Chapter Text
Neon lights were flashing in her face, she was standing outside a pub – her back against the wall. It was late at night, it was cold and she wasn’t wearing many clothes; a short tight leather skirt and a black tank top, without a bra underneath. Her hair was styled in two pigtails; she was also wearing make up – and that was the only thing that was bothering her, because she hated the fact that she couldn’t touch her face.
Music was pounding in the air, even if she was outside. One foot was on the ground, the other was against the wall, hitting it rhythmically.
She didn’t go by the name of Alice anymore, even if she still referred to herself as that name – she used ‘Dinah’ because it was safer that way. It wasn’t her real name, but she wasn’t comfortable using that one.
A young boy approached her, he was very tall and very thin – his cheeks were hollow and he had dark circles under his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was sore. “I’m late for a very important date”.
She had heard that code too many times that night, but she still had a few pills with her. She took out a transparent plastic bag, with a bunch of red pills inside. “What time is it?” she asked.
“Three o’clock,” the boy answered, looking nervously around him whilst taking a puff on a cigarette.
As Alice took three red pills out of the bag, the boy quickly handed her a bunch of cash, before grabbing his drugs and leaving without looking back. Alice counted the money and decided that it was enough for that night.
*
When she entered her apartment, the smell of dirty clothes and stale air welcomed her. She put the bag of pills on the counter along with her keys and headed towards the living room.
Alice could hear another person breathing but she couldn’t see anybody else in the room. She looked on the sofa, beneath it and then she decided to look behind it.
A man – approximately of her age – was lying flat on the floor. He had spiky blue hair, his eyes were red and he was smoking from a hookah. When he realised he wasn’t alone anymore, he glared at Alice with a confused look on his face. He took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice. “Who are you?”
Alice sighed, as she rested her arms on the back of the sofa and reached for the hose. “I hardly know,” she replied, as he helped her take a puff from the hookah. Who was she indeed? She had no idea anymore, and she felt more lost with every passing day.
“Dinah?” the man asked, confused. He pushed himself on his elbows, placing the hookah beside him. “How did it go?” how many questions did he want to ask her?
Alice smiled, happily noticing that the man was starting to coming down from the high – at least he remembered who she was. “Good,” she said, “very good. I’ve sold almost the whole thing”.
He slumped back, disappointed. “Almost is the same thing as nothing” he said. “We have to sell the whole thing, otherwise it’s completely useless”.
“Well,” Alice said, leaving the sofa and lying down beside the man, “maybe if you came with me, instead of staying here… we could have sold out”.
The man shook his head vigorously. “Not a chance. I do the magic, you do the rest. You’re the one with a pretty face and boobs. I’ve got the brain”.
“I once knew a man who produced his drugs and sold them on his own. It was strong stuff… the Hatter was addicted to it, you know?” Alice started to play with the end of her pigtails, as she remembered the past.
The man beside her shifted onto his side, “Nothing’s better than my alice” he said.
It was curious, thought Alice, that with all the names in the world, Blue had chosen that particular name for his creation. He didn’t even know that ‘Alice’ was her name too. “The Hatter used to call him Mr. Hyde – I don’t know why, he was such a nice guy. Small and elegant, his drugs were amazing – can’t quite recall the name, it’s all a blur now” she said, ignoring the guy’s statement.
Blue was a good man, he split his money with her. He made the drugs and she sold them; he was right… she had a pretty face, she could sell a lot of those red pills in just one night.
His stuff was good too, actually – but she wasn’t very sure it was completely safe. He was talented, but he was also high for the majority of the time.
“Wait here, I have something for you…” Blue jumped to his feet, and disappeared into another room. Alice was left alone with the hookah and she took advantage of her time with it.
When the boy reappeared into the living room, he was holding a little plastic bag with something tiny inside.
Alice smiled wide, as she got up and joined Blue on the sofa. He was taking out a bunch of little white mushrooms. “You’re not supposed to spend the money! We’re saving for our trip!” Alice scolded him, but secretly she was glad of his purchase. She was starting to get very bored.
“It’s a present,” he said, extending his arms palms up, holding a mushroom in each hand, “one will make you grow taller, and the other will make you grow shorter”.
Alice smiled, picking up the mushroom from his left hand. “I wouldn’t mind being a few inches taller” she joked, putting the mushroom into her mouth and he did the same with the one she didn’t choose.
*
Alice was woken up by a loud noise; she opened her eyes, scared and sat up on the sofa where she had fallen asleep.
It took her a while to understand what was happening; Blue was panicking, he was running around the apartment, desperately looking for something.
“What’s going on?” asked Alice with a sleepy voice, “What are you doing?”
The man looked hyperactive, he was sweating and his eyes were wide. “I screwed up” he blurted out, taking out a bag of red pills outside a backpack. “I’m fucked, they’re going to kill me”.
Alice stood up, and followed him into the bathroom, where he emptied the plastic bag down the toilet and flushed it. “What have you done?” she asked again, a little more worried this time.
Blue kicked the sink with rage and hurt himself. “Shit!” he whined in his teeth, grabbing his head and pulling at his hair. “I’ve received a text from a guy I know… his girlfriend died. She OD’d with my alice and now he’s gonna kill me”.
“Why would he warn you before coming to kill you?”
“Are you shitting me, Dinah? That’s the only thing you care about?”
“Sorry… it’s just that it’s not that smart” said Alice, leaving the bathroom. “What are you going to do?” she was way calmer than she was supposed to be, but by now, Blue was used to the fact that she was an unusual woman.
“I’m leaving… you should come too, I don’t want him to hurt you” Blue started panicking again.
He’s cute. The Rabbit’s voice ringed into Alice’s brain. I would love to cut him in half, but he’s nice to worry about you.
You think we should help him? Asked Alice.
Let’s kill him! Shouted the Hare. Let’s put him out of his misery!
Alice rolled her eyes, “Look… if it really is such a big deal, you can come with me. I wasn’t planning on leaving this soon, but if we can’t sell your drugs, it’s not fun anymore”.
“In America?” Blue’s eyes sparkled at the thought. “But I have my things here, I have a friend where I can stay for a while”.
Keep him, Alice. He’s fun.
She heard a voice whispering in her ear – it was the Cat’s voice. She was always inside her cage, but sometimes she could still hear her.
“If this guy really wants to hurt you, then what stops him from hurting your friends too? Come with me, I can assure you you will make great deals with your stuff in America”.
It was in his plans trying to make his alice become something big – she knew he wanted to do it, he was just too scared to leave and now it seemed like the perfect time to do so.
“Okay, fine. Let’s do it, but we have to hurr—” he couldn’t finish the sentence, because someone knocked furiously on the door. “Fuck… he’s gonna kill both of us!” Blue’s voice was nothing more than a whisper, but he sounded terrified.
“That’s okay, just lock yourself inside your room” said Alice, “I’ll deal with him”.
“Are you fucking crazy?” another furious knock on the door.
“Just do as I said” Alice’s tone was firm and harsh, Blue couldn’t object to anything.
When she heard the sound of the lock, Alice went inside the kitchen, she then opened a drawer and took out two big knives. “Rabbit?” she called in a small voice, “A little help?”.
Oh! Oh! Oooooh! Kniiiiiiiives! Lemme do it! The Hare whined. Come oooon! Alice! Alice, let meeeeeee do it!
“Fine…” she said to herself, as she donned a white apron, making sure her clothes were covered.
It was a matter of seconds, she closed her eyes and she just relaxed. She started to listen to the voices in her head – she focused on the Hare, she called for him, she reached for him. And the deed was done, she wasn’t Alice now, she was the March Hare.
*
It was such a great feeling, being in control of one – no! Two hands… two hands, two knives, that was just perfect!
He heard a knock on the door and then a loud thud. As he hid the knives in the front pocket, the Hare left the kitchen to enter the living room/hall, and to his great surprise, he found out that the door was on the floor and two big men were standing in the doorframe. “Who are you?” he asked in Alice’s sweet voice.
“We’re looking for Blue, where is he?” they had such a silly accent – like the one that the obnoxious Rabbit had.
“Not here,” Alice shrugged, “he left ten minutes ago, but if you want, you can play with me…”
The two of them looked pretty surprised by the invitation, and they shared a suspicious look.
“He left some of his candy here,” the Hare gestured the few pills that Alice didn’t sell. “We could eat them. I love candy” he sat comfortably on the sofa, patting the space to his side with both hands. “Come on, I’m so bored… let’s have some fun!”
“The son of a bitch is probably gone anyways,” one of them said and the Hare nodded with a wide smile. “Josh’s gonna be pissed, might as well enjoy our time before he knows we lost him”.
The other man didn’t look so convinced, but the first one didn’t care. They looked every much alike, but he had a big tattoo on his left arm, it was a snake with its mouth open – the other one, the Hare decided to refer him as Tweedledee, was bald.
They were big and muscular, both of them seemed to be pretty strong.
As the tattooed guy – Tweedledum – approached the Hare, he let the guy sit beside him before straddling him. The Hare grinned, looking into the other’s dilated pupils, he put a hand on his neck, feeling the pulse – strong and rhythmical. The vein was pumping, hot, sticky, red… he loved the colour.
The bald guy – Tweedledee – knelt beside them, placing both hands on a wooden small table, using it as a leverage to reach forward and kiss Alice’s neck. The Hare stretched out a hand on his chest and pushed him away. “Wait, it’s going to be your turn soon”.
As Tweedledum laughed his friend off, the Hare turned his head to him and with a quick move, he took out both knives, crossed his wrists and cut a deep X into the guy’s throat.
As hot blood spurted immediately onto Alice’s body, the other guy tried to get up – but the Hare was quicker and he nailed his hand to the table, stabbing it with one knife.
The other guy kept gushing blood from the wound, and the Hare felt happier than he did in months. He loved that feeling – why on earth does something that feels so good be so wrong? Who had decided so?
Ignoring Tweedledee’s cries for help, the Hare stood up – and the tattooed guy’s body fell limp onto the sofa.
“I’m going to have even more fun with you” he said, but a voice inside his head stopped him. It was the damn Rabbit. There’s no time. Finish him off, or I will and it won’t be pleasant for you.
“You are obsessed with time,” the Hare whined, but he did as he was told and he cut the guy’s throat quickly, letting him bleed to his death on the wooden table.
Now, back off!
*
Once Alice was Alice again, she felt a shiver running through her spine – she had no memory of what had happened, but she looked at the time and she realised she was away for less than five minutes. It was incredible, the things that the Hare was capable of.
She heard a door opening, and Blue’s voice cursing. “What the fuck have you done?”
Alice took off the bloodstained apron, and used it to clean her face and hands; she was trying to be calm but she was actually enjoying the feeling of killing again – or at least of letting the Hare out. “I have saved both of our lives, you’re welcome” she hurried to her room, and started packing. She heard Blue joining her, but he didn’t enter the room. “We’re leaving. No one will know where we are, don’t worry” she turned to him and smiled.
He was pale, greenish almost – on the point of fainting. “How can I? You’ve just killed two people and now we’re leaving? I— where are we going? What are we going to do? God, we are so fucked” he covered his face with his hands, breathing hard.
Alice sighed, starting to pack again. “I told you not to worry!” she tried to assure him with a kind voice, “I know a safe place”.