Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 1

P A R T - T W E N T Y - F O U R

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Body In The Bathtub
Saturday, 2nd February, 11:06pm:
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Alice sighed very quietly, wondering to herself why she'd bothered to say she was going to sleep when in reality she wasn't tired at all, at least not anymore.

Radiating from downstairs she could hear the muffled sound of Redbone by Childish Gambino beginning, which was obviously being played loudly by those who had been asleep during the day and gotten up only a few hours ago to enjoy their vacation. Alice silently wondered to herself if Magnus and his group of friends were actually vampires, considering their behaviour and since they seemed to have most their energy at night... on top of also murdering people... the thought made her smile with amusement, but she calmed herself down as she heard Magnus move behind her.

He sighed loudly, showing that he was still awake as Alice quietly enjoyed the sound of the music and how strangely calming it was, hearing it all muffled and gentle. Magnus moved again, pushing the duvet back and getting out of bed, walking towards the bathroom door. Alice looked over her shoulder, seeing him turn the lights on inside and close the door behind him.

She wanted to talk to him, but she felt as if she'd let the silence linger for too long to then start a conversation, since he probably thought she'd been asleep. Quietly, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, only noticing that there were small little glow in the dark lights that recreated stars... "Cute," she cooed softly, wondering if they were organised into constellations or simply placed randomly. As Alice's mind wandered for a few moments, Magnus opened the bathroom door, causing her to jump just a little at the sudden movement.

"Sorry," Magnus said quietly, voice a little raspy as he noticed Alice awake and thought it was his fault.

"It wasn't you," she replied softly too, as he ran his hand through his hair and walked back over to the bed. "It sounds like they're having a party downstairs," Alice smiled, thanking her lucky stars for giving her an opportunity to talk to him more.

"Yeah it's usually like this." Magnus mumbled, sitting back down on the bed and glancing over at Alice, seeing her hair a little messy also. It had only been a couple of hours since they'd said awkward goodnight's to each other, and quietly he wondered why there was a strange tension between them, and although he didn't really feel it, he could tell by her body language and tone of voice that it was there.

"They just party all the time?" Alice asked softly, tucking one side of her hair behind her ear and sitting up properly, bringing her legs up to cross them under the duvet.

"Basically," Magnus said, glancing at her lips then looking back at her eyes, "Any kind of trips with this lot are just drinking opportunities," he continued, since he'd expected this kind of behaviour from the moment he'd heard about the trip. Up all night, sleeping all day, not bothering to leave the chalet...

He thought back to the day they'd just had and felt the warmth in his chest again, seeing as he'd actually had the opportunity to go out and do what he'd come to a ski resort for. He watched Alice smile and laugh quietly, and analysed her body language... she wanted to talk, but it seemed she felt a little strange doing so. "I really enjoyed today," she then said, licking her lips briefly as she looked at Magnus through her lashes.

"Yeah, me too." He agreed, still intently watching her, his gaze now focussed on her eyes. His mind went calm and blank as they watched each other, and Alice persistently fiddled with the sheets to try and combat her slight nerves. She didn't know what to say, and grew a little frustrated with how the evening was panning out... and she couldn't deny that something had changed between them, whether it was good or bad she couldn't tell, but the tension was there and it wasn't letting up.