Peach and Lemon Ice

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I thought it was about time for a fanfiction that didn't have to do with Clock Tower 3. Just so you know, this is about Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within... so Alyssa Hale is -not- Alyssa Hamilton.
Anyway, Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within (known as Clock Tower: Ghost Head in Japan) is copyright HUMAN Entertainment, and I do not own any of these characters. This is for entertainment only. Though the first chapter doesn't have any sexual situations, future chapters will and as such should not be read by anyone under age 18.

1: Evil Ice Cream War

She had started to see him shortly after the Ghost Head experience. He had started appearing in mirrors, or in other reflective surfaces. It was still her body, of course... but she never wore a grin like that.

"Hey, Alyssa! Open the door, you said you'd take me out for ice cream today!" Alyssa drew her eyes away from the mirror and went to the door. When she opened it, Stephanie was there, her feet in slippers and a smile on her face. Ever since her father had died, Alyssa had come to live with Stephanie and her mother, Kathryn. She was very grateful for Kathryn's kindness, but she always felt watched. She knew, of course, that it was because Bates had shown himself to her. However, her Aunt had been politely quiet about it after Alyssa showed her the amulet.

"Okay, Stephanie," Alyssa nodded, "Wait for me downstairs." The little girl jumped up and down excitedly before running down the hall at top speed, practically barreling Kathryn over in the process. Alyssa shook her head and walked back into her room. She looked back in the mirror for a moment, at the dark face that eyed her lewdly. She held her amulet up to it, staring back at Bates.

"Don't come out, Bates," she warned him. Bates looked from Alyssa to the amulet in her fingers.

"You know that I can't while you have that annoying piece of shit around your scrawny little neck," he grunted in his husky voice.

"Alyssa," Kathryn looked at her niece worriedly, "Stephanie's waiting for you." Alyssa stood up and looked back towards her and nodded. Putting her amulet back underneath her sweater, Alyssa walked past her aunt and down to the entrance of the Tate's house. Stephanie was bouncing excitedly, her slippers were already neatly put away and her shoes were on her tiny feet. Alyssa sat down and started to put on her own shoes. Even though they lived in California, the Tates had a traditional Japanese house because of Kathryn's heritage. Still, Alyssa had grown used to it, and was even starting to enjoy the scuffling sounds made by her slippers.

"Hey Alyssa, what flavor are you thinking of getting?" Stephanie leaned in close to her cousin, trying to get her to hurry up. Despite the fact that Stephanie had tried to kill Alyssa more than once, the two of them seemed to be growing closer every day. Stephanie didn't remember any of the experience, and as she had been infected by the Cerebral Toxin, Alyssa couldn't really hold it against her. As she opened up the door for Stephanie, she finally answered, "I think I'm going to get a sherbert today." At this, the little girl wrinkled her nose before saying, "I don't like sherbert. I'm going to get chocolate and strawberry!"

The trek from the Tate house to the local ice cream parlor normally takes about ten minutes if you're walking at a brisk pace, but today the girls were enjoying the sunshine and talking about anything that came to mind. Unfortunately for Alyssa, Stephanie was an observant child.

"Say, Alyssa, why do you talk to your mirror?" Stephanie looked up at Alyssa while the older girl turned away. Stephanie skipped in front of Alyssa and stopped right in front of her, her hands on her hips.

"If you're worried about something," she started, "You can tell me about it! We're cousins, aren't we?" Alyssa looked back at the girl. Though they weren't cousins by blood, Stephanie and Katherine were the closest thing she had to family now.

"Yes... we are." She still couldn't bring herself to tell Stephanie about Bates, though. Bates: the man who caused Stephanie to get fifteen stitches in the chest. Stephanie pouted when she saw that Alyssa wasn't going to say any more on the subject. Alyssa smiled and ruffled the girl's hair, "I'm sorry, Stephanie. Maybe later, okay? Besides, why should we be frowning when we're eating ice cream?" The little girl perked up and started to run ahead while laughing about ice cream. Alyssa sighed with and continued to trail behind her.

However, she froze when they got to the parking lot. She recognized that car anywhere, the one that outshone all the others. It was the silver Generation 996 Porsche that screamed 'I'm too sexy for your party.' Stephanie ran up in front of Alyssa and tugged on the older girl's skirt, "Hey! What's wrong? Let's go get ice cream!"

"Oh, right... sure, Stephanie," Alyssa smiled at the little girl before walking down to the glassed-in store and opening the door for her, the little bell twinkling to announce their arrival. She was right, there he was.

"Hey, come on, let's look at the flavors!" Stephanie looked up at Alyssa, ".... Hey, your face is red... are you hot?" Alyssa stiffened and blinked a few times, shaking her head side-to-side before saying, "No, I guess I'm just winded from the walk." It didn't look like he had noticed them, anyway. He was intently reading some sort of editorial, his dark eyes scanning over the page with such fervor that it made Alyssa jealous. She loved to read, but when it was something that had to do with schoolwork, her mind wandered.

"I'd like a scoop of chocolate and strawberry in a cone, please!" Alyssa looked over to see Stephanie placing her order, and she walked over to join the little girl. She looked at the sherberts there and pointed to one, "And I'd like a scoop of peach, in a cup please." The man at the register rang them up while a pair of cute girls rushed to get their orders. Alyssa always loved watching them (though not as much as Bates did) run from ice cream carton to ice cream carton.

"All right, ladies," said the small man behind the counter, "That'll be $5.75." Alyssa pulled her wallet out from her pocket and was about to give him the money when someone behind her slid a ten dollar bill forward. Stephanie's eyes instantly narrowed when she saw who it was, and Alyssa turned around.

"Detective," she said as she nervously pushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear, "You don't have to do this."

"Please," he smirked, "Let me." Alyssa stared intently at her shoes as she and Stephanie received their ice cream. The detective waved his change away as before he gestured to the table he had been reading at, "Want to join me?"

"No," said Stephanie.

"We'd like that," said Alyssa, quickly covering up Stephanie's tart remark. The little girl shot the detective a nasty glare before sitting in the seat farthest away from him. Alyssa nervously sat next to Stephanie, her grip on her peach sherbert almost crushing it.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it Miss Hale?" Alyssa jerked her head up when he said her name and nodded, "Yes, it has... Mr. Corey." The detective shook his head, "Alex will do. 'Mr. Corey' makes me sound ten years older."

"Old fart," Stephanie muttered under her breath. Alyssa was surprised at his sudden casualness. Come to think of it, this was the first time she had seen him in anything other than a suit. Instead he was wearing black slacks and a black polo shirt. Did he wear anything other than black...?

"Then, you can call me Alyssa instead of 'Miss Hale'," replied Alyssa. Corey smiled at her, either he ignored Stephanie's comment or didn't hear it. This didn't make Stephanie happy, and she angrily stabbed at her ice cream cone with her spoon.

"So, are you off-duty?" Alyssa shyly asked. Corey leaned back in his chair a bit and nodded, putting a spoonful of lemon ice into his mouth. After swallowing and setting his cup back down he cooly said, "Yes, I have a few weekends off this month."

"Oh? Is it slow now that the case is closed?" The detective nodded gravely, as Stephanie looked between the two.

"The higher-ups still have a lot of work to do," explained Corey, "But my part for it is over."

"I'm sorry," said Alyssa. The detective tilted his head and let another smile grace his handsome features, "Why are you apologizing?"

"You saved my life more than once back there. Not just mine, but Stephanie's, too."

"Isn't that my job?" Corey raised an eyebrow, his smile not leaving. Blood rushed to Alyssa's cheeks, and she held her hands to them in embarrassment. Quietly, she excused herself before walking back to the parlor's bathroom. Stephanie's eyes followed Alyssa, before they snapped back to Corey, narrowing dangerously.

"I don't like you, mister," she said flatly, "You make Alyssa act funny." Corey looked at the girl, a somewhat confused expression on his face.

"Excuse me...?" he stammered, not quite sure what to say to the little girl. To be honest, he wasn't that great with children.

"You make Alyssa's face turn all red and now she's probably puking in the bathroom! Say you're sorry, you butthead!" At this the detective smiled slyly, "For some reason I don't think she's sick to her stomach..."

In the bathroom, Alyssa was looking at herself in the mirror. She held her hands to her cheeks, trying to figure out a way to stop blushing.

"Oh, Alyssa, you can't get flushed at the littlest thing..." she mumbled to herself as she tried to cool herself off with a sip of water from the faucet. When she looked back up, she saw Bates' twisted expression in her reflection.

"I know what thoughts are going through your head, Alyssa," he chuckled, "My, you're a lot nastier than you let on." Shocked, Alyssa splashed water from the faucet at her reflection. It was at this time that Stephanie chose to walk in, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Stephanie, what is it?" asked Alyssa as she whirled around, trying her best not to look flustered.

"Don't worry, Alyssa," said the little girl as she put her hand reassuringly over the older girl's, "I took care of him for you!" Alyssa paled as images of Stephanie cackling with her knife flooded back into her mind.

"Alex...!" she sucked in her breath as she pulled the door open. As it closed behind her, Alyssa's eyes searched frantically for the detective. When she saw him, her eyes widened. He was perfectly fine, just had a napkin in his hand and a frustrated blush on his face as he tried to wipe strawberry ice cream off of his shirt.

"I'm so sorry!" Alyssa ran over to him and tried to get the stain off with her handkerchief. The ice cream was right over his heart, so it looked like Stephanie's aim was still good. As Alyssa tried to wipe away the mess, she blushed when her hand brushed his covered skin. She could feel his heartbeat, and it almost lulled her into a dreamy state.

"Alyssa?" Corey looked worriedly down at her, "Don't worry about it. I always wear something machine-washable when I go to get ice cream."

"Drats," Stephanie whispered from the women's bathroom, the door cracked open just a bit so she could spy on the two. Alyssa smiled apologetically before turning around, "Stephanie, come on out here. We should go or your mother will get worried."

"I can drive you there if you want," the detective offered.

"We can walk," muttered Stephanie as she crossed her arms. Alyssa shot the smaller girl a pleading glance before turning back to Corey, "We'd appreciate it, Alex." The detective nodded before opening the door for them.

"Can I walk home?" Stephanie pouted as she waddled outside after Alyssa.