Shadows
Chapter one
"Mama, mama!"
A little girl with long blond hair and a yellow dress to match appeared at the top of the long tower staircase, addressing the woman currently washing the dishes at the sink below.
"Mama," the girl repeated again, more urgently this time. Her green eyes shone with excitement, and she was bouncing on the balls of her feet as if she felt a shock every time they touched the ground.
At last, the woman looked up. "What is it, Rapunzel?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.
A smile broke out on the little girls face, and she ran down the stairs, hair trailing behind her. It wasn't until she reached the bottom that her mother noticed she had her hands behind her back.
"What have you got there, Rapunzel?" she asked, a small tremor in her voice that Rapunzel, still bouncing, completely missed.
Impatiently, Rapunzel started flat out jumping up and down.
"Mama. Mama!" She began, words flying from her mouth at the speed of light. "So I was playin' in my room with my dolls then I went to look out the window 'cuz the sun is super pretty today. And guess what was sitting right on the windowsill?"
Her mother raised her eyebrows as the little girl produced a small chameleon from behind her, clearly proud of her find.
"See, Mama? I-"
"Where did you get that?"
Her tone was no longer that of an inquisitive mother. It held something far more sinister, something that Rapunzel would soon get used to as she grew older. Her lips were pursed so tightly it was a wonder they didn't rip off of her face completely.
"I told you, mama," Rapunzel exclaimed, oblivious to her mother's fury. "I found it on the window. And I figured maybe I could keep him cuz I could use another friend. I mean you're my friend mama but I've never had another friend before so maybe I-"
SLAP.
Rapunzel was too shocked to cry. Instead, she lifted her free hand to her cheek, slowly stroking the brand new mark on her face. Incredulous, she stared up at her mother, wondering whether there had been some sort of mistake.
Mother Gothel stared down at her with such rage that Rapunzel, the balloon of her excitement punctured at last, cowered underneath her, wondering what exactly happened to her mother and what would come next.
A deafening silence filled the room. Mother and daughter stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Until at last-
"Don't you ever. Do anything like this. Ever. Again. EVER."
Gothel's voice was as sinister as Rapunzel had ever heard it. Eyes wide, she nodded up at her mother, shaking in fear.
The two stared at each other for a few more seconds, until Mother Gothel reached for Rapunzel. In a desperate attempt to protect herself, her daughter stumbled back and nearly hit her head on the banister, but Gothel caught her and scooped her up into a hug, clutching the girl to her chest and acting like nothing at all was amiss.
"Now, now, flower, why do you look so afraid? Mommy just wants a hug! You know Mommy would never do anything to hurt you, right?"
Shocked, Rapunzel quickly wiped away the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. Reaching up to touch the angry red mark on her face that she could have sworn her mother had been responsible for, she nodded.
At last, Mother Gothel pulled away, setting her daughter down.
"Now dear, you have nothing to worry about. Mommy will be your friend. And that is all you need." She smiled, and Rapunzel tentatively smiled back. "Now throw that disgusting lizard out the window and everything will be fine again."
Rapunzel gulped, stroking the chameleon's head. Slowly, she nodded, and began trekking up the stairs.
"And Rapunzel?"
She turned around at the sound of her mother's voice. The woman was staring up at her with such a bright face that Rapunzel found it hard to believe that this was the same person she had been talking to just minutes before. "Hmm?"
"I love you," Gothel whispered, a smile in her eyes.
Rapunzel stared down at her mother and tried to corroborate this woman with the witch she had been only moments before. She would have thought she imagined it, if only for the twinge in her cheek that reminded her with every beat of her heart that something had been changed. She didn't know what it was, but something was not right in the tower.
Pushing aside her discomfort, she forced a smile. "I love you more," she replied, not yet realizing how twisted it was that she actually meant it.
Trying in vain to make some sense of the situation, she looked down at her mother, her only source of love, of human interaction, of comfort. Slowly, a real smile replaced the fake.
Maybe she had just imagined it, she thought. Nothing was wrong at all.
Everything was fine.
Totally fine.
Reassuring herself, she ran up the stairs two at a time, not even noticing the malice in her mother's eyes as she lied straight to her daughter's face.
"I love you most."
Upstairs, Rapunzel made her way to the window and gazed out at the same scenery she had been looking at for her entire life. She could just make out the first few stars peeking out from under their dark veil. With a sigh, she pulled the chameleon from her pocket. It was a tiny wrinkled green thing, so small that she guessed that it has just been born recently. As she watched, it opened its eyes and looked up at her, blinking slowly in the dim light.
"Hello, little one," she murmured, scratching it under its chin. It seemed to enjoy this, and it made a sort of contented purr in the back of its throat. Rapunzel giggled, but suddenly faltered as her mother's words came back to her. "Don't you ever do anything like this again. Throw that disgusting lizard out the window. Mommy will be your friend."
"Mommy will be your friend."
Staring at the sky, trying to imagine what it would be like to live up in the clouds instead of being stuck in one place her entire life, something in Rapunzel shifted. Without realizing it, she intensified her grip on the chameleon, causing it to squeak in protest. She jumped, shaken out of her reverie by the sound.
"Oops," she winced. "Sorry little guy."
The chameleon looked up at her, giving her what could only be described at puppy dog eyes. She bit her lip again, stared at the top of the staircase that could just be seen from across her room, and made her decision.
"Don't worry, buddy. You're not going anywhere."
She put the chameleon on her shoulder as a new feeling coursed through her. Excitement? Liberation? She didn't know what it was. All she knew was that for the first time, she was doing what she wanted, rather than what her mother had decided for her.
And that felt good.
"Come on Pascal," she muttered to the newly christened chameleon on her shoulder. "Let's find you a hiding place."
A/N: Hi there! Thanks for reading. This will be a multi chaptered fic. Hope you enjoy! :)