Hello all, this is Relic. I'm just writing to inform you that this will be the last updated chapter for about 2 weeks. I'll be out of state with no internet service except on my phone and though I'll really hate it I should be adding a few more new stories when I return. Thanks for your patience. Also, if you wish to contact me during this time I decided to get a Deviantart account. My username is RelicWhite (I'm so creative) and I'll be posting all my stories as well as art I can draw. I'd love to talk, so feel free!
Break watched quietly as the girl got closer while Alice stayed put, unsure whether to advance or withdraw.
"Mad Hatter was a man once before he was sucked into Abyss. A normal one, many say. Rather pleasant and even good looking. He was a hippie for his day and a major pacifist. He would never hurt a fly," Break continued listening in confusion, unsure why she was telling him this.
"The Hatter is said to have been thrown into Abyss by mistake. He was alone, surrounded by evil and violence. Silence was all he had. He screamed for help but no one came. He couldn't be heard. That's why, over time, as he stayed in there for years and years, he began to laugh and laugh. He started to loose his sanity and with that, his humanity, as you described. Think about it: what does a man, who would never raise a hand to anyone, do when stuck in a place surrounded by hatred? He began to deny it. He ignored and imagined and erased it from his mind. That's how the Hatter got his gift of denying the existence of anything from Abyss."
"Why do you seem to think it's important that I know this?" said Break quietly. "I've already heard the story of the Hatter. It's well told."
The girl laughed and gave a sad sigh.
"I should gut you right here," she said, dragging a talon across his neck, leaving a deep but non fatal cut. He flinched but did not cry out.
"I just feel like it's important for you to know, since I'm not going to kill you," she said finally. "Killing you was a stupid idea anyway. You wouldn't have learned the lesson I teach."
"How is he supposed to learn your silly lesson?" asked Gil. "You try to teach contractors to appreciate their chains but Break already does! He loves Mad Hatter far more than I ever cared for Raven that's for sure."
"This may be true, and if I had the time I'd teach all 4 of you about the way things should really be, but for now I really must go. I'll make you a deal though. For your trouble I will stop killing in the area. It's obvious you're not going to beat me and your friend here obviously needs some medical attention. I think I may have squeezed his fragile little heart a bit too tight," she said, and as if it were planned, Break coughed up spatters of dark colored blood.
"I will not kill your friend here, but I will not let him go free. He will learn my lesson and he will learn it well. He has not seen what my power can really do. He does not know who I am and soon, he will be questioning who he is. It was a rather short encounter I had with you all, but thanks for lending me your little punching bag here. I may see you again soon," she said and began to leave. She stopped short and slapped her forehead in self-frustration.
"I almost forgot!" She yelled before running back to Break's side. "I need to fix your eye!" She laid a hand overtop the bleeding socket and pushed lightly. Her blue eye was now once again replaced with black and Break's blood ran cold as she finished with the words "And thereby seal your fate."
Her hand began to glow a bright red color over the socket that momentarily blinded him and the others. When he could finally open his eye again the girl was gone. Gil, Oz and Alice immediately ran to Break the minute the coast was clear.
"Break I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I should have done. One move and you'd be…well…you know," said Alice, now back in her original form.
"Are you alright Break? We need to get you back and to the infirmary. Some of these cuts are pretty bad," said Gil.
"Oh shush all of you I'm just fine," said Break with his telltale smile. "She gave me quite the scare but she was probably just trying to intimidate…..intimidate….."
"Break are you ok?" Oz asked, looking at his expression. Break was now staring straight forward, he had stopped clutching his eye a while ago though it was still bleeding. His fists were balled and white at his sides, and he gave no reply.
"Break? Break can you hear me?" Gil asked as the man slid to the floor. Gil caught him by his arms before he fell and ordered Oz to get the carriage.
"Break tell me what's going on!" Gil said as his voice became panic-stricken.
"Something….something's wrong….I….Something terrible…..Is….wrong….." Break said in nothing but a whisper as his eye remained staring forward. The wind blew his hair revealing the bloody socket of his left eye but he made no attempt to cover it back up. Break always did this. He knew people found it disturbing, and he especially covered it in times like these in public.
Suddenly Break's mouth opened and he let out a horrible, blood piercing scream.
"BREAK!?" yelled Alice.
His arm shot up and his hand clutched at his eye socket, nails digging into the skin of his forehead. He thrashed and screamed louder, as Gil tried to hold him down in an attempt to steady him.
Sobs began to rack Break's body as he continued screaming, and he thrashed harder from Gil's grasp.
"Damn it Alice help me something's happening to him!" Gil yelled over the man's sad, rocking sobs and cries of intense pain.
"WHAT DID SHE DO TO ME?!" Break screamed as his hands shot up to his hair, which he pulled while biting down onto his lip and drawing blood.
"Break please, what is it that hurts? Tell me I promise we can help!" Gil yelled, but Break still gave no reply. He stopped thrashing and instead, curled up in a ball ripping at his hair and shrinking from Gil and Alice's touch. His screams stopped and his cries quieted but this made the whole scene much, much worse. Break continued to cry and as quiet sobs racked his body Gil couldn't help but punch his hand into the concrete ground.
These are the cries of a broken man. Thought Gil sadly. She said she'd break him, she gave him hell, but what in the world is going on now?
"M-my head….m-my head…." Said Break before his cries quieted even more. Now the racks of his thin frame were the only thing telling the two he was still awake.
"WHERE THE HELL IS OZ WITH THAT CARRIAGE?!" was all Gil could say, clutching his bloody friend.