CHAPTER 43

The killer whipped around to her.

"You." He growled.

Alice looked behind him, body just slightly trembling in fear. Ludwig and Feliciano? Alistair, Wilma, Dylan, and Patrick were safe. Francis was safe. She nearly let out a sigh of relief, but kept her spine rigid. Alice restrained herself from looking away from the killer, keeping the old gun focused solely on him. The rust gears creaked at her in protest and she only had one shot, but that was all she needed. One shot.

"Me." Alice smirked, but confidence was the last thing she was feeling. Her mind was darting around, looking for a way to distract him until Lovino and Alfred got there. "Though I quite resent that little comment about me ruining your plans. If anything, you should've planned out your psychotic plan better."

"How the fuck did you get out?!" He yelled, anger boiling in his voice. Obviously, he wasn't effected by the gun at all. "You were chained! I knocked you unconscious."

"Yeah, thanks for that. I've got a killer headache, right now." Alice kept her voice steady and casual, but it held her usual sarcastic tone. "You wouldn't happen to have any cigars, would you?"

"I'm in no playing mood, bitch."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, moving further into the room. "But isn't this what this all is? A game."

"No." He continued, "It's revenge."

She nearly growled. "Oh, really? Killing four innocent people, ten years of stalking and kidnapping seven people is your version of revenge? How sick and tasteless."

"You question my methods?" You could hear his eyebrow raise.

"Oh, I don't question it. I think it's completely bonkers, really." She continued, "If you weren't so damn stupid, maybe you could have actually gotten away with this whole business."

"How so?" He snarled at her, unconsciously taking a step closer.

"First off, you kidnapped all of my siblings at the same time." Alice shook her head, "Or even the fact that you kidnapped them first. You knew they would grab my attention, more so than anyone else. You knew that I would find you faster that way."

"I was sick of waiting."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's face it, you fucked up. Bad." Alice smirked at him, her bright green eyes sharper than flint. "You could've gone after Alfred first, since I wouldn't have thought much of it. He takes days off all the time. But instead, you attacked my immediate family. And all at once."

"What would it have mattered when you were thrown out of your own home by your family?" The killer threw back.

"I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain this to you, so listen up this once, got it?" She took satisfaction in the sniggers that came from her siblings. "You spent ten years – ten fucking years – obsessing over how to kill me and Zwingli, but you fucked up the last couple of months because you couldn't hold yourself back. You know that I had the Mafia watching my siblings. You know that I would have guards on them, watching, so don't make the bloody excuse that you couldn't get my attention unless you took all of them. You messed up and now I'm here, with a gun and this odd itch to kill you."

"It wouldn't have nearly have been as sweet to wait any longer. I would have been just some random stranger who came to kill you. No, I needed to kill you. I will kill you today." He continued, "I want to hear you scream for death."

"Vous bâtard malade!" Francis hissed, teeth barred. At the same time, there was a chorus of rage from her siblings.

Alice nearly smiled, but snapped the killer's attention back to her before he hurt one of them. "Cheery." She said, "But I doubt that'll happen."

"Oh?"

"I contacted Lovino, you know, the head of the Vagras Mafia. He'll be with not only the entire Mafia, but an ass-load of Spanish sky-pirates to come and rip you to shreds." She said, "And not to mention the Royal London Police Force. One of them has a ginormous metal arm, which, by the way, can smash a desk into splinters."

The masked man let out a low, throaty growl. "It won't matter. You'll all be dead by the time they arrive."

"Maybe." Alice agreed. "But just sitting here is boring. Let's play one last game."

Alice took one last look at the group around her. Feliciano was trembling, while holding onto Ludwig. Francis' rich eyes were trained on her, wide and worried, but that wasn't any different than usual.

She wondered if he'd remember her, some thirty years later on in his life when he was happily married with some woman (or man, it was a coin toss with the Frog). If he'd remember the sound of her violin and the way that they almost had something.

Almost.

Her eyes finally rested on her family. She'd missed so much these past years, hadn't she? So busy making a living for them that she hardly ever saw them, let alone think about them. Alice felt her mind flash back to a simpler time.

To a place where they were children and the only thing they had to worry about was schoolwork. They would run around in the park, after they had convinced Alice to sneak out from her room, playing imaginary games. Alistair would pretend to be a knight, strong and noble, a stick sword in his hand and his forest green eyes gleaming. Dylan would either play an old wise man or dragon, depending on what they were playing. It was a perfect role for the boy, his soft jade eyes and smile. The twins would play the devilish leprechauns (or sometimes elves, they changed their minds a lot), bright clover eyes sparkling with an evil gleam.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Alice whispered three words. I love you.

She turned away from her brothers and sister. "Tag. You're it." The bullet shot out from her gun and whirled through the air, knocking out the keys from his hand. An angry roar escaped his lips and he charged.

Alice ran.