Chapter 71: Chapter 71

ALICIA

When next I wake, it's to a blinding headache and tight limbs. I can't move to save my life.

I've been tied like a fucking tuna fish in a tin.

Ropes are crisscrossed all around my body like a snake, from my chest, all the way down to my legs, which are folded up to my chin.

It's excruciating. I can hardly breathe. My first thought is of my baby and if she'll survive this onslaught. My second thought is of Tanya and how she felt when she was about to die.

Fuck! I'm gonna die.

The thought is humbling and scary. It also drives me to panic, but I swallow it down and begin to pray silently, but even that is taxing, so I give up, taking shallow breaths that hardly make it to my throat, and talk more of my lungs.

At a point, I'm not able to breathe so I pass out.

When next I wake, the ache in my head has reduced to a dull throb, and I don't feel like a tuna fish anymore because, well, because. . . yippee, I'm not tied anymore. The ropes have mysteriously vanished and I'm able to breathe easier.

That must mean Ash has found me and I'm back at home. I stretch my hands out and let loose a loud yawn, the same time my eyes land on my surroundings. It's a room quite alright, but it's bare. There's no furniture, and I'm on the bare concrete floor. I open my mouth and let out a squeak of surprise.

"By all means, scream, but no one is going to come to your aid."

I whip my head around to see where the voice came from but I don't see anyone until my eyes land on someone sitting on a stool. "You?"

"Yes! Me." Leonard gets up from the stool and strolls toward me, like he doesn't have any care in the world, like he didn't partake in kidnapping me, like he-

"Wait just a minute, you're in cahoots with the mad hatter?"

"So that's what you're calling him? Anyway, don't I get any thanks for cleaning you up?" There's a stupid smirk on his face I wish to wipe off with a slap as his eyes drag up my body.

"Cleaning me u-?" I frown, not understanding what he means until I look down at myself and my blood runs cold. I'm wearing a tee shirt that reaches my mid-thighs, and that's all. No bra, but at least I'm still wearing my panties. I silently groan as I close my eyes and open them once more. "Why did you remove the clothes I had on and put me in a tee shirt?"

The smirk has metamorphosed into a full-blown smile as he shrugs. "You're wearing my t-shirt."

He says, completely ignoring my question. "You know what that means?"

I ball my hands into fists as I struggle to sit up. "That you're a moron and need your head examined."

He shakes his head. "Nope! It shows that you're-"

"Don't even think of finishing that statement, you oaf." The mad hatter appears from another place in the ramshackle building, and comes to stand in front of Leonard. He crooked his thumb backward and jerks it. "Get lost!"

It seems the wind has gone out of Leonard's sails because his shoulders sag and his gaze drops from me. If I wasn't the recipient of this horrible ordeal, I'd feel sorry for him. Without another word, he trots out, leaving me alone with mad hatter who's got a weird look on his face. He walks toward me and I drag myself backward, willing to put enough space between us, unfortunately, there's nowhere else to run when my back hits the wall.

His lips pull into a sinister twist on one side. I know it's an attempt at a smirk, but it looks more like a sneer. "Welcome to my humble home - but not for long."

Something niggles at the back of my mind. "What do you mean?"

His eyes gleam as he stoops to my level. "Do you not see it yet? I want to own it all."

There must be a look on my face because he chuckles and stands. "I see you still don't understand a word of what I'm saying, so I'll paint a picture for you." He goes to stand at the window and places his hands behind his back like a sage about to bestow some wise advice on his student. "Money, power & influence."

He turns around then, and I suddenly know what he means. Those three words are exactly what sums Ash up. It's ludicrous at best, and at the same time, genius. I stand, balling my hands into fists at my side but I don't go close to him. "You want to take Ash's place?"

"The lady doth have some sense, after all." He says, releasing a deep chuckle.

"But that would mean. . ." My eyes widen as the realization hits me, immediately causing goose pimples to rise all over my body. "You want to kill him."

"This just keeps getting better and better." He declares, full-on smiling now. "You know. . ." He puts his hand on his chin, as if in deep meditative thought. "I just might keep you around, after all."

"But. . . why? I don't understand why you'd want to do that to him. What did he ever do to you?"

The genial smile on his face slides off faster than I can say, Jack. "He exists, that is enough."

Suddenly, everything makes sense to me. It's my turn to place my hand on my chin and move closer to him, because what I'm about to say might put me more in danger but someone has to say it. Someone has to put it out there for him to hear. I nod as I come to a stand directly beside him and face the window. "Someone has serious mummy issues, because how can you go from being born as a twin and not seeing your womb mate, to hating him and wanting to take his place?"

I turn and face him and I couldn't have dealt him a tougher blow. His eyes are filled with pain, and his mouth is set into a hard line. I don't see it coming until it's too late. The sting on my face from the slap he gives me blinds me for a few seconds.

I will not cry.

I will not cry.

Silent tears slide down my eyes, stinging where they land on my cheek and I know I'm going to get an ugly bruise there soon. He doesn't say another word except to pick a rope from the floor beside him, push me to the wall, and tie me with it. My only consolation is that I wasn't tied up like a tuna fish.

As he turns to walk away, he stops, as if an afterthought strikes him, and stoops to my level. He tips my chin and bends my face this way and that, probably inspecting the budding bruise. "That's what happens to smart mouths."

And then he walks off, leaving me alone to wallow in my sordid thoughts.