Title: Twisted Cinderella
Author: fullmoon'11
Summary: Alice, a poor orphan, jumps at a chance to go to the ball to meet Prince Alfred, the renown heir to the kingdom. However, a mysterious man named Matthew seems to have his own plans...
Warnings: blood and gore, rats, dungeons, murder, onesided temporary USUK, French faeries, open to interpretation UKCan
Rating: T
This is a classic tale of hardships and sorrow, of stepsisters and fairy god sisters, of brothers and ghosts, of magic and true love and death: Cinderella.
A long, long time ago, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a happy family. The father was a merchant of some renown. He had worked his way into the good graces of the king early on in his career, and was subsequently bestowed the title of Baron Kirkland and give a large tract of land over which he governed. He was known for his kindness and justice with which he bestowed upon those who called him "lord". His wife, the lovely Baroness Kirkland, was famous for her selflessness, generosity, and of course, her beauty. They had one baby girl named Alice, who had hair the color of summer wheat and eyes the color of the forest.
However, happy times did not last. The merchant's wife fell gravely ill, and he stayed home to take care of her. Despite his best efforts and those of the doctors, Baroness Kirkland passed away shortly after Alice's fifth birthday. Her father took longer journeys away from home to find Alice the best presents he could give her, but she always asked for nothing more than a few simple gifts.
One day, he came home with a fiery, temperamental redheaded woman who would be his new wife and Alice's new mother. Her two daughters from her previous marriage, Regan and Fiona, would be Alice's older sisters. Her father then left to continue his journeys, made longer by his wife's and adopted daughters' extravagant requests. In his absence, her stepmother and stepsisters began to treat her cruelly.
Hard times began for young Alice. Her nice clothes were given to her sisters, and she herself wore nothing but a few gray rags. Her shoes soon had holes, and her thin toes poked through the leather. She was made to do the laundry, wash the dishes, scrub the floors, and do every type of servile work that her sisters and stepmother could think of. Her porcelain skin became streaked with dust and ashes, and she soon became known as "Alice". Her sisters constantly taunted and teased her, and treated her like a serving maid. She endured it, telling herself that she would one day run away, then where would her sisters be?
The only place where she could be alone was in front of her mother's grave, tucked away under a willow tree in a corner of the estate. She visited every day, rain or shine, and always brought a small offering. On the days when her sisters' teasing became too hard to ignore, she escaped out here to quietly grieve for her lost mother and her lost childhood.
The spring when Alice turned eight, her father left on yet another of his long journeys. Before leaving, he asked his daughters what presents they would like.
Regan replied, "I saw a pretty dress in the tailor's shop window. It looked nice, and if anyone else wore it I'd be jealous. I'd like that as my gift."
Fiona replied, "The jeweler's has a pair of lovely diamond earrings. They would look nice on me. I'd like that as my gift."
"And you, dear Alice?"
Alice replied, "I'd like nothing more, Father, than the first flower that brushes your hat when you head homeward."
And so the merchant left yet again. He traded his goods for money at a market in a distant land, then bought a dress and a pair of diamond earrings for his two eldest. As he rode home, a white magnolia blossom broke off when it brushed against his hat, and he brought it back for his youngest. He gave it to her, and she dried it and kept it on her bedside table.
Years passed, and as usual, the merchant always returned from his journeys with lavish gowns or beautiful gems, gifts for his two eldest daughters. He did not understand, however, why Alice never asked for another gift.
When he asked, all she said was, "My wish has been fulfilled, Father." And she would smile that gentle, charming smile of her mother's.
The summer of Alice's thirteenth birthday, a second gravestone joined the first under the willow tree. She visited the quiet corner of the estate every day to mourn the passing of her kind and goodhearted father.
Several more years passed in this manner. Every morning, Alice would be woken up by the birdsong outside the attic window. She would head downstairs and sweep the fireplaces clean of the soot and the ash that had collected. She would then sweep the floors and scrub them until they shone. This normally took an entire morning, and by the time lunch was served, she would be too tired to care about her sisters' taunts. After lunch, she would dust the house and make the beds and wait on her sisters. She sometimes overheard her sisters' lessons, and would study their schoolbooks long after they had fallen asleep. She would then collapse into her bed, dead to the world.
One day, an invitation arrived from the royal palace summoning all eligible maidens to attend the royal ball. Alice perked up at the news, and asked timidly if she could go too. Her sisters laughed at her. "Why would the prince want to see you? Poor little, dirty Alice!" However, her mother consented. "As long as you can find a suitable dress."
Alice was ecstatic. For the first time in her life she would be able to enjoy what her sisters enjoyed, as long as she could find a suitable dress. However, as the day of the ball drew closer, she began to despair. Her minute savings were not enough to buy her a dress, no matter how skimpy, and she certainly couldn't go asking her sisters for some. She began to sob quietly to herself as she imagined spending the rest of her life in this way.
Fiona peeked in, her pale curls barely poking around the corner. Then she nodded to herself and walked off.
That night, Alice discovered a rather shabby but clean green dress. It was simplistic, with no train or special embroidery, but in Alice's eyes, it was perfect. She spotted the note on the dress. "For you. Throw it out." She smiled. Only Fiona would pass it off as that. She silently thanked Fiona and promised that she would make Fiona's favorite delicacies for tea today.
However, her mother found out about the dress from Regan, who had spotted Fiona carrying a large bundle up to the attic. One day, as she went to bed, she noticed a large brown stain on the front of the dress, and her heart sank. The next day at breakfast, her mother remarked, voice dripping with sarcasm, "I think I may have spilled some tea over a rag in the attic. I'm so sorry, Alice."
She sat there as her last hope fell to pieces. She would not be able to go to the ball. She would spend the rest of her life here as a servant. She would never be able to escape. She somehow managed to hold her tears in until she reached the graves. Her knees hit the ground as she began to sob.
It was the day of the ball. Her sisters fluttered nervously about the house all morning, and the tension in the air was almost palpable as evening approached. Alice just served them mechanically, mind still reeling from the fact that her mother could do that to her. Soon, Regan and Fiona were waiting in the front hall for the carriage to be prepared. Regan was dressed in a pink creation that clashed horribly with her red hair, but she didn't seem to mind. Fiona was slightly more sensible in her choice of dress, but the effect was spoiled by the massive amount of gemstones she had on her person. Both were flustered and anxious, and their elaborate hairdos, which Alice had spent hours on, had already begun to fall apart.
The carriage drew up to the doorway, and both climbed in. "Bye, Alice!"
Their mother, before climbing into the carriage, spoke. "Alice, I have left two bowls of ashes in the kitchen. If you want to go to the ball, you have to pick all the peas out of the ashes." She smirked, knowing that Alice would never be able to finish it in time for the ball. She would probably have to stay awake all night just to finish the chore.
Alice despaired at the chore. She would never be able to finish it. Not that it mattered, anyways. She couldn't go the ball since she had no dress to wear.
In the midst of her despair, something crashed downstairs.
"Oh, oh dear, I might have knocked over something important. Ah, c'est la vie." (That's life) A distinctly French voice muttered downstairs.
The first thought that came to her mind was that the person downstairs was a burglar. She picked up a broom and headed down the stairs cautiously.
"Well, if it's broken, all I have to do is fix it! Un, deux, trois…" (One, two, three...)
A bright flash lit up the entryway. Alice stepped out of the shadows and swung her broom down at the shadow.
"Merde! L'imbecile!" (Shit! Imbecile!)
" I'm not an idiot, don't speak that bloody language around me, and what are you doing in this house?"
"Ah, cher, you wound me so! I am, of course, your fairy godsister."
"My what?"
"Your fairy godsister, rosbif!"
"Why, you, you, you frog!" Alice spluttered, offended by the term. "I am in no way related to you, and why the hell are you French?"
"Ah, but I have known you since before your birth. Just call me Francoise. Francoise Bonnefoy. It is nice to make your acquaintance, mon petit lapin."
"Who the hell is your bloody rabbit?" Alice squawked.
"We are getting off topic. So, I hear you want to go to the ball tonight?"
"None of your business, frog. Piss off."
"Oh, but you forget I am a fairy. I have magic."
"Hmph."
"So out of the goodness of my heart, I have prepared a full escort for you, along with a little surprise you will find in your room. The accessories are laid out on your bed as well."
Alice looked incredulously at this woman – no, fairy – who had appeared out of nowhere and was so kind to her. She went upstairs to check. Francoise followed.
"Bloody hell…" she breathed, looking at the array spread out on the bed. "This is for me?"
"Oui. It is all for you. Go on, try it on."
Alice gingerly picked up the gown with her thumbs and index fingers. "But I am all covered in soot and ash… Won't I just dirty the dress?"
"Ah, I forgot about that." Francoise swiped a hand at her, and the next thing she knew, her hair, which had been long, stringy, and dirty, was clean and tied up in a bun at the back of her head. Her rags also cleaned themselves, and the dress draped itself over her.
"Hmm... that dress would be better if it was light blue."
There was a rather loud popping noise, and the dress turned a shade of cerulean blue.
Francoise smirked and snapped her fingers. A full length mirror appeared in front of Alice, and she now saw that without the dirt and ash and soot she looked quite like her deceased mother. Except for the eyebrows, of course.
Alice looked hesitantly at this new her, one without soot or ash smeared across her pale skin, where her hair was glossy and well-brushed, where her clothes weren't just rags but rather a full length evening gown.
Francoise stood behind her, looking smug. "Now, to get this necklace on you…"
Prince Alfred was born with his eyes open. Some said it was a sign that the devil was in him, others only cooed over the beautiful color of them. They were a lovely cerulean blue that exactly reflected the color of the ceiling above him.
They whispered the same things about his brother, Matthew, who had violet eyes.
His twin brother, Prince Matthew, was born a second earlier than he was; thus, Matthew was the crown prince.
Growing up, both boys had been rowdy, rambunctious, and a little dare devilish at times (Alfred more than his brother), but the palace staff had loved them. Well, that is, until the day Prince Matthew went missing.
No one really noticed at first, as Prince Matthew had an odd ability to slowly fade into the background. However, his disappearance was discovered by the maid who cleaned his room. His bed wasn't slept in, and no one had seen him since lunch the day before. The whole kingdom of Spades searched far and wide for him, but they couldn't find him.
After the disappearance of Prince Matthew, the whole kingdom mourned for the loss of the kind, quiet, violet-eyed youngster. Prince Alfred started working harder to become a better leader for his country. Horsemanship, sword fighting, academics, no one was better than he was. He excelled in everything, and soon he turned eighteen.
His father held a ball on the night of his eighteenth birthday, hoping for him to find a suitable future fiancé.
He met many young, eligible, and refined ladies, but none of them really caught his eye. Some were too stupid, others were too airheaded, while still others just didn't fit with him.
Suddenly, the doors which were formerly closed swung open, and a lady wearing a light blue dress walked in, unaccompanied. His attention was immediately drawn to her, though he continued to mindlessly speak with the ministers in front of him.
A hush fell over the hall as the invitees turned to look over the latecomer.
"Who's she?"
"She's so pretty…"
"Coming to try her luck with the prince? Might as well bring a boy." Someone sniggered but was quickly escorted out by the guards.
"Hey, who are you?" Regan, clover green eyes flashing with anger as the stranger approached the prince, hand outstretched to shake his.
"I apologize for being late." Alice didn't believe it. Regan hadn't recognized her, Fiona hadn't recognized, and best of all, her stepmother didn't recognize her.
"It's perfectly okay, dear lady." Prince Alfred extended his and shook hers, marveling at her firm and trustworthy grip as compared to most of the fluttery ones he had received. One of them, Fiona or something, had tried to get him to shake hands with her sheep. That experience… was weird.
As she moved off to the side of the room, Alfred couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Her lovely pale milk-white skin, her clear green eyes, her golden hair…
Alice moved away, heart pounding. The prince, though a little dim (it seemed from the conversation he was having about the state of the economy), was kind-hearted and… just a little handsome. However, she couldn't afford to waste her time.
Francoise shoved her gently into the coach.
"Remember, you must be home by midnight. The spell will unravel then."
Alice could only nod as the coach drove off, Francoise waving to her until the coach was just a little speck in the distance.
Tonight, she would do whatever she wanted to, and enjoy herself to the fullest. This would probably be the only chance she would get to, anyways.
A tap on her shoulder jerked her out of her reverie, and she turned to see a violet-eyed youth with a curl falling in front of his glasses smiling gently at her.
"Hello, my name's Matthew, what's yours?"
"My name is Alice, nice to meet you."
Matthew only smiled, and gently guided her to a seat with a plate of delicacies heaped in front of her.
Her eyes grew wide upon seeing so much food at once in one place. Even at home, when her mother threw a party, there hadn't been so much food. She nodded thankfully to Matthew, who continued to smile and sat down next to her.
She looked nervously at him. Why wasn't he going away?
Matthew continued to smile, and whispered, "I won't tell your secret to anyone. Besides, my brother's better off not knowing the real you. Oh, and when he comes over, don't tell him you saw me."
"Eh?"
But Matthew was gone, as if he had faded into the crowd, and the prince was heading over. A pair of violet eyes watched as Prince Alfred extended an invitation to dance to Alice Kirkland. Then Matthew turned and headed down into the dungeons.
Alfred bowed low and extended his arm toward Alice. He subconsciously shivered and wondered if someone was watching him…
"May I have this dance?"
Alice nodded, her emerald eyes smiling. They moved out onto the dance floor in perfect time, and the audience oohed and aahed at the beautiful duo. The lady was truly amazing, and the prince… well, he was the prince. Everyone thought of him as handsome anyways.
"So, dear lady, what is your name?"
"My name is Alice, Your Highness." Alfred made a face.
"Everyone goes "Your Highness" this and "Your Highness" that. It'd be nice if someone didn't say that." he said while smiling at her.
"Then what do you prefer me to call you, if not "Your Highness" or "Prince Alfred"?"
"Hm… Just Alfred is okay, I guess. Thanks!"
Alfred twirled Alice around as the piece came to an end.
"Thank y –"
"Again?"
And Alice found that she could not say no, especially not to those open and cute puppy eyes he was currently pulling on her.
So she nodded, and Alfred's smile lit up his face.
"I do hope the dear girl's not doing something silly," Francoise mused as she walked through the Kirkland manor.
"Like what?" Flying Mint Bunny squeaked.
"Oh… maybe falling in love with the prince. That would not end well…"
"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that."
Alice laughed breathlessly as she finally sank down in a chair.
"That was very fun. Thank you, Alfred."
Alfred grinned. "Thanks for relieving my boredom, Alice. So, once you're rested, want to go again?"
Alice nodded.
"It's nearing midnight," Francoise mused as she walked out of the house and sat on the steps.
"Oh dear, I hope Alice hasn't forgotten."
Alice twirled around, Alfred holding onto her hand as she spun like a top, her dress swirling around in waves of cerulean blue.
Cerulean blue the same color as the prince's eyes, she realized.
Suddenly, her eyes fell on the grandfather clock half-hidden in the corner, and they widened.
It was fifteen minutes to midnight. She had to go.
"I'm sorry, and thank you for the wonderful evening, Your Highness."
Alfred frowned. "I thought I told you to –"
But Alice had sprinted past him, shoved the doors open, and dashed out into the summer night.
"Wait! Alice!"
It was no use. Her carriage rattled away into the dark.
"Oh, Minty, you should have seen it! It was such an amazing experience!"
Alice, dressed again in her dirty soot-covered rags, sat on her hard mattress, stringy hair once again hanging around her face.
"And I guess I should say thanks, frog, for letting me have such a wonderful evening."
Francoise smiled smugly. "So, what happened exactly?"
"Well, I went in, and the two guards at the door opened the door for me. Then a young man named Matthew sat me down at a table and had me try so many delicacies. It was amazing!" Alice gushed.
Francoise looked bored, until she realized what Alice had just said.
"Matthew?" she asked sharply, her face draining of color.
"Yeah, Matthew." Alice smiled, not noticing Francoise's sudden change of demeanor.
"What did he look like?"
"Well, he looked a little like Prince Alfred, to be exact, but his hair was a tad lighter and his eyes violet instead of blue. Oh, and he had glasses."
Francoise sucked in a sharp breath.
"Is there anything wrong?"
"No, no, continue." the fairy smiled, though Alice could tell it was forced. She shrugged and continued on.
"Well, the prince asked me to dance after Matthew left, and he danced with me until I had to leave."
Francoise looked unnerved. "So the prince… asked you to dance with him."
Alice nodded.
"And you agreed."
Alice nodded again.
"Did he seem happy that you weren't like what he thought you probably were?"
Alice nodded yet again. Honestly, she felt like a bobble head, constantly nodding her head.
"Merde." [1] Francoise face palmed. "We jinxed it, Lapin." [2]
Alice looked on, puzzled, as Francoise and Bunny both sighed.
"Well, there's another ball tomorrow night for the same intents and purposes. Since it's already progressed to this stage, let's just continue with it."
"Alice! We're home, come help us get our dresses off!"
Alice looked at the two magical beings, who winked out of existence immediately. She then trooped down the stairs, back to her normal life.
[1] "Merde" means "shit" in French.
[2] "Lapin" means "rabbit" in French.
"Fiona, who do you think that lady was last night?"
"Sheep…"
"Mother, who could it have been?"
"I don't know, Regan, maybe some countess from some outlying county that came back recently?"
"Well, I want to find her again and ask her who her tailor is. I want that dress."
"Which dress?" Alice asked quietly.
Regan sneered. "You wouldn't know anyways; you weren't there last night. There was this lady dressed up in a light blue dress, who came in a little late, and danced with the prince all night. I heard she left a little before midnight, though, and caused a dreadful fuss."
Fiona scoffed. "Dreadful fuss indeed! My dear sheep Woolly nearly got run over!"
Their mother sniffed. "That lady, as you so put it, was probably a backcountry hick who got a makeover just for the ball. I hope she doesn't show up again tonight."
Hmph, Alice thought. Mother, Regan and Fiona are just jealous that that "lady" looked better than they did. Well, I guess Francoise did do a good job after all.
"Alice! I need you to brush off my dress before we go again tonight. Oh, and there are more peas for you to pick out."
"Alice! Alice! We're back!"
Alice looked up, stretching her arms and rolling her head from side to side to relieve the pain of bending over for hours, only to have a green lump assault her face.
"Ugh! Mmphmmm!"
"Lapin, I think you should get off her face before she suffocates. I still need her alive, sadly, for tonight."
"Oi! What's that supposed to mean, you git?"
Francoise smirked and waved a hand. A yellow gown appeared this time, yellow like the fairy's hair, yellow like summer wheat, yellow like Alice's hair. She stared, eyes wide, at the delicate embroidery stitched into the neckline of the dress and the silky satin. Then she sat down, tracing rough, callused fingers over the smooth material, feeling the smooth satin catch lightly on the small, healed over cuts on her skin.
"Let's put you into that dress now, and get you on your way, English girl."
Prince Alfred waited impatiently for that mysterious girl from last night to show up again. He chewed his bottom lip nervously as the last of the line of carriages pulled away with no sight of the girl he was looking for, and turned to go inside.
Wait… what was that noise?
A horseman dressed in a long dark clock galloped up on a horse the color of the midnight sky. He (at least, Alfred assumed it was a he) rode the horse straight into the ballroom.
He then removed his hood… only to reveal that nothing was there. Nothing, except a strangely familiar pair of violet eyes.
The horse faded away as the clock fell to the ground, empty.
The ballroom erupted in chaos. "It's a ghost!"
Someone screamed as a figure appeared in the doorway.
Alfred turned to look, only to forget all about the ghostly incident when he noticed it was Alice. She looked flushed, but even more beautiful in a yellow satin gown the color of the sun.
The rest of the attendees also turned to look at her, and the chaos slowly died away, only to be replaced by whispering.
"She's back, that mysterious lady."
"She might be a witch, what with the way she charmed the prince to dance with her all night, not to mention the fact that she entered right after that mysterious horseman ghost did."
"She is a witch, didn't you know? I heard she lives in the forest and charms men to their deaths!"
Prince Alfred ignored their whispers and walked over to Alice.
"Would you care to dance again today?"
"Pray tell me, Alice, why you had to leave early yesterday?"
"It's a long way home from the palace for me, Your Highness." Alice lied smoothly.
"Ah, well, that explains it. And what did I say about the 'Your Highness' thing?" he chided her gently, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
She smiled demurely.
Alice turned when she felt a cold breeze ghost across her left shoulder and saw the purple eyes of the mysterious Matthew staring at her own. She smiled as she went to sit down, the prince occupied with his retainers for now.
"Good evening, Matthew. How fare you today?"
"It's a lovely evening."
"Of course." She peered closely at him. He seemed… on edge.
"Is there anything wrong?"
He jumped. Sometimes he forgot that some gifted people could actually see him… He nodded mutely.
"And…?" She let her question trail off, knowing that anything personal could be highly offensive.
"Nothing much; it's just that today is a very important day for me." His purple eyes looked much gloomier for a second, but the moment soon passed.
She, though, knew what he was talking about.
"Today's the day you died, isn't it, Matthew? Or should I say, lost brother of Prince Alfred, Prince Matthew?"
He jumped, the shock evident in his purple eyes.
"How did you know?" he demanded, looking defensive, like an animal backed into a corner.
"I have the Sight. It's a bloody annoying Gift, though it is rather useful at times. Now, I'm assuming the reason you can't pass on is because you haven't wreaked revenge on your killer yet?"
He nodded mutely. This girl was unlike anyone else he had met before… but then again, most of them either didn't have the Sight or were just daft enough to believe that he had an unfulfilled promise to keep. Well, he did, technically.
"Alfred!"
Six-year-old Prince Alfred turned his head as his twin brother, Matthew, came running up the hill, panting.
"You run too fast, Alfred!" Matthew huffed, his cheeks puffed in an adorable pout.
"Sorry, Mattie! You know how I am," he said, and laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.
"It's okay, Alfie!"
Alfred climbed up the trunk of a tree.
"Let's make a promise, Mattie!" he shouted enthusiastically when he had conquered the branch.
"Yeah?"
"Let's promise to be together forever and ever and ever! Since you're my bestest friend and my awesome-oic brother!"[1]
"Yes!"
Alfred clambered down clumsily. "This is something my friend Kiku from Japan taught me recently!"
He held out his pinky finger. Matthew, after a moment's hesitation, did the same. Their two pinkies curled around each other.
"Pinky promise, if I lie, I will swallow one thousand needles!" [2] Alfred shouted. Matthew nodded, even though they both didn't understand how there could be so many needles in the world.
[1] I've always imagined that Alfred would be the ones to mash together words (he's only six!) and Matthew to be that kid in class which everyone knew was in the class but no one was his or her friend (that was me).
[2] This is the pinky promise rhyme from xxxHolic, I think, although the words may be a little different. Rather disturbing, isn't it?
Matthew stiffened as someone laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Matthew. What are you doing here?"
"Francoise?" Alice glared at the new arrival.
"Alice, stay back. He's dangerous."
"You haven't even heard his story! How could you call him dangerous?"
"He will kill to get his revenge."
"Isn't that how it normally works?" Alice asked, green eyes flashing dangerously.
Matthew cleared his throat. The two arguing females quieted immediately.
"When I was younger, my brother made a promise to me that we would always be together. Little did I know that he was, at that time, already plotting my demise."
"Matthew! You did it again, you clumsy bro!" Alfred teased.
"I'm sorry," Matthew whispered.
"Speak up, dude! No one can hear you."
"…"
Alfred sighed. "Honestly, why are you my older brother? You act like you're two years younger than me."
Matthew only kept quiet. It's not my fault, his brain screamed. If you hadn't tripped me then… Thank goodness there was someone there to catch me, or I would have fallen off of the steps, broken my neck, and died.
Matthew hung his head in apology, his brain furiously trying to comprehend just why his dear brother, his twin, wanted to kill him. Alfred looked down at his head of gold, a strange glint in his eyes.
"Things only became worse from there. As we grew older, Alfred tried everything from assassination attempts to 'accidents'. But I was lucky, and I had figured out early on that he was, indeed, trying to kill me. That's why I was prepared. Well, until…"
"Madeline! Madeline, wait up!" Matthew shouted after his fiancée, who had run off in the direction of the dungeons.
Alfred followed with a trowel in hand.
Matthew could see no sign of Madeline, and started to head back to the surface. Madeline had definitely made it out, since he had searched the entire dungeon area and found no one.
He trudged past a wall filled with slimy, sticky, greenish ooze. The walls themselves seemed to emit a cold heat, strange in this dank and gloomy underground. Then he came to a dead end. His eyebrows rose in surprise as he brought the torch closer to inspect it.
A shiver of horror filled him. The wall was new.
A chilling laugh resounded from the other side. "How does it feel to be sealed in, Matthew?"
He recognized Alfred's voice and internally cursed. Shit, how could I be so careless?
"Your fiancée is here too."
"Oh, poor Matthew, to be trapped in there." Her voice was filled with sarcasm. "I've done my part of the deal, Prince Alfred, now give me the gold and no one else will know."
"Oh, there's another way."
A gunshot, a scream, and then silence.
Matthew panted. He was claustrophobic, the walls were closing in, that drop of water falling onto the floor was annoying, his torch was dying, his foot was slowly growing wetter, was that a footstep he heard?
Impossible, his mind reasoned. This is an unused area of the dungeons, and no one would be crazy enough to set foot in here.
Eyes. Red eyes. Hundreds of red eyes staring at him.
He screamed. "Let me out, Alfred! Let me out! The rats!"
Alfred only laughed. He slowly walked away from the wall, the sound of his brother's screams through the wall and the pattering feet of the rats resounding like music in his ears.
Alice and Francoise stared, first at Matthew, then back to Alfred. Suddenly, the living prince's smile seemed twisted into a leer, and his eyes were filled with cruelty and a twisted happiness.
Alfred headed over. As he approached, Francoise and Matthew tried in vain to drag him back. Their hands passed through him like smoke.
"Care to dance?"
She stiffened. The three words, so lighthearted and seemingly full of good intentions, caused her heart to beat wildly.
"No. Of course not." she spat, smacking his hand away.
He looked mildly offended, a fleeting emotion flickering across his face but disappearing just as quickly as it had come.
"That's fine, I'll just ask someone else." he said, withdrawing with a polite bow.
She stared after his retreating figure. How could she imagine that she had become temporarily infatuated by a murderer, and a cold-blooded one at that? She shivered as cold sweat formed on the nape of her neck.
"Now if you'll excuse me," Matthew said, getting up from his chair, an ornate dagger sheathed at his side. Neither Francoise nor Alice made a move to stop him as he slowly approached his brother through openings in the crowd.
The lights flickered off, and one woman (probably Regan, her mind whispered) screamed.
Suddenly, they came back on, and Matthew was gone. In his wake, he had left a bloodstained, intricately carved dagger in his dear brother's chest.
The women screamed, some fainting at the sight of the blood pooling.
His sightless seemed fixated on the passageway to the dungeons. Alice immediately ran that way, Francoise following behind, and the royal guards after them, only to catch sight of a pair of purple eyes turning the corner. She sped up, but stopped when she rounded the corner, ready to catch Matthew, ghost or not.
The passage ended there, the wall in front of her looking relatively newer than its surroundings.
"Guards, knock the wall down. And someone bring torches. A lot of them."
They nodded mutely. Something about this woman made them trust her. Two guards immediately set to work, knocking down the wall with pickaxes, and another two came back with loads of torches.
When the wall came down, a terrible stench assailed their nostrils. One man gagged before throwing up against the wall. Alice dry-heaved, her stomach rebelling against the commands of her body, but she realized that she had eaten nothing.
As the last bricks were torn away and the inside exposed to light, there lay, in the circle of torchlight, a human skeleton.
Matthew, who had suddenly reappeared beside Alice, smiled gratefully at her before slowly beginning to fade.
"Wait!" she called.
He looked down at his feet, then smiled sadly. "If you have anything to say, better say it now." he said, a melancholy tone filling his voice.
"I-I…" she stuttered. The guards, Francoise, and the corridor seemed to fade away, and she and Matthew were left standing in a dark blackness.
"Forgive me for loving a living human." he said, bowing his head.
"Y-you mean me?" she squeaked.
He nodded.
As they stood in an awkward silence, Matthew's torso started fading into the black oblivion.
"I…" Alice began unsurely.
Matthew's neck began disappearing, and he smiled at her. She began to tear up, knowing that the moment of parting was soon.
He faded until only his violet eyes, so full of wisdom for one so young, were left.
Then they too, disappeared.
"I didn't even get to tell him." she sobbed, the darkness enveloping her.
When she woke up, the first thing she saw was a very concerned Flying Mint Bunny hovering over her head.
"Bloody fuck, Minty, don't wake me up like that!"
"She's awake," Francoise announced. The rest of her visitors perked up, and she stared around, confused.
"Hello, you must be Miss Alice Kirkland. Your father and I used to be friends back when he was alive." An old man with a salt-and-pepper hairstyle stood up and shook her hand.
"I was a close friend of your father's as well. To think that you had to go through all of that…" A woman in the corner muttered.
"What? Why –"
Francoise cut her off. "They have officially acknowledged you as a suitable heir for the title of Baroness Kirkland, and have stripped that title away from your mother. Get it? Stripped?"
Alice rolled her eyes at Francoise's immatureness, before the rest of what she had said entered her brain.
"Wait, WHAT?"
"Yup." Francoise had on a smug smirk.
"But… how about Matthew?"
"It's best to leave the dead as they are."
Though Alice knew that too, she couldn't help but feel sorrow for the one who she had known for so little time yet had become so familiar with.
But then again, he was waiting for her. He had said so.
Don't worry, the voice said. She peered around, searching for the speaker. This was his voice. She was sure of it. I'll see you again one day. Until then, I'll wait for you.
So for now, she would live life to the fullest, and die with no regrets.
That was what he had wanted, after all.
And that's it!
This is a Halloween special (hence the gore~)
Please review!