My Alice
by Elise the Writing Desk, beta by Regardless1604
Wonderful Wonder World©QuinRose
finished: April 12th 2013
The night was accompanied by rain, but that was no matter, since Alice was inside her manor. To be precise, in her bedroom, combing her hair; preparing to greet the guests with her sisters and parents and celebrate the Halloween Party in their residence as well. There were going to be a lot of people tonight.
Alice sighed, frowning to her reflection in the mirror. She didn't really like parties and that loud stuff. She preferred reading books or playing dolls during this kind of weather; it was calming. Moreover, she didn't really know the guests, and she hated to introduce herself to strangers; it was awkward for her.
"Alice, are you ready to go, Love?" Lorina's voice called from the outside of her bedroom.
The dark blonde put her ribbon on her head and stared at her reflection for a while, then changed her mind. She put the ribbon on her left chest, feeling in the mood for a bit of difference.
"I'm ready," she finally answered, and headed outside.
~.X.~
As expected, it was crowded in the manor. Mother was busy greeting the incoming women, and father was laughing with his men guests. Alice tightened her grip on her sister's hand. The older blonde stared down at her, and giggled.
"Alice, you're very shy…Look at Edith. She's already making friends!" Lorina nodded to the living room, where it was decorated with carved pumpkins and ghost stickers.
Edith was there, wearing a Succubus costume, chasing a purplette girl, who was wearing a red queen dress, while being chased by a silver-haired girl, who was wearing a tooth fairy dress. The junior Liddell stopped to grin at Alice, waving vigorously.
"Aaliiice! I love you!" she cheered. "Alice looks cute! Do I look cute?" Edith twirled in her Succubus costume.
"Yes," Alice nodded.
Suddenly, the purplette snatched the crown in Edith's hand.
"Give that back! I'm the queen!" Edith cried.
"No! I'm wearing the queen's dress! Stay away from me!" the purplette yelped.
"Vivaldi, Edith, please…we can share…" the silver haired girl whined.
"Shut up, Crysta!" the two little girls snapped at her. The Crysta girl fell silent and trembled as her eyes started to water.
"Oh no, she's going to cry…" Edith grimaced, and then scowled at Vivaldi. "That's your fault! I'm going to tell Uncle Gottschalk!" she threatened, and then ran while calling the uncle.
Vivaldi gasped. "What! That wasn't my fault! You did it!"
Alice sighed again. Well, nice 'friends' she got there. She didn't really know the two girls, so she assumed that Uncle Gottschalk must be one of the new guests here. The girl looked around, and noticed that there were so many kids, mostly boys. That was bad.
"Alice, I'm going to check the fridge room. Reginald's little brother is here, so see if you can be friends with him, okay?" Lorina patted her head then walked away, entering the dining room which was filled with pumpkin lanterns and skulls decorating the floor's edge.
Great. Maybe she could just…go back to her room and stay there until the party was over.
She was about to walk back towards her room, but she almost bumped into a boy.
"Use your eyes," he scoffed angrily. Apparently, he just dropped his basket when they almost bumped.
Alice just watched him take his basket from the floor, feeling awkward. Should she say sorry? They didn't bump, he just dropped his basket out of fright…Was that her fault? While pondering this, she finally noticed that the boy looked similar to Reginald, her sister's boyfriend.
"Mini Reginald," she commented.
The boy stared at her incredulously, and scowled. "Never call me that! My name is Blood!" he growled and shoved the girl. "I hate stupid people," he hissed and then stepped away.
See? That was why she didn't want to be around boys. She always did something wrong…Why couldn't real boys act like her dolls? Or those princes in her books?
"I'm going to take your soul…" a voice crept from behind her. Alice glanced and saw a brunette boy with a bloody knight costume creeping around her, holding a basket full of candies.
"Trick or treat?" he grinned.
Alice decided to ignore him, so she didn't have to do anything wrong again. She didn't really like to be shoved around.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" he chased her to the stairs, and she stopped. "My name is Ace. What's yours?"
Well, then. Next time when she's in another situation with boys, she only had to do one thing: ignore them. They'll be nice.
"Alice," she replied.
"You don't talk much, huh? So you're Alice Liddell…Where are you going by yourself?"
"My room,"
"Why? The party is downstairs."
"Don't like," she shook her head.
Alright, maybe she'd prefer getting shoved. She wasn't really fond of talking even more. This boy was sure curious of everything!
"It's Halloween! Everyone likes it! Except old people," Ace scratched the back of his head, and grinned. "You're old, aren't you?"
"No, I—"
"Yes, you are. If you're not, you'd be having fun and asking for candies…! You're even wearing a normal dress instead of a costume…You're old." he teased again. "Lame old woman. Tsk! How boring." He chuckled and went down, leaving her.
Alice twitched in silence. She wasn't old…she was just…Oh, that little brat! She wasn't boring! What? Did she have to run around, screaming like Edith to prove that she wasn't boring? The girl puffed her cheeks and glared at the leaving brunette.
"I'm not boring," she said loudly.
He stopped and turned at her over his shoulder, grinning. "Then prove it. Get more candies than mine in ten minutes."
~.X.~
Why did she accept his challenge in the first place again?
Alice snuck into the kitchen, holding her carved-pumpkin basket, and searched the room. There it was. She moved towards the big bowl filled with candies on the counter. Mother had spread those to the adults so they could give treats to the kids.
Alice didn't want to come to those adults, smiling and screaming: "Trick or treat?"
That wasn't her. That was embarrassing. That was why she was here, pouring a bit of the bowl into her basket. It was more than enough, and Ace was obviously losing in an instant. She grinned to her own cunning mind, but then that smile faltered.
This challenge…was supposed to prove that she wasn't a boring person. She was supposed to ask for candies with some way that entertained the adults. If she did this…then…she only proved that she was a cunning liar…
The girl sighed and thought for a while, standing under the kitchen's archway.
"Alice, why are you here?" She flinched when she heard her older sister coming. The girl sighed and walked towards the big bowl.
"Putting back the candies," she said.
"Oh, you've got a lot of them!" Lorina giggled and ruffled her head. "If you don't want them, you can always give them to other kids."
No, that'd be even more awkward; only adults give candies. If she gave away hers, she'd be old, just like what Ace had said!
"No," she shook her head.
The older blonde giggled and hugged her. "Oh, Alice, you're so shy…It's fine. You have to be brave; if you're shy, then so what? Let them know. Let them laugh. Who cares what others think?"
Alice bit her lower lip. Well, she cared. But when Lorina said it…she was right. They were just strangers. They wouldn't affect her. There was nothing to be shy about. They might laugh, but still, a bit of laughter wouldn't hurt her.
"There are two more kids coming. They're just a bit younger than Edith, and I want you to take care of them, alright? Go and greet them, they're in the living room."
~.X.~
When Lorina said that they were younger than Edith, they appear to be a year younger than her sister. Alice hesitated when she saw two little boys silently sitting in the corner of the living room, watching the other kids enjoy the party. They seemed nervous and shy.
Just like her. Was she like that as well? So afraid, seemingly weak?
Alice braced herself. She wanted to make those boys feel better. Because, deep inside, she wanted someone to do the same for her, as well. And so, she approached them, tightening her grip on the basket full of candies.
"H-Hello," she greeted, trying to smile at them, but her face felt frozen.
The two turned at her and stared with wide eyes. Alice felt her eyes widen as well. They were twins. One with blue eyes and one had red eyes. They seemed happy to see her, but didn't say anything. At least, they didn't give her discouraging looks, so she sat with them.
"M-My name is…A-Alice." She coughed and slapped her throat. Embarrassing. She didn't need to stutter! She cleared her throat and said louder: "What's your name?"
"Dee," the blue-eyed boy said.
"Dum," The red one blinked.
"Trick or treat?" they asked, pointing towards her basket. Alice stared at her basket, and then laughed nervously while handing it to them.
"Have some," She smiled softly, feeling ticklish to see their gleaming eyes watching the candies.
The two stared at her, and then shyly reached for the basket. Moments later, they had eaten quite a lot of the candies, leaving the wrappers lying around them as they chatted.
"How old are you now, Onee-chan?" Dee asked, seeming more comfortable than he was moments ago.
"I'm twelve," Alice replied. She was also enjoying the party more as she had found friendly companions.
"We're six," Dum said, playing with the candies' wraps. "Onee-chan is very nice. Those other kids wouldn't look at us. They're scary."
Alice blushed a little from the compliment, and nodded. "Yeah, I was…afraid of them too. One of them teased me…I don't like being teased." She admitted shyly.
The twins fell silent, staring at someone who was standing a foot away from them. It was Edith, who looked at them with a weird stare, as if she was surprised.
"Who is she?" the twins asked.
"Oh, that's my little sister, Edith." Alice smiled softly. "She's so loud, but sweet. I wish I can be more like her; I always tell her not to be like me."
The twins seemed a bit bothered as she said this; they weren't smiling anymore.
"Do you love her, Onee-chan?"
"Of course," Alice nodded. "When I was six like you, I was so excited when mother said I was going to have a little sister. I took care of her when she was a baby and played with her a lot. Sometimes she's so naughty, like hiding my toys or pulling my hair, but I love her."
Dee hummed and looked down. Dum glanced at his brother for a while, then stared at Alice longingly and earnestly.
"I wish I can have a big sister like Onee-chan too," he said, sighing.
Alice blinked, and frowned. "But you have each other. It must be fun, right?"
Dee shook his head. "We used to have one, right Dum?"
The blonde girl hummed, frowning. "Where is she?"
Dum's eyes turned cold as he stared down the floor.
"She abandoned us," he muttered coldly. His tresses of black hair covered his red eyes, no longer smiling.
Alice didn't know what to say. She felt really sorry…and guilty for them, as she started to feel like a sister to them. Why would their sister do that? They were such nice little boys.
"Why?" she finally asked.
Dee sniffed, looking away with a pout. "She had a new toy, and she loved it so much that she wouldn't play with us." He puffed his cheeks. "We were so sad and lonely. She was very nice and fun."
"She's so stupid," Alice growled. "Why would someone prefer to play with toys rather than you?" The girl sighed and embraced the two. "It's fine, I'll play with you, okay?" she smiled at them comfortingly, despite feeling bold.
The two blushed shyly and hugged her back.
"Promise, Onee-chan?" Dee asked, his voice muffled through her shoulder.
"Of course," Alice nodded, ruffling their hair.
"Why don't we play now?" Dum asked.
"Yeah, we should play now." Dee said suggestively.
Alice faintly noticed the sudden change of atmosphere, as she was too happy for making them feel better.
"Sure. What game?"
"No," the two shook their head quickly. "Not here. Not with those kids!" they whined. "We should play alone. Only the three of us together, okay, Onee-chan?"
~.X.~
Alice promised to play with the twins that night. The two would wait for her by the front door, while she'd ask her mother for permission. Holding her basket, she searched for her mother through the crowds of the party.
"Hey, Alice!" Ace's voice surprised her.
"Wh-What? You startled me," Alice bit her lip again, angry for stuttering.
"How's the candies? Did you get a lot?" he asked, while she walked through the crowd.
"I don't care," she sighed, trying to squeeze her way through a group of drinking adults. "You can take this." She shoved her basket to the brunette and left him.
"Wh-What the…!? Hey! Alice! Wait!"
Alice ignored him and walked faster, trying to lose him. She then stopped for a while, pondering. She was in the middle of their party, and mother wouldn't possibly let her play outside…She had to change tactics.
Instead, she'd ask Lorina. Great idea. Moreover, she wasn't hard to find. The young woman was speaking with a gentleman whom Alice knew as Reginald. She just realized that the Mini Reginald (she forgot his name) really looked like him.
"Lorina…?" she called in a very soft voice, not wanting to interrupt the two.
"Oh, Alice. Where have you been? Did you have fun?" Lorina asked, taking her attention away from the gentleman, who just smiled and nodded to the shy Alice.
"Yes," Alice nodded. "I made friends." She smiled shyly.
"That's wonderful, my love," Lorina giggled proudly. "Where are they?"
"They invited me to play at their house." Alice said, twiddling her fingers. "Can I…?" she asked, trying to look longing but afraid. The kind of look that she knew Lorina wouldn't able to refuse.
"Oh, sure…You rarely have friends; I'd love it if you could play out more. Don't worry; I'll talk to mother about it. You go ahead and have fun, my dear." She smiled and kissed Alice' head before the girl left them with light steps.
"Where is she going?" the two turned to the little Blood, Reginald's younger brother, who scowled as he watched Alice disappeared through the crowds.
~.X.~
As a part of the deal, Alice had to wear a blindfold, while the twins guided her to their house. They said that it was a surprise, and that she would like it there; that their house was so beautiful. However, Alice noticed something very odd.
Wasn't it raining earlier? If it had stopped, at least the ground should've been wet…
"Where is this?" she asked, a bit afraid.
"Don't worry, Onee-chan, you'll like it. We have lots of toys, and sweets. Our home is like a dream house." Dee reassured cheerfully.
"We used to play there a lot with our big sister many years ago, when we were six." Dum said sing-songly.
Feeling too anxious and worried, but also excited at the same time, Alice didn't really pay attention. She was so focused on carefully taking each step, afraid that she would stumble upon something; so far, the path was oddly clear.
"Here we are!" Dum chirped.
"Welcome to our house, Onee-chan!" Dee greeted cheerfully while she took off her blindfold.
Her eyes widened in amazement, and she couldn't help but gasp at the sight. It was indeed a beautiful house. A bright manor with soft creamy pink paint, with boxes of tulips decorating the front; it was a second story-manor with big French doors and a cute balcony.
"Oh…so cute…" she sighed happily. The twins laughed and pulled her each with one hand while pushing the door open.
The inside definitely confirmed it: a grand stairway in the middle with checkered floor. The dining room was on the left, and a library on the right. In the main hall were a piano and a chandelier, making it functional as a ball room.
"Welcome home, master Dee and master Dum," two maids greeted them, and Alice almost fainted; it was like one of her dreams. The maids turned to her and smiled. "Welcome, Miss Alice. We have been waiting for you."
"Our room is upstairs!" they sang together.
"Um, I have to greet your parents first," Alice shyly said, feeling light-headed to see everything here. So far, she was having a dé jàvu of this place. She had dreamt of this house for so long; she used to imagine it while playing dolls with Edith or Lorina. The front view, the maids, the piano…it was like an exact replica of her dream house…
"Papa and Mama weren't home today. They were at your party!" Dee reminded.
"Don't worry, Onee-chan! We've told them that you'd come here!" Dum chirped as they pulled her hand to climb the stairs.
Dee turned down to call one of the maids. "Jovita, prepare the sweets for us, okay?"
Alice held in a gasp. Jovita. She recalled that she named one of her dolls Jovita, and she did play with her as a maid. A dream came true? More like Dee and Dum living her childhood dream.
If the upstairs had the exact view of her dream house, she wouldn't know what to say or what to do.
And she was right. The second floor was precisely the room she had dreamed. However, only one thing made it differ from her dream house. In her dream, there was supposed to be only two rooms, but there were three here.
"That's our room!" the twins sang happily, passing the grand door.
"This is your parents' room, right?" Alice asked, pointing at the door they had passed.
"Yeah! You want to come in? Mama and Papa have a big bed! Sooo big!" Dee boasted.
"Haha, no…What about that room?" Alice asked, pointing at the other door in the other end of the corridor.
Dee and Dum fell silent for a while, and said: "Our big sister's. She always locks it and keeps the key under the mat. She's never home," they explained with a mournful voice, but then they smiled at her. "But who cares? That's the past. You're here now, Onee-chan!"
"We're going to have fun!"
They opened the door to their room, and Alice really couldn't hold in her gasp this time. She wanted to cry. She was happy instead of jealous that Dee and Dum had stayed and lived in the house that she used to dream. The room was just like what she imagined.
A large bed with silk sheets, covered with beautiful curtains that were tied to the posts with beautiful blue ribbons. Big soft, fluffy swan pillows lay invitingly on the bed, and there was a big teddy bear in the corner of the room.
Toys overflowed in their toy box, and colorful carpets decorated the floor. The moon shone through the white-framed window, and Alice wished she could just lie there on the bed and sleep for a night.
"You two are so lucky," Alice sighed dreamily.
"Why?" Dum asked, jumping to the bed.
"I used to play house a lot, and I always imagine this house. This is exactly what I imagined!" Alice exclaimed, her eyes teary from too much of excitement. "I'm…I'm not jealous, I'm just…wow. I don't know why, I'm just happy that I can see this house for real." She giggled.
Dee laughed and hugged her arm, pulling her to the bed. "Onee-chan is so cute when she's too happy; always holding back. Why don't you just come here with us and play!" He laughed as he jumped and pulled Alice to the bed with them.
The three laughed, and started a pillow fight. Feathers flew and filled the room in a few moments. After a while, the maid came in to serve the sweets, and Alice couldn't help but recall how she used to play Tea Time with her toys back when she was smaller.
"Milk, honey, or lemon?" Dum asked politely.
"Can I have milk and honey?" Alice asked, no longer feeling shy as she was too content with her surroundings.
Dee chuckled. "Onee-chan doesn't change…" he said and poured the tea. He then paused, realizing what he just said.
Dum glared coldly at him, and then the two glanced at the girl, and sighed in relief. She was still too high to notice anything.
"Wow, this is the best tea I've ever tasted," Alice sighed, and reached for a cookie. "How can you two feel lonely? This place is amazing."
Dee grinned, leaning his chin to his hands. "Because we can't have fun without Onee-chan."
Alice giggled. "You mean you're lonely because you used to play with her, right? That's okay. I actually feel really happy when you two play, even happier than when I saw this house."
"Really, Onee-chan?" Dum asked, his eyes wide. "I wish Onee-chan can stay here forever."
Alice yawned after finishing her tea. "I will come to play every day…" she said tiredly.
"No…" Dee shook his head. "We want Onee-chan to stay here. Sleep here with us, play with us, eat with us…do everything with us forever."
Alice felt the room start to spin in her eyes. She felt very tired and content, but odd at the same time.
"I…don't know…if I can…"
"You look tired, Onee-chan." Dee said.
"Why don't you sleep?" Dum offered.
"Can I…? But the light is too bright…I can't…" Alice yawned again.
"Then let's use this…" Dee stood and walked around behind her, and then slowly, Alice felt him putting on the blindfold again. "…To help you sleep." He said.
"Thank you," Alice murmured, but before she could stand to move to the bed, she was asleep.
~.X.~
"Milk, honey, or lemon?" Alice asked kindly to her dolls. "Oh? You love milk? He wants honey. I'll have milk and honey, hehe." She giggled and poured her imaginary tea into the cups.
"After this, we should have a pillow fight. I can't believe you two defeated me last time…"
~.X.~
The girl yawned and rubbed her eyes, preparing her eyes for the light. However, what she was expecting didn't come. There was no light, only darkness in the room. For a moment, she forgot where she was, then as she looked around and noticed then noticed the blindfold covering her eyes. She took it off, but it was still dark in the room.
Then, she remembered being in Dee and Dum's house.
Why was it so dark? Where were they?
Were their parents home, already? Or did they go back to the party?
Feeling unnerved, she got off the fluffy bed and had to adjust her eyes in the dark as she left the room.
The whole house was dark. Why? A light out, perhaps? It must be. Alice started to worry about Dee and Dum. Maybe they were afraid of the dark, and hid somewhere.
"Dee? Dum?" she called as she walked into the corridor carefully. There was only the sound of the returning rain, and her footsteps. "I'm awake now, it's fine. Come out," she called again, waving her hand to touch the wall, then felt the staircase.
That wasn't supposed to be there, if she remembered correctly. She dreamt of this house, after all. Of course, there had to be some difference, she was just being silly…
The girl carefully climbed down, and saw a dim light at the end of the staircase. She quickly noticed it was not the main hall; it was the library. The light came from a candle on the table, set by an opened book. Alice wanted to take the candle, but then the sight of the page from the book caught her attention.
Did a maid read this? She curiously inched the candle closer to have a clearer view of the page.
There was a picture of some statues, paintings, and dolls in a room on one page, and a paragraph on the other page read:
The human heart has a special ability to affect the objects around it. One could enforce life to an inanimate object by strong affection, or the opposite; a deadly hatred. These kinds of feelings towards something will force an inanimate object to life, and affect its behavior. These objects which came to life would be called Creations. A Creation which was affected by love would feel strong attachment towards the Creator. While the opposite would haunt their Creator and try to banish them. A Creation affected by two feelings at the same time, however, would act—
The page was ripped so suddenly in front of her eyes that Alice gasped as she saw Dum's scarlet eyes gleaming beside her. She then saw Dee on her other side, and sighed.
"You startled me," she said.
"Onee-chan! Why are you here?" Dee scowled and hugged her left arm. "We were so scared. Jovita went to turn on the generator." He sighed to her sleeve.
"We just went to call Jovita, and when we got back…w-we…we thought you w-were g-gone…" Dum sniffed. "I-I was…s-scared that y-you'd left us…" He wiped his face.
Alice grimaced and reached one arm to embrace Dum, patting her back. "I'm sorry. I was looking for you…I thought you were afraid and hid somewhere…I'm sorry, okay? Let's go back to your room." She cooed and softly led them to the stairs.
She stopped in her tracks. There was no staircase. There was only the archway to the main hall. Had she imagined the staircase?
"Onee-chan?" the twins called.
"Oh, I…I think I'm really tired. What time is it?" she asked, and the light was back. Jovita might have turned it on. She turned to see the old clock; it was showing the time which was near midnight. She sighed.
"Oh no…Mother will be so angry with me. What do I do? I have to go home—"
"No!" the twins cried and hugged her arms. "Onee-chan, don't go now! It's too dark…and…and it's…raining!"
Right when Dee said so, the thunder bolted again, reminding Alice that it was indeed raining hard outside. From the large windows, she could see the trees were trying hard to stand strong in their ground. There was a storm outside.
"It's dangerous to go back now, I guess. Mother would understand…Lorina might've told her where I am." Alice shrugged, and then nodded. "I guess I have to stay here for the night. Is it okay?"
"Of course!" the two exclaimed. "Stay forever!" They grinned and dragged her upstairs again.
Alice had completely forgotten about the page which Dum had ripped out. She didn't even notice that fire had magically appeared and burnt it on the floor.
~.X.~
"Mother, it's very late…how long will this party last? The kids are very tired; they're resting in the living room right now." Lorina explained with a worried expression as she approached her mother. The party was still on, but the adults were in the dining room, despite the dinner was over. They were very absorbed in conversation.
"Oh, poor children. Is Alice with them as well?" Mother asked with concern, putting down the tea.
"Oh, yes, she asked me for permission to play outside with one of the children. She had a new friend, so…" Lorina shrugged with a smile. "I'm sure she'll be fine. I think their house isn't too far away."
Mother giggled and nodded. "With whom? Did she make friends with Ace? I saw them talking earlier."
Lorina frowned. "Oh, I don't know…she didn't say any name, but I recalled she said 'they', so they're siblings or something…? Maybe you know if one of the parents has two or three children?"
Mother frowned slowly, progressing what Lorina had told her. "Lorina…The only parents with three children here are the Hargreaves, and I'm sure you know they're Reginald, Blood and Vivaldi. Are those two gone?"
Lorina reply her mother as she exited the kitchen to enter the living room, where she found some of the children surrounding something.
"Children? What's wrong…?" she called, and noticed that Blood and Vivaldi were there.
"Miss Liddell, Ace said that Alice just gave him a prank." Vivaldi said. "A gross one. That's cool." She snickered, nodding to the basket the brunette boy was holding.
"But that was cruel! I'm still looking for her, but I can't find her anywhere! I can't believe she gave me these!" the brunette dropped the pumpkin basket and crossed his arms.
"Oh what could be in there…?"Lorina inched closer and examined the basket. "Candies? Dear Ace, you don't like them?" she took one of the candies and opened one, only to gasp in shock.
Maggots fell off the wrapper as Lorina stepped back and threw it away. "Goodness! H-How did you get these, Ace?"
Ace scowled. "I told you, Miss Liddell. Alice gave it to me! She just shoves the basket to me. I thought she was weird when she did so, but…I can't believe she gave me maggots…"
Lorina took a deep breath, and then shook her head. "No, dear, Alice couldn't do such a thing. Think about it, when would she have the time to wrap these maggots? Oh Lord, where could that girl be? Do you know where or who she went with?" she asked the children.
The children shook their head.
"But she was really weird, Miss Liddell." Blood pointed out. "At first she bumped into me, she didn't talk much. But when we were playing in the living room, I saw her just sitting on the sofa, smiling."
"Is she…crazy?" Vivaldi asked.
Lorina almost jumped when she felt a hand tap her arm. Edith was beside her, crying.
"Love, Edith. What's wrong?"
"I-I saw them…" Edith sobbed. "They took her. I-I can't do anything…T-They took my Alice…!"
Everyone fell silent; the room was only filled with Edith's sobs and sniffs. Lorina knelt to reach her sister's eyes height, holding firm onto her small shoulders.
"Edith…who could possibly take Alice…?" she asked softly, almost like a whisper. Her stomach felt empty and her heart almost stopped when Edith cried even louder and answered;
"You won't believe me!"
She ran off.
~.X.~
Dee's hand reached to the ribbon on her left chest, stroking it softly, and then he put his ear onto her chest, listening to her heartbeat. He hummed, enjoying so much to sit on her lap. Dum was very comfortable, sleeping as he leaned on her shoulder.
"Alice, I love your heartbeat," Dee muttered.
Alice hummed, watching the window. She was worried if her mother got angry. What to say? But it was raining, so she had no choice but to stay. Suddenly, a hand held her cheek, and Dee frowned as he stuck his forehead to hers.
"Alice, don't ignore me…!" he whined.
"I'm sorry," Alice said, and smiled softly. "I can't sleep anymore. I'm afraid that mother will get angry."
"You don't need to worry anymore…" Dee said softly, now putting his head on her shoulder. "You're staying here forever."
Alice sighed. "I'd love to, but I can't."
"Why not?" Dee's eyes turned cold.
"I have a family. You too have a family. Your family would be worried if you're gone away for too long and not coming back, right?"
Dee scoffed and puffed his cheeks. "No," he shook his head furiously. "Mama and Papa never cared! They never cared…they hated us. They were the ones who gave big sister that toy. Now she won't come home and play with us!" he angrily said.
Alice frowned sadly. "Why…? Why would parents hate their children?"
Dee fell silent, and then gazed into her eyes sadly. "B-Because…we were adopted. Big sister did, a-and…Mama and Papa didn't like us…they didn't like us to play with her, so they gave her that toy…"
"No…That can't be…" Alice shook her head sadly and then embraced Dee. "How could they do that? If she really loved you, she wouldn't leave you alone…How could they? How could she?"
"But you're back, Onee-chan…So it's okay." Dee smiled quickly.
Alice frowned in confuse at that statement. "Back…?"
"Yeah…" Dee bit his lower lip, and then stuttered; "I-I thought you were gone when the light was out…But now you're back here…with us!" he beamed.
The girl hummed, and fell silent. Dee was content without talking, and moments later, he was snoring softly, sleeping with his head on her shoulder. The warmth, the fluffy bed, the steady voice of rain; everything drowned the girl back to sleep.
~.X.~
"What are you making, Lorina?"
"I'm sewing, Love. This is your new dress for your sixth birthday party." The young woman smiled, showing a beautiful blue dress. The girl gasped, staring at the outfit with wonder.
"I want to learn to sew too! I want to make dolls!"
"No, how about…I make you some for your birthday gifts?"
~.X.~
Lorina was crying and her breath was fast, not caring about being rude in front of the guests; this was a matter of life and death. She entered and stood there in front of the adults.
"Mother…Alice is gone!" she cried.
Some guests dropped their cups, and some even fell out of their chair.
Father's mouth was hanging open, but he regained his composure and stood, scowling.
"Whatever do you mean, Dear?"
"Sh-She's just gone! I've tried to look everywhere for her! She…she was hypnotized…I don't know what happened to her, but she left this house and I couldn't find her anywhere nearby!" Lorina started to sob and she fell onto the floor, crying.
"Calm down there, Honey!" some adults tried to soothe them, but they kept crying.
"But…you said…she was playing with her new friends!" Mother said, her breath shortened.
Lorina shook her head furiously. "She's…She's been kidnapped! Th-This is all my fault…" she sobbed harder. "A-And Edith too…! She's gone too! She ran off to find her! Oh Lord, I'm so useless…!"
"No…Not Edith…!" Mrs. Liddell fainted.
"Ina!" the women gasped and went to help the poor woman.
"Just…Just calm down, love." He scolded his daughters. "Alice is gone… we only need to find her. She's kidnapped or…hypnotized…Edith couldn't have been gone too far… Ladies and gentlemen, I need you to stay in this house. I'm going to call the police."
His warning silenced the whole house in instance. "If any of you go out of this house without my knowledge, I'll have the police after you."
"Henry Liddell, how dare you! Are you making each one of us a suspect?" A guest stood angrily.
"My daughters are gone! Kidnapped!" Father yelled angrily. "I need to make sure—I want to believe that none of you would do so!"
"Alright, alright, we get it…calm down, Henry." Mr. Hargreaves soothed, then turned to his wife. "Lucia, take care of Mrs. Liddell in her room. Reginald," he called his son, who readily stood and went to approach his lover. "Yes, take care of her. My friends, our poor friend and honorable host here is having an ordeal, we have to calm down and understand what he's going through. Can I have a volunteer who'd come and help us to search for Alice and Edith?"
The guests murmured, at first they were agitated at Mr. Liddell's outburst, but now, because of Mr. Reginald, they understood that the man was in panic. His daughters were missing. Slowly, some of them raised their hands.
Mr. Liddell exhaled and hid his face in shame. "I'm very grateful, my friends…"
~.X.~
Alice gasped and was awaken from her dream. She panted, and was sweating despite the cold air. Her sweat was cold as well. She just dreamt of her past. It was when she was still going to school, until her family found out that she was anti-social.
She recalled how she had to be home-schooled when she was six. She fainted in the crowds at school. She started going to psychiatrists for hypnotherapy. She couldn't really remember what happened then…it just happened for some months…
Alice then realized the dim room filled with candles. She recalled that she wasn't in her own bed; she was in Dee and Dum's house.
Did the lights go out again?
Faintly, she heard a melody creeping distantly. Thinking that Dee and Dum might be downstairs, she got off the bed and went out. She found that candles replaced the lights in the corridor, and through the windows she could see the storm was getting worse.
Downstairs, she saw Dum was playing the piano in the main hall, while Dee was twirling around, laughing. Alice grinned and paced faster eagerly.
"Dum, you play nice!" Alice complimented. "I love that song, Ode to Joy."
Dum beamed, but blushed shyly at the same time. "Really? Onee-chan is so nice. Thank you."
"Onee-chan, dance with me!" Dee gained her attention, dragging her to the middle of the hall.
"Hey, I wanna too!" Dum stopped playing and pouted at his twin.
"What if both of you dance and I'll just watch?" Alice suggested, and the twins shook their head in disagreement.
"No! We want to dance with Onee-chan!" they said, then pouted at each other.
"Fine, since Dee asked first, he gets to dance with me first, then Dum, okay?" Alice wisely said, since she was the eldest in the room. Dum sighed and went back to play a new song for the other two to dance.
At first, Dee and Alice innocently just held hands and swung around the room. However, Alice started to stray away and enjoyed herself, laughing as she twirled around the enormous room.
"Hehe, I've always want to spin around in a big room…" she giggled as she kept spinning.
Dee hummed as he watched her spin, but then frowned and ran to catch the older girl. "Onee-chan, we're dancing! Don't spin alone…" he murmured, and then possessively wrapped his arms around her.
Alice shrugged in defeat and surrendered while Dee kept hugging her as he decided their pace of dance.
Suddenly, Dum stopped playing and stood. "Hey, now it's my turn!" he said. Dee finally let go and his twin just ran to hug the older girl.
"It's not fair…Dee's been sticking to you too much!" Dum protested teasingly. The girl just laughed.
"Fine, we'll dance longer. But there's no music."
"We can sing, then. La-da-dee…la-da-doo…la-da-dum…" Dum sang a waltz instrument key, and Alice laughed at his creativity, joining him.
"La-da-dee…la-da-doo…la-da-dum…" they sang, echoing in the room while Dee could only watch with an obnoxious smirk.
Slowly as they kept dancing, the piano started to play. Alice noticed that the maid, Jovita, had started to play for them, and they stopped singing while they continued to dance.
"It's been a long time since we danced, Onee-chan." Dum said. "She used to dance with us all day before that toy came…"
Alice shook her head. "There can't be a toy that is more fun than dancing with you two. She's stupid."
Dum smiled softly and tightened his arms around her. "Onee-chan says the nicest things. Did you mean that?"
"Of course, Dee and Dum are sweet and kind; cute and funny. I wish you could be my little brothers…along with Edith." Alice smiled truthfully.
Jovita abruptly stopped playing, as Dee suddenly hit the piano. For a moment, Alice felt Dum's fingers dig into her back, but she was too startled by the banging noise. The two stopped dancing.
"Oh, what was that, Dee…?"Alice asked in worry.
Dee laughed, shaking his head. Suddenly, Dum gripped her arms, gaining her attention back.
"Onee-chan, do you like it here? Do you have fun with us?"
She was surprised by the sudden question, but she replied in reflex; "Very much, yes."
"We love Onee-chan!" Dee suddenly exclaimed and stood beside his brother. "We want Onee-chan to stay here with us."
Alice frowned. "That's impossible."
"Why?" the two quickly asked, frowning deeply. "Do you not love us?"
"No—I mean, I love you, but—"
"You don't like this place?" Dee chirped.
"The sweets aren't good enough?" Dum added.
"No, no…" Alice shook her head. "This place is like my dream come true. I dream of this place whenever I play dolls with my sisters. I love you two, but I can't stay here. I have a family. I also have Edith, she needs me."
Suddenly, the twins took a firm grip on each of her arms, leaning their face to her sleeves.
"We need Onee-chan too," they said.
"Which one is it, Onee-chan? Edith…or us?" Dee asked.
"U-Um…" Alice frowned in confusion and hesitation. If she was older, she'd protest that it was an unfair question; she was too young to understand, it was so hard for her. "I…I don't…"
"Here, you don't have to study or do chores, Onee-chan," Dum grinned. "Jovita and the other maids will do it for us."
"They'll bake sweets all the time, whenever you want them!" Dee added, tugging on her arm, and led her to the stairs.
"We'll dance and play your favorite music, and play games every day!" Dum promised as they climbed together.
Alice was silent all the way upstairs, and they stopped in front of Dee and Dum's room. She then looked around in the dim corridor.
"If I stay, where will I sleep?" she asked.
"You can sleep with us!" Dee nodded.
"Or…You can use Big Sister's room." Dum tilted his head to where the mysterious room was.
Alice bit her lower lip. She was just twelve, it was so tempting. However, she was a prodigy child, so she knew choosing a living wasn't a simple task. She loved her family. She loved Dee and Dum. They had an amazing house, and she'd have fun everyday here; she knew they weren't lying.
She'd miss her family—she'd miss Edith, Lorina…Mother would be so sad…Father would be stressed like before Alice went to have hypnotherapy. Lorina would be disappointed. Edith still needed her big sister—she needed her; Lorina was too old to play with Edith.
Her family needed her.
Dee and Dum needed her as well. They were lonely. Their parents were away. Their so-called Big Sister was missing somewhere. However, they still had maids that could do chores for them, and they had each other, unlike Edith. Dee and Dum had everything to play with; if Alice stayed here, Edith wouldn't have anyone to play with.
But she wanted to be here.
What could be more important?
What you want?
Or what you need?
She knew the answer right away when she put it that way, but before she could answer someone closed her eyes with their palms.
"Onee-chan, you look so tired," Dee purred.
"It's still raining hard outside…" Dum murmured, and thunder crashed again. "It's still dark as well. You should sleep."
"Yes, you should sleep," Dee agreed before Alice could reply with anything. They had dragged her into their room and pushed her gently onto their enormous, fluffy bed.
"I-I don't feel sleepy," Alice stuttered out, feeling unnerved by how strange the twins started to act.
"Then we'll put on the blindfold," Dee said, and Alice felt the blindfold start to cover her eyes.
"Be a good girl, okay? Don't wake up until the time to wake up..." Dum's voice slowly faded away.
As well as her consciousness.
~.X.~
"When you did that to your sister, what did you see, Alice?" the kind psychiatrist asked, putting down his charm for the hypnotist instrument.
Alice was all silent, staring at his shiny shoes with a blank stare.
"…Did what…Doctor?"
The man smiled in satisfactory, and he heard Mr. Liddell sighed in relief. He was holding a crying Edith in his arms, who was hugging his neck with her small arms.
"Ish Big Sish going to be okay now, Faadaa?" Edith's small voice questioned in worry.
Mr. Liddell stared at the psychiatrist with a hopeful stare. The man smiled.
"There's nothing to worry anymore." He nodded to the toddler. "Your Big Sis has forgotten what she did to you." He glanced at the dazed blonde, who was staring out of the window. "I still don't understand why you don't want her to remember why she did that to you, Edith…"
Edith pursed her lips and shook her head furiously. "Alice ish mine!" she scowled. "I did something wong beefow she did that. I dun wanna Alice to hate me if she rememba."
~.X.~
Edith stared down through the windows.
Father and his friends were out bringing torches, trying to find Alice aimlessly. She balled her fists, glaring at her skirt, and then gazed up at the full moon.
Everyone was so stupid. She was the only one who knew what happened to Alice. The only problem was: she didn't know where to find her. However, she knew where to start; she took out a duplicate key of Alice's room she had been secretly keeping.
She knew this would happen, since four years ago.
The girl snuck through the darkness of the corridors, and unlocked her sister's always-locked room. Alice was a bit paranoiac; she tended to lock her room. It was a trait left after she had recovered from being an anti-social; she still didn't feel safe to have her room unlocked.
Edith understood this despite that she was just seven; she loved Alice. It was like a dream, but she somehow remembered Alice's voice when she was just in Mother's belly. Alice always wanted her to be better than she was; she took care of Edith more than Mother did. She'd sing to her to sleep and play with her all day long.
She didn't want to share her Big Sister. Not with anyone. Nor anything.
As she opened the door of Alice's room, she almost noticed nothing out of the ordinary, except for a Halloween carved pumpkin with a candle lit inside it, grinning evilly.
Edith narrowed her eyes as she read the note beside the grinning pumpkin;
You can't do anything anymore, Edith. She's ours.
~.X.~
"Happy birthday, Alice!" Lorina congratulated, kissing her silent little sister, who blushed and looked down shyly. The teen giggled and bowed to reach her eye height. "How old are you now?"
"Six," Alice answered curtly, still looking at her shoes.
"Oh, you're such a big girl, Alice!" Lorina giggled and hugged her little sister. "Oh, look! Who are these boys behind you?"
Alice stiffened at the thought of 'boys behind her back'. Suddenly, Lorina pulled out two similar dolls as she let go of the little girl.
"Oh my God! Look! Two cute little boys!" the teen exclaimed. "How old are you two? 'We're six~!'Oh, six! Alice, they're just like you!" Lorina waved the dolls to Alice, whose eyes were gleaming in amazement.
Lorina leaned her ear to one of the dolls. "What was that? You want to be friends with my cute little sister? Alice, they said they wanna be friends with you! How about it?"
Alice blushed and bit her lower lip.
"C-Can I?"
Lorina giggled and handed the dolls to her sister. "Of course you can! Friends forever."
Alice stared at the two dolls in her arms with wonder and amazement.
Friends forever.
~.X.~
Alice awakened from her short slumber. She was reminded of her sixth birthday. What happened? How could she possibly forget those dolls? Where did they go? Did she lose them? She knew it was a long time ago; those two dolls were her only friends.
She opened her eyes, but there was nothing to see except for darkness. Alice remembered that Dee and Dum had put a blindfold on her, but she could see a bit of light because of the loose tie.
She tried to blink the blindfold away, and it started to move. Meanwhile, she heard the twins talking.
"Remember when Big Sister played with us all the time back then?" Dee's voice asked.
"I can never forget that. She brought us to her school, and no one would play with her, so she'd play with us instead." Dum sighed dreamily.
"Papa was so mean, right? He wanted her to stop playing with us because she wouldn't go to school." Dee sounded angry.
"But Big Sister would do anything for us." Dum said warmly. "She even promised Papa that she'd ace all the lessons if Papa would stop bothering us."
Dee sighed. "Big Sister would do anything to be with us back then…"
Alice felt her body shivered, as their conversations sounded very familiar in her head. She was pondering whether to keep pretending to sleep or not; she couldn't help it, but her eyes went so wide in shock that her blindfold came entirely loose, revealing her eyes.
What shocked her entirely wasn't their conversation anymore.
But the small shadows behind Dee and Dum. Familiar small shadows that she had been losing for years.
Dee caught her eyes, and chuckled darkly.
"Well, well, Onee-chan is a bad girl." He shook his head teasingly, tearing down the blindfold off her face. "Didn't we tell you not to wake up until the time to wake up?" he grinned.
Dum raised his eyebrows.
"Hm? Onee-chan? Why are you trembling in front of us like that?" he asked in a fake concern. "Do we look scary? Or you're so shocked because we look familiar?"
Alice was entirely frozen. Dee leaned in closer and touched her cheeks, forcing her lips to smile.
"Look, look, now that's a cute smile…" Dee's eyes narrowed with a shining smirk.
"Keep it on, while we're together, okay…Big Sister?"
~.X.~
"No! No! Stop it! Don't touch them!" Little Alice cried loudly, and the boys fell silent; some of them were holding her twin dolls, then stopped waving them.
"Oh no, she's crying!"
"Not my fault!"
"Argh! Leave this weirdo alone!"
The boys dropped the dolls on the ground, and Alice quickly ran to get them, hugging them for dear life.
"I…I hate this place…I…I'm sorry…Dee, Dum…W-We're not…g-going back!"
"You can't!" Father scolded as she begged to stop going to school. "Argh, it's must be because of those dolls! Alice, you can't grow up with them! Stop playing with them and go back to school!"
She did, she went back to school. She wouldn't talk to anyone. She'd just sit down and play with her dolls, not even paying attention to the teachers. They became angry and talked to her parents, and her grades were falling drastically.
"Alice! I'm going to burn those dolls!" Father yelled angrily. "If you keep this up—"
"A deal," Alice muttered out lifelessly. "If I promised to ace all the lessons, will you leave us alone?" she asked her father emptily.
Father wanted to know how much Alice would do just to stay with such useless, old ragdolls. And he wasn't disappointed. He discovered a new side of Alice; she was a child prodigy, only anti-social. Her world was divided with lessons and her dolls; nothing more.
Mother was broken-hearted to see her daughter going on lifelessly; wouldn't even speak to her parents, and didn't have any real friends. Father was easily satisfied as long as Alice kept her promise.
"You guys are my only friends."
~.X.~
"What is it?" Dee stick his forehead on hers, frowning. "Oh, you're so cold, Onee-chan."
"What?" Dum inched closer to her on the bed. "Do you want warm milk, like in your house to make you feel warm and good?" he giggled and threw his arms around her. "No need to…This house is warm, and I'm warm enough for you."
"We're warm enough for you, Onee-chan." Dee purred, wrapping his arms around Alice as well. "Back then, we've always been enough for you, right?"
"Don't shiver because of us…"Dum murmured, his hand slowly reaching to the ribbon on her left chest. "It hurts, Onee-chan, to have you afraid of us…" he made a fake sniff, and then chuckled coldly.
"No…NO!" Alice screamed and pushed them away, then got off the bed. "This can't be!" she cried, and glared at the twins. "Dee…Dum…!? No! I'm…I'm just dreaming!" She started to cry, then ran out of the room.
Dee and Dum exchanged amused stares.
They were her dolls.
This finally hit her. How could this be? Wasn't it all just a dream? She could remember her past when they were still there; it felt like a dream. But now, was this real or not?
Were Dee and Dum really her dolls? That couldn't be. That's scientifically impossible!
Then, a line suddenly crossed her mind;
One could enforce life to an inanimate object by strong affection, or the opposite; a deadly hatred.
She continued to run through the corridors, but she couldn't reach anywhere. Candles, candles, candles, she would only see the candles by the endless corridors. She couldn't find the staircase. Where was this place? Where was the exit?
Dee and Dum came to life as Creations. It was just…impossible.
She then took one of the candles on the corridor, and then continued to walk, finally getting closer to somewhere, guided by the light of the candle.
She stopped before the mysterious door all along;
Dee and Dum's Big Sister's Room.
Her room.
~.X.~
"In the dream house," Edith murmured once at a time, reminding herself, as she carefully walked while holding a lantern. She walked past the enormous garden, and carefully held onto the railing by the lake. There it was, just a bit further.
Back then, before Alice had hypnotherapy, Edith, Lorina, and she would play together in the storage by the river. They'd play tea time or family; the storage would be the dream house.
Lorina would be Mama, Alice would be Big Sister, Edith was the little sister, and those two cursed dolls would be her big brothers.
They'd sing and dance inside that storage; Alice would dance longer with her dolls instead of with her.
She hated those dolls so much. Why'd they keep taking Alice's attention from her?
They're just…stupid dolls.
Now they're back to take Alice away from her again.
Edith wouldn't let them.
~.X.~
Alice stared at her room in shock. It was literally her room, not a stranger's whatsoever. The same pale white walls, the same old wooden single bed, books filling her old shelves, toys scattered here and there.
"What is going on…!?" she hissed to no one, and looked back.
The whole mansion was gone; the only place left was the corridor, Dee and Dum's room, and herroom. Nowhere else to go.
She didn't want to go back to the boys' room, but she knew if she stayed there, they'd come for her anyway. She couldn't possibly just stay in the corridor…No matter where she was, they'd come, eventually.
Alice sobbed a little, and ran towards her bed, frantically trying to get underneath the cover.
"This is just a dream…" she muttered. "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep…" she chanted all the way as she shut her eyes tightly.
Maybe, if she woke up, it would be morning again, back in her old room, in her own house.
Suddenly, she froze, as someone lifted away her blanket. Alice's breath hitched at the view before her eyes.
Dee and Dum again.
Their eyes were replaced with buttons.
Her heart beat faster, and her breath shortened. Dee, the one with blue button-eyes, chuckled and sat down beside her, while Dum threw away the blanket and grinned mischievously.
"Onee-chan, you're so naughty. We told you not to wake up, and now you ran away." Dee sighed in disbelief, shaking his head.
Alice couldn't stand to stare at the two, and found her lap was more interesting at the moment.
"I…I'm sorry," she whispered with a trembling voice.
"Apology accepted!" Dum exclaimed. "Now we can have fun like usual!" he giggled and wrapped his arms around her tightly, while Dee lied down on her lap.
Alice couldn't find the courage to stare at them at all. Their eyes were buttons; it was a complete nightmare. She tried to look straight ahead, but then, Dee took her chin and made her look at him.
"Onee-chan, if you don't want to look, we can always make you blind," he suggested with an eerie smile.
"You used to love us so much, Onee-chan…" Dum purred, his fingers playing with the ribbon on her left chest. "Until you forgot about us…"
Alice's lips trembled as she slowly spoke again.
"That's it…? Is that why this is happening…?" she asked. "Because I forgot? Can't I just apologize and you'd let me go…?"
Dee whined and his fingers trailed to play with the ribbon on her chest. "Aww, Onee-chan…why are you so eager to leave now? It hurts…"
"Of course it hurts, Onee-chan. You forgot about us. Didn't we used to be your very important friends? How can you forget your friends…?" Dum teased.
"Th-Then…" Alice swallowed. "What should I do to earn your forgiveness?"
The twins chuckled simultaneously, and their button-eyes gleamed.
"Stay here, forever." They chorused happily.
Alice swallowed hard. "Is that all?"
The two shook their head altogether, and then, pulled something out of their pockets. Dee held out two turquoise buttons, while Dum held out a needle and a thread.
"You have to be a doll first."
Her heart thumped hard once, and she quickly put a hand on her chest, shoving Dum away.
"N-No!" she yelped, and kicked Dee away from her lap. "I…I won't! Th-That's impossible!" she yelled at them, and then ran out of the room again, but the two chased her.
"Please, stay, Onee-chan…!" Dum screamed.
"Come back to us!" Dee yelled.
Alice glanced back while running, and regretted it so much. Their buttons eyes were crying blood, and they kept screaming eerily, asking for her to come back.
"No…! No!" Alice shrieked. "You can't sew buttons to my eyes!" she screamed, clamping her eyelids with her palms. Was that the punishment for forgetting? Was there no other way?
"Onee-chan, you used to be ours…!" Dum cried.
"Come back…!" Dee wailed, and Alice heard them stop chasing her in the endless corridor. The twins were on the floor, crying.
Blood was pooling out around the two. They sobbed furiously, crying and whining, broken-hearted. Alice couldn't find it easy to leave them heartlessly. They were losing her for a long time; she couldn't stand hearing those lonely twins to cry.
They had been alone all the time she had forgotten them.
She…she wanted to remember. Remember that old feeling.
"Your heart used to be ours…" Dee sobbed. "Why…? Why do you have to forget? You don't love us anymore!"
"We're supposed to be together forever…! Why do you have to forget?" Dum punched the floor furiously.
Alice bit her lower lip, and then, slowly, she approached them.
"I want to remember," she said softly.
The two slowly fell silent, and looked up at her with surprised expressions. Blood still flowing out of their button eyes and she couldn't help but look away.
"Remind me how I used to love you. Tell me what made me forget."
The two 'dolls' turned to look at each other, and then smiled as they ran to embrace the older girl.
"You want to love us again…" they sighed in relief.
"Then you'll stay with us, right?" Dum asked.
Alice paused, and then shook her head. "I can't promise such a thing."
"Is it because of Edith!?" Dee yelled. "Because of your stupid little sister? You love her now, right? You choose your new toy instead of us! You dumped us!"
Alice's eyes widened. Edith…the new toy they had been talking about all the time; it was Edith? Her sister?
"She's the one who made you forget!" Dum cried. "We will never forgive her…Onee-chan, remember it…remember your feelings…! Please…!"
Her heart beat louder. Edith was the one who made her forget?
"She…made me forget…" Alice slowly said, and a flash of memory came across her head.
~.X.~
She was always a lonesome child, if one were to look from outside; she was actually not. She had her twin dolls, Dee and Dum, her only friends. She'd do anything to stay with them—she even studied so hard and aced all the lessons in her grade.
Her schoolmates hated her. She wouldn't talk to them. They always said she was weird, playing with dolls.
After two semesters of horror, Alice fainted out of pressure. Her friends almost threw Dee and Dum into a fire, and she had to catch them before a carriage crashed their fluffy limbs. Her schoolmates got detention, but mother was worried, so she had Alice leave the school.
Alice was happy about it; she'd just spend all the time home reading, eating, sleeping, and playing with Dee and Dum. It was heaven. Mother gave up about her anti-social trait, she was just glad that Alice was happy.
Father just didn't want her to suffer from bullies anymore.
However, one day she got amazing news.
"Alice, come here, Love," Mother said to Alice, who hesitated by the door. Silently, the six-years old girl entered. Lorina and father just stood there by mother's side, smiling.
"You're going to be a big sister!" Mother said happily. "The doctor said you will have a baby sister!"
Alice's eyes stared at her mother's, gleaming with amazement and curiosity. "Baby sister?"
Mother nodded. "Aren't you happy, Honey? You'll take care of her, and you'll have to play with her."
The girl looked around. "Where?" she asked.
"Here…" Mother patted her belly softly. She gasped when Alice suddenly, and softly, put her head on the woman's belly, patting it soft.
"Hello," she said shyly. "I can't wait for you to come."
Mother stared at father, who smiled happily. Alice seemed excited to welcome her little sister. They had been worried that she would just ignore this…but all was good.
~.X.~
"Mother…is she going to come today?" Alice kept asking the same question every day.
"Today?"
"Is it today?"
"What about tomorrow?"
Mother could only laugh happily at her little daughter's eagerness. Every day she'd put her ear on Mother's belly.
"Hey, hey, I can't wait to play tea time with you. You have to put up your pinky finger when holding the cup, okay?"
"I can't wait to introduce you to Dee and Dum."
"Come out, quick! I have a great book!"
Mother and father were happy about her eagerness, and Lorina found this to be very cute. Alice even made a name for the unborn baby: Edith. Every time she spoke to her through her mother's belly, Edith would kick excitedly, as if couldn't wait to come out too.
~.X.~
The seven year old Edith glared at her surroundings. The place smelled like oil. She was tricked; Alice wasn't there. The storage was only filled with stuffed animals. They were Alice's old dolls.
Edith didn't like to play dolls unless it was with Alice; she hated dolls.
"Why do you always have to take Alice away from me!?" Edith screeched. "You're just stupid dolls!" the girl kicked a bunny to the wall, and then snatched a cat to throw it away, knocking into the other dolls.
She snatched another and ripped it into limbs, tearing the thread furiously. The storage was filled with flying cotton as she kept throwing a tantrum.
"In my way…!" she shrieked as she ripped a doll's head. "In my way!" she tore another doll's limb. "In…my WAY!"
"She's my Alice! MY ALICE!"
She threw the doll's head, and fell to the floor tiredly. Suddenly, she noticed a note stuck to the wall. Crawling to approach the wall, she read the note:
You're also in our way, Edith. We hate you too. Our hate is like fire, it could burn you…And you will be.
The girl's eyes widened and she turned to the door, which let out a locked sound. A big rabbit doll was already sitting there.
Suddenly, the oily-smell of the storage house finally hit the fact to her head.
Edith gasped and ran towards the door, pulling away the rabbit doll, and frantically tried to open it.
"No…! NO! NOOO!" she cried, and then looked around to find a familiar figure outside the window.
The little girl froze in terrible shock.
"Y-You…!?"
"Good bye, Edith," A crashing sound was heard, the figure had thrown a flaming lantern into the kerosene-covered storage house.
She then glared at another rabbit doll which was sitting up beside her, a note on its chest, saying:
And it'smyAlice.
Edith shrieked and banged the door.
"Noo…! NOOOO! ALICE! SAVE MEEE!"
~.X.~
Alice was eight years old. She was playing tea-time with Dee, Dum, Lorina, and Edith. Her little sister had been able to walk and speak; she was suspected to be another child prodigy. They were playing in the storage house by the lake.
"Milk, honey, or lemon?" Alice offered.
"Lemon!" Three year old Edith squealed, waving her cup excitedly.
"Not you, Ed!" Alice snapped. "The boys first! Dee wants milk, and Dum wants honey!" the dark blonde served the inanimate dolls.
Edith pouted, and scowled angrily at the dolls. They always took Alice's attention from her! Stupid dolls…
Lorina giggled. "Aww, I can't take this anymore…this is so cute…!"
"Okay, who wants a cookie?" Alice asked around.
Edith's eyes started to water, and she glared furiously at the dolls.
Alice forgot that she wanted lemon…This was all those dolls' fault!
As simple-minded as she was, Edith suddenly threw a tantrum; snatching the twin dolls from their small chairs, she yelled and threw them, hitting the walls.
"Stupid dolls!" she screeched.
Lorina gasped. However, Alice just walked towards her little sister in wrath.
"No! How dare you! NO!" Alice shrieked. "Don't touch my dolls ever again! I hate you! I HATE YOU EDITH!" she strangled the little girl.
"Aargh! No! Big sis! NOO!" Edith choked, but she knew, by the corner of her eye, she saw those two cursed dolls were smiling at her suffering.
~.X.~
Alice's eyes widened in shock as she kept listening to Dee and Dum, who were sitting on her lap.
"Papa and Mama stopped you. Then, they brought you to a psychiatrist, and you were treated with hypnotherapy. But then, Edith asked the psychiatrist to erase your memory about you attacking her. She didn't want you to remember that she threw us." Dum leaned his head onto her flat chest.
"While you were being treated, Edith took us away from your room. It was Halloween night. She ripped us and burnt us down, so you wouldn't find us, and wouldn't bother to remember." Dee sobbed, and wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Onee-chan…we were burnt and ripped…but we love you so much, and it's still the same—it won't change." Dee murmured onto her shoulder.
"But you forgot about us because of your new toy, Edith. And it was very lonely. Those years, we could only watch you—watch her having fun with you, feasting above our suffering. But, finally…" Dum smiled, his eyes had returned to their gleaming red orbs.
"Finally, we were repaired; we were given a chance to get you back. And no matter what, we—"
The boy was silenced, as Alice suddenly wrapped them both in an embrace, crying.
"I…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. How could I…?" she sobbed. "I'm sorry for forgetting both of you…I'm sorry to hurt you…" She leaned her head towards Dee, whose face flushed.
"I remember now," the girl closed her eyes. "I love you both. It's always been here, but I just can't reach it from my heart. I…I'm so cruel…"
Dum blushed and looked away, while Dee hugged the girl even tighter.
"Will you stay with us, Onee-chan?"
Alice fell silent for a while, pondering.
"I'm scared," she said. "I know I should be punished…But I really wanted to stay with both of you. We promised to be together…right?"
"O-Onee-chan…" Dum bit his lower lip, and then stared at his brother, whose face was red as well.
They might have been bold and teasing her all the time earlier, but now she was very sincere. They had loved her sincerity so much; so honest and such pure feelings that they couldn't help but blush. So nostalgic; it had been years, day by day, she had forgotten them, that Dee and Dum almost forgot what it felt like, when she loved them.
They smiled happily, and kissed her cheeks.
"Huh?"
"Onee-chan is right," Dee whispered in her ear.
"We should stay together. But there's one thing to do," Dum murmured on her neck. His fingers trailed onto the blue ribbon on her left chest.
"Yes…" Dee hummed, also touching the ribbon on her heart.
Alice closed her eyes.
"Yes, take my heart. It's always been yours, after all."
The twins kissed her cheeks once more as they pulled the ribbon off, and smirked.
"That's our Alice."
~.X.~
"No…! NO! MY LITTLE EDITH!" Mrs. Liddell cried. Her guests were trying to hold her from running towards the fire. "LET ME GET HER! LET ME GO!" she shrieked, trying to run into the burning storage house.
"Why…why is this happening!?" Mr. Liddell screamed. "Why! She was only seven! Lord, why not me!?"
The fire was quickly stopped since they had the lake nearby as water resource, but they had come too late. The fire had started for at least half an hour; the storage house wasn't big, so everything was burnt quickly.
Edith's little body was only burnt flesh.
There was nothing else in the storage. Not even a single doll.
As if the fire had perished them to their very fiber.
~.X.~
Lorina solemnly put flowers onto her little sister's tomb. Her mother was still trembling beside her. Father was holding Mother in a firm grip.
"…She will be remembered as a sweet, cheerful little girl; shining like the sun."
The children from the Halloween party came to Edith's funeral. They were terrified when they saw Edith's burnt body after the fire was out. Even now, they were still afraid to approach the tomb.
Such tragedy to happen to a seven year old was very unbelievable.
"Why did Edith go there?" Crysta whispered to Vivaldi.
"She was trying to find her big sister; that's what her parents told mine." Vivaldi whispered back.
"Where is that girl, then?" Ace asked. "Has she been found?"
"Not at all," Blood murmured, shaking his head. "Not a single trace was found. It's like that girl just disappeared."
"Do you think she might be the one who killed Edith…" Ace whispered, but then someone slapped his head.
It was Lorina. The children fell silent in instant.
"Just so you know, Alice would never do that." the eldest Liddell Daughter hissed as she walked away.
Edith was buried by the lake, where she mostly spent her time; reading with her beloved Alice. The trees there had lost-person posters on them, showing pictures of Alice as a missing child.
Lorina returned to the manor which was now empty. Not bothering to take off her coat, she went to the basement.
"Everything is so sad…" she murmured with a sigh as she stepped.
The frown on her face slowly faltered into an odd smile as she came down to the lower ground.
"Ha…ha…haa~" she giggled.
She entered the fridge room, and opened a door under the pile of boxes.
Under the room was another fridge room. Only it was more spacious, since there was nothing in it, except for a certain sleeping body.
Lorina's smile grew as she approached the body on the cold bed. She stroked its soft, long hair. The young lady glanced at the two dolls beside the body, which had a note on their laps;
Thank you for sewing us back, Lorina.
"No big deal." Lorina smirked, stroking the cold body's cheek with a finger, her eyes narrowed. "I'm surprised that we agree about Edith getting in our way. Good job for tricking her to the storage room." She giggled while combing the dark blonde hair with her fingers, then glanced to the dolls again.
Another note.
You did your part as well.
"All fair for love." Lorina shrugged, and sat down beside the freezing body. "I did spent a lot of my salary to wash that storage house with gallons of kerosene, but…"
Lorina's eyes softened and gleamed as she observed her little sister's body. So smooth, so young…so innocent. And it was hers all alone.
"This worth it." She kissed Alice's cold forehead. "I've always wanted her as my own sweet little doll, and I don't regret a single thing."
She glanced to the two dolls again to find another note.
You've got your doll, and we've got her heart.
The young lady grinned oddly with a mad glint in her eyes.
"And may we all live happily ever after."
The end
Yay! It's done! Credits to Regardless1604 for beta. I did a lot of mistakes, changing my mind too much.
Anyway, the inspirations of this super-long one-shot are: Trick and Treat (Vocaloid Len and Rin), Coraline, Ib (Mary's personality and lines), Cat Returns (the Creations stuff), and Mad Father (for Lorina's twisted personality)
And for Reaper. death, thank you for reminding me; yes, Jovita the maid is taken from Lucius.
Kudos for you if you figured them out while reading!
Anyways, I'm going to have a graduation exam on 15th until 18th in this month…Wish me luck, please? :)