Dead of Night Hanging

I stood in my room looking at the big mirror above the mantle. No reflection stared back at me, just a gaping gray void. It suddenly started to shift, drawing me into a swirl of color. When I opened my eyes I found myself in a black and white landscape, a hedge filled with bright white roses.

"Hurry and paint the roses red." a sudden voice drew me to a rose bush, where two people stood, a three of clubs and an ace of clubs. Two card people danced around it, red paint cans and brushes in hand. Each stroke painted the white roses red as blood. 

"Hurry before the flowers wither." the ace yelled, taking another swipe of the brush. "Hurry, hurry! We have to paint them all red!"

"Paint… the roses?" I muttered not understanding what this was about.

Suddenly a girl with bright blond hair and a blue dress approached them. "Why do you have to paint the white roses red?" She asked, her head tilted to the side in curiosity.

The two stopped and stared at the girl. "Huh?" they both said before coming up with an explanation.

"Well, the fact is, Miss, we planted the white roses by mistake." said the two clubs, turning to his companion. 

Ace of Clubs shook his head. "The Queen, she likes them red. If she saw white instead, each of us would quickly lose our heads." After that, the two sauntered off looking for more roses to paint.

The girl was left with another card, the three of clubs. She stared at the half-painted roses as the card soldier stood on a ladder. "Goodness!" She blinked, still looking at the card.

"Since this is the part we dread, we're painting the roses red." He said before returning to work.

I looked around this place as it faded, consumed by swirls of darkness. Where is this place?

*****

Xinyi mumbled in her sleep, her head slumped on a desk where she had fallen asleep unknowingly. A sudden banging caused her to stir, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion.

She looked around realizing she was inside her room. "When did I fall asleep?" she asked out loud before addressing the noise. "Is someone knocking on the door?" She started moving towards her entry door, meeting Grim as he came from his room.

"Mmm… hey, Xinyi…. Sounds like we've got a late-night visitor…" the cat beast yawned, before shakinging his head. "What? Is it those ghosts again? They don't know when to quit." He jumped on the girl's shoulders as she moved to the foyer.

The entryway was still cluttered with unused things, but the heavy banging was too hard to ignore. 'Who could it be at this hour?' she wondered before going to the door. "Y-yes, w-who is it?"

A sigh came from the other side. "...It's me, Ace. Let me in." His voice was harsh and annoyed. Without another moment's hesitation, the girl opened the door, worried about the boy's health. The night had become cold and if he stayed out there any longer he might catch something.

"Ace? What're you doing here this late…" Grim asks before seeing the ginger's neck. A familiar heart-shaped collar surrounds it, shocking the two inhabitants. "Gah?! What's with the collar!"

Ace looked at the monster, angrily crossing his arms. "I'm never going back to Heartslabyul. Starting right now, I'm joining your dorm!"

Grim stared in shock. "You what!?"

"There might be some sense to your knocking," the Footman went on, without attending to her, "if we had the door between us. For instance, if you were *inside,* you might knock and I could let you out, you know."

Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland