House Of Madness

Chapter 16 Alice

Ivy screamed, and was dragged into a heavy slumber.
There was crying lot's and lot's of crying.
A baby in a woven basket in a random ally.
Ivy was screaming!
Ivy screamed as loud as she could, at the fae walking by, "what are you doing! Help the baby!"
Ivy tired to help the baby herself, she was there but she wasn't, all she could do was watch the scene play out.
No one stopped, not until, "what a beautiful baby", a white rabbit man said.
Ivy screamed at the fae man to put the baby down once she found out the baby was human.

"Where are your parents little one?" The rabbit man asked.
"Who would leave a precious baby, here in the dangers of Skywood?"
"They probably got held up, I'll find your parents! Don't you worry."
The baby smiled at the young rabbit man, the rabbit man smiled back.
Ivy watched as the rabbit man asked every person, "have you seen her parents?"
"Do you know where I can find the humans?"
Ivy watched as the rabbit man had eventually found a human woman, "is this yours?"
The human woman looked at the rabbit man as if he were mad.
"Does it look like mine?" The women said in a nasty voice.
The rabbit man looked at the women and back at the baby, "it could be yours."
The woman ran off, "wait! She's human! She needs to be with her people!"
The rabbit man yelled.
"It's okay, I'll find you another human to take care of you", the rabbit man told the baby.
A change of tune, he wasn't looking for the baby's mother anymore.
Instead human who could take care of the baby.

Ivy watched as the rabbit man approached human after human asking them to take the baby.
Unsurprisingly, every human refused.
Humans had nothing, a baby was only another mouth to feed.
It was getting dark and Ivy could see the panic on the rabbit man's face.
"You'll have to stay with me tonight, I'll find you a human tomorrow."
Ivy followed the rabbit man holding the human baby, she followed them all the way to his house.
Ivy's heart dropped.
She knew that house, because she had spent three years living there.
It was Terrett's and Nivens house.
It clicked, the rabbit man with the baby was Nivens.
"How was work today?" A younger looking Terrett asked.
"Good." Nivens said.
"I found something today", Nivens said anxiously.
"Oh really, what?"
Nivens took a big breath, "I didn't take it. I'm planning on finding it a family tomorrow."
Terrett was visibly confused, "what is it?"
Nivens walked into the light, Terrett took a step back.
"A human baby! What were you thinking!" Terrett shouted.
The baby let out a cry, "it was all alone! I couldn't just leave her!"
"Her?" Terrett questioned.
"I'm pretty sure it's a girl", Nivens said with a smile.
"No. Don't look at it like that, it's a human baby. Don't get attached. We can't keep it!"
Nivens smiled wavered only a little bit, "I know but I couldn't leave her. Tomorrow she will be gone. Can she stay one night? I'll take care of her."
Terrett waited for a second, "fine."
"You hear that Alice! You get to stay with us for the night!"
"Alice?" Terrett questioned.
"Every human needs a name", Nivens said.
Alice watched a younger looking Terrett visibly tensed.
With a look of dread coming over his face, because he knew it was too late.
Nivens was already attached.

Terrett had left the greenhouse when he saw the compass was destroyed.
He needed to see Ivy, and more importantly tell Nivens.
He had slipped away, counting on Nik to deal with Victor.

Ivy woke up in a frenzy.
The dream had felt so really it was alarming.
"Ivy are you okay?" Terrett asked.
"Yes, I just had the weirdest dream."
Nivens tensed from across the room, "about what?"
"You had a human baby", Ivy said with a laugh at how silly it was.
Terrett laughed, while Nivens looked sad, "that was all?"
"Yes", Terrett visibly relaxed while Nivens just looked sadder.

It was over.
With the compass destroyed there was no way to overthrow the royals without a bloodbath.
"Time for me to watch the rest of the Harvest", Victor said.
Nik hadn't thought he had just done, he had gone right for his spleen.
"Nikolai is that anyway to treat anyone?" Queen Hestia said.
Nik was being suspended about three feet off the ground, "put me down mother."
"I will put you down when you promise not kill Victor."
Victor was pissed, he had yet another debt he had to pay to queen Hestia.
He had been so sure that Nik wouldn't kill him.
If it wasn't for his boss, the queen he would be dead.
Now he owed her, yet again.
"I don't think I can do that", Nik said.
"What is the matter anyways? The Harvest has ended and I noticed your absences. I came to fetch you since the reaping is to begin."
Queen Hestia cold eyes scanned the greenhouse the room was fully filled with six dead bodies.
She was completely unbothered until her eyes fell on the broken compass, "is that-"
"Yes", Victor said with a yellow tooth smile.
Finally she would know that her beloved son was a backstabber.
Queen Hestia kept her face completely neutral, she would punish her eldest son for trying to get her off the throne but as always there was a time and a place.
"All of you come, the reaping is to begin."
With no other choice, everyone followed the queen out of the greenhouse.