ALICE

CHAPTER 3- UNEXPECTED GUEST

Alice found herself making her way into the woods, later that evening. Sophie had promised her favourite, 'Lasagne' for dinner.

"Think of it as a gift for when we enter our new lives!" Her mother had said, before she had set off to work.

Her friends had not returned yet, which had left Alice with nothing else to do, so she had set off for her usual stroll. She needed it more than ever today.

Maria had made sure that Alice grew familiar with the woods ever since the night of her sixteenth birthday. The night she had met Knave. He had not appeared again ever since, which often made Alice wonder if she had really met him, or if she had imagined the whole thing. Maybe she was crazy.

A strange sound brought her out of her thoughts. It sounded like something moving. Alice looked around, and to her horror, saw a snake at least three meters away from her. She stood frozen in place, unmoving. She considered calling out for her ghost squad, but then thought against it. Sudden noise could cause it to attack.

Alice tried to calm her nerves down, trying to recall what it was she had read to confuse snakes and chase them away. Her mind seemed to have gone blank. She could not remember anything. She stood still, hoping it would just turn away, when suddenly the snake let out a hiss.

That had been that. All the bravery Alice had left, vanished, and she started running. She chanced one look behind, and saw to her shock, that the snake was following suit. Its eyes were beady black and it was pretty long, she realized now that she had a better look.

Distracted, Alice ran straight into a pair of solid arms. "Whoa!" said a familiar voice. She recognized it instantly, before she even looked up. It was Knave, who looked exactly the same as he had that night. He steadied her, holding her by the shoulders, and glanced behind her. The snake was almost reaching them. "I see!" He said, with a smirk.

It made Alice want to slap him. 'How could he be so relaxed in this situation?' She thought in anger.

Then again, he was already dead and he barely knew Alice. Maybe it would be amusing for him to watch her die.

Alice felt him take her hand, and heard him say, "Follow me!" before she found herself running again with Knave.

 Alice had no idea what he was doing, but he seemed to know exactly where to go. As long as it kept her alive, she did not care. She just followed Knave. His grip on her hand was so hard, that Alice knew it might've turned red.

Knave seemed to be running in a pattern, and it suddenly struck her what it was that she had forgotten, 'To confuse snakes, always try and run in a pattern that forms an eight!'

Now, knowing what Knave was doing, Alice picked up pace, determined to help. Knave met her eyes, saw she understood, and shook his head, laughing. "A bit early of you to make sense of things!" He said, in a sarcastic way.

Knave was breathing normally, though Alice was out of breath. She decided to just ignore him, and continued running after him.

Suddenly Knave stopped, the momentum sent Alice banging into him. She used the chance to grab her breath, using Knave as support. Her head touched his chest and she felt something cold press against her forehead. She looked up and saw he was wearing a black locket. Had it always been there?

Knave was holding her by the shoulders, and she realized his breathing was normal. Not a single hint betraying he was running a few seconds ago. It was this that made Alice realize he was still a ghost. She quickly backed away. Knave just blinked at her, his expression bored.

"Thanks!" Alice said, finally being able to talk.

"I was actually rescuing the snake." He replied, rather calmly.

That was enough for Alice to take, given what she had just been through the whole day. "In that case, you should've just let me die! Why bother? In fact, it would've been a great deal of help for a lot of people, if I had just died!" Said Alice. All anger that was meant for her father, came pouring out.

Knave just blinked in confusion. Then he whistled. "Looks like somebody has had a rough day!" He mused.

Alice realized she was giving a lot away, and controlled herself. 'What on earth am I doing?' she thought. 

"Sorry!" Alice said, in a hard tone.

"May I ask, what exactly you were doing in the woods so late?" Knave asked." Or is it just your hobby? You know, to roam around the woods, lie in the woods, tempt snakes to attack." He continued.

"I was out for an evening stroll!" She replied honestly.

"Well," Knave began. "Hate to break it to you, but it is not exactly evening right now! However, it is completely understandable if you do not want to go home. After all, you have found such an amazing company....,"

"Oh no!" Alice cut him off. "Dinner!" She said, suddenly remembering that her mother must be waiting for her.

"Look, I understand I look good and you seem to be able to touch me and all, and I have no idea what you think I am, but I am certainly not dinner!" replied Knave, raising his hands as if to protect himself.

"What?" Asked Alice, distracted for a moment. Then she shook her head. "I was not even talking about you, you are absolutely safe!" She assured. She did not want to leave yet. She still had a lot of questions left to ask, but it was too late. "Look," She began. "I have to get home now, but I need to talk to you! Can I come tomorrow, same place?"

He smirked. "You cannot resist my charm, huh?" When she said nothing, he nodded his head. "Just call out my name and I will come!"

Alice nodded and left. After a little distance away, she glanced back, and to her surprise, saw Knave standing exactly where he was, his blue eyes watching her.

 "You know," Alice shouted back. "You're not that good-looking!" she said, turning back to leave, but not before she saw a genuine smile on his face.