Chasing Rabbits:

Simone’s Notes:

During the film noir era of the 1940s and 1950s, the femme fatale flourished in American cinema. Examples, the over possessive narcissistic wife Ellen Brent Harland as portrayed by Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), who will stop at nothing to keep her husband's affections. The cabaret singer as portrayed by Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946), who sexually manipulates her husband and his best friend. Another quintessential noir femme fatale is Phyllis Dietrichson as played by Barbara Stanwyck, who seduces a hapless insurance salesman and persuades him to kill her husband in Double Indemnity (1944). Other American cultural examples of such a deadly woman are in espionage thrillers and juvenile adventure comic strips, such as The Spirit, by Will Eisner, and Terry and the Pirates, by Milton Caniff. Today, she remains the key character in films such as Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct.

White Rabbit made it back to the apartments with Ella and Leon. Ella didn’t trust her at all. She too knew the woman too well. White Rabbit always had her plans when it came to crisis like these. Most of them were to do with sex. Occasionally, it was about money. But as White Rabbit put it, “Pleasure before business.” Leon could feel his back turning red knowing that she was behind him. White Rabbit was smiling the time to herself. She knew that her presence here would open the eyes of the other residence in these apartments and make them more vulnerable to the virus. That was what always happened when these little things came up. That was also Ella’s main worry. So far, everything had been kept clean here. But now she worried how long that was going to last now.

Ella looked over her shoulder at their extra help. White Rabbit kept walking behind her.

“Don’t worry!” the other called out. “I won’t corrupt these people here!” Ella didn’t believe her at all.

“How can I be so sure about that?” she challenged. The other woman just shrugged.

“I guess you don’t,” she replied. Ella just rolled her eyes. They came to her apartment. Ella unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“Hello everyone!” Ella yelled out. “We’re home now!”

“In here!” Syd yelled from the kitchen. The arriving trio followed the sound of his voice. They found him, Yasmine, and Gemma in the kitchen waiting for him. They were all sitting at the table with Alessia’s drawings and Yasmine’s all sitting on the top. They looked up when they saw the other three. White Rabbit stood between Leon and Ella. She instantly caught Gemma’s eye. Worry flooded the girl quickly.

“Syd, Yas,” she whispered. The two older deities turned to her. They waited for her to speak. The girl hesitated at first. She lightly bit her lip.

“Who is that woman?” she whispered in discomfort. Syd couldn’t help but to smile to himself. Yasmine did the same. That made Gemma feel even more uncomfortable. Yasmine leaned over to Syd gracefully.

“Should we tell her?” she whispered innocently.

“But we must!” the man insisted.

“I don’t know…” she said.

“She’s going to find out either way!” Syd reminded her softly.

“Find out what?” Gemma whispered. Yasmine and Syd turned to her blankly. The girl was looking pretty desperate now. Both right then decided to tell the truth. Syd lightly took her hand.

“Darlin’,” he began. “That is the famous White Rabbit Alice with him,”

“She deals with hookers and mistresses,” Yasmine added on. “She and Leon go way back.” The girl tried not to look worried.

“How far back?” she asked. The other two didn’t want to speak at first. But, they figured they might as well keep talking and get it all out to keep it not as painful.

“She… has carnal knowledge of Leon!” Yasmine spilled out. That really freaked Gemma out now.

“R-Really?” she stammered out.

“Yeah!” Syd replied. “They used to do it constantly. They had some pretty wild nights!”

“But that was a long time ago!” Yasmine threw in. But it was too late. The damage was already done. Gemma was now rightfully worried.

“Excuse me!” a voice snapped their attention. The three of them looked up. Leon, Ella, and White Rabbit were still waiting. The male deity was glaring at them.

“What is this, a funeral or something?” he hissed. “Quit talking like we aren’t here damnit!” The other three remained silent for a moment. Syd finally extended out his hand.

“Fine,” he replied. “Come and sit.” Leon and the other two birds did so quietly.

“How bad is the damage?” White Rabbit asked.

“Manami is born,” Yasmine replied. “The gate has been opened, the incubi and succubi are on the loose, Manami’s human mother is dead, the Red Jasmine virus is its second phase, and a couple people have fallen to the dark side.” White Rabbit stared at them blankly.

“Damn,” she said. “That is rough!”

“We know!” Gemma snapped. The woman kept looking at them.

“Well,” she began again. “Have you begun to take any action?”

“We managed to keep this area immune to the virus so far,” Ella replied.

“Good work!” White Rabbit said. The deities continued to talk on. As they spoke, something strange began to happen. White Rabbit’s own charm slowly began to increase the virus that was doormat in their bodies. You see, the woman’s blood naturally fed viruses of immorality. She was unintentionally feeding the Red Jasmine virus as they talked. That was the only drawback to seeking help from Miss White Rabbit. She was the side affect that came with the cure itself. There was no real explanation for it. Things like that just happened. That was Ella’s main problem with asking White Rabbit for help. But, Leon insisted and she couldn’t refuse a friend’s request in a time like this, no matter how much damage the aid could do.

“There are notes from the Book of Niles that was made by a student of the main writer,” White Rabbit spoke up at last. The other deities looked at her in a quick rush.

“Where?” Syd asked quickly. The woman smiled at him tenderly.

“They are buried on the outskirts of the city,” she replied. “That’s all I can say. My crew hasn’t been looking since the sixties.” Syd looked and the girls looked disappointed.

“Figures!” Syd hissed. Then he turned to the girls.

“Well,” he replied. “Feel like a little digging girls?” Ella, Yas, and Gemma thought about that for a moment. Their faces looked pretty grim.

“But what about White Rabbit?” Yasmine asked cautiously. “Her blood is helping the virus to spread. She’s been doing so right now.” Gemma looked at her bitterly.

“You mean we’re helping the enemy with her?” she asked.

“Not on purpose,” White Rabbit answered.

“We have no real choice,” Ella cut in. Gemma sat back looking at her rival coldly. She really didn’t like White Rabbit so much now.

“I’ll stay with her!” Leon spoke up. The others looked up at him in surprise. Gemma was really in a panic now.

“But Leon!” she wailed out.

“You know what happened last time!” Yasmine reminded him.

“Can you even resist her this time?” Ella asked in suspicion. The male deity just stuck up his hand to stop further talking. Everyone went silent. He kept his eyes locked on the crew.

“I know her well,” Leon replied. “I can take care of myself. Just go on and find the notes!” His friends just kept staring at him uneasily. The male deity just waved them off.

“Go on!” he encouraged them. “Go find those notes before things get even worse! Go on! Go on!” His friends slowly walked to the back rooms to get their supplies. Leon watched them do so. His friends kept watching him as they left and went out the door. Once they were go, Leon turned back to White Rabbit. She looked at him harmlessly. He just smirked at her.

“I know your little tricks!” the deity hissed. “So you can’t surprise me anymore.” White Rabbit just shrugged at him innocently.

“Who is to say that?” she questioned. Leon just kept his eyes sharply on her. He wasn’t going to let himself give into her while he still had the chance. Time seemed to be dragging slowly now. White Rabbit stretched out a little bit and yawned.

“So,” she said. “Shall we have a drink?” Leon eyed her in suspicion.

“Oh no!” he said quickly. “I know how you with that one! You’ll drug me up and have your way with me, wouldn’t you? Not this time, lady!” White Rabbit smirked back at him.

“My, my, my, sharp aren’t you?” she asked. “But it’s too early for that!” Leon kept looking her sharply.

“You promise?” he asked.

“On my sweet soul!” his former/current mistress replied. The deity kept his eyes looked on the woman. He knew that she was lying, but against his better judgment, he rose to his feet.

“Fine!” Leon hissed. “But nothing dirty!” White Rabbit held up her hands innocently.

“Okay!” she said sweetly. Then, Leon walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine. White Rabbit watched as he got out to wine glasses from the cabinet. He pulled open the drawer open and pulled out a corkscrew. Leon poured the fresh wine in the glasses. He handed glass to White Rabbit and kept the other one to himself. The woman smiled at him coldly.

“Shall we toast?” she asked. Leon raised an eyebrow at her.

“What do you mean? Why?” he asked. White Rabbit just shrugged.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Just to us.” Leon still looked at her suspicious.

“Okay,” he said.” He held out his glass to her. The deity still didn’t know what she was getting at. “To us.” Leon said. White Rabbit held out her glass to him.

“To us!” she said. Then, they clanked their glasses together and drank. Time and drinks fell by quick. Leon’s mind flew into many dimensions with each glass. He began to see many things. Cassie, the sight of her dead at that accident, bright flashes of color, White Rabbit on top of him making love to him fiercely, the destruction of Ametris, her running in the woods, himself running in the woods, Manami and her incubi and succubi killing more innocent girls, Ai-Oni smiling wickedly, and sweet Gemma in bed with him. The images kept flashing back and forth in his mind. Soon, the color began to blend as if it was going down the drain slowly. And then… nothing.

By sunrise, Leon woke up to find Syd, Ella, and Gemma crowded around him. They all seemed disappointed about something. The man looked pretty confused.

“W-Wha?” he began to ask. “What are all of you doing here?” He tried to get up, but he found that he couldn’t. That caught his attention right away. The deity slowly looked up to see that he was tied down to the bed by his wrists with leather cords.

“Shit!” he said under his breath. Then, Leon looked down at himself in a rush. Just as he thought, the man was completely naked. “Damnit!” he whispered aloud. Leon looked up at all of his friends.

“Tell what happened last night…” he said in voice that said he was going to regret the answer. Syd just smirked at him and shook his head.

“She got you good last night!” he said aloud. Leon looked at him with big eyes.

“B-But how?” he stammered. Then it all hit him hard! White Rabbit had drugged him with her mind while they were drinking and then he was tripping. The mistress then took him bed to Syd and Ella’s bedroom, stripped him and herself down, tied him down, and shagged him on the spot. Leon cursed himself softly. Then he noticed Gemma’s face. She looked as if she would cry. The man was very crushed himself now.

“Gemma…” he said. “I’m so sorry…” The girl just walked away in silence. Ella just turned back to him.

“See?” her eyes seemed to say. “I warned this would happen!” Leon just looked back up at the ceiling. He was going to have fun explaining himself with her this time!

Meanwhile, White Rabbit was lightly caressing the walls of her new apartment. She decided to move in after all. The woman knew that she still had Leon under her grasp. It wouldn’t be long before she took him for herself again. This was going to be easier than she expected. “I’m really going to enjoy it here!” White Rabbit thought happily. Then, she made the moving preparations. She was going to enjoy this indeed!