Alice POV

Asher had been right: I did get a minor case of food poisoning from that pastry I bought at the train station.

Today was Monday, but due to my condition, I’d skipped school. Now, I wasn’t too keen on going and I definitely didn’t mind being absent for a day. But today was The Monday; the day of the banquet of celebration to Aunt Rose’s latest book. And that was something I regret I had to miss.

“I’m very sorry, Aunt Rose!” I said for at least a twentieth time tonight.

“It’s okay, dear!” She reassured me once more.

“But I wanted to be there to support you and now not only am I not coming, but all three of you are not going to be able to enjoy yourselves because you’ll be worried about me! Not to mention, I kept you up all night and you do look tired.”

“Alissa Clover Green, you’re starting to get on my nerves! How many times do I have to tell you that it’s okay; it’s not like you wanted to get a food poisoning and you ate that thing on purpose. Now are you sure you don’t want one of us to stay here with you?”

“Yes, Aunty, I’m sure; you should all go and try to have fun!”

“That’s so sweet of you, dear!” Flora butted in, entering my bedroom. “Rose, we have to go now or we’ll be late. Now, Alice, you have our numbers; if there’s anything, anything at all, call us!” Both of my aunts leaned down and kissed me on the cheeks, before getting out. Soon after, I heard the engine to our car roar and I knew they were on their way.

All of a sudden, I felt lonely. It’d been a while since I’ve been on my own. Back at the Millers, I’d always in the company of with at least one of the twins, then I traveled with Asher, then we were greeted by Caden and Keegan… and then I started to feel sick and came back home, where I’d been constantly watched by my worried aunts. Even Azalea had been nicer to me.

But now the house was empty and I was on my own. Cade had called a dozen times today, wanting to come over, but I’d told him not to; I didn’t want him to be worried about me, but I also had another reason for not wishing the boy here: vanity. I didn’t want the guy I liked to see me throwing my guts out… That was definitely not a pretty sight! So I’d told him I’d take a nap and rest.

That was actually a good idea. I was feeling rather tired, so a nap sounded quite tempting right now.

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Caden POV

“Did you tell her yet?” Cillian inquired, placing a few beers on a tray.

“She was feeling sick and didn’t come to school, remember?” I responded, knowing all too well he meant whether I’d told Alice about how I felt for her.

“Yeah, it’s probably better if you said it face to face and not over the phone,” he concluded thoughtfully. “Table nine,” the man added, handing me the tray.

Technically, I wasn’t allowed to serve alcohol. But it was early in the afternoon (I’d come to work straight after school) and only the pub patrons were here. Knowing they wouldn’t cause any trouble and feeling rather lazy today, Cillian had decided that I should be the one to serve the clients.

I took the tray and went to the far corner of the pub where Will sat on table nine with a couple of his friends. I put a beer in front of each of them and was just about to leave when William made the mistake to comment on my new job.

“Now aren’t you a good little waitress?” I heard a few snickers from around the table, but they didn’t last long and turned into surprised gasps as I swirled around and, using my left hand, grabbed Will by the neck of his shirt.

“Wanna repeat that?” I snarled, tightening my grip. The man shook his head. “Yeah, didn’t think so!” I let go of him and he gave me an annoyed look while straitening his attire. He had dressed fancier than usual today and I was pretty sure that he’d been to a date. That would’ve also explained his elevated mood and why he had decided to tease me.

“God, Caden, you’re even grumpier than usual! Does Alice being absent have anything to do with that?”

“God, Will, you’re more cheerful than usual. Does Flora have anything to do with that?” I questioned, imitating his tone. That immediately made him quiet and the man pretended to be too busy with his drink to respond to me. With a satisfied smirk I walked away but not before I heard his pals’ joking about him and Flora.

As for Alice… I wanted to call her, but last time we’d spoke she was just about to take a nap. The poor girl was definitely in need of one as she had been up almost all night, throwing up and trying to settle her stomach with tea.

I wanted to go visit her and see if there was anything I could do to make her feel better, but she'd told me not to. Actually, she pretty much ordered me not to. Apparently her aunts were fussing around her all the time and Alice didn’t want to trouble anyone else with her condition. I’d offered to come and visit her tonight since I knew she’d be alone. But she refused again, saying something about not wanting to occupy me with her problem. I of course protested, but when she begged me not to argue with her, she’d sounded so frail that in the end I’d reluctantly agreed with her.

I wondered what she was doing now.

*****

Alice POV

The noise that had woken me up repeated and I sat in my bed, wondering who or what could’ve produced it. I looked at the time on my mobile; it was way too early for my aunts to be back. I listened carefully, but when I didn’t hear anything for a while, I decided I must’ve dreamt it.

Putting my phone back on the nightstand, I lay on the soft mattress and closed my eyes, only to snap them open a moment later.

It had happened again.

I had heard a noise once more. It was coming from downstairs. Curious to what could be making the sound which I could not quite identify, I got up and went down the stairs. As I got closer to what seemed to be the place the noise was coming from, a new feeling started to form in me, replacing my initial inquisitiveness: fear.

Something was definitely wrong! I should be alone in the house, but I could clearly hear someone moving in our living room. I got closer to the door…

And my heart stopped beating in my chest when I saw him. He was medium height, but bulky; the stained singlet he was wearing allowed me to see just how hard the muscles on his arms were. He had a dark complexion and shoulder-length brown hair. I couldn’t see his face as I was currently staring at the back of him while he was putting whatever small objects he could get his hands onto into his worn-out rucksack.

I must’ve made some noise or maybe he felt my gaze on him because he suddenly stopped moving. He slowly turned in my direction and I could see surprise in his dark eyes. He must’ve thought nobody was home. But his initial astonishment at seeing me stand there frozen on the spot was quickly forgotten. The stranger’s eyes lit up with emotions. I could not make them out, but by the coldness in his stare I knew he wanted to harm me.

Time started to move fast after that. The man charged at me with his arms upwards and I was sure he was aiming for my throat. On instinct I slammed the living room door in his face. I heard a loud smash, followed by cusses. This was it; it was the time when I should take the opportunity presented to me, run upstairs, lock myself in the safety of my bedroom and call for help.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I stood by the side of the door, I grabbed the nearest thing – a weird scepter my aunts had bought at a garage sale some time ago, and prepared to hit the burglar with it. He didn’t make me wait long. He opened the door and looked around in search for me. In the few seconds it took him to notice me, I slung at him and smacked him in the guts. He let out a cry of pain and bent over in two while clutching his stomach. Taking advantage of the situation I tried to hit the back of his head in hopes it will knock him out. At the last moment the guy moved, making me miss my target and hit him between the shoulder blades instead, breaking my weapon of choice in the process.

“Why you little…” He growled through clenched teeth and turned his furious gaze to me.

I didn’t give him time to finish. I tucked my fingers the way Caden had thought me thus forming a fist. I pulled my hand back then summoned all my strength and punched the guy square in the jaw.

What happened after that I could barely remember. I knew I kept on hitting the intruder; I knew I punched him and kicked him several times… And I knew that at a certain point I realized I’d manage to knock him out.

I knew that, I remembered that… But how did I get here?

I was now sitting in my aunts’ kitchen with a blanket over my shoulders. In front of me was a man, perhaps in his late forties or maybe even early fifties, with a worried expression on his face and wearing a police uniform.

“Ms.? Ms., did you hear what I asked you?” The policeman queried with obvious concern.

“I’m sorry, what?”

God! Was that my voice? I sounded so quiet and even... emotionless. What happened to me?

“Ms., I know you are still in shock but you have to tell me… Have you seen that man before?”

“Who are you?” I asked instead of answering his question.

“I’m Officer Jones; I came after you called the police to report an intruder,” he answered me patiently.

“Did I do that?” I inquired absentmindedly.

“Yes, Ms., you did. That is why we are here.”

We?

I looked around: there was one more cop in the kitchen, a young woman, and she was standing next to a teapot. My gaze fell to my hands; I was holding a cup of tea. I took a sip. Chamomile. Simple and soothing.

“Did you make this?” I asked the female cop.

“No, you must have made it yourself. All we did was to wrap that blanket around you.”

You must’ve made it yourself.

Huh. Didn’t remember that either.

Suddenly, we heard the front door open with a bang.

“What on Earth is going on here?” Aunt Azalea’s panicked voice reached me before I saw her and her sisters practically run into the kitchen.

I thought running in the house was forbidden?

“There was an attempt of robbery but your niece prevented it, Azalea,” the man explained earning himself three simultaneous gasps from my aunts. I briefly wondered how he knew my aunt’s first name, but the thought was gone from my mind with the same speed it had appeared.

“Oh, Alissa!”

All three women rushed to get to me, but Azalea was the fastest and the one who wrapped her arms around me.

“Oh, child… Our sweet, little Alice!” Her voice was strained and she was rocketing me gently. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

I pulled away to looked at her face. I had never seen her so vulnerable before. The concern in her green eyes, eyes the same as mine and as her sisters’, was overwhelming. I looked at Rose and Flora. I could tell they were on the verge of crying. I wanted to comfort them, to tell them that everything was alright, that I was alright, but I didn’t. Everything seemed so surreal and a part of me was tired… so tired that something as simple and easy as speaking seemed an impossible performance.

“Physically she’s alright; she’s not even bruised apart from her knuckles, but she’s still in shock,” the female cop answered for me.

“Your niece is a very brave girl, Azalea. She needs some rest, but she’ll be alright,” the man supplemented. “She possesses the Green women’s spirit; she’ll be alright.”

“Oh, Carl, please tell us what happened!” Azalea begged him with her voice cracking from the storm of emotions she felt.

“We got a call from your niece… It’s Alice, isn’t it?” From the corner of my eye I noticed Rose nodded in answer of his question. “We got a call from Alice saying that there was an intruder. She gave us the address and my partner and I, as well as two more officers, headed straight this way. I immediately recognized the address as yours and we wasted no time in getting here. When we arrived, we barged in and on the floor in the hallway, next to your living room door, we hound an unconscious man. My partner saw the lights in the kitchen, so she headed that way and I followed her. In the meantime the other officers put the guy in their patrol car and headed for the hospital. He was pretty badly injured, but don’t worry, Azalea, as soon as the doctor patches him up, we’ll take him straight to the precinct. Anyway, Jenna… I mean, Officer Jones and I walked into the kitchen and saw your niece sitting in that chair and drinking tea. My partner got one of your blankets to cover Alice with while I asked what happened. Apparently she heard a noise downstairs and went to check it out. Then she saw the robber in your living room and then… Well, then…” He laughed a bit nervously.

“Apparently that’s when she beat him up and knocked him out.” The female cop replied with a note of admiration in her voice.

“I’m sorry! I broke the scepter you bought for the hallway when I hit him with it.” I finally found my voice again and managed to speak. “I’m really sorry! I know how much all of you liked it.”

“Don’t worry about that, dear! It is not important!” Flora hurried to reassure me with a soothing tone and gently squeezed my right hand.

“What is important is that you are safe, Alice!” Rose stated, holding my other hand between hers.

“But how on Earth did you manage to fight off that man, Alissa?” Azalea asked astonished.

“That was thanks to my delinquent friends,” I announced, meeting her gaze head on.

I noticed the cops exchanging confused glances at my statement. The male cop – Jones, furrowed his eyebrows while female cop – Jones, just shrugged. Wait! Why were they both called Jones? For the first time I looked closely at them. They both had brown eyes, auburn hair and similar facial features.

“Are you two related?” I directed my question at the cops.

“Yes. I’m Jenna Jones and this is my father Carl Jones,” the woman answered with a gentle smile. “Alice, I know you are tired so we shall leave you to rest now. We will be back tomorrow. We have to; we still have some questions for you. But for now, we’ll leave you with your aunts.”

The officers headed for the door and aunt Azalea went to lock up after them.

*****

A/N: To all of you who keep asking about the guns: no, they were not intended for this chapter; no, I have not forgotten about them; yes, I’m getting to that!

I know you guys miss the Caden-Alice moments, but don’t worry, there will be plenty of that in the next chapter!

Have a nice day/night everyone!

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