Alice had been walking for twenty minutes when she stumbled upon a faceless. The fact that he was out in the middle of nowhere did not escape her notice. Not only that, but he wasn't exactly dressed for the outdoors. He looked more like a royal guest for the queen than an ordinary guy out on a stroll. He had on a large dress suit with golden buttons, matching pants, shiny black shoes, and a weird monocle across where his left eye should've been.

The man grinned when he saw her. Alice realized that she must've looked out of sorts. She had been running for a while, and sweat had dripped down her face. It had since dried up, but she was sure she still looked like a wreck. The bottom of her skirt had gathered some dirt after she maneuvered through some bushes. Despite her embarrassment, the man took no notice of how unkept she looked. He held out a hand.

"Greetings, Miss Liddell."

"How do you know my name?" Alice was on edge. This guy wasn't working for Blood, was he?

"Everyone knows who you are, Miss Liddell. The only Outsider who hasn't come to Wonderland by choice. You were whisked away by the Prime Minister like Hades and Persephone."

Alice realized that this wasn't far from the truth. The man took her hand and shook it.

"You're quite famous around here. We hear a lot about you."

"We?"

"The faceless," he elaborated, his smile suddenly strained, "It must be nice to have such a pretty one like yours. We can only ever dream of having a face. Having an identity."

Alice didn't know what to say to this, so she kept silent. Suddenly, she heard a voice calling out her name.

"Alice? Alice! Where are you? Come on out already."

Her heart froze in her chest. That was Elliot, no doubt about it. He must've found out about her escape from the twins. She looked at the faceless.

"I'm sorry. But I have to go."

With that hurried response, she ran off as quickly as her legs could carry her. The faceless looked like he wanted to stop her, but something was keeping him from doing so. Alice was grateful for that.

She wandered deeper into the forest. She found wild rose bushes everywhere, and she soon realized that she had never been in this part of the woods before. Alice stumbled upon a thicket of trees. She rested her hand on the bark of one as she stopped to catch her breath. Surely Elliot was far away by now.

But if he was close by, then it was only a matter of time before he found her. Then he would take her right back to the mansion. And if that happened, Blood would make sure she would never have another chance of escape. The twins wouldn't fall for her tricks twice.

She walked around, keeping close to the trees in case she would have to duck away and hide. Something caught her eye. It was nestled between two rose bushes, impossible to spot until you looked through the thicket. But all the same, once you saw it, it was glaringly obvious.

A door. In the middle of the forest. No walls surrounded it, yet from what Alice had seen in Wonderland, that wouldn't stop it from taking her somewhere. She was positive that if she walked through it, she would be somewhere completely different.

But where would it take her?

Alice reached out and touched the knob. Suddenly, she saw Lorina, her own older sister, in front of her. Alice blinked. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her sister morphed until it was none other than Hector in front of Alice. With his usual boyish smile, he held out his hand for her to take.

If she took his hand, she might go back home. Back to where she was before Peter had abducted her. She could return, if she took his hand.

So why was she hesitating...?

A hand on her shoulder dragged her away from the door. Hector dissappeared without a trace. Soon Alice was standing face to face with Boris. His catlike ears had lowered to show his aggravation. They perked up a bit when he saw her face.

Boris smiled, "Alice. What are you doing here?"

Alice wondered why he had looked so upset not one second ago. She opened her mouth to speak-

"Alice, please! Tell me where you are!" Elliot's voice rang out. He was a lot closer than Alice had imagined.

Boris noticed her tense up. He pushed her head down.

"Hide in the bushes. I'll distract him."

Alice knew better than to refuse. She dwelved into the bushes, ignoring how the thorns poked at her skin, until she was certain she was hidden. She dared to peek as much as her hiding space would allow.

It didn't take long for Elliot to come rushing over. The hare stopped short, sending a sharp look the cat's way.

"Boris. What are you doing here? I thought this was Blood's territory."

"What are you talking about, rabbit? This is a neutral area."

Shocked filled Elliot's features.

"But he said..." Elliot shook his head, "Never mind. Have you seen Alice."

Boris grinned from ear to ear. He made sure to walk around so that Elliot had to turn to look at him, thereby facing away from the bush that Alice was hiding in.

"She's here? Awesome! I was hoping to find something to entertain me."

Elliot's ears flattened in anger. When he spoke, his voice had lowered an octave.

"Keep hoping. I need to take her back to the mansion."

"Oh? And does she want to go with you?"

"She's Blood's to-be now."

"What!" Boris screamed. His wide eyes looked at Alice like she was nuts. Meanwhile Elliot, confused at what the cat was looking at, turned to the bush. Fortunately, he didn't see Alice.

Alice kept her breath steady and prayed that the hare wouldn't get curious enough to inspect her hiding place. Elliot turned back to Boris.

"What are you looking at?"

Alice felt her heart drum in her ears.

"I thought I saw a dog," Boris lied with ease. He had such a straight face that it made Alice realize he was quite skilled at lying.

Now the rabbit's ears shot up.

"I don't like dogs," Elliot grumbled.

"Yeah. That's probably one thing we agree on."

Elliot started walking away. Boris pulled out his gun, making Alice's heart catch in her throat. What the heck was he doing?

"Where you going, rabbit? I figured you would entertain me, at least?"

Elliot continued to walk away. However, he bothered to at least reply to the cat as he retreated.

"I'd love to fight, but I gotta find Alice. The boss will kill me if I don't find her soon. He's worried sick about her."

From the bushes, Alice made a little gasp. What did he say? Was that really true? When Elliot left, Boris didn't hesitate to grab her from the bushes. He looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"What did he mean that you're Blood's to-be? Alice...you agreed to be his?" he sounded so upset.

Alice shook her head, "I didn't agree to anything. Blood started acting weird. He just grabbed me from work and took me to the mansion. I just escaped from there."

Boris perked up. Meanwhile, Alice felt part of her body itch. Did the rose thorns cut her some? It felt like she had some annoying slashes on her legs and hands. She didn't dare to look though, because she knew if she did, Boris would see it too. And somehow, Alice knew that he would be worried.

She didn't want to worry him unneccessarily. Not after he had helped her.

"That's great!" said the cat man, "I thought you had lost your mind or something. But I guess the mafia guy did."

"Nothing's great about this. He's being a jerk to me," Alice insisted.

Boris suddenly looked just as upset as she felt.

"Don't worry, Alice. I'll keep you safe."

He looked so serious. Relief flooded in Alice's chest as she sent him a grateful smile.

"You can help me get back to the clocktower?"

"Sure, Alice. Anything for you."

"Thank you so much, Boris!"

Alice couldn't believe her luck. Not only did she evaded Blood once more, but she now has a friend to back her up. Maybe the world wasn't completely against her after all.

Boris suddenly motioned toward a door that appeared out of nowhere. Alice knew that door wasn't there before. Noting the confusion on her face, Boris set out to explain.

"I'm good with these things. They'll take us to different places instantly."

"Will that take us to the clocktower?" Alice asked, hopefully. She'd give anyhing to see Julian again. He could help her out of this mess with Blood.

"No idea," came the flat response. Boris shrugged, "But it will take us away from here. And that's where we want to go. Right?"

Alice wasn't as optimisitic as the other. She glanced at the door, uncertainly, fear evident on her face.

"What if it takes us back to the mansion?"

Boris waved off her worries with a flick of his wrist and a smile.

"No problem. If it does that, then we'll just go back out the way we came from. Before they can even spot us. Besides, the odds of that happening are like a hundred to one."

Alice still wasn't convinced. However, Boris was right about her not wanting to be here any longer. If she stayed in the forest, then it would only be a matter of time before Elliot found her.

So she took his hand, ignoring the sly smile spread on his face, and she let him lead her. The cat seemed to have done this many times before. He didn't even blink when they came across a completely different area. Meanwhile, Alice stood in awe of how everything could change so dramatically so quickly.

Teleportation was a strange thing. In just a second, they had gone from the forest and into the theme park, which was hussling and bustling with people. Boris's tail waved as he grew excited.

"Alright! This turned out even better than I thought. Hey Alice? Now that we're here, let's go on some rides."

Alice stared at him. Boris frowned.

"What is it?"

The girl looked around, fearful that Blood could appear at any moment.

"You're not still nervous, are you? Come on, Alice. Even if that stupid rabbit does show up, he can't do anything. There are too many people around."

"There were people around before. When the twins grabbed me. But they didn't do anything."

Alice's voice was bitter. Although the townspeople did nothing to hurt her, they certainly did nothing to help either. How could she feel safe in public ever again?

It wasn't that she was afraid of Blood. But she didn't ever want to be abducted. And if it did happen, she would at least like to know there was someone willing to help.

Boris suddenly grabbed her chin and tilted it upwards, making her look him in the eye. She flushed red. Suddenly she couldn't breathe. That was the singlemost serious look she had ever seen on his face.

"Believe me. If anyone grabs you, I will do something."

Alice did believe him. She nodded, and his carefree smile returned. He grabbed her arm and led her to the nearest line.

"Alright! Then let's go."

The teenage girl realized that she was safe after all. Boris wouldn't allow anything happen to her while they were together. Somehow, she knew that for a fact. As they went on ride after ride, Alice found that she was enjoying herself more and more. She could finally relax.

But soon her relaxing came to an end. She and Boris were both enjoying some cotton candy when it happened.

"Big sister! There you are!"

"We've been looking all over for you, big sis!"

The twins were still in adult form. Worse yet, Blood was there with them! He stood between the two like they were his bodyguards, even though Alice was sure he could fend for himself.

Blood didn't look angry with her, or even displeased. Instead he looked a bit...bored?

Meanwhile, the twins were looking at Alice in hurt. The shifted to their tiny selves and came up to the girl, grabbing her by each arm and looking up at her imploringly.

"Why did you run away, big sis? You said you would play with us."

"Don't you like us anymore?"

"Boss got really mad at us too. Really mad. He's trying to look cool now, but when he found out, he looked-"

"Now now, you two," Blood's voice was calm. But still, there was a dangerous edge to it. Like a knife pressing up against flesh just lightly enough to not cut it, "No need to talk about it here. Believe me. I'll have plenty of words for you both when we get home."

Alice glared at the mafia leader. She stood between him and the twins with her hands on her hips.

"You leave them alone. It's not their fault. I wanted to leave. And no matter how much power you have, you cannot hold me against my will."

A flash of danger struck through Blood's eyes. Boris, not wanting to be forgotten in the midst of all this drama, wrapped his arm around Alice's shoulder. The blonde gasped. Where did this come from?

"Hey! Keep your hands off big sis!" Dee cried.

"Yeah. Don't you know that she's Blood's to-be."

"That's what I keep hearing. But according to her, she's not," Boris kept his eyes on Blood.

The mafia responded with a smirk. He titled his hat as if to protect himself from the sunlight.

"Alice and I are having a small domestic. She's intent on spreading misinformation."

"You're such a liar!" Alice said in anger.

He continued like he hadn't heard her.

"I gaurantee you, cat. When you come to our couple's dance, she will tell you herself that she's mine."

Boris was in shock, but it was nothing like how Alice was feeling. For the first time in her life, she actually saw the true dangers of the mafia from Wonderland. If he really wanted to, Blood could force her back home. He could cause a lot of bloodshed in order to get his way.

No.

No, Alice refused to be afraid of this coward. He was constantly expecting other people to do his dirty work for him. She would not be afraid of that. She would be like her sister: strong and independent.

"There will be no couple's dance," she spoke with such authority that it took the twins aback. Blood, however, was unfazed.

"Now Alice. You're being unreasonable. Making this simple cat think we're not together just because of a small argument. And it wasn't even that important."

Boris looked at her.

"Is this true, Alice?"

The blonde was appalled. She could never come back to this amusement park without remembering how betrayed she felt. First the townspeople, now Boris.

"Of course not! You know he's a liar. Why are you believing him over me."

Boris sank away, looking like a puppy that had just been scolded. He didn't even look her in the eye.

"It's not that...it's just the couple's dance..."

"What about it?" Alice demanded, "That's a lie too. Blood didn't even tell me about the dance before he hosted it."

The cat man was flabbergasted. When the shock died from his face, a sneer replaced it. A sneer that he sent Blood's way.

"Oh really? Blood Dupre would even lie about something like that? I'm sure the queen would love to hear about this."

Alice didn't know how to react. Why was Boris so smug all of the sudden? And was she imagining things or did Blood look...nervous?

The twins were in front of Boris in a flash, both glaring up at him.

"Boss isn't afraid of the queen."

"Yeah, you can't make him scared."

Blood turned around, "Come along, you two."

Everyone, except Blood and Boris, stood there in shock. The two adult males seemed to have their own secret language. They both seemed to know something that no one else did.

Dee said, "But Boss. What about Alice."

"You said we would take Alice with us," Dum added.

"Let's give her some space for right now," Blood showed no emotion, "I promise we'll get her back. Later...of course."

With that, he left. He actually left. Alice had to pinch herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. Did she really just see Blood give up without a fight? And he wasn't even pretending this time either. He was gone.

The twins shot Boris one last nasty look before following their leader. Alice realized that she would have to apologize to them both soon. They might be upset over the way she tricked them.

Boris grinned and placed a casual hand on her shoulder.

"I told you I would keep you safe."

"Thank you," Alice gathered her wits, "But what exactly just happened?"

Boris scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Let's just say that Blood messed up big time. If he tries anything again, we'll go to the queen and tell her about the lie."

Alice still had no idea what was going on. But it seemed like Blood's lie could get him in a lot of trouble. Maybe she had finally won after all?

...But somehow, she knew that Blood hadn't given up yet.