Chapter 8
Alister was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was tracing every thorny vine that led to the red rose in the middle. It appeared so real that if he had touched it, he would have expected it to be soft and delicate. A sparkling, red, heart shaped ball of smoke appeared at the foot of his bed and a familiar smirk and eyes appeared before the Riddler fully revealed herself. “Hello, Alister,” she murmured through her lips which were tense in anger at the moment. Alister stared before responding “Hi,” Despite the obvious irritation in her eyes she said it so sweetly. It sickened him. “I was going to invite you to join me for tea,” she suggested. Alister nodded, knowing that he didn’t really have much of a choice. She smiled and hovered over him, ears picked in intrigue and tail swishing “What were you doing before I got here? Sleeping? Dreaming?” Alister flinched at her knowing tone. Was that guilt that he felt eating at him? No, it was probably her just trying to manipulate him. She rested her hands on his shoulder and pressed her forehead to his. “Do you expect to go dressed like that?” Alister shook his head “N-No,” he responded “Well, you should hurry up and change then,” She whispered just before she disappeared, leaving him choking on red dust. He hurriedly walked to his wardrobe and changed in the available red, flannel shirt and black and white checkered pants. He snorted at the mismatched look before stepping outside of his room where he presumed the Riddler was waiting. He found himself immediately transported to a moonlit forest where a candlelit table awaited him with the Riddler seated across from him. She smiled in a way that he had never seen before. It was actually somewhat seductive. “You know, you look rather nice when you’re in nothing but boxers,” she stated. Alister’s face turned a bright scarlet “How would you know what that looks like?” He challenged as she continued to stare into his soul. She winked and motioned with her tail for him to sit down. She poured him some tea which was in a beautifully painted black porcelain cup with roses engraved in it. “You really like roses don’t you?” Alister asked. The Riddler nodded “Yes, I think they’re quite romantic. Considering that this is the heart kingdom I decided to go with a romantic theme for the rest of the mansion. Don’t you like the idea of a little romance?” Alister was blushing again as he took a sip of the tea. It had an herbal aroma to it and tasted a bit sweet. It was an odd combination, yet it was delicious. “So how do you like my maids?” The Riddler asked. It was a strange question, but everything was a little bizarre and backwards in this world. “They’re nice, why?” Alister replied. The Riddler’s eyes intensified and her smile faded “Stay away from them.” Alister met her gaze confidently “Yes, I know that they are yours and that they are off limits to me.” The Riddler’s eyebrow twitched a bit “That isn’t what I meant,” she relplied “I mean that they are all deceiving you. They aren’t the sweet and pretty girls that you think they are.” Alister was puzzled as to why the Riddler would talk such trash about her own workers. “They seem nice enough to me,” Alister began only to have his tea cup shoved in his mouth. “Why don’t you have some tea and just sit and listen,” she warned “After all, your tigress did summon you.” Alister sipped his tea gingerly and looked at her expectantly. “That isn’t all that I called you here to talk about. I also called you here to talk about our battle strategy.” Alister realized that this was a test. He sat up a little straighter and looked at her evenly “Go on.” “Our main plan is to gradually surround the club kingdom with our soldiers hidden in the trees. Our thorns are already surrounding their territory so they have had fair warning to hand over what they have that is rightfully ours. Now we are taking action and are setting up troops in the trees to kill off any of the villagers that leave the heart of the territory. Although this is technically still considered a warning, it will be an easy way to weaken their forces and moral.” Alister nodded. He was noticing that he was becoming a little heavy headed. He nervously straightened his bangs when he noticed that she had fallen quiet waiting for him to acknowledge her. “That sounds like a … Good plan,” he muttered. There was a smile creeping across her face. He realized that she did look rather lovely in that dress and her eyes were very bright and pretty. The moonlight was also making her hair shine and turning her pale face a bit blue. “You look,” he began “Nice.” The Riddler’s smile dropped for a moment and her cheeks turned pink. She rose from her chair and sat on his knees, making him blush again. She leaned toward his ear, her auburn and blonde hair smelling of roses. “Have some more tea,” she whispered. Alister blinked the sleepiness from his mind and shoved her, hard off of him. “You drugged me!” he accused. The Riddler laughed “You’re smart,you know?” Before Alister could respond, a pretty little girl with long red hair poked her head in the door. “Tigress, Carmelle has just returned from a battle party with news.” The Riddler turned slowly “What?” She growled “I didn’t order a battle party.” She wheeled around to face Alister. “I’ll be back later to collect you,” she whispered seductively before walking swiftly to the door and slamming it behind her. Alister sat in his chair, still a little stunned. He glanced around and soon noticed that he heard running water. “The waterfall,” he murmured, eyes growing wide. He got up from the chair and hurried through the woods, running as the noise grew closer. When the falls were in sight he sprinted. He jumped in only to find that actual water awaited him rather than a portal to the real world. He slapped across the water and pulled himself up next to the waterfall. Staring down at the glistening water, frustration pricking at him. Was he going to be stuck here forever? He picked himself up, still dripping wet and was about to turn around and head back to the table when he saw light emanating from the interior of the waterfall. Sliding behind it, he found the he was inside of a dimly lit cave that contained stone shelves with small dolls on them. Some even had pins in them. There was a map on the wall the plotted out battle positions along with an arrow pointing to the shelf of dolls that read “people that will be killed.” There was a needle through a doll of Carmelle and a needle through the doll of the Timekeeper, which was to be expected. Then he came across a doll that was eerily familiar. It was a doll that looked just like him and there was a needle through its heart.
