Hello everyone :3

So I'm an idiot. I realized that I had already written a chapter 12 months ago, and to be honest, I like this version best. So I decided to replace the other chapter 12 I posted with this one, since I'm not proud of the other one. Sorry everyone. *bows*

I hope you all enjoy this one.

Thank you very much to all the readers out there!

Disclaimer: I do not own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice

-CHAPTER 12-

-THE START OF INSANITY?-

"Where are you going Alex?" asked Aura- covered in blood with a butcher knife in hand- as she approached me with a twisted smile on her face.

I crawled on my hands and knees, trying best to escape the horror that slowly crept its way towards me. The gash in my thigh was extremely painful.

"Who are you?" I asked with tears in my eyes as I crawled towards the balcony. We were two stories high in a burning building that was ready to collapse at any given moment. It was becoming difficult to breath, and I couldn't stop myself from coughing up the fowl taste of copper.

"What do you mean?" Aura asked as she giggled.

Why wasn't the smoke of the fire affecting her?

"Wh-who are you?" I asked then coughed up more blood.

Tears trickled down Aura's cheeks as she laughed lightly.

"I'm Aura. Who do you think I am?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side.

"N-no… You're not…"

"Hm?"

"You're not Aura! Aura would never do these things! YOU AREN'T MY SISTER!" I shouted while glaring at the girl.

There was a moment of silence before Aura's eyes widened. She laughed loudly, feeling amused with what I just said as the tears continued to fall down her cheeks.

I could feel an unexplainable fear creep upon me. That was definitely Aura's body, but it couldn't be Aura herself. Aura wasn't this… insane.

As she continued to laugh, all of my confidence faded into nothing. I no longer had the ability to speak.

Parts of the building were collapsing at this point.

"Well then~. If I'm not your sister, then who am I?" Aura asked darkly. "Who am I, Alex?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words failed to come out.

I…

I'm scared…

I'm scared.

I'm scared.

Run.

Run.

Run!

"GO AWAY! ! !" screamed Aura as she charged towards me quickly, swinging the butcher knife at my face.

I awoke, screaming at the top of my lungs.

"Shut the fXXX up!" said an unfamiliar voice.

My body shivered in fear.

Just what kind of nightmare was that?

Trying to forget the bad dream, I slowly lifted myself from the cold floor and looked around. I was apparently in a small cell. How and why I was in there was beyond my understanding.

I looked past the bars to see two faceless sitting at a small table, playing card games with one another.

"I don't know why the hell we gotta babysit this dumb brat," said the one wearing a blue jacket.

"Well she's an outsider and living with the mafia. Using her as a hostage, we can finally bring down that mad hatter," said the other one in black while placing a card down.

"Like hell we can. Don't even know if he'll bother with a brat like this. The one we were supposed to kidnap was the one named Alice. Those damn idiots screwed up and got themselves killed."

"What about Alice?" I asked weakly.

"Shut the hell up. All you've been doing is whining since we brought you here," one of the faceless said in anger.

I decided it was best not to ask anymore questions and looked down at the hard, stone floor in disappointment.

Ah… But I was whining?

I looked down at my right leg. The dream felt so frighteningly real.

But Aura would never act like that. Aura was a good girl…

I continued to stare at my leg.

Aura would never…

My hand grabbed the bottom of my dress and pulled it up slowly.

…would never…

I continued to lift the dress up to my thigh.

…kill me?

My eyes widened in fear and confusion as I stared at the scar on my right thigh. It was at least five inches long.

Why did I never notice this before?

I jumped and quickly covered my leg as the door to the room was knocked down.

"Where the hell are you keeping her?" asked a familiar man with orange hair and bunny-like ears as he marched into the room.

"C-crap," said one of the faceless as they both grabbed their pistols.

They were unfortunately too late for Elliot had lifted his gun and shot them both dead.

"Alex!" Elliot shouted in relief.

"Sister? Where is she?" asked the twins as they ran into the room. "Sister!" they shouted merrily and ran towards me.

"Are you alright?"

"Did they do anything to you?"

I quivered in fear as I nodded slowly, trying to give the boys a reassuring smile.

"Sister's shaking."

"Dammit. We'll kill all of them," said a furious Dee.

"No need. Blood should be killing off the rest," said a disappointed Elliot. He really wanted to stand by Blood and take care of all those faceless himself. But Blood had insisted that he went with the twins.

"Stupid chicken rabbit!"

"Who are you calling a stupid chicken rabbit? I'm a dog!"

Elliot grumbled as he found the keys and marched over to the cell door to unlock it.

"Chicken rabbit's too slow," said Dum as he and Dee stuck their tongues out at Elliot.

"I'll deduct your pay!" Elliot threatened.

"You can't do that!"

"Just you watch you fXXXXXX brats!"

The moment the cell door clicked open, Dee and Dum rushed to my side.

"Are you okay, sister?" asked Dum.

"Did chicken rabbit take too long to open the cell?"

"H-hey!"

"I'm fine," I said quietly.

"Sister's still shaking," said Dum with sadness in his voice.

"Did the faceless scare you that much?" Dee asked.

"No…"

To be honest, it wasn't those men who scared me. The fact that I was locked in a cell didn't frighten me either. What scared me the most at this point was the dream and the scar on my leg. I never noticed that scar there before, and it just suddenly appears after that nightmare? Nightmare… Could nightmare have done this?

It was hard to make out what Dee and Dum were saying at this point.

As I looked up, my body froze. Standing behind Elliot and the twins was none other than a bloodied Aura. That twisted smile was on her face as she tilted her head to the side.

"Wha-"

"ReMeMbEr YoUr SiN."

My… sin?

Aura suddenly appeared in front of me, her face an inch from mine.

Screaming loudly, I jolted back and banged my head against something hard. Everything became dark afterwards.

I awoke in soft sheets on a cozy bed. I had somehow ended up in my room in the Hatter Mansion. As I rubbed my eyes, I heard a gentle sigh beside me. Looking to my right I saw Alice asleep with her head rested on the bed.

Sitting up, I looked around the room for anything suspicious. Everything seemed normal.

"Alex!" exclaimed a happy Alice as she hugged me tightly. I never even realized she had woken up.

"I've been so worried about you," she said while trying to hold back her tears.

"What happened?" I asked while feeling confused.

"Oh Elliot and the boys said you fainted after they found you. I was so worried, Alex. These men tried to grab me, then Dee and Dum came to rescue me. Blood took over after that, and he and Elliot finished off the rest. Afterwards the boys and I went to check on you and you were gone! The window was broken, and there was glass everywhere." After saying so much at once, Alice took a deep breath then sighed. "We're all really glad you're okay," she added with a smile.

So the twins came to her rescue first, huh?

"With Dee and Dum coming to your rescue, I bet you're probably falling for them right about now," I teased.

"I don't think that's possible," Alice said in a monotone voice. She didn't look too pleased with what I said.

"Well that's a real shame," I said while lying back down.

"I like my men grown up, thank you very much," Alice said while trying to pull me back up. "And you need to get out of bed. You've been sleeping for too long."

I groaned as I was forced out of bed and got dressed.

"But what's wrong with younger men? Especially younger men who are always there to protect you and love you so much."

"They're not men. They're boys. And I only see them as brothers, Alex."

Judging by the tone in Alice's voice, maybe it was best for me to not go too far with this conversation. The way she spoke made it sound like she had already had this conversation with somebody else.

"Hey Alice?" I asked, remembering something from when I was in the cell.

"Yes?"

"Did anyone tell you what happened before I fainted?"

"Ah, well Elliot said you screamed and backed away from the boys. Come to think of it, you should probably talk to Dee and Dum," Alice said with a finger placed on her chin.

"Why's that?" I asked curiously.

"Well Dee and Dum think that they're the reason you screamed. I don't think that's true though," Alice responded with a gentle smile.

"Ah… Yeah a misunderstanding."

"I thought so."

"But did Elliot or Dee and Dum see anyone? Like a person?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, they didn't," Alice answered after a long pause. "Why do you-" Alice stopped speaking and became worried as she saw me trembling.

Only I saw her? Was I hallucinating then?

"Alex?"

"Y-yes?" I asked, trying my best to push the fear away.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I lied.

The look on Alice's face told me she didn't believe me.

"Trust me, Alice. Now let's go," I said with a forced smile as I was dressed and ready to leave the room.

"Okay…" Alice said as she turned to leave.

I sighed in frustration. I really had to get it together. There was no way Aura would be here.

*giggle*

I spun around as I heard the giggle from behind.

Nothing.

"We're going, Alex."

"Okay," I said as I tried to dismiss the giggle as my imagination and move on.

"ReMeMbEr YoUr SiN."

I quickly ran out of the room and caught up with Alice.

'It's not real' I repeated in my mind over and over again.

*giggle*

There's something wrong with me.

And that is the end of this chapter. I know, I know, I made this chapter dark. XD

Now here's a question for the readers: Is all of what Alex is seeing and hearing real or in her head? Do you guys know the answer?

A lot of things are going to be revealed in the next two chapters. *hearts*