Just as promised, the sets of clothes were folded on the bed when Kat and Grim returned to the Ramshackle Dorm.

She'd taken a shower, even though the shower only had two settings, freezing cold and boiling hot. Then she changed back into her t-shirt and hoodie.

She folded the new school uniform, putting it on the chair along with the other new clothes that were waiting for her on the bed.

Finally, she'd wiped the thick layer of dust off the mirror in her new room, staring at herself for a little while.
Her hair was damp and tangled, and she combed through it with her fingers.

Her eyes were pretty damn puffy, with the dark circles under them almost matching the dark, steely blue of the irises.
The weird abrasion from the monster spit or whatever stood out sharply against her pale skin.

It was still her, though...
Still her own face looking back out at her, even after all the impossible shit it had seen over the past two days.

...Okay, that was enough introspection for tonight.

She turned and clambered stiffly into bed, wincing at her sore legs.
In the shower, she'd found tons of bruises on them, mostly on her knees...
Well, she did bruise like a damn peach. Most of them probably weren't that bad, it was just that she was stupidly pale.
Honestly, it was a good thing that it was just bruises...

Taking off her glasses, she put them back on the bedpost, then fell back against the pillow.

The door creaked open slightly. She didn't react as she felt Grim hop up onto the bed, padding over to her and curling up in the crook of her arm.
She moved her fingers a little, giving the top of his head a small stroke.

She must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing she knew, she was dreaming.

With her eyes closed, she saw the mirror on the wall shimmer and pulse, rippling like water.
It sucked her in like a vortex, blinding her with white light.

Suddenly she was watching a little girl wander through a hedge maze.

If she had control of her body or facial expressions, she would have frowned.
She didn't dream in black and white normally-- there were colors, just dark, murky ones, in confusing patterns that she couldn't see clearly.
This dream looked like an old movie, though... A stunningly sharp, crisp old movie.

The 'camera angle', for lack of a better word, was in the third-person view, hovering above and behind the girl like she was a video game character and Kat was the player.

She was wearing a puffy dress with what looked like a pinafore. Her hair was long, reaching just beneath her shoulderblades, and she had a ribbon headband keeping it in place.

As she moved, there were brief flashes of color. It was like the monochrome vision was just a filter, glitching slightly to show hints of the color underneath.
There were glints of blonde in her hair as it moved, and the folds of her dress gleamed sky-blue.

How old she was was hard to say without seeing her face, but she looked about... Seven? Maybe?
No-- more like ten?

Her dress had a very lolita-esque silhouette, with that puffy, cupcake skirt supported by layers of crinoline and petticoats, and looked to be vaguely Victorian in origin.
She was...
Why was she so familiar?

That outfit, there was just something so... So... Classic about it, so recognizable...
Why the hell couldn't she remember?

Even as she watched, she heard something in the distance-- voices? No, was that a... Song?
Apparently, the little girl heard it too. Perking up, she paused mid-step, turning her head, then started walking again, following the sound.

It didn't take long to find the source.
The girl quickly came across what looked like a rose garden. Heart-shaped topiary rosebushes stood in those tiny little wrought-iron fences that trees on fancy streets had.
Three figures bustled around, carrying buckets, brushes and a ladder.
They looked like...

Were those... Cards?

Yeah. Yeah, they were cards...
Cards with heads, arms, and... Not so much legs as just feet, on the bottom corners of their 'bodies', in those floppy elf shoes.

They were all singing some kind of song, like a marching song or something.
As they sung, they scurried from rosebush to rosebush, all covered in white blooms, and painted each flower a brilliant red-- the only color that really stood out in this grayscale scene.

Why... Are they doing that?

Apparently, the little girl was wondering the same thing.
Approaching the cards, she stopped, bobbing her knees in a curtsy.

The 'camera' moved to the side, giving Kat her first look at her face.
Sure enough, she looked somewhere around ten. She was pretty, in a clean, vintage sitcom child star way, with round cheeks and big, innocent eyes.

"Pardon me, but-- why are you painting these white roses red?" She asked in a polite British accent.

The cards she'd addressed stopped mid-song, looking around.

"Huh? Why, you ask?" One of them-- the Two of Clubs, probably?- said, lowering his paintbrush and scratching his head.
"Why, it's quite simple, little miss-- we went an' planted the wrong color, you see?"

The other card-- the Ace of Clubs?- nodded emphatically.
"The Queen, she likes her roses red," he explained. "If they're white--"

He drew a thumb across his neck, grimacing.
"We'll lose our heads!"

"Oh, dear," the little girl exclaimed, eyes widening as she put a hand to her mouth.

Moving forward through the garden, she tried to avoid as much of the paint splatter as she could, watching the cards curiously as they began singing again.

"Painting the roses red.... We're painting the roses red...."

The echoes of the catchy, oddly familiar tune stayed with Kat as the scene faded into darkness.

She emerged from the dream slowly, bobbing to the surface of consciousness with her eyes still closed.

Ugh.... Where am I now?

And...
And what's that noise?

Something had woken her up, but she didn't know what yet.

Opening her eyes, she squinted around, and-- yep, still the dusty interior of the Ramshackle dorm.
It was still dark out... What time was it?

The noise came again. It was a hollow rapping sound, like a...

Like...
...Was that the front door?

The noise came one more time, and Grim, still in the crook of her arm, stretched.

"Myaaaaaah~" he yawned, rubbing his face with a paw.
"H-Hey, Kat.... I know it's the middle of the night an' all, but it sounds like we got a visitor...."

"I noticed," she replied, rubbing her own eyes and fumbling for her glasses.
"Ugh..."

The knocking came again.

Grim got slowly to his feet, arching his back in a big stretch.
"Maybe it's those ghosts again," he suggested. "Those guys really don't know when to quit..."

Kat gave a noncommittal grunt, reaching over the side of her bed. She located her jeans, which she'd placed just under the bed for this exact scenario.
Pulling them under the covers, she slid her legs into them by feel, doing up the fly and button and sitting up.

Whoever it was wasn't just knocking anymore-- they were hammering, making the door rattle.

"Well, it sounds like they're not gonna leave us alone until we answer them," she muttered, sliding her legs off the bed and getting up.

Grim jumped off the bed, skittering alongside her as she moved down the hall. Descending the creaky stairs, she approached the front door, just as another round of agitated knocking began.

"Alright, alright, I heard you the first hundred times," she snapped irritably, standing in front of the door with her hands on her hips.
"What the fuck do you want? And who are you?"

"It's me, Ace," came the muffled reply. "Just let me in, alright?"

With a quiet groan, Kat reached under her glasses, rubbing her eyes.

"Why?" She asked exhaustedly.

"What?! What kinda question is-- look, nevermind, okay? Just hurry up and let me in!"
The edge of irritation in Ace's voice was really evident now, and she heard some agitated shuffling of feet.
She rolled her eyes.
"You're not gonna leave, are you?"
"Nope," came the snappish retort, and she groaned.

"Ugh, fiiiine... Just gimme a second, okay?"

He answered with a grumble.

Kat fumbled with the slightly rusted locks, bolts and door chain, finally pulling it open.

"FINALLY!"

With a growl, Ace shoved past her and into the hallway, rubbing his arms and huffing.
"What took you so long, huh?! I thought I was gonna freeze to death out there!"

"Oh, well EX-CUSE us for gettin' woken up in the middle of the--" Grim began retorting, then spluttered in shock.

"Fgnyah...!! That collar--!"

The thing around Ace's neck was less like a collar and more like some kind of bizarre, disciplinary ruff or neckpiece, or even a tiny guillotine, like something out of the Saw movies.
It was a heart-shaped, red-and-black contraption with a scrolling gold frame and a large yellow-and-black-striped lock on the front.

"Dude, why the hell--" Kat began.

"I am NEVER going back to Heartslabyul House," Ace interrupted, planting his hands on his hips and scowling.
"I'm joining YOUR dorm. For good."

_______________________________________

And so it begins.
Hooray for inaccurate movie dialogue! Honestly, I like what I did better.

Real talk, I know Alice in the books is supposed to be seven, but in the Disney version she just gives me 10-11yrold vibes. Same with Wendy Darling.

Also, Peter Pan is an eternal 12-year-old who balances the feral, off-the-shits energy of a middle school boy with the 'you got games on your phone' sticky ipad 7-year-old attitude. I don't take constructive criticism.
He would do Fortnite dances.

Another fun fact! I. LOVE. Lolita fashion/EGL (Elegant Gothic & Lolita)/lolita street fashion/whatever you wanna call it.
Alice In Wonderland is a HUGE inspiration for that fashion. Like, Alice is basically the face/unofficial mascot of the fashion.
So, like... Working backwards to try and describe her look, since all of Kat's Disney/most of her fairytale knowledge is currently [REDACTED], was fun.