The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 35: Grimmore, the Twilight City, Part Four

Alice choked over her own spit and vomit, the disgusting mix forced back down her throat as Mono pushed the meat past her lips, using her strange ability to forcefully feed her.

"Come now," the Cult leader cooed. "If you don't eat, you'll go hungry. You'll grow weaker, and weaker... Eat. It's for your own good..."

Alice felt the mouthful slide down her throat and into her stomach, Mono finally taking a step back and admiring her work. The monoeye chuckled softly, turning back to her worktable.

"There... Don't you feel so much better now?"

She listened to Alice shriek and cry, her grey eye focused on her tools. Her finger trailed along the table, finally stopping on something Mono had never used. She picked up the clippers, turning back to Alice. Her shoes clacked against the floor as she approached the bloodied blonde, a pair of swollen, bloodshot eyes staring at her like death itself.

"I never really found a use for these," Mono said softly. "I prefer to be more... Physical. But the way you scream and beg... It brings out so much more in me. I simply love when they scream at the top of their lungs, even after they lose their voices."

Click.

The clippers buzzed loudly, Alice rocking against her restraints. She didn't know what that thing Mono was holding did, but if the past eight hours told her anything, it was going to be unbearably painful. Mono disappeared from view in an instant, never having moved a muscle. Alice screamed when she felt the sharp tug of her hair, her head slamming against the back of her chair. The clippers buzzed in her ear, the blades spinning into they looked like one object.

"On Twist, we usually use scissors," Mono explained softly. "But when Milord started teaching us about the technology of the First Timeline, we made these... They're so much easier to use than scissors. In one swift movement, the hair can be cut to the scalp..."

Alice felt her heart leapt into her mouth, staring up at Mono. Tears streamed down her face, her lips parting into a pleading cry. "N-no... Not m-mah hair..."

Mono's mouth twitched into a smirk. "Pardon me, but I couldn't hear you. Did you say you wanted a haircut?"

Alice shook her head, screaming as loud as she could in a vain hope that it would please Mono enough. "P-pleash!"

The clippers were growing closer, Mono's lips curling into a thin smile. "... But it's awfully greasy. If you cannot take care of your hair, then why should you have it?"

Mono was mocking her. Alice begged, the first of the locks coming loose. Mono held the golden strands in front of her, giving it a little wave. "Oops... My hand slipped..."

Alice couldn't find her voice, Mono's chuckle reaching her ears. The clippers buzzed loudly, the weight disappearing from her head as the hair fell into clumps on the bloody floor. Alice wished Mono had chosen to smash her knees with a hammer again. She was learning why Mono was held in such high regards compared to the rest of the First Vao's Inner Circle.

She wasn't like the fairies that had stopped by. Mono was far, far worse. The fairies only physically tortured her. Mono would get into her head, and break her mind just as she did with her body. Alice tried to jerk her head away, to keep the little dignity she felt like she had. But the moment she moved, she felt a sharp pain and something warm trickling down the back of her neck. She gasped, her eyes rolling to the ceiling. Mono chuckled softly.

"Fufufu... Do try not to move so much, Alice. These clippers are awfully sharp; you just cut yourself."

Alice's head felt much colder, Mono's frigid palms pulling away. The Cult leader bent down to pick up the filthy clumps of hair, carrying them back to the table. "If I wash this, I could possibly make a wig," Mono called to her. "As dirty as it is, it is easy to tell you took care of it before we met. Perhaps one of the zombies would love to have such pretty hair?"