Malice

Chapter 2: Dinah is Dead

Jason awoke that morning to find himself covered in blood that was clearly not his own. Dinah was lying a few short feet away lying in a pool of red. Never in his entire life did he ever think he could stoop this low. He crawled cautiously towards her back, as if afraid to wake her up. As if any moment she would roll over and slap him for being so stupid. Crouching over her, his hands hovered over her prone form. A soft laugh filled Jason's ears from the corner of the room. A man sat there, quietly smoking his cigarette while reading the morning paper.

"Who-"

"William Titus," he interrupted.

Jason opened his mouth again.

"You." he stated simply. Jason's heart skipped a beat.

"I-," He swallowed the acid in his throat. "I what?"

The man rolled his eyes. "What do you think?" Jason's gaze landed on Dinah again.

William sighed. "You also let one of them escape."

"There were two?"

William said nothing, reading his newspaper again. Jason turned away to stare at Dinah.

How could he have let this happen? His hands tore through his hair.

"How did it happen this time?" He asked quietly. William laughed.

"You should have seen your face when Dinah mentioned the Hole." He shook his head, smoke so thick it concealed most of his face. "You looked ready to kill her." He glanced up at Jason as he gritted his teeth, smirking lightly. "And then you did. As simple as that."

"What about the other one?"

"She got out and probably bled to death." There was no concern in his voice. No sympathy.

"Probably? She could still be alive. Why didn't you finish her off?" 

William rolled his eyes. 

"I was here for the cake." He stated matter-of-factly. As if it was perfectly normal to go to someone's house for tea, watch them murder their sister, and wait patiently for the rest of the guests to die, all the while eating a slice of lemon cake.

Headache forming, Jason rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You know that wasn't what I was asking." William continued to read the newspaper, oblivious. Ash crumbled off the cigarette onto his lap.

He laughed suddenly. "Looks like the girl is alive after all." He snatched the paper away from him, reading the leading article:

TRAUMATIZED GIRL CLAIMS TO BE ATTACKED BY A DRAGON

He froze when he saw the picture of the young woman.

Five bloody slashes altered the entire left side of her face, but she was still recognizable. But of course she was, it was Alice. The dull blonde hair, and the blue eyes that were so dark they glared black. She scowled at the camera, clearly wanting to be anywhere but getting her picture taken.

There was no mistaking her.

His hands tingled the way they do when you hold something fragile, something you could easily drop.

Talons sliced through soft flesh. I smiled, my teeth gleaming silver. A mad giggle.

'How lovely your blood is, red like rubies!'

A blurry face, gray and blue smoke concealing all but those angry red eyes. They scowled at her. 'Useless.' It muttered, twitching their long, white ears.

Slowly, he cocked his head to look at William, who was watching him, holding the cigarette between two fingers. A slow smile spread across William's face, making his chocolate eyes glitter like obsidian. The paper crumpled in his hands the longer he stared.

"I hate you."

The man snorted and gestured to Jason's clothes. "You're the one covered in blood."

Angrily, he shoved the cursed paper in his face, only to snatch it away again when William tried to unfold it. "And you didn't call the police? Didn't even stop to think to help her? To stop me?"

He shrugged. "You made the choice. You wanted to kill her." Jason flinched. "Besides, there would be no point. No prison cell could hold you." Faster than Jason could react, the man's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. He pointed to the scaly rash traveling up Jason's arm. "And this is why." Jason tore his arm away, raking his nails over the irritated skin. "And this too." He held up Jason's other hand, which was grasping the ruined daily. Jason hated the way he looked at him, amused, like he was a joke. Like they were playing cat and mouse. Maybe that's all this was to him. A game. It was hardly surprising however, with the way he was sitting so comfortably in Jason's recliner.

"I remember now."

"I know."

His arms itched miserably.

"Is this what I get for going too far?" Jason asked faintly, to no one in particular. A fat little bird landed on the window sill outside, accusing him with its beady eyes. It seemed to think so.

He glowered at it.

"You can never go too far with science."

"Even when it costs you someone you love?"

William shrugged. "I wouldn't know." His face was a mask. No regret. No remorse. Nothing. Titus was terrifying. There was no way to tell what he was thinking. Could you even call him a man? If not a man, then what? A wizard? A monster? Neither were possible. Wizards were extinct and monsters hadn't existed since wizards died out. Perhaps he was just a psycho.

Titus's attention flitted up to Jason's. His eyes were two pits of black fire and he found himself lost in them, unable to breath. They saw right through him. "We're all mad here." He said simply, like it should answer all Jason's questions. Jason blinked sluggishly and averted his gaze. There Dinah was on the floor in pieces while they chatted. It might have been funny if he was a third party observing this.

But he wasn't.

He was the murderer.

And he thought Titus was evil. But he was the real monster.

Dinah's last words replay in his head over and over.

Beware the Jabberwock, the jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware indeed.