Chapter Eleven
I walked into my house, relieved that it was empty, as my parents had a meeting that night. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed myself a small yogurt. I ate it quickly before running upstairs to my bedroom. It was only eight o'clock, but I changed into my pajamas and laid down in my bed, pulling the covers up over myself.
I turned over onto my stomach and felt my eyes closing. I felt myself being pulled into unconscious as the dream appeared behind my eyelids.
Jefferson fingered the stitch on his neck, before grasping the scissors. Make it work. Get it to work, he told himself. Holding the finished hat, he dropped it on the ground, but the portal refused to open. He reached into the hat, hoping to find the portal, but instead, his hand hit the stone ground.
He tossed the hat to the side and started on another. "Get it to work! Get it to work," he said, hysterical tears forming. He finished the hat and set it on the ground, but nothing happened.
There he was, doomed to stay there forever, trying to get home to his Grace, but never able to. He worked furiously, day after day, slowly going mad. He tried everything to go home, to make the hat work, but it always failed.
That was how the Mad Hatter went mad.
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I woke with a start and found my sheets wrapped around me. Disentangling myself, I stood up and walked to my window, forcing it open. Gathering up my courage to do something stupid, I walked to my dresser and pulled on a pair of fuzzy blue socks. I grabbed my sheet and then eased myself out of the window, looking out over Storybrooke fro my spot on the roof.
I cautiously inched my way towards the edge of the roof and looked down. I saw a column that led from the roof to the porch. I tied my sheet around my neck and it hung like a cape. I then sat down on the edge of the roof and grabbed onto the column. I wrapped my arms and legs around it and started to shimmy down. Reaching the porch, I let go and jumped down onto the damp ground.
I walked towards Storybrooke, passing Jefferson's house as I went. I had no idea where in town I would go, as nothing could possibly be open at this time of night. Brushing that thought aside, I entered the town, wearing my pajamas and fuzzy socks with my sheet pulled around my shoulders. I looked at the police station and squinted my eyes as I saw a shadow cross over the window. What on earth? I wondered, and crossed the street towards the building.
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Regina continued her pacing, crossing over the light from the lamp on Emma's desk, casting a long shadow across the window. She went to look out the window, her eyes carelessly scanning the streets. "I've all ready explained it to you, Jefferson. I need you out of jail, because you need to do a quick favor for me."
Jefferson leaned forward against the bars of his cell. "And what is that 'little favor'?"
"Just a little job. You'll get paid finely, as always," Regina said, turning away from her vigil to face him.
Jefferson scoffed. "I doubt it. The last time I did you a favor I got abandoned in Wonderland!"
"I had my reasons for leaving you there," Regina said, averting his gaze.
Jefferson clenched his fists around the bars. "Your own selfish reasons. Why do you need me so much? I'm sure the man in the magic mirror of yours would be more than happy to help you," he said.
"You don't understand," she cried, walking towards the cell and laying her hands on top of his. He shrank away from her touch. "Please don't flinch. You're the only one that I have left!" She sunk to the floor as she felt her world falling apart around her. That Emma Swan had changed everything. The people she had controlled were getting ideas of their own; Henry no longer even pretended to love her. And now this. Her Jefferson, the last person she knew she could count on, refused to help her. Regina wrapped her arms around the bars, and her fingers grazed the leather on Jefferson's boots.
"Oh, Regina," he said, kneeling down. Gently taking her hand, he thought for a moment. "I'll help you, but it better pay off. No more lies. No more tricks."
Looking up through her tears, she forced on a smile. "Thank you so much, Jefferson. Just promise me one thing."
"What?" he asked.
"Never leave me again."
At that moment a figure stepped out of the shadows.
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I ran across the street, leaning against the wall of the police station. I tried the doorknob, and finding that it was unlocked, I slowly pushed it open and, once I was inside, I silently closed it behind me. I heard talking in Emma's office but I couldn't make out what the voices were saying. I had to check for a moment to make sure that they weren't the voices inside my head, but they had been gone for days. I heard someone falling to the floor and a soft, comforting voice. Jefferson…
I crept to the doorway to Emma's office and peeked inside, careful to stay concealed in the shadows. Jefferson and Regina. A whisper: Never leave me again.
Not thinking straight, I stepped into the room.
"Paige?" Jefferson asked, and Regina turned to look at me. "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing," I said. "I just decided to come to town." I knew I must have looked ridiculous, with my cape and my pajamas and my fuzzy blue socks all covered in mud.
"Hi Paige," Regina said, standing up and brushing herself off. "Nice seeing you again, Jefferson." She grinned, and when she thought I wasn't looking, she winked. I heard her exit and the door shut behind her.
"Why was she here?" I asked.
He sighed. "She wanted to talk about the trial. That's all."
"Why was she on the ground?"
"She's been having a tough time recently," Jefferson replied.
I nodded, walking towards the cell. I sat down on the ground outside of it, and laid my head against the bars. "I'm tired," I whispered.
"You can sleep on that desk," Jefferson said, pointing at it. It was Graham's desk, and now, it lay empty. Nodding, I got up, untying the sheet from around my neck. I curled up on the desk and pulled the sheet over me.
"Goodnight, Jefferson," I whispered as my eyes slid shut.
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A/N Okay, I couldn't help with the Mad Queen thing. I had my first detention today. I think I'll write another chapter tonight. I hope I have the chance.
Please review!
