Alice smiled softly to herself. Her emerald eyes slowly took in her surrounding. The rickety, old house moaned as the wind swept through the cracks in the structure. A sense of peace washed over her. The need, the desire, it was done. She felt safer now than she had done what her urges had commanded of her. Alice stepped over the battered and broken bodies that littered the hallway. Blood splattered all across the walls, painting over the peeling paper adorning the worn walls. Yes, it had been a very good night.
The sound of scratching made Alice's head whip in the direction of the unopened door. It was the last barrier keeping her from what she came for. Raising a kitchen knife in front of her, poised for attack, she crept towards the wooden gate way. Slowly turning the knob, she breathed deeply, as not to alert whatever was inside. The door opened silently, not a creek escaping from the hinges. Alice slowly peered inside the dark room. It took, but a moment, for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Inside the barren room was a plate laying on the ground, crumbs covering the dull surface, a stack of old, worn books, and a figure huddled against the far corner of the room. Alice quietly moved towards the shivering figure, each step brought her closer to it.
Alice finally stood near enough to the figure to identify it. There, curled against the walls was a little girl. A blanket was wrapped around her shivering shoulders. Her bones protruded out from under the rags she wore as clothes. Alice was overcome by the urge to protect the child. The sound of shimmering echoed from behind her.
"What's wrong with me? What do you know cat?" Her voice was slightly lower than the average female. The cat in question just grinned at her back. "What do I know? Why, my dear, do your words act so cruel? As to the girl, follow your instincts. She is important to us," Cheshire spoke. Alice scoffed, instincts? If only it were that simple.
"Stop spinning riddles you good for nothing feline, who is she?" The cat just smirked. "And what makes you think I know anything?" Alice started to fume. "Perhaps it's because you're the one who told me to come here? That it was safe to kill here?" But the cat just smiled on.
Alice huffed in frustration. "What do you want me to do with her, then?" Cheshire eyes lit up with excitement. "Now you're asking the right questions. For starters, feed her." And with that the cat vanished.
Alice wanted to scream in frustration. What was any of that supposed to mean? She turned to look at the bundle huddled against the wall, it had uncurled enough to look back at her. For the first time in years Alice felt compassion for another. Alice slowly walked over to the bundle and even slower yet, brought in into her arms to hold.