Checkmate || OUAT Fanfic || DISCONTINUED

Chapter 1; The Stranger In Black

"You can kill a man with those words. No gun. No bullets. Just words and a girl."

~ Markus Zuack, I Am the Messenger

-

Two years later...

    I'm in a red room. Why am I always in a red room? I turn around, taking in my surroundings. I'm in a shop. An abandoned pawnshop to be exact. I can tell by the rows of the shelves around me as they're filled with antiques. I jerk my head to the left at the sound of a bell chiming as the front door opens. I take a step back, inching away from the door as a boy -no, I can hardly call him a boy as he looks to be in his early twenties- walks inside.

    He's dressed in a black tux, paired with a blood red tie and shiny black dress shoes. His face softens when he sees me.
    "Alice," he greets as he always does everytime I'm here.
    I don't bother asking him how he knows my name, as he always gives me the same answer. It's because we're soul mates and that we love each other, et cetera, et cetera.

    "What am I doing here, Peter?" I ask, crossing my arms.
    Before you ask. Yes, I do know his name. He told me the first time we met and it's the name that is always on my mind.
    "I told you before," he says. "It's because you're my-"
    "Because I'm your soul mate." I roll my eyes. "Honestly this is getting old, can you please stop bothering me?"

    "You really don't remember me?" Peter asks, crestfallen.
    "For the thousandth time, no." I sigh. "When is this going to stop? Will I never be able to close my eyes again without seeing your face? When will you stop haunting me?!"
    Peter recoils back as if I'd slapped him. "I didn't think that my presence irked you so much."

    "Of course it irks me! You've been haunting me for over a year!" I exclaim.
    "You didn't use to think that when I was still alive," he replies.
    I pinch the bridge of my nose, exhaling exasperatedly. "For the last time, I'm not the Alice you're talking about. I'm not your soul mate. I'm not your "unfinished business" whatever that means. I'm just Alice. So stop please bothering me and leave me alone!"

     I rub my temples as the room starts spinning.
    "The spell is wearing off," Peter announces sadly.
    "Well, it's about time," I say impatiently.
    "I won't give up on you, Alice!" he cries out as the room around me starts to fade.
    "I made a promise and I don't intend on breaking it anytime soon!"

    I open my eyes at the sound of my alarm going off. The beat of Zendaya's song hypes me up as I get out of bed. I turn the alarm off, grabbing the first pair of clothes I see from my closet. I then make my way to the bathroom to wash up, humming the lyrics to Dracula by Bea Miller.
    "If you were Dracula, I'd be lettin' you take that bite," I sing, striping out of my clothes. "Hot and hazardous, like playin' with dynamite."

    I step into the shower, turning the tap on. "I want Dracula. Forever be young and wild. Dark and dangerous. I love, I love, the tragically beautiful..."

****

  I step out of my room, dressed in a black FOB crop top and ripped jeans. Wringing the water out of my hair, I make my way down the hallway, passing the boys' rooms as I go. I pass Will's room last, hearing "New Perspective" by Panic At The Disco blast through the walls. I rap my knuckles on his blue door. "Will?"
    "Yeah?" he replies, not opening the door.