Monster Girl Encounter Ch. 13: Alice

Editor's note: this story contains scenes of incest or incest content.

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"Right over here, you scum! Enjoy your fucking stay!"

Those were the words I was given before a couple of royal guards tossed me into a cold, cramped dungeon cell. My bones still hurt and my knuckles were still bloody, even more so there were spatters of blood all over my body.

As soon as I hit the ground, I got up and raced for the bars of the cell gate and rattled them as the guards locked it. "You have to believe me! I didn't start it! You're imprisoning the wrong man! I have witnesses! I have..."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH ALREADY!" One of the guards yelled. "We don't need witnesses. We saw it with our own bloody eyes. You were relentlessly beating this poor man's face in! What the hell are you going to explain to us that would change that fact?"

"Poor man... POOR MAN?! Do you even know who you're talking about? That was Lester Mulligan back there! The scourge of the underground! He was the second hand to the leader of the Banshees! He killed more people than the demons took from our town!"

"Well, it don't matter who he is now, does it? We can hardly ask him about it anymore. You broke the law regardless and I wouldn't hope on ever getting out of here. At least as a living man that is. Now shut the fuck down and use the time to figure out what went wrong in your life." And with those words, they left me. This was it. This was where it was gonna end.

My name is Jack Cormac. Citizen of the city of Valencia in the Empire of the Order. I knew the city better than my own pockets. Every tavern, every gambling table or guild hall knew my name. If you needed to know the streets, if you needed someone who knew where to go or who to talk to, I was your guy. Or at least I used to be.

This night, I was a prisoner.

I sunk down onto a small bunk that was apparently supposed to be my bed. I used the white blanket lying on it to wipe down my knuckles. It still burned a little when I scrubbed over the scrapes and bruises.

"I didn't want to kill him. How did this all get so fucked up?" I put my hands over my face as I leaned my head back against the stone wall. It was redundant to ask myself that question, because I knew exactly how it came to this.

The evening started off so promising. I was at the tavern, having a good time, doubling and tripling my winnings at the gambling table. Chugging ales and celebrating with my friends...

"My friends..."

I looked down at my bloody fingers, recalling what happened later. My hands were trembling with anger and frustration. "Toby... you better be fucking okay, buddy. This can't have been for nothing... This can't..."

I let out a sigh. There was nothing I could do about it now. Or ever. I didn't know. Maybe this dark cell would be the last thing I'll ever see.

Regardless, the day was coming to an end. Through the small barred window, I saw that the moon was already high up in the sky shining its light into the room.

I decided to call it a day and even though chances were slim, maybe tomorrow would be a better day. Maybe the others will come and vouch for me. If the guard is even going to listen.

I lied down on my bunk and covered myself with the bloodstained blanket. It was hard, but eventually, I found a tolerable position. Not like there's ever been a surface uncomfortable enough for me to not be able to sleep on it.

I closed my eyes and hoped to reach the only place that I could be free right now. The land of dreams.

Hours later:

I woke up. At least it felt like I did. It certainly didn't feel like I was dreaming, but something was very, very wrong.

I opened my eyes not to the sight of a gray, low ceiling, but the sky. A clear sky of vibrant blue. I wasn't lying on a bunk anymore either. To be honest, I couldn't even tell what it was. Cotton? Wool? It was a puffy cloud of an unknown soft fabric. It was springy enough to carry me without falling in.

"What the hell? Is... Is this actually a dream? Is someone fucking with me? Did they give me something while I was asleep?" It couldn't be! I could move my body freely. I knew what I was seeing. And the more things I saw, the more I was bewildered and confused.

"Well, this is definitely... new? Heheheh, ahhh shit, I finally lost it. I'm going FUCKING insane!" I laughed almost maniacally at my own misfortune. First I get locked up and now I'm hallucinating. This day couldn't get any better.

"Suppose I should at least explore my own madness. See what kind of weird shit my brain can come up with. Come on, brain. Bring it!"

The immediate area around me was filled with a flower bed. From the cotton cloud I slept on to the dirt road a bit up ahead, lilacs grew almost as dense as grass. They were dripping with some sort of purple ooze. Were lilacs poisonous? Can't really say. I never left the city really and it wasn't like I ever learned botany. Just to be careful, I ripped off some of the cloud and attached it to my shoes and calves as an additional protective layer.

It looked like I was wearing fluffy, white, thick boots. Great, now I looked insane too.

I put my feet down into the flowers and the second I touched the ground, it was almost as if the plants came to life and they started turning towards my feet. The cotton around my legs quickly became stained with the purple ooze. Whatever the hell those flowers were, they definitely weren't lilacs.

I stomped through them as quickly as I could, leaving the field with an almost soaked pair of cotton boots. They were covered in purple blots from top to bottom. Avoiding the risk of the possible poison seeping through to my skin, I shook it off and left the it behind in a pile.

Finally, after that small ordeal, I got some solid ground under my feet in the form of a dirt road leading towards a distant river. I checked behind me and noticed the in the other direction... there was nothing. The road started right here at the field. Right here where I woke up. Maybe it was a sign that I should follow it. Or it was a trap. At this point I expected pretty much anything.

I could probably handle it; the streets prepared me for this, I thought. I couldn't have known back then what would be ahead of me. It was my own imagination, what would I even have had to be afraid of?

And so, I headed out on the road, headed for the unknown. The walk wasn't anything I didn't expect from a hallucination. Black dragons in the sky, talking, weirdly human sized, talking mushrooms. Though I couldn't help but feel watched by both of them. It wasn't just paranoia; it seemed like they were actually turning their heads and stalks as I walked past them. I sped up my pace a little bit. A trip like this wasn't worth traumatizing myself over.

With my hands in my coat pockets, the rest of the walk was fairly quiet. I would've at least expected that something had jumped out at me by now, but nothing happened. I still felt weird looks on me, like something or someone was just urging to get their hands on me but for some odd reason held back.

Soon I was close enough to hear the rushing of the river. It was rapid and splashing over its sides. Almost as if it was in unrest. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong here.

Further down the road, I suddenly hear a commotion up ahead. There were people talking. I could make out 3 voices. 2 sounded like adult men and one... like a little girl?

I got in closer, hiding behind one of the massive mushroom tree's stalks as I stumbled onto a strange scene.

Two men, their clothes drenched in water had cornered a small girl with blonde hair that reached down to the bend of her back in a frilly blue and white dress. She had white stockings, black, tiny shoes and blue ribbons tied into her hair. Although they didn't seem to be directly to her hair but... a pair of horns? Now that I looked closer, that wasn't the only weird feature about her. She had a set of red wings protruding from her lower back and a demon-like, pointy tail that poked out from the back of her skirt.

She looked scared as the two men approached her. "I've...I've helped you already, so... I...I'll leave now."

"Where are you going? We haven't even properly thanked you for pulling us out."

"I already told you. I'm looking for someone."

"Oh? And who's that? Maybe we know him. We can help you find him. Hardly could leave such a cute young thing as you walk around without someone to look out for you, right?"

"Yeah, we know lots of people. Maybe not around here, but we're very perceptive guys. You would be an... idiot if you didn't want to come with us." The second guy emphasized as he pushed her against a mushroom stalk.

On his extended arm, I saw the the branded image of a chopped off, medusa head. The logo of the banshees. Why was I imagining things in this much detail? I couldn't possibly hallucinate that. This was really happening. I pushed the question of how this is possible aside. There was no time to waste.

"There you are! I've been looking all over the place for you!"

I was met with 3 vastly different faces. One of the guys looked confused, the other immediately pissed and the girl too surprised to react but an immediate sense of relief crossed her face.

I quickly got in front of the gang members and got the girl behind me. I threw glances at her as I tried to appear convincing. "Thanks for looking out for my little sister. I've got it from here."

"Excuse me, who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Her brother, Jack Cormac! Again, thanks for taking care of her. I got it from here, you can leave now."

"Oh really? He's your brother?" He threw a doubtful glance at the terrified girl peeking out from behind my back. "Alright." He looked back at me. "What's her name then?"

Before I could even answer, the little girl barked out. "Alice! Alice Cormac!"

"Shut it! That question wasn't for you!" He yelled in increasing annoyance, scaring her to hide behind my back again. I felt her cling to me from behind.

I clenched my fists, holding my tongue. "Would you mind not yelling at her like that?"

"Only if you mind not bullshittin' us. I don't believe for a second that you're her brother, so move out of the way or this'll have consequences."

"You're right. It will. So I'll give you this chance to let this go over peacefully."

"Do you hear this fucking clown? Thinks he can talk smack at us! Ain't that the best joke I heard all day. Tell you what, you're funny. So just give us the girl and we'll let you live."

They approached me, getting ready to grab the girl if they get the chance. I signaled her to step back a bit.

They went in for an attack. I kicked the first guy's shin before he could reach me, making him stumble and collapse onto the ground.

The second guy used the time to pull out a knife that he struck up at me in a quick motion. I dodged it, grabbed and twisted his arm until he dropped it and headbutted his nose with an audible crack.

With both of them on the ground, I grabbed their throats and pulled them up onto their knees.

"Hey, you guys like gambling?"

"Wha..." They choked on their question as I lifted both of them up by their necks.

"Go fish." With as much force as possible, I tossed them away from me and into the rushing river.

They immediately went under and were flushed away into the distance.

I relaxed as I no longer saw them, and miraculously, as if it was conscious of it, the river quieted down and went back to a calm flow.

I held my forehead and rubbed the slightly painful spot on it. I had some blood on my fingers as I pulled them off. Whether it was mine or his, I didn't know and it wasn't that important either.

With the problem now out of the way, I turned to the little girl. She looked up at me, still with tears in the edges of her eyes, but filled with amazement and wonder.

"Eh, hey. You're okay, right? They didn't... do anything too bad, did they?"

She shook her head, still sobbing a bit in shock. But then she suddenly smiled through her tears with a joyous, sweet little smile. "Onii-chan..."

"Umm... bless you?"

"ONII- CHAN!"

"Ufff!" With a thump, she threw herself against me and rubbed her tear-stained face in my chest. I didn't understand what this was about, but just wrote it off as her being happy. Consolingly, I carefully petted her head and rubbed her back while she clung to me. She snuggled and hugged me enthusiastically and happily repeated. "Hehehe, Onii-chan. Onii-chan..."

"Okay, I got it, Onii whatever. Is that some kind of foreign word?"

She hopped one step backwards and clenched her hands together in excitement. "It means big brother."

"Why are you calling me your big brother?"

"Because you are! You said so yourself! I'm so happy I finally found you!"

"Wait wait wait wait, I'm not actually your brother. I just said that to cover you."

She seemed confused and my words didn't really seem to connect with her. She cocked her head and kept smiling. "But you are everything a big brother should be! You're strong, you protected me and you were so freaking cool! You have to be my big brother!"

I gently kept her at a bit of a distance with my hand on her forehead as she once again tried to get close to me. "Hey, listen. I'm sorry. But I'm not your big brother. I'm just some guy who just came to whatever this weird place is like a few moments ago. I need to figure out what to do myself. You seem like a sweet girl and I bet once you get a little brother, he'd love to have a big sister like you but you're on your own until then. You understand me, right?"

She stifled her enthusiasm a bit and slumped down. "Sorry. It's just... I was looking for so long for you and got really excited when I finally found you."

"Found me? What do you mean you were looking for me? I only just arrived."

"Yeah but..." She took a deep breath and introduced herself while fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "...I'm Alice. I need a big brother to protect me. Monsters like me never know what their big brother is like. We just know that they're strong and responsible. I just hoped maybe you would want to be my big brother but... hic... I guess you don't..." She started trembling and choked on her words as she tried her hardest not to cry.

"Alright... I'll keep looking. Still, thank you for saving me. I won't forget it." She swallowed her tears and walked past me, down the road I came from. The road I knew only lead to a dead end. I watched her to see how far she was willing to go for this little act... but she didn't stop.

I let out a sigh and drove my hand through my hair. I closed my eyes and called out to her. "STOP... stop! Where are you even going?"

"Huh? Like I said, I'll keep searching for a big brother."

"And if you don't find him? What then? Do you have a place to go back home to?"

She hung her head and shook her head.

"So what would you even do afterwards?"

"I don't know, I've always just kept looking somewhere else."

"You know that's no good for a plan, right?"

She nodded reluctantly.

"Haaa... look, I don't want you to come across more guys like those two so..." I tilted my head, signaling her to follow me. Her eyes lit up with joy and she ran toward me.

"Onii-cha...nnnghh?" As soon as she came close enough and wanted to yell again, I put my hand firmly on her mouth and made her listen.

"Hold it right there! First off, there'll be rules. Do you understand me?"

With my hand on her mouth, she nodded wildly.

"Okay, firstly, no more Onii-chan. It's weird. My name is Jack. Understood?"

"Mmhmhhh!" She nodded with a muffled confirmation.

"Secondly, you stay close and stay careful. We don't know if any more of these guys are around."

She nodded again and dialed down her excitement.

"Good." I took my hand off her mouth and she took a deep breath as if she was holding it in. "Now we can get started. You do know your way around this place a little bit, right?"

"A little bit, yeah. But I often get lost. I'm afraid I can't tell you much."

"So what do you know? Anything you can tell me will help."

"Well, this is Wonderland and its ruled by the Queen of hearts. I haven't met her yet but I think she's probably really nice. Everyone in Wonderland loves her. I did meet her assistant though. He was really nice too! He was the one who told me where I would find you!" She answered with a cheery, cute tone.

I scratched my neck as I listened. I still couldn't believe I was still going along with all of this. Wonderland, the Queen of hearts, monsters... I mean I've seen monsters before. Hell, the underworld of Valencia was full of them. It was just hard to even believe that Alice was supposed to be one of them. Apart from her tail and wings, she could pass as a normal girl and she seemed way too innocent to be one. I needed to get some clarity and especially some time to figure out how this crazy world ticks.

I had to get oriented first so it seemed like a bit of surveillance was needed. I turned to Alice. "Alright, we're gonna look for a high point to get a lay of the land. You're okay to walk, right?"

"Yes, I'm fine and ready!" She said with conviction.

I nodded. "Good, I see a hill off in the distance there. We go there and see if there are any landmarks around. You remember to stay close like I told you and we'll get you somewhere safe.

I was about to turn away and head off as I felt something wrap around my hand. I looked down and was greeted by a happy smile as Alice grabbed onto my hand. She was about to pull it back as I looked at her sternly but reluctantly let her have at least this much. When I squeezed her hand back, she beamed from ear to ear and started humming happily as we followed the track towards the distant hillsides.

On the walk to our destination, Alice kept holding my hand, sometimes with one, sometimes with both hands but never letting go. She seemed so happy just to have someone to spend time with her. What was she doing before all of this? How long as she been on her own? Was it even my place to ask? I didn't even know how long we would be together. This could've all been a dream after all. If only I knew back then where this whole thing would lead...

"Jack? Can I ask you something?"

I looked down at her from the side as I kept walking. "Sure, why not. What do you wanna know?"

She shyly rubbed her neck and laughed in embarrassment. "I don't really know where to start. I guess I want to know you better. Tell me something about you!" She said with a cheery smile and a skip in her feet.

"I don't think you'd be that interested in it. And my story isn't really a happy one."

"I think I still wanna hear it. When it's in the past, it's only half as sad, right? And the more people you share your story with, the less sad you'll feel."

I weakly smiled at her. It was such a simple and naive mindset, but I decided to indulge her a bit. "Well, I grew up somewhere... I guess pretty far away from here. In a town named Valencia. It wasn't really a pretty town. It was a dirty and dark place with a lot of bad people in it. I wasn't really born there, nor did I really want to live there, but my parents left me there nonetheless, heading off for the bigger, richer and cleaner cities... without me to drag them down."

Alice gripped my arm a little tighter and walked closer to me. "Why would your parents do that?" She asked with sad eyes as she looked up at me.

"I wish I knew. I was barely 7 years old. I didn't understand why people did the things they did. Why some people were bad to other people. Either way, I had to figure out how to live on the streets among all those bad people. I learned by watching them how things worked. You stole the food you needed, beat up the people who threatened you and won easy gold by gambling at the taverns. If you watched it long enough, you became good at it and people who are just as good at it took notice of that. Those people eventually become your friends. As far as I'm concerned... these people might be the only family some of us will ever have... so you do everything in your power to keep those friends."