Headmaster Grimm had gotten Madame Baba Yaga into his office, making her put a hex on me so I couldn't run away. I had to be within a certain limit of distance before I would receive a nasty shock. I didn't believe it, until I tried. It was like electric eels and wasps penetrating my whole body in an electric current that felt like it could restart my heart. It hurt.

I was following closely behind the headmaster as he led me deep into the dark forest. My feet slowly kept up with him as I followed his from behind. I didn't want to walk anywhere beside him. There was no way I could ever come to liking this man.

The narrators were speaking to each other as usual, narrating the story as they would normally do. Brooke Page gave her commentary wanting to interrupt the story. Even then I wanted this story to definitely be put on hold or at least shelved.

"How come Headmaster Grimm wanted to get rid of her when he had plenty of other unruly students he dislikes?" Brooke Page asked her parents, leaving me with a sigh. Thankfully the headmaster couldn't hear them.

"Let's save that for another story, dear," her father said. Brooke let out a frustrated sigh. Then again I was kind of curious too. But I didn't say anything. I didn't need the headmaster to think I was more crazy than I already was.

"Hurry up, you don't want another shock, do you?" Headmaster Grimm said annoyed. I sighed in defeat, picking up my pace as I got nearer, but never too close. He smells sweaty.

Then, we reached it. The well of wonder in all its glittering glory. It was so pretty. Too bad he was about to push me in.

"Any last words before you get sent back to your creepy land?" Headmaster Grimm asked, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible.

"Yeah, I do!" I said rather rashly. I had so much on my mind that I wanted to yell at him. "You suck! And you smell like cheese! And you're the worst headmaster in the history of headmasters! Favoring students over others because they have a good story! Well, I'll tell you what, Head-ass-ter Grimm, you're a fraud! An ugly one too! Your brother would be better than you and I don't even know him!"

"Okay, I've heard enough from that filthy mouth of yours!" He said pulling me toward the well. "To think that I was having second thoughts, but you belong in that dangerous topsy turvy madness! I'll be glad to never see you ever again in my school. As much as the worlds stay separate, you should too from my world, and my school."

"And another thing," I said before he could push me, "you can take your stupid rules and stick it up your —"

His hands gave me one hard nudge that pushed me over the edge and into the well. I screamed loudly the whole way down feeling a wave of electricity waver through me, setting my body ablaze as I crashed into the water that relieved it instantly.

I was pushed and pulled through the heavy current, holding my breath for what felt like forever until I was spat up from a creek into the early morning of the Wonderland woods. I felt the sand underneath me as I took heavy breaths to regain air back in my lungs. My feet were bare. My shoes must have fell off while I was pushed into the well of wonder.

Light was beginning to peak from the sky. The slight time difference was everything that I knew that it was late back in Ever After, and that I was now trapped back in Wonderland. There was no telling if the headmaster destroyed the well of wonder so I could go back.

Great. Now all my biggest fears were alive. Just what I hated. Being back home, alone, and without my best friend. And I didn't even get to tell him goodbye. . .

I couldn't help but cry. I was so sad. I was tired of everything, and now? Everything I was afraid of is happening right before me. I'm alone in Wonderland. I don't have any friends here. Not even Courtly Jester could fix this. Not like she could, or would. . .

I loved my home, but this curse here was just too unbearable with it all. And banished back to my own home that's in chaos? It's not what I wanted. It wasn't what I expected. Just because of a stupid trap. I didn't even have to take the blame. But I did, and look where I am now. I'm home.

I heard an intense growl from behind me. I stopped crying, turning around quickly to see it. The bandersnatch. A fearsome creature that had poisoned claws, its jaw stronger than iron, and teeth sharp as obsidian. It was always hungry with a frumious (furious and fuming) attitude that could rise the hair on anyone's neck to a scare so great, it would make even the Red Queen shake in terror. It was a terrifying creature.

"N-nice band-bandersnatch." I said softly, even though I knew it wasn't working. He only grinned deeper, his sharp teeth poking from his dark curled lips that quivered with his growl. He was so mad. I must've appeared in his part of the woods. This wasn't good.

It moved up slowly as it continued to growl as I was backing away. He only huffed, expressing his rage as I knew he was about to attack. He pawed his foot into the earth, ready to strike as he make a leap toward me. I screamed, making a run for it knowing I would be dead in a second. Bandersnatch's are crazy fast. Why else would they get their name? They snatch their victims quickly and eat them like a snack. And he was definitely hungry.

I hid behind a tree to confuse the beast. I heard it huff, sniffing the air. He knew I was close. He could smell my fear. I gulped quickly, sneakily taking a glance behind me seeing how close he was. I took a step backward, realizing my mistake because of the crunch of the earth beneath my foot triggered a low growl from the creature. I could smell the breath of rotting flesh from his drooling mouth.

I took off running, quickly making my way through the forest into the direction of the Red Queen's castle knowing I'd be safe there. Even though knowing the curse was still heavily pouring on my home, it wouldn't be exactly safe there either. But it was better than here, out in the open, being chased by the bandersnatch who definitely wanted me for its morning meal.

I saw red briefly swift by me. I must be getting closer. The creature was catching up to me closely. It made a swipe toward me with its poisonous claws but barely missed as I ducked. I screamed as I tried to dodge his paws.

I felt something wrap around my waist, hoisting me up on a red horse chess piece. It was the red knight. I gasped, holding on tight to his armor as he speeded up, leaving the bandersnatch confused as he went quickly in the distance.

We made it all the way to the safe zone, away from the bandersnatch would ever go and into That Way. It was a safe area. Much like a little island in the middle of Wonderlandian.

"What were you doing out there?" The red knight asked me, lifting off his helmet to see a familiar face, Chase Redford, one of my old friends.

"I was banished from Ever After." I said, looking at my feet instantly. "The Headmaster forced me back to Wonderland, bringing me here when I thought the seal was closed, well, except for the well of wonder. He. . . doesn't exactly like me."

"But everyone likes you," said Chase with a smile to his cheeks.

"You know that's not true," I said with an eye roll. "Everyone hates me there. All except Alistair."

"Aww your boyfriend was the only one who liked you? You have no other friends?" Chase said taunting me. I frowned at him.

"He's not my boyfriend! Geez." I said a little loudly, where he shushed me covering his armored gloves over my mouth.

"Shush! You'll wake everyone up." He said in a hushed whisper. "It's still very early here. The sun is just rising. . . would you like some breakfast? We can dine in with cards."

"No thanks, I've had enough with people treating me badly. I don't need that already back home." I said with a sigh, pushing his hand away from my face. "How's the Red Queen anyways?"

"She's. . . well, madder than ever. But that's usually her. Just not so. . . off." Chase said as we started to walk on the path to This Way. We walked past the snapping flowers, who were a little extra snappy this morning. "But anyways, why does everyone hate you there? I thought it was just another magical world with happily ever afters, not hate and hostility."

"That's what I thought too. Well, now I don't want to put blame on anyone," I said shaking my head, "but Bunny completely flipped the script and turned into this possessive, jealous, love-sick puppy for Alistair. It's caused a lot of conflict between us. Part of the reason why I was banished. Other than the fact that I was a lost cause and a destroyer of many, I was just a big problem there. But it's fine. I like it here. Well, without the curse."

"I'm so sorry," said Chase as he lifted a branch out of our way so I wouldn't have to duck. "How was your mom? Did you see her?"

I stopped in my footsteps, causing him to stop too which managed to stop in the middle of the pathway on the little dirt road. I was lost in my thoughts. All the memories, the flashbacks, the lies and truths she said. . . It was flooding to my brain like a picture book, going through the pages of every little thing that was said or done.

"I did," I said with a sigh. "But you know how she is. She was never really supportive of anything. . . I was the trouble maker, remember? I mean, I still am, but this whole mess back there has gotten out of hands. Never mind that. Anyways, how's school? Isn't that coming up soon?"

"Oh yes, in a little over than a month." Chase said with a nod of his head, but I noticed the glance back at me, a look of worry. "I'm sorry you had such a hard time back there. But you're home now. And yeah, we have that horrible curse still, but it isn't always that bad. Sure, it will probably consume the world in due time, but now that you're back, maybe your light can shine through. I always loved your remarkable bright energy. Such a lightness that brings joy and peace to anyone. Well, almost anyone."

"Don't flatter me, Red." I said with a shake of my head and a roll of my eyes. "Besides, I think the only true person that didn't hate me was Alistair."

"That's not true," said Chase. "I don't hate you. And neither do our friends. Sure, maybe some issues with Bunny, but she always had territorial issues. Remember the time when we were all kids and Buns got super mad because August played that trick on her stating his love for her but really only did that to confess her true love for Alistair?"

"Wait, what? I don't remember that." I said shaking my head. We continued with our walk, walking all the way to the Red Queen's castle.

"Oh yeah, you weren't there." said Chase recalling his memories. "Well, August was messing with her and ended up stealing her first kiss and she got mad because she shouted that belonged to Alistair. She always had the biggest crush on him."

"Well, they're together now. . . or were." I said, lowly as I began to walk a little faster.

"Oh yeah? I bet Alistair hates that." Chase said with a lighthearted laugh.

"Why would he?" I asked him.

"Because. . . Everyone knows it's you he likes." Chase said which made me slightly gasp, my cheeks flustering as I looked up at him.

"No. He couldn't possibly. . ." I shook my head, denying it.

"Because you don't see it." Chase said. "Or maybe you just refuse to acknowledge it. After all, you're best friends. It would complicate things, wouldn't it?" We made it to the bridge reaching the castle, the Red Queen inside doing who knows what at this point. But I couldn't help but think. What was I missing here? What could I not be seeing?

Our conversation fell short. Chase led me to the castle, opening the heavy doors so I could step into the cool air that had the best insolation. It was better than the blazing heat from outside. We walked through the very long halls, taking our time as we casually breezed through.

Through the many halls we went, walking all the way down into the very back of the castle, making it to the edge of everything. The walk was long, narrow, and quiet besides Chase's armor clanking against the ground as we walked toward the kitchen to find us some food for breakfast. Chase ended up finding a whole chicken with its nest under the kitchen cabinet so he ended up making us both some cooked eggs.

"How do you like yours?" Chase asked me as he cooked us breakfast.

"A little runny on the sunny side." I said.

"You got it!" Chase glanced up at me giving me a wink as he smirked at me. I turned away, blushing. It's been awhile since I've last seen him. Man, he got really cute over the years. As cute as he is, I would never. Technically, I could. But I wouldn't. Half of Wonderland would be so mad at me for dating one of the hottest guys here. August would've been third, Chase second, and Alistair would be first on the list. And no, I did not make a list. . . Yet.

"What happened to your shoes?" Chase asked me, glancing down at my bare feet. I blushed looking down at them. My smallish pale feet were covered in dirt and a little blood was peering from my ankle. It had to be from running from that horrible beast. I didn't even notice.

"I must've lost them on the way down. That's what I get for wearing flats." I said as I brushed it away. I've been in worse situations. Bruised, bloody feet are nothing compared to what was hurting the most back in Ever After.

"Your ankle is bleeding." Chase noticed, putting the eggs on a plate for us before placing them on the countertop behind him. "Let's go get you cleaned up."

"No, it's okay." I shrugged. "Let it bleed. It won't stop for hours anyways."

"What?!" He began to freak out, his eyes widening in shock and panic before pouncing on me, picking me up quickly as I grimaced and cried out from his heavy armor poking into me as he ran.

"Ow! Chase! Put me down!" I shouted loudly, pounding on his armored shoulder but only ended up hurting my hand instead. "Ow! CRABS!" I looked at my hand where a bruise was already forming on my knuckles. That didn't look too good.

Chase carried me to another room I wasn't familiar with. After all, I was never allowed to explore the Queen's castle. I always got into so much trouble for running off just to explore her library. She's ruthless for no reason whatsoever. It didn't make sense to me. But nothing ever really does.

Chase finally put me down on a chair where I pouted my lips at him. He took notice of my glares before his eyes peaked up, his eyebrows raising with a weird look in his eye before turning away with a slight pinkish tint to his cheeks. Was he blushing?

"Why are you blushing? You hurt me!" I said showing him my bruised hand already appearing darker. It was turning to a darker brownish purple. It wasn't pretty.

"You did that to yourself," said Chase regaining his composure, taking my hand to examine it. "You're lucky it's just a bruise. However, your foot is the real problem. Does it hurt? Is it sprained? Want me to get some ice? I'll go get some ice."

"Chase, stop." I said trying to get him to gather his senses. "It's not that big of a deal. I've had to deal with a lot worse. This is nothing."

"Worse?!" Chase was panicking again. There he goes, going into dad-mode. "What on earth has been worse?! You're just a kid! You shouldn't be getting yourself hurt and put in dangerous situations. What's going on?!"

"Chase, can you chill out for a sec?" I said to him loudly. "First off, you're the same age as me. You've been in plenty of dangerous situations just as much as I have. And two: stop worrying. I'm fine. It's nothing too serious."

"It's different! It's my job to be a protector and serve our land and my people. I'm a knight. You're a princess." Chase said making me frustrated. I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I said raising an eyebrow. "So what? And don't go off again about duties and rules and expectations. I'm over it. You know me. I'm against them all. So please, Chase, let's just go get to our breakfast and eat. It's getting cold."

Chase let out a sigh in defeat. "Fine. But I'm bandaging your ankle first." Which he did so. He wrapped it carefully in cotton to stop the bleeding as best as he could, even knowing myself it wouldn't stop for awhile. As a woman, I'd know this very well.

We went back to the kitchen with my padded foot all fixed up as we got to our freezing cold breakfast. The eggs were gross to touch so I didn't bother with it. It's not like I'll miss anything important. Besides, it's just another missed meal. I couldn't even count how many I've missed. It had been a couple of days, hasn't it? So much has been going on that I've completely lost track of the missed meals. Surely it wasn't healthy. But my stomach wasn't growling to indicate my hunger. It was quite silent, much like Chase was who didn't bother with his breakfast either.

His eyes glanced up at me, taking it in that I wasn't eating either. He let out a heavy breath, taking both our plates and throwing the cold eggs away into the bin. By that, he continued to walk over to me and take my hand, getting me out of my chair and walking out of the kitchen and into the hallway once again bringing me up the fine elegant staircase up the many floors until we reached a long hallway, walking through the halls on the freezing marble floorboard as we reached Chase's room in the castle.

Entering the room, Chase immediately began to extract his armor making me turn away with a blush. He had a gorgeous body as the armor was lifted off the skintight cloth underneath that revealed all his toned muscles and brute strength underneath. His clothes didn't do his body much justice as it revealed every muscle and curve. He was really beautiful.

"Why did you bring me all the way up here?" I asked him, feeling myself blush as he began to remove his shirt.

"Well I wasn't going to leave you all alone in the kitchen just so I could get redressed. I know how you are." Chase said as he went to discard his shirt on his makeshift bed.

"Oh? And how am I then?" I asked him with an eyebrow raised. My eyes were glued to his back, his shoulder blades piercing from his muscles as his toned body glistened with little beads of sweat. Most people would be grossed out, but it smelled weird like an expensive cologne. Why does he have to smell pretty too?

"Well, you do get kinda heated after being alone after awhile." Chase said bluntly before turning to me with all seriousness. "You hate being alone. You gravitate toward attention, or at least a friend. But that's understandable. You didn't have a relationship with your parents to lean on or have guidance from. I know you're not an orphan like me, but I understand, Iz. You just wanted someone to listen. Or maybe just to have a friend. And we're all here for you. I just hate that your mother is the way she is. Some people just shouldn't be parents. Your dad. . ."

"Don't talk about my father!" I said quickly, getting defensive all of a sudden.

"I'm just saying!" Chase backed up fast, his voice getting louder making me squeal. The memories flashed in my mind that brought me to tears instantly.  "I understand, Izzy. Please, don't shut the door on this. On me. You're not alone in this. I'm sorry you lost your dad, I wasn't trying to comment about it. I was only going to say that he was the best father figure in your life. I know you wish he wasn't dead. It's been years since his murder. I'm just —"

"Stop! Don't talk about him!" I shouted getting closer to him. I could feel the heat in my body rising. The tears couldn't be held back. My heart ached when I spoke. My voice was breaking. "It hurts too much! I-I can't bear it!"

"Izzy. . . I'm sorry. . . I shouldn't have brought it up." His words didn't help. Not even the arms he wrapped around me could satisfy the pain in my heart. Only one person could've done that, and he wasn't here right now. He'll never be here where I am. I'm alone. . . But I at least have Chase. Even he was better than nobody. It was unexpected to him as a friend in these trivial times, but it was also nice to not be completely alone after all.

"Please. . . I was only eight. . . His story wasn't supposed to end yet. But it did. I just can't relive it again." I cried in his bare chest, his arms wrapped around me as I cried. It was such a sad day when that happened. I hated to think about it. I used to put it far in my memories that I would only try to forget. But sometimes, even that gets brought out and I don't know what to do with it, or myself.

"I'm sorry. I know it's hard for you. . ." he said softly, trying to calm me down. I didn't know if it was his soothing voice or the back rubs, but it eventually got me to cease from his embrace, pulling away feeling awkward.

"I'm sorry. I can't stop crying about it when it's brought up." I said, pulling away from him to wipe my own tears off my cheeks. Chase gave me a solemn smile.

"There's no need to apologize." Chase said pulling a white strand of hair behind my cheek. "Besides, you have every right to be upset. Even in your saddened state, I'm still glad you're back. It's been awhile. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." I said giving him a hug.

"Now, why don't we change that mood of yours and do something fun?" Chase gave me a smile, reassuring me quickly. I smiled in return, hoping to rid of the awful memories of my father's murder and enjoy myself with my old friend. Let this day be a good one and make it better than what I was ever hoping it to be. Even if I do miss my best friend in Wonderland.

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