I Became The Bad Prince's Roommate

"I shouldn't have partied hard." Alice huffed to herself as she walked through the forest.

Even though the moon wasn't quite full because it was still out, there was enough light to see by. The air was calm, but that didn't mean she felt safe. In the distance, she heard the songs of birds, yet her hearing was too weak to understand their song.

Alice shivered at the cold breeze that brushed past her face. It would be bad if it started snowing.

Her coat wasn't thick enough to keep her body warm, even when all the clothes she wore were dry. The weather had only been getting colder recently, and she didn't really like how the temperature dropped at night.

"Where was it again?" she muttered under her breath. She pulled out her phone to check the time but couldn't see anything on the screen. The lighting must've been terrible when she was drunk, or maybe she forgot to adjust her phone's brightness. Either way, Alice sighed and put her phone back into her pocket.

A couple more steps and she tripped over a small branch and fell face-first into the grassy ground. She groaned and pushed herself off the ground, dusting herself off before continuing to walk, slower now.

"Why am I always clumsy?" she complained. "It's one thing to fall on my ass while drinking but another thing completely to trip over a damn branch when walking."

Despite wearing thick gloves, her hands were numb from the cold air. "Why do I think a walk will make me better?"

She stopped her monologue when she heard muffled voices. They sounded like they came from ahead of her, almost close enough to hear. With quickening breaths, Alice crouched down until she was behind a large shrub and pressed her ear to the leaves.

"Why don't you just silently come with us?"

A male voice asked, his tone laced with amusement.

Alice froze.

The person next to him laughed.

"I can't do that, I'm not someone's puppet," he replied in a mock offended tone. "

"If that's the case then, one of us should..."

She shrieked when she heard gunshots fired. She covered her mouth, eyes wide.

It didn't happen. None of this is true.

Her mind screamed that she was drunk, dreaming, hallucinating, or some weird alternate reality.

But when another shot was fired, Alice realized that neither option fits.

That was not a dream; terrible things were about to happen.

And there was nothing she could do except hide to the best of her ability. She curled into a ball and began sobbing quietly into her arm. Tears ran down her cheeks and onto her gloves.

The footsteps came closer.

Alice squeezed her eyes shut as a pair of shoes approached her hiding spot. A hand grabbed her shoulder and roughly tugged her away from the bush.

"Please... don't kill me. I will keep my mouth shut."

She whispered to the figure holding her hostage.

He didn't reply but kept dragging her forward into the darkness of the woods. She tried to struggle, desperately trying to get away.

Hey!" he exclaimed as he let go of her. "Stay still."

With a click, the man drew a gun. Alice flinched, eyes widening as she stared at the object pointed right at her heart.

She couldn't move. All she could do was stare back at the gun.

"Are you one of her spies?"

"S-Spy? M-Me? I don't know what you're talking about."

Alice stuttered, keeping her gaze fixed on the gun.

There was silence between them as the two stood there. Then, the man said, "Don't lie to me,"

He raised the gun toward her chest, and her fear skyrocketed.

"L-Listen. Minutes ago, I tripped because of a branch. And you expect my clumsy ass to be a spy? You're unbelievable."

Maybe it was the alcohol that gave her the courage to talk back to a murderer.

Maybe it was her drunken state making her reckless.

Perhaps, her mind told her to protect herself, but her heart told her to run. Whatever it was, when the gun was removed from her chest and pointed at her heart, it made her take action.

"Let's say I believe you," the man paused.

"Thank you, Mister."

Alice started to walk away but he grabbed her shoulder again. She winced when the pain spiked in her arm.

"Did I say that you're free to go?"

"Mister..."

"Where do you live?"

"Why did you ask?"

"I need a place to crash."

Alice scowled and opened her mouth to retort, but the man held up a finger to stop her.

"I'll pay you whatever you want."

"What?!"

"Tell me. How do you want to die?"

Alice chuckled.

"Mister, why so serious? I was joking. Of course, I have a spare room for you."

Those words seemed to please the man slightly. He looked at her with narrowed eyes for a moment before sighing and giving her a smile.

"Good. I appreciate the hospitality. Come, we need to move quickly."

Alice nodded, and they both set off down the path.

"You're welcome."

Alice answered with a laugh. She took the lead and went down the path, leading the man deeper into the woods.

The forest wasn't particularly scary, especially since few animal lives there. However, there were plenty of bugs, spiders, and snakes that Alice avoided without hesitation.

They walked through the woods for a while longer, taking turns turning corners to avoid running into each other.

Eventually, Alice decided the trail became too difficult to navigate through and suggested turning around.

The man seemed disappointed for some reason, muttering, "I thought you'd be smarter than that" when he agreed.

Soon enough, they reached the end of the trail where it split into several paths. Alice looked up at the sky and saw that it was only getting darker with every passing second.

The man looked up at the sky and muttered "Oh shit."

Suddenly, a huge amount of water crashed down from the skies above, drenching them instantly.

Alice gasped and closed her eyes, shielding her face from the rain. It only lasted a few seconds, however, and soon enough everything settled down.

Looking up, Alice found herself at a wooden dock with rickety wood posts. They appeared to be in some kind of clearing near the lake.

She noticed a building a few yards away and a sign that read "Watson's Woods Lake".

As far as she knew, this was the nearest town.

"Let's just wait for the bus."

She led him to the wooden bench near the dock and motioned for him to sit down. After sitting, she asked, "What's your name?"

"Vince."

"I'm Alice."

Soon, the bus arrived, and the two hopped on. Alice chose an aisle seat and sat across from the stranger. Vince leaned against the window and stared outside the glass. The two of them were quiet during the trip.

"That’s my house!"

Vince looked up to see a large, old mansion surrounded by trees. There was a large wooden porch that led to the front door.

"Your house looks a lot nicer from the inside."

Vince replied with a smirk.

Once the bus pulled to a stop, they climbed off and headed to the front door.

"Welcome to my humble abode. Please step through this door, and I shall show you the rest of the house."

Vince followed her into the house and looked around.

"This place is beautiful."

Vince commented while following her further into the home.

"Thank you."

"Do you live here alone?"

"Yeah. But in the morning, the cleaners come here."

"So that's what happens at night?"

Alice laughed.

"Well, most of the time I spend the day sleeping. When I can't sleep though, sometimes I wander around the village to clear my head a bit."

Her smile faded when the man started stripping. She turned away from the scene, not wanting to witness anything else.