Chapter One

"Clean this room, Helena, Nan will be coming over shortly. Make sure you don't wrinkle that new leotard I sewed you. Those sequins might fall off." I could hear pans clashing in the kitchen.

"Oh, it's not that dirty, Mum…" I looked around the room for a minute, and decided it probably did need some tidying up. "I'll be out in 15 minutes." Taking the socks off the ceiling fan, I bent down to pick up a paper mask off the floor. It had a purple stripe down its nose, on the creamy smooth surface. I stood up and examined it. A week ago I was with Valentine, we had found the mirrormask, and returned my Land of Light and Shadow to its' former, strange self. I saved the White Queen, and Mum came out of surgery all well again. Now I was going to school, helping Mum and Dad with the circus, the same stuff I had done before being thrown into the drawings that lined my room.

"Helena, are you finished? Nan is here, come have some tea with us."

Walking down the hallway, I sat down on the sofa and took up one of the cups of tea, then let myself take a small sip. Nan and Mum came into the living room, so I put down the tea, got up and gave Nan a kiss on her cheek. "Hello Nan, how're you."

"Oh lovely dear, lovely. Your Mum and I were just talking about some of your drawings. They're so unique! And the posters for the circus are lovely as well, dear", Nan chirped.

"Those pictures of that lad in the mask with the small eyes and the pointy hair are just so wonderful!"

I gulped and smiled politely, but I felt a small pit in my stomach start growing. The whole week I had spent most of my free time sketching Valentine. I wanted to juggle with him, go exploring with him, but I wasn't sure if I could get back to the Land of Light and Shadow. I still had the silver Mirrormask, but I wasn't sure if I could still use it, or even had time in between everything to go back. I'm sure my parents would notice that I was gone, and that would end up in a big mess….

"Helena, dear, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes dear, you look like you just fell off the high wire."

Snapping my head back, I looked at both of them, scared that I thought they knew what I was thinking. "Fine, fine! Sorry, I'm just sleepy, that's all, Mum."

"Alright love, you can go take a nap, I'll wake you up when supper is ready." Mum gave me a smile, and Nan hugged me goodbye.

Lying backwards on my bed, I glanced at a picture of Valentine I had drawn yesterday. I tried to think back to when he and I were in the Dreamlands. Squeezing my eyes, I saw the pond where he skipped rocks, and scribbles and doodles were floating around us. However, my head began to sting rather violently. In the small, domed room, he had said something about slipping out to get help. But I knew he just wanted those stupid, filthy jewels. Sure, he had apologized for having turned me into the Dark Queen, and I knew he meant it by the way he had acted so humble when he came to rescue me. Yet at that moment, in the palace, I just wished I could have grabbed him, perhaps smack him into some sense. It was so painful, knowing he could forget about me that way.

I held my shoulders tight.

The sun woke me, glinting through a crack in the curtains. I had been resting my arm over my head, but I just took the nearest pillow and flung it at the window. My clock flashed a bright red seven, but I just turned my head around and faced the other way. That's when Mum opened the door.

"Time to get up, sleepyhead."

I let out an unintelligible mumble.

"C'mon, don't make me send in the clowns."

Thinking quickly, I tried to make my most miserable face.

"Mum, I don't feel so well…"

"Oh really…" She gave me a suspicious look and raised one eyebrow and said

"Let me go get the thermometer", while vanishing out the door.

Leaning over my bed, I grabbed my flashlight, turned it on and pressed it into my forehead. I bent down to try and hear if Mum was coming back.

Hearing creaking, I pushed the button down and hid the flashlight under the bed again.

"Here we go…"

Poking under my tongue, I heard the thermometer beep seconds later.

"Well, you have a normal temperature…"

"Check my forehead Mum, I really feel horrible."

Placing her palm on my head, she paused.

"Poor dear, you are burning up. Ok, well no school today. Get some more rest."

She kissed my forehead and quietly walked out of the room, leaving a sliver of the door open.

As soon as I heard her head down the hall, I slid out of the covers and pulled out the mirrormask out of my nightstand. With both hands, I put it on.