Red Princess

43. Like a Mirror

Kaidon

"..I'll love you for a thousand more..."

Alice was singing along to the song that was playing with the credits scene for the movie we watched that evening. I honestly couldn't even remember the name and she had learned the lyrics to that song by heart.

She squealed like a teenager as the face of the main actor appeared on the screen and I rolled my eyes. I offered a sideways glance at the television and scoffed. That actor has got nothing on me.

"Alice, you have got a horrible voice. Can you please stop putting me through this torture?"

She glanced at me and narrowed her eyes into thin slits, and I had to bite the insides of my cheeks to hold myself from laughing out like a crazy man.

"You are just jealous that I admire that actor so much, " she retorted.

My eyes twinkled with mischief as I grabbed her by the wrist, pulled to my chest and turned us around to cage her between my arms. My lips hovered over hers, and I smirked while she gulped.

"Yes, I am envious. What will you do about it?"

She circled her arms around my neck and raised her mouth to my ears as she whispered, "Then I'll sing that song for you."

I must say, Alice is an enticing woman without even making an effort, but when she actually makes an attempt at being seductive, I find myself whirling down her trap. She is my drug and I am her hopeless junkie.

"I admit I love the sound of your voice, " I whispered as I played around her throat, "But you sound like a frog croaking when you sing." I chuckled, and annoyed, she tossed the pillow on my face.

I wish I could hear her sing once more.

I woke up with a startle, my head perspiring with the humidity in the room. I rarely fell asleep these days without my medication. On the days I did, all her memories would come running down to haunt me.

I never thought my wish would be granted in such a harsh manner. When I heard Ariel sing, my breath got caught in my lungs. It was the same voice, the exact melodious voice as hers but her notes was right on spot. Unlike Alice's out of tune singing, this woman was amazing, proving as just another reminder to me that she was a different person. My Alice is gone.

I locked up my house before I left for that mission. It hadn't been cleaned up since then so I was staying with Seydon instead. He had invested in a flashy grand three-storey mansion, just what you'd expect of him. There weren't really many people staying there expect Ariel and Seydon, but he just loved showing off his wealth.

I yanked the door open of the guest room where I was staying temporarily and slipped out towards the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. I crossed the living room which was when I noticed the light of the television screen flashing in the dark. I squinted and saw Ariel sitting on the couch.

I ignored her and opened the refrigerator, pulled out a water bottle and gulped the water down. I glanced to my side which was when my eyes set on a horrendous looking face and I spit the water right out of my mouth.

"What the hell!" I growled.

"I want ice-cream, " she cried as she rounded the refrigerator door, pushed me aside and pulled out a basket of the dessert from the freezer. It was Ariel looking no less than a ghost. Her eyes were red, her mascara smudged with the tears she must have cried and her hair dishevelled.