Graveyard Bash ~ Heaven Or Hell -Invite-

[Alice]

... You sure you're okay Loveless?.....I'm fine, Alice.

---Continued From; Say My Name---

I am curious though..
Huh?...
Why is it exactly, we're here?

=================
Downtown Chicago ~ Local Cemetary
=================

... I thought you were leading us..
You have got to be kidding me. You can't even keep track anymore?!
I-.. I'm sorry!

The moon had fallen, night sank in. The cold chicago air was moving swiftly and softly along. Alice walks carefully, scared out of her wits. Her darkened boots almost seemed to vanish if she looked down. Her arm still taped and wrapped, still in pain and suffering. Hidden under a sweatshirt and jeans.

Alice, I think we should leave.
Y- yeah but... I'm kind of curious to look around too..
It's a cemetary, how hard is it to -GUESS WHAT HAPPENS HERE-?!
I don't know... maybe we can find someone to talk with..
Someone to... ALICE, DEAD FOLK, RESIDE IN THIS PLACE! They are DEAD, the -EXTREME- OPPOSITE OF ALIVE! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO HEAR THEIR VOICES!!
B- but I can hear your voice...
.... I'm not dead.
I- I know.. but it's still out of the ordinary right... ?

She continues on, walking step by step over the cold hard ground. Leaves crunch under her boots, the sound of the wind begins to play tricks on her mind, twisting and turning itself into groans or ghastly wails.

.... Alice.. let's get out of here.
H- huh?.. But.. I wanted to explore...
ALICE, IT'S A MOTHERFUCKING GRAVEYARD!! IT'S NOT LIKE WE'LL FIND SOMETHING NEW AROUND HERE!

She continues on, passing grave by grave. A couple old mosoleums in the distance catch her attention, the sound of crows rustling in the trees. The wind playing with it's own vocal ambiguation.

... A -... Alice, let's..
.... HA! YOU'RE SCARED OF THIS KIND OF STUFF!
W - WHAT?! THAT'S... ABSOLUTELY BULLSHIT! I DON'T GET SCARED REMEMBER?!
Oh wow, this is priceless. Loveless is scared of ghosts ;D
NO! That's not what it is... I just, don't have a fond love of the occult.
Sure sure~ Don't worry, I'll protect you if any near by televisions start playing nothing but static and a child spins her head around saying 'they're heeeeere'.
I'M GOING TO KILL YOU SOMEDAY ALICE!!!

Alice continues on walking before slightly tripping over an errand rock formation... or is that a stump..

What is that..
Hm.... I can't tell...

Alice begins digging at the old moss and dust covering the object. Her fingers prod and poke around before fitting into a socket. She tilts her head to the side, blinking her eyes. "... Huh.."

What is it?
I don't know... it feels familiar though..

Alice begins pulling on the object, grunting and gasping. She anchors her boot against the ground, the stress and strain of pulling nearly causes her wounds to re-open. She yanks and yanks, and finally tugs the object free- "Yaaaaay, it's a-......."

..........
.......
.....
..............
That.... is a human... head Alice... you..
.... I...
You.. JUST PULLED, A HUMAN SKULL OUT OF THE GROUND, ALICE!!
I- I DIDN'T MEAN TOO!!!

Alice jumps up, the skull in her hands. She stares down at the skull, the skull -stares- up at Alice. She blinks, panicking, looking around like she just stole the Hope Diamond. Alice begins to freak out-

W- WHAT DO WE DO?!
WE?? I DIDN'T PULL THE GROUND UP AND FIND A HUMAN HEAD!!
J- JUST, JUST HELP!

"............"

She stares down at the skull, closer. A more detailed inspection...

".... No.."

L-.. Loveless what are you doing?! GET RID OF THE DAMN THING DX
.......
Lov... Loveless?.. Ar- are you okay?...

".... This isn't.."

Alice stares down at the ground, the moss and rocks moved from where the skull had been uprooted. She kicks around some stray pieces left behind, dusting them with the heel of her boot. Skull firmly placed in her hands as the night air washes over her... a sense of impending doom, as it's twin. She kneels down, more of dropping to both knees... staring at the object, shining through the dirt.

"... No... no no.. that's not..."

Hey... what is it Loveless.. ?
..... Alice.. this-

The sound of a twig snapping snaps her attention back to focus. Alice lets the skull fall back into place before jumping up and turning around swiftly. She glares around the place with rage in her eyes.

"Who's there?! Who is it?? I can smell someone here!!"

H- hey calm, .... calm down for a second.. what was that thing?...
Shut up... just.. shut up..

[Lessien Melwasul]

~Betty didn't stop.~

"Hm."

~In her mind's eye it all sounded like a baby commanding a tsunami. 'Stop'. Drown. Die forever more.~

"Which one am I?"

~Betty whistled the answer, and Alice remembered the words slowly as twigs and branches continued to snap under black combat boots that had seen a thousand miles.~

"Wind's in the east, mist comin' in."

~They ducked under a branch of some death tree providing shade to who exactly during the day was anyone's guess. But at night, there were no shadows here. Betty whistled a long tone.~

"Like something is brewin' about to begin"

~She cleared the 'peaceful' fucking 'grove' and found baby darting the wild eyes in her general direction. Stealth not Lessien's forte when not needed. She had followed her all the way here without detection until the little waste of breath had stopped moving. Alice's green eyes glinted, unprotected in the fallen moonlight.~

"Can't put me finger on what lies in store"

~A mocked English accent. Feet were planted firm in the soft ground. Little girls and their graveyards.~

"But I feel what's to happen, all happened before."

~That's where song faded away, down into the moss and Earth.~

"You"

~Betty started after an appropriate pause. Alice's eyes sharpened tight.~

"You should be back in your Mother's fucking arms, Lover."

"Far away from here."

~Was she following Danger Girl? Stalking her prey? No, this was just Alice's unlucky fucking day... life... hell... their paths crossing several blocks before. A figure locked on to outside a cafe window.~

"Now, what's a nice girl like you..."

~Betty's disdain was even sharper than the previous year.~

"doing

here."

[Alice]

Hey it's Mellie!...
Melwasul...

"Queenie... what a pleasant surprise."

Alice slowly rotates her right shoulder, the hospital dressings still firmly in place. She cracks her neck from side to side before licking her lips under the moonlight.

"I was disappointed at our -date- you know... usually to the victor goes the spoils.. but instead you left me a nifty little autograph~ And one I can't even sell on E-bay. That broke my little heart."

H- hey... why do you get all weird around Mellie..
Why do you get all pathetic around Yumi.
... Tha... that's not true..

"Me? Oh.. I'm just out taking a stroll down memory lane. Good times, bad times, fun times... but hey, if you're offering...."

Alice teasingly opens her arms, her fingers making a -come hither- motion before she blows a haughty little kiss in Lessien's direction.

"... I'm more than willing to find shelter in -SOMEONE'S- arms tonight."

W- what are you doing?!
I'm having fun.
But!... She, she CARVED my name into our arm!!
You still don't understand that do you?
What are you talking about....
Poor sweet little Alice.

"But no... the Red Queen never gives her little subjects that much attention, does she?"

Alice takes a couple steps ahead, her arms still open, her right arm still throbbing from the first meeting with Lessien, the disturbed one. She glances up at the night sky, the moon and it's beauty.

"That's a shame... I was wanting some excitement out of you. I wanted a reaction, I wanted something truly... mind -blowing-... but you didn't even so much as look at me in that bar..

You just saw another face with another sad story, and tried to put it out of it's misery... that hurts Queenie... it really does. I'm special... I'm a whole other -KIND- of special..."

Alice lowers her head, her footsteps stopping cold. She stares at Lessien with a smirk, a disturbed little grin on her face, another wetting of her lips.

"... I'm a god damned plethora of -fun-."

.... You really freak me out when you're around her Loveless..
Good, because you scared the hell out of me when you threw up after talking to Sailor Libre.

[Lessien Melwasul]

~Betty sighed audibly for Danger Girl's ears, before lowering her denim clad ass on one of the more sturdier head stones. Hands in her pocket, digging for the only thing she really needed.~

"Fun is for children."

~Alice sniped from their resting place.~

"Like the fucking air they breath."

~Betty found what she was looking for, and Alice struck the flame from time stamped Zippo with freshly replaced flint. A glowing ember of living heat that responded to the deep inhales and faded with long dragon's tails. The thick smoke helped them focus, not that they were ever too far off track.~

"Tough girl. Hot girl."

"Cold"

"Whatever, it doesn't make any difference in the world. You played the game. You opened the door."

"Hopscotch, jumping rope and jacks."

~Betty took another

long

taste.~

"In my game, you don't get to keep playing until you get it right and win"

"One chance."

"You lose."

"You win."

"It's all the fucking same."

~Eyes studied the bruised face. Puffed up. Used up. Dis-fucking-colored even under the night.~

"Well, in your case, a little worse. But still, your choice Lover."

"Runaway"

"Go home Stick and live with it. You'll be nothing but

just

plain

Loveless, here."

[Alice]

Heh... Loveless ;D
You're starting to enjoy this aren't you Alice.
.. I don't mean too.... it's just.. she's obviously playing with you.
I'm aware.
But it looks soooooo brutal... I mean if someone else was watching... it would look like you're throwing yourself at someone who has no ability to want anyone or thing but herself and her Zippo...
I'm going to hurt you, Alice.

"You're breaking my heart Queenie. Show me your true face and I'll make all your sorrows disappear. Or could it be I'd have to be a Camel branded cigarette before you put your lips around me?"

... Wow..
What?
..... I didn't know you had this kind of side..
Of course I do, I'm a woman Alice. Don't play innocent, I felt what you were thinking around Yumi.
That's entirely different than this! Mellie is the kind of person who probably thinks foreplay is what she did to our arm!
Hmmm... I hope so.
... You're scaring me again Loveless.....

"So what, that's it? Game over man? No more insert a coin here? I didn't win a free life? That's not fair...

I didn't even get to push your buttons for the Konami Code.."

Alice smiles brightly before twirling around, a soft little dance in the moonlight... in a graveyard, with a disturbed partner in crime sitting on a headstone. She begins to laugh softly under her breath, finally stopping, back turned to Lessien...

"Hahaha... Loveless? That's a good one.. you have -NO- idea Queenie! -NO- idea the meaning of that word.... not like -I- do.. hahaha... -Loveless-..

You're such a skid - mark on my heart Queenie. I feel so very -alive- around you, it's a gloriously sick and exciting feeling.. I think I'll share it with you sometime. You just have to let me in... that's -allllll- you have to do..

Let - Me - In~"

Alice softly, quietly digs the toe of her left boot up under the fallen skull at her feet. She takes in a nice long deep breath before looking up at the moonlit sky in all it's wonderful glorious beauty. Her fingers freely moving as she raises her arms softly, one of them still throbbing considerably.

Hey.. what are-...
Shhhh dear Alice...

[Lessien Melwasul]

~Betty sat on 'her' headstone, watching as smoke trailed up beside them, mixing pleasantly with the smell of moss, moist and wet Earth. Things were quiet. One might have even thought the mind of Lessien was considering it. That, of course, would have been yet another mistake in a week full of them.~

"No."

~It was a flat, dead answer. Which matched the setting perfectly. Alice's heels kicked off the name engraved in time. In time to the music that was floating in her head.~[/size]

[Alice]

;D....
Don't, even.. say it.
Oh no.. you ragged on me for ages cause of Yumi.. I haaaaave to get some shots in..
Melwasul is just being stubborn.
Mellie?! HAH ;D Come ON Loveless... even I can see it here, she doesn't want you. If she DOES she's doing a reeeeeally good job of playing -hard to get-
I swear, I swear it... I'm going to hurt you Alice.

Quickly Alice snaps her toe up, the skull lifting into the air. She grabs it with her left hand before turning swiftly and gracefully... her momentum releases in her hand, -HURLING- the skull in Lessien's direction.

W- what are you doing?!
I'm having, -FUN-!

As expected, Lessien swats the skull away like a fly being toyed with by a cat... but Alice had already closed the gap.

"NO?!"

Alice thrusts her left arm forward, her palm encasing the Queen's face, the cigarette and zippo fly errantly to the ground as she pushes forth and takes both herself and the Red Queen down to the ground below the headstone. She mounts Melwasul quickly before backhanding the disturbed one fiercely with her left. Fingertips brush away and knock the darkened glass from her face. She glares down at her.

"NO?! HOW DARE YOU ASSUME!! YOU THINK -YOU'RE- THE ONLY ONE WHO'S -SPECIAL-?!? YOU INSUFFERABLE LITTLE BITCH!!"

Alice is quickly bucked off by Lessien, rolling through. The two of them clash together and once again trip behind a headstone, rolling in opposite directions. The moonlight shines down on the two of them like a spotlight, Alice kicks up more dust and dead leaves, grazing the air before jumping through them and back onto Lessien.

"NO SHE SAYS!?! NO?! YOU CRUEL THREE FACED WITCH!! I'LL SHOW YOU HOW FAR -NO- GETS YOU WITH LOVELESS!!"

Y- you've lost it... you're-
SHE'S GOING TO PAY ALICE! ONE WAY OR ANOTHER SHE'S GOING TO PAY!!!

Lessien kicks Alice off with ease, the boot buried deep in her gut sends another chill of pain and revere down her spine. Alice rises quickly, a large backhand thrust from her hospital dressed hand. The pain sharp and true, she wraps her arms around the Queen's neck after she spun from the impact. A choke from behind, a love of all time, a faint whisper...

"... -No-?.. No... no I love you Queenie.. oh yes - yes I do.... and you, haha... you love me.. and since you -love- me -so- much..."

Alice forces Lessien down, cracking her chest against a the headstone she'd been sitting so proudly on before. She weighs down on her back with her body before snapping the Queen's hair up, licking the side of her cheek in all some kind of delusional -victory-...

"... Then you'd -Die For Me-..."

Alice is powered back, shoved off by Lessien's resistance. She steps in again only to be blindsided by the Queen's combination of both hands, a double axe swings down unto Alice's -right- collarbone. A yelp and whine of pain and agony as her body slumps to it's knees on the cold ground, another blow, vicious and oh - so - timely~ Alice winces before her right shoulder slumps down to the ground below, her left palm all that supports her upper body and it's increasingly heavy weight~

I.. I can't.. see straight....
... We're losing blood. Those hits shocked the stitching on her autograph Alice.
.. W- why did you do this....
... T - chh, just get some rest. I'll deal with this.

[Lessien Melwasul]

~Knees, boot heels, open palms rained like nuclear fucking winter. Stitches were the least of her worry anymore as Betty tried to pull the headstone out of the ground. That, of course, was impossible. So next she tried to uproot the nearest tree to use as a final club. That was even more impossible. Each successive failure to procure something to cave this bitches skull in sent her into another fit of

white

hot

rage and the heels of her boots ground down on her with renewed meaning and new found strength. Danger girl bled from many, many places.~

"Fuck!!!!"

~Betty threw up her arms in absolute exasperation, pacing, eyes darting for something. Alice the most desperate of all to finish this fucking job once and for all. All she could find was that skull, and Hamlet was not popping to mind as she grabbed and in one rabid jerk was on this blond heap like the plague. She tried to ram the skull into her mouth until its hollowed shell exploded in splintered bone remains.~

"You

don't

know

me!!

~Each

fucking

word punch-tuated with leather gloved fist now saturated with the young woman's gore. Alice tried to remove the girl's eyeballs, but the gloves prevented the fingernails from piercing. Danger Girl's only luck today so far. This beating made the previous one look like the game it had actually been. This one? This one. This one was nothing short of deadly until within in breath of her last breath... it ended. The weight lifted and the the sounds of Betty pacing erratically began again.~

"You're NOTHING like me!!"

~She yelled at the heap of blood, mud, mulch and flesh. Eyes darting for her lost Zippo.~

"NOTHING!!!!!!!"

~Betty thought about trying to uproot the tree again, but Alice returned to the quest for fire. The complete agitation turning their hands into useless claws.~

"Just another fucked up nut from a fucked up tree. An environmental waste from the 1980's."

~A cloud passed and for a moment a glint of light off half buried silver. Her Zippo's rounded edges soon back in her hand. A comfort to Alice to be sure and even Betty finally took a breath that wasn't laced with extinction towards someone in particular.~

"That's all you are."

~Alice breathed deep.~

"and ever will be."

~And drew the line between them.~

"I'm by pure and natural design."

~For all they cared they were talking to a corpse. They couldn't hear this "ALICE" breath or move. A Lucky Strike found, she ripped the filter off with her teeth and spit it the fallen heap's general direction. Betty needed to think... needed to breath... needed to live for a second as she sat back down where it had began. The clouds stealing the light again.~

"It's as good a place as could be found."

"As good as any, Alice dear."

~It was obvious she comtemplating just leaving this child here. A more poetic surrounding could not be found. Think. Think. Think.~

[Alice]

"..........."

..... He - h... heh..
... L- Lov..- Less... I.. can't feel anything...
... Oh.. I can.
But... but she.. I-.. stop this... she's.. gonna kill us...
Close your eyes Alice... close your eyes.... a child's innocence, shouldn't be lost in a place like this.
... H- hey.. wh... what're.... .......
..... Good girl.

"............"

The damage, extensive. Her body was losing it's grace and charm under the moonlight, the Demon Rain of Pain had done a large amount of harm. She knew there was blood loss danger levels rising. The very quiet sounds of Lessien still pacing back and forth, sickeningly brought a smile to her face. Which was currently half buried in the ground and it's cold unforgiving world. The hospital dressings had all but gone to rat shit. Her autograph was exposed once again to the air and the elements...

... But she was happy about that..

".... Kek.... heh... hah.... hahah..."

She hadn't ever heard of the Red Queen blowing her lid so forcefully, so vengefully before. She didn't know every detail of life spent under Lessien's command... but from her research. It was -rare- she lost any kind of -control-...

It proved it, in her own mind...

.... I told you I was special..

".... Uunnnnnn......"

The mere quarter sight of which she could see, of Lessien's face. The unbelievable joy of knowing she had somehow -shocked- or -bewildered- the Red Queen... it was pure violent ecstasy.

".... More..... h... heh... heeeey.... come... come on.. Queenie.... show me..

.. That kind of face.... more.. - I need it.. hey.... give me more..."

The body - heavy. The mindset - worse. She drags her fingernails, bruised and bloody, against the bark of a tree. Her knee pressed firmly against a tomb, she pushes. She pushes so hard... such little strength and energy left. Such a unlawfully weak frame for this kind of midnight fun in the carnival.

".... P.. pure.... mmmm... haha - hahaa.... give... me more of... that.. -p... purity-.. yeah.... that's the face.. that one...

... Hur - ry Queen... ie... I.. at least.... wanna finish... before I pass out..... haha.. hahaha...."

Her body, slumped against the bloodstained and darkened tree. Her body finally hitting the ground, her eyes float and flounder in their vision. Blurry - hazed. Her body, it was on fire. Her sexual peak was being stimulated like a rapid fire button on a AK-47. Her back somewhat arches, a groan escapes her - quickly followed by another disturbed chuckle. Her breathing now labored.... the moonlight seemed to be getting dimmer, second by second...

.... We're.. gonna die here...
.. No. We'll be fine.. Alice.
I- ... I don't want this... my body.. it- s...
.... Mmmm... that's.. my body reacting..
.. Really?.....
You're not like me... remember..
... Y- yeah... I'm.. not like you...
Alice...
... Loveless.. ?
....... I can't move..
.. W- what?... He... hey!... Loveless!!
.........

".........."

This... this isn't fun- ny... you can't leave now... ho- how... how do I..
...... I just.. need to rest....

"....... I..." Alice. Alice. Alice was -fucked-. Her body had spent, her body had gotten off. You heard me. Alice was -fucked-, in more than -one- sense of the word. Her upper body slumps down, tears rolling down her cheeks. Fear set in so quickly and heavily. Was this, this the kind of thing Loveless had kept from her?.. "... L-.." How would this be explained? She couldn't move. She couldn't run. If Lessien felt like it, it would all but be done. ".... Me... Mellie......"

".... My.. my name... is Alice... Amherst.." Truth, would be no way no how stranger than fiction. Alice's only choice, Alice's last fucking chance... would be to explain, what the fuck just happened. Her eyes were heavier and heavier by the second. Blood was flowing, most had begun to clot... some had decided to... -not- "... L-.... Love -.. Less... passed out... I.. can't...." What good would this do? To tell someone who twice but a second hair from thrice tried to kill her because of another's actions? What good would a secret told in a graveyard do now?

What other choice does she have?

".... I'm.. not Loveless.... she... she'- s... the one.... who wants.. you..." Want was a cute word. The sensation under Alice's jeans made her sick. Loveless was a cruel and disturbed woman - then again... she was sharing a body with her. Alice tried to curl her legs up, anything to bring her knees closer to her chest. It almost had felt like her mind just helped someone else rape her body by beating her half to death. ".... I.. can't.. explain- .... anymore..." Strength... was gone. Alice's body finally slumps past the edge of the tree's bark, her body drops softly onto the dead leaves and earth beneath it. Silence. "..........."

.........
...........

[Lessien Melwasul]

"Finality"

~Alice looked up into the sky, enjoying the growing silence.~

"And fucking finally."

~Betty flicked the cigarette into the night and slid off the head stone. Alice listened carefully until she heard the wet breath. Another. Another.~

"You stupid fucking girl."

~Betty was more than annoyed, hoisting the 5' 8", blond, blood mop onto her right shoulder. Several things on her side: time, shifting light and the fact that Chicago had lost its soul over eighty years ago.~

"Another time."

~Alice never explained herself.~

~Betty took the steps allowing Alice's thoughts to wander where they would. Hotel key, hospital receipt, a few pills. As far as things found in pockets, it wasn't very interesting. The only good news was the hotel was close and the lights dimmed enough and at the bottom of a slight incline.~

"Poetry."

~They dropped the body behind a row of road shrubs, a little moan escaping and telling them they might as well continue with the plan. The hotel loading dock. A laundry basket that rattled loudly if only any one were around to hear. They returned to the scene of the would be crime... if only this girl would stop breathing. Betty hoisted her into the basket, as Alice looked down inside and seriously considered leaning down and removing her tongue with a sharp rock nearby.~

"She would be perfect then."

~Betty aimed the cart as best she could... as well as anyone could aim such a thing before giving it a firm kick to the base and down the slight hill it rolled for the front door, rattling and bumping twenty times worse than before.~

HEY!!!

~A doorman's head popped out as Lessien slipped back into the shadows and slipped on her dark lenses against the street lights and security cameras. She'd been in this fucking city 3 years, and was 2 blocks away by the time the doorman peered down inside the basket.~

Oh god...