BARRINGTON, NEW YORK (FIVE MONTHS LATER)
The rain is pouring hard tonight. It's the eve before the twins' birthday and the eve before Harlow's Genocide. Deloris is the only one at home at Allen's mansion when she was startled by the loud banging on the front door. Though retired, she wouldn't neglect her gun aside not after everything she knows about monsters living around them. She knows better than to just let her guard down like that.
"Just a sec!" she yelled and slowly moved towards the door.
She opened it hard in an attempt to catch whoever is on the other side by surprise but to her surprise, she pointed her gun to Alice who is soaking wet from the heavy rain.
"Alice…jesus, what happened? What are you doing here? You look like crap", she asked with a second apart.
"You know I have powers, right? I didn't have to knock but I did out of courtesy so you can drop that gun off my face before I lose my temper", Alice snapped.
Deloris realized she's still pointing the gun at her.
"Oh, sorry", she apologized and dropped it. "Come in", she said.
Deloris made a cup of coffee for the warlock and a dried towel to keep her warm and dry.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Alice. It's good to see you but I thought we agreed that I will take care of the kids. Maggie still lives here, you know, and she's the head of Presidio now. She knows about the kids and you but we convinced her to look the other way because she loves the twins and she got full control of the initiative. Alice, you did stab her with our kitchen knife and left her to bleed to death. If she sees you, I don't think she will be able to let that go", she said.
Alice raised an eyebrow.
"If I want her dead, she will be. I didn't take any pleasure from that. I need her pain so I can heal myself. Besides, I know she's not here right now. I just don't know where else to go. I tried to run away, to hide as far as I can but they followed me and I cannot have more people dying because of me", Alice explained.
"Presidio is still on the hunt for you? Maggie gave her word to Geoff and Viv that Presidio will not touch you", Deloris asked.
It's the one thing Maggie promised the kids. She will not touch their biological mother since the warlock is not the one to make the first move that caused the rift.
"It's not them. It's the rebels. Moshe and his team, they won't stop until they get to me. I finally found a nice place across the border. There was this woman Sylvia who took me in. She was kind. She treated me like family, never put judgment or used me because of my power. She was like a mother to me. She died five months ago when the rebels found us", Alice said while staring at her cup of coffee.
Deloris reached for her hand and held it.
"Shit, I am so sorry", she muttered.
"After that, I decided that I will no longer run. They will always come after me and I am tired of living like that so I came after them instead. I burned their bases one by one until the path lead me back here in Barrington. Then, I realized, I got no one left except the kids. I just need to see them and then I can later on plan what I will do next", Alice continued.
Deloris smiled and gently squeezed her hand.
"You can stay here as long as you like. Well, as long as Maggie isn't here. We can hide you if she decides to drop by. Besides, it's the twins' birthday tomorrow. They will be happy to see you here", she said.
The twins' birthday reminded Alice of the death of her people and her village. Deloris realized fast what came to her mind so she tried to get her attention.
"Maybe you can help us too. I am retired from Presidio but I try to help Gina out when it comes to monster-related crimes here in town. I heard from Maggie someone destroyed the Ithaca lab but I didn't tell her I wanted that place gone. After what I've seen in that place, no one deserves that kind of treatment", Deloris said.
Alice's silence made her frown. She looked at the warlock a few seconds before coming to conclusion.
"It was you who destroyed the lab", she guessed.
"I didn't plan on that. The rebels built a base near the lab and when one of them decided to hide inside the lab, I saw what they're doing to those people. I couldn't help myself so I burned it as well", Alice explained.
Deloris would've argued the lives of the Presidio members that were lost during the fire but she can understand where Alice was coming from. She saw them first hand. It was brutal.
"There's another thing. Some sort of creature escaped Samuel's secret lab and roamed around Barrington. It's why I am helping Gina. All we know is it's a man. We don't know what he is or his powers or what he wants but so far, he killed almost a dozen humans. I would appreciate it if you can help us", Deloris suggested.
Alice put down her cup and made a face.
"Do you think your Sheriff would appreciate it? I made her shoot herself", she asked.
Deloris rolled her eyes.
"She would probably hold that against you but I know she needs the help", she answered.
"Again, didn't take any pleasure from that. I knew she's important to you though. That's why I did it but I have no intention of killing her", Alice said but Deloris raised an eyebrow. "I could've made her shoot herself in her chest or her head but I didn't", she clarified.
"That is comforting", Deloris muttered. "So, you're staying for the twins' birthday?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think I will", she answered. "Where are they anyway?" she asked her back.
"They are right here", Viv answered behind them.
The twins dropped their bags and rushed to Alice for a hug. It made Deloris chuckled as she saved Alice's cup of coffee from meeting the floor.
"I'm so happy you're here. Where have you been?" Viv asked.
"Yeah, we lost contact with you five months ago", Geoff added.
"I was a little bit busy but I am here now", Alice answered.
Geoff went silent. Viv waited for her brother to come back to the present.
"They found you in Canada. They killed her, Sylvia", Geoff muttered.
He just tapped on his gift in seeing the past.
"Is that true? Was it Presidio? Grandma promised us they won't come after you", Viv asked.
"It wasn't them. It was the rebels. That's why I cannot stay here for long but your mother convinced me to stay for your birthday. I look forward to spending it for the first time with the both of you", Alice answered.
Seventeen times she missed their birthdays because of the genocide. It's her chance to experience what it is like.
"I would love that very much", Geoff said.
"Me as well", Viv seconded.
"Well, why don't you take your mother upstairs so she can rest. I am sure she had a long journey. You can also sleep with her if you like", Deloris suggested and that put shine on the twins' eyes.
They immediately pulled Alice outside but before they are gone, Alice turned her head back to Deloris and mouthed 'thank you'.
They decided to sleep in Viv's room since the bed is bigger than Geoff's. Alice is done freshening up when she saw her kids arguing which one will take the left side of the bed or the right. One thing is for sure, she will be in the middle of them.
"I honestly don't know how to do this but do you guys like bedtime stories before going to sleep or a lullaby", Alice confessed.
She is a mother of two gorgeous and kind kids and she doesn't even know how to their mother in the first place. Viv laughed and pulled her between them to bed.
"Don't worry. We're not really into bedtime stories. We were raised all over the world and most of the time, Mom and Dad were working so no one to tell bedtimes stories for us", she said.
"I would like to know what's the deal with the rebels though. They're seemed to be so fixated on hunting you. What happened?" Geoff asked.
He can dig the answer himself but he respects Alice that he doesn't want to invade her privacy with his gift.
"Complicated, that's the thing with them. After Harlow, I joined Moshe and his group. I got nowhere else to go and he's the only friend I got. I thought maybe they can help me avenging our people. I wanted Edith so bad but that didn't happen when I joined them. Being the only warlock, they thought of me as their greatest weapon. Presidio thinks they wiped out our whole tribe so they wouldn't suspect me. They put me on assignment and I always succeeded. They kept on promising me that my revenge will be next but they were lying", Alice answered.
"They were just using you for your powers", Viv intervened and Alice nodded.
"I finally tried to leave. They got mad and branded me a traitor. They used their weapons on me and managed to suppress my powers and then imprisoned me under the ocean for seventeen years", Alice added.
Geoff frowned.
"…and they're still hunting you after that?" he followed up.
"They can't seem to let it go and when they tried to apprehend me last year, I killed Moshe's team. Now, they want my head for it", she answered.
Viv held her mother's hand.
"We will not let anyone get to you again", she said.
"Yeah, you're safe here", Geoff added.
Alice briefly smiled knowing if things come to worst, the twins will not be able to help her.
"Thank you", she replied.
Alice opened her eyes in the middle of the night with the bad feeling in her gut. She stretched her arms only to discover the twins are no longer sleeping next to her.
"Viv? Geoff?" she called but no one answered her.
She quickly got out of bed and decided to search for them throughout the house.
"Deloris?" she called as she begins to worry.
What if they left without her? What if Deloris realized how much danger Alice is to the kids and she took them away from her? She closed her eyes and tried to use her power to search for them but she cannot reach them. Panic begins to fill her inside.
Alice searched the entire house until her feet lead her down the basement. She saw the destroyed floorboards, the lab equipment, the cage, her kind's symbol on the board.
"What is this?" she muttered.
Her fingers traced the symbols on the board. She knows Samuel Allen was after the ashes but she doesn't know how he found out about it and what it can do. Suddenly, she felt a hand wrapped around her arm and yanked her to turn around. Her eyes met bright red ones.
"You killed us all!" someone yelled to her face.
"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Viv's voice pulled her out and she opened her eyes once more.
Alice gasped for air and looked around her. Geoff opened the lights and Alice found herself in Viv's room with the twins who are both freaked out.
"It's okay. It's just a nightmare", Viv said to soother her mother.
She was just dreaming. It was all a dream. The twins are fine and there's no man with bright red eyes screaming at her.
"Yeah…it was just a nightmare", she muttered.