Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of the irrespective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Based on the characters created by Stephanie Meyer, in her TwilightSaga series of books

WARNING: This story will contains scenes of domestic violence, strong language and other forms of physical violence, up to, and including death.

Chapter 13

The Bottom Of The Well

It was dark when Alice woke, darker than she had ever seen it. She was on a thin mattress, but it was on the floor this time. Her body hurt from the hardness of the floor, and the position she had been sleeping in. She looked around her, trying to see something, anything, that would tell her where she was. She listened carefully, and heard the sounds of footsteps from above. She felt the floor and discovered it was dirt, then brushed her hands together to clean them off, while pulling herself farther onto the mattress. Her head snapped up when she heard the sound of rattling keys echo from outside the room.

"Please." She whispered. "Please, can I use the bathroom?" Mary Alice cringed on the hard lumpy mattress, as she heard the keys being worked in the lock of her door.

She felt, rather him saw, him approach. His advance was silent, but his breath was ice cold as she felt it on her face, when he got close. His eyes seemed to give off a soft, faint incandescence. She gasped when she saw the red glow, backing farther onto the mattress, that she soon discovered, was against a wall.

"No need to be frightened, child. I don't eat children." The smooth musical voice seemed amused.

"Don't touch me." Mary Alice hissed out.

"Why not?" He asked. He had never seen a child so terrified. He had seldom seen an adult so terrified, and still capable of coherent speech.

"I don't want to see." She began to cry.

"See what?" His voice was nearly laughing.

"I don't want to see the people you've killed."

Her voice had not even been a whisper, yet he heard her. He heard her loud and clear. He stood and walked to the end of the room, where he found a large metal bucket. He brought it back with him, and placed it next to the mattress. Then we went to the wall, across from where she sat crying. He pulled a small piece of material from a tiny slit of a window, and threw it on the bed.

"The bucket is your bathroom." His voice had turned hard, but it was still beautiful. "Use the clothe for a blanket." He pulled the keys from his pocket and moved to her door, but stopped before leaving. "My name is Thane. Whisper for me, should you need anything." He left the room as quietly as he had entered.

Mary Alice continued to cry until the need to relieve herself became too much for her. She got up and used the bucket, then struggled with it until it was sitting next to the closed cell door. She returned to her mattress, and waited. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed the the room was not completely dark. She saw a small sliver of moonlight through the slit of a window that Thane had uncovered. The moonlight hit the end of the mattress that was farthest from the door. She pulled the small piece of material over her, as she laid her head on the spot where the light was the brightest.

As she watched the small slice of sky, she listened to the sounds of the basement. She heard Thane's keys, as he entered another cell. She heard the whine of a man, as he was gripped with fear, then a small gasp of pain. She heard a quiet sucking sound that reminded her of Cynthia. And she heard the soft cries of the man, as he collapsed onto the dirt floor, moaning weakly. She heard Thane as he closed the cell door, and she heard the sound of the keys as he continued down the hallway. By the time he was opening the next cell door, she was asleep again.

The light of day woke Mary Alice. There was no direct sun, but the sliver of daylight did allow some light into the room. She blinked her eyes and looked for the bucket to relieve herself. She noticed that it had been emptied and washed out, and was thankful. When she looked around, she was able to discern the dimensions of the room. It was smaller than the rooms she had been in before, but there was nothing in the room except the mattress, and the bucket. She placed one hand on the wall near the door, and began to walk around the room. She hummed to herself as she walked, waiting for someone to come and bring her breakfast. But as the hours crawled by, her stomach began to growl and roll in on itself. She became dizzy and had to sit down before she fell, as the room began to spin.

"Please, may I have something to eat?" She whispered. "Please?" But no one came.

#

Mary Alice woke to the darkness, again. This time, she was sure she was in the same place. She tried to sit up, but her stomach rolled, and the world began to spin.

"Please," she whispered, with her eyes closed against the spinning. "Please may I have something to eat?"

Mary Alice heard the keys jangle from the end of the hall. She heard the tumblers of her lock clang into place, and her door swing open.

"Please," she whimpered.

Thane looked down at the tiny child, curled in on herself. He tilted his head to his left shoulder and smiled. He went to the child and stooped down, balancing on the balls of his feet.

"Weren't your meals enough for you, little one?" He asked her softly.

"I asked," Mary Alice cried, "but no one came."

Thane was suddenly standing. He frowned down at her, anger beginning to cloud his red eyes.

"You have had nothing to eat today?"

Mary Alice could hear the anger in his voice, and she cringed at the thought that it was directed at her. But she shook her head, as she slowly moved away from him. She could hear Thane as he sniffed the room, then the obscenity that hissed from between his teeth.

"Take my hand, child." He ordered her.

"No!" Mary Alice cried, the fear increasing. "I'll see."

Thane studied her. He watched the tears pour from her eyes. He watched the way she held her head in defiance of him. Thane was not in the habit of being denied, especially not by a mere human, and definitely not by a human child. He grabbed Mary Alice by the hand, and gave her a small tug. She came up off the floor instantly and struggled to get her feet under her. The minute she felt the icy fingers wrap around her hand, she saw him, as he went into the cells. She saw how he used a knife to cut the arms of those in the cells, then suck the blood from the wounds. She watched as he would lick the wounds clean of blood, then leave the cell, leaving the person alive.

"You don't kill them." She whispered.

Thane looked down into the wide brown eyes of this most amazing child.

"Do you read minds, child?"

"No. I have dreams. Auntie Molly said that I have the sight." Mary Alice didn't know what to make of this ice cold creature. She looked up at him, trying to see his face, but all she could see was the red of his eyes. "What is the sight?" Her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her.

"Walk with me, and I'll tell you."

Mary Alice walked by Thane's side, her hand clinging to his little finger, as he led her down the dark, dirty hallway. At the end of the hall, she saw a small gas light over a large sink, with a table on one side and an old metal cabinet on the other. She watched as Thane turned on the water, then lifted her to the table. Mary Alice sat on the table as Thane adjusted the water temperature. She was finally able to see his face, and was surprised at what she saw.

"You're pretty." Mary Alice giggled, but soon began to feel dizzy, again. "I don't feel well." She told Thane, and she leaned over to lay on the table.

"Feel this, child." Thane ordered Mary Alice, as the water in the sink had begun to rise.

"It's very hot." She told him, sliding her hand over to the sink and into the water.

Thane turned off the hot water, and let the cold run for another minute. As the temperature of the water cooled, he reached over to the cabinet. From it he pulled a bar of soap, and an apple. He handed the apple to Mary Alice, then reached back into the cabinet for a clean rag and a metal cup. He filled the cup with water before turning the tap off.

"Chew that," Thane ordered Mary Alice, as he watched her taking bites of the apple, and swallowing them whole. "And slow down."

"I don't get to eat very often here." She told him.

"You will now." Thane frowned at her. "You would make an astounding one of us, when you're older, of course." He smiled down at her, as she chewed her apple.

"You were going to tell me." She said between bites.

"Tell you? Oh, yes. The sight. It is a used to describe the ability to see the past, or future of some one, or some thing."

"You talk funny." She giggled and finished her apple.

When she was completely finished, there was nothing left of the apple but the stem. Thane took the short stem, between the tips of his thumb and first finger, and threw it into a small trash can under the sink.

"Now," he smiled at Mary Alice, "you need to take off that filthy night dress."

Mary Alice looked at him, shocked at what he was asking of her.

"But you are a man." She whispered at him.

"Of course I am." he laughed. "But I can assure you, I have no interest in the tiny bodies of miniature humans. I only wish to bathe you."

"But I've never been naked in front of a man." Her voice came out on her breath, as a heavy whisper.

"You mean your daddy never gave you a bath?" Thane had read her file after finding her in one of his cells. He wasn't usually curious about his charges, but a child of such a tender age struck him as much too young to be in his cellar-at the bottom of this well.

Mary Alice sat straight up, her eyes locked with his laughing red ones.

"My Daddy wants me to die." She announced this with all the conviction of someone far older than her four and a half years.

Thane stood back from her and frowned deeply.

"Perhaps it is your father who needs to die." he stated quietly, as he pulled her night dress over her head. "But as for right now, it is time for you to bathe. Into the water, little one." He forced a smile on his face, as he watched Mary Alice slide from the table into the sink.

"Ohhh," she moaned. "That feels so good." She giggled as she dunked her head into the water, and felt the warmth seep into her cold tired body. "My name is Mary Alice." she told Thane.

"Rather long for such a tiny girl." He joked with her. "I'll call you Alice. It means, to be of nobility. Are you noble, Miss Alice?"

Alice giggled as Thane scrubbed her hair.

"Nnnooo." She sang her answer. "I'm not noble." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "What does noble mean?"

Thane laughed as he rinsed her hair.

"Miss Alice," he stooped to look her in the eye. "I am very strong, and not accustomed to handling such small humans. If I ever hurt you, you must tell me immediately. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mr. Thane." Alice looked very serious, as she nodded her head to verify that she understood what he said. "But what does noble mean?"

Thane chuckled to himself as he soaped the rag, and began washing Alice's body.

"You don't need to call me mister. Thane is all that is required. And as for noble, it is to give of oneself, before taking for oneself. To be of nobility means to be born of noble or royal blood. Like a king or a queen."

"Thane?"

"Yes, Alice."

"Will you drink my blood when I grow up?"

He was caught completely off guard by her question. Thane realized that he was going to have to stay on his toes with this child. She was going to cause him some heartache, he could feel it in his bones.

"No Alice. I will never drink your blood. It will make no difference if you live to be one-hundred years old. I will never drink from you. But I will protect you. I will never be far from you. Not from this day forward, for as long as there is venom in my bite, will you never be without my protection."

Alice smiled at him, and when he leaned in to continue her bath, she placed her wet hands on his lean cheeks, and kissed his lips. Thane jumped back from her, shocked by her show of affection. Alice's eyes grew wide in surprise.

"I'm sorry." She frowned and lowered her head.

"No Alice." Thane stepped back to the sink and continued with the bath. "I am the one who is sorry. You did nothing wrong, my child. Nothing at all." He smiled at her, to take away the sting of his actions, and tried to draw her into conversation.

"Tell me about yourself."

"I'm four and a half." She told him. "I'll be five in August. Mark said that August is in about eight months. Mark was very nice. I miss my Grandmother. Callie was making me a new dress for Christmas. I didn't get it. Molly would give me treats when ever I had a dream, scary or not. I just had to go down to the kitchen and wait for her. She had really good treats."

Alice prattled on about her life in the Brandon house. She told Thane about her mother, and her death. About her sister Cynthia. She talked about Rita, and her son. By the end of her bath, Thane knew all there was to know about a four-year-olds life. When she was clean to his satisfaction, Thane drained the sink, and wrapped her in a large towel he pulled from the cabinet.

"You sure keep a lot of things in that cabinet." Alice watched as he pulled out a men's shirt and some string.

He laughed at her curiosity and set her on the table. He toweled her hair dry, then helped her put on the shirt. She stood while he tied some of the string around her waist, making the shirt into a long dress for her. Then he rolled the sleeves and tied them up around her upper arms. He frowned again, when he looked at her feet.

"I was in bed when my Daddy took me to the man in the carriage. He said his name was Dr. Hadley." Alice looked down at her feet. "I don't have any shoes." She sighed heavily.

"Never you mind." Thane told Alice. He picked her up off the table, and carried her back to her cell. "Stay here." He set her down on the mattress and left her cell, closing the door behind him.

Alice listened as he let himself into another cell. She heard him as he sucked blood from someone in the next cell. From the sounds, she counted five other people in the cellar. She was sure she was the only child there, and she suddenly felt very lonely. As she heard the keys approaching her cell again, she called to Thane.

"What is it, my child." Thane asked as he stooped to look at Alice.

"Your eyes are so bright." She placed a hand against his cheek, and felt the cold. "What are you?"

Thane saw no fear in her-not anymore. Now that he had fed, he had the time to sit and talk to her.

"I am a monster," he told her.

"No you're not." Alice giggled.

"But I drink blood. That is something a monster does."

"But you are nice to me. And you don't kill the people. I can hear you. You only take a little from each one. Monsters just kill people."

"What do you know of monsters, Alice? Have you ever met one?"

Alice thought hard for a moment, before her mouth opened in a large 'O', and she breathed out the words, "I know one." She leaned closer to Thane, as if it was a secret. "My Daddy." She told him.

Thane was once again, taken aback by this small, perceptive human child.

"Yes." He agreed with her. "I believe that your father may be a monster." He took a moment to think on the issue, before he asked Alice another question. "Tell me Alice, what is your father's name?"

"Vernon." Alice began playing with the hem of the shirt she wore. "Vernon Brandon. He's a lawyer."

As she said her father's name, she sat straight up and the vision started. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she saw Thane stalking her father through the dark streets. She saw him grab her father by the hair, and pull his head to the side. She moaned and shook, as she saw Thane sink his teeth into her father's neck, and begin to suck the blood from his veins. She watched as Thane let his body drop to the ground in the alley where he found him. She watched as he wiped away the single drop of blood that escaped his mouth, with the back of his hand, than lick his hand clean. And finally, she watched the satisfied smile that spread across his lips, as he looked down at the body.

Thane waited patiently while Alice came out of the vision. He noticed how her breathing was heavy and loud. He watched as she began to refocus on the here and now. And he watched-as she looked up at him in wonder.

"Will you drink from the other people, on the night you kill my father?"

Thane should not have been surprised, but he was. Alice was a marvel. One he intended to protect, and avenge. And he decided then and there, that he would always be honest with this tiny human.

"No, my child." He smiled at her. "That night, and for several nights afterwards, I shall not need to feed."

"Will you tell my father that I said Merry Christmas? I wasn't home for Christmas." Alice looked sad. "I missed Christmas."

Thane had never considered human holidays to be of any interest, but with Alice in his life, he would have to change his way of thinking. He quickly considered her predicament, and thought of things he would be able to do for her.

"Alice."

She looked up at him.

"Do not expect anything during the day. I will be here as night falls, until dawn. Sleep as much as you can, during the day. Ask for nothing. I will provide for you."

Alice nodded her understanding.

"This is important, Alice. Listen to me carefully." He placed his finger under her chin, and tilted her face a little higher, to look at him. "You must never tell anyone about the blood. You must never tell anyone about the things I do for you. You must never tell anyone about the things we talk about." He smiled at her, sure she was able to see it in his eyes. "Do you understand me, Alice?"

Alice smiled back at him. "Yes, Thane. I understand. I'm very good at keeping a secret."

"If you tell anyone, they may move you to another place, and I won't be able to see you as much."

Alice jumped to her feet, and threw herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she squeezed as tightly as her child's muscles could squeeze. Thane hesitated, then wrapped his arms around her as well. He felt her begin to sob, as he smelled, then felt her tears dampen his neck.

"Please don't leave me." He heard her muffled plea, as her lips moved against his neck. "I'll never tell anyone. Please, don't you leave me, too."

Thane held her until she stopped sobbing and fell asleep. He laid her on the filthy mattress and covered her with the scrap of curtain. As his hand caressed her head, he realized that she would need a hairbrush soon, or he would have to cut the tangles from her hair. He looked to the window slit, and saw the sky was beginning to lighten. He rose and went to it and sniffed. Rain. He smiled to himself. It was going to be a good shopping day. He took one more look back at Alice, before closing and locking the door to her cell. Today was going to be a very busy day for him.

Please Review!