Is this a prank?

*Wake up and open your eyes*

A voice as silent and slow as the wind passed through her ear and Alice looked back.

What was that?

'Must be the wind.' she thought and proceeded to pick up the weapons when the voice came again.

*Hey, take it*

She dropped the weapons in fright. What was that? Was the person who pulled that annoying prank still trying to mess with her?

*Wake up already*

She heard it once more. It was starting to get creepy.

She looked at the weapons on the floor. Maybe it was haunted. But she couldn't give it up, she needed to use it as an exchange for her treatment at the hospital.

She picked them up and started hurrying away. Whatever it was...whoever it was that was playing a prank on her, they got her good this time.

But she wouldn't stick around any longer.

*Wake up, open your eyes, and take it.* The voice finally said a sentence and Alice stopped.

She glanced back. There was nothing. What did they want her to take? She couldn't see anything. And what was it with her waking up? She was wide awake, and her eyes were wide open, too.

It was weird.

'Whatever. It must be a side effect of the illusion.' She thought to herself and started leaving.

She was able to trade in the weapons and get money for the hospital. Even after that, she would still have some change left to get fried chicken, so she felt it was a nice sacrifice.

But when she got to the hospital, when they took a look at her shoulder, they did not see any wounds.

Her top was bloody, and so was her sweater, so she was sure she had not hallucinated, but the wound was gone. That little space where the red wolf had torn off was healed perfectly.

"Is this a prank?" The nurse asked with an angry expression. "Did you do this just to get attention? This is the hospital, not a place where you can come and make pranks, disturb others work and-"

Alice's mind wandered, and they did not hear anything else that the nurse said.

She was too confused to understand what had happened.

And once again, she heard the voice like the wind whispering in her ear,

*Ah, finally found you, Alice*

Startled, she opened her eyes and sat up right away, gasping for air. It was weird. Something was wrong with her.

"Where...?" She gulped, her throat dry for some reason and she looked round. "Ah." She found herself on her bed back at Big Stach's den and shoved her fingers through her hair.

That was so weird. Then, her eyes widened as she made to check her shoulder. It was healed and not a single scar from the bite left. Was it really a dream? Then who was trying to wake her up? What did they want her to take?

It was confusing as hell.

"Hey, are you up?" She heard someone's voice and raised her head.

It was one of the girls under Big Stach, just like her, a dog. Her name was Diane.

"As soon as you walked in, you fainted. You looked out of it, and your shirt was all bloody, too."

Ah, so it hadn't been a dream, after all.

"What did you do this morning? Did you get beat up?" Diane asked and Alice tried to recall.

"This... Morning?" Despite trying to remember, all she could recall was the three-eyed red wolf and then... She picked up a gem. What happened after that? Her memory was fuzzy.

She was sure she remembered what she did and it all played out in her head clearly, but why did it feel like there were missing pieces in her memory? As if... She could only remember what her mind wanted to remember.

She was confused. What was she missing?

"Red ...gate." She muttered.

"What's that?" Diane asked but Alice shook her head and said,

"It's nothing. Where...where are my clothes?" Alice asked, getting up right away.

"Are you sure you're looking for your clothes?" Diane asked. "Or you're looking for this?"

She took out the parcel that contained the money Alice got from selling the weapons. She didn't get treated at the hospital in the end so the entire money was saved.

"I kept it for you." Diane said, and Alice snatched it from her.

She immediately counted the money right in front of Diane, showing she didn't trust her, and once she confirmed it was the entire money and nothing was taken from it, she took out twenty percent of it and gave it to her.

"Here, for your help. I don't owe you now." She said outrightly.

"So generous." Diane said, taking the money with a smile. "It's always nice doing business with you."

"I can't say the same for you." Alice said and noticed they were the only ones in the room. The other girls were out. "Where's Big Stach now?" She asked, wearing her clothes.

"Hm, probably down in the lay." Diane said but suddenly, the ground shook. It was a huge vibration that could only mean one thing.

"Did a gate appear?" Alice asked.

"I don't know but if it did, we gotta get out of here if we want to keep our heads." Diane said but before they could make a run for it, the top of the building got severed.

It was a neat slash. So neat that it couldn't have been done by a monster.

"What the hell? What the fuck is going on?" Diane yelled, and then the roof came off, revealing one man.

Just one man was creating all the chaos.

He had flaming red hair and red eyes that were crazy for excitement.

He held the entire roof in one hand and looked inside, searching.

Then, he caught sight of the girls in the room, grinned like a maniac, and said,

"Found ya!"