[center:3mukg9oa]..."--kimiko, the woods are far too dangerous to be wandering around in at night." the mousy-haired girl waved off noma's warning and giggled.
"you always were a cautious girl, noma." she slung her arm around noma's shoulders and pulled her along the path leading out of her backyard. "but there isn't a thing to worry about! I know these woods like the back of my hands!" she held them up palms-out to demonstrate. noma sighed and smiled, trying to reassure herself that kimiko knew what she was doing...
..."--not so bad, right? look at the moon, it's lovely!"...
---run, run! where's kimiko, she's gone---the hole, no!--- "noma, run! ru--"[/center:3mukg9oa]
Alice snapped out of her reverie, eyelids heavy, and drew a shaky breath in through her teeth. she slowly lifted her hands and eyed her palms, and then laboriously turned them towards the ground. she studied her skin and her fingers. to her, they still dripped with Kimiko's blood; she saw the liquid sliding between her fingers and down her wrists. she felt the skin underneath her fingernails and the hair between her fingertips. "like the back of my hands," she sighed, and lowered her trembling hands.
ever since she'd escaped from the godforsaken Institute, she'd been plagued by flashbacks, mostly about Kimiko and the days before her death. it was curious, really, how she could remember everything about her life before she died. still, she thought, maybe it would have been better for everyone if I couldn't remember a thing.
Alice stared down at the floor of the wood and sighed. better yet, maybe it would have been better for everyone if I had have simply stayed... dead.[/color]
