赤裸裸的滑稽故事

The house the children had been left in wasn\'t far from where Alice and Stefan had stopped. It wasn\'t difficult to find or to stay hidden behind a large tower of wooden pallets and varying piles of junk.

The problem was that there were several guards outside of the house.

“How did you guys get past all of them?” Alice asked as she counted at least four guards.

“Those guys weren\'t here earlier,” Stefan replied. “There was only one, the same one that\'s always there during the day.”

“Are these guys usually here at night?”

“No, I\'ve never seen this many guards before,” Stefan said.

Alice took a deep breath. She wasn\'t sure if it was because of the rioting or if there was something else inside the house that they needed extra security for.

That voice whispering in her mind told her the latter seemed far more likely.

“You stay here,” Alice whispered.

“I wanna come,” Stefan said.

“I\'m sorry, but I move faster on my own. I need you here, where I know you are safe. Please.”

Stefan was visibly disappointed, but he agreed to stay put.

He had told her about a window in one of the first floor bathrooms at the back of the house that never locked properly. That was how he and his sister had gotten out earlier in the day. That was her way in.

It was easy enough to get in, the real question was going to be how to get all the kids out.

Stefan had told her the kids were all together in a room at the top of the stairs.

Alice crept through the hallways. So far, she hadn\'t seen anyone inside the house. There was a strong stench of blood, fresh blood, that was more than a little concerning.

She found the kitchen just before the stairs, taking a quick detour she grabbed a small paring knife that sat on the counter.

Returning to the stairs she slowly went up. At the top, she saw three doors. But only one of them had a lock on it. Stefan hadn\'t mentioned a lock.

Without any tools, picking the lock was going to be difficult, so she needed to try and find a key first. It seemed unlikely that if they usually had little to no security that they would carry it around with them.

Alice checked above the door, but no luck.

Beside the door she found a book, she opened it and found it was hollow, with just a key inside. She smiled and pulled it out.

“Who the hell are you?” a gruff voice called from behind her.

She turned to face a tall man, a little extra padding around the waist. Dark brown hair and a clean-shaven face. He wore a vest with two knives sheathed in it.

“Well, hello there,” she purred.

“Hello nothing, little girl, who are you?” he asked again, taking a step toward her and putting his hand on the hilt of one of his knives.

“Me?” She smiled. “I\'m no one special, just a concerned citizen here to help these children find more suitable living arrangements.”

The man sneered.

“That ain\'t happenin\', sweetheart,” he said as he moved to unsheathe his blade.

Alice lunged forward as he pulled on the knife, just as he pulled the blade free of its hilt she reached him, and pressed his hand against the handle, driving it into his own chest.

His eyes went wide, and he made a gargling sound as he stumbled back. Alice made a play for his arm, but he fell too fast.

“Shit!” she hissed as he tumbled down the stairs.

Alice turned and ran to the door; she quickly unlocked it and opened it wide.

In the middle of the room, she saw four children huddled together, ranging in age from roughly six to twelve.

“Hurry, come with me. I already found Stefan; he is waiting outside!” she called to them.

They looked back and forth at each other, unsure if they should trust her or not.

“Go with her,” a deep voice from the back of the room said weakly. “She\'ll help you.”

Alice narrowed her eyes, trying to see who it was that was talking, but the sounds from downstairs drew her attention.

“Shit!” she repeated. “Ok, got to take care of some uninvited guests.”

Alice looked back, no one was coming yet, she had a minute or so to prepare them before they needed to move quickly.

“Stay together, come to the top of the steps, and I\'m sorry, but it won\'t be pretty. You\'re going to see things, try to look away and just keep moving.”

The children moved toward her.

“I\'m going to go ahead and lead them away. Do you know where the bathroom is downstairs?” she asked.

The oldest kid, a girl, roughly twelve years old nodded her head.

“Good,” Alice smiled. “Lead the others there. I will draw all the attention, trust me, I can be very distracting.”

She gave the girl a wink, trying to ease her mind with humor.

“When it\'s clear, the four of you run down and get out that window. Stay close to the building. Keep your eyes peeled and when you can, move to the junkyard, where the wooden pallets are. That\'s where Stefan is.”

“By ourselves?” the girl asked nervously.

“Well, I\'ll be giving the guards some dancing lessons,” Alice smiled. She touched the girl\'s shoulder. “They\'ve taught you to make yourself small and quiet. So, use what they taught you against them to get away unnoticed.”

The girl chewed her lips, but she nodded, the other children gathered behind the girl, preparing to go wherever she led them.

“What the fuck!” a shout came from the bottom of the stairs.

“Guess it\'s show time,” Alice smiled. “Remember, I will lead them away. Wait until they are gone before you leave this room.”

The girl nodded again.

Alice stood up and took a breath. She moved to the door.

“Wait,” the deep voice called out from the dark.

Alice sighed.

“I\'m sorry, old man,” she said. “I am here for the children, but once I\'ve cleared the house, you\'ll have no trouble finding your own way out.”

The floor creaked as the large man made his way forward in the room.

“Let me help, Alice.”

She furrowed her brows. The large man stepped into the light that poured in from the hall. It fell over his tightly woven braids of grey and white and the cuts and bruises that covered his face.

There was a sharp pain in her head as she saw a flash of snow and a tree, this man standing before her, and then it was gone.

The small voice inside her mind whispered in a panic, concerned, excited– it was all blending together. The only clear thought was a name.

“Wyatt?”