Wow, this was a long chapter to post but I'm happy to have finally have it written up. This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I'll probably have to make it a three-shot now. Hopefully the other two chapters are not going to be as long as this one. This one got way out of hand.

Warning: This is written through mostly Edith's view. For all those Alice fans out there, Edith is not going to be speaking fondly or acting kindly towards her second eldest sister due to numerous reasons that you can pierce together in this chapter as well as the next two. So for those reading this... you can't say I didn't warn you.

By the way, the scenes written in italics are flashbacks of Edith's past. Scenes between her and Alice, Lorina and the aftermath of Lorina's death.

And this is a Supernatural AU. So there is quite a diverge between this series and the canon series.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kuni no Alice series and anything to do with it. I do, however, own the plot of this story and the interpretation of Edith in this fic and the upcoming ones after this.

Chapter One

Edith Liddell was the kind of girl who faced things head on.

She did not beat around the bush, pussyfoot around the issue or ignore the problem and hoped that it went away or that someone else solved it for her. Instead she stared damned problem straight in the face and made it either submit to her or find a solution to the issue herself. She was not a damsel in distress; she did not need a prince on a white horse to rescue her and swoop her into his arms, riding them off into the sunset towards the kingdom of Happily Ever After.

That was probably why she was always hated by her female peers who preferred the underhanded tactics of gossip and passive-aggressive attitudes. Edith was the straightforward type and was always upfront about everything. And why she never got along with Alice, her second eldest sister.

Edith always ran towards her problems headlong with the intent of getting the matter over and done with; Alice tended to drown herself in denial and run away from things she did not want to see or hear.

"You ran away when Mother died!" Alice screamed at Edith as the youngest glared back at the elder sister. "You weren't here when Lorina took on the job of looking after the household in mother's place!"

The sound of skin making contact with skin sounded through out the cemetery as Edith drew back her arm and slapped Alice right across the face. The middle Liddell sister's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as her hand reached up to touch the hot skin of her cheek where Edith had struck her.

Edith's shocked and disbelieving expression practically mirrored Alice's as she lowered her arm.

She and Alice were far from close and Lorina's death had driven them even further away from each other, but she never intended to hit her. It was in the heat of the moment and Edith could feel the regret beginning to creep in.

But she could also hear her own anger rising at Alice's words. How dare Alice accuse her of running away when she did not have a choice in the matter? She did not want to leave her family behind to train with the Hunter's Association, but it was something that had been decided by authority out of both Lorina and her father's control, thought the two of them did their best to ensure Edith stayed with them.

Alice herself had been there to witness the tremendous fight between Lorina and the Hunter Association's representatives who dropped by to take Edith with them. Did she honestly believe that her little sister wanted to be separated from the rest of their family, especially after they had just lost their mother? Edith may have stupidly accused her second oldest sister for not crying at the funeral of their mother, but that was not enough reason to leave behind her two sisters and widowed father.

"And you pushed Lorina to the side once you had a boyfriend! Lorina who pretty much raised and looked after you after Mother's death." Edith did not bother hiding the bitterness from her voice.

She hated to admit it, but she was jealous of the closeness between Lorina and Alice. Though it was natural since after Edith left, their father buried himself in his work to forget the pain of losing his wife and his youngest daughter and Lorina and Alice only had each other to depend on. From that day onwards Lorina took on the role of both mother and sister towards Alice.

Edith could only estimate how much of a burden that was on Lorina who not only had to deal with Alice's feelings but her own as well.

"And yet you were so infatuated with your boyfriend," Edith spat out the last word like it was a curse, "that you failed to notice our sister get weaker and weaker with each passing day. Failed to notice her become paler and more tired. You only figured out that she was sick after she bloody collapsed in front of you and couldn't hide her condition from you any longer! How did someone who was practically raised by our eldest sister miss so many obvious details?!"

Alice inhaled sharply, her eyes glistening with tears. Edith expected Alice to scream right back at her, but instead the college student turned on her heel and ran towards the gate sobbing as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Shortly before Lorina died, she made Edith promise to look after Alice after she was gone. A promise that Edith was not all that thrilled about, but one that she told her eldest sister she would uphold. She had far too much respect for Lorina to say otherwise.

"Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't Alice be the one protecting me?" Edith snorted in a very unlady like fashion as she folded her arms across her chest. "And by the way, my ears hurt from the two of you yelling at each other so much."

Lorina laughed weakly as she adjusted herself on the velvet couch. "Yes. You are right. It should be the other way around as you are the youngest of the three of us and it is up to the older siblings to look after the younger ones." The eldest paused as she coughed. "But in the time you have been gone, you've grown into quite the lady. I can tell that you have gone through so much. So much so that I am certain that you can hold your own against whatever the world throws at you."

Another pause.

"And I'm sorry it is so loud. I... this was not I wanted you to see when you finally allowed to come back to us."

Lorina's voice was sad; though Edith not say anything about the time she spent away from them, she should have known that Lorina would pick up on the fact that she was not the same bratty child who left the household the first time. She had seen and experienced far too much to ever go back to being that spoiled and sheltered child.

Edith felt the blood rushing into her cheeks and looked away. Was that how Lorina really saw her?

"Unfortunately Alice is not like that. She can handle herself, but not in the same way that you can." Lorina sighed softly. "I did not realize it until recently, but I may have protected her too much after mother died. She is independent on her own right, but..." Lorina trailed off.

"But...?" Edith pressed.

"Alice is unhappy." Lorina closed her eyes. "Or rather, I am a large part of why she is unhappy."

Edith stared. What on Earth was Lorina talking about?

"I can not believe it took me so long to notice." Her eldest sister seemed to be in her own world now.

"What are you talking about?" Edith decided to get straight to the point. "What do you mean you are the reason why Alice is unhappy?"

Alice LOVED Lorina. Maybe... a little too much. The middle child of the Liddell sisters was constantly going on and on about how Lorina was perfect. How she embodied the trope of being the perfect lady and how Alice aspired to be like the eldest. Edith had to agree that Liddell was very lady like and had the mannerisms and talents of society's vision of what a lady was, but going so far as to call Lorina perfect?

Wasn't that a little too much?

If there was one thing that Edith had learned from her teacher, no person in the world was perfect. You could scour the planet for centuries constantly looking for the 'perfect' person and you would never them. So anyone who claimed to be a perfect person was automatically lying. Perfection tended to be in the eye of the beholder and even then there would be other people disagreeing on an individual's view of perfection.

Edith loved Lorina. She loved her lady like mannerisms, her motherly like attitude towards Alice and Edith and just everything about Lorina in general. The eldest Liddell sister was far from being a fighter, but she was strong in her own right. She was the one who kept things together after their mother's death at the hands of an illness that was genetic within their family.

The same disease that was robbing Lorina of her life right now.

"What are you talking about? Alice looks up to you." Edith rolled her eyes, recalling all the times she was forced to listen to Alice comparing her negative traits to positive ones that belonged to Lorina. "Right to the point where she is trying to become a miniature version of you."

Because as much as Edith cared for Lorina, she did not want to try and become her. Something that Edith observed in Alice's choice of clothes that did not suit her at all and how she adhered to their sister's wishes all the time.

"Yes. And you remember the incident with her tutor?"

Who also happened to be Alice's boyfriend... or rather ex-boyfriend now.

Edith rolled her eyes. "How could I NOT? You only spent the next two weeks after their breakup comforting Alice like you two hadn't really spoken to each other for over a year." The youngest Liddell sibling would have added that Alice was being a complete drama queen reminiscent of those overblown teenage dramas on the CTV channel but the disapproving look on Lorina's face had Edith keeping that little jab to herself.

Though if Edith ever decided to make a script on Alice's life in general she was certain that she would make a lot of money off of it. Because what happened regarding Alice and her ex-boyfriend was something that viewers would eat right up and would fit in with the over dramatic soap operas that teenagers seemed obsessed over these days.

Apparently the reason that Alice and her former tutor broke up was because the latter had feelings for Lorina. The man who was dating Alice was actually in love with her older sister.

While it was true that the two of them were distant as sisters and blood relations, even Edith felt bad for Alice then. She had never fallen in love and had no aspirations to, but to discover that your boyfriend could not truly reciprocate your feelings because he had only eyes for your older sister?

Bloody hell.

And to make things even worse, not to soon after he told Alice that they could not be together any more, he went up to Lorina to confess his feelings for her despite the fact that she was already dating a writer and was close to being engaged to him.

Lorina turned down his confession gently. She had been far from happy to hear Alice's ex-boyfriend confess to her and even less pleased that his feelings for her were the reason why the two of them broke up in the first place, but she was polite about it all the same.

But while Lorina did not return the man's feelings, the damage had already been done. Lorina tried to go back to the way they were before Alice got a boyfriend, but Alice was still hurting over the fact that her ex-boyfriend had feelings for Lorina. She did not try to push back her eldest sister's attempts to close the distance that developed between them, but that fact acted as a barrier between the two of them.

That particular conversation between Edith and Lorina was held shortly before Alice discovered that the latter was very ill and dying. And a month after she announced that she had plans on moving out of the Liddell household to live on her own.

Edith surprisingly had no problem with that. Perhaps it would be a nice change of pace for Alice considering that all she did after the incident was lock herself in her room and mope. Plus it was a very strong step towards independence that, in Edith's opinion, Alice really needed.

But Lorina's reaction to the news, however, surprised everyone in the household. Everyone except their father who merely raised his eyebrows and then buried himself in his work again thinking that the sisters would just solve whatever problems went on between them.

Lorina was strongly against the idea of Alice moving out. Later on, with guilt, Edith realized that Lorina's reaction to Alice living on her own was probably Edith's fault. Or rather Edith being taken away from the family so soon after they buried their mother- losing two members of the family in a short span of time.

The eldest Liddell was vehement about Alice staying with them. In her opinion families should stick together.

But for once in her life Alice did not do what Lorina wanted her to do. She was just as strongly for the idea of moving out and living on her own; away from the household and away from the painful memories that reminded her of her ex-boyfriend. And having spent a lot of time on their estate with him, the house that was once home and full of wonderful memories became a prison.

Though her second oldest sister never said it out loud, Edith suspected that Alice wanted to get away from Lorina herself. Lorina who had unintentionally been the reason for the break-up in the first place.

The two of them clashed with a fury that Edith didn't think either of them possessed. For weeks they were constantly fighting and Edith had to tell the servants forced to put up with the noise to take a week off so that they could be out of the line of fire. Both Lorina and Alice fought with raised voices and many arguments they had often ended with doors being slammed courtesy of the latter.

Just when Edith thought she was going to go insane from it all, Lorina collapsed as her illness took a turn for the worse effectively putting an end to the conflict between them.

And two weeks later Lorina passed away.

"Ashes to ashes... dust to dust..."

Edith had long ago tuned out the pastor's words as she watched Lorina's casket being lowered into the ground. Her oldest sister's funeral was far from the first funeral she ever intended and she was too much of a realist to think that it would be her last. Despite the fact that Edith had known this day was coming, her chest still ached at the sight of of the casket.

The wet and dreary weather was the perfect day for burying Lorina, even if it meant that she had to stand out in the soaking rain carrying an umbrella to watch her oldest sister be laid to rest.

The youngest Liddell could hear sniffles and sobs from the female attendants of Lorina's funeral while the men just stood there and solemnly watched. She glanced over at Alice, unsurprisingly find those baby-blue orbs dry; just like when their beloved mother had died. But the harder that Edith stared at her older sister, the more she realized something was not right.

Alice's eyes were dull and empty. To be more specific, even though Alice was watching Lorina her eyes weren't really staring at the casket. She was physically there, but her mind was a million miles away. Somewhere far away from the cemetery.

Edith had been young when she accused Alice for not crying at their mother's funeral. Initially thought that Alice was cold-hearted for not crying. But Edith had been exposed to too much horror and devastation to make the same accusation.

And besides, Edith wasn't crying either. Such an accusation was calling the kettle black.

Having observed Alice long enough, Edith then directed her gaze towards... Alice's ex-boyfriend and the man who had unrequited feelings for Lorina. Like Alice, his eyes were dull, empty, and distant. He was aware that the woman he loved was being laid to rest, but Edith had the feeling that he was convincing himself that it was all just a horrible nightmare and that once he woke up Lorina would be alive and well.

Edith wondered if Alice and her ex-boyfriend realized that they were very similar. They both loved Lorina to a scary extent, they obsessed over Lorina's feminine charms and as of the moment they both refused to acknowledge that the eldest Liddell was dead and never coming back.

With an eerie epiphany Edith realized that Lorina had been the center of the universe for a lot of people, including her. Now with her gone that universe was beginning to collapse and she was witnessing the fall out.

Edith did not have to wait long for the storm to hit.

The enormous estate that had once bustled with life was now cold, empty and silent. Just like the people who were still living in the house that now seemed far to big. The Liddell patriarch continued to bury himself in his work. Though this time he did so in such a fervour that his worried and concerned colleagues sent him home several times just to make him take a break. Not that it did any good; he just picked up where he left off at home in his own personal office that no one was allowed to disturb.

Edith spent as much time as she could outside of the house. The heavy and sad atmosphere grated on her nerves and any chance to be away from the servants who kept giving her pitying looks was one she took right away.

Alice locked herself up in her room and refused to come out last Edith checked. The second oldest sister had been closest to Lorina and probably needed some alone time to deal with the reality. That is, if she ever decided to deal with reality.

It wasn't until one of the servants purposely sought her out that Edith realized something was very, very wrong.

"She-" The maid's hands were shaking. "She just sits there every Sunday afternoon at a specific time. Claiming to be drinking tea and cookies with- with Miss Lorina and laughing and talking to someone- someone who isn't there. Wh-White said not to say anything about it-"

The significance of Sunday Afternoons was not lost on her. That was when Lorina and Alice spent time lounging under the trees of their huge estate garden together as the two of them read books together with a tray of beverages and snacks sitting near by.

Edith did not need the maid to tell her what Alice was doing. Because Edith was witnessing it first hand herself.

Though Edith could not hear Alice's words from where she was standing and observing, she could see her sister's lips moving as she talked brightly to the empty space next to her. Peter White, Alice's personal servant, stood near by solemnly watching the scene. Without thinking about it Edith made her way towards him to demand an explanation even though she already had a good idea of what was going on.

"Edith!" The girl in question turned her head towards Alice's direction to see her smiling and holding up a cup. "Come join us! The cookies that Lorina baked are delicious!"

Edith had tried to argue with her father about getting Alice hospitalized. While hospitalization or medication was not her idea of a cure, leaving Alice to her own devices as it was was even worse.

But her father put his foot down on the issue. Alice was not going to a hospital nor was she going to get checked out by some quack doctor who claimed he or she specialized in the inner workings of the human mind. The Liddell patriarch had a disdain for psychiatrists and their cousins and refused to associate with anyone in the profession.

However, Edith could be stubborn too. She refused to let Alice's mental health deteriorate any further and she was not going to let Alice continue to live in a dream, even if said dream kept her happy.

Reality was cruel and merciless to everyone. There was nothing wrong with putting it off for a bit; but there was a huge difference between putting off the harshness of reality and full on escapism and denial.

The arguments between father and youngest daughter escalated into explosive levels as the two of them began attacking each other verbally. If their father hadn't decided to bury himself in his work as a way to avoid dealing with the death of his wife, things would not have turned out as they were. Edith also snapped at him that Alice had inherited his horrible escapism habits.

Needless to say things got worse from there.

Though not in the way that she nor anyone else expected.

Coming home to discover your door being ripped off of its hinges was never a good thing. In fact, it was one of the most horrifying things to come across as you never knew what was waiting for you inside: a monster waiting to tear you or your loved ones apart, piece by piece.

Pushing all her apprehension aside, Edith ran inside the estate to see what gruesome sights awaited her after she equipped her gun.

It had only been a few hours since she left the house after a particular bad argument regarding Alice's mental state again and whether she should be hospitalized or not. She planned on coming back once she calmed down, only to come across her house being broken into with the door lying in the bushes snapped in half. The snapped door told Edith that this was not the act of a human, but someone in the supernatural category.

The bodies of the servants who worked in the Liddell estate were scattered all over the place. Whoever had killed them literally ripped them limb by limb suggesting that the perpetrator of this massacre had inhuman strength. Edith headed in the direction of her father's personal office first to see... if he was still okay.

One look inside dashed that hope away. He had met the same fate as the servants; perhaps even worse as she could only identify the smashed up corpse through the clothing of the victim. Her father's favorite maroon suit. Fighting down the nausea that threatened to rise out of her throat, Edith made her way towards Alice's room. Similar to what happened to the front door, the entrance to her older sister's room had been ripped from its hinges. She peered through the edge of the doorway, expecting to see Alice in a similar state to her father.

But the room was empty.

Edith stayed outside in the hall for a few minutes before cautiously walking inside. It was still empty. The girl listened in, trying to identify any sounds that were out of place in the silence of the huge estate.

There was only silence.

Tense and alert, Edith's blue-green eyes roamed around the room. They landed on Alice's bed and on top of the rumpled sheets she spotted a single white slip of paper. Moving forward towards the bed she picked up the sheet of paper, reading what was written on it.

If Edith ever wanted to see her sister again then she was to head over to the harbour tonight.

Alone.

Hopefully you all enjoy reading this. It was pretty fun to write, but I kinda struggled with the story at the end a bit. Hopefully I can get the next two chapters out as soon as possible!

This would be the introduction to a Supernatural AU series I've been plotting out with Sleeping Moon for a while.