Into her power, I was trapped.

ALICE

I don't know what happened. I have no idea how it started. The seconds feel like hours. To keep my consciousness intact I counted.

I close my eyes to not see their faces. I'm scared. I'm petrified. Every small bone, every skin, every part of my face aches. I'm having trouble breathing through my nose. Small intake of air is what I can wheeze in my tightly shut mouth. A dull ache clawing at my throat.

I hear Adeline's voice floating in the air. Cracking the atmosphere in slit. In my arm, something pricks, sharp as needle. Then I felt my blood circulating in my forearm drawn to the prick.

I stifled a scream. My arm numbing, chest bobbing, every sharp intake of air hurts my ribs.

"Careful now, we don't want to lose that precious blood of hers." Adeline said. Her voice sounds like a cat. Purring sweetly.

A delicious treat is coming in her way. My blood. I can't breath properly. Everytime I attempt my throat will close up and kill me slowly. If this is one of my nightmares I badly want to be awaken by now. I hate her. I hate this. I hate myself. I hate this world.

Why am I treated as a monster? Why can’t I have the very thing I want? What did I do to deserve this? Adeline is here, along with her black sunglasses minions men, the boy is here, ten feet far from me – but why I do I feel so alone?

Why are the walls so dark it’s caving me in? Why are my thoughts so vicious its terrorizing me with deadly scenarios about the boy’s death? I saved him didn’t I? Will he die in Adeline’s arms just like me?

No. I can’t let that happened. At least, if someone will survive out of this predicament. I want it to be him.

“Haul them inside the van.” Adeline ordered. I felt a nuzzle of two revolver pointed at my back. One below my neck, the other right above the hip.

“Move.” The man’s voice is deep and rough, I can’t see his eyes under his dark sunglasses. I noticed the scar on his cheek, the cut in his chapped lips, the natural born tanned skin stands out in the cold. Behind me, two other men hauled the boy to his feet.

The man with bigger built and buffy arms swung his body to his shoulder, like a sack. I stare at the boy, worried how many broken bones he sustained from their beatings. I take a step forward, ignoring the dull ache of my ribs. Nothing seems to be broken. Except the nose that constantly drips blood in the ground non-stop. I scan my eyes around the room one last time. My sketchbook is no longer in my arms. My small bag is not in the couch. A drought of panic strikes me in the chest. I swallowed it down. She must not see the contents. She must not know Kenneth.

Or else she’ll kill every relation he had when he’s still alive. Just to prove to me she’s superior. To show her dominance, her authority over the strings. She’s flaunting her skill to kill anyone – massacre whoever individual without the authorities detection. Because of the power of string.

My feet cringe at the sudden contact of freezing snow to my skin. I’m not wearing my shoes. They won’t let me wear any body protection from the cold. My shirt is too thin to prevent the snowflakes penetrate my bones.

At the door, waving his gun at us, pointing the white van parked a few meters from the cabin… is the groundkeeper.

I couldn’t process everything not until I get too close to him. We meet eye to eye. He looks younger. His white hair is gone, his habit of bending his back to imitate old people is gone. He looks much stronger, more authoritative in his black suit, the wrinkles is still there, the shape of his feature is still evident.

No words came out of my lips. No sound can be produce… what was there to say? How could you? Why did you betray me? I thought you we’re my friend. You feed me, you keep me alive for four months only to betray me when the right time comes?

I can’t see the trace of warmth I see on that night he woke me up from my nightmare. I see no trace of that kind old man feeding me and the boy with a warm meal.

So it was all an act? Just to put me where they want me to be.

I want to laugh at the pathetic me. But my bruises aches so bad breathing is as hard as keeping both of my feet standing straight in this cruel weather. When we reach the van, the man on my left open the door and deliver a bone breaking blow to my back. My feet cripples and I collapse on the van floor.

A hand pick me up and throw me at the corner. They slammed the boy to my side. He wheezed. I gasp. His head hits my rib side, sending black spots to my eyes. I’m still coughing and gasping for air when a shoe heel pressed itself in my head. Forcing me to bend.

“So it wasn’t that challenging to find you.” Adeline said, exerting force to her heel, bending me lower.

I catch a crack of glimpse behind her shoe. Her blood red lips curl into a smile. A calculative evil smile. And I can’t suppress the shudder running through my spine. The groundkeeper has settled himself in the passenger seat at the front.

“Did I somehow miss fatally slicing your throat? Judging by the blood spill, I was sure I got you right.” She flipped her hair. She removed her heel and lean back in her seat. She pursed her lips, studying me.

“The string… you don’t have power over it, do you?” she guessed. Her eyes slid to the groundkeeper sitting in the front seat. “Yep, you still don’t,” she confirmed.

“I don’t understand.”

She shrugged. “It’s simple. If you actually have control over it, you would have been able to see through my trap. You should have caught something wrong. Especially on the feelings portrayed on Hamon’s string.”

Her finger caught one pure white string in the air, her thumb and index finger caressed it. Some dust falls and my breath got hitched. The white string is a lie. It’s a cover up. Like an artificial skin over the real skin.

She took her time to fake patch his black strings with white just to make me trust him.