Alice: Book 2 Chapter 1

Verse 1
The shadows cowered in Alice’s wake.

They wavered and wobbled,

Vanishing with every blow,

As if hesitant to linger too long in this world.

Nothing reflected in their eyes.

Nothing came from their mouths.

Parrah and Noya were overjoyed.

“Those are ghosts, silly!”

“Evil spirits who cannot let go of this world.”

Weapons rattled, praying for battle.

We are the same, the nightmares and I.

Alice bit down hard on her lip.

Parrah:

Kee-hee-hee! Oh look! A ghost!

Noya:

Filthy ghosts!

Parrah:

Cut ‘em!

Noya:

Stab ‘em!

Alice:

Quiet. I know what I’m doing.

Verse 2
The spirits’ wails permeated the air.

Were those vocal lacerations of pain?

Or were they of anger?

Verse 3
Savemsavemesavemesaveme.

Who spoke these unanswered prayers?

Savemesavemesavemesaveme.

Verse 4
Is what I want to gain

worth as much

as what I will lose?

Verse 5
All I want to do is run.

The words crawl from my mouth

before I can swallow them down.

Verse 6
My blood is sludge, oozing out.

It’s proof that I’m still alive.

It’s my reality, and it says fight on.

Verse 7
There is no hope for me to cling to.

Verse 8
I thought I understood.

I thought I knew…

I was going to suffer like this.

Verse 9
We all refused to face the truth.

I was no exception.

Verse 10
The ghosts began to scream.

At first, all that could be made out were grating noises, painful to hear,

but the sounds morphed into discernible traces of a living voice.

I’m scared.

Save me, Mommy.

With nowhere left to go, they wept.

Noya whispered to Alice as she stood there, petrified.

“One way to end it is to kill ‘em.”

Alice knew. There was no place left to run, no holes for her to fall into.

Greater Ghost (Water):

I’m scared! Save me! I hate ‘em all!

Parrah:

Do you get it? Do you get it now?

Noya:

It was once a child. An innocent child.

Parrah:

Oh! It’s so sad! Poor thing didn’t want to die

Noya:

Nice of us to go easy on you, though, right?

Alice:

Ngh…

For now she knew.

Nightmares had a consciousness, too.

“I murdered them.”

Even though they were innocent.

The dolls’ cackles echoed in the Library.

“But you have to kill ‘em.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“That’s the world we’re in.”

“You think you have what it takes?”

“She doesn’t have the will!”

Silent, Alice slashed the air.

Her sword drew a straight line.

Blood splattered the ground,

guiding her on to the next destination.

Discordant Poem
The shadows knew.

They knew they were alone.

They knew they were cursed.

They let out mournful cries.

But could she bear it?

The sin of destroying the weak?

The regret of snuffing out an innocent life?

I know what your wish must be.

That bravery and resolve is enough

to have any sin forgiven.