Deathbound Chapter 2.2

The girl’s blond hair, coiffed like sheep horns, poked out of the bathroom door as she peered through. Her eyes searched the hall from behind her glasses, making complete, absolute sure the Rook was gone.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Alice shouldered the door aside and stepped back into the hallway. She bent over, scooping up papers from the floor and tucking them into her elbow.

She sighed in despair, pushing her glasses up as they slipped down again. The heel of the man’s leather shoe had scraped all of the pamphlets with cruel black marks. Was this how her office life was going to be? All the visions of romance, of forbidden love, were now stamped out by her officer’s bootheel.

Her fantasies crumbled as she sank to the floor, a few more papers slipping from her grasp. At this rate, her feelings would be drowned in paperwork, and she’d grow old and alone petting mangy alley-cats who’d scratch her but she’d love them and-

“Um...Alice?”

She looked up from her abyss of sorrow to see another Pawn, wheeling a full garbage bin in front of him. He was smiling nervously. “You alright?”

The girl put on a brave smile, nodding. “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine.” She stood up shakily, holding her stack tight. She fixed her glasses reassuringly, walking towards him. “Completely fi- hii!” Paper slid under her feet, and her legs shot up as she toppled backwards. She landed on her bottom, dropping the papers in a flurry of white.

The Pawn immediately turned bright crimson, staring at her legs. “Pink,” he murmured, before clamping a hand his mouth and turning twelve shades redder.

“Oh, no no no!” Alice sat up, straightening her skirt. “Not on the director’s first day, please!” She began frantically grabbing the pages from the floor, messily collecting them into a crumpled ball of propaganda.

“Agh,” she moaned, hanging her head. “At this rate I’ll be demoted! Or maybe even transferred, and then...and then....” She couldn’t finish the sentence, not without being devastated entirely.

“What - hey now,” the boy said, picking a few slips up as well. “Don’t worry about it. Here, I’ll help; I’ve had some experience.” He smirked a bit. “I had to clean up the new door our director made for us in the surveillance room.”

Alice smiled up at him, teary eyes sparkling. “Thank you, Harold.”

Once again, the Pawn flushed scarlet, averting his gaze and working faster. “Right. Oh, um, what’s this?” His hand reached down, plucking an envelope from the paper floor. It was a tiny little thing, a note enclosed and sealed with a heart-shaped sticker.

“No!” she cried, lunging for the letter. Unfortunately, her panic carried her a little too well, and she tackled Harold to the ground, flopping onto his chest. The letter was now clenched between her delicate fingers, and Harold was the color of blazing roses.

“Sorry!” she stuttered, drawing back abruptly.

Harold rubbed his head, sitting up with a shy smile. “It’s fine. B-but that letter, Alice.” He pointed to it quizzically. “Isn’t that-”

“A love letter? N-no! What gave you that idea? I mean, it couldn’t possibly be a love letter, because, well, hello! We’re Deathbound! Love letters would just be...they’re…” Alice buried her cheeks in her palms, face burning. “Fine! It’s a love letter.”

“Really?” The boy’s face lit up. “Who’s it for?”

“Idiot, I can’t tell you that!” Another one of Alice’s superhuman shoves sent Harold tumbling again. Picking himself up, the boy sighed.

“Well, can you tell me the first letter of his name?”

“The first letter...of his name,” Alice breathed, letting the wonderful epithet of her lover fill her mind with the scent of roses. She smiled. “H.”

At this point, there was no more red left for Harold’s face to turn. “Really!” he exclaimed, twiddling his fingers. Mustering every ounce of courage, he leaned towards her shyly. “Then, could it be, by any chance, for...me?”

Alice’s eyes widened, and her mouth formed into an O. “I-I’m so sorry, Harold!” she blustered, clutching the letter to her chest. “I didn’t realize you felt that way, but my heart is with someone else.”

In that moment, Harold’s utopian blue sky blanched, cracking. “Oh.”

“You’re a really nice person, and I didn’t mean to lead you on like that! Sure, you’re a bit of a pushover, and you don’t really take charge or responsibility, but you’ve got good points too!”

Harold’s neck broke, and his head tilted to the side. “A-ah.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love talking to you, but I just want a really manly guy who can hold me close, and love me until eternity claims us as one…” Alice let out a giddy squeal, blushing while raising her hands to her cheeks.

Her words stabbed ever deeper into Harold’s self-esteem. “I...see.”

“So I’m really sorry, but these feelings are for Hunter, not Harold.” Alice bowed apologetically, feeling nothing but pity for this poor boy. She was, of course, oblivious to the fact that this only killed him more.

Harold’s neck creaked in a rigid nod. “Hunter, huh.” The pawn searched vainly for words to speak. “Yeah, I guess he’s a...good choice. But anyways, I’m sure you could get any guy you want…” He trailed off, losing his focus as Alice’s eyes lit up like diamonds.

“You really mean it?” she asked, hanging on his response.

Harold nodded earnestly. “I do.”

Alice raised a hand to her cheek, feeling warmth rush through it. “Thank you, Harold. I think that...thanks to you, I finally have the strength to face him.

“Okay!” She stood up, a confident light igniting behind her glasses. “Tonight, I’m going to tell him how I feel!”

Harold smiled painfully, giving her a thumbs up.

Walking over, the girl tossed the slips of paper at his feet. Waving the letter in her hand, she smiled. “Wish me luck!”

With that, she was off, running down the hallway as fast as she could. Her shoes hit the tile floor as she ran, sending papers flying in her wake.

Behind her, Harold sank to the ground in despair, his defeated spirit leaking out of his mouth. A similar letter had tumbled from his clawed fingers, adding to the mess he was left to clean up, alone.

Alice’s confidence grew with every step she took towards the guard post. Surely, Siegfried had given the Deathbound emotions for a reason. Before him, her life had been a robotic process of submitting to humans, but now she was free to enjoy poetry, and even write a bit of her own! Then, once she and Hunter were married, she’d become a famous romance novelist and travel the world in a complete haze of delusion.

Her footsteps finally slowed, her chest rising slightly. There it was, the metal door seeming impossibly daunting before her. Beyond this door was Hunter, no doubt vigilantly standing watch. From there, the Knight Model protected her and all the Deathbound from harm. Granted, nobody had ever really attacked them, but the thought of his duty made her heart flutter.

She swallowed, rubbing the slip of paper between her fingers. It was simple enough already...just a note. Each word had been painstakingly etched into the page, then frantically erased out of embarrassment, repeatedly, until the final words appeared.

These were her feelings, and they...they would be read!

She slapped her hand against the ID panel, drawing it back as the machine glowed green. Squeezing her eyes shut, she ran through the gate. Alice bowed her head, mustering all of her courage, and thrust the letter out in front of her. “Hunter!” she cried, not daring to look up. “Please accept this!”

A long silence passed in her darkness. Alice tensed, her momentary bravado beginning to fade. Her entire body burned with red-hot emotion, melting into a puddle at Hunter’s feet. Still, nothing but quiet.

Then, a voice spoke. It wasn’t Hunter’s. “Oh...shoot. Did I just beat up a hot guy?”

Alarm lanced through Alice, and she looked up. A boy was standing in the middle of the guard cubicle, his fist drawn back. In the other hand, the body of a guard dangled by the collar.

Alice blinked. The boy looked...bizarre. Curly turquoise hair sprouted from his head, held down a bit by circular goggles. The hyper-sugared smile on his face was half-hidden in a long scarf; it disappeared in concern as the boy shook the guard’s body until the cap fell off, revealing Hunter’s handsome features.

The boy winced, sucking air in through his teeth. “Hoo...yup. Hopefully I didn’t do too much damage…” He brushed Hunter’s chin, and the knight’s neck slumped back at an awkward angle. Alice was stunned, her mouth hanging open.

The boy was silent for a moment, poking at the blond knight’s face. After a moment, he shrugged conclusively. “He’ll live. He’s too hot to die.”

Draping Hunter into a chair, he whirled around to face the girl, scratching his cheek with one finger. “So, um, sorry about that. I mean, if it helps any, I would date you.”

These words finally shocked Alice to action, and she screamed. Two seconds later, sirens pierced the night all across the base, flooding the hall with swaths of red light.

The boy just sighed, bouncing a bit on the balls of his feet. “Suit yourself,” he said, “but I’m telling you, you’re missing out.” With that, he swiped his goggles down, crossing his arms in a pose.

“Aero Drive!” he yelled, the world around him bursting into an emerald storm.