White Rabbit - A Criminal Minds Fic

Twenty One

When Alice had been washed and dried by Marnie, she'd retreated into her bedroom dressing in her pajamas and sitting on her bed holding her head in her hands. She couldn't take this anymore, she couldn't accept what she was going to be expected to do on a regular basis, and she no longer accepted the stories and so called prophecies of the future that she and everyone else were being fed. She hadn't for a while now.

Ally crept out of her room and into Abby's, surprised to see Lewis sitting on the side of the bed, stroking the girls hair as she slept. Hearing Alice enter the room, he turned.

"You did well tonight, Ally. The first time for anyone is hard. But you did it, I'm proud of you. You're accepting your responsibilities like the true leader you are."

Alice wanted to vomit but she gulped it back and steadied herself, she needed to act normal here.

"I'm not going to lie, it was hard. But I'm sure it will get easier. And you're right. If I'm to lead then I have to be able to do this."

"Good girl" he looked down at Abby, her eyes closed and soft snores coming from her lips. "This one's got a lot coming to her as well. But she'll do grand, she'll save everyone when it comes down to it."

Alice knew then that she couldn't take Abby with her. She might be able to slip away undetected and make it back without them finding her. And if she was lucky, they might not come looking. But not if she took Abby.

She wouldn't even know what to do with her anyway, not out there in the real world. Half the time she felt no connection to the girl whatsoever and the other half, she felt confused by what she was meant to feel and what she actually did.

What she was at least certain of, was that Lewis wouldn't hurt Abby. She was too precious to him. Alice would leave and if she survived she'd find a way back for her.

"Lewis, I'm going to bed. I feel overwhelmingly tired."

"Oh. Alright. I thought we'd perhaps visit for a while."

He'd made her kill someone and now he wanted to have sex with her. Alice could feel the bile rising.

"I'm sorry. I feel like I need to be alone tonight."

"How about if we visited in my room and then you can go back to yours to sleep. You can even be excused from morning chores tomorrow and you can sleep in. You deserve it after today."

He rose from the bed and strode over to her. If she resisted too much, he'd know she was hiding something. So she allowed him to take her back to his bedroom and undress her, she allowed him to use her body to see to his needs, and she used to everything she'd learnt to make sure it was over as quickly as she could, gasping and moaning her way through it in a performance that should have won her awards. When it was over, he slumped down and pulled the condom off, handing it to her to dispose off in the bin on her way out of the room.

When she got back to her own bed, she lay down, biding her time until midnight when the security watch changed over. Charlie was on watch tonight, consigned to the area of the wall she was going to use to escape. It had to be tonight, at midnight when they were changing.

So she waited, dressing warmly and collecting the rucksack from under the bed. She slid out of her window, carefully and quietly making her way through the shadows to the area of the wall she needed to be at, her heart pounding. After a momentary hitch in her plans, she was on her way. Over the wall and onto the other side, checking to make sure she was going in the direction she'd worked out she needed to be going in from her carefully copied map.

She ran, only stopping to check the compus and to listen to hear if anyone was following her. They weren't as far as she could tell, the only noises she could hear were of her own breathing, and owls hooting in the distance. She kept her torch low, using the position of the moon in the sky to help guide her, remembering techniques she'd read about. She was terrified but the adrenaline was keeping her going through the thick trees and the cool dark night.

When day started to break she stopped, searching for somewhere to hide. She'd already decided that when she did this, she'd travel at night and only at night. With the imposed curfew, if they came looking for her it would be during the day. Alice had been following the path of a river and she veered away slightly, finding some rocks that gave way to a small opening. Shining her torch inside, she listened for animals and bats, not hearing any. She decided it would do, so she forced herself in, surprised that a few feet in, it gave way to a larger cave. Sitting down on the cool ground she settled in for the day, switching her torch off and watching daylight start to pour through the opening.

That day in the cave was possibly the worst day of her life. She tried to sleep, convinced she was well enough hidden from them and that as she'd had head start she'd be okay. The way she'd come was more or less impassable by vehicle which is why it normally took so long to get in and out of town by car, because they were limited to certain paths. She estimated that it would he at least 8am before they realised she was gone, unless.... unless the problem she'd encountered last night as she was leave had become more of an issue than she'd thought.

Sleep came in snatches, Alice huddled on the floor with her hood up and her hands tucked inside her sleeves. It wasn't particularly cold outside but the cave was cool and she struggled to remain warm but she didn't dare try to build a fire. When dusk finally fell again, she waited until eleven pm, wanting to make sure that any search party that may have been looking for her given up for the day. She passed the time eating, munching quietly on the food she'd packed and draining one of the water bottles before studying her hand drawn map. When it was time, she set off again, precariously peering out of the cave and then settling into another jog once she was sure of the direction. She fell as few times, the terrain was steeper now, going down hill and her hands were ripped to shreds from grabbing branches and bushes. But she pushed on, making progress and this time when the sun started to rise, she didn't stop. She could hear the faint sounds of a road, civilisation.

Alice huffed and puffed through the last mile, leaving the woods and coming out onto a main road, she had no idea what town or county this was but she turned right and began walking, coming across a diner with a pay phone an hour later.

Taking a deep breath, she called collect, praying her sister hadn't moved from their childhood home and praying that she was home, otherwise Alice would have to think of something else and she wasn't sure she could at that moment, her tired and sleep deprived brain was in overload and ready to shut down. The stars seem to be aligned in her favour and Ellen answered, shocked and astounded when she realised who was on the end of the line. Four hours later and Alice was in the back of her sisters car and on her way home.

Home.

Could she even call it that anymore?

Would she ever call anywhere home again after what she'd experienced?

And what would she do now, what would happen?