1 Madness

When walking into a decaying room, flowers dangled around weeping that Alice wasn't murdered. But her eyes echoed with glassed tragedies that the murderer poured out upon her. Sharpness spiked out of her stomach with a dent in her head that drowned her thoughts into a red syrup puddle.

"She was spewing out my crime," the killer scoffed up in a low breath. When she felt the cold air consume her, she shivered up a yell. "I didn't kill her!" The room impelled with panic, and nothing could ease the pain.

The water dripped from the ceiling, echoing through the blood; then the atmosphere immersed with violent dragging and bones scattered along the staircase. "Nobody can find out," she said while stuffing the body into the dark corner. "It wasn't fair, she attacked me first." Trying not to cough up guilt, the murderer gathered the freshly cleaned bones and dropped them on the bottom stair.

She was coughing continuously into her stained sleeve, wiping Alice's blood over her pale cheek. It was going through her mind, the memory of death. The flash burnt her sockets with permanent red screens. "Red, anything but red!" She screamed out."

Dawn cracked, and she found herself trembling on the floor. "I didn't do it. She. . She pushed herself up against the glass." She broke down thinking about the trouble she has caused. The misery between Alice and the Doctors, the misery in the infernal nightmare. Hell is where she belonged now, but she kept it a secret hidden in the corner.

The feeling of mirrors collided in her vision; shifts, and blur held on when she looked around madly, with the fog of tears blocking part of her anticipation that Alice will laugh once more. She felt as if the aphotic mirrors shifted angles when she dragged her own sore body up the dimmed staircase. The closed door blushed with the reddened sky, peaking through to capture the gloom. There were lies and betrayal that smoked the air; nothing but pollution of madness. It all moved the house in terror.

"She's dead, she has to be dead," the murderer whispered. She told herself during solitude. The only thing that was keeping her distorted were the whispers; then there were scattered yelling. Deep scratching followed with yelps and fear. Now Alice was marked inside of her mind forever. She was peeking through the doorways that held rotting black roses above them. The petals were falling into her knotted hair when she paced around the room, muttering. "This isn't real… She's dead. I put her corpse to rest." She kept telling herself that, printing the image of a dead girl inside of her mind to cope with the laughter and screaming, but the images intertwined. Clawing and dripping behind the locked door was all she can focus on. The scratching of fingernails, and the dripping blood that once was innocent. Alice was breathing fire, and wanted to ignite her fuel.

"Leave my head!" The murderer screamed. Nothing could pass her mind besides the fact that Alice came back for revenge. She shriveled up beneath the dining room table, shaking the tea collection that brought cheers and delight to Alice's glassy eyes. The sweet delicate perfume of tea, and fresh picked tulips flowed through her selfish mind, bringing the memories back from Hell.

How come, Mommy?" Alice asked while playing with her thumbs. "Spencer wants to play in the basement again. Don't you?"

"Not now, Sweetheart."

"But why? Spencer wants to have a tea party, like the one yesterday."

"Because I said so. The doctor gave you a prescription and so you need to sleep now," she said leaning down to kiss her forehead and to tuck her in with the pink sheets that were covered with printed flowers. She then stood up straight with a weak smile painted on her face. "I'll take these down and change them with your favorite collection." She said while turning around and lifting a plate of teacups up from Alice's dresser.

"Leave them here, Mommy. We'll play with them again." Alice twisted her hand up from under her sheets and laid it on top of the tea collection.

"But don't you want the pink set? You usually get more excited with it, rather than the purple."

"No, this one is Spencer's favorite. Why don't you listen to me?"

"I do, but Spencer shouldn't be acknowledged. Spencer isn't real, Alice. That's why you'll have to take the medication more seriously and take a break from playing. You need to sleep her off," she sighed out while straightening her hair and stuffing her hand back into the tight sheets. 

"She is real! You should know, you're as crazy as I am, Old Lady!" Alice screamed out from anger.

"Don't you dare screech that tone at me," The mother whispered under her heavy breath. She always tells herself that she was right. It did come from her side, but she tried not to believe that it was true. The madness took Alice's innocence from her ankles to her head. Spencer descended in with whispers and lies to mess around our relationship. Spencer knew Alice's mother was insane; they're both hurt from head-to-toe. Scratches from vexation; nothing heavier than Haven in the demons. They made a home in Alice and the mother couldn't save the prisoned daughter.

"You're ruining my head, Mother!" Alice screamed with agony.

"I'm helping you!" She said strapping Alice's arms behind her back.

"Spencer's going to kill you, Bitch. She'll kill you." Alice kicked around at her mother's trembling legs. She bit and scarped her teeth repeatedly over her pale arm.

"Alright, Alice." She lost strength in her grip. "Let's visit the basement, I have a surprise for you and… Spencer." The mother let go of Alice's arms and whispered softly in a short breath. "Meet me down there, I'll be there in a bit. Let me just clean up your tea collection."

There was silence, then temptation to melt in sorrow. Alice giggled quietly after a pause, and skipped down the stairs to the basement doorway. "Don't keep us waiting." But in fact, she did. The kitchen was filled with patience of abuse for medication. "Just one pill this time." The mother choked on that promise; everything went through her terrified body, and so her mind came to a halt.

The room settled with two bottles of wine near the edge on the island. Laid next to it were baskets and scattered medication bottles. Most were half full, the others were empty. "One drink won't hurt." As she said that, she grabbed the closest wine bottle and chugged it down. The room fell into echoing laughter from Alice playing downstairs. "How is she in my head? She's finally away for a while…" But none of those thoughts stopped her from regretting what she desired the most. "It's not my fault, this is for the better." She talked quietly while cracking another pill bottle open. "One more." She slipped it onto her tongue, and swallowed the bullet without taking any more drinks. "This has to end."

There was a limp and a drag leading to the basement door. The mother held her wine bottle behind her back and sighed in discomfort. She clenched the neck of the glass, and cracked it slightly over her anxiety. It had to end, she didn't want to be paralyzed with the thought of Alice becoming like her. It had to turn better, the medication wasn't working, and the doctors weren't helping, so she had to take it into her own hands.

The mother stumbled down the old creaking stairs, and saw Alice sitting in the middle of the cold room, giggling to herself while playing with the tea collection. "How did she get?" The mother mumbled under the cold air. "I didn't see her take it down to the basement with her."

She walked deeper into the frosted atmosphere, then broke out with anxiety. "When did you bring that down, Alice?"

"I went up when you were doing bad things, Mommy." Alice sighed out while pouring out air into the purple teacup. "Spencer says a bad parent would drink before playing with their child. It ruins the tea party."

"Spencer isn't real, Alice. Even if you saw me doing those bad things, her voice isn't there. You need to go up and rest these thoughts off, or you'll get a headache-"

"She is real! You're just too naïve to even see!" Alice screamed while interrupting. "You will never understand, even though you're crazier." Alice stood up broadly, stretching her legs out towards the staircase where her mother was standing nervously.

"The doctors will come tomorrow morning to check on your behavior. Until then, please settle down," the mother said while trembling from her weak knees. The grip on the bottle behind her back became stronger, making the glass crack down from the broken cap, to the middle.

"They can rot in Hell." Alice bent her back, then twisted it to a hunch. She ran towards her mother with screams and whispers in her head. She slammed her chest on her mother's body and suddenly fell to the ground with no expression, or laugh. The room filled with silence, following with heavy wheezing and blood draining through the cracks in the floor, and the empty corners of Alice's arms. There was pain and distress on the mother's face. "She ran into me," she whispered. "It wasn't my fault. I put my arms in front for protection, but the bottle must've cracked making it weak."

She looked down at Alice and felt numbness through her arms and legs. "I'm sorry." It was all red. Her hands were covered with dripping blood, her aura was now dark with puddles steaming off with the steam of misery. Alice was twitching with all that she lost; she couldn't feel much either. "This can't be happening. I can't go back now. She'll haunt me." The sorrowful mother stabbed the glass even further into her chest. "She'll tell someone if I don't finish." The blood dripped longer paths along the floor, leading down to the dark corner.

The perfume scent disappeared from her stuffed nose. "I didn't do it… It isn't real." The mother wiped her swollen eyes while she rocked back and forth against the table. "There were voices… And laughter. I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't put her body to rest, she's still lying there…"

Hours skipped in remorse, ticking slowly with the old broken clock. The mother paced her head side-to-side, swaying back, making her chest hit against her curled up knees. But the silence was what was abusive. The banging on the door has stopped an hour ago. There was still hope wandering around in her head that Alice was still alive. That she was somehow cured, but all that popped up was the red syrup leaking through her body.

Something happened that she was afraid that was coming; the morning. Dawn hit with bright rays along the floor next to the curtains. It was the time that the door would ring, at early timing, with a man in a coat to appear smiling. And so it happened. Her fear.

"Hello, Ms. Victoria?" There was muffling at the door, with a ring echoing through the empty rooms. "Hello, are you home?" There was no movement, until there was small footsteps dragging themselves, plunging back to the ground like anchors. "Hello? I hear someone, may I come in? It's Tuesday, another day for a checkup-"

"Today isn't a good day, Doctor." She said lurking behind the door, keeping her sweaty hand on the knob. "Maybe tomorrow, or something."

"May I come in? Just for a little while, there's something we have to discuss."

"You can tell me here, I can hear through the crack perfectly."

"Ms. Victoria, I would appreciate it if you let me in. It's quite bizarre that you're acting like this. How many pills did you take last night?" The white coat brushed along the doorknob, then it shook gently. "Do I need more doctors to come and help, or will you listen to me?"

There was a long pause waiting to break free from her mouth. She wanted to scream out that the monster was inside her, not Alice.

The door cracked open to a pale, boney woman in a long white dress.

"I see you're in rough shape, Ms. Victoria. May we have some tea and wait for Alice to wake up? It'll be rude to wake someone up after they fell asleep to having medication," said the white coat, singing more brightly while walking through the ray of sunlight.

The sun was peaking off the roofs of the houses; nothing too out of the ordinary, but Victoria would have someone peaking over her shoulder, into the basement. And it happened sooner than she expected.

"Why is there broken glass outside of the basement door?" Asked the tall man.

"I was… Bringing a glass of water down for Alice, until I accidentally dropped it from my shakiness." She pushed the glass away with her foot quickly, and led the doctor to the kitchen.

"Ah, so let me ask you again," said the tall man. "How many pills did you take last night?"

"Just one pill, like I do every night."

"I find that hard to believe. Your eyes are swollen, you're rag doll waiting to be hosed. Heck, you have blood smears on your shirt." He put his hand up to her forehead. "You're as cold as the winter days. It's only September, Victoria."

Thump.

Thump.

"Was that you, Victoria?" He shot back with confusion and looked around.

"It's Alice? No… It can't be…"

"You what? So she is awake? Why didn't you tell me? I could've let you rest off your day to let you relax." Said the tall man, chuckling.

She felt sick to her stomach just thinking of those noises. "You know now…"

"Well, I can take a guess. Did Spencer leave? Did the medication work?"

As if those words meant anything now. Something did work, but now it wasn't safe anymore. Alice wanted revenge. "You must go." Victoria crunched her back up and limped softly towards the basement door. "Here. She's down here."

"Ah, great! I'll see if the medication is actually helping." Said the tall man with a weak smile on his face. "Are you coming down?" He turned his head back to look at her sunk in face.

"After I bring down the tea. You two can have a tea party."

"Alright, sounds fun."

Victoria reached for the handle and unlocked it slowly, creating a silent turn to escape the creaks. "Just down there."

The tall man in white silently walked down the stairs. "It's pitch black down here, Miss. Did the light burn out?" 

The man stopped in the sunlight, and looked back at Victoria. She quickly closed the door, letting the ray vanish into dust. "Pardon me, Miss? I can barely see my hands!" Screamed the tall man. "Let me out!" But there was just silence, following a giggle. "Alice? What's wrong with your mother?" He leaned down in the darkness to find her face. "Do you think we can get out to get help, if she went crazy?"

Thump.

Drag.

There were droplets of heavy rain, and steps. The tall man looked down the railing and saw a pale little girl covered with glass and red syrup. "Alice, what happened to you?"

There was silence.

Then a series of screams.

"Let me out! She's crazy! She's attacking me…" the man banged on the door, breaking the wood into chips. "Let me…"

"It's too late." Victoria giggled, covering her head with her sweaty hands. "You already know. You have to go too."

Victoria huddled up against the shaking door, holding the warm teacup. "All the blood... The redness." Whispered Victoria, sipping her tea. "I'll clean all of it up after."