Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 3

P A R T - T W E N T Y - T W O

Chapter Twenty-Two: Open Doors.
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Alice stood on the balcony of Magnus's room, looking out over the view of the city and hearing the distant wailing sound of fire engines. She knew where they were going, she could see the smoke, even in the darkness, and noticed how it seemed a little more dense than the usual darkness of the night sky, which was usually diluted by the lights leaking up from the city. Magnus cleared his throat to announce himself as he climbed out the window and onto the flat roof top space, carrying two mugs of tea expertly in one hand. He could feel it burning his fingertips but didn't react to it, much like Alice didn't outwardly react to his presence as she stood with her arms folded, her face blank and her eyes fixated on the view.

She'd barely said a word since they'd got back, but had taken off her heels and pulled on a sweater over her dress since it was cold out. "Here." Magnus murmured, his eyes focussed on the profile of her face. She glanced at him, as if she didn't realise he was stood there and thanked him quietly, taking the mug of steaming tea and holding it with both hands. He didn't say anything else, since he got the impression she didn't want to talk and stood next to her in silence, watching the view, too.

His phone had been buzzing in his pocket on and off, which he knew was the members group chat probably talking about what had happened. He turned away slightly to check it after a few minutes, noticing that they were all talking about how the fire had spread like nothing they'd ever seen. The speed at which the flames had enveloped the building had caused the initial firefighters to call for back up, as some of the older buildings around it were about to catch fire, too and they were worried it would get too out of hand.

Alice wondered what would happen next quietly, although she knew that Oliver would know it was her. She wasn't worried, anxious or scared, she wanted him to know it was her, but she was curious as to what he would do next. He'd stepped on her toes and she had burnt his house down. She wanted him to understand that even the smallest actions against her would result in something, at least, ten times worse... and she wondered if she had gotten the point across. She snapped out of it after half an hour of simply staring, and took a sudden deep breath, causing Magnus to look to his right and down at her. "Okay," she sighed as the wailing of sirens echoed towards their ears.

"Yeah?" Magnus asked, understanding that she was done with whatever she was processing.

"Yeah," she replied, turning back towards the house and heading back inside, since she now finally registered that she was cold. Magnus poured the last of his tea away in a nearby plant pot and followed her in, closing the window behind him and pulling the curtain across as Alice turned on one of his bedside lamps. The house was quiet, but no one was asleep. Jae was in his room, lying awake and trying to understand what had just happened now that he'd seen the group chat, and Charlie lay awake too, breathing through the twisting in his stomach and his racing heart beat since something about the sudden turning of events had triggered something in him. The look on Alice's face that he'd seen outside had caused sudden flashes back to Summerland, as the vacant and yet slightly angered stare in her eyes reminded him of some things he was trying to forget, for his own sake, he assumed. Although the memories kept coming back with vengeance.

Back upstairs, Alice was now taking off her make-up and Magnus had changed into what he usually slept in after hanging up his tux, and wandered into the bathroom to discreetly watch Alice again as he brushed his teeth. "So... I was thinking about your birthday," he said calmly and in a low tone as Alice smoothed her cleansing balm into her skin and looked over at him from where she was sitting on the edge of the toilet.