Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 2

P A R T - E I G H T E E N

Chapter Eighteen: Get Away
St Lucia, West Indies
______________________________________

Silence lingered in the air as the soft rushing of wind passed by the yacht whilst it continued to cruise calmly around the island. The low hum of the propellers mixed in with the sounds of the ocean, and Alice sighed softly as both her and Magnus sat out on the decking of the lounge they'd previously been in, that was now empty.

Only half an hour before they had left the third floor room, feeling dazed and stunned from what they'd experienced... and returned to the lounge to inform Otis that Poppy hadn't been feeling well. Both him, Fynn and Naomi had left to attend to her, now leaving Magnus and Alice alone. "Do you think they'll be mad that I just left her in the bathroom?" Alice asked suddenly, her voice quiet.

"No." Magnus replied simply, both of them vacantly staring out into the distance of the ocean. Moonlight sparkled off the waves but the beauty of it seemed lost in the moment. "... My mom's a psycho," Magnus murmured, feeling a mixture between dumb founded confusion and pride.

"I think she's brilliant." Alice replied after a few seconds of quietness between them.

"Of course you would." Magnus snorted softly, blinking suddenly and pulling himself out of his daze and reaching for the bottle of champagne left on the coffee table. They were both sitting on the plush couch facing the ocean view at the front of the yacht, and could hear the muffled thumping of the music from downstairs.

"Did you have any idea?" Alice asked, finally blinking after her eyes went a little dry and looked over at Magnus as he took several long gulps from the champagne bottle before passing it to her.

"Yes and no. I thought it would've been drugs or... something fucked up like human trafficking." Magnus replied, causing Alice to furrow her eyebrows and look away and back out towards the view at his expectations. "I never expected mom to be some like.... dark web internet oracle."

"Well... it makes sense." Alice shrugged, causing Magnus to raise an eyebrow and look over at her just as she took a long sip of the champagne bottle and smacked her lips before looking at the label on the bottle as if she knew anything about champagne. "Like... with all the technological advances out there these days like... someone was bound to do it. Someone has to be first."

"I know but... it's... she does yoga and decorates houses and shit... it's- she's my mom." Magnus muttered, evidently still heavily confused as Alice settled into the idea of it all pretty quickly. Inside her mind she seemed to place Julia Johnson on top of a pedestal, and began to decorate the floor around her feet with candles and flowers as she zoned out for a moment before realising what Magnus said.

"Would it have made more sense if it was your father?" She shot at him, looking over at the profile of his face with an accusatory look.

"No." Magnus replied honestly, "It really wouldn't." He added and sighed heavily as he lent back against the back of the couch and ran a hand through his hair. He knew his father, and if it going to be either of his parents, it wasn't going to be Hans. He had always suspected his mother ran the show... But this... wasn't what he expected at all.

Alice rolled her eyes subtly and looked away, reaching to place the champagne bottle back down on the table and place her hands back in her lap.... a new democracy... her skin tingled with goosebumps and she shivered because of the wind. She'd never really felt truly inspired before and was over excited at the new sensation suddenly. She related to what Julia had said in her speech... and let herself assume that just maybe they had things in common. A fascination with the dark side of human nature... Psychopaths. Killers. Violence. Corruption.