Mad, mad, mad as a Hatter.

Bad, bad, bad little girl.

Off to the closet, the shed, with you.

Bad little girl,

Mad little girl.

The woman shot up in her bed, sweat glistening on her forehead. She looked out the window with her panicked blue eyes. It was not yet morning and, if she had to guess, it was probably somewhere around 3:30 in the morning. Her gaze, much calmer now, drifted towards her clock. Yep, 3:30 on the dot.

The woman sighed and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. She stood and made her way to her bathroom, not bothering to turn on her light. She flipped the switch to her bathroom light, but kept her head down. She refused to look at the mirror. She used her long, blonde hair as a shield against her own reflection as she turned the cold water tap on the sink. The running water was the loudest noise in her tiny apartment. She pulled her blonde hair back and up into a rather messy bun, closing her eyes as she did so. She really did not want to look at her reflection, for she knew what lingered there.

She cupped her hands underneath the cool water and let it pool up, spilling over in her hands. She slowly opened her eyes to watch the water, her hand creating a sort of fountain for the liquid. Before her vision could change on her, like it always did, she splashed the water onto her face. The woman did this two to three more times. She rose up, eyes still closed, and felt for the towel next to her sink. She felt the a soft caress of what she thought was fabric glide across her fingers. The woman went to wipe her face off on her towel, but was met with a face full of fur that smelled oddly of fire and flowers all the same.

"You know, it is quite rude to rub your face against someone else's fur." A voice spoke out with a slight purr. The woman kept her eyes closed and sucked in a slow breath, wondering if it was too late (or too early, really) to crack open her bottle of sleeping pills and escape the hallucinations. No, she would be late for work if she did that. She guessed that she would just have to entertain the images until sunrise.

"You're right. I'm sorry, but I thought that you were my towel. Now that I think about it though, you are much too soft to be my towel." She explained, opening her eyes and grabbing her actual towel to pat off the remaining water from her face and neck. She looked towards the floating gray and blue cat in her bathroom. He was smiling widely at her and turned his head slightly.

"Ah, then all is forgiven, dear lady." He mocked a bow and turned to float on his back in the air. "I have not seen you in quite a while, Miss. I can't help but wonder why myself and the others have not been able to visit you." His grin fell and he floated towards my medicine cabinet, opening it with his paw. "Could it be the doing of any of these elixirs, my dear girl?"

The woman shut the cabinet slowly, looking into the cat's glowing turquoise eyes. "I am no longer a little girl." She looked to into the mirror, seeing her own reflection and the cat's next to hers. "And I ran out of the medication that I needed to keep you and the others at bay. They won't fill it anymore. Please, Chessur, tell me that you are the only one here." She sighed, a weariness making itself evident in her composure.

"What a shame." Chessur said, examining his claws. "I am the only one, for now. But our dear friends would want to come see you after I have gone back to Underland." He grinned. "Especially our dear old Mad Hatter. He does miss visiting you terribly." Chessur's knowing eyes drifted to the woman, watching her reaction.

The woman tensed visibly at the mention of the hat-making man. She could feel her heart pinch inside of her chest, like someone was sticking a pin in the very center of it. She remembered the look on his face all those years ago when she told him that her mother had gotten her some medicine to make her a little more sane. "But where's the fun in that." She muttered to herself the words that he had said to her. The woman walked out of her bathroom, turning off the light as she passed it. Moonlight shone in her room to illuminate it just a tad.

"Ah, so you do remember us." Chessur floated over to the woman. His grin turned into a small frown as her landed on her coffee table. "You must come back to Underland with me. Where is the mirror?" He asked, looking around for the item of topic.

"It's in the nightstand…" She trailed off slightly. "Chessur, I can't go to Underland. I am not allowed. You told me yourself." The woman's voice was a whisper, but sounded like a desperate cry in the silence of her apartment.

"The White Queen and Underland need you now, Mae." The Chessur pounced off of the coffee table and padded over to the nightstand. "Now, come." He said, slightly demanding.

Mae felt a small hope fill her, but then it fell all over again. "Why is she raising the banishment?" She wondered aloud, hanging her head and reaching a hand up to touch the heart pendent that was hung on her neck.

Chessur disappeared in a mist and then reappeared in her line of vision. "Because you are not foretold to be the Red Queen of old. You are not your past life, Mae. It has been decided that you will be an ally to the White Queen's kingdom; however, for that to be, you must come to Underland and rule the Castle of Hearts." Chessur held a small hand mirror in his paw, holding it out to her.

"Will Hightopp be mad?" She asked, taking the mirror from the cat. Chessur's grin blossomed over his face.

"When is he not, dear girl?" His comment made her laugh. The first time that she laughed had laughed in months.

"I see that you still answer my questions with questions of your own." Mae laughed, then looked around and then down at herself. "I can't go to Underland looking like this. Let me change quickly. Will I need to pack anything to bring with me?" Mae walked around her room, gathering clothes to change into. Which really was just a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt.

"Only pack what you do not want to leave behind, because you will not be coming back to this world for a very very long time." Chessur stated, shaking his head.

I looked around my apartment, making a mental list. "Alright, one moment, please." Mae went into her bathroom and changed, walking back out within a few minutes.

Mae only packed a few things in a small suitcase that she had. Her great grandmother's jewelry (a small gold ring with a ruby, and a cross necklace) that she had, her two teddy bears (one old and raggedy looking one, and another plusher one dressed in mismatched clothing and a hat upon his head), a pillow that a dear friend had given her in high school, and several pictures of her long gone family.

"I'm ready now Chessur." Mae said as she held the small duffel bag in her hands.

The cat gave her his signature grin and held his paw out to her. "M'Lady. After you."

Mae smiled and went to step onto the mirror when a thought struck her. She looked back at Chessur. "Chessur, I almost forgot to bring something." She said, sounding a bit panicked. The cat tilted its head slightly as the girl dropped her bag in front of him and hurried about the room. She went to her closet and pulled something out from the depths of it. "I can't forget him. He's all I've got." Mae smiled sweetly at the object. It was a guitar and not an entirely beautiful one.

Chessur wondered why she would possibly want to keep that old, dingy thing when she could have a much more extravagant one brought to her castle. The instrument was so plain with only a colorful strap to give it any sort of life.

"Oh! Wait one more moment, please, Chessur." She said, skipping back over to the closet where she pulled out two more instruments. One was very short and small and the other was significantly longer with a round body.

"My dear girl, what are those strange things?" Chessur purred with interest. He floated his way over to look at the smaller instrument; it looked as if it was his size.

Mae giggles. "This is a ukulele," she held up the small instrument, "and this is a banjo." She held up the other. "Now, I'm ready to go. I couldn't just leave these here. They're my best friends." She smiled widely, which in turn made Chessur grin as well.

"Ladies first." The feline purred as he gestured towards the mirror with a paw.

"Thank you, Chessur." Mae smiled at him, grabbing her things and stepping on the mirror. She began to fall through the glass. Slowly, slowly. She landed with a soft tap of her foot on the dusty earth.

"Welcome home, sister." The White Queen greeted, smiling warmly at Mae.

"I'm home."