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ACTUALLY, NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN IN A RELATIONSHIP WHERE THE OTHER PERSON BROUGHT A TOTALLY DIFFERENT SIDE OF ME.. OR IS IT THE OTHER WAY? GEEZ, ALICE! I'M NOT SURE IF I ATTRACT CRAZY OR IF I MAKE THEM THAT WAY
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The short, black-haired vampire guides the criminally insane seventeen-year-old up the flight of carefully designed stairs in order to keep her and herself occupied while Bella and the Cullen family continue to talk downstairs. As they ascend, the blonde takes in all of the fancy, one-of-kind decor pieces from around the world. There are Ethiopian crosses, Dresden China, Asian scrolls and so much more that make the interior of the house beautiful. Finally, they reach the landing to find a wall of dozens of artistically arrayed silk squares with tassels. Harley tilts her head to the side and looks closer at the strange piece of art. ".. Cupcake, are those.. graduation caps," she asks.
"Hmm?" Alice stops in her tracks and spins to find Harley curiously staring at the board. "Oh," she laughs, "It's just a private joke between my family and I. We move schools a lot, so whenever we graduate, Esme takes our graduation caps and puts them on there."
Harley looks up at her with a pair of innocent eyes and an understanding frown. "School must suck, don't it?"
"Hmm..," Alice descends a single step and stands directly in front of the blue-eyes human,"Not really." She turns and stares at the neatly organized graduation caps. "When you have nothing but time, going to school becomes the most interesting thing you do."
"Awe, Pud'.." Harley's eyes soften. She ascends a step and rests the side of her head on Alice's marble-like shoulder. The both of them stare at the unique art piece. ".. Have ya ever thought of doin' somethin' different? Like, maybe.. going to college, like me, or working a professional job."
Alice smiles down at her. "We have. We all studied something. Esme studied architecture, art and photography, Edward has two medical degrees, Rosalie did electrical engineering and business, and I have several degrees in fashion design and international business. I actually worked with Gianni Versace in his 1991's Spring lineup. I helped him with the Marilyn Monroe dress in her 'Pop' collection," she replies.
Harley gasps and looks at her. "The one with Naomi Campbell," she asks. Alice proudly nods her head. The human blonde grins. "Tell me more," she says, genuinely interested in Alice's adventures. She wraps her arm around the vampire's shoulders and walks with her up the stairs. They continue to talk as they make their way to Alice's room.
Not too far from the Cullen's home, in Grisham Mill, a muscular security guard, crouched in a dark corner, releases a ragged breath. Tears and sweat drips off his terrified face as he breathes in short gasps. He tries his best to stay silent, but his attacker has a set of highly sensitive ears. Suddenly, he sees a shadow move past him at the speed of light. He jerks around when another shadow flies past him. The security guard, terrified, bolts up the flight of stairs. The harsh lights from the exterior of the mill striate him while he tries to move as fast as he possibly can. He desperately runs for his life, constantly looking over his shoulder with terror.
A shadow, several floors below, suddenly charges after him at an incredible speed. Everything about it is anything but human. It speeds through a maze of pillars and walkways. It dodges skull-crushing beams and leaps from one floor to the next, then up ladders, scaffolds and beams. With each step it takes, the closer it gets to the frightened man. It begins to close in on him, but then the security guard bolts out a grey door.
The guard bursts out onto a stair landing and goes to continue running, but loses his footing and trips. He breaks through a rail and pitches over the side, into the air and stops, hovering mid-air, a yard from the landing. Out of nowhere, a hand grips his shirt and tanks him out of the air with an incredible strength. He releases a guttural scream, but gets choked short. His blood spreads out onto the landing.
"Wow! I can't believe you actually met Erin Benach! Is it true she keeps the head of her dead husband in a mini cooler? Cause that would be hella' sick," Harley asks, laughing. Her and Alice stop in front of a door by the end of the hallway.
Alice chuckles and shakes her head. "Where do you even read this stuff," she asks, her hand resting on the door's silver doorknob.
Harley simply shrugs her shoulders. "The Dark Web," she casually replies. The vampire stares at her with wide eyes. Completely nonchalant, Harley looks at her and continues. "Yeah, it has all sorts of useful info. It's like the Wikipedia for criminals like me!" She proudly grins and places her hands on her waist. Alice simply smiles and opens the door to her bedroom. Harley follows her inside, her eyes widening with pure amazement. "Wow," she awes.
Alice's and Jasper's room is covered in purple paint and pieces of magazine pages. Instead of a bed, there's a grey couch and a faux wood coffee table. Off to the corner, underneath a colorful Marilyn Monroe painting, stands a set of mannequins.
Harley spins around to get a full 360 view of the entire room. Laughing, she looks at Alice and points to the room. "This.. This is amazing," she exclaims.
Alice grins and walks across the room. "And that's not the best part," she replies. She stops in front of a double door and places her hand on top of the doorknob. In front of her, Harley bubbles with curiosity and anticipation. Alice pulls open the door to reveal a walk-in closet that's larger than the room itself. Before them are racks of various clothing; formal wear, casual clothes, sleepwear, dresses, etc. The walls are lined with shelves of accessories and trinkets. Alice immediately begins to mentally dressing Harley in everything she sees.
"Oh. My. God," Harley whispers, totally awed by the amount of clothing in Alice's closet. Next to her, Alice quietly giggles at her reaction. Off in the corner, hangs a burgundy ball gown dress. She lifts an eyebrow and looks at Alice. "Is this..?"
"Prada's 1999 Miuccia Prada dress? .. Yes, yes it is," Alice replies with a smile. Harley stares at her with wide eyed and a gaped mouth. The vampire giggles and grabs her hand, leading her to the priceless dress. She grabs the dress off the silky hanger and moves to stand behind Harley, placing it over her chest. Harley looks at herself through a massive, silver mirror and slowly smiles. "I was gonna wear it to prom, but.. I think it looks a heck of a lot better on you," Alice continues.
Harley looks down at the dress, then at Alice's reflection. ".. Alice Cullen, I could literally marry you right now," she says, smiling. The woman behind her giggles and pecks the tattooed heart on her cheek.
Not even a minute later, they can be seen surrounded by piles of shoes and clothes. Harley holds a gigantic garbage bag while Alice randomly tosses clothes at her. Harley aims to get the clothes inside the bag, but fails as Alice is too quick. "Ooh," Alice exclaims. She slowly turns around to show the seventeen-year-old a pair of blue velvet heels. Wide-eyed, Harley simply nods her head.
Grinning from ear to ear, Alice hands Harley one of the outfits she selected for her and pushes her behind a beige curtain enclosure, and for once, Harley doesn't hesitate to go inside. Once she's inside, she immediately unravels the outfit the vampire had given to her. It suits her perfectly, a colorful blouse dress-shirt with frills all down the front, along with glittery pants. Immediately, her eyes sparkle. Moments later, she pops the curtain open and exits the enclosure, beaming a bright smile. Alice squeals and bounces up and down.
"Crap," Harley groans. She tries to drag a heavy, plastic bag full of clothes behind her. Next to her, Alice gracefully takes the bags out of her hands and sets them on a corner. With success, the two girls high-hive each other.
Moments later, Harley and Alice are sitting on Alice's couch while Esme's antique radio plays a 1950's song in the background. Alice rubs a dot of nail oil onto Harley's nails, finally deciding to break the invisible ice. "So.. Edward told us you knew about our existence from the beginning," she casually says and moves to the other finger.
Harley looks up at her and shrugs her shoulders. ".. Yeah. Mista' J knew lots of people in Gotham," she simply replies.
Alice stares at her and understandingly nods her head. It's obvious that the Joker is a sensitive subject for Harley. His death completely changed her. Her shift could've been for the better or for the worst, it really depends on how you look at it. ".. What was he like," Alice decides to bite the bullet and ask the lingering question.
Her question almost instantaneously brings a smile to Harley's face. "My Mista J, he.. he was a wildly fun psychotic clown, literally," she laughs and tears up while she continues. "You just never knew what to expect from him. I guess that's partially why a little part of me thought he wasn't.. really dead and that he was just playin' funny tricks on me, like he always does, ya know." In front of her, Alice soothingly rubs her shoulder. Harley maneuvers herself to lay down beside Alice. Alice repeats the same motion and allows her to place her head on her shoulder. "I don't know. I guess it was silly of me," she whispers.
Alice looks down at her, then at the bottle of nail polish in her hand. "How'd you meet him? Hm?"
Harley looks up at her and laughs. "I was actually still a psychiatrist when I meet him, real unprofessional, I know," she smiles and thinks back to that day in Arkham, "But, i guess that, in a way, it was fate for us to meet... And as to how I got like this," she shrugs her shoulders, "I guess you can say every woman has a crazy side that only the right man can bring out," Harley finishes it off. She thinks about it for a moment before she continues, "Actually, now that I think about it, I've always been in a relationship where the other person brought a totally different side of me.. or is it the other way around? Geez, Alice! I'm not sure if I attract crazy or if I make them that way!" Her and Alice laugh together. Alice nods her head for her to continue while she continues to massage the oil onto her cuticles.
Harley takes a deep breath and smiles. "Well, either way, the Joker and I had a good run together. The two of us became the king and queen of Gotham.. Can't no one stop us.. except for the bat," she says, her face scrunching with anger. Alice shoots her a confused look. Harley sighs and continues, "He killed my Puddin'. Drove him right into the mud and left him to die! Now, don't get my wrong, my Buttercup could be mean, with him killin' all those people, but he didn't deserve that.. And yes, he was a little rough with me sometimes, but he loved me, really. It wasn't until his death that I felt totally confused in who I was and how the hell I was going to get out of Belle Reve. It was then that I realized.. I have always been dependent on him. Jack moved the sun and moon for me. That total wack job was my everything and more. So when he passed, I promised myself to never love a man with green hair again. They're crazy, you know," she says with all seriousness. Alice intensively listens to her story. "And, in a really weird way, I'm kind of glad I went to Belle Reve.. It gave me a lot of time to think of where to go next."
Alice looks up at her and smiles. "And where's that?"
Harley face breaks into a soft smile. "Maybe startin' a family.. havin' a little Pud', or two, in my arms, livin' in a huge mansion with high ceilings and a gigantic kitchen with every appliance you could ever think of."
".. What about your family? Don't you want to see them again?"
Harley scrunches her face with confusion. "Yeah.. How did ya know 'bout that?"
The black-haired girl giggles. "Well, you know how some of us have abilities," she asks. Harley nods her head, curious. "Well, I can see the future.. Edward can read minds and Jasper can manipulate emotions."
Harley's blue eyes widen in size. "Wow! That's really cool! Does Rosie, Emmie and your parents have powers too?"
Alice hums and tilts her head. "Well, not really.. but Carlisle is really good at what he does, Esme is really good at making others feel comfortable around her, Emmett is really strong and Rosalie has enhanced beauty."
The blonde's eyes glimmer with curiosity. "Wow, I'm sup's jealous. Your family is really cool," she chuckles and continues, "I wonder what my power would be.. probably drivin' people crazy, like me," she says and beams a goofy smile.
Alice laughs and shakes her head. "Trust me, it'd be something special," she replies and pokes Harley's nose. She looks ahead and smiles softly. "But, yes.. my ability is the only thing I brought from my past. Everything else is just.. blank."
Harley's eyes soften slightly. She places her hand over Alice's and smiles. ".. Sometimes not remembering is better than remembering. Take it from me, I got a PhD."
Alice cracks a small smile. ".. Yeah, but a little part of me wonders what really happened to me.. and if I have family out there, somewhere."
Harley thinks about it for a moment. "...Well, if you really want to know," she leans over Alice and snatches her bag off the ground, "I know a guy. Goes by 'Copper Penny,' his real name is Jason Bard," she says while writing a phone number onto a piece of red origami paper. "That man is a legend. He helped me find my Baby Lou." Once she's finished, she hands it to Alice with a smile.
Alice gently takes the piece of paper out her hand. "Who's Lou?"
".. My pet dog," she responds. "Found him wandering around Chinatown with his new doggie girlfriend. Had to give him away, though. Stupid landlord said, 'No pets allowed! No loud music! Harley, no plastic explosives! No this! No that!' Fucking pussies. That's why I had someone shit on her doorstep, left her a good morning present," Harley sighs and looks at her lap, "But.. I know Jane is takin' good care of my Baby Lou."
Alice cracks a small smile and looks down at the piece of paper. She's been wanting to get in contact with her family, but she's been hesitant to do so. Maybe this is where it starts.
Harley glances at her and grabs her hand. "It won't hurt to try, Cupcake.. And if, for whatever reason, you can't find your family, you're always welcomed in mine. Just a warning though, we're real crazy. Once, my dad traded me for a pack of beer, true story. They returned me the same day, but ya know how it is with kidnappers. Always so indecisive."
Alice looks momentarily shocked, but quickly covers it with a soft smile. She holds onto her hands. ".. Alright, come on! Let's wash these off," she says. She watches Harley laugh while climbing off the couch and slips out of the room. She projects a hopeful smile and looks down at the phone number.
FIN