White Queen: I'm totally out of it... I can't think straight... what's happened?

KillTheKat: I don't feel any different, Hel, are you okay?

White Queen: I don't know... I'm just not me right now, I'm woking on my live journal post too... so I guess I'm just distant.

KillTheKat: Do you need me to call

White Queen: Umm... would you? My mother won't be home for some hours... and... I hate to admit this, but I really am afraid. That... Red Queen thing got me all nervous.

KillTheKat: Sure.. no problem, give me a few minutes, okay?

White Queen: Thanks TK...

White Queen: I hate to make you do this...

KillTheKat: No problem, trust me.

White Queen: Thanks... just let me finish this mail, okay?

KillTheKat: Alright. Talk to you in a bit.

Marx,

I'm sorry... as tempting as it sounds to meet this signifigant other you refer to as "Red Queen" I must decline the meeting. I neither know you, nor trust you as of yet... and that little stunt you pulled, telling that "Red Queen" person my real name, I don't appreciate it in the least. For future reference, I will always be Hel.

Hitting send caused her mail box to jump with a little yellow flagger and the annoying "You've got mail!" tone. She grumbled, she didn't feel like dealing with yet another return to sender because she forgot to make the "L" an"I". She went to the box, and read the sender's name, numbers only, not recgnizing it, she read the mail... it obviously wasn't spam.

To the looking glass world.

It was just a link, and nothing more. Annoyed, she deleted it thinkng horridly to herself "Brash people with their stupid riddles..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She clicked the sign off button, grabbing her cordless from off the bed and sitting it next to the mouse. She always got nervous before talking to him... her beating just a little bit faster, why? Who knows... it's just the way she was... maybe she just liked to keep a screen between her and people, there really wasn't a reason. Sighing and tapping her fingers on the desk next to the keyboard... apparently, TK had lost his phone again... he had a nasty habbit of doing that... She waited an hour once while he ransacked his house and car for the little black cellphone... forgetful, that one was... She turned her music up, and continued the draft for a journal post, passing the time with slow fingers. And as suddenly as she drifted off into her own little world, the phone rang, and she jumped to answer it, with a haughty tone.

"TK, I told you... losing your phone is not something intelligent people do."

There was a feminine chuckle on the other end, that drew itself out into a sigh.

"My dear Alice, this is yet again a case of mistaken identity..."

Fear, and anger gnashing thier teeth, begging to be brought to words.

"The Red Queen..."

The lady laughed again, "Only a formality, I assure you... Perhaps, I should tell you my name?"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR NAME IS!" Hel shook, her voice did too, it was apparent. "Why the HELL are you following my around like this?"

The voice grew soothing and maternal, choosing to coo and comfort rather than provide harsh laughter. "Listen to me, Alice. I'm going to tell you some things... you can choose whether to believe me or not, but... in time you will see that I am ultimately correct. Three things will happen. Pay close attention to what I say, and remember it... the hard lines aren't safe... The white Knight will come, the looking glass world will disappear, but the bad luck will not last, and you will learn the similarities between a Raven and a Writing Desk. After this, you will attempt to seek me out, but you will not find me through the looking glass, my dear. When the time comes, I will find you."

The phone clicked.

Hel stood listening to dead air, before she hit the talk button a second time, dumbfounded. The red queen was indeed a woman... she didn't know what to think anymore... the last two or three days had been odd, given... and they just got worse. What was the deal? Who was this "Red Queen"...? Acting so mysterious, it seemed to reflect the movie she held so dear, The Matrix, in every way... secretive phone calls, warnings, riddles, double talk and ambiguous statements... Rubbing her temples, she laughed at herself for making that comparison... it's her own fault, really. She dragged herself into this, by becoming so obsessed, it was just like hallucinating, she was now thinking of things that aren't there or didn't exist, creating espionage in her head. She felt so crazy. The phone rang, she brought it to her ear, listening quietly to TK's voice on the other end, "Hello? Alice?"

"TK... She called."

TK was quiet on the other end for some time, before finally blurting out "The Red Queen..."

Quite shocked, Hel stared dumbfounded, "How did you know that?"

"Honestly? I don't know... I never thought you were crazy, Alice, but damn... you have to admit, it does seem so, I mean, my god... Red Queens? Dejavu? This odd little world you're slipping into it makes no sense!"

Tense, she became defensive, "Look... I don't need this from you, I don't even understand this myself. I don't get it and I'm not crazy and..." Pausing, she continued, "How did you know I was experiencing Dejavu?"

"It was in the link... god, you really do have shit memory."

"Link? I didn't send any link... What are you talking about? I've not even posted that entry in my journal yet..."

Again, quiet... "But... you sent me a print screen image through a link, didn't you? I mean... it was your e-mail address... All it was, was a link."

More chills, she shook her head, this was like a bad suspense novel... it was almost as if she could guess what would happen next, "And the link read 'To the Looking Glass World', didn't it?"

"So you do remember..."

Drawing her hand to her eyes, she groaned, "No. I was sent the same mail, but I deleted it... god damn red queen and her tricks..."

"What are you talking about, Alice?"

"She called, Red Queen... I didn't even get her real name... she told me..." She trailed off... TK would just think her crazy if she went into her whole trip about this being so much like the Matrix, it was inevitable... so she left it alone. "She told me a bunch of creepy stuff, like she has been... stupid fucking hacker bitch..."

"Debug, and don't worry... Forget the woman."

Her eye brow arched instinctively. "TK? Aren't you the least bit interested in who or what she is?"

"Debug, and don't worry... Forget the woman."

"TK...?"

"Debug, and don't worry... Forget the woman."

"TK! Stop this, this isn't funny, you stupid fuck!"

"Debug, and don't worry... Forget the woman."

The phone beeped, an incoming call. There was a rushed and worried voice on the other end of the phone, unidentifyable, but somehow she knew it belonged to that woman.

"You feel alone. You feel outcasted, and you feel crazy. They were designed to make you feel this way. You have very little time. And you have only two choices. Listen to me carefully. You're being watched, even at this second there are people surveying you, as you turn your head now to look out your window, and as you walk into your dark hallway."

Indeed, she had done both.

"I want to tell you something, but I cannot do it here... Meet me."

Warning bells went off in her head, was this just a fucking trend? She grew angry again, trying not to remember this crimson royalty's clairvoyance.

"And if I choose not to?"

She clicked her tongue arrogantly. "You will not wake up tomorrow."

Eyes wide, a statement like that was enough motivation to make anyone listen.

"Alright... I'll meet you, tell me where and when... and tell me your name."

"I cannot tell you, but I can give you a hint. As I have said, you are being surveyed, and now? I am as well. In one of your movies, Alice crossed the first of six brooks and came to a train station. The next brook she crossed brought her into the woods. And the third?"

This was not clear to her, or maybe she had forgotten... thinking on this, Red Queen continued.

"The answer will come. And as for my name? You can call me Apas. Now, help your mother with the groceries." Again, Apas ended the conversation abruptly. She didn't have time to turn the phone off, before she heard her mother call from the doorway, "Alice! Come help me with this!"