Save Alice

Save Alice

A Story by E.V. Black
"

A girl is possessed by a deadly soul-sucking demon.

"

She pushed and pushed. All she wanted to do was stop, but the midwife kept telling her to push. She had to get the child out of her. The distressed mother couldn’t do it anymore. She heaved a heavy sigh and stopped.

            “Keep going! Push! Push!” she urged. “You must push or the child will be stuck.”

            “I can’t,” the mother whispered. “I…I have nothing left.”

            Slowly, the young mother could feel the energy leaving her body. She could barely breathe. The midwife turned pale and ran into another room to fetch the doctor. Meanwhile, the struggling mother watched as a dark black-purple shadow lingered about her body and thrummed straight into her womb. With it, she felt it steal her life energy. At that moment she wished that the child were out of her. She was feeling weaker than she ever had in her entire life. Her body was racked senseless with the painful contractions of labor, made worse by the lack of energy that the contractions demanded to deliver the child. The child inside of her was too much; she hated it. With that wish, the shadow grew stronger and shifted into the child that was begging to get out of her womb. She cried out in pain as the child scratched at her insides. Hearing the screams, the midwife and the doctor hastened their talking of what to do for the mother.

In the other room, the midwife and the doctor determined that the child would have to be cut out. So, they drugged the mother she was comfortable and relaxed. Then, they proceeded to using the scalpel to cut into the wound. The mother didn’t acknowledge the midwife or the doctor. She complied by staring at the ceiling before closing her heavy eyes. They didn’t realize it, but the mother was dying. Something inside of her child was taking her life. As she heaved her last breath, they delivered the bloody child from within her womb and swaddled her in towels. The midwife held the child, a girl, close to her bosom and saw how still the child’s mother was.

The mother’s expression was relieved, almost happy. Why she would be happy was beyond the midwife’s understanding.

            The infant cried out weakly, possibly for its mother. The midwife handled the child carefully for it appeared to be very weak. When the child was cleaned up, she was given to her father to be named. The father, Lord Everlorn, held the child tenderly in his arms. He had not yet named her. A week passed and he watched the coffin, which contained his wife’s body, lower into the ground. It was only after he was standing in front of her freshly mounted grave that he named the child.

            “You loved the name ‘Alice,’ my love,” he whispered, cuddling the child close to his breast. “‘Alice’ shall be her name.”

            From then on, the infant was known as Alice Everlorn.

 

            “I can’t believe it,” she gasped. “I get to go to a real school? With other kids my age?”

            Lord Everlorn nodded solemnly. “Yes,” he answered reluctantly. He hated the idea of her being out there on her own.

Growing up, his motherless child had had poor health. She was diagnosed with brittle bone disease after she had tripped over one of the rugs in the mansion. Silly thing that the event was, but she had been found by one of the servants. Tears were running down her cheeks and her legs were bent at awkward angles. The doctor said that she had severely fractured her legs. Ever since then, he had been determined to keep her at home. There were just too many possibilities for accidents to occur. Lord Everlorn couldn’t take that chance.

Alice squealed with glee and did a little dance in her wheelchair. Since that accident, Alice was still able to walk. Unfortunately, she was limited in movement by the orders of her father and the family doctor. Her legs were extremely weak. She only dared to walk a little on her legs. Meanwhile, her bright green eyes glowed even brighter with her happiness. Her father never let her out unless it was a special occasion. She had been fighting forever to get a chance to just be outside. Had her father finally seen her side?

“Oh Father!” she sighed. “You don’t know how happy you’ve made me.”

“Alice, I’m only doing this because I have no other choice. You can’t be cooped up inside without proper society. It’s unhealthy. You need to learn how to properly communicate with other children your age.”

“And what else is a perfect reason? It’s so lonely here at home, especially with just Ms. Meyer and Lionel to keep me company.”

Ms. Meyer was her tutor, a young woman who was clearly very fond of Alice. She was about twenty-five and loved teaching. Lionel was her noble purebred German shepherd. He was extremely loving, protective, and very gentle with Alice. That was one of the main reasons why Lord Everlorn had chosen him for her.

“Yes, I understand perfectly.” And her father did. Lord Everlorn was as cooped up in the mansion himself. Ever since Alice’s accident and her diagnosed disease, he just couldn’t bring himself to step outside. He had tried to escape the feeling of guilt that came with being a parent. It was no use. Lord Everlorn believed that her condition was his fault even though it was totally out of his control. “That’s why…I want you to see the world. I know you are weak, yes, but you need to know what’s out there. I would so much rather see you here, at home, where you wouldn’t get hurt. But it’s not right for me to keep you here. I know that. I can’t protect you forever, Alice.”

“Oh Father,” Alice sighed, rolling over to her father. She embraced him as best as she could. Lord Everlorn carefully wrapped his arms around his daughter. The slightest impact of strength could give her a bone fracture. Once again, his throat closed up. He felt as if he could cry, but he knew he couldn’t. Not in front of anyone, especially his own daughter. “You know I won’t ever leave you alone. I will always come back and visit. You’ll have Lionel to keep you company.”

At the sound of his name, the purebred German shepherd (who lay down outside of the doorway, awaiting his mistress) pointed his ears and raised his head. Indeed, Lionel was an intelligent creature and lived up to the great name of his breed. Lord Everlorn chuckled softly and stroked his daughter’s corn silk hair.

“He will definitely protect me well should I get into trouble.”

Alice pulled away to better look at her father. “I’ll be fine. I swear. And I’ll be really, really careful, like I always am.”

“I know. I love you, Alice.”

“I love you too, Father.”

 

It was quite a foreign place. A crowd of young teenagers choked the entrance gate to the school, which was the main building on the campus. The housing complexes for the students were left, for the boys, and right the girls. The ones for the teachers were exactly southerly of the school. Alice’s father had chosen a boarding school that was close to home. In case something happened, he would be able to retract her from school easily and immediately bring her home. Clad in her new uniform, Alice rolled over the smoothly built pavement. There were a few rough spots here and there, whispering the age of the school in her ear. It was quite old. That could also be seen if one looked carefully at the rest of the setting.

The grass and lawns, browning from the sudden chill of early fall, were manicured as nicely as could be. Reaching higher than the school, the oaks standing along the sides of the paths and next to the buildings were one of the oldest aspects of the school. Their roots slithered along under the concrete of the paths and disrupted its overlay just slightly. That Alice could feel under the wheels of her wheelchair as she rode over them. The buildings, the main school and the housing complexes were built of sturdy brick that may have once been a fabulous deep red. Now they were weathered with time though the janitors certainly kept them in top condition. There was a slight Victorian feel to the structure of the buildings. Certainly, the school had been originally built as a Christian school at the beginning of the twentieth century. The church, Roman Catholic in origin, resided farther north of where the school sat. When her father’s driver had taken her to the school that morning, she had seen it only briefly to get a slight impression. It was the one building the school didn’t appear to care for; the tell-tale signs its high grasses and crumbling walls. Although, she saw a priest come out into the surrounding yard (a cemetery, which sent shivers down her spine), so it couldn’t be abandoned. It was just extremely unloved.

Mirroring the old Christian school theme were the school uniforms. The entire school population was clad in plaid, navy, and white. The girls wore white blouses (long in winter, short in summer), plaid navy skirts with shots of red, green, and yellow, and varying socks (knee-highs in the cold, white socks in the warmth). The girls’ skirts came to knee length, but Alice saw some hitch them higher than she expected the school policy allowed. Some showed degrading peeks of their panties, which the guys positively lived to watch for every day. Of course, the boys wore pants, length varying with the seasons, and shirts made with thicker materials than the girls’ blouses. Both blouses and shirts were emblazed with the school crest, found also on the sweaters that could be bought for an extra fee. The crest was a traditional one (a shield) with the school motto “Ad augusta per angusta” (To high places by narrow roads) at the top with the school’s name, St. Francis de Sales Academy, in its shortened logo. At the right side of the shield stood a griffin and at the left a dragon. Both guarded priceless treasure, considered education in this instance.

As she took in all of this, Alice found that she had stopped in the middle of the path. Several people had to go around her. Within a few minutes all of the students were inside of the building. Only a few dared to linger outside. Her father’s driver tapped her on the shoulder to urge her to move forward. Then, he followed her as she bravely rolled into the school. The driver headed to the office to consult what he could do with the luggage. Alice followed him to receive her new class schedule. All the while she could feel everybody’s eyes on her. Obviously she was the only one in school who got around in a wheelchair.

            Nervously, Alice splayed her small, thin hands over her skirt. She smoothed out the creases. She had gotten her new uniform in the mail a week after her father had talked to her that August day. Now it was the first of September. Had it really been that long ago? She approached the desk and explained that she was new. They immediately directed her to an office with an older woman inside. Her name was Mrs. Winifred Thompson and she was to be her new counselor. As she took Mrs. Thompson’s hand in hers, Alice felt a raw hunger inside of her. Gnawing, wanting. The counselor’s eyes peered shallowly into hers, her mind seemingly on other, more troublesome matters. Alice gasped softly as she felt like she melted into…something

            -isn’t enough isn’t enough why why should get some botox surgery plastic look younger husband he’s cheating on me isn’t he i look too old for him he needs someone younger-

            Negative, doubtful, and guilty thoughts pulsed through the woman’s head. Alice didn’t know how she was doing this. How she could tell. Fear, raw and fresh, pervaded Alice’s mind. Against her better judgment, something deep inside her wanted another taste of that negativity. She could feel her body shaking as she peeled away from the counselor’s thoughts. Alice swallowed hard and kept her mouth shut, scared by…whatever had just happened. Her hands were still shaking from the event when the counselor had released her one from her own veined one. Mrs. Thompson glanced up at Alice.

            “Let me just bring up your schedule, Alice,” she said, turning her computer chair to her computer. She typed in something, did some clicking, and then brought up a screen with her schedule presented on it. Then, she printed it out. A few seconds later Alice had her schedule in her hands. All the while Alice’s eyes had been scanning Mrs. Thompson’s face.

There was worry etched into the wrinkles around her eyes. Her lips were made up a bright red that a w***e would be proud of and artificially made Angelina Jolie-plump by surgery. The counselor’s hair was dyed an obvious shade of black that anyone who saw it knew it was fake. Her eyes were focused on something other than getting Alice’s schedule. Inwardly, Alice felt extremely bad for her but scared at the same time. Whatever just happened to her was not a normal thing for a girl her age to be doing. Alice was still shaking when she rolled out of the office, escorted by one of the school’s administrators. He was a young, bald man whose bare head made him appear older than he actually was. Garbed in a suit, he looked professional.

He kept quiet during the short trip from the office to her first class. When he left her, he still hadn’t said anything to her. Alice wondered briefly if he ever talked. Alice was left alone to wheel into the class. The academy’s schedule for all students consisted of seven periods. Classes started at eight in the morning and ended at four in the afternoon. Core classes were required. She had been informed of her father of them being art, English, a foreign language, math, a physical education (which she was exempt from), and social studies. She looked at her schedule and found that her father had signed her up for Foundations of Art, English IV, French I, Geometry, and European History. Latin I and Mythology were the only two that weren’t required. She chose them herself. Hopefully, she would be able to read the school’s motto found on the crest worn on the breast of every student.

Her first class was European history, second geometry, French, English, art, Latin, and then mythology. Alice’s face was pale with fear from what had happened in Mrs. Thompson’s office. Everybody in the classroom was staring at her until the teacher ordered the class to welcome her. Welcome her quite warmly they did, but Alice suddenly felt weak and cold. Hunger, not stomach-hunger, chewed away at her insides, inside her psyche. Pursing her lips into a thin line, she smiled and nodded politely at her new classmates as the teacher showed her where she was to sit. Alice turned around to face the front with an attentive visage. Still, her fellows stared at her. She didn’t seem to notice.

The hunger and the fear pounded throughout her body, weakening her. Her body wanted to release its demons. Alice leaned back in her chair to keep from vomiting. Deeply, in and out, she breathed and paid no mind to those staring at her.

 

“Who’s that?” asked a boy in the hallway.

His friend frowned and looked around. “Um, who?”

The first boy motioned to the girl in the wheelchair. She was slowly rolling herself down the hall towards her second class. She was small and pale. The friend frowned. “That’s Alice Everlorn. Didn’t you hear?”

“No. I came in late today, remember?”

“Quinn, Quinn,” his friend chuckled, shaking his head. “You miss so much by coming in late. You seriously didn’t hear?”

Quinn frowned. “Would I have heard being gone all weekend?”

“Okay, okay, I get it. She’s Alice Everlorn. Apparently, she’s the daughter of a Lord or something. He’s really important, but he keeps himself hidden in that mansion of his. That’s why he isn’t known a whole lot.”

“Why is she in a wheelchair?”

“I’ve heard some things. I heard that her father tripped her down the stairs and her legs are broken because of it. He hates her because his wife died giving birth to her.”

“I just saw her move her feet, Jake,” Quinn answered.

“Okay, maybe she isn’t broken in the legs after all. Maybe she had some sort of…disease. She can’t be paralyzed.” Jake started making these weird faces. Shaping his mouth into a big, wide O and rolling back his eyes into the back of his head until only the whites showed. Quinn rolled his own heads and pushed his friend to the side as he started gagging. “What? I’m just playing, man.”

“Get off it.” Quinn shouldered his backpack, heavy with his brand-new textbooks. “I’m going to class. Maybe you can find one of the other guys to pawn off your rumors onto.”

“See ya, man. Lunch, maybe?”

“Doubt it. I’m skipping.”

Lunch hour was during fourth period, which was an entire sixty minutes of torture. Either you were in class or at lunch. No wandering the halls or loitering at the exits. If one did, then one could easily get detention. Personally, Quinn thought that such strict rules were utter bullshit. Nobody in the school listened, and rarely anybody got into trouble. There were too many kids doing exactly what the school didn’t want them to that he thought that the school had stopped caring. Not this year. Some of his friends had said that the new headmaster was going to reinforce those policies and start dragging out harsher punishments than just detention. Like expulsion. Scary. Not.

Quinn had always skipped fourth period to eat lunch outside. Nothing important ever went on his fourth period. It was either a class that did nothing (art, for instance, where the teacher let one go to explore one’s ”inner creativity”) or a class so absolutely boring (history) that he couldn’t stand for the class for drag on for a full sixty minutes. So, he skipped. None of the teacher’s could give a rat’s a*s about him anyway. Besides, those few times when he was in class, he worked his butt off. They give him an A and kept it that way even when he did skip. Quinn was smart and a hard worker, but he didn’t like to put too much stress on him. Another way of describing himself as being lazy.

The bell announcing second period blared right overhead of him. Quinn clapped his hands over his ears and winced from the sudden noise. When it had subsided, he uncovered his ears. His eardrums were still ringing with the noise and would be until he reached his second class. He headed to geometry, which was on the north side of the building. Walking up the hall he noticed that the crowd was parting up ahead for someone. It was the girl in the wheelchair, Alice, and the crowd dared not touch her with even the slightest whisper of a finger. From the back, it didn’t seem like she was paying any attention to the attention she was drawing. She was quite still except for her arms and hands, which consistently moved her forward. Her head was bowed down to look at her schedule in her lap and then back up at the door numbers. Suddenly, she stopped and looked around. It appeared as if she were lost. People flowed around her, no one stopping to help the crippled new girl.

Quinn felt a firework of anger explode in his chest and pushed forward through the crowd. He arrived by the girl’s side and stood there straight and tall. He looked down at Alice, who was very small and delicate compared to him. His dark brown hair fell into his eyes and he whisked it away with the bat of a hand. Alice glanced up at him. His first thought was that her eyes were very strange. They were a light green, but the whites were tinted blue. It wasn’t a freakish thing; they actually complimented each other.

Alice rolled around to face him. “May I help you?” her voice whispered. The pitch of her voice was soft but the tone very much audible.

“Hey, there,” he greeted her with a friendly smile. Luckily, she smiled in return, probably glad to finally encounter an amiable face. “I noticed you seemed to be having some trouble. Need to find your class?”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” she sighed. “I thought I was going the right way, but…I think I lost the room. Do you know where Ms. Benson’s geometry class is?”

Ice pleasantly trickled down his spine. “Hah, how cool! I’m going there right now. It’s my next class.”

“Oh wonderful!” she giggled cutely, her green-blue tinted eyes sparkling. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

He stuck out his hand and smirked. “Yeah, I probably should’ve said that before. I’m Quinn. Nice to meet ya.”

“Pleasure. I’m Alice.”  

She carefully took his hand, her grip loose but firm at the same time.

“Please be gentle,” she requested of Quinn just as he was about to tighten his grip. She could feel him do so. He loosened his grip with a patient smile. “Thank you, Quinn. I appreciate it.”

Vaguely, Quinn wondered what kind of disease, or condition, she had. Of course, it wasn’t exactly polite to do so. They had just introduced themselves and that would be pushing their current personal boundaries with each other. Quinn decided that he would have to gently drag it from her. Find out more about her and then ask. That seemed like the best strategy.

Quinn’s lips perked at the corners with a small smile. “No problem. You can count on me.”

Alice smiled gratefully and waved him ahead to allow him to show her the way.

 

To Alice’s pleasant surprise, she and Quinn shared periods three and four together. The subjects on their schedules occupying those periods were, in order, French and English. When it came time for lunch, Alice was very excited to see what real kids her age ate at real school cafeteria.

“I wouldn’t get too excited, Alice,” Quinn told her. “Cafeteria food isn’t like restaurant food. It’s really crappy. They use the same food twice.”

She frowned. “This is a private school, isn’t it? It has more money than public schools.”

“Actually the opposite. Private schools have to make their own money. Public schools have tons more money.”

“How do you know that?”

“I went to a public school for my elementary years. They had lots more classes, and really cool stuff, than this place. Much more.”

Alice mouthed, “Wow” to herself and rolled on beside him towards the cafeteria. Upon entering, hunger enveloped her. Not the stomach kind, but the same kind from before in her counselor’s office. Alice sucked in a breath as more voices washed over her body, boring into her. Grinding into her body, louder than Mrs. Thompson’s had been.

-god what a freak i wonder if she can even walk-

-how could he do this to me i hate him so much i want to kill him i have to do something get back at him revenge vendetta payback-

-she’s so pathetic can’t even get over the fact that i broke up with her what a stalker my girlfriend is so much better is perfect-

-i hate myself so much no one loves me pity god help me i can’t help myself i hate this world want to kill myself have to die suicide death SUICIDE DEATH SUICIDE DEATH-

As the thoughts bombarded her, Alice released the breath and began hyperventilating. More and more thoughts consumed her body, arousing and releasing a hunger deep inside. Quinn saw that she had stopped and glanced down at her. Her face was pale and her body was shaking. She was breathing too quickly to actually breathe. He started talking to her, but she couldn’t hear anything.

Alice went limp in her wheelchair, her eyes rolling and body breaking out in violent spasms. She barely felt Quinn grab her hand and shout into her ear. Couldn’t hear anything but those voices. Those loud, shouting thoughts. Such beautiful, negative energy…

Her eyes rolled faster and faster until they finally stopped. By this time, a few students had come over to stare and inquire about Alice’s condition. Gradually, Alice’s body halted its jerking spasms. She began breathing normally. Finally, she blinked and all deafness to the world around her dispelled. Then, she heard the low din of the cafeteria crowd go on as if nothing had ever happened to her. She sighed, straightened her body, and looked around her.

“What’s wrong?” she murmured. “Did something happen?”

“You were just spazzing out there,” Quinn said worriedly. “Like…an epileptic.”

“Is she okay?” asked a girl with glasses, looking worriedly at Alice.

“She was doing some major dancing there,” observed a big guy, who was quite serious.

“Do you want to go to the nurse, sweetie?” asked a grandmotherly-looking teacher.

Alice grinned widely and pulled herself to the edge of her wheelchair. She rose to her feet and dusted her plaid skirt off. Then, she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Nope! I feel perfect.”

The small crowd and the three teachers smiled in relief. Meanwhile, Quinn was frowning pensively.

 

“Are you sure you don’t need your wheelchair?”

Alice looked back at Quinn and shot him an “Are you crazy?” look. “Please, get rid of it. I feel spectacular.”

Then, Alice continued walking back to class. At lunch, she had eaten as like one of those people from the concentration camps. When she was finished, she had daintily dabbed her mouth with her paper napkin. Before, Alice had acted as if everything and anything around her was a danger. He could see it in the smallest ways. For example, she had taken her time avoiding other students (who had no trouble avoiding her). As Quinn surfaced from his thoughts, he observed that Alice was actually skipping. Disbelief, and suspicion, nibbled at the back of his brain. This was way too strange, especially for someone he had just met. Something was going on. He just couldn’t think about what exactly it could be.

 

A week passed and Quinn watched Alice’s behavior closely. Still, she refused her wheelchair, leaving it in her bedroom before she joined Quinn to walk to classes. He guessed that they were now friends. What a strange girl Alice was. She would say many an unexpected thing to him or to others. Clearly, she wasn’t used to being in a school setting. Quinn suspected something, and that was that the Alice he was seeing now was different from the one before, the one who rode in the wheelchair. The Alice he experienced exuded confidence and showed that, physically, she was strong. That’s why he suspected that she refused to ride in the wheelchair. The Alice he had met, he remembered, asked to he handled carefully when shaking his hand.

Quinn, being the curious one he was, went to the school office to ask about Alice Everlorn. He was denied access to her files because all students’ were confidential. Quinn refused to give up from there.

When he approached Alice, Quinn said bluntly, “Do you have a disease?”

Alice glanced up at him with a surprised look on his face. “No. Why do you ask?”

“Thing is that you were using a wheelchair last week and now you’re not. You asked me to be gentle with you. Now…you’re…”

Quinn motioned widely to her with his arms, exemplifying her current condition (which was standing in the school lunch line).

“I wasn’t feeling too good, Quinn. I had an accident over the summer, but I healed up last week. Is that all you had to ask?” she wondered brightly, smiling at him. Alice stepped backwards, forward in line, because she was facing Quinn.

“Yeah, actually. Okay! So, what’s the best thing to eat here?”

 

For two months, Alice had gone without her wheelchair. One day Quinn was walking with her down the hallway after school hours. Ever since he struck up his friendship with the strange girl walking beside him, Quinn found himself attending class more often and skipping lunch less and less. Of course, he did so on a good few occasions. In the time he wasn’t skipping (class or lunch), he was talking or spending time with Alice and his friends. Alice took to his friends immediately. They liked her as well, but they thought her quite odd. Still, her beautiful and friendly nature shone through.

That day Quinn was chatting with Alice about the homework for one of their classes together. He glanced over at Alice and noticed that her face was paler than normal. No blood pumped into her normally pink cheeks. Her lips were tight and her eyes wide and unobserving. Then, her face contorted as she took a step forward and completely collapsed onto the floor. Her body gave out from underneath her, seemingly as if it could no longer support her weight. Quinn heard the revolting sound of several bones snapping, much like dry and frail branches when stepped on.

Quinn fell down beside Alice and looked down into her face. Suddenly, Alice’s body started convulsing like she was having a seizure. Her head jerked from side to side so much that Quinn was afraid that she would break it. Just as abruptly as her convulsions had begun, they halted. Quinn waited a few minutes and leaned down to listen to Alice’s steady breathing. Gently, he placed a hand on her back.

“Alice. Alice, can you hear me?” His voice became more frantic, raising in pitch when she didn’t answer him. “Alice! Alice, I’m serious here. Alice, for God’s sake. Wake up!

Alice’s neck cracked to the side. Those blue tinted green eyes looked up at his. Quinn caught his breath and whispered, “Alice?”

Those eyes narrowed and something curled tightly around his wrist, clamping tightly. He looked down at his wrist to see Alice’s hand there, trapping his. “Alice is mine, dear Quinn. She is inside here and you�"can’t�"have�"her. Do you hear that? She is mine!”

The voice rasped harshly into his ear and cackled cruelly after she was finished speaking. Then, Alice’s hand thumped down to her side. Alice’s body cackled and cackled, echoing throughout the hall. It coughed and gasped for breath before groaning. A soft, recognizable voice rose to greet his ears. “Quinn? Quinn?”

“I’m here, Alice. I’m here. It’s all right.”

“Quinn…” Alice whimpered helplessly. “I…oohh, I can’t get up. My legs…they’re broken.”

“Oh God,” he groaned out loud. “Okay. Wrap an arm around my shoulders. I’ll carry you.”

Alice nodded softly. Quinn willingly bent down and felt Alice encircle a soft arm around his shoulder. Carefully, Quinn lifted her up into his arms. Alice didn’t move, couldn’t move. Tears were running down her cheeks. She leaned her head against his chest and looked up at him with glassy eyes. “Quinn…what’s happening to me?”

He wished he knew. Something was going on inside Alice, but he had no idea what it was.

 

“She has brittle bone disease.”

The school’s doctor, a woman named Dr. Marcell, leaned over Alice. Gently, her hands glided over the girl’s smooth calves and knees. “Yep. I can feel where the fractures are. Alice, you’re lucky that your legs didn’t complete shatter on you. So, so lucky.”

“Wait…what does that mean?”

Dr. Marcell glanced up at Quinn from behind her rimmed glasses. “You mean, you don’t know?”

“I…I never told him,” Alice whispered, whimpering as Dr. Marcell got up. The movement jolted her fractures, which caused pain to shoot throughout her body.

“Brittle bone disease stems from the body’s inability to properly control the production of collagen. Collagen is what helps build bones so that they resist breaking much better. So�"”

“�"the lack of collagen makes her bones weak,” Quinn finished, blinking in disbelief.

Dr. Marcell nodded gravely. “Thus, the slightest impact can easily make her bones severely break.”

“That’s why I rode in my wheelchair,” Alice added, staring up at the ceiling.

“And why weren’t you in your wheelchair?” Dr. Marcell asked sternly, turning to glance sharply at her patient.

“I�"I don’t know,” she whimpered. “I�"I�"I don’t know!” More quietly. “I don’t feel like myself.”

The doctor crossed her arms over her chest and frowned in confusion. “What exactly do you mean, young lady?”

“My mind…it drifts in and out. Sometimes I can control my body. Other times…I only look from behind. It’s not just me in here. There’s something…else.”

Quinn jerked at her confession. He shot a look at the doctor. She said, “Like…you lose consciousness?”

Alice shook her head thoughtfully. “Something like that. I…don’t know how to describe it. It’s strange.”

“If you don’t know anything else, I don’t know how I could possibly tell you what’s wrong. I’m not a psychologist. I don’t know how the mind works. Only how it physically heals.”

Alice nodded in understand. “Furthermore,” the doctor continued, “I want you to be using your wheelchair. No excuses.” She glared at Quinn. “Even if she refuses, absolutely insist on it. She can’t be breaking her legs. Or her spine. Something bad might happen to her, and it might be worse than what’s already occurred.”

Quinn nodded seriously. “No problem, doc. I’ll be taking good care of her.”

            When he glanced over at Alice, he found that she was smiling angelically at him. Warmth shot through his body and buzzed at the ends of his fingertips and toes.

            “I’ll have to keep her here overnight for observation. She can’t move anywhere for a while.” This time Dr. Marcell glared at Alice. “No moving. Got it?”

            Alice nodded seriously in return. Dr. Marcell’s shoulders relaxed instantly. The only reason she was so stern and serious, Quinn observed, was that she worried insanely about her patients. No doubt that Alice was extremely important to her. Quinn remembered when Alice had told him that her father was a fairly wealthy guy who held titles. Apparently, he also donated lovingly to the school. There wasn’t any question why Dr. Marcell wanted to take good care of her.

            “I’ll be back later,” Quinn whispered to Alice, leaning down to tell her. “Stay here, okay? I mean it.”

            “Okay, Quinn,” she answered, smiling softly.

 

            That night a thunderstorm brewed over the school. Lightning flashed and thunder clapped in the distance, growing closer with each passing second. It was the fifth clap of thunder, the closest one, which woke Quinn up from his sleep. He glanced around his room. The other four boys, who he shared a room with, were sleeping soundly. Only Quinn was awake. Immediately, he felt ridiculous for being startled awake by such a trivial thing. All night he had been having nightmares of Alice and a dark, evil thing that lived inside of her body. Right before he had woken up, the evil thing had been wearing Alice’s face and her body, but it hadn’t been her. The evil thing wanted his soul. That’s when he woke up.

            Quinn ran a hand through his hair. Sweat dangled in beads at the hair at his nape. His body shivered from the sudden onslaught of fear and adrenaline surging inside his veins. The valleys of his clothing were soaked with sweat; a light sheen still coated his flesh. He knew because he could feel it in the darkness. More thunder boomed overhead. A zigzag of lightning burst just outside of the window. Quinn attempted to flatten his hair with his hand before getting up.

            Inside of his head, thoughts of worry and concern for Alice swirled. Would she be okay? Was she okay by herself, staring in the hospital wing? Quinn had the urge to go down there and check on her. His heart was throbbing with worry. He needed to, just to see if she was okay.

            No reason why she wouldn’t be, Quinn, he assured himself. It’s only a thunderstorm. She’s only a girl. Nothing is inside her. That’s insane.

            Inhaling a strong breath, Quinn exhaled a shaky sigh. So much for his manly strength. Still, he tightened his fists and swung his legs over the side of the bed and slipped his big feet into a pair of boots. He made sure that he was quiet when he tiptoed across the room and slipped through the door. With a quick glance at the clock before he left, he found that it was just after two in the morning. Everybody in the school would be asleep. No teacher would be watching out for any kids sneaking out or away. There was nowhere close to the school to go to.

            He slithered down the hallway, checking each and every corner. Somebody might have decided to get up in the middle of the night to take a whiz. Frankly, he didn’t want to get caught. Luckily, he came upon no one and vice-versa. Soon he silently trudged down into the entrance hall to the boys’ dorms and opened the door. A blast of warm-cold air hit him. Sprinkles of water showered over him. Thunder boomed overhead, threatening to pour down more rain if he didn’t get inside the school quickly. Taking the threat heavily, Quinn hurried over to the school just as showers of rain spilled from the heavens. He stood under the cover of the entrance, pulling at the doors. Of course they were locked. Why didn’t he think of that?

            Frantically, Quinn pulled and pulled, willing with all his might for the doors to open. His attempt was to of no avail. He jerked his hands away and leaned against the doors, burying his face in his hands. What if something had happened to Alice? The worry in his body became a tight knot in the center of his stomach. That time in the hallway, and the first time they had met in the cafeteria, had really and truly scared him. Or maybe he was extremely concerned because he liked Alice.

            The thought aroused a blush to his cheeks. That might have had something to do with how worried he was about her. More so, he thought of himself as her protector. Why shouldn’t he be? He was strong enough, and Alice couldn’t protect herself. She was too weak to.

            As he was thinking these thoughts, the left door beside him slowly creaked open. Quinn’s body tensed at the sound. His heart throbbed, pulsing moment by moment with his breathing. The moment passed by sluggishly as he turned around to see who was pushing open the door. In the darkness, Quinn saw a shape. It made him jerk away from the door and into the pouring rain. The shape glided smoothly towards him, turning into a full-fledged figure. Quinn could hardly breathe. The figure was made completely out of tendrils of darkness and some kind of energy. When he finally got the courage to blink, the figure was gone. In its place was a familiar pale figure residing in a wheelchair. His heart nearly stopped.

            “Alice!” he gasped, his hand clutching his bosom. “God…damn it. Y-you freaked me out for a second there. Wait…” He furrowed his brow in anger. “You said that you’d stay in bed, in the wing. You’re not.”

            As he was about to berate her even more, Quinn fully focused on her face. Her eyes were filled with terror and her cheeks were wet. “Quinn,” croaked Alice, rolling desperately towards her. She held out an arm, eager to touch him. “Quinn. Oh Quinn, it was terrible!”

            Quinn rushed over to her and gently embraced her from where she was. Though it was slightly awkward in his position, he didn’t care. “Tell me.”

            “Something came from me,” Alice whispered. “I felt my body shake and shudder. Like that time in the cafeteria?” Quinn nodded, understanding. “I heard a voice in my head, whispering horrible, evil things. She�"it�"whatever wanted to feed. It was taking over my body. I tried to fight back. I tried so hard. Whatever was inside me…it’s loose.”

            He felt his stomach drop as if the earth was unexpectedly pulled out from underneath him. After she was finished, Alice broke down into sobs. Quinn squeezed her as close as she could to him without hurting her. Her frail frame shook as she cried her heart out. “I d-d-didn’t want to�"hic�"be alone… I-I went to l-look for s-s-someone. N-nobody was there. I couldn’t find Dr. Marcell anywhere. S-she promised me that she would be t-t-there with m-me.”

            “I’m here now,” Quinn murmured against her soaking hair. The storm continued to rage about the both of them. In the few moments they were out there, they were wet to the bone. Quinn could feel goose bumps protruding from his flesh. He didn’t care. He reassuringly stroked Alice’s hair until her tiny frame was still and her breathing had slowed. “We’ll go look for her, okay? Okay, Alice?”

            “Okay,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the storm’s deafening thunder. Lightning cracked across the sky, followed by a furious boom.

            Quinn rubbed her back soothingly before taking the handles on the back of her wheelchair and guiding her back into the building. By the time the two were inside, Alice’s tears had dried. Still, her eyes were shiny with pure terror. Quinn couldn’t even begin to imagine the horrors she was experiencing. All he knew was that he would try his best to protect her. How successful would he be at that? Quinn had no clue.

            Alice took charge of her own mobility. She had gotten back enough of her wits to wheel herself about. The fearful look in her eyes remained as her eyes darted back and forth across the hallway. The door slammed behind them, making them both jump, and left them in darkness.

            “Do you have a light?” Quinn asked.

            “Yes,” Alice whispered.

Then, a tiny light filtered through the darkness. Quinn squinted as his eyes got used to the incoming light. Alice’s source of light came from a miniature keychain flashlight. How handy. She swirled it around the darkness. The two of them saw nothing. Cautiously, they proceeded forward. Either of them could hardly believe what they were doing, but both knew that this more than just a mere brittle bone disease within Alice. Something had taken over her and had escaped. Vaguely, Quinn wondered why whatever resided inside Alice had decided to emerge at this particular time.

“We have to find it,” Quinn whispered, fear making his body quiver with pent-up adrenaline. He was ready to bolt at any second.

Alice nodded, glancing over at him with desperate eyes. “I agree. Let’s split up.”

He touched her shoulder. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Alice replied toughly. “I’ll be fine.”

“All right…don’t do anything too strenuous. If you find…it…scream for me. I’ll be there in a nanosecond.”

She smiled sweetly. “You’re so kind. Thank you, Quinn.”

Alice motioned him to come closer. Quinn bent down towards her. She leaned over and pecked his cheek. “For all that you’ve done for me.”

Blushing madly, Quinn pulled away and nodded like a tough guy. “I’ll protect you, Alice. Whatever it takes, I’ll save you.”

With another smile, Alice rolled away into the darkness. It took a few minutes until he heard the smooth squeak of her wheels recede into the din of the storm. He noticed one tiny detail that didn’t seem important: Alice wasn’t wearing any leg sets. They kept her fractured legs in place so that they could heal. Then, only the dull roar of thunder booming could be heard. Quinn was on his own.

 

Within his mind, Quinn reasoned that it might still be lingering in the hospital wing. It might be waiting for somebody to enter the room, setting a trap. He had no doubt of that. So, Quinn set out for the wing. On the way, he noticed something about the school: it was scary. The lack of any sort of light had stripped the school of its gaiety. His source of light was the sliver of moon peeking out from behind clouds. What light it gave off filtered in through windows, though it was quite dim.

He turned a corner, remembering that the wing was close to the main office and the entrance. Lo and behold, Quinn spotted just up ahead the sign sticking out from the doorway announcing that he had arrived at the hospital wing. Immediately, his stomach danced on and on with the tickling and nervous feet of butterflies. He didn’t have an idea of what it was. He did know that it was a malevolent entity. That was seared into his memory of that fortuitous encounter when it had come out and intentionally shown itself to be possessing Alice.

Quinn came face-to-face with the door and noted that it was completely ajar. Probably left that way from Alice’s escape from it. He stood outside for a few seconds, the tension growing within his muscles and stomach. He stepped over the threshold to break the silence inside his own mind. As if in response, the storm gave a boom of encouragement. That really helped to clear his mind. Quinn’s hands curled into fists, ready to fight whatever it was. The silver light of the moon illuminated only so much in the room. Hospital beds, Dr. Marcell’s desk, supplies scattered all about the floor… It appeared to be completely innocent despite the scattered supplies. Once again, he assumed that they were the result of Alice’s escape.

He stepped over the spilled and broken supplies to proceed farther into the darkened room. A flash of lightning briefly lit up the setting. Quinn saw something at the farthest end of the wing. There were curtains that hung around the bed to give each patient’s bed privacy if they needed it. Whatever he saw in that brief flash of lightning was lying on the bed, the thick white curtain pulled around its form. Step by step, he gradually approached the shrouded form. What he could hope it was, he had no idea. There were so many unknowns at this point that he didn’t even bother to think about them. His head was already spinning from all the fear and adrenaline pumping through him right then.

Finally, he came to the shrouded form. He remembered that this particular bed had been the one that Dr. Marcell had placed Alice in before. An idea niggled the back of his head, but he ignored it. It probably wasn’t that important. After this decision, he held out a shaking hand to draw the curtain aside. He hesitated for a moment. Then, he jerked the curtain aside, ignoring his anxiety. A sharp gasp of disbelief escaped him.

In front of him lay Alice.

Her body was still; she wasn’t moving. She almost appeared to be sleeping, but her chest wasn’t moving with the deep breathing sleep came with. Her cheeks were as pale as death. Quinn couldn’t believe his eyes at the sight of her. Her legs were set. The Alice he had encountered didn’t have her legs set.

Dread pumped through his veins. He frantically glanced around the room. Relief fortunately doused him. He had to get Alice out of here. Remembering that the Alice currently in front of him didn’t seem to be breathing, Quinn rested his hand on her throat and held the palm of her hand. Both contained a pulse, but it was extremely weak. The dread returned. It only grew worse as he noticed a leg and a bit of white doctor coat sticking out from the other side of the bed.

Oh God, no, he thought.

His fears were confirmed. Dr. Marcell laid there, her body screwed in different directions from what appeared to have been a pretty ugly fall. A pool of blood gathered around where her head had cracked against the hard linoleum. Quinn knew she was dead. No one could survive something like that. Her body was as pale and as motionless as Alice’s. Morosely, he cast a blurring gaze over at Alice’s body. It was hitting him just now. The person he had sworn to protect, silently in his mind and verbally just a few minutes ago, was almost dead. How could he have not known? It was masquerading as his friend.

He laid his head against the mattress where Alice’s body was. Quinn pounded his fists against the soft surface in rage and grief. How could this have happened? It took him a few more minutes to calm down. The…whatever it was wandering the school and would come looking for him. He was wasting time by being this emotional. He needed to prepare himself. Wiping his wet face on the long sleeve of his shirt, Quinn rose to his feet.

             “You know, I almost had you fooled,” chirped a sweet voice from behind him. His body stood paralyzed. Bit by bit, he slowly turned around to face Alice. No. It.

            It stood there in front of him, wearing an almost translucent white nightgown. Its white blond hair hung about its pretty and pink face, which was brightened by a sweetly malicious smile. It was unnerving to see Alice appearing this way. It stepped towards Quinn. Involuntarily, he took a step back. It took another one forward, blocking the doorway. He had no way out!

            Silently, he cursed himself for being emotional. “You fell so wonderfully for that sickly innocent act,” it laughed, its voice becoming dark and silky. Definitely not Alice. “And I didn’t even have to lead you anywhere either. You did all the work for me. Thank you very much, Quinn.”

            It laughed and Quinn growled, “Don’t you say my name. You don’t deserve to.”

            “Why? Because I’m not Alice?” It smiled maliciously at him. “‘I’ll protect you, Alice. Whatever it takes, I’ll save you.’ How obvious. And she didn’t know, did she? How you felt.”

It took a few more steps until it was right in front of him. Quinn glared straight into its eyes. “Don’t you dare.”

“Dare what? ‘You’re so kind. Thank you, Quinn.’” It fluttered its eyelashes prettily, making kissy lips. “She liked you, so it was easy to pull that out. Her life sickened me, but I must say she was quite tasty.”

It licked its lips, its eyes glowing with an evil red light.

What did you do to her, you…you thing!” Quinn cried.

An evil laugh, one that made Quinn shiver to his very bones, resonated throughout the room. “What did I do? I took her soul, that’s what. And it was very pure.”

The laughter continued. Anger grew within him, but dread and morbid curiosity did as well. “WHAT? You abominable creature, what are you?” he screamed.

“I am a soul-sucker,” it answered. Malice radiated from its being. “Souls are my meals and negative energy is my snack. You happen to be quite delicious right about now.”

The soul-sucker’s body, a masquerade of Alice, materialized into a pulsing purple-black shadow that headed straight for Quinn. Inside, Quinn felt a dawning of hope. There was still a way to save Alice, even if she was close to being dead. Her heart still beat. She was still alive. Feeling the hope pump through him, Quinn braced himself against the shadow. Nothing hit him. He looked around furiously before hearing the soul-sucker’s voice in the hall.

“The girl was too easy to eat,” the sucker groaned. “And the doctor? Hardly any fun. Let’s play a game. Try and find me, Quinn. I’ll do the same with you. Whoever finds who first wins.”

A chance. Quinn grinned to himself in triumph. He would protect Alice no matter what. He would save her. “Deal!” he answered.

“Good. Come and find me, Quinn, before I find you.”

The laughter faded as thunder boomed once again, but this time it was farther away. Raging outside only minutes before, the storm was finally moving away from the school. Quinn moved outside into the hallway, but not before giving a silent promise to the almost-dead Alice.

“I will save you,” he whispered fervently.

 

The school was silent as Quinn slipped down the hall. His head quickly whipped from side to side, his eyes darting this way and that. He was frantic. Alice’s life hung on a thin line, which daggled perilously in his hands. There would be so many unfortunate consequences if he screwed this up. Fury, grief, and hope were the only things driving him on. Otherwise he would have collapsed into a crying heap of soaked clothing. So far, there wasn’t any sign of the sucker. It was good at hiding.

He sneaked through the school. Quinn passed the home economics classroom and had the strangest urge to go inside. Why did he decide that? When he passed it, the tiny hairs all over his body felt like they were going to yank themselves out. That didn’t happen with the other classrooms. Maybe his body knew where the sucker was when he consciously didn’t.

Step-by-slow-step, Quinn led himself inside of the classroom. At that moment, there was very little light coming in from the outside. The storm clouds had blocked out the moon. He cursed himself for not bringing some kind of light. Whatever came in through those windows would be very precious. He would have to pay great attention to his surroundings. As he thought this, lightning flashed and his eyes took action.

The front of the classroom was filled with chairs and tables where the students sat. The teacher’s desk was stationed at the front of the class. The other half of the classroom was completely occupied by kitchen space. He could feel that the floor beneath him was composed of smooth tiles. Easy to sweep up any food or broken glass, which (he had no doubt) happened quite frequently. Unfortunately, he didn’t see anything. That brief flash of lightning revealed shadows to be everywhere. The soul-sucker could be hiding underneath, or in, something. It could also be in its shadow form and camouflaged among the plethora of darkness the night provided.

Gathering his hope and courage, Quinn pushed himself on through the aisles of chairs and tables. He was headed for the kitchen area. There were many ample chances to hide there, compared to scanty places among the desk, chairs, and tables. The sucker would want to take him by surprise, as he supposed any good predator would. Assuming that the soul-sucker actually was a predator. Somehow, inappropriately, that thought made him grin. At least he hadn’t lost his sense of humor. Once he entered the kitchen stations, Quinn’s grin didn’t last very long.

He was looking through everything: under counters, in drawers, in the oven, even in the smallest, airtight containers where the flour and sugar was stored. He came up with nothing. As his fingers brushed over the surface of an oven top, Quinn hissed loudly and put a burned finger into his mouth. Some genius home ec student had left a burner on the stovetop on. It was one of the few electric ones in the kitchen, one of two in actuality. The rest were gas. Secretly, he was glad that it was only an electric one. If it had been one of the gas ones, that would have been pure danger.

Flipping the electric burner off, Quinn paused a moment to listen. There was another boom of thunder. Suddenly, he was thrown to the ground, chest to the ceiling. Lightning flashed and the twisted face of Alice loomed from above him. It was grinning evilly, sharp teeth pointing out from behind its soft, pink lips. Alice’s soft blond hair rained down to tickle his cheeks. He was almost tempted to pull her down and let her kiss him. How soft those lips must be…

The sucker’s hand curled around his throat and squeezed threateningly, reminding him that this was not Alice. “Looks like you lose, Quinn,” the creature hissed sweetly, its black eyes burning into his. He had the strangest urge to just relax and let the creature take his soul…

Quinn was snapped out of his daze by the different colored stars that drifted into his vision. He felt lightheaded from the lack of oxygen, but he knew that the soul-sucker wouldn’t kill him. No, it wanted his soul. It would keep him alive but get him unconscious. Quinn struggled against the creature’s grip on him, but it was stronger than he thought. It kept its steely grip on him as firm as ever. He needed to escape. He saw the table standing near them and got an idea.

Quinn arched his back and redirected the creature’s weight into the table. The table, made out of stainless steel, was firm and disoriented the soul-sucker for just a few seconds. That was enough time for Quinn to escape its loosened grip and flee to the other end of the kitchen. Here he could see the gas stoves and got another genius idea. He knew it would work. It just had to.

While the creature was still confused, Quinn took the liberty of snatching plenty of paper towels from the dispenser. Then, he scurried over to the gas stove and turned on the front left burner. It was an older model, so it was stubborn to light itself. Slowly, the sucker was gathering its wits and sent a sharp look in Quinn’s direction. Quinn glanced up and saw it starting to come to itself. Frantically, he turned the burner, hearing it click again and again. Sweat crept down his spine. He willed the burner to light, begged  it to light. Finally, the burner lit and produced a heart and warm flame. Triumph surged through him. Quinn held the paper towels to the flame.

The creature saw what he meant to do. It flew for him just as the towels caught fire. The soul-sucker knocked him to the ground and pinned him there. Pushed by his genius idea, Quinn pushed and kicked at the creature’s stomach. It didn’t give up. It pinned his legs with its own and positioned its mouth over his. Alarm shot through his body as the creature leaned down close to his mouth. He could feel his body growing slack as his eyes met that of the creature’s. Somewhere inside his mind a voice told him to relax, not to struggle. He was going to die no matter what. The sucker was too powerful for him to escape.

His muscles loosened, giving in to the creature above him. Its eyes glittered in triumph. Its legs positioned on either side of his waist as it leaned down, mouth wide, over his lips. Quinn’s mind grew numb with surrender. He wouldn’t fight. There wasn’t anything left for him in life anymore. Sure, there was Alice… There was Alice. She was dying.

The soul-sucker inhaled deeply, closing its eyes in enjoyment of the fear it fed on. Its eyes closed, feeding off of his negative energy. The paper towels still burned, almost entirely consumed by the flame that scorched them. He grappled carefully for the towels and simultaneously tried not to draw the creature’s attention. Unfortunately, he could feel his energy disappearing. It was either now or never. Quinn’s fingers curled tightly around them and he shoved the burning towels straight into the creature’s face.

The sucker, sorely surprised, screamed stridently. It grabbed at the towels. In its form of Alice, its blond hair burned brightly. Light reflected off of all kitchen appliances. The heightening blaze crawled further up the sucker’s hair, eating at it hungrily. Eager to consume all in its path. Waving about the paper towels, the sucker tried to materialize into shadow. By this time, Quinn had heaved himself to his feet. He felt heavier than normal. Though, he was able to turn the burner switch on. Powered by its previous encounter, the gas burner easily caught flame and burned merrily. Seeing it, the sucker screamed even louder. Quinn’s eardrums were pounding in protest of the noise. He wanted so badly to cover his ears, but he knew that the creature would get away if he did that.

He grabbed the creature by the collar of its nightgown and, forgetting that it looked like Alice, shoved it into the fire. Still, the creature attempted to materialize. That only made Quinn push it farther into the flame’s way. At first, he didn’t think that the fire would get. Eventually, the burner’s fire caught the sucker’s hair, crept up to its scalp, and happily ate away at its flesh. If the screams of demons could ever be known, this was it in pure form. Almost astonishingly, the fire ate hurriedly at the soul-sucker’s body until it completely disintegrated into ash in front of him.

Standing in awe for a few minutes, Quinn finally grinned to himself and kicked at the ash. “Now who won the game?”

 

            Hastily, he skidded on the hall floor right outside of the hospital wing. He cursed, gathered himself up, and haltingly entered the wing. Quinn was afraid of what he would see, and he was. Alice’s body still lay there, same as when he left her. Dr. Marcell hadn’t moved a bit; Quinn hadn’t expected her to. Earnestly, he proceeded into the wing until he stopped right in front of the side of her bed. Alice’s face was pale, no rose apparent in her usually rosy cheeks. Quinn lowered himself to his knees. His eyes were fixed on her face, scouring for any sign of life. None showed itself.

            Numbness spiked him in the back of the brain and cascaded down into the other parts of his body. Absently, Quinn took Alice’s hand and rubbed her cold skin between his flesh. Trying to feel warmth. Trying to incite the strong, steady heartbeat he felt there.

            He caught himself for a moment. Heartbeat? Disbelief showered upon him. Before he could do a double take, Alice’s eyes were fluttering open. Her limbs moved. Her cheeks became pink with color. She blinked once more and looked over at Quinn with a numb expression. A smile caressed his lips and he cried with relief. He leaned down and carefully hugged her to him. Alice moved her small arms to embrace him.

            “Quinn…are you all right?” she whispered, her voice scared and small.

            “Alice…Alice, I thought you were dead.” Quinn gasped, stroking her lovely and soft hair. “You were right. But I destroyed it.

            “Oh Quinn,” she whimpered, her voice breaking as much as his. Alice hugged him tighter, never wanting to let go. “It was so…so terribly horrible.”

            “I know, but you’re safe now. You’re safe. Okay? Nothing will ever hurt you again, Alice. Not as long as I’m around.”

            Alice cried into his shoulder, whispering her thanks to him. His heart warmed. Pride and triumph lifted his soul and his mind. He was right before about having faith in himself. He hadn’t failed her at all. He was able to save Alice.

© 2011 E.V. Black


Author's Note

E.V. Black
For an informational note, this "short" story is about nineteen pages in length. This has to be one of the longest short stories I've ever written. I'm very proud of this, as I am about almost every short story I write.

I developed this idea about two years ago. It's stuck in my head, and my writing journal where I write my story ideas, for a long time. Finally, I made the endeavor to develop it. I have to say that deciding where to start for the beginning was really hard. I wasn't sure if I wanted to leap right into the middle of the story or not. So I decided to go from the angle where it began, which was the passing of the soul-sucker from mother to child. Of course, I skip parts to make the story go along faster. In the middle of the story, I realized that it was going to be longer than I anticipated. xD

Brittle bone disease is indeed a real disease. The first time I came upon a reference to it was in M. Night Shymalan's "Unbreakable." The bad guy in the film has brittle bone disease. Ever since I saw that movie, the disease stuck in my mind ever since. In the story, the brittle bone disease developed as a result of the soul-sucker leeching off of Alice at her birth. Obviously an unexplained phenomenon in the story.

Sincerely, I hope that you guys enjoy this. Man, this took a LONG time to write. About three weeks or so. Still, it was worth the effort. Enjoy, my readers! :D
Tell me your thoughts! I love to hear them.

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Reviews

Lot to read and long however I like the beginning how you just start with action along the talking!
Nicely written.

Posted 12 Years Ago


This was a really good short story!
~JT~

Posted 12 Years Ago


Cool idea to incorporate both brittle bone disease AND a soul-sucker, so it was difficult to tell what was really going on for a while. I loved the part when Quinn found Alice in the infirmary and realized that he had been talking to an impersonator. So well done! The ending fight between Quinn and the soul-sucker was intense. I think there should have been another scene in the middle of the story between Quinn and Alice, demonstrating their friendship more than just telling about how two months had passed and they were friends. I know the story is already a good length, but I felt like something was missing. It was more of a "so Quinn and Alice became friends, because obviously this has to happen if Quinn is going to save Alice," rather than taking their characters to another level and really showing their interaction. I hope that wasn't too vague--that's the best way I can think of to explain it....

Posted 12 Years Ago


What a beautiful story! This is the longest piece I have read on WritersCafe.
You immediately seized my attention with the unknown entity tampering with the birth process and the effects of said tampering. It was marvelous how the story progressed. I hadn't expected it. This is the sure work of a great writer.
I absolutely adore the name given to the initial character, "Alice Everlorn". The ethereal phonetics of that choice are luminous with innocence, beautiful frailty and genuineness.
Furthermore, it's great to see a character like Quinn develop into a man who changes to suit the needs of others in comparison to his past which was carved by his whimsical desires.
My favorite part had to be the passages in which the soul-sucker fooled Quinn into believing that it was Alice. You played a great part, as a writer, in deceiving the reader as well as the character.
I am simply enthralled with the irony of the soul-sucker's death. For the mundane flower of destruction to devour the mystical predator, which has hunger comparable to its own, was simply thrilling. I am in awe at the quality of your ideas.
There were a few grammatical errors, though I shall pay them no heed as the writing, in its entirety, far outweighs any of my own works.
I give you my sincerest congratulations to your accomplishments and I am making a vow to read and review more of these wonderful works.
I hope they are all are as grand as this piece. Why, I could write an essay on the quality and magnificence of this psychic journey! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Praise! 100/100


Posted 12 Years Ago


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Sam
I can see how much work and dedication you put into this, it's really wonderful. I love it :)

Posted 12 Years Ago


wow this is great, you put so much hard work into it and it shows. the characters are great and well developed. this makes me want to read more of your work, because i think ur super talented. i need to add this into my favorites too ! really great job and keep writing ok !
- S

Posted 12 Years Ago



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Added on June 3, 2011
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E.V. Black
E.V. Black

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My name is E.V. Black and I am honored that you have decided to peruse my profile. I started my writing career at a young age and have been writing for a very long time. I write in practically every f.. more..

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