The Adventures of Alice and Max
Chapter 17: Alice Finds Something
“Miss Rose, how are you today?” Rapture said, his voice full of dread and deceit. It climbed like spiders inside her eardrums. His breath smelled like alcohol and garlic.
“Doing just fine.” Rose noticed Rapture’s fellow henchman who gazed at Lily. Lily stood paralyzed by fear.
“Who were you talking to,” he asked curiously.
“Oh, just one of the children. She’s up on the roof.”
“May I speak with her?”
“Oh, really, Captain, she’s kinda shy.”
“So am I. Call for her please,” Rapture said coldly and without hesitation.
Rose hesitated for a second and then called, “Alice!”
Concealing her face, her voice echoed.
“Yes, Miss Rose,” she yelled sweetly. “What is it?”
“The Captain wants to speak with you.”
“Oh really? Cool!”
“Alice. Is that your real name,” Rapture asked.
“Why yes, Mr. Captain, sir!” she said, never to show her face.
“Come out, so I can get a good look at you, kid.”
“Well, sorry, Mr. Captain, sir, but I’m afraid I can’t do that!”
His face became red. “Why not?”
“Because we’re all playing hide and seek. Miss Rose is trying to find me and I don’t want her to. You see? So I can’t come out of hiding until she finds me,” she said her voice ringing sweetly like a tune.
Rapture gazed, annoyingly at Miss Rose as she said, “Children’s imaginations are wild, aren’t they?”
“Some might say... annoying,” he answered back with a forced smile, concealing his anger.
“What are you doing out here?” He stood straight in her face without fear or any reservation. Fully armored with his sword in its sheath, he had a handgun in its holster and a knife in his back pocket. The lights that hung above in the alleyway reflected off his bald head.
“Well, you know what I’m doing,” Rose said. “Looking for lost children.”
Grinning mischievously at her, rage boiled up inside of him. “I know what you are doing. But remember I can’t have these kids roaming my streets looking for more kids. They’re gonna cause trouble. Where there are kids there’s most likely gonna be trouble. It always finds them. You were told for the last time that only you can look for them. You’re supposed to find these girls jobs, not use them for your own interests.”
Rose tried to gather herself but faltered, “Captain… I’m not using them-”
“Don’t insult me, Rose. Just learn how to yield to my requests. Can you do that?” His words pierced through her soft skin.
“I sure will try, Captain.”
“I don’t need you to try, I need you to obey,” he spat.
“Very well, sir.”
“And another thing, have you heard of those illegals who got into the City?”
“I have Captain.”
“And if you found them you would tell me about them? Is that right?”
“Yes, Captain,” Rose said quickly.
“Rose, I fail to trust you so willingly. You would tell me if you came across them, right?”
“Yes.”
“Because if I find that they scurried along here. If they came crawling to you, I need to know about that. Because I know you were friends of Reginald. Reginald was taking these children somewhere and I think he was taking them to you. I know you were acquaintances. I know you two worked together and I don’t like it. So, you must realize how important this ordeal is for me.
“I work for the Queen and she is… well, let’s just say she’s demanding,” he smiled wickedly. “And I don’t let her down. Ever.”
“Well, you are a competent soldier, I can tell you that, Captain.”
“Stop it, Rose. You have to realize that if I ever find out that you were hiding them from me…” He grabbed a hold of Rose’s throat and thrust her against a dumpster. “Then you and I are gonna have a little talk. OK,” he said through gritted teeth.
She couldn’t breathe. Hurriedly, she nodded and he let her go as she gasped for air.
“If ever I find them at your place. It’s not gonna be pretty,” Rapture said as he walked away with his partner close behind.
Lily looked after the white-colored soldiers and then ran to Miss Rose.
“Are you OK, Miss Rose?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine, Lily.” She rubbed her thumb along Lily’s pale cheek. Standing up, she called out for Alice.
“Maybe, you were right. Stay up there and watch out for trouble.” Alice gave her a thumbs up. Miss Rose gathered herself with a deep sigh and looked around to make sure no one was watching. She bade Lily and Alice farewell and was off to check on the other girls.
Alice loved the fresh air on her skin. She leaped and bounded across the rooftops. She followed close behind her new friend, Lily; watching her every move and knowing she was not fit to defend herself of whatever came their way.
The girls went further and further away from the safe house. Deeper into the darker parts of the City, they descended.
Eventually, they came upon two older boys who were fighting. The bigger one started to lay his hand heavy upon the smaller one. Alice saw a few yards ahead and screamed at Lily to stay behind. She ran as fast as she could while the bigger boy kept roughing up the other. The boy started to bleed and bruise all over. She saw a power line that had been cut. Taking hold of it, she swung down onto the bloody scene.
“Hey! You leave him alone!” The stocky boy threw the weaker one on the ground as he collapsed face-first onto the hardened concrete.
“What’s it to you, honey?” he snarled at her with clenched fists.
He was big, but Alice could take him. He ran at her and swung. Ducking, she punched him in the ribs twice. He backed away and rubbed where he hurt. He regained his composure and lunged again, but Alice did the same.
Kicking him square in the face, she waited for him to fall as he was stunned. His vision went fuzzy and then his adrenaline kicked into high gear. She dodged his grasp as he fell into a pile of dog shit. He wiped it away, smelled it, flinched at the odor, and got up into a fighting stance, viciously attacking again. Alice evaded him again, by swiping, hitting when necessary, and finally punching him in the jugular. He collapsed on his knees clutching his throat as Alice mercilessly looked him in the eye, kicking him across the face and knocking him unconscious.
Alice went over to the little boy. “Are you OK?” But she knew he was dying. His body was bruised badly. Blood was all over the place. In a daze, he couldn’t answer, but coughed up blood as he kept on calling out to his mother. Alice tried to console him, but couldn’t. He squirmed, flailed in agony, and cursed her.
Lily approached cautiously.
“Alice…” She wanted to say something to her, to try to console her, but she was out of words.
Light faded from the boy’s eyes as his movements and limbs died down. He looked at something, out in the distance. He gazed at something unseen and then looked at Alice.
“There… is something... Out…there…” He coughed up blood.
“What do you mean?”
“The...light…”
Alice looked at him confused. Sadness overcame her whole being. Nothing she could say would change it. Pitying this poor child, she tried to find the right words to console him, but all she said was, “It’s going to be OK. Keep looking at the light. Keep looking.”
His face became pale. Red lips became cold and dark. His eye twitched and then it stopped.
Breathing his last, his heart stopped.
Alice began to sob over this poor child. It pained her to watch someone die in her very arms. She could do nothing; powerless. Life had slipped through her fingers. She could not force her way to save him and he died awfully; he died with no comfort and no dignity, murdered and taken unfairly.
She continued to bury her face in the boy’s chest and screamed out to anyone who would hear. Lily came close hushing her friend softly.
“Alice, let’s go. We have to go…” Alice lifted her head from his chest as she wiped her tears. She looked at his pale face, caressing it. Picking him up, she brought him over to the corner and laid him down. Taking off her jacket, she laid it over the corpse.
Lily motioned for her to come. “We should hurry on back.”
At the haven, back home they could find no solace. Coming back without any new souls, they returned with a different spirit, broken by the experience.
To Be Continued…
