Guilt spread through Alice like poison. Her skin felt clammy and warm to the touch, even though it was just above freezing outside. Her long black hair was pulled up into a severe bun on the back of her head, her bangs not in her face for once. Strikingly blue, her eyes stood out from everything around her. The world was faded by the winter, but her eyes shone brightly with an unnatural color that could not be dimmed. Careful footprints trailed behind her as she made her way to the front door of her house. Well, Seth's house. She didn't belong here anymore.
She lifted her hand to turn the doorknob, but she hesitated. Was it really right for her to just walk in there? She hadn't seen or heard from Seth in three days, and he would know why. He deserved to at least have a head's up that she was coming in. She decided to knock, then let herself in.
The house was quiet. Everything felt... dead. Nervously Alice pulled off her coat and peered around he corner into the living room.
"Seth?" She called, not yet sure if she wanted him to respond or not.
"Why are you here?" A voice whispered into Alice's ear. The voice belonged to Seth, but his tone was something different than usual. Dark. He pressed the end of his wand into her neck.
"You just can't make up your mind, can you? You can't be satisfied by just one man? I actually believed that things might go back to normal, but you never came back. I figured it out when morning came."
Alice froze. He was so close to her. How had she not heard him. She knew why. Axel made her human. So beautifully human. She was pressed up against a corner, the edge pushing into her chest. Unconsciously she had leaned into it as a way to get farther away from Seth. That had worked out well.
"Seth, stop. Please,"she whisered, not moving. She could feel his wand digging into her neck. Of course, she didn't have her wand with her. She never did, because she never used it. There was no need for magic when you were virtually indestructable. "I didn't come back for you this time," she continued, her voice growing cold, "I never meant to hurt you, Seth. You know I didn't."
Seth pulled his wand back, but still had it pointing at her.
"You never meant to hurt me? Really?" He laughed, darkly. "Well then what exactly were you trying to do? You messed with my head, Alice. Go get your things and get the &%@! out!"
He didn't realize how harsh he was sounding. He...he had no control over what he was saying right now. He didn't know what was happening.
Alice slowly turned around and lifted her eyes. Her gaze locked on his, her own brilliant eyes seemed to pop out from her face--white and black against bright blue. She watched him with a strange look on her face.
"I had no intentions of hurting you. Ever. When I left, I thought with all my heart that I would be coming back to you, to be happy with you. I never wanted anything bad to happen between us, but even I can't control certain things..." her voice trailed off and she dropped her heavy gaze to the floor, ignoring the wand pointed at her. He had never, ever hurted her physically. She didn't think he had it in him to do anything harmfull, anyway.
Seth lowered his wand and nodded towards the bedroom.
"Get your things and get out. The sooner you get out of here, the sooner you can go be with Axel, your true love."
She raised an eyebrow, her eyes snapping back to look at him. Alice was not one to take orders, especially those said in anger.
"I never said anything about true love, and I can assure you that I don't believe in such a thing," she stated, staring at him.
Of course she didn't believe in true love.
Seth stepped back and left the room, sitting on the couch in the living room, where he had spent the last several days. He shut his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. What was he doing? He almost used magic against her, was giving her orders. That is not him. It just wasn't.
Alice watched him walk into the living room and sit down. For a moment she just stood there, thinking. Neither of them were in the right mind to be having this conversation at all.
With a sigh she moved towards him and rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Seth, you have no idea how sorry I am, but I can't stay here." She paused, swallowing. "I can't stay human here, and I need to be human."
"I made you human!" Seth exclaimed, turning to her. He shrugged her hand off of his shoulder and stared into her vibrant blue eyes.
"I made you human." He said a little more softer. Was this about love or being human? Was she really that selfish?
"You don't know that, Seth," she whispered, wanting to look away but not daring to. "It could have been anything that changed me. Whatever it was, though, it doesn't always keep me human. And I realized that I was attatching myself to you because I thought it was you that made me human. I thought it was our love for each other, or something similarly romantic, but it's not. And I just can't pretend anymore. I can't pretend that I love with all my heart, because I don't.
"I realized that I was forcing myself to think I loved you like that, because of everything you've done for me. But I just... can't."
"Go." Seth said shortly after Alice spoke. "Go and get your things and leave. I'm done with these games. I've got the papers. We can sign now and our divorce can be finalized." He raised his wand. "Accio documents." A small stack of papers fluttered onto Alice's lap.
Alice didn't say anything. Instead she looked down at the papers stacked on her lap. Her eyes scanned the page quickly, but she didn't really care about anything it had to say. She snapped her fingers and a pen appeared. Signing her name at the bottom, she stood and set the papers on the couch.
"He was going to kill himself. The other night. When I found them he was drunk and had his wand to his throat. Just thought you'd like to know, considering you're the only family he has." She waited another moment, then stated upstairs.
Seth signed the papers once Alice left and then laid back against the couch.
Axel tried to kill himself? But...why? Why would he try to do that? He had Alice! He won the prize!
She was at the base of the stairs when she paused. One delicate hand rested on the railing while the other was fisted at her side. A flash of Seth's thoughts ran through her mind, and she clenched her teeth together.
-He won the prize!-
Trying desperately to control her anger, Alice turned around. "He didn't think he had anything to live for. No one cared about him, and he had nothing. You certainly haven't treated him well. And another thing, I am not a prize to be won. Don't you dare think that he won me and you lost, becase that is not what happened."
"You pity Axel without thinking about the full story!" Seth stood angrily. "We all cared for him! Eventually he got too out of hand. He had everything in his parents' will! Of course I don't treat him well because he never respected my family." Seth shook his head.
"But I did lose. I lost my everything."
Sadness flashed through Alice's face. She truly never wanted to hurt Seth. He had done so much for her, he loved her. But that just wasn't enough now.
"Seth, you don't know how sorry I am. And I don't pity Axel, I understand what he's been through. I've been through so much, and I just couldn't stand not being completely truthful. And you, you haven't lost your everything, you only think you have. You are so young and you have so much life left to live. You might think that this is the end, but it isn't. Trust me."
"Could you just once believe that maybe I really did love you? Just once?" Seth turned and retreated into the kitchen to fix some tea. It was done.
"I explained that wrong. You did love me, maybe you still do, but it's not the kind of love I'm looking for." Alice looked at him sadly.
"I really am sorry. If you ever need anything, let me know."