AnOther Alice: A Novel (Undergoing Editing)

Chapter 23

Adrian tried to cook breakfast for everyone, even though his racing thoughts were centered on everything but food. It was a crazy situation, the murders and near-death experiences. Now a crazy self-regenerating eldritch creature was on their trail, who definitely wanted to become his little sister. Maybe kill her, then him, and all their friends.

He cracked some eggs into a bowl with butter, dressed it with chives, and poured everything onto some diced pieces of bacon now heating on a skillet. It was five in the morning. No one else was awake as far as he knew. But for a late riser like Alice, he didn't expect to see her until midafternoon. The last time he checked, she was still asleep, head buried under a comforter in the guest bedroom, Nadia sleeping next to her.

Like him, the other guys slept on the living room furniture, which was surprisingly comfy. They spent the night talking about Guinevere being the Otherling. Mostly everyone agreed that her behavior and the creatures were too in synch to ignore.

He took the dirty dishes to the sink, started washing them and turned the water off—after hearing the sound of a woman's bubbly laughter. Outside the window, on the walkway in front of Detective Kimura's house, two ladies conversed happily, wearing jogging clothes. Both seemed out of breath. The way they beamed at each other made it seem like they were close. Neighbors? Friends? Not that it mattered.

Adrian found himself feeling slightly envious that they were living normal, day-to-day lives. He longed for the days spent unaware of the existence of monsters when a hand grabbed his shoulder and he turned in a panic.

Standing behind him was his twin Alice, her face sleep-ridden. "What are you doing up?"

"Breakfast," said Adrian. "We're leaving for the safe house today, and I thought everyone could use the fuel."

Adrian turned back to the sink. For a moment, his heart sank to his stomach when she grabbed him. He thought it was someone else—no, he thought it was the Otherling—having finally made another appearance, and as much as he didn't want to admit it (and would never admit it to his sister) he was scared to death of the possibility of ending up on its kill count. Just like Sloane, Oliver and Dominic, so many other people that were slaughtered just for bearing such a normal name. Only he didn't spend the night with a normal group. He was among those who were surviving so far.

Remembering their group conversations from the night before, Detective Kimura, after learning that his daughter was the Otherling's first victim, became fixated on destroying it, his thirst for revenge burning as hot as Gabriel's. The problem was the where and the when. Since their attempt to kill it at the warehouse had almost got them killed, and Gabriel injured, a new plan was needed. In thinking, Adrian had offered to make his and Alice's family vacation home the place where they'd end things for good. It was a secluded location, and their nearest neighbor lived two miles away. Detective Kimura was for the idea, but McCullen was on the fence, pointing out their lack of backup.

McCullen had a solid point there.

Adrian hissed in pain, pulling back his hand from the sink. Blood dripped from his thumb into the foam below. Something cut his thumb while his hand was under water, and the liquid soap that irritated the small wound.

He rinsed the wound free of soap, thinking of how they'd be sitting ducks out there in that isolated area. It would just be them versus the Other Alice. But it was the best possible place to destroy it without being stopped or having ordinary people misunderstand the situation.

"Did you cut yourself?" Alice was beside him now. She pulled the chain connected to the plug and the sink began to drain. There was a knife at the bottom. Most likely what had sliced him earlier.