Insane Implications

It had been only several days since Raige procured their daughter back to them but the world was still plunged in some sick, twisted version of Hell. Hearing that Charlotte had succumbed to madness was staggering enough as it was, but locking her down in the cellar until they could find a solution to this dilemma left Alice simply aghast. As if she needed any more reason other than carrying twins inside of her to feel so queasy.

It didn't help that blood-curdling screams of madness and frustration seeped through the wood floors every time Lottie awoke.

"There must be something," Raige would say each time after these nerve-wracking cries ended, although as the days went by he more than often mumbled it to himself in irritation. 

There was a way, but Alice had been putting off the notion in hopes of finding a better option. Sakura, even Starlight, offered their help in the manner of research and educated guesses but none came close to a substitution to what Alice had in mind. An act she never voiced to the others; the key to the lock of madness.

When the screeches finally dissipated, signaling Lottie's temporary acknowledgement to defeat, Alice shut closed the book in her hands with a loud thud. No one appeared to take notice.

"... There is a way," Alice finally said, her voice low and groggy. It felt like she hadn't spoken in days.

There was a pregnant pause, as all eyes drew collectively to the Soulkeeper, before Starlight broke the silence. "What? Did you find something?"

Alice smiled, though it wasn't enough to reach her eyes. "If only. There is a process that can be done to lock away Lottie's madness... but I'm the only one who can do it."

"Out of the question," piped up Raige, arms crossed and vehemently standing his ground by the cellar door.

"Believe me, I have been wanting to find another way since the day you brought her back, Raige," Alice relented.

"You mean you knew how to end all of this from the start?" sniped Star but she quickly held her tongue after drawing the attention of everyone's glares.

At this point, Sakura decided to speak up. "... Is it dangerous? The process?"

Alice met her friend's eyes, never wavering her gaze as she replied, "Potentially, yes. The connections between Soulkeepers' minds is not designed for this manner. Holding the connection for too long could prove lethal. As it stands, however, we have no other choice."

"Alice-" Raige began to protest.

"We have been looking for an alternative for days, Raige, and have come up with absolutely nothing," Alice cut across, her tone soft yet firm. She couldn't let him fret over it, not if it was Lottie's only chance to return to them. At the same time, Alice could not ignore how weakened she had become with this new pregnancy underway so offering herself as the solution to Lottie's dilemma was understandably objected. She could only hope, then, that Lottie was not completely beyond her reach.

The glint of despair and worry flashed across Raige's eyes, a look Alice had seen more times in her life than she would like to admit. He was losing his daughter to madness and potentially two more children and his mate all at once. Now was not the time to be brave... now was the time to be strong.

"Raige, I would like you to accompany me as I deal with Lottie," Alice proclaimed, earning a slight tilt of the head from her werewolf mate. She glanced away in thought before returning her sights back to Raige. "I need someone to keep me level. I don't know if I have the bravery to face her as she is now alone."

Of course she didn't have the will to do it by herself. Madness was suffocating, madness was terrifying... especially since Alice knew how hard it was to fight and stay afloat in that cynical sea of insanity.

She gazed out her bedroom window, reflecting on her most recent dream. It was familiar, yet also foreign. A forest, for which she journeyed through, hearing far off into the distance screams of innocent victims. She would run toward the direction of their calls, never having been able to find them. It was always the notion that it was her beloved friends in danger and yet their names always escaped her within the confines of the dream. It was not uncommon, she was sure, though she was intrigued with the familiarity factor of the dream. She knew that forest... a memory, perhaps?
The doorknob to the room jiggled, allowing for the door to be opened. Her face brightened as she found her visitor was Raige, coming to sit beside her on the bed she now lied upon. His beautiful eyes glistened joyously and a warm smile adorned his flawless face. He moved a lock of her hair to behind her ear and she tenderly held his hand with her own.
"How do you feel?" he asked, placing a hand on her enlarged belly. She chuckled as the baby moved beneath the warmth of his hand.
"Wonderful," she replied. Although ominously, the nagging thought of the dream suddenly drawing concern to her, though she attempted to mask it. Raige wouldn't know what the dream meant... right?

The Escape

And Alice stared at the man, into the kind eyes that would no longer hold that sweet vigor they so valiantly portrayed. Gently, weakly, did his bloodstained hand caress her face and he nodded with a small grin lining his aged and dying face as he slipped below the curtain of death. Frozen in shock and disbelief, Alice remained in a trance as the lifeless body of her closest friend and mentor left her arms into the hands of her captors, the family of Sinclair. Departing from the premises to leave Alice alone in the confines of her cold, silent room upon the floor of filth and blood the last words of the kind old sage reverberated through Alice’s mind, louder than the small whispers of the dearly departed that buzzed within her mind constantly.

“You have a soul, dear Alice. Don’t let them convince you otherwise.”

Unsure of the truth behind those words a feeling seemed to arouse itself within Alice, stronger than anything she thought she was capable of. The advice of the sage brought to light memories of truths Alice now questioned about her existence. Memories of her father restraining her moments after the procedure where she had slaughtered the individuals responsible for her transformation. And words, louder than thunder spoken by the head of the family Sinclair… a story of Alice’s untimely death as a human.

“You were abandoned, Alice. Your selfish parents stole your soul before their death. You brother left to sell it to the devil. We are your only salvation, my little Lacie. We can give you a new and better purpose… one that does not require a soul.”

Charged with the role of Soulkeeper, young Alice was convinced to save the souls of the departed so that they may never share the same fate as herself… to live onwards without a soul and face the horrors of the consequences as such.

Still a child and in need of guidance, the Sinclairs appointed the old man to raise the girl in fields of language and history, among other areas of education. Alice never came to know the man’s association with the family nor did she ever come to know his name. A past as mysterious as the pages of the books he showed her, the man of kindness doted upon the girl and cherished her as though she were his own. The girl took great delight in being in his presence and it was those moments where Alice smiled the most.

Academics, however, was not the only subject the wise man relayed to Alice. Philosophy, poetry, and ethics were among his teachings in order to give the little girl character. Constantly demeaned and reprimanded by the members of the family, Alice showed little to no interest in matters that did not relate to what was especially expected of her. With the Sinclairs restricting Alice’s options and the wise man reopening them in their sessions, it would be impossible to avoid confusion and faltering performance as a result of said confusion. These signs of internal struggle brought attention to the Sinclairs of the extraneous teachings of the old man and made to immediately eliminate him.

Here, now, the confusion still toiled within Alice as she sat helpless upon the bloodstained wood floor. Isolation to her thoughts was cut short as a maid entered the room and began clearing away the pool of the devilish red plasma. Alice’s eyes, which had been in somewhat of a trance, shifted sharply to the face of the maid, who avoided eye contact. The feeling that became present within Alice at the old man’s death suddenly arose and grew stronger and Alice hated the maid who would dare wash away the last existence that once was the man she learned to love as a mentor. Concentrating on maintaining this foreign feeling, it was not until Alice regained control did she realize the maid had gone and the blood had been erased.

At once, a strange resolve consumed Alice and suddenly desired freedom: a concept the old man taught her… to do whatever you pleased. It was absurd, for she was but a mere tool and as such showed only preferences in things that her caretakers approved of. The absurdity continued as Alice began to wonder. She desired the freedom to show pleasure and preference over to us seems to be nothing more than the simplest things such as colors, books, even food. What would it be like to do things without permission, she wondered. Without being reprimanded? Could there be such a thing? How will I ever know?

Unknowingly, Alice found herself gazing longingly out her bedside window, observing the coming sunset as it blanketed the trees and sky in a soft orange. Here and there flew a small sparrow upon the cool breeze of autumn and small specks of flying light from the lightening bugs began to glow. Creatures born into freedom and who lived it so needlessly, as though taking for granted the freedom they were given. Was it because they need not worry about losing that freedom?

The final toll of indecision was put to rest by jubilant words, no doubt spoken in response to Alice’s apparent desire to escape her prison; which surprised her, for she thought she would never hear the sound of his kind voice ever again only to remember that, as part of the departed, she would always be able to hear that sweet, mellifluous voice forever.

“Run, Alice. You still have a soul… now go reclaim it, my little Lacie.”

And she did so.