The sound of Alice's alarm woke her suddenly, causing her heart to jump and the momentary flash of annoyance burn through her chest. It was Friday morning and still dark outside as Alice sat up, holding her eyes closed for a few seconds as she woke herself up forcefully, even though all she wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep for another few days. Sleepily she got up and made her way to the bathroom for a shower, avoiding getting her hair wet since she couldn't be bothered to dry it. She'd had it in plaits overnight, so as she got ready for school, she took them out, which resulted in her hair being gloriously wavy, she liked the look and made a note that she should try it more often...

She dressed comfortably, in high waisted white jeans, a cropped pink sweater and a larger pink fleece coat over the top, for she felt extra sleepy and grumpy that day, and couldn't be bothered with her usual dressed up routine. As Alice did her make-up, she sneezed, smudging her mascara across her upper eyelid and groaned, "Oh no," she murmured, feeling a headache forming across her temples...

By the time it was ready to go, Alice had been overcome with a dazed grogginess, and continuously sneezed into a tissue as she waited by the front door for Candice to find her car keys. "Got them!" she chirped, happy that it was friday as she appeared in all her done-up beauty, her hair fabulously curled, make up done to a nearly professional level and her outfit very in season with highest trends. "You look..."

"I think i'm sick." Alice mumbled, "So don't touch me," she continued as Candice giggled quietly.

"Do you want an advil?" she asked as she saw Alice rubbing her forehead and sighing heavily. Alice shook her head and turned to open the front door, but was only nudged to one side as Trey opened it instead.

"Sorry." he mumbled quickly, leaving the door open as he walked out with toast in his mouth, revealing the cold, crisp bright day. Alice didn't reply, and barely acknowledged it as she left the house also, stepping out into the open air to see a large black matte hummer, waiting by the road at the end of the Eno's drive.

"Jesus," Candice murmured, glancing at her own delicate looking car then at the large intimidating 4x4 that evidently belonged to Magnus now. "Looks like he got a new car already," she commented as Alice watched the vehicle, hearing its engine rumbling in a low, almost menacing way. The windows were blacked out so that Alice couldn't look through, but she didn't have to wonder much more... as the window to the driver's seat lowered just enough for Alice to see Magnus's face... he had on large sunglasses that hid his eyes, but Alice knew he was looking at her. He said something to Trey as he approached and seemed to praise the size of the car excitedly before climbing into the back seat.

Alice sighed quietly, since she wanted to climb into the backseat of his car too, and missed when he would drive her around and buy her coffee even if it was only for those few weeks when they were a thing. "Alice," Candice said, already by her car and unlocking it. "Let's go, we're gonna be late and we need to pick up Fei,"

Alice sneezed into a tissue again just as the large hummer pulled away from the side walk with a load rev of the engine and made her way towards Candice's car as she blew her nose, feeling quietly disappointed with how her day was going already...

~

The school day progressed steadily, and Alice went to her classes as usual but instead of being an active participant as she usually was, she sulked quietly, brushing off teachers questions about her subjects since she kept having to sneeze and excuse herself to blow her nose during lessons. She cursed whoever had given her a cold heavily, but carried on with her day anyway, making it to lunch time where she met her friends in the cafeteria. "You should eat something, like, hot," Candice said as Alice couched into her elbow and groaned.

"Thanks for that amazing medical advice." Alice mumbled bitterly, which only made Candice smirk since they both knew she never got ill.

"They have soup today," Fei commented as she typed up an essay quickly on her laptop, her eyes trained on the screen. "It would help."

"Mmm." Alice mumbled, deciding to listen to her friends and get up to join the queue to get the blood red tomato soup that was on offer. She stood in line with her arms folded, glaring at the floor intently for a few minutes until someone nudged her accidentally. "Jesus Christ, can no one see me standing here?" she snapped, looking up, only to meet the gaze of one that made her heart jump.

"I can see you perfectly fine," Magnus replied, his voice quiet but loud enough for her to hear amongst the loud chatter of students gathering for lunch in the cafeteria. "Are you sick?" he asked, seeing her nose pink and the slightly dark circles under her eyes that shone through her make-up.

"Yeah," Alice replied quietly, glancing towards her friends and seeing them still occupied, Fei still typing quickly on her laptop and Candice on her phone typing quickly also. "Why are you here?" she asked without thinking, wondering why he was stood there in broad daylight, talking to her in the lunch queue, when she knew very well that he went off campus for lunch on most days.

"I'm waiting for Charlie," Magnus replied, stepping to one side slightly and showing her that Charlie had was waiting in the queue occupied with his phone. It also showed her Charlie had in fact pushed in front of her, which irritated her momentarily before she looked back at Magnus. "He's on campus lock for bullying." Magnus informed her before she could ask why.

"Oh," Alice replied, her voice quiet as he watched her intently, then glanced at her neck to see if she was wearing his necklace still but only saw that most of her skin was covered by the sweater she was wearing. "You don't have to talk to me, you know." she continued, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she fought off the strong urge to sneeze suddenly.

"I know that." Magnus said, folding his arms as he watched her slip into a momentary daze before sneezing into a tissue. "Bless you."

"Thanks." she mumbled, glancing up at him before looking over to her friends subconsciously, and seeing them still occupied in their own technological worlds. She wondered why he was stood there watching her, and although she knew it had only been a few seconds of silence, it felt like a lingering moment that only made her want to close in on herself. There were so many things she wanted to say, but the moment was awkward to bring them up... so instead she waited for him to say something first, since it was evident he was going to.

"What are you doing after school?" He asked, holding the eye contact.

"I'm... um," she hesitated, knowing that she shouldn't be giving the time of day and possibly lying to get out of whatever he had in mind, but she found herself telling him that she had no plans.

"Meet me by my car," he said, making it sound like it wasn't a suggestion and more like an order. "We need to talk." he continued, just as Charlie made a loud sound behind him and started complaining about the food momentarily before turning around and noticing Magnus talking to Alice.

"What's up, Murphy," He smirked, speaking from behind Magnus's shoulder so she could only see his head as he peered out from behind Magnus's arm. "How's your boyfriend?" he smirked, evidently taunting her about Jasper because of the other night. Magnus tensed at the word, but didn't show it on his face as Alice shifted on her feet... the truth was, she hadn't spoken or heard from Jasper since that night... and she knew she should've felt bad about it, but in reality, she didn't care. She glanced up at Magnus, wondering what he was thinking as he watched her with an unreadable expression...

"After school?"Magnus then said, his arms still folded.

"Sure." she agreed, and couldn't help but feel the fluttering in her stomach as Magnus nodded and murmured to Charlie that he was leaving to get McDonalds... she watched him go, and almost wanted to yell at herself in the face at how she caught herself so longingly watching him leave.

"Why are you meeting after school?" Charlie asked, watching Alice watch Magnus leave. She looked at him now, wondering why he wanted to know but even his expression seemed almost impossible to interpret.

"I'm not sure, he said he wanted to talk." Alice replied, now assuming Charlie didn't know what the reason was. She watched him carefully, feeling a little strange as Charlie hummed quietly and turned around, his whole demeanor changing as soon as Magnus left the room. For a moment he looked like a normal high school teen, until Alice remembered he was also a killer... an image of the body in the bathtub that had created this whole mess for her flashed in front of her eyes and she sighed, feeling a deeper headache coming on as her own consciousness began to argue with her about where her morals were...

~

At the end of the day Alice gathered some of her things into her locker, after having returned a bunch of text books to the library before leaving for the weekend. She coughed into a tissue before tucking it into her pocket then retrieving hand sanitiser from her bag.

She rubbed the clear anti bacterial gel into her hands as she considered taking more pain killers for her headache, only to have her thoughts interrupted by a presence next to her... "Hey, Alice..." Jasper's voice said a little quietly, making her think he was unsure to talk to her. In a way she was also surprised he was since she hadn't heard a peep from him since Monday.

"Hey Jasp," she replied calmly, her voice a little raspy as the cold spread to her throat. "How are you?" She asked whilst subtly glancing at the clock on the wall above his head and wondered how long Magnus would wait until he got annoyed that she wasn't there immediately after the bell rang.

"A little confused," he murmured, "... Did you block my number?" He asked, causing Alice's eyebrows to furrow as she decided to take the painkillers.

"No... why would I do that?" She replied, popping two pills into her mouth then rummaging in her bag for her water.

"Well I tried to call you earlier..." Jasper began but trailed off as he realised how he sounded so he straightened up and exhaled heavily, "Did you get my text about, um-"

"Nope." she replied, cutting him off slightly which Jasper found momentarily irritating. "What did it say?" She continued, pulling out her phone and opening up her messages. "I literally haven't got anything from you since... Sunday."

"Sunday?" He replied, pulling out his own phone and seeing the several messages he'd tried to send her that had only bounced. "The last one I sent you was yesterday." He continued as he deleted the irrelevant ones he'd sent that morning. "It was kind of important."

"Really? Um..." She murmured, searching to find Jasper's number in her contacts and clicked on him. She scrolled to the bottom of his contact profile and saw, to her genuine surprise, that she had blocked his number. "Oh," She said quietly, pressing unblock and feeling herself blushing. "God, sorry, I don't know when... I literally don't remember doing that." She mumbled, feeling embarrassed as she tucked some hair behind her ear and looked up at him.

"It's alright," Jasper replied, wanting to believe her but something felt off. He saw her glance at the clock again and sighed. "Do you have somewhere to be?" He asked, his tone suggesting he was annoyed.

"Yeah actually, I've got an appointment with someone." Alice replied, ignoring his tone purposefully, "Send me the text again, okay?" She continued, closing her locker quickly and smiling at him. "See you later!" She chirped, turning away and adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she walked off.

Jasper sighed heavily again and glanced down at his phone, debating on whether he should send the message again... "See you later, I guess." He mumbled, turning away and walking off in the opposite direction a little glumly.

Outside, the day was still bright, cold with the wind gently shaking the trees so they swayed calmly. Alice walked towards the parking lot, trying to keep her enthusiasm under control as she saw Magnus's new large black hummer waiting by the bike sheds. A part of her wanted to skip over to it, since she was almost elated with the idea that they were going to talk, but the other, more cynical side wanted her to drag her feet reluctantly since they were going to talk and it was more than likely she was going to leave his car not feeling so great.

She approached the passenger side and pulled on the handle hard since the door was way heavier than she imagined. She had to pull herself up into the passenger seat and sighed heavily at the effort before she threw her bag into the back seat. "I didn't know they even made these cars anymore." Alice said, avoiding eye contact since she began to feel a little nervous as Magnus watched her intently.

"They don't." He replied bluntly, and started up the engine. The car seemed to growl aggressively and rumbled subtly as the powerful engine came to life. The windows were so dark that it felt like, when she looked out of the window, that it was actually night time and not almost four in the afternoon.

Alice watched people staring at Magnus's car as he drove out of the parking lot and onto the main road, pressing his foot down on the accelerator and speeding off. Alice glanced around her at the interior, aware that the inside had been redone recently... she inhaled silently, glancing over at Magnus through her lashes as he drove in silence, the sound of Coffee Bean by Travis Scott flowering gently from the speakers.

She wondered where he was taking them, but in a strange sense trusted him enough to relax. She settled back into her seat and looked out the window, watching as the town moved past and slowly began to filter into fields as they passed through the centre of town and out towards where his parents vineyards were. He noticed how she wasn't asking him questions, and how different it felt driving her places now in comparison to before when she'd always ask where they were going.

He glanced over at her briefly and tried to picture what she was thinking, and expected her to comment when they drove past the entrance to his vineyard, which is where they had been before... but she said nothing, and instead glanced down at her phone where she saw a message pop up from Candice asking where she'd gone. She replied, but instead said that she was meeting with her parents for a while instead of saying she was with Magnus for he felt like a taboo subject with Candice now.

"Are you not curious about where we're going?" Magnus asked, since it was evident that they were now leaving town.

"I'm sure you wouldn't answer my question even if I asked you," Alice replied, having managed to calm her nerves now.

"True." Magnus murmured, glancing at her again and saw her typing on her phone again. He was about to ask her who she was texting but stopped himself, since it technically wasn't any of his business. Technically.

Another silence settled between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable. They listened to the music that was playing from the stereo for another ten or so minutes until Magnus turned down an unfamiliar road off the main highway... Alice did begin to wonder more where he was taking her and looked around herself attempting to recognise details, but either side of the road just seemed to be trees... and nothing but trees.

They passed a few houses as they drove down the long road, each with their own drive ways and gates, some not big and others much larger than the next. Only a couple of minutes later, they arrived at large iron gates, that evidently were the beginnings of a long drive way, and Magnus reached out of the window to press a button. "Mr Johnson?" A female voice asked through the speaker and Alice furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yeah." He replied, staring ahead as the gate began to open. He drove past it as soon as there was enough space and drove quickly down the long drive way, that was still lined with trees but this time had lights either side of the road to show the way...

The driveway seemed to curve upwards, leading towards a large circular end where dozens of cars could be parked comfortably... either side of the tip of drive was landscaped with stone with lights carefully placed amongst the material that lead to a slightly elevated smaller drive that led to a gorgeously modern lodge looking property that made Alice's eyebrows raise as she got out of the car.

Magnus waited for her by the back of the car, his sunglasses on so she couldn't see his eyes. He looked very intimidating, dressed all in black with his hair pushed back neatly like it nearly always was in pubic. Alice said nothing as they walked side by side towards the property, evidently meeting someone here since there was only one other car parked on the other side of the large circular tipped drive way.

The house was a combination of stone walls, wooden beams and big glass windows. It was placed expertly on the side of a hill, so Alice could only imagine how the view looked from the upper floors. "Mr Johnson?" A voice asked, and Alice looked towards the large wooden front door that swung open and a what looked like a real estate agent walked out. "So glad you could make it." A woman smiled, her brunette hair pulled back into a neat bun as she extended her hand professionally to shake Magnus's.

"This is Alice." Magnus said after shaking the agents hand.

"Hi," Alice said softly, shaking her hand too and wondering why Magnus brought her here. The cold wind swept through her hair as she stepped back and folded her arms, listening and observing carefully as the estate agent showed them inside...

"The property was built in 2016, and has only been previously owned once before by its maker." The estate agent began, and Alice glanced at Magnus, seeing him listening with his arms folded and a straight face. Was he looking to buy? Or was this just a random activity of his? Alice couldn't really work it out in that moment, but she walked with them anyway, keeping quiet and enjoying the presentation the estate agent was giving. "The design impetus is an open concept floor plan, emphasising the natural light while capturing the stunning view over here, with privacy..."

The view, as she said, was stunning. And Alice smiled warmly at it as she wandered away from Magnus to look out over the acres of tall trees and bright blue sky on the horizon. She could hear the estate agent explaining how the sun rose over this side of the house, and set on the other side, where there was also a balcony and outdoor area with a hot tub and fire pit.

"Alice," Magnus murmured as they walked away, capturing her attention again so that she wouldn't be left behind.