It's a Mad World.

The diner I had entered had a decent amount of people in it, allowing a small hush of voices to travel through it as I walked in. With the bell dinging over my head, a few people turned their attention towards me for a little to long before going back to their conversation.

It was a nice diner, warm with a bar filled with stools, along with a nice amount of booths lining each side of the building. Besides the people talking, there was he extremely low radio playing above everyone's head. I quickly took a seat at the island table and ordered a coffee as I waited for Emma to show up.

Not long after did the bell ring and I was greeted with two people, Emma on The right side of me with a young boy seated on the left side of me. Placing my hands on the counter I gave them both a quick look.

"So..."

My eyes scanned over the young boy again, he couldn't be older than ten years old. He had bushy brown hair, a school uniform and a backpack on his back. Turning I looked at Emma, same usual outfit but this time there was an added touch, a sheriff's badge.

"Thank you for coming."

"So you've been here this whole time playing cops and robbers with a kid?" Sarcasm dripped from my words causing Emma to roll her eyes and the boy to scoff softly.

Leaning back slightly, but not enough to fall I turned in Emma's direction and tilted my head, allowing my hair to fall to the side.

"I need your help."

"Yeah, I can see that." Shifting I looked around the diner, no one cared. "You go missing for a month and finally contact me, your best friend by the way, to ask for help."

I could see the annoyance in Emma's face as she re positioned herself on the stool and leaned more to the counter.

"This is serious."

"Apparently so, you became a fucking sheriff!"

The diner grew silent and Emma gave me a soft glare while standing and pulling me out into the street with her, the boy quickly followed but was stopped short by Emma.

"Henry, I need you to go home, this is important." My blue eyes narrowed as I watched the scene in front of me, a young boy pouting and complaining that he could help and Emma acting like a parent telling her child no. It didn't take long of an argument before Henry was sulking his way home.

Emma stood with her hands placed at her side huffing while watching the boy go, then quickly turning towards me with a hard look.

"I need your help to find someone."



"So you're telling me that you had a person locked up for possible murder, and you lost her!" If my hands could flail in the air they would have, but being stuck in her ugly yellow buggy of a car, I was very limited in my movements.

"Yes, I need to find her before the morning."

We had been driving for about thirty minutes once it had gotten dark out, there was a slight fog resting above the pavement which made the ride a tad bit creepy. Folding my arms I glared out of the window, to be honest I wasn't even mad. This little journey got me out of dealing with tracking down a fat slob who was cheating on his wife with three different woman.

Even though it was a good amount of money to come in, my dear old friend Emma needed my help and I couldn't just toss her to the side.

"I still can't believe you're a sheriff of a town." I spoke just under my breath but before she could respond, the car swerved and came to a halt as she tried not to hit the man walking on the side of the road.

"Jesus Christ!"

Emma had already jumped out of the car and was helping the man, while I casually got out of the car running a hand through my messy hair and glaring at the tall, masculine man walking towards me. His hair was cut short but long enough to be pulled on, he wore a nice pea coat with a scarf and gloves. His jeans were black now stained with dirt and his shoes were not something you would see a normal person wearing on a stroll.

"Didn't you ever learn to where bright colored clothing!" My arm was extended and my finger pointed straight at him, it was when he had gotten closer that I saw his blue orbs. His face was a mixture of confusion and pain while he hobbled over to the car.

"Okay, just relax. I offered him a ride home, get in the back."

My eyes widened as I stated at the man and Emma, I have never been tossed to the back if a car. Not even some injured handsome man, who was slightly creepy at the same time. But I sucked it up and climbed into the back of the car with my arms folded and my knees high enough to dig into his back.



It didn't take long to find this man called the Mad Hatter, he was out on the streets picking the pockets of unsuspecting people. But the way he did it was smooth, a bump here and a hug there. It was as if nothing went missing from them at all, he wore a black pea coat that was matched with black gloves, his shirt was some green button up, but I couldn't fully tell from the jacket. The rest of his outfit was black dress pants and slick shoes, followed by the hat on top of his head.

Tilting my head I quickly glanced over him, it was when he removed one of his gloves to try a piece of food that I saw the ring, resting on his middle finger twinkling in the light. A smirk played at my lips as I moved quickly, slipping through the crowd of people I was able to stand next to him. He was a lot more handsome in person.

"Oh, those look amazing." My hand ran over his right on, getting a feel of how thick his fingers were and how tight the ring was. He wasn't the only one who could be slick.

My eyes traveled from his hand up to his face, a sly smirk played at his lips as I moved to his eyes, my breathe caught in throat as I stared into his ocean blue eyes. It was like a trance that held onto me forever, that was until he spoke.

"Um." I felt the movement of his hand under my own and quickly pulled away.

"My apologies, where are my manors." Shifting I stood up straight and fixed my button down shirt to where a fee buttons popped, thus letting my bosoms show just a little bit more.

"My name is Lizzy or Liz, what's your name?"

His lips twitched and his eyes moved as if searching for something, I caught them going down a few times but I stood my ground. A cute smile upon my face and my eyes batting a few times before he shifted and cleared his throat.

"Jefferson."

My hand rested on his chest as I smiled and stepped back, the crowd had grown more since it was just about night.

"Well Jefferson, thank you." Taking a step back I watched confusion cloud his face as I disappeared in the crowd, a smile plastered on my face and a beautiful pricey ring resting in my hand.