The thing that haunted Alice Liddell the most when she couldn't sleep because of haunting memories and weighing thoughts was the dark. She pictured Ace's face every night, those dark eyes looking at her, bringing up his sword with an amused grin. Then he would swing and she would fall into the ever black nothingness. Every night it was the same thing, and she'd toss and turn in her bed until her eyes had a shade of dark purple under them in the morning.
"Are you alright?" Julius asked as Alice walked into his work room.
"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Want some coffee today?"
"Make it two. Ace is coming over for awhile. We need to talk about... things."
Alice bit the bottom of her lip and reminded herself to smile as she walked into the kitchen with a mumbled, "Alright." She hated it the most when Julius would purposely keep things from her—so obvious at that! She fumed inside, but there was nothing she could do about it except take what she got. Julius was already doing so much for her that she hated being picky about little things that probably, in the end, didn't even mean anything.
"Two coffees," she told herself. "Two coffees." And with that, she went to work making a small breakfast of two sunny side up eggs, tea and two coffees to go. Once she flipped the last egg onto her plate, sprinkled some herbs and pepper on them, she walked out with tray in hand to Julius' desk.
Ace was sitting in a chair straight across from Julius, a red-stained bag laid flat across the table. Julius fiddled with a clock in his hand (from the sparkling exterior, Alice guessed he'd just fixed it or it hadn't been broken at all) while Ace stared at the bag, hands clasped in his lap. He looked up at her and smiled as if she was a complete stranger. Alice's eyes glanced over him. His shoulders were stiff even though his hands were completely loose and free. Such a contradiction, she thought.
"Would you like some coffee?"
"No." Alice shrugged as she sat down Julius' coffee with the extra cup and turned around. Before she could step forward, Ace grabbed her hand—not hard enough to hurt, but just hard enough for her to half turn her head to look at the man. "But I'd like some of you."
Alice blushed as she pulled her hand back from the man's grip. To her surprise, he willingly let go of her, causing her to stumble forward. The tray crashed to the floor and Alice bent down to pick it up. Her hands were shaking.
"Ace." His eyes locked onto her. "Do you have your sword with you?"
"I always have my sword with me." His hand caressed the hilt of his heart sword that stuck out from his side. "Why? Did Alice finally take an interest in fighting?"
"Of course not!" she stammered. "I was just curious was all!" She swiftly turned toward the kitchen to wash the tray and get her two eggs and cup of tea. Alice pulled up a chair to the counter where her eggs were placed and poked at them with her fork. Originally she had planned to give Julius and Ace their coffee and get a book from the far bookshelf before she left to read while she finished her breakfast. Blood had recommended her a great store in the marketplace where they sold these absolutely stunning books. Alice had become addicted to that shop and went there every three days to get a new book for her growing collection of unread books.
Oh, she thought, still poking at her eggs, I feel like I'll be late if I don't go and buy a book by today. Maybe I'll stop by just to say hi... But the thought of going back out there with Ace sent shivers down her spine. She never remembered being so scared of him before, even when he killed in front of her and threatened to kill her.
Alice stood up from her chair and creeped to the door. She pushed her back against the wall and listened as she heard Julius' low voice wash like a wave into her ears.
"As I was saying, Ace, I want you to take her out for awhile. She hasn't been sleeping good at all lately and I think it's because she hardly goes out anymore. I don't want her to turn into someone like me who stays indoors all day and doesn't socialize."
"Julius is actually asking me to take Alice out of his sight for a while," Ace laughed.
"Ha ha, never thought the day would ever come."
"I'm being serious here, Ace."
"And so am I." His playful tone completely vanished in those four words. Now his voice almost matched Julius' serious, deep voice, except Ace's was much, much darker. "If you want me to, I will, for my old friend." He smiled and stood up from his seat. "Alice!" he called. "You can stop eavesdropping on our conversation now and come out."
Alice flinched against the wall she was leaning against and grabbed her hands. How did he know? She hadn't made a sound. But it was to be expected from the Knight of Hearts, such a thing would be something he would be good at, after all, he was the best of the best here.
"Alice!" He turned the corner and grabbed Alice, pulling her into his chest. He hugged her the way a little boy would hug is puppy who he hadn't seen in ages. They pulled apart after moments of silence. "Get your stuff, you're coming with me."
"And if I don't want to?"
"Better yet, we'll just go now. No need for things to weigh you down when you're about to go on an adventure, I always say."
"I don't want to go on an adventure with you!" Alice could feel through her increased heartbeat that her face was starting to flush crimson as the blood was rushing to her cheeks. The fear, however, was clutching her heart and stomach so hard she thought she was going to throw up, if she could get enough air to breath properly.
Ace tilted his head. "Are you okay?"
"You're not one to care." Alice creased her brow at the worried look she got from the man. Since when did he ever care if she got hurt? He dragged her through a rose patch and got her whole body stained bloody red and didn't bat an eyelash.
"You're right; I'm not." He grabbed Alice's hand and pulled her through the doorway from the kitchen. She stumbled in as Julius looked up from the clock he was stroking.
"Where are you taking her, Ace?"
He smiled. "What's the fun in it if I give it away before we start?"
"Ace!"
The knight didn't listen to a word that Julius said after that as he dragged a fighting Alice out of the Clock Tower. He pushed her through the large, double doors and into the dirt as he closed them, sure to stand in front of the handles after he finished closing them. Alice brushed the dirt off her dress.
"What are you doing?" Her voice shook in anger even though she tried to regain her normal speech; the man was too much for her to take in, could you blame her?
"We're going on an adventure."
"I don't want to go on an adventure."
"A ha ha ha." Ace put both his hands on his hips and let his body rock back in laughter.
"Why didn't Alice say so sooner? If you didn't want to go on an adventure, I wouldn't have taken you."
"I did!"
"But since we're already on our way, we can't stop now."
"The door is right behind you. We can stop! We can stop right now and you can let me through those doors so I can finish reading my book before I head back down to the shop. I have things to do, Ace, and those things don't involve you!"
He tilted his head, his eyes shimmering, as if she had actually hurt him in her words. The foreigner took a step back, drawing in her breath silently, as she watched the knight caress the hilt of his sword.
"Why did Alice ask about my sword?"
"Ace, now's not the time-"
"Why did Alice ask about my sword?" he asked again. There was no joke in his voice, and if it were possible, the pure cruelty and darkness in his voice would alone be enough to kill a man. "You don't like violence." He unsheathed his sword, grabbed Alice by the hand and shoved her against the door, slamming his sword right next to her head. "You hate death. Why did you ask about my sword?" His eyes pierced right through her.
"I..." She diverted her eyes but the pressure still remained. Who was she lying to? She couldn't lie to him to save her life. "I was having nightmares... about you, and me, and your sword."
"Is Alice scared of me?" His voiced seemed amused in sick way, causing Alice to feel the need to hurl.
"No."
"Liar."
"No."
"Then why are you shivering?" He pulled the hand that he was holding up to her right and let her look in wide-eyed horror at her shaking hand. The knight wanted to grin and laugh, but he held it in and squeezed her hand harder, because he also wanted to see her scream in pain. He wanted to defy her.
"You're hurting me, Ace!"
Ace bent his head down to Alice's neck and took in her scent with his noise. He couldn't say how many times he'd taken in her scent since he'd first met her; it was countless, so he knew her scent inside and out, but today it was different; it was the scent of fear. The knight chuckled as he let his lips caress her neck, sending squeaks of pleasure and surprise out of the woman's mouth. She struggled but he held her hand back and let his body pin her to the wall. He could feel every forced breath she took against his chest like the breath was being sucked right out of her. The feeling excited him, sent adrenaline and hormone racing through his body. He wanted more.
"What are you doing?" Alice's voice was barely a puff as she forced herself to speak through chained pleasure that intoxicated her. "Just stop..."
Her pleas went unanswered as kissed her. "Just shut up." His eyes stared her down, his mind racing with images of her broken, incapable of moving, crying and begging for his mercy. Oh! How he wanted her; how he wanted to manipulate every emotion and piece of her that he could. All of Alice, everything, he wanted. It would be his. All of it.
A tear rolled off of Alice's face and onto Ace's. He blinked and pulled away from Alice to look at her as a whole. Her eyes were almost shut, tears falling out in large bubbles now, her face flushed the color of his coat, her body both limp and alert to his touch. His eyes made their way back to her tears. He wanted those too.
"Ace."
Her voice pulsed through his head.
"Ace."
He wanted to her to call his name more, more; more!
"Ace, please."
She was looking directly at him now. His clock was ticking in excitement, anticipation, waiting for her next move. He smiled. What would she do?
"Let me go."
He let her go and she fell to the ground. It was apparent that something had drained all of her energy. At the thought of something else—someone else—manipulating any part of her, Ace felt anger like he'd never felt before. How could they? He let his eyes slowly close then open up again before sticking out a hand to help Alice up.
"And here we go."
"Thank you, Ace."
"Any knight would do something like help a damsel in distress." His smile and attitude were back to normal, however, Alice found herself wondering what really was his "normal?"
"Yes, yes." The same speech she'd heard over and over again out of his mouth. Alice could probably recite it if she cared enough to do so. She was tired, though, and any extra thoughts would induce sleep. She yawned; her eyes were almost closed; her head bobbed. "Can we do this some other time, please? I just want to sleep. I hardly sleep anymore. Please."
The knight reached for his sword and transformed it into a rifle. He pointed it up to the sky and fired. The boom woke Alice up instantly as she screamed. Ace grabbed her hand and pulled her to his chest before she fell again. Reflexes were in check. "You weren't lying."
"What?" Alice looked up to the crimson-eyed man. He brushed his finger against the dark outlines under her eyes.
"You look tired."
"I am." She looked away. It was weird. "Maybe Nightmare got sick. I never had to worry because Nightmare always kept the nightmares away, but for some reason now, I keep having them. I can't even get a hold of him and Gray runs away whenever he sees me. I can only think they're up to something."
"You look tired."
Alice blinked, her brows lowering in frustration. "I already told you that I am!" Ace's gaze caught her off guard. It was weird. So weird. Why was he this concerned about her? Why was he starting to care so much? "Why?"
Ace raised his eyebrows, a semi-amused grin coming to his face. "Why what?" he asked. He flicked the rifle and it once again turned into his trusty sword and stuck it in its sheath that was attached to the belt on his hips.
"No, it's—"
"Don't lie to me, Alice."
She looked up at him, her eyes stained in defiance, and took one, long breath. "Why do you care about me so much now? You never have. It's always been about you."
"About me?" Ace laughed, but his laugh was far from amused. "No, Alice; since you've come to this world, everyone and everything revolves around you. You are the foreigner, after all. We have to love you, have to revolve around you."
"That's not true."
"Those are the rules."
Alice could feel her heart sink. Those eyes. It was the same as in her dream, those cold, emotionless eyes. Ace smiled, sensing the fear in her. He unsheathed his sword, his smile still on his face, and brought it up to Alice's face, the tip of his blade touching her nose.
"Is Alice scared of me?"
"No."
"Liars need to be punished."
"What about you?"
Ace flinched. "What?"
"Are you scared of me?"
He had to think for a moment, diverting his gaze to collect his thoughts, then turning back to the girl with full anger of his interrupted game still in his eyes. "No."
"Liar."
That comment wiped the smile right off of Ace's face. He frowned, deeply—the wrinkles in his face appearing from his laugh line. She was right, though. There was a part of Ace that was scared of her. He'd watched her single-handedly change everything and everyone in Wonderland without even trying.How despicable; how detestable. She was the foreigner, though; she was the exception. How he tried to hate her. How he tried...
He put his sword back in its sheath. "Go back. It's about to rain." He motioned toward the doors, toward the protection of Julius he knew the foreigner loved so much.
"Go back?" Alice gaped. "How can I just go back like this?" After everything he did, after everything she said, after everything! He just wanted her to go back, just like this? The foreigner shook her head. "No."
Ace didn't laugh this time, his head was too deep in thought for that. How rare it was for him to show someone his dark side, but to Alice, it was like he always showed it to her. How rare. How rare, indeed. "Do you want to get wet, then?"
"Well... no."
"Then go back."
"Why do you want me to go back so quickly?"
"You'll catch a cold."
The last string broke. Alice lost it. "It's weird!" she screamed, thrashing her hands about. Ace brightened up at the distraught look covering Alice's face. "Why are you paying so much attention to me? You've hurt me, killed in front of me, and threatened to kill me! So why are you paying so much attention to me now? It doesn't make any sense!"
"Nothing make sense here."
"It does make sense..." Alice was crying now, her hands clawing at the tears running down her face.
Ace saw from the corner of his eye a dark figure in one of the upper windows of the Clock Tower. He lowered his gaze unhappily. Julius wouldn't ruin his fun this time. He had to make it fast.
"Just tell me what you're thinking," Alice whined, breaking the knight's concentration. "I don't understand."
There it was, the precise opportune moment he had been waiting for. "You won't regret it?"
The foreigner shook her head.
"It's because—" The doors shot open and Alice tumbled forward, caught by Ace once again before she fell and pulled into his chest. Julius stood in the opened doors staring at a frowning Ace.
"Why is Alice crying?" he demanded. When Ace didn't respond, he asked again, with more force the second time. "Why is she crying?"
"Why don't you tell me?"
"Ace!" Julius stomped over to the knight and grabbed Alice out of his arms, pushing her behind him. "I told you to take Alice out and you've been here the whole time? What were you doing to make her cry like that?"
"I was just telling her to head back. It's about to rain." He gestured to the sky that was blackening quickly. "Wouldn't want your precious foreigner to catch a cold, now."
"Remember what we talked about, Ace."
Ace shrugged and turned around. Alice jumped but Julius held her back from running after the man, so she screamed:
"What were you going to say?"
He half turned his head with a lopsided smiled. Alice couldn't see his face as his bangs and side hair got right in the way. "Oh that." She heard his voice laugh. "I was just going to say I love you." He moved his body to a half turn. "Don't catch a cold, love birds. See ya later, Alice."
Alice screamed at Ace as he walked off. Julius held her back unsure of what to do and finally dragged her back inside one the rain came down.
That night, the nightmares went away, as she had a long conversation with Nightmare about how a certain someone was threatening him and his brush with death. Alice hadn't been angrier yet happier in her entire life.
-The end-