Labrum
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Chapter
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FIRST VICTIMS
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Part One
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Game's Afoot
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Alice and Jasper
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Breathe me in
taste my fruit
Take my soul
Leave me mute.
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I looked around myself - weary of my surroundings, as I kept trying to find my way out of this maze. I am sure that by the setting of the sunlight, I had been lost for hours, walking slowly now since my feet hurt from the long journey.
Feeling exhaustion get the best of me, I lean against the seemingly sturdy, leafy, wall only to fall through screeching out a 'woooh!'of surprise.
THUMP!
"Ow!" I complain as I feel the pain of falling very unladylike on my rump.
Lost in self-pity for the pain while rubbing the side of my bum, I feel a heavy gaze making a hole on my back, so I turn suddenly looking for the set of eyes that are sure to be on my person, but find no one.
Unable to shake the feeling, I stand again, still looking around me expecting one of the others to just jump out and try to scare me.
"Emmett? Jasper? Edward? Rosalie? Isabella?" I call loudly enough to cause echoes, but when I receive no answer I start looking around. I find a tree with strange fruit resembling pomegranates surrounded by bushes of berries. My stomach grumbles upon sight of the edible goods, so I decide to take a minute and grab handfuls of berries and a fruit from the tree low enough for me to reach, but it seems like the fruit jumps away from my hand as soon as I get near.
I hear a bit of laughter and figure that is one of my friends trying to be funny, probably hidden within the tree, moving the branch just out of my reach.
"Alright. I've had enough of your games. Emmett! Is that you?" I said a bit irritated thinking of the only person who would go through great lengths to get a cheap thrill. To my surprise, someone jumps out of the tree, but whoever it is, it's no Emmett.
"Who is...Emmett?" The strange individual asked, looking confused as he tilted his head sideways as to show his intrigue.
He was bare-chested and barefooted, some rather scandalous small covering barely hiding his modesty from my virginal eyes. It was like a cloth - mildly decorated - that hung precariously low on his abdomen, held only by a string around his waist!
As I tried to divert my eyes, a strange movement behind him caught my eye.
It was a...a tail?
My eyes snapped up to his face, opened wide in freight.
"He...you...I..." I tried to voice out anything, but in my stunned state but my words wouldn't come forth, as I took in the rest of his appearance.
As my eyes roamed this strange creäture and my mind forewent the ability to express speech, more energy was spent in a quick assessment of him, as well as comparing him to what I found to be within the normal parameters that is to be a homo sapien.
His features were humanoid, though more than slightly peculiar.
Having already noticed that his clothing giving a resemblance to the more simple natives I have read about, only served to further incense my face in embarrassment. A lump lodged in my throat, impeding my speech, making my gawking assessment worse, but I couldn't stop myself.
The creäture was obviously masculine.
He was standing on two feet.
I found myself slightly comforted by this familiarity. Yet, that's about where the likeliness
They were bare and topped with long thick wire-y hair. As a matter of fact, after a once over his scandalously clad body, I noticed that the only hairless places were his bare chest, front of his neck, his face and palms. Like the usual ape I have studied in my science courses...I could only assume he was hairless under his feet as well and that his back may be pelted in like. His body hair was longer on his head - spiking in all directions about half a foot - and seemed wilder styled than that of his extremities, where it was about an inch or two in length and laid facing away from him.
His eyes were slanted yet naturally wide, with a slightly larger than human size but smaller than out ape counterpart. There was a child-like quality in them that sparkled of mischief and intelligence that could outwit the most cunning of men. Curiosity giving his purple orbs a shine of pure virtue.
His face had a soft childlike roundness that hid his true age well, making others vulnerable to his trustworthy appearance of innocence.
He leaned against the tree beside him, tilting his head - as if genuinely intrigued - he said, "My name is Puck. What's yours?"
Still taking in the strange sight before me, I manage to let out my name in a stutter, "A-Alice."
"What are you doing here?" He asks, leaning forward slightly, as if by doing so he was digging further into my weariness of his intentions and find truth in my words.
"I a-am playing a ga-game with my friends. We are all... looking for the center of the maze." I answered.
Small tugs of his lip led to a slow curling smile, as his eyes grew wide with excitement.
"A game, huh?" He repeated.
I nodded.
"I like games. I also know how to get to the center of the maze. If I help you, will you play games with me?" He says as I gulped nervously at the growing smirk on his face.
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Trotting and cackles follow behind Jasper, as he ran through the knit forest. Branches seem to pull his feet up from under him making him trip and fall, but he doesn't give up.
I can't believe it!
Just.. it CAN'T be real!
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[...EARLIER]
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It had been hours since he had separated from the other two clowns, and the fun feeling of winning the wager against the girls was wearing off. Irritation gave way to intrigue when the passage he was walking suddenly opened into a forested area.
This...this can't be right...
Confused as he was by his find, he continued making his way. Over fallen logs, carefully avoiding slippery areas and finally stopped in front of what looked like soft sandy turf.
What are the chances of it being quicksand?
Jasper was not about to try his luck. At least not with the new landscape surrounding him. It was rather...interesting, to say the least.
Movement a few feet away - in a thicker part - peaked him enough to take a look.
To his astonishment, there was what looked to be...a naked woman with long, blond hair, unruly, with leaves and branches and moss between the tresses, and milky white skin, laughing loudly. Though that was a pleasant surprise, the creäture, whose chest she was caressing with her sharp red nails, held his complete attention and caused his jaw to remain dropped as he gaped for quite sometime.
Half horse, half man. A creäture of myth.
A centaur.
The woman said something and moving behind the creäture, disappeared from sight.
Suddenly, a delicate hand confidently caressed down Jasper's shoulder to his chest, startling him enough to make him jump sideways as it call his attention from the impossible illusion before him to catch sight of the blond wild locks and her sinister side smirk.
"And who, my delicious morsel, are you?" She purred, her eyes squinted with lust and it was clear that she was looking for some sort of physical exchange.
Not to be outdone, Jasper responded huskily, with sensual silkiness and a smirk of his own, as he grabbed her other hand and brought it to his lips, "whoever you want me to be and for as long as you wish for, my lady. But my name is Whitlock, Jasper Whitlock, at your service." He bowed and kissed her knuckles with soft lips.
"Such a charmer you are, Sir Whitlock," she complemented, "and, if I may-be so bold, what brings you to my woodlands?" Not that her inquiry didn't bear root or motive, though he was still taken aback however.
"Well, madam, if you must know," he began explaining, and continued doing so, not noticing his little impromptu chat had caused the approaching of another interested party, "I am supposed to be solving a hedge maze while in a context of the sexes with some others of my host's guests. I seem a bit lost tho-"
His flirting was caught short when a commanding voice halted his heart in mid palpitation, "-being lost will seem the least of your problems, human."