Chapter Three:
A/N: A special thanks to Paiva, I wish my computer could spell that all pretty like it should, but alas it cannot. I was this close *holds up index finger and thumb a hair's breadth apart* to giving up on this story. But there was your kind review and now I'm back on track. For that I thank you sincerely.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Edward Scissorhands, but if I did, the ending would be much happier! I only own Alice and my own characters.
The dawn after the storm, which had raged into the passing hours of the morning, was a serendipitously pastoral, the serene morning light streaming through the castle windows. The shafts of brilliant sunlight crept from the floor to the foot of Alice's makeshift bed, slinking its way to her tranquil face. Rousing from her unusually dreamless sleep, Alice let her curled lashes flutter open, her golden locks splayed out beneath her face.
Sitting up, taking a gratuitously deep breath, she stretched in a feline fashion before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, which was so high off the floor she felt her heart skip a beat as she leaped from it. She winced slightly as her sleep tender feet met the stone cold floor before she found her slippers, askew across the floorboards.
"I wonder where Edward went." She pondered aloud while readjusting her dress, which had shifted in her sleep.
Wandering out the door, only after politely making up the bed, she found the entire manor to be much more agreeable in the daytime. Although still considerably vast and intimidating, she thought it was rather romantic, in a twisted, gothic sort of fashion. Finding her way through the labyrinthine halls and down the many sets of stairs, she could not find her metallic handed host.
Finally, she opened the door to the garden and was overwhelmed with the smell of the new morning drifting in on a warm, spring breeze; picking up the lovely floral scents it carried. Pausing to soak up the rays of sun, pleasant upon her skin, she blinked and heard the most peculiar sounds.
Snip-snip-snip… snip… snip-snip…
Smiling to herself, she skipped around the hand sculpture and found Edward clipping stray green locks from the face of a preening buck. His countenance showed no signs of heedlessness to his creation; he was utterly at the mercy of his work, his every motion careful and collected, prejudged and executed with the severest of agilities. Alice felt like a mere pageboy standing behind the fervently employed De Vinci, marveling at his masterpiece.
"It's beautiful." Alice found herself thinking aloud, like she often did when she wasn't wary.
Turning on his heels, Edward's face turned from shock to sheepish modesty to passive pleasance so fast Alice hardly had the time to watch.
"Thank you." He said politely, snipping a rebellious twig from the visage of a squirrel next to her.
"Did-did you learn to do this all by yourself?" She asked, rather amazed.
He seemed to ponder this, unease rising in his features. "Yes. Is that a bad thing?"
Alice felt giggles bubbling to her throat, though she stifled them promptly. He seemed so nervous, as if a single misstep and she would run away screaming.
"No, not at all." She smiled warmly, bending to smell one of the white roses that grew clustered next to the others in the bush. "You have real talent. From my house this place up here looks so gloomy and frightening. But the truth is, you've made something beautiful up here, even if no one can see it."
Another pause ensued, Edward calculating each of her words with sage-like silence and solemnity. After a beat, his eyes flashed with curiosity to her legs.
"You're bleeding." He bit his lip in worry, pondering if he had done the deed somehow and just didn't remember it.
"Oh," Alice glanced down at her wound, the makeshift bandage having slipped off in the night, "It's nothing. Just a scratch, really. I cut myself on the gate last night."
The gash had reopened recently and was now oozing little scarlet droplets. Edward seemed anxious at the sight of it. Did blood make him squeamish? Alice wondered this just before her stomach made its demands known in a tremendous, audible lurch.
"I should go get this cleaned up." She resolved, also eager to sink her teeth into something to eat. "You can come with me. I live just down the street. We can have breakfast there, at my house."
His eyes shone with fear, those dark orbs flitting between her and the gate, his scissors clinking as he thought. "I… can't go down there."
"Oh…" Alice nodded, pensive as to why but too tactful to ask. "I have to go," His face fell at this. "But I'll be back soon, I promise."
He seemed pacified by this vow, although his countenance betrayed his calm demeanor, showing traces of doubt. Relenting, he nodded and walked her to the gate.
Before she could begin to claw her way back through the massive tangle of vines, Edward swiped his fingers over the mess and away it fell to the ground below, revealing the grand entrance to his home and her way back to town. Bidding him farewell, Alice shut the gate behind herself and felt his tentative gaze upon her back as she began her lengthy journey back to her house.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please do me a favor and leave a comment. I was rather bleary eyed when I wrote this so please understand if my grammar or word choice is a little less than perfection. I hope to update soon, although my current location (seaside, Mediterranean, I love it) isn't exactly the best place for internet connection. But my hiatus from home is coming to an end, so in all likelihood it may take me longer to update sooner than later. (I hate planes!! )