Guess who is spamming with updates again? ^^

Ok, so the reason why I was excited about this chapter (other than being able to use that title) is because it shows what Alice's character may or may not evolve towards, and is there to set an explosive scene which will occur next chapter. I would have put the scene in this one, but the chapter would have been insanely long.

Thank you for your continued support, it is appreciated beyond my ability to express gratitude. But really, thank you for reading, and thank you for reviewing I know it takes time, and I truly appreciate it (h :) ).

This said, on with the show!

As much as possible, Alice tries to spend time at the doctor's mansion, and she is doing extremely well at avoiding Vaas. Sometimes she helps the doctor in the greenhouse, sometimes she just sits somewhere and listen to him ramble nonsensical monologues, and sometimes she picks up a book and reads about mushrooms and plants. She wishes she had a notebook to take notes on. Alice has always been one of those kids, and later young adults, who genuinely enjoy school and like to just sit there all day listening to someone telling them about things. The doctor, although he is at first a bit taken aback by her constant presence, eventually seems to grow used to her, and Alice quickly realises that he is constantly more or less high, and that he may not even be a doctor at all. Occasionally, he calls her Agnes instead of Alice, especially when he consumes a certain kind of mushrooms. He doesn't ask many questions, and Alice is quite happy with that. When the sun is about to set, he reminds Alice that she should drive home before it is night. Upon returning to camp, Alice usually finds Vaas waiting on the porch of his shack, cigar in hand. Sometimes, he isn't there, and she hears him terrorising hostages somewhere nearby. She does her best to be friendly to him, and she has to admit that he has yet to show any form of violence towards her. Nor is he putting any pressure on her to consume their relationship, if you can call it that. She is aware of the fact that she is being treated well, better than she could ever have expected.

Apart from the fact that he has abducted her, killed her friend, tortured her other friends, stolen all her belongings, sold her passport, prevented her from so much as giving her parents a sign of life, and that he has pretty much stolen her future.

After a few days, the doctor starts speaking to her with a bit more ease, and gives her tips and extra information about plants and mushrooms. He seems particularly focused on their hallucinogenic properties, but Alice makes sure to ask about healing and poisonous properties too.

One evening, it starts to rain and the doctor tells her she cannot leave. He tells her that he needs to contact Vaas to let him know, and at that exact moment his phone rings and sure enough it is Vaas on the other end. The doctor seems to listen more than he speaks, and Alice can hear him saying the words "I swear" and "you have my word" at least four or five times.

When he returns, she can hardly contain her glee when he confirms that she will have to stay the night, and that Vaas has agreed to it.

It is pouring it down, warm rain hitting the ground and the leaves so hard that all the other noises of the jungle are drowned by it. The doctor goes inside his house, but Alice chooses to stay out. She goes to sit on the long chair under the beautiful garden pavilion overlooking the sea. It is her first night away from the pirate camp, and it feels like utter freedom.

"I thought I might join you".

She jumps. She had not heard the doctor come to her, dragging a long chair with him and carrying a bottle of rum and two glasses. Despite the torrential rain it is not windy, and the two of them are sheltered under the pavilion.

"Rum?" He offers, and she surprises herself by accepting.

"Shrooms?" He then offers, and this time she politely declines.

"Thank you, but I think rum will do for now."

"Wise girl!" He laughs, before using rum to help him swallow some purplish pill.

They sit in silence for a while, listening to the tropical rain.

Dr Earnhardt does not let her glass get any further than half empty, and with the soft dull of alcohol, Alice starts forgetting her caution. She wants to ask the doctor why his clothes are dirty, why he takes drugs, why he lives on the island, who Agnes is, what is Vaas' deal exactly... She even feels like talking about her family.

"Alice,"

The doctor leans towards her, his elbow slipping on the arm of his chair.

"Where are you from, girl?"

"England" she replies. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

They both giggle.

"My dad is English, that's where I grew up. My mum is Swedish."

"Aaa ah! Sweden! Where is she from exactly?"

"Stockholm."

The doctor bursts out laughing, sinking back into his chair.

"Fitting!" He says, but refuses to extend when Alice presses him for an explanation. A few more minutes pass, Alice's glass gets a refill.

"It's nice to see a fellow Englishman... Of sorts." His hazy gaze turns to the darkened horizon, his voice faraway. "I had a Swedish boat. I sailed across the oceans. I've seen so many places, been through so many storms."

"It must have been amazing."

"I can't say I've enjoyed it. The boat did well, it only gave up when I got here."

"What was her name?"

"Hm?"

"The boat, I mean. What was her name?"

For a second, it looks as if the doctor is ignoring Alice's question.

"Agnes" he eventually replies, and his voice breaks.

Bending forward, he shuffles through his trouser pockets and retrieves another purple berry. His distress is so evident that Alice feels herself welling up, aided by the alcohol in her blood.

She doesn't know what to say. She tries changing the subject.

"Looks like it's brightening up!" She sighs, looking at the ever so grey skies.

"What a British thing to say!" Grumbles Dr Earnhardt, but she can tell he is more amused than annoyed.

"Dr Earnhardt-"

"Just call me Alec."

"Really?" She throws him a contagious grin.

He shrugs, still grumpy.

"Alec," she says with emphasis, "do you... Do you know what Vaas intends to do with me?"

The doctor forgets his annoyance and stares at her with a very sober look.

"And what could you possibly mean?"

"I mean... What are his plans? Why am I still alive, why haven't I been sold? Why is he striking deals with me? Why am I being kept here if it isn't for..." ...for him to use me as his sex slave, her mind finishes for her.

"This is a very dangerous conversation to have. You should not be going round asking these questions."

"I'm not going round, I'm just asking you. Because I trust you."

"You shouldn't trust anyone on this island, Alice. We're all mad here. You must be mad too, otherwise you wouldn't have come here."

"Please, Alec. I can't... I need to understand what is going on."

"I would give up on that as soon as possible if I were you."

"Please! At least, just tell me what you think. I won't tell!"

The doctor looks like he is about to refuse again, when his eyes suddenly widen, and he looks at her like he is seeing her for the first time. No, in fact, it is as if he is recognising her, except it is clearly not her his eyes are seeing.

"Fine. I... Vaas is a complex entity, a lot more complex than he first appears. He is by far the maddest of us all. In time, you will meet Buck, you may meet Hoyt, you will meet yourself again in a few months, you will see a lot of mad on this island. But Vaas, he is on another level of madness entirely. Nothing is certain, nothing is predictable when Vaas is concerned." He shifts in his seat, throws a paranoid look around. "I don't know what you did to him. I don't want to know what happened, but something did, and now his madness has somehow made you a centre point of his mind."

"He says I'm a mermaid."

"Lower your voice, will you?! I said I don't want to know the details! Vaas... In everything he does, he is driven by pure madness. If he decides something, there is no going back. You don't come back from that level of mad, Agnes. I have not seen him this devoted to anyone for a long time."

"So there were others before me? Other girls?"

"No, no, not like that. There was his sister, many years ago. And there is Hoyt, although he certainly does not call him nena or anything of the sort. Listen, I don't know what this is, I don't want to be involved in it, but if I were you I would try to make the most of my circumstances. You," he grabs Alice's hands, squeezes them. "Have Vaas' madness in your hands. If you play your cards well, you will no longer be in danger, you will be the danger, do you see? Hoyt had better watch his back."

He lets go of her hands, takes one last frantic look around them, as if he is expecting Vaas or Hoyt to jump out of the jungle.

"So... Are you saying I should try to... Manipulate Vaas? Into doing what I want?"

"Oh no, not like that. The biggest mistake you could ever make is underestimate Vaas. He may be mad, but he is no idiot. You won't outwit him. He's kind of a mastermind, in his own way. However, if you were to have him as an ally, you know, keep him keen... Then there would be no stopping you."

"No stopping me as long as I don't leave the island."

"It's not so bad here. Never boring.'

"And what exactly do you mean by 'keep him keen'"? Enquiries Alice, and the rum makes her eyebrows wiggle suggestively.

The doctor guffaws.

"Well, I'll answer this with a riddle." He leans once again towards her, and Alice does not flinch when his stench, a mixture of sweat,dirt and drugs, reaches her. "What is the sexiest word in the world? Just one word. Think carefully."

She stares back, as if trying to extract the answer from his dilated pupils.

"No." She says, triumphant. Out of the corner of her eyes, the world has started spinning.

"Not bad, not bad. But not sexy enough. Try again."

"Yes?"

The doctor shakes his head, then motions for her to come closer. He cups her ear, and whispers:

"The sexiest word in the world, my dear Alice, is..."

The rain has stopped, the jungle creatures have returned. Gunshots in the distance. Alice's head is pulsating, as if her heart has relocated in her brains.

"... Perhaps."