Alright! As promised, we got a new chapter ready to go!

I wonder what happened to Ace?

Enjoy!

Chapter 2:

The last thing Claire remembered after that crazy magic crystal adventure at Dwarf's Mine was crashing into bed with Grim. After being accepted to the school just a couple of hours ago, the gray raccoon had been so enamored with his pendant and constantly kept cleaning the purple gem it as though it was going to disappear any second. He finally fell asleep on the pillow, looking rather content. Just as Claire was about to doze off, hushed whispers filled her ears. Thinking that the trio ghosts were up to no good again, she opened her eyes again and found herself somehow now standing in the room.

The whispers had not gone away and came from the smoky mirror above the fire mantle. She slowly moved closer and closer to it. She couldn't explain why, but some force was pulling her towards the mirror. Something was calling out to her.

Then, just like with the Dark Mirror, a swirling light blinded Claire as the smoky mirror rippled and swallowed her. When she managed to open her eyes, she found herself standing in the strangest black-and-white garden that she had ever seen.

The walls were made out of neatly trimmed grey hedges. Scattered around were large trees with white roses the size of her head in full bloom.

Softly in the background, Claire could now make out words to a song and could even hear someone whistling to the rhyming tune.

"Painting the roses redddd.
Painting the roses redddd.
We dare not stop or waste a drop!
We're painting the roses red!"

Painting the roses?

Three life-size playing cards stood around the trees and carried paintbrushes and buckets of red paint in their long lanky arms. The cards were almost identical to each other – same rotund faces and button noses. The only difference between the three was the suits on their front body – an ace of clubs, two of clubs, and three of clubs.

"Many a tear we will shed
Because we know
The roses will cease to grow
In fact, they'll all soon be dead."

The song's ominous turn didn't deter the cards as they continued dancing upbeat to the tune and literally slathered red paint onto the white flowers. They ignored Claire's gaping mouth, her existence invisible to their eyes, and continued to sing. Despite the monotone world, the red paint bled brightly and dripped onto the ground like blood.

"And yet we go ahead
Painting the roses redddd
Painting the roses redddd…"

As this rather bizarre ritual continued, Claire discovered that she was not alone in witnessing it. A young girl, perhaps eight or so, just happened upon this strangeness and peeked out from the entrance. Like the garden itself, the girl wore no colors other than black and white. She had a black bow on top of her long hair and wore a short-sleeve dress with a white apron tied to the front.

Alice… A soft voice whispered inside Claire's head. Her name is Alice.

"Excuse me, Mister Three?" Alice walked up and tapped the Three of Clubs, who was painting on a small ladder, on the shoulder. She spoke in a rather polite and refined British accent for her age. "Why must you paint the roses red?"

The singing stopped as the cards surveyed her, unsure what to make of this strange guest that wandered into the garden.

"Well, the truth is that we accidentally planted white ones," the Two of Clubs said, whispering after making sure they weren't overheard. "And…"

"The queen loves redddd
If she sees white insteadddd
She'd raise her voice
And have all of our heads!"

They continued with their sing-song rhymes as they desperately continued to paint red blood everywhere. It was like some sort of innate behavior they needed to do.

"Really?" Alice said, sounding unconvinced of such a punishment.

"Oh yes," the Three of Clubs nodded and shoved a paint bucket and brush into Alice's hands, "Since this what we dread, we're painting the roses red."

"Painting the roses red.
Painting the roses red."

The song continued to swirl in Claire's mind, making her dizzy as her vision of Alice and the dancing cards grew fuzzier and fuzzier. The world soon faded away to darkness, and when she was able to open her eyes, she was standing back in her room as the haunting song continued to echo inside of her mind.

Claire woke up and found herself still curled up in her bed. The room was quiet with no singing cards insight. She lifted her head slightly from the fluffy pillow and glanced at the smoky mirror that hung over the mantelpiece – the same one from her dreams. There was nothing different about it and merely hung there motionlessly.

She wondered blearily how she dreamed up such a strange delusion and was about to go back to sleep when a pounding sound resonated from downstairs. She thought she was hearing things again until the pounding grew louder and louder.

"Who is making all that ruckus," Grim groaned sleepily, his eyes half-closed. His blue flame ears flickered in irritation. "Is it those ghosts again?"

"I'll go check," Claire yawned as she grabbed her robe and slippers. She ran her fingers through her messy brown hair and grabbed a rubber band from the nightstand to tie it into a ponytail.

The knocking grew more irritated as Claire and Grim headed down the stairs and to the front. "Who is it?" she called out groggily, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice.

"It's me, Ace!" the muffled voice replied, "Can you let me in?"

Ace? What was he doing here? Just a couple of hours ago, she had just seen him and Deuce off after they escaped expulsion by bringing a crystal back from the mines. Puzzled, Claire quickly turned on the porch lights and unbolted the door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked loudly as she slowly opened the wooden door, "Do you know what time – what is that on your neck?!"

Ace was still in his school uniform and stood at the front door with a large heart-shaped collar around his neck. His red firecracker hair clashed horribly with the new accessory. He crossed his arms across his chest, and his lips were pressed tightly together.

"You have a collar!" Grim stated the obvious, his eyes all big now.

"What happened?" Claire said, her mouth still hanging open.

"I am never going back to Heartslabuyl," Ace announced angrily, "Starting today, I'm joining your dorm!"

"WHAT?!"

"What happened to you?" Claire said, bringing in a tray of hot tea. None of the chairs were fixed yet, so they were all forced to sit on the cold wooden floor. Claire made a mental note to get some cheap rugs if she can find a store around here.

After serving them all, Claire took a sip from her cup and eyed apprehensively at Ace's neck. She had only seen a glimpse of the collar before when Grim had been forced to wear it after wreaking havoc at the opening ceremony. It reminded her of those 'Cone of Shame' that dogs wore after surgery, only this one was a heart-shaped disk with a gold frame running around it. The right side was red and the other black, and in the front, right underneath Ace's chin, was a black-and-yellow striped lock that held the two halves in place.

Ace seemed to have calmed down a bit from his outburst though he still looked grumpy.

"Isn't that the same collar that the brat put on me?" Grim said out loud. "Why are you wearing one?"

Ace's scowl deepened and immediately crossed his arms across his chest. "I ate a tart."

"Come again?" Claire said, thinking she had heard wrong. Her cup of tea hung in midair as she was about to take another sip.

"You heard me," he said with no trace of humor. His usual mischievous red eyes were filled with irritation. Even the red heart painted over his left eye seemed to be frowning. "I missed dinner and was hungry, so I checked the fridge for food, and there were three whole tarts just chilling in there! So…"

"So, you just ate it?" Claire said.

"Yeah, and then my dorm head snuck up on me and cut my head off!" Ace pointed angrily to the collar as his glaring evidence. Feeling like she wasn't getting the full story, Claire gently placed the teacup back onto the saucer and leaned back against the wall.

"Your dorm head," she finally said, "His name is Riddle, right?"

"Yeah, Riddle Rosehearts. He's a second year," Ace said. "Those tarts were his, apparently, and he said that it is a rule to not eat tarts without his permission – Rule 89 or something – but seriously, that is a stupid reason to put this on me." He jabbed at the collar again.

Claire and Grim glanced at each other, unsure how to address the obvious.

"You only have yourself to blame for this," Grim stated flatly.

"But isn't sealing my magic just cuz I ate his tart a bit too much?!" Ace protested, "It's like chaining my hands and feet!"

"Really? Even though you can still do daily activities like walking?" Claire sat up, fascinated. Her eyes now gleamed with curiosity. "Exactly how does it cut off your magic?"

"This is no time to be impressed," Ace snapped. "I thought you guys would be on my side – the tyrant had three tarts in the fridge for crying out loud! There is no way he can eat them himself. Just how heartless is he?!"

"Isn't it possible that the three tarts were prepared for a party?" Grim asked. He then used his two front paws to lift his teacup to his mouth and drank noisily before smacking his lips.

"Party?" Ace paused at the notion.

"That would make sense why there are three in the fridge. No wonder why he was mad," Claire said, pressing her finger to her lips in contemplation before she turned attention back to Ace. "Have you apologized to him at least?"

"Well… umm…" Ace looked away and hastily drank from his cup of tea.

Claire sighed, not at all surprised at the response or rather the lack of. This was like dealing with a stubborn toddler. "Ace, I get why you think he is a tyrant, but looking at it from the other side…"

"You are at fault for stealing his tart in the first place," Grim finished.

"Come on," Claire coaxed, "I'm sure he'll forgive you and remove that collar if you apologize."

"Grudges over food are a scary business," Grim added.

Ace stared at them, but Claire merely stared back – this time with an irritated look on her face. "Okay, fine," he sighed in defeat. "I'll apologize… But you better come with me! Since this is your idea and all…"

"Fine," Claire said, too tired to argue, and got up to her feet. "Here, let me get this cleaned up. You can stay for the night."

She quickly gathered their cups and put them into the sink. She then went to the nearest closet for a pillow and some blankets. They were moldy but should be okay to use for one night.

When she arrived back to the lounge, she found Grim and Ace bickering again. "What's going on now?" she asked with another exhausting sigh.

"I was telling Ace that we don't have any free rooms," Grim said.

"Come on, you're pulling my leg," he protested, "You're telling me I can't use any of the rooms here?" He waved his hands up to the ceiling where the second-floor living quarters were located.

"Sorry, we haven't cleaned the rest of the dorm," Claire said, motioning with her head to the couch. "Unless you want to pick up a broom, you can sleep here for tonight."

"Urgh, I don't want to clean – wait, I have an idea," he grinned and turned to Claire. "Can I sleep in your room?"

"W-what?" Claire managed to sputter.

"There's got to be enough room for the both of us," he grinned, not registering the look on Claire's face, "I promise I won't take up too much space."

"What?! HELL NO!" Claire threw the pillow and blanket at his face.

"OW! What was that for?" But Claire already stormed up the stairs, refusing to look back. "Fine," he snapped as he heard the door upstairs slammed shut, "I'll just sleep all by lonesome self on this sofa!"

"Ace, are you an idiot?" Grim mumbled.

Author's Notes:

If Grim calls you an idiot, you are an idiot.

Well, it has been less than six hours, and Claire is already thrown into another problem. At least this time, it should be easy to solve.

Also, thank you Guest1995! You're right! The music is a bop for sure. Thanks for letting me know about her! :D

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

-JD