Alice Human Sacrifice, Act 2

Five figures stand in the darkness. Different shapes and sizes, all of them, but the four to the right are beginning to vanish as the one on the far left is becoming more visible. But what greets Axel when she finally becomes visible is a horrific sight.

Her complexion darkened by age and decay, her skin and tattered clothing tight enough to reveal every single rib quite distinctly. Chunks of flesh have fallen from her in some places to reveal bone, and one of her eye sockets is empty. The other contains a glazed eye, staring into the distance. A toothless mouth hangs open, an empty black pit in her head. Clutched weakly in one of her decaying hands is a tarnished and rusted sword stained with dried blood.

Then, slender arms in dark red with white-gloved hands wrap around her from behind. The pretty man from before rests his chin on the red woman's shoulder and a change begins to take place.

Her grayed hair, limp and coarse, begins to become blonde, two antennae-like strands pulling themselves from the tangled mess as it smoothes out. Her skin lightens, and she fills out, becoming a young, beautiful woman again. Her mouth, hidden behind full lips, is drawn into a tight line, and her eyes—now a brilliant blue—rest within her skull, glimmering with malice.

"The first Alice was a gallant red one/Wielding a sword in hand in the Wonderland."

It's a song from the pretty man, sung in a detached tone, and Axel finds himself sinking into the eyes of someone, feeling weightless as the story takes place. But this time, it's the woman he falls into. Cruel, blue eyes full of bloodlust, shimmering with a tinge of red.

And now, he's as omniscient as the storyteller, watching as a young blonde woman steps through a red door into an empty space. But after her first few steps, a beautiful forest springs all around, and she is suddenly standing at the edge of a village.

Her sword, previously rusted, is held in hand as she walks. A determined expression in her beautiful eyes, her blonde hair falling gently down the back of her neck save for the two antennae atop her head.

A small child runs up to her, despite its mother's words of warning. The red woman looks down to him, stopping in her tracks. The child holds up a cup of water, drawn from the nearby well, while the woman smiles.

"…Slicing down everything in her way…"

The sudden ringing of a sword fills the ears of the people, then the thud of a body as the child fall to the ground, his head rolling to the side. Fresh blood soaks the ground, the path turning red.

Calamity engulfs the village as the woman, eyes glinting with insanity, slaughters the people like lambs. Their blood soaks the ground, staining it forever red in a wild and curving path. Homes burn and the woman continues on, cutting everything before her, walking deep into the forest.

"…She was followed by a bloody red path."

Suddenly, at the sound of a frightened whimper, she looks up. Eyes seek out the small, pink-haired boy ahead. He gives a squeak, then runs, her giving chase. Deep, deep, deep into the forest they go.

The trees grow darker, thicker, and it's almost like the boy stays in sight on purpose. She has no idea he could be acting as a lure, drawing her to her doom. She only giggles with glee at the idea of a toy to torture then kill.

"This new Alice, deep in the wood/Was trapped as a wanted fugitive."

Suddenly, the trees seem to shut around her. The boy wiggles just outside of them, just out of reach. The branches make bars, her sword unable to cut through them. Her eyes are wide in surprise now before confusion clouds her face.

She hacks away at the bars, sword chipping in multiple places, even though the material she's hacking at seems to be wood. Still, this is making her nervous, the blonde woman's heart beginning to pound in her ears from the growing fears.

Finally, the sword is dropped so she can grip the 'bars.' One hand reaches out toward the child, who stands there with a wicked grin painted on his pretty lips.

"P-Please, help me…!" she begs of him, but she only receives a laugh in return as he slowly, slowly, slowly steps back into shadow to vanish, all the while aging into a beautiful, pink-haired teenager.

"If it weren't for the red path that she made/No one would think that she even existed."

She lets out a startled sound, looking back with horror filled eyes. Branches like hands reach from the darkness behind her, and in that darkness exist numerous red lights like glowing eyes. As the gnarled twigs and sticks scrape and crawl and claw at the ground toward her, she stares at the glowing red dots. They're unnerving, to be sure, but just dots in the darkness, right?

...And then, she realizes, that some of them appear to be blinking.

She immediately turns back in full-on panic, efforts to escape redoubled by the idea that there is something alive in here with her, something reaching for her. She's nearly rubbed her hands raw from her iron grip on the bars, and she finds herself screaming for help, pleads into the unforgiving forest where nothing but those creatures behind her can hear. Even the strange boy-turned-teen seems to be gone now, ignoring her pleas and panicked screams.

Those twisted 'branches' grip and claw at her, pulling her back into the blackness. At first, this is halted by her hands gripping the bars. But she's sweating, and her hands are slipping. The red woman whimpers, begging for forgiveness in an almost mad manner. Still more slither steadily closer and join those already tugging at her.

Her grip fails.

A piercing scream echoes through the dark forest as she's drawn back into the blackness, engulfed by it completely. Devoured by the forest, Axel can't help but feel, never to see the light of day again.

And then the red-head is falling into that blackness, then into the red, glowing eyes, and finally, into blue again. He finds himself looking once more at the decaying woman of red, a shudder running up his spine with the knowledge of her demise.

But she's fading back into a silhouette, the other figures fading in to stand next to her. The story has yet to be completed, and he's almost wary of the next 'Alice's' adventure.