Oh The Webs That We Weave
Chapter 7 -All's Fair in Love and War
A/N: Ok first of all I want to give a huge thank you to all who reviewed. It makes me day to read them. I'm sorry that I haven't gotten a chance to respond to all of you but know that your reviews truly warms my heart. :-) Once again sorry for the delay, work just seems to never let up. So here is chapter 7 and I hope you all enjoy. :-)
"I'm not staying here." Alice said the next morning as she was having tea with the Hatter family.
Blood idly stirred more cream into his tea as if she hadn't spoken.
"Did you hear me?" Alice said louder.
Blood winched slightly at the loudness of her voice and set his tea cup down. Fixing her with a glare that lacked it's usual fierceness he said. "It would be hard not to hear you young lady. I suspect everyone within Wonderland has heard your loud complaints."
Alice was slightly taken aback. Blood seemed a bit... off this morning. He was lacking his usual air of confidence and control. The Hatter went back to nursing his tea and Elliot leaned in closer to Alice and whispered in her ear.
"Blood's not exactly a morning person." Elliot said quietly.
"You don't say." Alice responded.
Alice was in a rather foul mood as well. She had slept wonderfully on her soft plush bed, but sleep had done nothing to resolve any of her problems or anxiety. Besides that Blood's current attitude was doing nothing to help the situation.
.
"Hey Alice are you hungry?" Elliot questioned, trying to improve Alice's bad mood. "We have all kinds of food. Carrot cake, carrot cookies, carrot.."
"She's not a rabbit, she doesn't want carrots." interrupted a grumpy Dum as he continued adding spoonful after spoonful of sugar to his tea
"Stupid newbie-hare." chimed an equally grumpy Dee.
"Shut up you brats!" Elliot yelled slamming his fist on the table. "I am not a rabbit! All these dishes just have carrots as ingredients but they are not carrots!"
Alice slightly jumped in shock from Elliot's sudden outburst. The twins ignored Elliot completely and Blood tersely sipped his tea.
"I take it you're the only morning person here." Alice said in an attempt to calm Elliot.
"Yeah" he replied taking a deep breath. "Everyone else usually sleeps in."
"Why is everyone up early then?" she questioned perplexed.
Instead of Elliot answering it was Blood who responded. "We have territory negotiations with Mary Gowland this morning."
"You shouldn't call him that." Alice said frowning. Blood's lips twitched slightly to form a very small smile at this statement."Why do you agitate him like that?"
"I don't like being bored." Blood replied with a shrug.
"Is that why I'm here?" Alice questioned angrily. "To keep you from being bored."
Blood instantly lost his smile and his eyes hardened as he stated coldly, "You know why you're here."
Sensing the tension in the air Elliot being the peacemaker he was quickly tried to intervene. "Alice do you want some..."
"I'm not staying here." Alice went on as if Elliot hadn't spoken. The two continued to glare at one another neither one backing down. The whole table was silent as their battle of will continued. Eventually it was Blood who finally spoke.
"A compromise then." he said sullenly. "Stay here two weeks. Then if you still want to go back to the Clock Tower I won't stop you."
Alice's eyes hardened. Who did he think he was. She didn't have to compromise with him.
"I don't think so." was her response.
"Onee-san you don't want to stay with us?" questioned Dum with a hurt expression on his face.
"Don't you like us?" inquired Dee mirroring his brothers expression.
"No it's not that it's just.. it's..." Alice stuttered trying to find the right words to say.
"Couldn't you give it a try?" asked Elliot softly.
Damn it! What in the world was she suppose to do. She didn't want to stay. But she didn't want to hurt the others feelings. Looking once more at Blood her eyes narrowed at his expression. He was smiling sweetly at her with feigned innocence. That bastard had probably planned this whole thing out. Alice fumed silently for a few minutes before her kind heart finally won out.
"Fine." she bit out. "But after two weeks I want my things returned to the Clock Tower."
"If you choose to leave." reminded Blood with that same secretive smile.
Alice decided to ignore his bait and returned her full attention to her tea. Her concentration was broken when Elliot suggested happily, "Alice you should come with us to the amusement park."
"Yeah we can go on rides with Boris while Boss talks with Mary." said Dee excitedly.
Alice was silent for a few moments. She was incredibly peeved at the moment and would relish in some alone time. But then again it would be good to get out and see some of her other friends as well.
"Well Alice" Blood said caressing her name. "What do you say?"
"Alright." said Alice. "I'll go."
Despite her mood over morning tea Alice's spirits quickly lifted upon seeing Boris. She hadn't been able to spend time with him for awhile and she had missed her friend. Boris, the twins, and herself played in the park while Elliot, Blood and Gowland discussed business.
Alice cringed slightly as she remembered the welcome they had received upon entering the amusement park. Gowland was quick to congratulate Alice on her upcoming marriage and gushed over her bracelet. He did make the comment to Alice that while he congratulated her he thought that she could have chosen her partner wiser. To which Blood replied, "Thank you for your congratulations Mary." Then all hell broke lose. Guns were fired, knifes were thrown, random objects exploded. Just another day in Wonderland.
All too soon the meeting was over and Blood and Elliot returned to pick up the rest of their party. After bidding Gowland and Boris goodbye the five started on their journey back to the mansion. The twins and Elliot were arguing up front which left Blood and Alice brining up the rear. The two walked in a rather uncomfortable silence Alice gazed at the many stalls in the amusement park that they were passing.
Her eyes lingered on a large plush stuffed animal hanging from the ceiling of a game stall. The stuffed dog looked back at her with big button eyes and Alice had to fight her impulsive urge to lunge over the counter and hug the cute stuffed animal. She had always adored cute things. Cute animals to be specific which of course posed a problem for her when Peter transformed into his rabbit self.
Alice hadn't realized that she had stopped walking to stare at the stuffed animal until she heard Blood's voice right next to her.
"Do you want that?" Blood said nodding to the stuffed animal in question.
Alice blushed in embarrassment. She was nearly a grown woman and here she was ogolig over a stuffed animal.
"Oh uh no... I was just looking." Alice replied. She was so embarrassed.
Blood regarded her skeptically then turned to the faceless employee behind the counter. Tossing a stack of money on the counter he said, "Give me the dog."
The carnival worker looked nervously at the mafia boss as he stuttered, "You.. You h have to play to win a stuffed animal. Tha that's the rules."
The next instant Blood's cane transformed itself into his gun, which he was readily pointing at the worker.
"Give. Me. The. Dog." Blood once again repeated through gritted teeth.
It was amazing that even without facial features Alice could plainly see the fear and panic on the employee's face. Alice instinctively jumped between the carnival worker and Blood's gun. She knew that Blood wouldn't shoot with her in the way, yet being on the receiving end of the barrel was more then a little disconcerting.
"That's enough Blood." Alice said forcefully. "He didn't make the rules, it's not his fault."
Blood sighed in annoyance and shifted his gun so that it was now pointing at the stacked milk bottles which formed a pyramid. Alice winced at the loud sound of his gun being fired then the shattering sound as pieces of the milk bottles feel to the ground.
Alice glared at Blood as his gun transformed back into his cane. Blood's small smile soon vanished as he caught sight of her expression.
"You were suppose to use the baseballs." Alice said deadpan while pointing to the pile of baseballs on the counter.
"It amounts to the same thing." Blood replied stiffly.
"No it doesn't." Alice replied agitated.
"Yes it does." he responded shortly.
"No."
Yes."
No."
"It's ok it's ok!" the worker hurriedly said.
Quicker then Alice would have thought possible the employee quickly tugged the large dog down and thrust it into a still frowning Alice's arms. Clearly an indication that the worker wanted the couple gone.
The two began walking back to the mansion. Each still silently fuming at the other.
"My my what a hard young woman to please." Blood said irritably. "You got what you want and still you are unhappy."
"It's not the same." Alice replied indignantly. "You're suppose to play the game properly and win the prize."
"Properly." Blood echoed. "And what give one person the right to dictate how all others must "properly" act?"
Alice gazed up at Blood curiously. She had the felling that they were no longer speaking of the carnival game but something much more serious.
"I'm not sure what you mean." Alice said confused.
"No one should have the authority to say how you should play your role in any game. It should be up to the individual to choose how to go about playing the game. Everything is a game Alice. From the trivial carnival game to life... to love. There is no "proper" or right way to go about winning what one desires. There is simply winning and losing. Nothing more." Blood responded passionately.
Alice was in shock. Very rarely did she ever hear such emotion coming from Blood. She still didn't fully understand what the extend of his words meant, but she felt as though he had just told her something crucial. He was such a complex and mysterious person. She hated to admit it, but he did intrigue her. She wanted to know what made him, well, tick for a lack of a better word. Alice hugged the plush dog closer to her chest and smiled softly to herself.
"Well nonetheless thank you for the stuffed animal." Alice said softly and smiled up at him.
Blood's serious expression relaxed and he allowed a small smile of his own to cross his features.
"You're welcome my lady." Blood responded.
Alice flushed at his word choice. My lady. Why did that seem so intimate? Was she really his...lady?
As if he sensed her dilemma Blood slipped an arm around Alice's shoulders and pulled her flush to his side as they continued walking. Her flush deepened a little but she didn't try to pull away. She would worry about finding a way home later, but for the moment she was content.
Alice let out a content sigh as she slipped into the warm water. Her small towel quickly became saturated and clung to her form as she descended all the way into the bath. She took a seat on the under water bench on the side of the bath and leaned her head against the side. Alice closed her eyes and willed her body to release the tension that she had been experiencing for the past few days. Alice relished in her rare solitary moment. It seemed as if she was constantly surrounded by the residents of Wonderland and that she hardly ever had anytime to herself. She had to give it to Blood. This was quite the extravagant bath, but then again she wouldn't expect any less from him.
Blood. He was the reason for her recent state of anxiety. How had everything become so... complicated. She wished that things were simpler. Things were no longer black and white but a muddled shade of gray. Alice shook her head slightly as if to clear the phantom thoughts from her mind. She would think about how to get out of her situation later. For the moment she just wanted to relax and drift off into peaceful oblivion. The warm bath water was beginning to do funny things to her mind. Her thoughts began to be less coherent as a state of fuzzy half awareness settled over her.
"ice... Alice...Alice."
Alice groggily opened her blurry eyes. She blinked a few times to clear her vision. And when it cleared she almost wished that her eyes had remained closed. As soon as she could see straight she was met with the sight of a very masculine and very wet bare chest. Alice raised her gaze up the well toned body until she was looking up into the face of Blood Dupre. A flush crept up her checks that had absolutely nothing to do with the warm water.
"B Blood." Alice sputtered clutching her towel tighter to her form and trying to subtly scoot father down the bench. "What are you doing here?"
"You've been in her awhile. I thought you might have gotten into some kind of trouble." Blood replied smirking. "And it seems I was right, you truly are a troublesome young lady."
"What are you talking about?" she questioned innocently."I'm not in any trouble."
Blood's smirk deepened and his eyes glittered with mischief. Alice knew at once that although she had not previously been in trouble she certainly was now.
"Oh but you are." Blood said. "Falling asleep in the bath is quite dangerous."
Blood quickly descended upon Alice. She let out a silent gasp as he grasped her forearm and pulled her upright so that her body was pressed firmly against his.
"Shouldn't I get a reward for rescuing you?" he asked huskily.
Alice's flush deepened as she tried to pry herself away from Blood. It was unnerving to know that the only thing separating them were two think soaked pieces of fabric.
"You can't rescue someone who wasn't in danger." Alice said nervously."So let me go."
Alice struggled to put some distance between their two bodies. Being so close to him while they were both scantily clad was doing funny things to her mind and body.
Blood, however, was having none of this. He easily pulled her to his body once again and held her firmly in place. With every panicked breath she took Alice could feel the hard unyielding planes of his chest. She kept her arms straight to her sides with balled fists and averted her gaze from Blood's half naked form.
"This isn't right. It isn't proper." Alice managed to get out.
Blood maneuvered one arm around her waist to hold her firmly in place. With his other hand he took Alice's chin in his hand to force her to look up at him.
"Why do you insist upon using that word?" Blood questioned disapprovingly. "This is entirely acceptable. After all, you are my fiancé'."
"Not by choice!" Alice said heating up. "You tricked me, you..."
"And is that so wrong?" Blood interrupted.
He looked down at her with such intensity that Alice was rendered speechless. No man had ever looked at her this way before. Not even her ex. It scared and excited her all at once. Alice quickly shook all those thoughts from her head and renewed her struggles against him. It was too dangerous to let her guard down around him.
"Of course it is." she answered angrily.
Her struggles of course were futile and Blood put a stop to them at once. Lowering his head slightly he asked. "Is it wrong for me to want the one I desire to be my side?"
This completely floored Alice. How was she suppose to answer that? But it seemed that was more of a rhetorical question and that Blood wasn't looking for an answer.
His lips descended to hers in a soft caress. He kissed her gently, a barrage of butterfly kisses on her lips. Almost as if he was asking her if it was ok to kiss her, to touch her. These soft kisses lulled Alice into submission as she relaxed within his embrace. His arms held her form tightly to his while with one hand he gently stroked the length of her back. Before Alice could stop herself she found that her hands had come up from her sides and were pressed against Blood's muscled chest. The feel of her hands on his chest sent her heart into a mad flutter, and in return she could feel Blood's clock ticking madly beneath her palm.
Her hands weren't the only part of her body that were acting on their own. Before she knew it Alice found herself leaning forward into his kisses. This was all the confirmation that Blood needed. The hand that was tracing lines up and down her spine now came to secure the back of her head as the kiss became more intense. His lips were hot and demanding on her own. Her hands moved from his chest to his well formed biceps to help her steady herself against the onslaught of his kisses.
Alice felt the back of her legs hit against the bench. She had no idea that they had even been moving backwards. Blood quickly moved both hands to her waist and hoisted her onto the bench, his lips never once leaving hers. Alice's grip on his arms tightened at the unexpected move. Blood maneuvered his body so that he was positioned between her legs to have easier access to her lips and body.
Alice let out a gasp of surprise and Blood took advantage of the moment. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and pressed closer to her body. So many feelings and emotions were coursing through her body she didn't know how to make sense of them. His tongue was tracing designs inside her mouth, teasing her tongue, inviting it to join him. A strange sound met Alice's ears, she was quickly shocked and embarrassed to find that the sound she was hearing was actually coming from her. This seemed to send Blood into a frenzy. He pushed his body harder against hers until her back was pressed almost painfully into the side of the bath. His hand slid up her thigh and his fingers slide just under her small towel. This caused an enormous shudder to run down from her head to her toes. She was burning again. She gripped Blood's arms even harder. Her fingers digging into his arms. She heard the same noise again. Only this time it wasn't coming from her.
At that moment both were startled as the doors to the bath burst open and Dee and Dum came barging through the doors with towels around their waists and toys in their arms.
"One-san! Boss!" they exclaimed. "We came to play too."
Alice flushed at the position that she and Blood were in and tried to put some distance between the two of them and diminish the blush she knew was on her face. Blood grasped her waist to keep her from pulling away and turned a cool glare towards the twins.
"My my what lacksome gatekeepers I have." he said. "The two of you can come back after your shift ends."
"Our shift is over." said Dee unscathed by his Boss's glare.
"Ya and we wanted to come play with Onee-san." added Dum.
Before Blood could retort the twins jumped into the bath causing an enormous splash. Alice and Blood were instantly soaked. Alice pushed a strand of her soaking hair out of her face and regarded Blood. His hair was absolutely drenched and clung to his head and face.
Alice brought a hand to her mouth to try an stifle the laughter that was threatening to burst forth. He wore such an angry expression that she thought laughing wouldn't help the situation. But she couldn't hold it back.
Peals of laughter burst from her lips and tears began streaming down her eyes. To see the great and mighty mafia boss with drenched hair plastered very unfashionably to his face was one of the funniest things she had seen in a long time.
Dee and Dum looked at each other shocked at their beloved Onee-san's behavior. Blood's eyes narrowed for a moment but then he released a sigh and with it most of his irritation. He moved from in front of Alice to sit next to her on th bench. One arm slung behind her resting on the edge of the bath.
Alice's laughter slowly died down and she wiped the remaining moisture from her eyes as the twins swam up to her.
"Hey Onee-san what were you and boss doing?" questioned Dum.
Alice's face heated up as she tried to come up with some explanation for the position the twins had found them in.
"Well um you see... we were..." Alice stuttered trying to find something believable but not true to tell the twins.
Blood chuckled next to her and said, "Well you see boys when a boy and a girl..."
Alice quickly covered Blood's mouth with her hand before he could finish the sentence. Quickly changing the subject she said to the twins, "oh are those your toys? Can I play with them too?"
The twins were so happy that they immediately forgot what Blood had been about to say and proceeded to show her their prized possessions. Alice let out a sigh of relief of the bullet she had just dodged. She did not want to be around when Blood gave them the birds and the bees talk.
Alice leaned back against the tub and in turn back into Blood's slight embrace. While the twins were busy with their toys Blood leaned down towards Alice's ear and whispered, "We'll finish that later."
Alice averted her gaze from Blood's as her face heated up.
"I need to go to the Clock Tower." Alice said suddenly.
"And why is that?" Blood challenged cooly. "Don't you have everything you need here?"
Alice squirmed a little under his gaze and suddenly cold voice. Alice took a deep breath then met his gaze defiantly. "I need to explain to Julius why I didn't come back. " Alice said. "And I'm not asking you. I'm telling you that I'm going."
Alice was proud of herself for sticking up to Blood but at the same time she was extremely apprehensive as to how he would respond.
"Oooooooo" said the twins, suddenly forgetting about their toys.
"You shouldn't talk back to boss." said Dum seriously.
"Yeah." agreed Dee with equal seriousness. "Last time we got punished. Our pay got cut."
"Are you going to cut Onee-san's pay?" asked Dum.
Blood chuckled deeply and replied, "Oh no the young lady will get a much different punishment."
"You're not going to hurt One-san are you?" asked Dee worriedly.
"No." said Blood smiling. "In fact she might even like her punishment."
Alice's flushed furiously. She couldn't feign ignorance and pretend she didn't know what he was alluding to. Her heart was hammering loudly in her chest as she stood up quickly and prepared to exit the bath.
"I'm going to see Julius now."Alice stated.
"Very well." the Hatter said as if he were granting her some gift."Just be back before dark."
Alice scowled slightly at Blood as she stood and began to exit the bath. Before she could retreat from the tub Blood grasped her arm and pulled her down forcefully into his lap. Her vision was temporally impaired by the huge splash that was caused when he pulled her to his laps.
Before Alice could so much as make a sound of protest Blood's lips found her own and crashed down on them. It was a quick kiss but one that she felt all the way down to her toes. As if electricity rather then blood was coursing through her veins.
"Hurry back." he whispered huskily.
Even as she was walking to the Clock Tower Alice could still feel the waves of electricity coursing through her body.
_Alice timidly opened the door to the Clock Tower and sure enough there was Julius working diligently over another broken clock. It warmed her heart to see that some things would truly never change. It was just yesterday, but it felt like ages since she had seen him last.
Upon hearing the door open Julius quickly looked up from his work.
"Alice." he said. "I was expecting you back sooner."
"I know. I'm sorry if I made you worry." she said guiltily.
"I wasn't worried." Julius said suspiciously quick. "I was just curious about what had happened."
"Well..." Alice began then looked down at her feet not wanting to meet his gaze. "Not too good. I kind of agreed to stay there for two weeks."
"Oh" was his short reply. The tone in his voice made Alice raise her gaze from the floor.
"Its not that I want to." Alice said hurriedly. "I just didn't want to hurt the others feelings by refusing to stay."
"You should take more time to worry about yourself." Julius replied with a sigh. "You're too nice for your own good."
"It's only for two weeks." Alice implored. "Then I'll be back to living here again. That is if you'll have me back." she finished meekly.
"You always have a home here." Julius said equally quiet. His gaze turned back to the watch in front of him as he said. "How about some coffee."
Alice beamed at him in response then headed to the kitchen.
9.2 Alice thought happily as she continued down the path to the Hatter's mansion. That was the best score she had gotten on her coffee yet. She was feeling oddly light hearted at the moment and began humming on her way back.
She had just entered the part of the path were the path wound through the forest when day abruptly switched to night. Alice gave out a groan. She should have known that today was going to good to be true. She tried to reassure herself that everything would be fine. She didn't have long to go until she reached the Mansion. She just hoped that she didn't run into a certain heart obsessed knight. She definitely did not need anymore drama in her life at present.
SWISH
Startled Alice turned her head to try and find the source of the noise. Her heart was beating loudly as she strained to her ears to pick up any sound. After waiting for a few moments Alice continued down the path. It's probably just a bird or something Alice thought. Nothing to be scared of.
SWISH
There it was again!
SWISH
Whatever it was it was defiantly getting closer. Alice's heart hammered louder as she began sprinting down the path. Almost there almost there almost there, she chanted to herself over and over again.
SWISH
This time the noise came from right behind her. Alice turned to face whatever horror lie behind her. But nothing could prepare her for the sight that she saw. She was ordinally right when she thought a bird was making the noise. If this could be classified as a bird. It was easily three times as large as Alice with long think claws that could easily crush and cut any prey this bird might take. It's eyes were bottom less pits of black that seemed to radiate evil.
Alice let out a scream of horror and tried to scramble backwards away from the creature. The bird let out a screech of it's own as it lunged at Alice. Instinctively Alice's arms came up to protect her head right before she felt a blinding pain shoot up her right arm. The bird had easily cut through the flesh of her forearm with his razor sharp claws.
Grasping her cut arm tightly Alice turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could down the path. Her only hope of survival was to get to the Mansion before that thing shredded her to pieces. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she swiftly made her way down the trail. She could hear the beating wings of the bird in hot pursuit.
Another searing sense of pain jolted her right shoulder as the force of the bird's attack sent her tumbling to the ground. Alice let out a scream of pain as she felt the hot liquid of her blood run down her shoulder to mix with the blood leaking from her arm.
Alice looked up just in time to see the bird closing in. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.
A/N: Well I hope you guys liked this chapter. I know that it may seem slightly scattered but I wanted to convey the confusion of Alice's feelings. Also I wanted to show that Alice keeps putting off figuring out what to do about her situation with Blood and being stuck in Wonderland. I think it is a very human response when we are faced with a difficult situation to keep putting it off and saying we will deal with it later because we don't know what to do. Anyways I hope that you guys enjoyed reading. Once again a quick thank you to all of you who read and review. It truly makes my day.