Oh Alice!

Chapter 1

"ALICE MAY BROOKS!" Leslie Brooks shouted from her work space, a screened and covered porch on the other side of the upper floor. It was a warm, sunny Saturday morning, nearly 9, and Leslie was working on her latest project. She was a fictional writer and was struggling through her 3rd book about a teen with weird abilities.

"She knows she doesn't have to yell right?" Alice huffed as she set down her stack of papers and red pen, she needed a break from grading papers anyways. She grabbed her water bottle, with slices of lemon and oranges floating in it, stretching her arms up high above her head as she walked through her room to the other side of the floor. She found her mom and the desk covered in black ink. "Lord, Mom! What did you do?"

"Well, I was trying to sketch out a new character and I accidentally spilled my ink. Can you help me?" Leslie stifled a laugh as she looked down at her black shirt and leggings. "At least I always wear black, huh?"

"Yes mom! But let me get you a few paper towels instead of moping it up with your shirt or with more papers." Alice retrieved a roll of paper towels and handed a few to Leslie when she saw the mailman walking up their walkway, with a package. HER package. "Look!" Alice tossed the paper towels onto the desk and sprinted down the stairs, through the kitchen and out the foyer to meet Craig in the front yard.

"Well hello there, Alice! You must be enjoying your Saturday!" Craig said coyly as he eyed her from head to toe and then back again. She quickly knew what he was talking about; her short denim shorts and slightly see through pink tank top with a black sports bra underneath. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah Craig. Thanks for making this weird. Can I have my mail and package?" She glared at him, which just made him laugh. Craig Dane was the town creep, hitting on anything with legs. But being in such a small town, he kept his mail job regardless of being a walking HR nightmare.

"Nope. Only if I can take you on a date later tonight." Alice giggled silently as she locked eyes with a large figure quietly walking towards them, stopping right behind Craig. "We can go to the bar, drink and eat and then go back to my place for a movie." He gave a creepy, sarcastic laugh.

"Yeah Craig! That sounds like so much fun, but I'd rather go back to my house." Lukas whispered right into the creep's ear. Craig's body went rigid and a look of fear quickly replaced the lust filled one. "How about we cancel our date and you just give the nice lady her mail?" Lukas gave Alice a wink that made her laugh out loud and give a little snort.

"Y-yeah I can do that. H-here Alice. Have a nice day." Alice took her mail and Craig walked away, eyes glued to the sidewalk as he finished his route.

"I really hate that guy." Alice said as she handed the small package to Lukas, sifting through the mail; a letter for her mom, a bunch of letters for her dad, and just one for her. Alice walked into the house and sat at the breakfast bar, staring at the envelope. It was from her work, Cleardale School District.

"What's that for?" Lukas asked as he set the box on the marble counter top, even though they both already knew the answer. He was trying to play it off and keep a casual front, but Alice knew he was on edge, just like she was.

"It's from the school. I can give you one guess on who it's from and what it's about." Alice looked down at her hand and ran her finger tips over her right hand, on the end of the tattoo that covered nearly half her body.

When Alice was 18, she voiced to her parents about this crazy, reckless idea she had; she wanted a tattoo. She was weeks from graduating high school, and many didn't think it was appropriate. It took months and months of work, but when it was finished it was beautiful. It was dragon, that starts on the top of her right foot. The tail wraps up her calf and thigh, then connects to the body just below her right cheek. The hind legs are on her lower hip and lower back, the body mainly on her side back and shoulder with the wings closed on tight. The long neck stretches out on her arm with the head on her forearm, its snout on her wrist with flames shooting out its mouth and across the back of her hand. The whole thing was covered in black and blue scales, the eyes were ice blue, with a red scar running over it's left eye and the flames were black, red and orange.