Isn't it Wonderful? [Redd]

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Alyss certainly hoped that her peripheral vision would stop acknowledging her own reflection as a stranger, even in the shop windows. She wasn't going to get anywhere that way, was she? Yet it seemed like every time her new curls flew in the wind, her mind alerted her to someone oddly close, drawing her eyes to the nearest reflective surface. If there was anyone that would perhaps take notice of the odd blonde that kept staring at her own reflection, well that wouldn't look very good for her at all, now would it.

But still...it was taking quite a bit of getting used to. After a moment of registering that the girl she was seeing was, in fact, her, she brushed one of her curls out of her face, making a note that she was going to have to get her hands on one of those "scrunchies" or whatever it was they were called if her hair wasn't going to behave. It used to be that her hair was very manageable. Of course it flew in her face, but somehow it didn't seem to happen as much as it did now. What was it? The curls? The blonde color? What?

Still, no need to make a modern Narcissus out of herself, now was there? Smiling ever so slightly, she began to move forward. It wasn't just her hair that had changed, after all. Ever since she awoke and things seemed quite different, not at all where she once was, she just felt...lighter. Lighter than she had in eleven years.

It felt like she could actually enjoy herself now. What a novel idea that was.

[redd]

It was funny that they hadn't found her and locked in her some padded room in an asylum somewhere, because it was clearly what she deserved. But Redd knew how to behave in public - unless someone really pissed her off. Otherwise, her torterous actions occured behind closed doors and no one was the wiser.

Yes, it was certainly odd having to keep a smile on her face the entire time she was strolling down the street, peering in shop windows. She was crazy, most would say if they knew her personally, but thankfully Redd never allowed anyone to get that close. People who got that close ended up dead.

She saw the blonde and smiled maliciously as she played with her hair, staring at her reflection so casual like. Redd rolled her eyes and hid her reflection so it would not appear in the windows as she approached Alyss from behind.

"Playing with your hair won't stop heads from rolling."

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Now, while Alyss had found a new sense of peace in her life, that hardly meant that she was without fear. The minute she heard her aunt's voice, it took an odd amount of willpower to not just gasp right then, but she vaguely remembered that she had vowed to not show fear around this woman. So the gasp was held back, even if it was sort of creepy how she managed to sneak up at her so.

Fixing her expression into a wry smile, she turned around to look at the woman who was the cause of all that grief that felt so far away now. There wasn't much of a sense of vengeance in her heart, no. She just knew that she had to do something about this woman, and that she wasn't going to be able to do a thing without Redd's rather ironic help.

"Well I suppose you would know all about that, wouldn't you Aunt?" she quipped, crossing her long arms and looking up at the woman who perhaps had an inch or so on her. Yet for once, she wasn't looking at her with fear.

[redd]

Redd arched a slender eyebrow at her niece, mirroring Alyss' stance with her arms folding across her chest, weight leaned to one side as her hip cocked. This girl was different, quite different than the girl Redd had last encounted. This one looked at her with pride and determination, not fear.

Just how a Wonderland Princess should look.

Now if only Redd could coax her into the idea of torturing and will her White Imagination to Black, things would be a lot easier. Smirking though, Redd spoke.

"Of course." She smiled maliciously, running a nail across the base of Alyss's throat. "What are you doing wandering out here all alone, Alyss? Bad influences and evil things alike lurk around - can't have anything happen to our Princess, now can we?"

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A part of Alyss wondered if she was being far too transparent in this mysterious new attitude that she had. With the look on Redd's face, something akin to a wolf finding a particularly vulnerable elk, she couldn't help but wonder. A chill ran over her arms without her consent, but thankfully they were crossed and they weren't going to move. She supposed she should have appeared more like the fearful little girl she was having a far easier time leaving behind than she could have imagined, but it felt like the old Alyss was slipping through her fingers. It was as if, even if she wanted to, she wasn't going to be the same dithering, depressed girl she used to be, and the old Alyss was going to be difficult for her to even behave like.

She supposed that wasn't too much of a loss...in fact, this probably meant that she could make this work in her favor even more.

Yet new Alyss or not, the feel of Redd's nail at her throat, especially with knowing just how much Redd enjoyed making "heads roll" as she put it oh so eloquently, made that chill through her veins even worse. But she wouldn't be transparent to this woman, not in the slightest. If she was going to display fear, it was going to be feigned, and it was going to work perfectly in her plan...well, the skeleton of a plan, anyway.

Pulling out what remained of her innocence and putting them into her wide, still brown eyes, perhaps the same as they were during their previous conversation. "I suppose not...I mean, I can barely even use my Imagination any more, I'd probably be perfectly defenseless." Well, that wasn't a complete lie. Making one's coffee wasn't exactly going to do much against an adversary...unless splashing the overheated water into someone's eyes would suffice, which she supposed it would. All the same, she would prefer being able to use her Imagination the way it was intended.

[redd]

As much as the knowledge of the fact that her niece couldn't use her Imagination, Redd sensed something was off about it. Normally, little Alyss would not come right out and tell her such things - her suspicions rose, but Redd kept them hidden for the time being. She would play along and see where the little game of hers was going to go before she put a stop to it.

"Perfectly defenseless is not a good thing." She mused. The more sane part of her was telling her to just kill the girl now and save her plenty of trouble down the road, but Redd enjoyed toying with her far too much to let that happen. Brushing hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear, she studied her niece carefully before speaking again.

"Then again, spending all that time with those . . . people," She spat the word, upper lip curling briefly. "Stifled your Imagination, no doubt. Oh whatever will you do without it?" Sarcasm dripped from the last sentence, and continued on her next. "Poor little Alyss."

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Alyss reminded herself that it was in Redd's nature to be predatory, and it made absolutely no sense for her heart to make a ninny out of itself just because of that look in her aunt's eyes. She reminded herself that if she just worked at it, she could more than handle it, even if there was a part of her that was wondering who the hell she was trying to fool. Yet she kept the fear at bay. She spent nearly ten years hiding her true feelings, after all. This wasn't so different at all, except there was more at stake, and it actually paid to display a certain amount of confidence in both herself and the murderous wretech standing before her. The latter disgusted her, of course, now that she wasn't feeling quite as vulnerable and alone, but it was what it was, and with any luck, she would know exactly what to do with Redd within the next few months.

She shook her head. "No, it isn't..." And...all right, in spite of the fact that the pain had ebbed quite a bit, the reminder that she had to spend so much time with people that didn't even believe in her still stung to a certain extent. And the sarcasm was not at all a help. She narrowed her eyes briefly, but then plastered on a long suffering look and sighed. "Yes, yes, I suppose they did...but it can't be helped." She shrugged and started wandering off, or at least appearing like she was doing so. If Redd was committed to whatever it was she was trying to feed her when they last spoke, Alyss had very little doubt that she would be followed.

[redd]

Redd couldn't quite figure out what this girl was up to. She was being far too compliant and actually speaking in a civil tone - rather than a tone laced with fear, resentment, bitterness, and/or hatred. It was something new she had yet to see come from Alyss, and she was quite intriqued by the entire act this girl was obviously putting on.

"Oh, it can be helped. If you had the right training with it." Redd got out before Alyss began to walk off. Redd only hesitated a moment before following, jumping in front of the girl to cut her off before she could go any further.

"Don't walk away from me, Alyss. You're in the real world now, and I'm not afraid to kill you and leave the body where no one will ever find it."