It had been a little over a week since what had happened.
I got little to no sleep last night, everything I looked at reminded me of the vile acts Edward had executed on Kristen and Tom. Were they the only ones he'd murdered? The question sent my mind into a mad flurry of answers as I sobbed further into my pillow. I hadn't called the police, I'm not entirely sure why but I couldn't bring myself to dial the three digits and getting him thrown in prison for the rest of his life.
Thinking of Edward imprisoned made me nauseous, the thought of anything harming him filled my system with immeasurable dread. I terrified myself with such illogical thinking, Query was the only thing stabilizing my otherwise racing mind.
My appearance was a shambles and I made no effort to change it as I fed Query and found some food for myself, settling on the couch to hopefully tune out the incessant ringing in my mind. I tried to focus on the TV show but my eyes kept wandering to the shelf just to the right, the center holding the pictures of Edward and I. I tried to let it go, telling myself it was nothing but a picture but the image was so distracting I found myself off the couch and placing the picture face down so I wouldn't be reminded of him.
I dialed the young photographer, hoping that I wasn't interrupting anything she had with school. The phone rang three times before she picked up. "Hello, Eliza speaking." Her voice stated formally into the line.
"Hey Eliza, it's Alice I hope I'm not interrupting anything." I greet her.
"Oh hi Alice, you aren't interrupting anything, I've got a free period for the next two hours anyway." She explains and I feel relieved that I wasn't intruding.
"Really? Perfect! I was wondering if you would like to have coffee with me? I have something to give you." I offer and I can hear her slight hesitation. "In a public place, of course, I know what you're thinking, it's Gotham after all." I laughed lightly. "Pick the place, I'll pay."
"You don't have to pay." She trailed but I knew she didn't have the money to pay for her own.
"I insist, just pick a place and we'll go." In all honesty, I just needed to get out of this house, the constant reminder of Edward not doing wonders for my mental health.
"Ok, what about Cup at Joe's?" It didn't surprise me that she chose the very place I was hoping to avoid, it was the only cafe that sold decent coffee. I would know. I was going to suggest a different place but my mind drew a blank at any other coffee shop.
"Sure, sounds great." I found myself agreeing to the suggestion on impulse. I tried reassuring myself that I wouldn't see Edward there and kept my false sense of calm.
"Ok, let's say 20 minutes? I'm at the school around the corner." She explains.
"Yeah no worries, see you then." With that I hung up the phone, throwing on a nice outfit and fixing my hair so it didn't look like a literal disaster. The last thing I wanted was for Edward to think that he had caused me to look that way. I grabbed the camera and my purse, sticking my phone and keys in my pocket before saying goodbye to Query and heading out of the house. I'd yet to tell the other tenants that I was the new owner but figured the matter could wait for another time.
I drove to the cafe, parking out the back to make sure my car wasn't seen by anyone in the GCPD. I rushed my way into the cafe, careful not to make myself too noticeable. Eliza was already sitting down, in the seats Edward and I had claimed our own. My heart thumped but I smiled anyway, greeting her as if nothing was wrong.
"Hello, Hello." I surprise her as she glances up from her phone.
"Hey, Alice." She replies, her eyes brightening at the sight of the camera in my hand.
"Yes, this is for you," I state without her asking. I place the camera on the table between it and she eyes it in awe. "I received it as a gift for my birthday but I don't have any use for it. I thought who better than my very own photographer." I joked with her and her smile brightened further.
"Are you serious? Thank you so much, this must have been so expensive! This is top of the line!" She exclaimed, picking up the camera and inspecting it. She points the camera at me and asks me to give a smile. She took the picture and I ordered our drinks. I'd opted for tea as she did the same, I found myself face to face with Jeremy. His smirk was lopsided and his grimy hands punched in the price.
"Thanks." I didn't make eye contact as I sat back down with Eliza, waiting for him to bring our drinks out.
"Aren't you looking fine today?'' He drawls as he brings the drinks to our table.
"She has a boyfriend." Eliza snaps, this being the first time she's spoken in an ill tone. I put my hair behind my ear nervously at the statement.
"Oh does she now? Well, I don't see this boyfriend around anywhere." Eliza smirked and I looked at her in confusion.
"I do." She replied simply and my eyes widened in realization. "Hello, Edward." I started to shake and I couldn't bring myself to turn and look at him.
Ed's POV
Alice had not returned to work on Monday, according to Harvey she had requested the week off and had planned to take the trip her parents had paid for. I was itching to see her, the thought of her avoiding me making my skin crawl with anxiety. She was truly frightened of me, the way her face contorted in pure fear had riddled my nightmares. I had promised myself that she would not turn out the same way Kristen did, you and I had agreed on such promise.
"Oh don't beat yourself up Eddie." He replies, his voice ringing through my mind. "She'll be back, I mean she's practically obsessed with us." He leans against a chair as if the whole ordeal was insignificant.
"You saw how she looked at you-"
"Us..." He interrupts. "She looked at us that way due to shock, it won't be long before she's forgiven us and we will carry on being the awkward couple you dream of."
"Take this seriously-"
"I am taking this seriously!" He begins to get aggressive. "She didn't just leave you! She left us!" He explodes and my eyes widen with confusion. "Believe it or not I've found myself quite attached to her."
"Then why would you ruin this for me? For us?" I ask desperately.
"Because she needed to know, how on earth did you think that you could carry on with that lie hm? She may not be as intelligent as us but she is definitely bright enough to see through your lies." He counters.
"Well I hope you're happy because she will never speak to me again." I huff in return and he laughs.
"If she never wanted to see us again we would be in a cell right now but she didn't call the police did she?" I shake my head. "Which means that deep down Alice would never want to see you locked up, which also means that she subconsciously wants to see you again." With that we ended our argument and I left for work.
The GCPD felt empty without her, she had the most positive vibe surrounding her. She was kind to many but only civil to those she showed ill feeling toward, she always knew how to liven up the precinct but it now fell back into it's dreary routine. Harvey seemed to be suspicious of me, most likely pinning Alice's surprise absence to my doings. He had questioned me with a fatherly concern for her, not seeming pleased with my sheer lack of information.
The lab was especially lonely, our usual banter had been replaced with a thick, almost deafening silence. My eyes would constantly drift to her usual seat at the desk, my subconscious trying to tell me what I already knew. Things were not the same without her.
Having had enough of the silence I decided to take an early lunch break, planning on driving back home to avoid any further unwanted social interactions. Walking to my car I glanced toward the cafe that Alice and I had watched our relationship blossom within. I hadn't expected to see a familiar face but was pleasantly surprised to catch sight of the young photographer. Her eyes glinted with mischief and it was only then that I saw who she was speaking with.
She was sitting across from my Alice.
My plans changed immediately as I opened the door to the cafe, the familiar ringing sending a warm feeling through my body. I could feel him wanting to take control but I pushed his thoughts to the back of my mind in an attempt to clear my head. The young girl's mouth upturned slightly into a smirk as another man spoke with the two of them.
"I don't see this boyfriend around anywhere." His focus was solely on Alice despite his sentence being directed toward the other girl.
"I do." She replied, her gaze flickering back to where I now stood behind Alice. "Hello Edward." I give her a polite smile but my gaze turns cold as I shoot the other man a threatening look.
"Hello, Eliza wasn't it?" I couldn't quite remember her name, he had decided to take control on and off that day.
"Yep, nice to see you." By this stage the man had left in a huff, minding his own business as he served the other customers. Alice kept her head down the entire time, not making even the slightest move to face me. She was uncomfortable, this much was obvious and it seemed that Eliza had picked up on it.
"If you don't mind Eliza, I'd like to speak with Alice for a moment." She nods encouragingly and I take a few steps to the door, the sound of a chair scratching across the floor showing she'd decided to follow. I hold the door open for her but she passes me without a word, walking a few steps in front of me. She gives Eliza a friendly wave and smile, Eliza mouthing a goodbye before Alice picks up her pace.
I speed up myself until I'm walking beside her, much to her dismay. She stays silent, her head down as her hair covers her face from me. I wait until we are almost to her car to speak.
"Is this how it's going to be from now on? Will you continue to ignore me as if nothing's happened." She didn't even look at me, her lips sealed and her pace quickening again. "I've known you for quite sometime now and if I've learnt anything from the amount of time I've spent with you it's that you are the most talkative person I know. It would be almost impossible for you to ignore me forever." Again I received no reaction, she reached for her car door but I held her against the car so she was forced to look at me. "Please say something, anything." I begged, the look in her eyes ripping my heart out. Her eyebrows quirked up in surprise, she flinched at the sudden contact as I had never been this forceful toward her.
"Who am I talking to right now?" She questioned, her voice small and her hair falling into her face.
"It's me, Edward." My hand cupped her cheek as I placed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Which you? I don't even know who you are anymore." Her eyes welled up and I took a step back, realizing how violently I had been holding her. "This whole time you've been lying to me, how do I know that any part of our relationship is real?"
"Alice my love for you is the only thing that I am completely sure about. If you would just give me another chance, put everything behind us and go back to how we were-"
"How we were? Edward you murdered people, who's to say that you wouldn't do the same to me?" My voice had began to raise slightly but I consciously lowered it in fear of passers by eavesdropping.
"You know I could never do that." I shook my head in disbelief. "I could never lay so much as an ill hand on you and neither would he, in fact it's one of the very few things we agree on. Believe it or not he also cares about you, Tom and Kristen were merely in the way, we were trying to protect you." She looked as if she disagreed and cleared her throat. "Alice I love you, please let me show you that I love you."
"I haven't called the police because I care for you, that will be the extent of my courtesy. Goodbye Edward." With that she got into her car, a single tear sliding down her cheek as she drove away from me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is extremely late I'm so sorry! I've had a lot of things going on so yeah...
This was a sad one to write. I hate writing sad things but it has to happen.
On a brighter note, what do we think of the new cover? I found the template on Canva and kind of toyed around because as you probably already know, I am absolutely atrocious when it comes to cover making. I'm kind of really proud of making it myself.
That's all I have for today so thank you as always and I love you all so much Xx.
Both of them being all sad and jazz ^^^
~Mikayla Xx