The Man Who Never Speaks

23. The Memories Between These Walls

"With you, I serve
With you, I fall down, down (down)
Watch you breathe in
Watch you breathing out, out"

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Alice had been tossing and turning all night, replaying her fight with FP over and over in her head. She needed to find a solution, one that wouldn't bring him and the Serpents into danger. Part of her had wanted to go after him and join his plan, but she didn't want for any of the teenagers to get hurt. It was simply too risky.

She had to stay loyal to her mind, no matter how hard her heart wished to be by his side. There was one more day where in she could think of any way to safe the cabin and the forest it was part of.

Ironically enough, the sun was shining on her face, creating a warm glow. Though the universe seemed to think it was a beautiful day, Alice was very much aware of the dark cloud hanging above them. But before she would acknowledge all that could happen today, she needed a cup of coffee to wake up. In the early morning she had stopped at Pop's to take one to go, something she couldn't function without.

However, she wished she would have gotten her coffee at City Hall, because when she exited the diner, she passed the one person that made her blood boil. Hiram Lodge. The man that was trying to destroy FP in any way he could. The man that dared to hurt her loved one. When he noticed Alice, he stopped in his tracks and smirked at her.

"Miss Mayor... how have you been? It's been a long time, don't you think?" Hiram turned around when she walked past him, her face as dark as thunder.

"Ignoring me now, are you?" He called after her with a victorious tone, because he felt he had gotten under her skin. This time, she turned around on her heel.

Step by step, she walked over to the man she despised, narrowing her eyes at him and her hand clutching onto her coffee, almost squeezing it too hard.

"Do you have a heart, Hiram?" She asked him rhetorically, her eyes involuntary filling with tears.

Looking straight at the one person that was hurting the man she loved was something she couldn't bear. And it wasn't the first time either. No, it looked like he always had a plan to destroy him and it only made her want to fight harder against the evil inside of him. As a politician she had learned to set her own emotions aside, but he was getting too close.

"Do you know how much pain you're causing innocent people? To your own daughter?" She spat, trying to find for some look of regret on his face, but couldn't find a single trace. Maybe she was right. Maybe he didn't have a heart.

"You're not winning this. I promise you that I won't stop until you get what you deserve. Got it?" Alice warned him once and for all, her eyes filled with passion.

She didn't care what she had to do, but she was going to defeat him even if it would be thing she would do on this Earth. It was the least she owed FP, she believed.

"Is this about my new project? Please, that doesn't concern you." He scoffed and shook his head with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Or is this about FP Jones?" Hiram was hit by a sudden realization that the woman in front of him was still very much in a relationship with the man he was trying to provoke.

Usually, the last thing he cared about was other people's relationship, but in this case it was more than interesting. They had outsmarted him before, because he had become reckless. But this time, he was keeping his eye on both of them. That he could take her down with him in his war against FP was just an added bonus.

"Come on, Alice. We're both from rich families. I am sure you don't give a single care about that old thing. It's just a piece of wood." He told her, almost laughing in her face.