Chapter 6: Resistance Part 2

"Hello?" A female voice calls out from the right. Immediately David jumps to his feet, knife in hand. 

"How did she manage to sneak up on me? I heard no sign of anyone coming near here!" David thought to himself as he readied himself for the worst. 

"Um, it's okay! I'm unarmed!" The female voice said again. David was taking no chances; he didn't let his guard down at all. 

"Come out where I can see you!" He yells in the direction of the voice. 

"Okay." the female voice responded with mild fear. 

A second later, from behind the trees, a short girl with long blond hair and emerald green eyes pops out. She should have been no more than 15 or 16. She was wearing blue overalls and a straw hat. She looked quite like a typical farm girl with one exception, her clothes looked brand new, and there was no sign of mud or dirt stains anywhere on her clothes. Furthermore, as she came out with her hands held above her head he saw that her hands had no calluses, no scuff marks, bruises or blemishes, they looked perfectly smooth. It was quite a perplexing sight when David put all the pieces of information together. 

"Who are you?" David demands loudly. 

"Oh!" The girl jumps back a little at his sudden outburst. "My name... my name is Alice." She said timidly. David could not put his finger on it, but something seemed off about this girl. Was it her attitude? Was it the fact she dressed like a farm girl but clearly never touched a plow in her life? Or was it something else? Was he just too paranoid? However, since she didn't have the trademarked red irises that all vampires shared, she was certainly human. Still, he was not going to let his guard down for a second. 

"What do you want?" David said sternly. 

"I um... I just... I mean..." She stutters. Each time she pauses she looks over to the fire that is still lit. David looks over to the fire for a moment and instantly understands. The fish. She must be hungry. As if to confirm his suspicions he hears the faint sounds of a stomach growling, confirming it's not him, it doesn't take him long to realize that it was Alice's stomach. His answer was obvious.

"No." David said flatly. "That is my food." 

"Oh, come on!" Alice said, putting her hands down in an exasperated way. "I'm so hungry! Can't I just have one? Please! You have 3 over there! Surely 2 is enough for you!" Alice continues emphatically. David pauses. He thought back to when he was locked in the dungeon starving, and eventually being force-fed food. It was very doubtful that she had suffered anything like he did, but still just imagining her starving like that made him lose his composure for a moment. David sighs and slightly lowers the knife.

"Fine. Just one." David said to Alice as she gleefully jumps in place in excitement. Before she heads over though she stops, looks David in the eyes, and asked with a serious expression.

"Are you going to hurt me?" David just looks back at her and responded simply. 

"No." As long as she didn't make any aggressive moves, he was fine to just remain on guard, after all he didn't want to hurt anyone if he didn't have too.

20 minutes later the fireplace crackled as a content Alice happily smacked her lips while a disgruntled David looked on. 

"How did this happen?" David asked himself as he looks at the three, now empty sticks sitting by the fire. Somehow, over the course of the last 20 minutes she had managed to convince him to give her all three fish for her to eat. He had not gotten an opportunity to touch those fish before she ate them all. Now he was going to have to go catch more. 

"Mm" Alice said, making a satisfied face, "That was tasty!" 

"Go catch and cook me more please!" Alice said with a cute smile on her face. 

"Eh?" David responded to her angrily with an involuntary eye twitch. Quickly though David let that aggression go, sat back and sighed to himself. He now understood what it was that bothered him when she first appeared. Over the last 20 minutes while they were talking, or rather, Alice was talking to David. She was completely informal. There was not a hint of fear, shyness, or tension. In other words, her scared entrance from before was all an act! 

"I would be in awe of her acting skills if I weren't so pissed off at her right now." David thought to himself while she watches the fire crackle. 

Once again David sighs and reaches into his bag to grab a loaf of bread he had been saving. He is about to take a bite out of it when he notices Alice eyeing it hungrily. Her eyes glared at him like she was begging. 

"Please!" 

"How are you still hungry after eating 3 whole fish?" David asked, still not ready to give in. 

"I've been hiking all day." She said with her hands now outstretched. "I'm exhausted and really hungry!" David continues to stare at her as he keeps repeating to himself. 

"It's mine, I want it. It's mine, I want it. It's mine, I want it. It's mine, I..." 

In the end he ended up splitting the bread in half and giving it to Alice. 

"I'm such a pushover." David thought to himself as he watches Alice devour the bread. "I'd better not bring anything else out of my bag lest this glutton eats them too." Alice, finally looking content. 

"Thanks for the meal! Both the fish and the bread were delicious!" Alice said with appreciation on her face.

 "Ha!" David can't help but let out a single laugh. "It's not like I did anything." David said as he turns his head to the direction the river is. 

"Don't thank me, thank the river for making the fish and the baker for making the bread." David said, his humor now gone. 

"Well then." She said as she licks her lips one more time. "Thank you for the company!" She said with a large smile. David isn't exactly sure what to say to that, not only was this unexpected, he certainly wasn't a good host, the entire time he had been sitting there staring at her waiting for her to attack him, all the while she blabbered on about something or another. He didn't feel like he needed to be thanked for anything. 

"Oh!" Alice said as she starts rummaging through her pockets that David didn't even realize she had. "As a token of appreciation. I present to you this!" She said as she pulls out a golden ring with a large emerald on it. The ring must be worth thousands of dollars back where he came from, maybe tens of thousands he had no way of knowing. He had no idea where Alice got this ring from but he was sure it must be some sort of family heirloom or something her mother gave to her after saving all her money, he had no idea how to estimate the worth of that ring to her and her family. For a moment David was tempted to take it and add it to the pile of coins he had been accruing. He had been, to prevent himself from being weighed down and having the coins clink together, burying all the coins near the riverbed in a spot that he would remember. Once he was able to blend into society, he would retrieve them and restart his life.

Taking the ring from her was tempting, but no, he couldn't let his greed get the better of him. 

"No, I don't want your trinket." He said as he swallows his desire. 

"This meal was..." He pauses. "On the house." He said with a small smile.

"Okay." Alice responded with a shrug, pocketing the ring once more. "Well I'm going to rest now so G'night!" She said as she lays down her side with her back to the fire. 

"Oi, Alice." David said once again slightly miffed. After a few moments of silence, he heard peaceful and rhythmic breathing coming from Alice. 

"She really fell asleep." David said quietly as he facepalms. Dealing with this girl was exhausting. She was so willful and did whatever she wanted. But since she was asleep it was a good time to get moving again. He couldn't stay here with her. In normal circumstances he might feel an urge to stay and prevent wild animals from getting her at night, or tending to the fire, but unfortunately, he was being hunted. The last thing he wanted was to drag her into his mess. If she was seen with him, they might target her as well. The best thing he could do for her was to leave while she was asleep. Still, leaving felt weird to him, especially seeing her laying there on the ground. He reached into his bag and unbounded a small blanket he had taken from one of the soldiers, gently laying it over her. He couldn't do much for her, but he could at least do this. 

As he was leaving before he exited line of sight with her, he turned back one more time and said. 

"No, thank you for the company." For all the trouble she gave him, it was nice to sit and talk to another person again, if only for a moment he lost the tension of being constantly hunted. He hiked for about half an hour until he was far enough away from her that she wouldn't be dragged into the hunt, and then, after making a small fire for himself, he fell asleep. 

The next morning, he awoke to a few embers still glowing in his fire. He got up, stretched, and ate a light snack and was about to set out on his journey for the day when he finally decided to confront the elephant in the room. 

"Why are you here!" David yells with a mix of anger and exasperation to Alice who is poking the now dead fire with a stick. 

"Because why not." She responded cutely. David is beside himself, he purposefully left her alone last night because he didn't want to drag her into this mess. And now here she is following him! David sighs to himself. And starts walking.

"Stop following me." David said flatly to Alice who is following closely behind him. 

"I'm not following you; I just happen to be going in the same direction." Alice said as she admired the view around her. David hated this answer. And even though he knew what would come of it when he did, he made a hard-right turn to try to shake her off his back. Obviously as soon as he made a turn, so did Alice. 

"And now I feel like going this way." She said nonchalantly. She was clearly making fun of him, but David was in no mood for games. 

"Look, it's dangerous to keep following me so just stop!" 

"It's dangerous?" Alice said with an innocent look on her face. David knew that it was an act this time. She wasn't so naive that she didn't realize that he had first greeted her with hostility, the first thing he did when she showed up was brandish a knife. There was no way she didn't know what that meant. Still though she kept up her innocent look. He had only one other way to get her off his back, he had to scare her. Quickly drawing his knife, he lunged towards her and planted the knife in a tree next to her head only 6 inches away from her. 

However, her reaction was surprising. Far from being scared or intimidated she had a calm look on her face, her eyes stared right into his with a cold, blank expression. She didn't even flinch when he lunged at her. 

"Dah!" David yells, making an incomprehensible angry noise as he rips the knife from the tree. 

"Whatever, fine! Do what you want!" David shouts as he angrily continues his march. Alice, who is still following close behind, responded. 

"That was the plan all along!" 

The rest of the day was hard on David, with Alice following him everywhere he never got a moment's rest. Not physically of course, but mentally. Somehow, she knew exactly just how to get under his skin, but all the while she never went too far and caused him to explode. Her teasing was unending. By the end of the day David felt more tired than he had been even when he fought the four soldiers all at once. Just being around her was mentally draining. Not only that, he now felt obligated to get food enough for two people, and with how much of a glutton she is, it made his job even harder. He was lucky he had gotten so good at spear fishing otherwise he wouldn't have had enough time to get enough food. 

As the sound of the fire crackled and Alice finished off the last of her fish, she decided to ask David a question. 

"Why are you even out here?" It was a simple enough question, but David had to be careful how he worded his response. 

"To get away from society." David said, trying to remain as cryptic as possible. 

"Why are you running from society?" Alice said as she hungrily eyes David's bag which she knows contains more food. 

"Because society and I don't agree very much." David said, completely ignoring Alice's stares of desire. 

"Does that have to do with why it's dangerous to be with you?" Alice said now staring into David's eyes with a serious face. 

"Yeah." David said as he looks down somberly. He could tell Alice the truth, that he was on the run from house Velma after killing so many soldiers. He still felt justified, even if it weighed on his heart from all the death he has caused. He knew that if he told her the whole reason, he was in the forest she would probably leave. But somehow even if she was annoying, he couldn't bring himself to tell her. There were some practical reasons of course, she could leave and inform people of his exact location, or after knowing she could kill him in his sleep. But truthfully, he just didn't want to see Alice suddenly point at him with fear in her eyes and call him a murderer. Somehow, that was the worst outcome. 

"Mhm." Alice said as she looks to the fire. "Do you think you'll ever leave the forest and rejoin society?" 

"I don't know." David responded truthfully. "I hope so." With that, they both lay down and get some sleep.

The next day David awakens to find Alice is gone, in her place the blanket he had given her is folded up neatly where she last was. As he stares at the blanket, he feels rather wistful for a bit before shaking it off. 

"No, this is for the best. I couldn't keep having her follow me around, I never know when I might be attacked." David said as if to reconfirm to himself that he thought this is for the best. He begrudgingly admits that he will miss having another person to talk to, he had been lonely, it was a reminder of his days in the dungeon, no one ever spoke to him, the people who "interacted" with him never spoke a word. It made him shudder as he thought back on it. But no matter how lonely he may feel this was for the best. There was no doubt. And with that he packs up camp and sets out again to keep the pursuers off his tail.

"Hey! How's it going?" Alice said with a cheerful smile. David just stares at her dumbstruck. It had been 2 days since Alice had left him in the morning, and while their time together was short he can't say he hated it. But now, 2 days later, here she is again, a smile on her face, greedily eyeing the jerky he's eating, like nothing ever happened. 

"What." David stops himself, realizing he still has food in his mouth. He quickly swallows, "What are you doing here?" David asked, and then quickly corrected himself. 

"No, I mean why did you come back." David was a bit flabbergasted at the moment, he had thought they had parted ways for good, but her sudden appearance seemed to suggest otherwise. 

"Why not?" Alice responded cheerfully. David immediately groans and rubs his forehead with his hand. It was this kind of whimsical nonsense which is what made her so hard to deal with. He was already getting a headache and she had only just arrived. 

"I take back all the good things I said about you." David said aloud, not caring that she could hear him. Alice said nothing but kept eyeing the jerky in his hand. He sighs and hands it to her. Alice immediately sets out devouring the jerky entirely. 

"Don't you have parents that are worried about you or something?" David asked as he watched Alice devour his lunch. 

"Well." Alice began as she finished chewing. 

"Certainly, my father is worried about me, but since I ran away from home it only makes sense he would worry." Alice said with a shrug. Wow, what a bomb drop, such a big piece of information so suddenly, so the reason Alice is out here in the forest by herself is because she ran away from home? David desperately wanted to scold her, tell her to go back home to her worrying father, but he knew better. Alice was certainly old enough to make rational decisions, whatever her actual age was, if she had run away from home there must have been a good reason. Was she being sold into prostitution? Was she being married off to an old man with a lot of money? Was she to be a sacrifice to a noble vampire in return for favors? There were many reasons why, and as much as David wanted to know the reason, he couldn't bring himself to ask. He wasn't going to pry into this girl's personal information, especially since they don't know each other that well. So, as such he had no choice but to let it go.

David again sighed to himself. 

"How did you find me anyway?" David asked, changing the topic. 

"Find you? No, you got it wrong." Alice said matter-of-factly. 

"The real question is why are you exactly where I ended up?" She said as if that made any sense. She was clearly avoiding the question; it was far too big of a coincidence that she managed to show up. Since David had arrived in the part of the forest that is on the very edges of the Capital, he has been making a big circle so as to keep moving, but also so that he can leave when the time is right. However, he always kept the large river nearby so that he had access to fish and clean water whenever he needed. Knowing this it wasn't impossible for someone to track him down by following his route, nor was it completely impossible for him to accidentally run into her again if she had been in the forest the whole time. But that seemed unlikely, her clothes and skin were not covered with dirt or worn at all, even if she had bathed and washed her clothes in the river there should be some indication that she had been living in the forest this whole time. So, if that wasn't the case, then where had she been all this time, and how did she find him again. He would need to remain on guard around her, but since he still felt no hostility coming from her, he was, for the moment, able to relax. 

"Alright, you can keep your secret." David said after thinking to himself for a while. He got up, brushed himself off and grabbed his bag. "So, I assume you are not going to follow me but coincidentally go the same direction again?" David said, already knowing the answer.

"Don't know what you are talking about." Alice said as she purposefully looked off in another direction. "I just go where the wind takes me!" And with that said they once again begin hiking through the forest.

The next several weeks became a pattern. Alice would stay with David for a few days, talk with him, follow him around, eat meals with him, and then disappear again for a while only to reappear again later. Eventually, as much as David would refuse to admit it, he started to look forward to having Alice around, despite how much of a headache she was to him sometimes, she also made a good companion. He even gave her a nickname "princess" due to her childish and sometimes spoiled attitude. Alice objected, but David stuck to it and kept calling her that, and after a while it just stuck. While David usually remained stoic, Alice was always cheerful. David liked to remain quiet, and Alice liked to blabber on. From an outside perspective they were polar opposites but between them they made quite a duo, complimenting each other very well. Most of the supporting came from David, he would do the hunting, the cooking, and the trailblazing, while occasionally Alice would surprise him, catching a few fish on her own, teaching him about certain edible plants, and so on. On the other hand, the "company keeping" was entirely Alice's bag, even if he didn't show it she kept him entertained with stories ranging from fashion, to gossip, to tales of heroes and dragons. Still though, David did participate on occasion throwing in his own anecdotes of wisdom and telling an odd story or two from his old world. 

It was not all sunshine and roses though, during this period David twice was nearly caught by patrols, the first time it was while Alice was not with him so he managed to get by without too much trouble, however the second time Alice was with him so he had to not only hide himself but Alice as well, a significantly more difficult task. Despite the increased danger he managed to escape unnoticed. It was a day after the encounter with the second group of soldiers that Alice asked David a question. 

"Do you hate vampires?" It was a simple question, asked in a very innocent way, and as Alice stared into his eyes waiting for an answer, he pondered his response. 

"I..." David pauses for a moment. "Don't know." He said as Alice continues to look him in the eyes and waits for more. 

"Vampires did something very bad to me a while ago." David continues, explaining his circumstances without divulging too much. "For a while, I did hate vampires. I hated them so much that I could think of nothing more than the peace I would get if they were all dead." David pauses again. 

"But I don't think that's true anymore. Vampires are a lot like you and me, they have things they believe in too, jobs they have to do, people to come home to..." David trails off for a moment as he looms through the trees at the setting sun. 

"In the end we aren't much different." David turns to look back at Alice again who is still just staring at him listening. "Of course, there are the vampires who hurt me, and I doubt I will ever forgive them, but I don't think I hate vampires anymore." David said as he came to the realization himself. His face then softens, and he chuckles to himself. 

"Though I doubt I could ever be friends with one." 

Alice, who had up till now just remained silent and listened, now smiles softly and puts her hand on David's head in a comforting way. 

"I'm glad to hear that you haven't let past events change who you are." She said as she softly pets David's head. David can feel himself beginning to tear up, he wasn't even sure why but the urge to cry was getting stronger. 

"I can't say that everything you've gone through will become easier for you. But I'm sure as time goes on the pain you have suffered will slowly disappear." Alice said as she slowly pulled David's head into her chest and embraced it. It was incredibly hard for David to not cry right now, it was taking all his willpower, he didn't want to cry, not in front of Alice. The normally carefree and childish Alice was comforting him the way a mother would console a child, the small Alice with her skinny arms, to David at this moment, felt like a wise mother with arms that could hold him tight and make all the evils in the world disappear. Still though, even if he were to cry now it would change nothing, he would still be chased by the house Velma, he would still be far away from his family and former life, he would still be alone. But the fact that Alice cared enough to cheer him up was more than enough for him. 

David took a deep breath and wiped the wetness from his eyes. 

"Thanks." David said to Alice with a genuine smile. Alice said nothing but just smiled back. David looked over again, through the trees to the sun that has long since set. "I think it's time to get some sleep." David said as he laid down with his back to the fire. 

"Yeah." Alice said softly as she too laid down. As David faces away from Alice, a single tear rolls down his face as he slowly drifts asleep. 

"Wake up!Wake up!" Alice said quietly as she violently shakes David to wake him up. 

"Hum?" David grumbles as he slowly comes to his senses. 

"There's someone here!" She said again quietly. Immediately David sprang to his feet. There's someone here? Close enough for Alice to have noticed but still managed to avoid detection by him? Did he lower his guard because he was with Alice? If so that was a rookie mistake, normally the smallest noise would have woken him up but somehow he managed to sleep right through it. It was too late now for regrets; all he could do was prepare his next move. Already David could see the silhouette of a man coming through the tree towards him. He had no time to hide, and with Alice next to him he had to protect her. David pulled his knife out and got into a defensive stance as the man emerged from behind the trees. 

"Ho?" The man said in a mocking manner. "Look what I found." He said as he came into full view. This man was clearly not one of the soldiers sent by House Velma, He didn't wear the insignia of the House crest, nor was he wearing the usual uniform, his outfit, rather than metal, was made of lightweight leather, 4 daggers were strapped to his legs and he had a rapier on each side of his hip. On his head sat a hat with a small black feather. If David were to venture a guess this man was probably a... 

"Bounty Hunter." Alice said softly under her breath. 

"After all this talk of the "Ghost of the Woods" I got excited for a real challenge but what do I find? Just two human kids playing around." He said with a small chuckle. 

"Ghost of the Woods? What is he talking about?" David thought to himself as the man approached slowly. There was no time to ponder this though as David needed to take action quickly. Nearly everything he could think of would end in either his death or Alice's, and neither was an acceptable answer. So, he had one option left.

In one movement he sheathed his knife, grabbed Alice, carrying her bridal style, and booked it. He knew that the stamina and agility of a vampire was far above a human's, in all likelihood all he was doing was postponing the inevitable, but even if it was for one minute, no for one second longer he would do everything he could to live on. However, his run was cut short as after running for about 30 seconds he trips over a tree root sticking out of the ground. 

"I was only told to bring the Ghost back, they said nothing about a girl." The bounty hunter said as he slowly pulled out one of his knives. David immediately understood what was about to happen. 

"So, I might as well get rid of her first!" The bounty hunter said as he threw the dagger at Alice. 

"No!" David yelled as his body nearly moved on its own, throwing himself on top of Alice to protect her. In a flash the dagger is lodged in the edge of his stomach as he is laying on top of Alice. David is stunned for a moment, the pain from being stabbed was hot like someone had stuck a fire poker inside his body, but his first reaction was not to scream in pain, his first reaction was to rip the dagger out of his stomach and throw it back at the bounty hunter. A rather worthless gesture in the grand scheme, but at that moment, to David, it seemed like the best idea. 

However, to his surprise, a moment after he had thrown the dagger away, he heard the bounty hunter scream in pain. He looked up to see that somehow, he had managed to throw the dagger directly into his eye. So as the bounty hunter stood there screaming and clutching his eye in pain David seized the moment. He shot to his feet, unsheathed his dagger and stabbed the bounty hunter through his neck, body checking him at the same time. The whole event took only moments, but the exchange felt like it lasted an eternity. For a moment David laid there shocked at what he had accomplished, that was until he looked up at the bounty hunter's face and saw the dagger, still sticking out of his eye oozing some purple liquid. Confused David looked at his stomach wound and saw that his skin around the wound had a light purplish hue. He understood what it meant; he was poisoned. He slowly stood up, already having trouble breathing and seeing straight, he crawled over to a tree and sat down with his back leaning up against it. He saw Alice, with a very somber look on her face walk over to him. 

"Why?" Alice starts, her eyes beginning to water. "Why did you save me?" "David just chuckles to himself as he grimaces through the pain which was no longer hidden by adrenaline. 

"Do I need a reason," He stops for a moment to let out a cough, surprised at the speed and effectiveness of this poison. "To save a friend?" He finishes as he looks up at Alice with a smile. He felt safe in the knowledge that if this was to be his last act in this world, he would have died not for himself but for another. Somehow that thought comforted him greatly. 

"You idiot!" Alice yells as tears are now rolling down her face. "You should have run away yourself! There was no reason to save me!" By now Alice was having trouble fighting against the tears she was hiding her face in her arm, but the torrent was too much. David slowly put his hand gently on Alice's. 

"Don't say that." David said warmly. "You're safe now aren't you." It was David's turn to comfort Alice as she had comforted him last night. He watched her in silence as she sobbed. By now his head was beginning to hurt. 

After a moment Alice manages to stem the tide of tears enough to regain her composure, she now looks down on David with a very serious expression. 

"What if I told you that I could save you." Alice said her expression unwavering. David just looked up at her with confusion. 

"What?" he said weakly. 

"I said, what if I could save you?" She repeated. 

"That'd be nice." David said with strained effort. Alice then takes a step back putting her left hand over her right eye. 

"Would you still accept my help even if..." Alice then runs her hand over her eyes changing them from their emerald hue into a blood red hue. 

"I was a vampire?" She asked her tone not changed but with determination in her eyes.

The Alice that now stood before him had just been revealed to be a vampire. The same Alice he had spent a month with. The same Alice that he had shared meals with, slept alongside, shared stories with, trusted, that same Alice was actually a Vampire. Inside David was a torrent of emotions, he was sad, angry, annoyed, irritated, but most of all he felt betrayed. It all made sense now, how she was able to find him time and time again, how she seemed to slip by the numerous patrols in the forest, why she was unworried about their presence, why she dressed like a farmer but looked as if she hadn't worked a day in her life, her knowledge of gossip and fashion. It was because she was a Vampire! Anger boiled inside David as he stared at Alice, this whole time she had been tricking him, hiding something very important from him. She used him like all the other vampires! They were all the same! Every vampire! They all think they are better than Humans!

But just as he was about to curse her out. His mind suddenly went back to last night where she practically cradled him and helped him ease his worries, to the day when she was so proud of having caught a fish but shared it with him anyway, of the smile on her face as she shared stories of knights in armor rescuing princesses from tall towers guarded by dragons, and then his mind went back to Maria, to her warm smile, to the kindness in her voice, to the days they spent toiling away on various paperwork tasked, to the days when he helped pick her clothes for important meetings. Then the question she asked rang through his head. Would you still accept my help even if I was a Vampire? 

His head hurt badly now, he was finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open, even his labored breathing was beginning to slow down. He gathered whatever energy he had left and gave her the clearest answer he could give.

"I accept you," A small smile creeped over David's face as he said the next word "Friend." With his words spoken he couldn't remain awake any longer, his eyes had grown too heavy, so he let himself fall asleep. Alice, after hearing him say that he not only accepted her help but accepted her, the truth about her, smiles as a few more tears run down her face. 

"Then friend, let me save you this time." Alice walked over to the barely breathing David, opened her mouth, and bit into his neck. 

The whole process takes about 2 minutes, after she is done, she stands back up, wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand, and looks at David who is no longer breathing labored but instead resting peacefully. She breathed a sigh of relief that David is now no longer in danger, but before she could fully catch her breath, she heard the sounds of someone arriving at her location. However, she was not alarmed, she had expected this. A woman wearing a finely tailored pantsuit-looking outfit arrives and kneels before Alice.

"Princess." She said as she crossed one arm over her chest as a salute. "It is time to return." She said simply. 

"I know." Alice replied monotone, her eyes still have not left the sleeping body of David. The woman glances over at David for a moment before returning to look at Alice. 

"You know we can't take him with us." 

"I know." Alice said again with the same tone. She is deeply worried that if she were to leave right now, he would get captured while in his weakened state. There was no way that would sit well with her. 

"However," Alice said with a smile as she slowly came up with an idea. "Perhaps there is a way to take him back with us." Her gaze finally left David and moved to the woman. Confused, but not wanting to press into the matter, the woman said nothing. 

"Alright, we are going to need to head back immediately if this is going to work!" Alice said, now more invigorated now that she has a plan of action. The woman nodded and then stood up. In a flash both are gone from in front of David leaving him, once more, alone.