded from below. "C.J, are you sure you're ok?" I shouted down, "I'm fine! Night boys!" They were silent below as I nestled down and closed my eyes. The day's event washed over my. Damn, now that I thought about it, why was it that something big happened every time I left my room.

The grayish purple clouds swirled about the Dream Realm. I sat up and looked around a bit. Nightmare appeared before me, "Hello C.J. I heard you're on your way to the tower?" I looked at him and nodded. "Good. Alice misses you very much." I smiled, "Tell her not to worry. I'm nearly well enough to get out of the Joker's hair for good." His gaze got distant. I watched him and asked the questions that had been eating at me since this afternoon.

"…Nightmare, I met another role holder today." He perked up, "Oh? I thought you'd already met all the role holders. Who is it?" I gave him a grim look, "So did I. He says his name is Alister Demos. Tall, thin build, maybe my age, brown hair and dark eyes." Nightmare narrowed his eyes, "Alister Demos? I've never heard of a role holder of that name." I nodded, "I thought not. Neither did Ace. He also told Ace that he didn't know his role. What's the deal with that?" Nightmare's expression was a thoughtful one "Doesn't know his role? That's impossible. We all gain our faces and roles at the same time, from the Dealer himself! How'd you meet him?" I shrugged, "I was on my way to the tower when he fell out of a bush. He was hurt, so I helped him…he said he was attacked by bandits. What are the odds that that's true?" He shrugged, "As likely as in your world. What's he like?" I tapped my chin, "Let's see…he talks really polite and proper, and he's seems pretty shy. But underneath that, he's a little sarcastic and a tad cocky. Though he does seem to have a thing about chivalry. And he's kinda on the skittish side." I shrugged, "All around, he seems like a nice guy. I guess…" But why would he lie about his role?

Reading my mind, Nightmare shrugged. "Who knows? Just be careful C.J. You never know with people." I nodded, "Right. Thanks Nightmare." Nightmare was quiet, then, "C.J, lately I've been having trouble getting into your dreams. Is there a reason for that?" I opened and closed my mouth. He leaned in a bit, "Usually I can get in and diffuse any nightmare. That is, unless that particular nightmare is a memory. Though I did get a few glimpses; and what I saw disturbed me greatly." I felt anger bubbling up as I turned my head away from him, "My dreams are my business. What gives you the right to eavesdrop?" He backed off a bit, "I guess you're right…C.J, you should talk to someone about those dreams. It's never good to bottle up your emotions." The Dream Realm began to shatter before I could get as much as another word out of my mouth. I plummeted down into the darkness that, ironically, would bring me to the light.

INCASE NOBODY CAUGHT IT, THE CONVICTS NAME IS ALISTAIR, AND THE NEW GUYS NAME IS ALISTER. CLOSE, BUT THERE IS A DIFFRENCE. PLEASE JOIN IN NEXT TIME!