Writing Prompts Used:
1. Wow, somebody needs a Happy Meal.
2. "Get a move on, will ya!"
3. This is what happens when...
4. It's coming for me. It WILL find me. I don't have much time.
"Get a move on, will ya!" Rick swore under his breath. He checked his cell phone. Then the cafe clock. Then after a few seconds checked the time on his cell phone again. The time was still 1:32 PM. Where was she? Horrible thoughts began to race through Rick's head. Did Alice disappear again? He tapped his foot frantically as he checked the time on the cafe clock again. He shouldn't have let her leave the apartment. He should have stayed home with her. Then Rick saw her walking through the door.
"Hey!" Rick stood up abruptly and walked briskly towards her, his eyes dark making Alice almost jump back. "What the hell?"
"What's the matter with you?" Alice asked.
"What's the matter with me?" Rick asked incredulously. "I called you 8 times where were you?"
"Yes I got all 12 messages," Alice placed her hands on her hips her brow creasing in annoyance. "Things at the library ran a little long that's all."
"I see that your arms aren't broken or your fingers," Rick continued his berating. "Something else must have prevented you from answering my messages."
"You are being ridiculous," Alice refused to be bullied like this in public. She looked around to see curious eyes on them. She was aware of more than human eyes too. She began to feel her adrenaline kick in that warned her of danger.
"Can we do this somewhere else...," she spoke through gritted teeth. "Privately."
* * * * *
They made it back to Rick's apartment. Rick vented out his full rage. He spun around and cried, "What the hell happened?"
"I told you things ran late at the library," Alice held firm but before Rick could let any more angry words fall out of his mouth Alice finished, "Inspector Murdoch was there. He wanted to ask me more questions."
Rick's face fell. He suddenly felt like an idiot.
"I also wanted to surprise you with some decorations for your apartment," Alice showed him the new flowers she placed on the kitchen table and outside on the garden ledge. Yellow flowers that really brightened up the room. Rick's cheeks flushed.
"Ugh... I'm an idiot," Rick's shoulders slacked.
"I agree," Alice stormed off into the bathroom and slammed the door leaving Rick stunned with silence.
* * * * *
Wow, somebody needs a Happy Meal. Alice looked at herself in the mirror. She still barely recognized herself. She once had such light in her eyes but now that light had gone dim and the world seemed too bright for her. The sun made her miserable and the laughter around her made her ornery. Yep. She could use a Happy Meal. One with a toy though that probably wouldn't help her current mood. She understood why Rick was so crossed but to tell him the whole truth would be asking him to commit her.
Alice bought those flowers in hope of warding off whatever fairy was hunting her and to keep Callum out of her head as well. She could still feel him probing but there was a much stronger probe that made her queasy. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath then slowly exhaled. She heard Rick moving around in the kitchen. He was moving plates and pots. She'll have to apologize for not calling.
Alice reached into her pocket and pulled out the magical ring. Callum didn't tell her much about it only that it belonged to the King of the Fairies. She read about Cernunnos. The Horned One. He was also known as The Green Man. He was not Lord of the Wild Hunt though some said he was. Details that so far haven't helped her remember. All she knew was that the pictures she saw depicted a benevolent creature in stark contrast to the figure she saw in her waking nightmares. He was terrifying. For some odd reason she had this compulsion to put the ring on. Last time wasn't so great. Alice looked at her brand the circle with horns below her triskelion tattoo. Now she realized that it was Cernunnos's mark. She was his. But the compulsion was too much. She felt that putting it on would trigger something. The mysterious whispers called to her. They grew louder as she tried to place the ring on her finger. Her brand mark seared but Alice bit through the pain until she heard a knock outside not from her door but Rick's apartment.
Alice heard Murdoch's voice.
"Alice, it's the Inspector," Rick called. Alice ignored his call and placed the ring on her finger. Suddenly she was in a dark forest as if transported from Rick's bathroom. She looked around. It all felt familiar. Alice walked deeper into the forest. There was no sound except for the whispers. Alice saw a throne made of trees inside the thick trunk of an oak tree. Some of it started to come back to her. Beside the throne grew a piano. It actually grew from the nature surrounding her. Alice hated learning the piano but her parents insisted she have some culture. Now she played with ease. Occasionally when she needed to clear her head Alice would finger the piano. Maybe it would help her now?
Alice sat at the piano, the whispers growing quieter as if to listen. Her favorite modern composer was Ludovico Einaudi. Her favorite song was "Eros". She played the first few keys then let the melody flow. She closed her eyes then after a few bars opened to see that she was not alone. She was surrounded by odd looking creatures. Some were disgustingly ugly while some were breathtakingly beautiful. They all looked a part of nature as if growing out of the forest yet a chill went down her spine when she sensed the same darkness watching her as she felt in the forest when it gave her chase.
Alice slowly turned around to see enthroned the creature with the skull of a stag for a mask and it's gnarled horns with it's bear, fox and wolf skins hiding it's humanoid form. Beside him sat a large cat like a panther but this one had a white spot on it's chest and it's black slitted eyes were like two peridot gems eyeing her like prey. Cernunnos petted his large cat which purred at it's master's attentions. The purr caused Alice's insides to vibrate as if the whole ground was shaking from the beast's pleasurable sounds.
Alice stopped playing. She turned to face the Horned God her heart caught in her throat preventing her from speaking. Or was this a replay of before. Her movements were on auto pilot as if she were reliving the whole ordeal.
"Play another," Cernunnos's voice was hollow, an echo in the winter wind but deep as if from an ancient age. Alice turned around and played another song. "Moonlight Sonata" by Ludwig van Beethoven was a classic. One of the first songs she learned to play on the piano. But what did it matter her feelings? She was a prisoner and she had done all of this before.
Time passed and Alice was in a cage that was made of twisting wood. They left food in her bowl along with a bowl of water. Alice's stomach began to growl. The berries looked so tempting. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. Alice picked up a berry and was about to pop it into her mouth when she heard a man's voice, "I wouldn't do that."
"Why not?" Alice turned to see that her cell was next to another cell.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to take candy from strangers?" he retorted with a dry laugh. "Ever even bother to read a fairytale?"
"I'm not one for fairytales," Alice miffed. "I was never much of a Disney fan."
"Ha," the man scoffed. "This is no white washed, glamorous cartoon, Lady Beethoven. This is the real deal Grimm Fairytale Boogie Man stuff. It's what nightmares are made of..."
"Who the hell are you?" Alice called. She heard chains moving in the next cell and finally saw the man's face in the light. He had bleach blond hair and bright blue eyes while the rest of him was in black leather and feathers. It was Callum only she didn't know it was Callum yet.
"Just call me Carthage," he said. "At your service, mate."
* * * * *
Alice woke up in a sterile white room. She heard slow steady beats. When she tried to move she felt a sharp pain in her left hand. She was in a hospital attached to heart monitor and she had a needle to transfer fluids into her body stuck in her hand. Rick was asleep beside her.
"This is what happens when you try on magical fairy objects," Alice heard Callum's smug voice. She turned to see him casually lying back in a hospital chair.
"I'm guessing no one else sees you," Alice sighed very annoyed, "or else they would never have let you in here dressed like you just came from a Final Fantasy Cosplay."
"You're cranky when you wake up," Callum was full of snark. "I know what side of the bed you woke on."
"What do you want, Callum," Alice retorted.
Callum grew serious, "You know exactly what I want."
Alice looked around for the ring. She began to panic, "Where is it?"
"I suppose the nurses took it when your boyfriend and the cop brought you here when you wouldn't wake up. Very clever with the St. John's Wort by the way. I couldn't get with 2 feet of your place," Callum walked up to Alice who inched away. "You still don't trust me?"
"What do you think," Alice replied acidly.
"Ok, Miss Beethoven, if I wasn't trustworthy than I would have gotten that ring and left you here for Cernunnos to find you and take his vengeance on you."
Alice still wasn't sure. She felt Callum was still holding something back but she would cross that bridge when she got the ring back. She had to remember more.
"I remembered some things when I put on the ring," Alice confessed. "I was playing the piano for that horned guy. He had a huge cat with him..."
"Knew you would get some of your memories back... you remember anything else?" Callum was apprehensive. Definitely hiding something.
"Nope...," Alice lied. She needed to find out why Callum was in chains. "We need to get the ring so I can remember more. It's coming for me. It WILL find me. I don't have much time."
"WE don't have much time, partner," Callum corrected. "Let's get you some clothes though huh?"
“Wait what about Rick?” Alice suddenly remembered that Rick was there.
“He’s asleep,” Callum shrugged. “I put a minor sleep spell on him. Don’t give me that look he’ll wake up eventually and he’ll have you back in bed once we complete our mission.”
“You’re shameless,” Alice scrunched up her nose in mild distaste.
Callum winked as he threw the dress at Alice who promptly caught it.
“Get a move on, sweet heart,” Callum smirked wickedly.
* * * * *
If you would like for me to continue this story just make a request. Happy Writing!
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