Alice Redington

I don't know when I fell asleep, but I knew from the crusty streaks I knew I had cried myself to sleep. I woke up only because I had a nightmare where I saw the faces of the people I had killed.

I had trouble sleeping last night, and in an act of self harm I looked into the people I had killed. Even if they were people who wanted to kill me, and worshipped Demons... They were only misguided children. Perhaps even brainwashed.

Annie Eden.

Thomas Randal.

Misty Cruz.

Connor Deniston.

And Hannah Stonewall's friend.

Alan Tristfall.

The names haunted my dreams, and I woke up more tired than ever. I even considered how I might have felt more energetic if I hadn't slept. However it was 10 AM, and I had to get to the old school building by 10:30 to meet Alice Redington, my assigned mentor.

I bought some breakfast along the way, eating a gourmet egg salad sandwich from the cafeteria. It was a twenty minute walk, but I arrived right at 10:30 AM. The building looked very old, and abandoned. I looked inside but saw no lights that were on. Instead I saw there were a lot of windows and natural light spilled into the hallways. I pushed the door open, and began to walk around the building looking for where my mentor might be.

I walked around all of the classrooms, but I didn't find her. I was about to give up, when I walked by the library on an impulse, and saw a woman sitting inside reading a book. I stopped at the door, and observed her quietly. 

She had long red hair, with a small frame and if I had to describe her looks she was gorgeous. 

But have you ever heard of the phrase: Femme fatale?

Yeah, she screamed black widow vibes to me. That was a beauty that was dangerous. As I was lost in these thoughts, she suddenly opened her mouth and spoke.

"Are you going to come in, or do I have to teach in the hallway?"

"Oh, I-I'm sor-"

"Shut up and take a seat."

She interrupted me.

I quietly nodded and took a seat across from her. She read for a little longer, before folding the corner of her page and setting it aside.

She then took off her glasses, and looked at me for a long time. Nervous, and confused, I just sat there fidgeting.

"Gram and that pussy Abraham are idiots."

I was shocked.

"Excuse me ma'am?"

She simply looked at me annoyingly.

"You're no fucking spy, much less a ruthless killer like the news is painting you out to be."

I was confused, but also glad someone took my side in all the events going on.

"Can I ask how you determined that?"

"Hm? I can tell. Also."

She then pointed to her eyes.

I tilted my head in confusion. She shook her head like I was some idiot.

"I can tell you cried last night and maybe even a little this morning. Guilt from your first kills, yeah?"

My eyes then went wide when she explained. Her observational skills were great, as I knew the traces of my emotional turbulence were faint. I had checked before I left this morning.

Sighing, the woman stood up from her seat.

"They asked me to double check you, to see if you were a spy, but that was pointless. However that douche Abraham asked me to become your mentor. However, after meeting you, I don't see how you could possibly be a good fit for me."

"Um... Can I ask about who you are? All the Professors are famous heroes, but after looking online I couldn't find anything about you."

Alice had already walked around me, and was standing directly behind me, out of my sight. However I could feel her presence behind me, which was incredibly unsettling. 

"My name is Alice Redington. The reason you didn't find anything about me, is because I am not a hero. Instead... I am the cloak in the dark for humanity. Spy. Infiltrator."

She then leaned down, and I felt her hot breath on my neck, but that sensation was quickly drowned out by another sensation.

I felt cold metal press on my throat, threatening to slice my jugular with a slight application of pressure. I felt a small drop of blood already begin to trickle down, a testament to how sharp it was. 

"Assassin."

I was too afraid to swallow my spit, afraid it would expand my throat into her knife, almost even afraid to breathe. Then, as if it were an illusion, the feeling of the knife disappeared. Her breath left my neck, and she then began to walk around the table again.

She sat down, and looked at me for a while, evaluating me. I didn't know what she was thinking, but I knew her gaze had changed from earlier. 

She took a book from her pile of books, and slid it over to me.

I looked down at the book, and read the title.

[Introduction to Basic Herbology]

I held the book, and looked at her confused.

"Finish it by the end of the week. You'll have a test the day before classes restart. You can read here or wherever you want, I don't care."

I was again, confused, and tilted my head to her.

"I-Is there nothing else?"

She was putting back on her reading glasses, and picking up the book from earlier, when she stopped to look at me.

"Huh??? 'Is there nothing else'. The fuck more you want? A massage?" 

She then scoffed and opened her book back to the marked page. She then began to silently read again, ignoring my existence again.

'I... What kind of fucking mentor is this???' 

I began to curse in my mind, and was considering leaving when I suddenly received a notification.

[Quest!]

[Become Alice Redington's apprentice.]

[Reward: Pick one of Alice's skills to copy.]

[Failure: You will become handicapped by the end of the first year.]

'I'll be handicapped? Why?! That's not fucking fair?'

I was frustrated, because it almost felt like I was forced into specific choices, but then I thought about the emergency mission from yesterday.

It said the penalty for failure would be that I died, but there was no chance for me to die during the attack, since I was very close to the exit and could have escaped easily.

But what about after? The headmaster and Gram were both suspicious of my sudden increase in strength, and the only thing that really helped alleviate that suspicion was that I had fought to save lives. Demons were especially crafty, so corrupting a person like me who had no power was not out of the realm of possibility at all.

Perhaps the system was telling me the consequences from my actions, not an immediate penalty. Then that made me think that Alice was important to my future somehow.

With the realization of how the penalties worked, I begrudgingly grabbed the book and went to the second floor of the library. I found a nice couch and sat down. I began to read the incredibly boring book about plants, and left the library only for meals. At the end of the day, when I got up to leave to go back to my dorm to sleep, Alice suddenly spoke behind me.

"What do you think about me, more specifically what I told you I do?"

I stopped and turned to look at her. I took a moment to think about the question, before answering her honestly.

"I think... Someone has to do those things... There are no rules in war. I just don't know how you handle your emotions so well... I.. Can't put it behind me."

My answer seemed to have satisfied Alice, as she lightly smiled. She then tossed me a bag. I caught it, and shook it lightly to try figuring out what it was. Alice laughed and told me.

"It's a bag of tea leaves. Diffuse them into hot water, and drink it. It helps calm your mind. Try meditating, and face your emotions head on. Don't try and avoid facing your feelings."

I was surprised she would say something so... Thoughtful. Maybe I was wrong about her, she said something to make me feel better, and even offered something to help me relax.

I thanked her for the advice, and the leaves, before heading back to my dorm. Once I got back I did as she said, making myself some tea, and sat down cross legged after I drank it. 

There was no effect at first, but after five minutes I suddenly began to feel extremely relaxed. I then began to relax my mind, and truly confront my feelings of guilt.

'I don't deserve to be happy.'

'Yes I do. I took their lives but I value my life more than theirs. It is selfish, but that is not a wrong way to live...'

'You deserve to live more than them?'

'No... But I deserve to live, and I can do what I need to to live.'

I spent a long time fighting myself from both sides of the situation morally, but in the end I was comfortable with the fact that I lived. It wasn't as black and white as I wished it was, and living was sloppy. Struggling to survive was... Perfectly normal.

While I still couldn't get my mind off the people I had killed, I felt a lot less guilty for simply being alive. I looked up the leaves in the book I was reading, and found that they matched a type of hallucinogenic plant. 

Alice had given me drugs.

I simply laughed when I found what they were, but I appreciated that it helped me none the less. I ate a brownie while I was still feeling good, and went to sleep peacefully. I still ended up having a nightmare, and being unable to go to sleep again, but I had gotten more sleep than the day before.

I walked to the old school building, even though it was 5 AM, and made my way to the library to begin reading. When I walked into the library, I was surprised by the sight of Alice sleeping peacefully at the desk from earlier. 

I looked around, and found a closet that had blankets and pillows. I took a blanket and quietly put it on Alice before heading to the second floor and began reading.

As I walked up the stairs, I failed to hear a faint whisper.

"How could they even think that he is a ruthless killer... Idiots creating people into monsters..."