赤裸裸的滑稽故事

“Stay away from her!” the small voice shouted. “I told you to leave her alone!”

Alice\'s eyes shot open; she stared down into the looking glass. It was Stefan.

“Get away!” he called out and threw something at Holden, a rock maybe.

‘No,\' Alice whispered, ‘run, Stefan. He doesn\'t care that you\'re a child!\'

“Get away!” another voice called out.

“Leave her alone!” said another.

Alice stood from her spot on the floor as she stared into the mirror. These children were fighting for her, protecting her from the monster that she had spent her entire life tied to.

He would kill them.

Her heart was pumping wildly, her thoughts racing. She needed to do something, she needed to save them somehow! But she couldn\'t, she was trapped here.

Holden turned toward Stefan.

He still held the small knife in his hand. Then, he wiped Alice\'s blood on his sleeve with a smile.

‘Leave him alone!\' Alice screamed into the mirror. ‘Leave him alone!\'

“Lea..ve… him…. Alo…ne…”

The voice was strained. It fought to be heard, and it was.

Holden turned and stared at the doll. She stared back at him, with determination and anger.

“Leave…. Him…Alone!” she said, her voice growing stronger.

Alice stared in shock at the mirror, the doll was breaking through the command. She was listening.

A light flickered just to the left of where Alice stood. She turned and looked. It was flickering on and off as though it barely had enough power.

Alice gasped as she saw what stood below the light.

“How doth the little crocodile, improve his shining tail!” Holden growled angrily.

Alice saw the light was fading. She dropped the mirror and ran with all she had through the darkness and into the flickering light. Then, with barely a chance to think it through, Alice ripped open the emergency exit of her mind.

“And pour the waters of–”

“I much prefer the bumble bee,” Alice interrupted.

Holden\'s eyes went wide.

“Hi, daddy,” she smiled.

“Alice, don\'t be foolish… however you woke yourself, there are consequences. Your memories, all at once, you\'ll di–”

“That\'s tomorrow\'s problem,” Alice growled, she lunged forward, ignoring the scream of her wounded body.

She pulled the knife from her belt and pointed it directly at him. He had always made sure she was trained by the best. Gymnastics, ballet, martial arts, and all the rest. If she wasn\'t fast enough, she was beaten. And then beaten again to make sure she remembered her failings.

Because of that, she was always fast enough.

Her knife pierced his stomach, she twisted it before pulling it back out. Holden groaned and fell to his knees.

Alice heard the gasp from one of the children.

“Get in the car!” Alice shouted at the children. “Go!”

Alice ran after them, throwing the knife to the ground as she went.

She quickly got into the driver\'s seat; she took the keys from Stefan and looked into the back seat. Wyatt was sitting up against the window, he was looking pale, but he was still breathing.

“I need to tell you something,” he said softly.

“Let me clear Autumn, and then you can tell me anything you want, Pops,” she said with a wink.

Wyatt weakly furrowed his brows and then his expression softened, and he smiled.

“He\'ll be glad to see you,” he whispered.

Then he coughed and speckles of blood coated his lips.

Alice clenched her jaw.

“He\'ll be glad to see us both,” she said, turning back to the wheel.

She turned on the car and chanced a look into her sideview mirror.

Holden lay prone on the ground, but his head was turned. He was watching after them, holding his hands tightly to his wound, and she could see even from here the anger in his eyes.

The stab wasn\'t fatal. But that was tomorrow\'s problem.

Alice pressed down on the gas. She looked down at her shirt, seeing the dark blood that stained it from her wound. She pressed her hand to it and focused on the road.

Tonight, she just needed to get these kids to safety.

***

“This way! This way! Please hurry!” The small boy shouted as he looked back.

“You have to hurry!” the little girl that ran beside him added.

Caleb followed closely, he wasn\'t sure where these children had come from or who they were. They had appeared at the gate crying for help.

It could be a trap. They could be leading him into an ambush like the ones that had been reported around Summer and Burning Ember.

But they could also genuinely need help.

They were covered in dirt and very thin. The clothing they wore was old, torn, and likely never washed. In addition, there were marks on their arms and legs that showed clear signs of abuse.

Whether it be a trap or a genuine call for aid, these children were not to blame, so he would stay with them and make sure that they were cared for.

“Here!” a shout came from further up the road, “over here!”

Caleb looked up to see another child by the trees, she waved her arms, and the two that had led him ran to her. How many of them were there?

He followed after them, noticing the tire marks on the road and the disturbed earth and bushes from a car having driven over them.

The children ran to an SUV that had crashed into the ditch.

“Here! Here! Help her please!” the children call out, their voices overlapping each other.

Caleb noticed one other child. He sat quietly, rocking himself on the ground, his eyes red from crying.

He hurried down to the car, the child pointed toward the driver\'s side door. Caleb moved around the vehicle. Glancing through the back window, he could see movement inside. There were at least two people.

‘It could still be a trap,\' he thought as he carefully approached the open door.

He looked inside and his eyes went wide as he realized what he was seeing. A small boy, only about eight years old, pressed his hands against a woman\'s stomach, his hands were painted red by the blood that escaped her wound.

“The fire, the fire burns…” the woman whispered. Her voice was barely audible, weak and dying.

“Help her!” the boy shouted.

Caleb moved forward, he paused for just a moment as he saw her face.

“Alice?” he whispered.

“You know her?” the boy asked in surprise. “Can you help her?”

She turned to look up at him, for just a second there was recognition in her eyes.

“The snow king…the snow king…saw a snake…” she whispered before her eyes rolled back into her head.

“Help her!” the boy screamed.

Caleb placed his fingers at her throat, and he found a pulse, it was weak, very weak, but it was there.

“I can try,” he said.

The boy let out a sigh of relief.

“What is your name?” Caleb asked as he placed his pin on her.

“Stefan,” the boy replied. “What is that?”

“It\'s going to help keep her alive until I can get her to the hospital,” Caleb replied, pressing on the pin. “What happened?”

The chords shot out over her body, wrapping her in protective armor. It wasn\'t much, but there was a patching system added to the suit, it would at least create a temporary seal on her wound and read her vitals.

“They were trying to help us get away,” Stefan said. “But she got hurt.”

“They?” Caleb asked as he worked to remove the seat belt.

“He didn\'t make it,” Stefan whispered sadly.

Caleb lifted his eyes to the backseat; he saw a large hand with dried blood falling limp off the chair. His eyes followed the arm to the body of a large man.

He felt his heart drop, and the air in his lungs empty as he clearly saw an arrow protruding from a far too familiar man\'s stomach.

Caleb remembered the proud smile on his face as he walked Ashleigh down the aisle under the light of the full moon.

His entire body shook as he looked at the cold, empty eyes of the man he had respected, then hated. A man that he had grown to love as a member of his own family. The former Alpha of Winter.

“Wyatt!”