It was just passing half twelve at night, and the Murphy household was quiet as it's inhabitants slept. Alice had left her moon lamp on, illuminating her room with a faint white-blue glow... she slept peacefully, or so it seemed... Since her eyelids were darting back and forth as she dreamt, her physical body completely unaware... of the figure stood at the end of her bed.

Alice was stood at the end of a hallway, staring down it at the darkness lingering at the end of it. She was at school, and she recognised the lockers... she recognised the floors, the walls, even that one flickering light that every hallway seemed to have. She glanced up at it, her heart thudding with the wavering sensation of fear... as if she knew she should be scared but didn't know why.

Suddenly she saw movement out the corner of her eye and a door slammed, causing her to jump but only quietly gasp. "Hello?" Alice called, staring down the dark hallway still. Her voice echoed back to her and she felt a chill squeeze her spine as if the fear had found somewhere to settle... but that was only when her eyes focussed on the silhouette of a figure stood off to one side in the eerily dark hallway. She could see them holding something... and felt her legs tingle as the adrenaline was released.

Alice didn't bother to wait for confirmation, and turned to run, seeing whoever it was jolt as if to bolt after her. Suddenly her heart was in her throat, and she ran as fast as she could down the hall, and darted round a corner, finding herself in the upstairs hall of her own house leading from her sisters room. She whimpered out loud, feeling someone right on her tail as she fumbled at her bedroom door handle and nearly fell inside, slamming it behind her.

Whoever it was began to bang on the door, and Alice locked it, and stepped back covering her ears as her mind raced. She couldn't think straight, since it felt so real and she was panicking. She thought it was real, her whole body did. She couldn't breathe or think, her vision felt dark and blurry. The banging suddenly stopped, and Alice dropped her hands to her sides and stared at the door... waiting for something to happen. She needed to escape, and it was silent for a few moments which allowed her to think.

The window. The way Magnus usually came in. She whipped around as she suddenly remembered she hadn't locked it, only to see a hooded figure climbing in frantically with a knife the size of her arm tightly clasped in their fist. They bolted towards her, and Alice screamed and stumbled back, snapping her hands to cover her eyes only for the room to drop into silence.

The panic was gone, and Alice sat up in bed, breathing heavily as she realised she was dreaming. She could see a lump next to her and assumed it was Magnus, and reached over to wake him so she could tell him about her dream... his face was covered with the duvet, and she shook his shoulder, but he didn't stir. "Mags?" She asked, shaking him again then reaching over to pull the duvet away from his face.

A violent gasp shot out of her mouth and her heart leapt into her throat as if it was chasing the air out of it. A mirror of her face seemed to mimic the gasp and the shock as it was revealed, before dropping the expression of fear and smiling a little. "Is someone watching you sleep?" It asked in a hushed eerie whisper.

Alice suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze staring at the nightstand and the digital clock, showing it was just moving past two in the morning. She suddenly felt extremely awake as her ears registered movement around her room... footsteps, heavy ones, stepping around on the other side of the bed, a shuffling noise, and then a thump... "ow." A familiar voice muttered, and Alice reached forwards and turned on the light.

Magnus winced at the sudden illumination, but smiled lazily as his girlfriend sat up and turned to look at him. "What are you doing?" Alice asked, her hair pulled up into a pony tail. She was wearing one of his shirts, and looked a little sleepy but awake at the same time.

"Um... coming to bed." Magnus replied, his vision a little blurred as he carefully reached into his pocket to put his phone on the nightstand. Alice could see that he was drunk, not just because of his body language but also because of the fact he had face paint on to make him look like the joker.

"How was the party?" Alice asked, deciding to get up and encourage Magnus to take the face paint off. She walked around the bed and reached for his hand, gently pulling him away from climbing into her bed and dirtying her fresh sheets. He let her lead him into the bathroom, and slumped to sit down on the toilet as Alice got a wash cloth from under the sink and dampened it.

"It was fine." He mumbled,

"There was a theme?" She asked, wiping his cheeks.

"Iconic villains." Magnus's replied, keeping his lazy gaze locked on Alice's face as she lent forward a little, he breathed in and smelt the faint scent of her body moisturiser and hummed quietly since he liked the smell. "You should've come." He added, still watching her until Alice began to wipe over his eyes. He'd spent most of Thursday trying to convince her, but every time he'd asked Alice dug her heels in further. She wanted him to have fun, and enjoy this time with his friends without having her there... since she was aware how friends could get if someone had their partner around them constantly with no break... and she had noticed just how much time her and Magnus were spending together. The most break they'd had was when she was in class and so was he, which was an hour or so tops.

"I'm on my period." Alice sighed quietly, which was half true. But it was her final day today and it hadn't really shown it's face in almost twelve hours. "I had cramps all day, I would've been in a bad mood the whole time." She lied, turning around to wash the cloth off in the sink.

"You could've come as Carrie." Magnus smirked and Alice glanced at him over her shoulder and fought off the smirk.

"Not funny." She mused and returned to cleaning his face. He continued to smirk, his gaze locked on her again. "Who else went?" She asked to make conversation, since she had admitted to herself before heading to bed that she missed his presence, maybe a little too much. Fei had made a passing comment lightly about how her and Magnus were basically joined at the hip, and it stuck with Alice.... she didn't want to be that girl who couldn't spend time alone without her boyfriend or partner, even though she knew she'd basically already reached that point.

She wanted to encourage Magnus to spend time worn his friends, because she'd noticed the hostility too. She'd noticed how they side glanced her a little bit but maybe didn't realise they were doing it. Or so she hoped, since she was aware that Magnus's group weren't your average group of people. If they really began to not like someone, there would be consequences. The thought made her a little nervous, since there was only so much Magnus could do to keep them in line realistically, everyone had a point they could reach to which they wouldn't care about the result.

So, Alice did her bit by taking a step back, and declining party invites or simple hang out invites. Just until the semester was over and she didn't have to use the excuse that she had assignments to do. And it seemed to have worked, Magnus had been spending most of his afternoons after school with his friends, since they still had to attend 'classes' since not everyone was done with their exams.

"Most of the group went. Some people from other schools who you don't know, and there was some other people there but... I didn't really look." Magnus explained, "Charlie dropped me off here then went back."

"He drove?" Alice asked in shock, and Magnus chuckled.

"He wasn't drinking, before you freak out. He's having a break. Yesterday was my break day." He replied, deciding to stand up now that Alice had cleaned his face off and patted his skin dry. "I'm gonna shower, is that okay?"

"That's fine." Alice giggled softly, smiling at his very blunt manners, before turning to wash off the cloth and wipe the sink down so the face paint didn't stain her freshly cleaned porcelain sink. She left him to it, closing the door behind her as the shower turned on and wandered over to her chest of drawers to retrieve some boxers for him she had stored there. As she pulled them out to throw them on the bed for him, she stopped... feeling a wave of something strange tingle through her. She had stopped, mid movement, and just stared into the distance... suddenly aware of how normal and comfortable she felt in this relationship... she had some of his clothes stored here, she didn't even ask him how he got into her house without a key, she felt fine when he'd go to social events without her because she trusted him...

It had all just clicked suddenly, and she wasn't sure how long she'd stood there in silence but became aware again after she'd noticed Magnus appear from the bathroom in her peripheral vision. "Here." She said, handing him the boxers since she'd literally stopped mid motion before being able to throw them on the bed.

"Thanks." He replied, wondering why she had just been staring into space like that. He dropped his towel as Alice got back into bed and pulled his boxers on, before walking back into the bathroom to brush his teeth and hang the towel up to dry.

"How did you get in?" Alice asked, hearing Magnus brushing his teeth.

"The back door," Magnus replied, still feeling the affect of the large amount of alcohol he had consumed and widening his eyes as he stared at himself in the mirror.

"... what?" Alice asked, glancing to her left and noticing her window open, she could see the curtain fluttering from the breeze and felt a sudden chill travel down her back.

"What do you mean, what? I thought you propped it open for me." Magnus replied after a few moments as he turned off the bathroom light and walked back into the bedroom.

"Why would I prop open the back door all night for you if I didn't know you were coming over." Alice shot back, getting up and walking towards her bedroom door quickly. Magnus furrowed his eyebrows, and it took him a few seconds for it to click before he got up and followed after pulling on some joggers of his he saw nearly folded on her arm chair, realising that Alice leaving the back door open for him wasn't a thoughtful gesture after all. His intoxication removed various levels of logic that usually passed through his mind in situations like this, and it was only as he followed Alice down the stairs that he began to sober up.

Alice turned on the downstairs lights, her gaze darting from side to side as she scanned for something out of place. No alarm had been set off, no voice from the security system either, and Alice could see the back door was still a jar, and walked through the living room area to close it... when she noticed the sudden quietness. "Polly?" She asked, noticing Magnus in her peripheral vision as she glanced around for the small dog. "Polly?" She called again, walking around the bottom floor of her house and opening cupboard doors and glancing behind furniture. "Oh my god, where is she?" Alice rushed, brushing passed Magnus as she bee-lined for the back door.

He didn't say anything, and instead glanced up and into the corner of the room to notice the camera lights were off. "Mmm..." he seemed to growl under his breath and followed Alice outside... realising something was going on that made his skin tingle with anticipation. Someone else had been here... he could feel it as if he was watching the ghost of where they had been wander around the room in front of him as if they couldn't see him. Alice pulled on some boots left by the back door and began whistling for Polly as she walked off the decking and out onto the lawn. Her breaths were beginning to shorten as the night seemed to stare back at her in silence with hostility, not showing any signs of letting her know where her dog had gone.

"Polly?!" She called, not bothering to keep her voice down as she began to feel her heart thudding aggressively inside her chest.

"Alice," Magnus called, getting a strange feeling creep across his skin again as he stared off into the woods behind her house beyond the boundary of her garden... the void raised its head, and Magnus reached out as if to grab Alice from behind even though she was a few metres ahead of him. "Don't go any further." He warned in a low tone as he noticed Alice about to start walking faster and faster towards the woods. She stopped and turned to look at him, a look of pure worry on her face...

"Why?" She asked, seeing the focussed but tense expression on his face as he came to stand next to her. She could see the void again, like a ghost lingering over his shoulder and whispering into his ear... she didn't ask him why again.

"Just stay here, I'll go look." Magnus replied after a few moments, and he walked forward and didn't wait for an answer. Alice breathed as steadily as she could but she was worried about her dog, Polly never ventured outside this far or this late, even on walks she would always stay close to them when they took her off the lead. She didn't even realise she was doing it, but she was fiddling with and squeezing her fingers with the nerves that were beginning to seep from her veins whilst she watched Magnus climb over the white picket fence and step into the woods, mimicking Alice's whistle for Polly.

Alice tried to reason with herself, maybe she was upstairs in Charlotte's room, maybe she was asleep with her parents... but she also knew if there was any sign of movement Polly would've wandered out of whoever's room she was in to greet a family member, but even then... no one ever took Polly to bed with them upstairs. That just wasn't a thing in her house, she had her bed downstairs and her parents had always been strict about that.

Magnus vanished between the bodies of trees just beyond her fence, and Alice felt herself walking forwards regardless of Magnus's instructions for her to stay put. She stopped after a few metres, wrapping her arms about her body since it wasn't cold but the breeze was chilly and caused goosebumps to appear across her skin. The sound of Magnus whistling again made its way towards Alice's ears and she found herself staring intently into the tree line to see if she could see him... but all she could see what darkness.

Inside the dense collection of trees Magnus carefully stepped over the wet leaves and twigs, having quickly snatched a pair of boots from beside the door like Alice so he didn't have to worry about stepping on anything sharp. "Don't know why you would move to a property with woods right next to it if you wanted to be safe," Magnus muttered under his breath. "Stupid fucking idea." He muttered again to himself. "Polly, for fucks sake, where are you..." He said a little louder, about to get annoyed until he heard a little bark.

His eyes widened slightly and he looked to his right, having walked a fair distance from the boundary line so that he couldn't see it anymore. "Polly?" He asked, glancing around for a moment or two before he saw her just beyond another tree. She was lying down next to it, and got up a little lazily with her tail wagging as Magnus approached. "What the hell are you doing out here?" he asked angrily.

She wagged her tail guiltily, her head lowered as she edged towards him with her injured front paw a little raised as she limped... Magnus sighed, figuring out she was probably tired and sore and had decided to lie down instead of walk the distance to come home. He held her out in front of him, not wanting to hold her close since she was covered in dirt that was spattered across her fur.

The woods were quiet as Magnus made his way back to the boundary, stopping only once as he heard a unusually loud twig break. He stared back into the woods, the mask dropped and the void on full show... but it was dark and there wasn't much he could see apart from whatever the moonlight was able to touch... he stared more, letting his eyes scan the trees as he challenged whatever it was to come forward silently, but nothing moved. He continued to wait until he heard Alice call for him, and only then did he turn around and walk back, seeing Alice now stood by the fence waiting for him. "Oh thank god, I was about to come in and look for you." She breathed, placing her hand on her chest as Magnus handed a tired but happy-to-see-family Polly.

"She's lazy as fuck," Magnus muttered as Alice cooed over her dog and checked her injured paw for anymore injuries. "Just lying down in the fucking dirt."

"She just gets tired easily, she's only small... where was she?" Alice asked, relieved and relaxed now as the two began walking back to the house slowly.

"Lying by some damn tree," Magnus said, about to mention the strange feeling he'd gotten when suddenly, slashing through the quietness of the night and piercing the silence with it's alarm, the security system turned back on. The sound was almost deafening, and caused Alice to jump out of her skin and almost drop Polly who began barking with panic. Magnus felt his muscles tense up, and his fists clenched instinctively as his eyes scanned the house as they began to quicken their pace to get back to it.

From inside they could hear the alarm system saying back door open, back door open, over and over again and Magnus covered his ears, growing annoyed and frustrated as Alice hurried back into the house to try and turn the alarm off. She could hear the baby crying upstairs, and just as she reached the alarm system, Richard came hurrying downstairs to turn it off also. "What the hell is going on?!" He roared over the alarm, annoyed that he had been woken so violently.

"Polly got out," Alice called back whilst being brushed to one side as Richard put in the code for the alarm to turn off. Seconds later it was quiet, leaving all their ears ringing as Magnus carefully closed the back door and locked it. He'd sobered up pretty quickly, but was suddenly suspicious that the alarm system came back on once they'd left to get Polly... who was now lying in her bed and licking her paw.

"Polly got out?" Richard repeated, noticing Magnus suddenly by the back door, shirtless and looking as if he was staying the night... the idea of that annoyed him, and he glanced towards the cameras, then looked back at Magnus, who was staring at him with a blank expression.

"Yeah it was so weird, the back door was open-"

"The alarm system was turned off," Magnus interjected, walking over to stand next to Alice. His body language screamed hostility, and Richard felt himself tense and pulled his head back slightly as Magnus got closer. "How much did you pay for this thing again?"

"Magnus," Alice hissed, seeing the look on Richard's face. He had parted his lips to respond to Magnus but the sound of descending footsteps and the sound of a baby crying got louder caused them all to glance towards the stairs. Sophie approached, holding Olivia in her arms who was screaming her head off as the sudden loud noise that had disturbed her hourly sleep. Sophie looked irritated and tired, and Richard excused himself quickly to help feed his child and avoid Magnus's intense stare.