Drink Me

57. BEAUTIFUL THING, TERRIBLE THING

BEAUTIFUL THING, TERRIBLE THING

Riley jumped onto the bus right before the doors closed and followed Alice on the upper deck; only a handful of people were lazily sitting in the last few rows so he and Alice took the first two seats in front of the window.

"Where are we going?" Riley asked, mirroring the woman's excited look.

"Well, if I told you, I would spoil the fun..." Alice replied, proud of the mystery she was creating.

Riley was silent for a moment, leaning back against his seat and studying the road ahead.

"Am I going to get arrested?" he joked, but Alice seemed to seriously think about her answer.

"Unlikely," she said eventually.

"Are you going to get arrested," Riley tried again and Alice looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Very unlikely," she replied, now without thinking about it.

Riley kept his eyes on her. Infinite possibilities running through his mind, some more exciting than others.

"Am I going to get hurt?" he asked again with slight worry.

Alice kept her eyes on the road ahead. "Maybe," she said, studying Riley's expression from the corner of her eye. "What big boy?" she teased as a result of Riley's evident concern. "I thought you were an elite super soldier or something," she mocked the man's voice.

And he was. He was well trained and resilient, but he was also wary of whatever Alice defined as crazy.

"Pretty sure I'm on my last life here..." he said in his defence.

"You'll be fine," Alice relented eventually, probably to stop the complaints, and when she turned to look at him, briefly locking her fingers with his, his hesitation dissipated.

Her eyes were so magnetic, and her smirk so enticing that he would have agreed to a bank robbery.

"Let's go," she said, letting go of his hand.

A suburban neighbourhood of middle class, red-brick detached houses welcomed them as they stepped off the bus; Riley tried to orientate himself with the road signs, but he couldn't tell exactly where they were.

Alice started to walk down the road, scanning the buildings with vivid interest on both sides of the street.

"Looking for something?" Riley inquired.

Then her eyes fell on a two-story white house at the top of a dead-end street. "That's perfect," she said, grabbing Riley's hand and hurrying her pace towards the end of the road.

The man followed her, eyeing her with growing curiosity until they reached the house and Alice confidently walked up the stone path, cautiously studying her surroundings; when she looked satisfied, she tried the wooden gate leading to the back yard.

"It's open," she grinned.

"Alice, where are you going?" Riley whispered, now spooked by the woman's intentions that were becoming progressively clear.

But Alice was already inside the gate, so after a moment of hesitation, he glanced around and eventually followed along. He found Alice toying with the sliding door that led into the house from the back garden. A tall brick porch sheltered her from the dim light of the outdoor lamp.

"What are you doing?" he tried again, his voice hushed.

"It's locked," Alice replied in frustration, but her eyes were already scanning the building for another point of entry.