Surrogate Soul

Chapter Three

Alice was still alive. That much was true while her family were all burned down when Assassins and the Wizards’ puppets stormed into the mansion to kill all of them. The Wizards got scared that the evil soul might use another body of the royal family so they decided to just kill everyone of them. It was one of the stories that were left out in history books. Everybody decided to forget about it. Only the Books of Fate kept the secret. It laid there written in red. The blood of the royal family.

A curse was cast before they died. Alice’s mother was born from the dark witches of the South Realm. It was she who brought the curse of their family into the mansion and within one of her children. And upon her death, she protected her daughter with a curse. Knowing that Alice’s death was inevitable, she cursed the evil soul to be bound into Alice’s body if it would seek to revenge their deaths. Within the curse was a promise of life for Alice. And before she died she whispered her secrets into the Book of Fate.

The evil soul started to gain control of Alice on her sixth birthday. It was the time an original started to gain knowledge of their powers and of the worlds parallel to theirs. That was what Alice thought it was. The voice she kept hearing seeking to have a form. At first, its words were unknown to her. It used the words of the old. She was just starting to learn it but the voice taught her more. It surprised her guardians at how fast she learned it. They were so fascinated that Alice embraced the voice with all her eager heart. She listened to its voice and did as she was told without thinking of whether or not it was right or wrong.

One day, the voice whispered to her to cast one very difficult curse upon her pet, Star. A curse that shall imprison a mortal body into a state of pain. It was a curse that her mentors forbid her to ever learn. They said it was hard that’s why she shouldn’t do it. But Alice was persistent and she thought it was just a challenge. With the voice’s guidance, she cursed her pet. It died instantly. She cried and told her guardians of what happened. They frowned at her and punished her to stay in the howling dungeons for a full hour. The voice got angry and punished her adding to the howls from the dungeons. She cried and covered her ears as the voice kept yelling at how weak she was. It kept telling her awful things. It wanted her to kill her guardians and then herself because she was puny and she doesn’t deserve to live. She shook her head and cried even more. Clyde was her only companion in the dark dungeon singing to her making the voice go away. Since then, she never left his side.

Seeing this made Alice’s guardians and Clyde’s parents to bind the two. Alice and Clyde assented not fully knowing what it meant. Alice was happier since then and the voice had stopped completely. Or so she thought. But one fateful morning before her eight birthday, Clyde was called away for an errand. The voice sensing Clyde’s presence gone came back hissing angry words in Alice’s ears. She tried to cast away the voice by joining in the morning gaieties which she usually doesn’t attend. She laughed loudly and talked non-stop until she was so tired she fell asleep and woke up to a quiet evening in her room. The voice was still muttering angrily but it was subdued. Then out of the blue, her hand moved making half cast symbols. She was too afraid to move but she willed herself to stop. It took time but she finally did it. Then she ran out of her room looking for the only person who can make the voice go away. Clyde was there and Alice ran to him whispering the things that had happened that day. Clyde was the only one who believed her. The night went on and the voice kept threatening her. She clung to Clyde but their bond had been unknowingly broken by the evil soul when Clyde left. It was stronger than before and Alice felt it. Clyde held her whispering words of encouragement. By midnight, Clyde accompanied Alice back to her room and waited until she slept. He even secretly poured a sleeping draught in her milk so she wouldn’t have to wake up in the middle of the night and find herself alone with the evil voice that plagued her. But worry kept nagging on Clyde’s mind as he lay awake in his room. He was about to fall asleep when he heard someone whisper by his window. He jumped up and creep up to the balcony. He saw Alice walking in her night dress down in the gardens. A deep fear came to him and he was rooted in his place. He couldn’t move and no voice came out when he called for help. Alice was in danger and he was overcome with cowardice.