Anybody But You

7

Chapter Seven

Vibe: Love Can Kill by Lennon Stella

It all happened too quickly.

One second, as Alice tapped the prince's shoulder causing him to turn towards her, she had grabbed the material against his chest and captured his lips with hers. The kiss so abrupt and sudden, Narcisse held her close and complied without missing a hitch as his lips followed hers in perfect harmony—their oxygen supply depleting quickly as they fell into one another almost desperately.

The next, she was hazily opening her eyes only to be staring into ruby red eyes she thought she'd have years to prepare for.

Pushing him away as hard as she could as the image of his shocked, soft face was replaced with cruel, murderous hatred in her mind, she fell down to the cold ballroom floor.

"Godric—" she squeaked out, her voice but a strangled whisper as her eyes filled with tears. Her entire body trembled as she stared up at him in horror.

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move.

The young man seemed almost as startled as her as he finally cleared his throat, "Do I know you—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Alice picked herself up, running away from the boy as her tears soaked into the mask.

How could this have happened? Her mind spun as she keeled over the balcony, nearly spilling the contents of her stomach into the garden below before forcing it back. Her entire body was engulfed in shivers as she slowly slipped down the carved railing. Leaning her aching head against the cold stone of the railing, she forcefully took in oxygen as if he had tried strangling her all over again.

"How pathetic." She whispered to herself. "How weak." She continued louder, clenching her hands so tightly that beads of blood welled up where her nails cut. "How naive."

She laughed; the realization almost painful.

Why didn't she think of it sooner? Lucy was only smitten with Narcisse in the last life because she hadn't met Godric yet. But Alice practically handed him right over to her when she made Lucy meet him in her place. There was even that window of time when Godric captured Lucy's attention away from Narcisse in their past life—but because his crowned prince title was revealed so shortly after (and Lucy once again tried to stay by his side), Alice had forgotten all about it. If there was one thing Lucy loved more than eye-candy, it was rich and powerful eye-candy.

She even proved her lack of loyalty again during the rebellion when she turned on Narcisse to follow Godric around like a lost dog.

"How stupid." She laughed again, turning around to face the balcony doors as she straightened her legs out on the cold stone floor and sighed. She should have known. "How forgetful."

"Mm, and how interesting." A separate voice she knew all too well hummed, making her jump.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she glanced to her left, the shadow in the corner gone unnoticed until now.

"Narcisse." She spoke, capturing his dark eyes as he walked into the light, "fancy meeting you here."

~*~*~

A.N.
I can't believe I made Alice kiss her killer. I am so CRUEL. And now Narcisse is here?! Her killer AND her abuser!!? You can do this Alice!

Thanks for reading, hopefully you're not as emotional as I am. But if you are, it's okay, I understand. I love Alice, too.