Chapter three
Alice waited in her room for a long time, but Bumby never returned. Eventually she fell asleep in her room to the sounds of the other children around the house doing various things.
Bumby stood in front of Alice's room door for several seconds before deciding not to go in. It was too soon and his advances would get him nowhere. He needed to be patient for this to work. Bumby retreated back to his office, pulling his stained red shirt off and throwing it in the bin. He then sat at his desk, keeping himself busy with paperwork that was way overdue. Forgetting completely that Alice was locked in her room.
After some time Alice woke up in her room feeling very hot. She trotted over to the window and opened it. It was dark outside and it reflected her drowsy face. The window suddenly reminded her of her adventures with the looking glass and how simple life had been back then. Lizzie was always delighted to hear her stories, and Alice never got tired of telling them. But like herself, her wonderland had gotten broken beyond compare, the Cheshire had gotten quite mangy and the queen was very bitter indeed. She thought she had fixed her wonderland but it was even worse than before.
A cold breeze calm rolling in from the window as Alice stared at the moon. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't even found the hatter before she was pulled out of wonderland again. She didn't even know what was causing the destruction! All she knew is it needed to be fixed but she couldn't get back to Wonderland for some reason, something was keeping her away but she didn't know what. Alice turned in her room and faced the door. She had gotten quite hungry after all her times of passing out and was wondering if dinner was being served yet. Alice tried the door handle and realized it had been locked. She cursed under her breath and looked out of her window realizing she was on the second floor and that she couldn't really crawl out. Her thoughts quickly turned to Jack Splatter that evening climbing out of her window.
How could he have done that so silently?
Thought Alice while staring out again.
But then again he did beat the bodyguards of the Mangled Mermaid…
Alice thought as she heard three swift knocks on her bedroom door.
"Alice?" came the voice from the door whom Alice automatically recognized as her Therapist.
"Yes, I'm here doctor; however you seemed to have forgotten to unlock the door"
There was some silence for a moment and then Alice heard the noise of a key being slid into the door. A moment later Alice stood staring at her therapist who was wearing a different shirt then he had been before. His hair was messy and she immediately noticed the crusted blood on his knuckles.
The silence went on endlessly as the two stared at each other. Alice felt uncomfortable under Bumby's gaze as it seemed to be burning into her soul. It was a different look then he had ever given her, and made her feel hot as if under the sun.
Bumby took a step forward and suddenly Alice felt very hostile. She no longer felt safe with him in the room. She wanted him to leave.
It was still silent as Bumby took another step forward. Alice took a step back. This happened a couple times till Alice's legs hit the edge of her bed. She sat down slowly never breaking her eye contact with her therapist. Bumby no longer advanced. He merely glanced up at her window.
"You're going to keep it locked right?" he asked after some time.
"Um, Yes" Alice said slowly.
"Jack Splatter won't be back again, but let me know right away if he does okay?" Bumby said slightly overprotectively.
"Alright" Alice said letting out a sigh of relief, she didn't know how worried she had been till just then. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.