Fall of Wonderland!

Fifteen

ENEMIES TO ALLIES
🎭
"But I don't want to go among mad people."

★♥︎♠︎♣︎♦︎

Alice and Valentina were sitting in Alice's room. They had spent the hours from after dinner until nearly midnight watching a cheesy rom-com on TV. Alice only watched it to make fun of it, but Valentina was invested. Alice teased her for that, of course.

They turned off the TV and waited in silence. They were listening for the sound of a door opening, and they heard it. Alice peered outside. Sure enough, Julius was making his way down the stairs.

They waited, and then quickly followed. The two girls tailed him out of the palace (Where were the guards? Alice assumed he had somebody working with him), and through the back streets and alleyways. Alice recalled some of this area from her time with Aspen.

Julius stopped at an old looking inn. The streetlight nearby was broken.

"Cobbler's Boot," the sign read outside, with a picture of a shoe. It smelled like urine. Valentina and Alice glanced at each other uncertainly before following him inside.

Alice quickly realized the fault in her rash plan: they were completely recognizable. Immediately, everybody in the room looked up at them. Alice didn't have much time to look around, but she noted that the first floor was a bar.

Julius was standing at the counter, and his eyes locked on them. "What are you two doing here?" He stepped toward them.

Alice held her chin up while Valentina cowered beside her. Julius' cat ears were perked up, and Alice imagined that if he had a tail it would be sticking straight up in the air. "We followed you."

Julius walked toward them, his eyes like daggers. They backed away, out the door, but he followed into the abandoned and dark street. "You two are going to regret this."

"What makes you so sure?" Valentina finally spoke up, though her voice trembled. She reached for Alice's hand, and Alice squeezed it. In all honesty, she was afraid as well.

"By the time I'm finished," Julius reached into his pocket. "You'll both be dead."

Alice held up her left hand in defense, light already gathering around it. She felt Valentina's hand go hot as she summoned fire in the other. Conduction, she assumed.

Julius was clutching a long, sharp knife. He lunged for them.

Alice swept her hand in a wide arc, conjuring a shield of Starlight. Of course, Julius was able to break it. His knife must be made of iron, Alice thought. It was the one substance that repelled magic.

Valentina saw what had happened to Julius, and swung a fist at him as hard as she could. There was a loud wham as Julius was knocked onto the ground. Valentina grinned like an idiot. She lunged at him with a fistfull of fire, but he was able to stop her attack with a burst of water.

"Jacks." Valentina cursed under her breath. Alice sent a thwip of starlight at him, but he simply sidestepped. Julius clearly had much more fighting experience than the two girls combined. He hadn't even used his powers yet.

Suddenly, Alice couldn't breathe. Water, all around her. It was just like her nightmares. It was like she was eight years old again, her Dad shoving her head under the water. Trying to fight but only being pushed further. Waiting, just hoping somebody would notice her.

Valentina must have attacked, because the water suddenly fell and so did Alice. She coughed violently, trying to pull herself up. Julius's foot was on her back, holding her down. Alice glanced behind him to see a bubble of water around Valentina's head.

"No! Wait!" Alice screamed, just before he plunged his knife into her back. Twice.