赤裸裸的滑稽故事

The scans showed no change in the lesions. They were neither improving nor getting worse.

Alice’s sudden inability to communicate was likely due to her fear and stress of the situation triggering the side effects of the lesions.

The doctor put her in a room to be monitored for a few hours. They also gave her a mild sedative to help calm her down.

While Ashleigh took Alice to the hospital, Caleb took the laptop and the flash drive to Nessa for a diagnostic.

“Oof… yep. This little guy dropped some massive spyware onto the laptop. Luckily it couldn’t break its way into the system, but it looks like it was eavesdropping.”

“So Roman didn’t send that to her as a twisted love letter, just a way to spy?” Caleb asked.

“I don’t know the guy, so I can’t really answer that, but based on all the stories I’ve heard… why can’t it be both?”

Caleb sighed.

“Good news is, Alice smashed the crap out of this thing, so it’s effectively inoperable and can’t try to connect with our systems. The bad news is whoever was on the receiving end would have heard everything discussed around this laptop. That includes the convoy plans.”

“But not the fae descendants’ stuff!” Clara chimed in. “That was discussed here, and Alice didn’t have her laptop.”

“That’s true,” Caleb said. “So, they would have known from the video in the lab that Ashleigh had some kind of unique powers, and with the way Axel handled Roman in Winter, I am guessing he just assumed both of them would have fae attributes.”

“Oh…” Nessa whispered.

“What?” Caleb asked. “What’s wrong?”

Nessa sighed and chewed her lower lip.

“Nexy? What is it?” Clara asked.

Nessa shook her head.

“It’s just more of the same…” she said sadly. “I just found out how Roman dropped the spyware onto the laptop. It didn’t make sense that it would have been attached to the video, not with how aggressive it is. But the video wasn’t the only thing he sent her. This dude… he’s a real piece of work.”

***

Alice opened her eyes. Looking around the room, she recognized that she was back in the hospital.

“You’re awake,” Ashleigh said from the door.

“How long have I been out?” Alice asked, sitting up in bed.

“About twelve hours,” Ashleigh said.

Alice took a deep breath and leaned her back with her eyes closed.

“I was supposed to call Axel at least twice by now,” she sighed. “Guess I’ll be in trouble again.”

“I talked to him last night and this morning. He is well aware of what is going on. I’m sure he won’t be upset with you,” Ashleigh said reassuringly.

“Awww… but I like being in trouble,” Alice smiled.

“I… don’t know what to do with that….”

“Oh, come on, like you and golden boy don’t play naughty from time to time,” Alice teased.

“Okay, you are clearly feeling all better now,” Ashleigh sighed.

Alice laughed at the blush that invaded Ashleigh’s cheeks.

Pushing Ashleigh’s button was becoming a soothing game for Alice. Had she ever laughed so frequently before?

“What’s that?” Alice asked, eyeing the bag in Ashleigh’s hand.

Ashleigh stepped beside the bed and put the bag on Alice’s lap.

“Look for yourself,” she said with a smile.

Alice grinned and opened the bag. Inside, she found sunflower seeds, cheese crackers, a small box of mixed fruits, and two bottles of the blackberry flavored water Axel had introduced to her.

“These are some of my favorites,” Alice said, looking up at Ashleigh.

“I know,” Ashleigh said. “My brother was very specific with his instructions; I even pulled out all of the cantaloupe and pineapple from the mixed fruit.”

Alice’s eyes widened, and she lifted the clear plastic tub into the air to inspect it from every angle. Ashleigh wasn’t kidding. There was no sign of either disgusting filler fruit.

“That’s amazing!” Alice smiled. “You know those two will infect all the other fruit. If you leave it in, then all the others–”

“End up tasting like pineapple, I know. Like I said, very specific instructions.”

Alice laughed, remembering Axel back in their home. He would sit at the kitchen counter, pulling out all the cantaloupe and pineapple from her fruit bowls and then put them back in the fridge.

She sighed, missing him. Alice took a deep breath and opened the small package of cheese crackers. She looked at Ashleigh.

“So, how will I be punished?” she asked, taking a bite of her cracker.

“What?”

“I caused the attack on the convoy, the convoy was primarily made up of people in Summer’s care, so I assume you and Caleb are the ones with a claim to my sentencing.”

“Alice… we aren’t going to punish you,” Ashleigh replied, sitting in the chair beside Alice’s bed. “You didn’t knowingly cause the attack.”

“It was my fault,” Alice said. “I know better than anyone never to blindly accept a gift.”

That was when Ashleigh noticed something. Even though Axel had told her the fruit was Alice’s favorite, and she had removed the offending pineapple and cantaloupe pieces, Alice was ignoring it and only eating prepackaged food.

“I’m not going to poison you,” Ashleigh said.

Alice smiled.

“Habit, better safe than sorry.”

The only person Alice would accept unpackaged from was Axel. She appreciated the effort on Ashleigh’s part, but she just didn’t trust her yet.

“Alice,” Ashleigh said.

Alice lifted her eyes to meet Ashleigh’s.

“What did you mean when you said the laptop contained ‘cursed treasures’?”

Alice looked away.

“Every pirate story has the same lesson,” she said. “The treasure they seek always comes at a greater cost.”

“So, what was the treasure you were seeking?” Ashleigh asked.

Alice swallowed and then took a deep breath before looking at Ashleigh.

“I have always known one person. Only one. In every version of the doll, the only person I remembered every single time was my father, Holden,” she said. “Over the years, as I started to wake up… I began to ask about my mother. I wanted to know her name, who she was, where she was.”

Ashleigh listened carefully.

“Holden refused, even at the end, to give me her name,” Alice chuckled with an evident bitterness. “I remembered bits… her hair… her favorite dress… Holden killing her.”

Alice clenched her jaw and closed her eyes.

“But that was all. Not even her name.”

“Roman gave you her name, didn’t he?” Ashleigh asked gently.

Alice nodded.

“Savannah. Savannah Williams,” she replied, keeping her eyes down. “He gave me a folder full of information about her and me during my life as a human. I didn’t read much of it. I just wanted her name… it felt important somehow.”

Ashleigh nodded.

“But, my need for this ‘treasure’ put Axel, Bell, Ren, and all those other people at risk,” Alice said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“Roman was going to attack that convoy one way or another,” Ashleigh said. “You didn’t do this, Alice.”

Alice scoffed quietly.

“You’re the one that told me you don’t apologize for things you didn’t do, right?”

Alice lifted her eyes, and Ashleigh smiled at her.

Alice chuckled and sniffled.

“Are we supposed to braid each other’s hair now?” Alice laughed.

“Oh Goddess, no….” Ashleigh laughed. “I still don’t like you.”

“Oh good, I thought I would have to start being nice to you,” Alice smiled.