Chapter 3
Alice's POV
After what happened yesterday I decided to look for some advice. I left Oz at home because It will only make things more awkward . First I need to go to the pharmacy for more medicine, then I'll meet an old friend of mine. God I was a dumb ass for doing that. I'll have to remember not to do that again. Here I am in town, and nothing changed as much. The merchants are selling their items .The rich folks go and be uptight . And the poor has no place to go. There's an old man begging for money next to a garbage can. His wife divorced him cause he was a lazy ass. I know right? Doesn't make sense at all. Then across the street is a bootlegger. He sell's the rarest and strong liquors in Pandora, but he's a perv and smells funny. I step to the pharmacy and theirs dead silence. theirs nothing that interest me as always. Just the old man reading his book away. I came here to buy some toiletries, and maybe something nice. I'm also short on medicine so I'll probably need that in case of an emergency(which is another hangover). As I make my way out of the store I planed to go to an old friend .I never talked about her in front of Oz, Sharon, or that clown, or even seaweed head . Her name is Xing-xing, she's came from a place called the forbidden city. She's a tea farmer and tea merchant, not to mention she see's the future.
So here I am here apartment, an old and depressing building full of strange individuals. I press the up button form the rusty elevator, which probably isn't safe but beats taking the stairs. I step in and the button with the number ten(the very top floor). As I stand waiting for my stop I though about what I did yesterday. Did all the thing I did to Oz was even necessary? What got me surprised was how much he filled me up. Damn, It all happened so fast, but out of all the boys in the table it had to be him. This is a real turn in our relationship.
The elevator doors open slowly( had to get one of open myself). I walked down the hall till I saw the number 1012 and a 1/2. I knocked on her chipped door.'' Its open my dear I knew you come''. said the old lady.
''Xing-xing I don't think you'll ever surprise me that superstition of yours''. I said closing the door behind me.
''It was not me dear, the tea leaves said so''. Xing-xing pulls out a chair and set a cup of tea on my side of the table.''Please dear have some . It's your favourite kind. lady gray!''
I sat on the chair, "Nice to see you again, so what have you been doing?'' I said drinking my tea.
''I don't know? what have you been doing with that friend of yours?"
"I have no idea what your talking about".
"Alice I know why your here. Every time you come here you want my help to solve your problems".
"Well then help me!"
"Unfortunately I cannot do that". the Asian woman said. "This is something you have to do on your own".
"Why? cause your too old to teach me!?''
Xing-xing- replied ''Yes...but there's more to that". she stood up going to her window, looking out seeing the view of the town."... ... ..."
I grew bored of her doing nothing but stair at the window, " If you got to say something say it".
"My time is almost up".
"...wha-what?"
"Your right Alice, I am getting old. Sooner or later I'll die and my body will be buried in the ground. It will rot and decompose, however my soul will be alive''.
''Why the hell did you had to tell me all that just now!'' I said cracking my tea cup out of frustration.
Xing-xing turned around'' Which part, the decaying or me dying?'' then she chuckled.
"You think this is a joke! Xing this means i'll never get to see you again, you mean so much to me!'' tears started to come down my face.
''Silly Alice, I'll always be right by your side. here'' she comes up to me drying my eyes and hands me a tiny bag.'' I had this since I was your age''.
I stared at the bag, analysing its every detail. Why did this woman give me this unimportant object? ''Xing I care about you more that this bag''.
''And when I'm gone you'll care more about that boy''. The old woman said.
'' ...how did you...?''
'' Tea leaves! ''
I stared at the floor,''Those damn tea leaves''.
''If your worried Alice then tell him how you feel . It ok to feel embarrassed the first time''. said Xing-xing
''how would you know?'' I questioned
''I should tell you the stories of all the men I dated, hahahahaha! come and sit with me child''. After talking to my friend again about "whatever" and "this and that" the clock rang. I took my stuff and went out the door.'' What? is it time for you to go already? Well stay safe dear''. I slammed the door behind me without giving a crap. That woman saved my life once. As I opened the door I heard a roar of thunder that nearly all the people fell down like they were drunk. I'm lucky enough to have an umbrella with me. But a gust of wind took it away. I tried to catch it back, couldn't do that. Just great..
"Alice!...Alice?'' said a familiar voice calling me. I turned to my shoulder and I saw soaked little prick about to co...Its just Oz."There you are!"I punched him in the forehead."Ow! what was that for?"
"Don't scare me like that. Plus I'm not in the mood to talk".
"Uhh..Did something happen?" The blond asked
"Yeah, It was really something". I said to myself. Oz was confuse to why I was acting like this."It's non of you business okay? You also should probably not be involved in my situations".
"Well lets find a dry place and we can talk about It, once the rain stops".
"I said stay out of It!" I said demandingly
The blond grabbed my hand and pulled me under his coat, "follow me Alice". He said with a smile. I couldn't help myself seeing him smile at me. THe to of us ran some where we could dry off.
Oz's POV
I know she's mad at me for what happened last night. yet it was her idea in the first place. Alice is like a nut, she's hard to crack open. I have to say something to her or else she'll never look at me, or talk to me the same way again. It will make her feel better more .Me, well I've always been her stuffed toy for years. Yeah, I remember when we played on top of the tower. She would always dress up and have tea time, but Jack. Alice loved Jack the most, he was better than me ,but were the same person. So, does that mean I have something in me that Alice likes?I kept Alice close to me as we find a place to stay. The sky is getting darker and the rain is starting to pour harder. I found a pub that was open but It was too crowded. Alice and I still searched and saw a huge cathedral, but the door was locked. A few blocks ahead was a small inn, unfortunately every room was taken. Alice was tired of running, and my coat was soaking with heavy rain water. then we saw a cat ran to a hole in the wall from an abandon apartment. Alice said she'll go through the hole and open the door from the inside. I waited a long time for her to unlock the door. What if she was lost, or trapped? I had to go in there. I tried twisting the doorknob open many times, but then I broke.
"Your some damn idiot, aren't you?" said the brown haired girl.
"I-I was just, just wandering If you were coming or not?" I said hopping to make her less pissed. Alice turned the lock so It will open the door.
"Your lucky that their was another doorknob on the inside?"
"Yeah! thats great!"I said with excitement.
"Good" she said "Now give me the broken one''. With curiosity I gave Alice the broken doorknob ,and she used it to hit me in the head.
"Ow!Alice that hurts!"I said with pain.
"Well then don't do stupid thing like that ever again. Got It!?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Good, lets go up these stairs". Alice dragged me(practically pulling me) inside the building. There were no lanterns, no candles, nothing to use to see in the dark. The cracked windows helped us. Well somewhat. I really don't want Alice to get hurt...What an I saying? I never said anything like this before.
"Alic-"
I was interrupted as we finished up the stairs "Hey, I found something". It was a silver key with orange-copper spots. "Maybe this thing could open one of these doors here". Alice picked up the key and tried to unlock these doors. As I waited for any hope of shelter I decided to sit on one step and relax for a while."Yes!" How did Alice suddenly managed to open a room in just a manage of seconds?
"So the key worked after all?" I said
"Well ...I did had an extra lock pick with me". She said "But no. This key doesn't unlock any room in this damn building".
"How did you have a lock pick with you?" I said curiously
"Its a long story" said the brunette "Plus, I have my reasons".
"Couldn't we had used that outside?"
"You broke it" she said
I was paranoid of the words she said" What do you mean?"
Alice answered "When I was inside the building, there were at lest five or six locks on that door. My lock pick was so durable that It never broke when I dropped It, until you came along with your magic hands...''
" I broke your good lock''.I said with clear understanding."Okay, I see now". Alice opened the door to an not so empty room. There was old-broken furniture, with broken glass on the floor. The chairs and sofa had burn marks along with the curtains, and the roof had the largest hole a cow must had dropped from the evens. It was a dark room, and a depressing one. Who would live in a place like this? Some one could get hurt.
" I hope no one's still around in this building". said the brunette," Cause if there is someone else...". A roar of thunder and lightning came nearly giving me a heart attack .
Alice fell down to the floor ,''Are you okay?!'' I said
"Wh-what? Nothing!''She said with a stuttering voice. I picked her up and carefully dusted of the glass of her legs and coat. Then she pushed me away.
"I can take care of myself, manservant". said the stubborn girl. I grabbed Alice with both hands, locking her arms so tight she couldn't move I looked straight at her pupils
Then I said, ''If you can take care of yourself, then why do you have a manservant in the first place!?" the girl was shocked, never expecting those word to come out of my mouth. I let go of her, stepped back and took a deep breath to come back to my senses. ''Stay here while I make sure this place is safe''.
Alice's pov
Is this reality? The boy I slept with(who went all around town to find me) has now called himself leader. The tone of his voice was so commanding, I never did anything like that to Oz. Did I? I'm so confused. First the wedding, then the bedroom, then Xing-Xing, and now I'm trapped with him. This is wrong, this is all wrong! I want to go back in time and correct every mistake I made in the past so I could forget any of this happened. I erased my memories before, and I'll do it again if I have to. The way Oz grabbed me with his hands felt like a python as it killed its prey by tying it around its long cold body. And his eyes were so dark I could see my reflection. When I looked at him, I felt so cold. I was paralyzed with fear by Oz(for the first time).I feel so angry right now. Something started to crawl down my cheek. I wiped it off, it was water , but tasted salty. Were these my tears?...Damn it! damn you Oz...
