Disclaimer: I do not own Cinderella or Hell Girl.

Here, I will poke fun at Disney's version of Cinderella, though I will borrow elements from the Grimm Brothers' story.

I've seen Disney's Cinderella, and I find it appalling that Cinderella doesn't swear vengeance on her stepmother and stepsisters for all the cruelty they inflicted upon her. Well, that thought was the inspiration for this story.

Warning: there are scenes of abuse in the story and second ending.


Vengeance

In a tiny, faraway kingdom, there was a girl whose god-sent name was long forgotten. She lived with her mother and father in a luxurious chateau. However, while she was still young, her mother suddenly became deathly ill.

As she lay on her deathbed, the mother told her daughter, "Dear child, be good and pious, and then the good God will always protect you. I will watch over you from Heaven, and I will always be near you."

After her death, the father became depressed, but he still had his daughter to love and care for. Sometime later, he met and fell in love with a woman by the name of Lady Tremaine. They soon married each other and Lady Tremaine and her two daughters, Drizella and Anastasia, moved into the chateau.

Now, the little girl's stepmother and two stepsisters were beautiful, but on the inside, they were cruel. Whenever the father wasn't around, they would abuse her and force her to clean the house. Afraid of what they might do to her, the girl never told her father about the cruelty behind her new stepfamily. Even as she put up with the cruelty and abuse, she remembered her mother's words and she remained good and pious.

A few years passed, and one day, without warning, the father became sick. The now grown girl tried her best to help him, but his condition worsened quickly and he died that night. She buried him next to her mother and wept for them both. However, Lady Tremaine and her daughters were not the least bit sad over the father's sudden death. Since then, their cruelty towards the girl became worse.

Every day, year after year, she served her stepfamily as the chateau's scullery maid. Since she spent most of her time in the cinders of the fireplace, she was nicknamed "Cinderella" by the stepsisters. As time passed by, the family fortune started to dwindle, with the money being spent on the stepsisters' greedy desires. Even in these hard times, Cinderella remembered her mother's words and she remained good and pious.

However, there were times when she felt her hopes waver. On these times, she would pray on her parents' graves and she would receive the help she needed. Friendly animals, from mice to birds, came to her aid and helped her with the chores whenever she wanted them to. Whenever she became sad, the animals were there to cheer her up. Without them, she would have fallen into despair a long time ago.

One day, during the year in which Cinderella was sixteen, she heard something that would change her life forever. As Cinderella was scrubbing the benches in the garden, she overheard two people talking. She knew that it was the neighbors talking from the other side of the stone wall that separated her chateau from their house. Normally, she would not listen in, for it was not polite, but on this day, she couldn't help but listen.

"Aiden!" A woman's voice called out in happiness. "You're back!"

"I've missed you, Jessica." A man's voice said back.

Cinderella knew that one of her neighbors had gone on a trip to a foreign land months ago and, judging from the conversation she was overhearing, he had now just arrived back from his trip. She heard the two people talking to each other, with the man telling stories of his trip. During the conversation, one interesting topic popped up.

"In this land," Aiden started, "they have an afterlife and a hell just like we do, but there's a certain group that can instantly send people to hell for doing wrong things."

"Instantly?" Jessica asked. "That cannot be true!"

"Apparently, they're called the 'Hell Correspondence', and you can hire them to send someone you hate to hell. It's all just a rumor in that land, but if you send a letter to them with the name of the one you hate on it at midnight, the Hell Girl comes and-."

"Stop it! I do not want to hear any more on this! Please, can't we just talk about something more pleasant than a disgusting rumor?"

"I'm sorry, Jessica. I did not mean to upset you so."

Cinderella lowered her head in thought. Could it really be true, that you can send someone to hell instantly by sending a letter to this group, to this "Hell Correspondence"? If that could be done, then can they send more than one person to hell at a time? Cinderella shook her head. She mustn't think of such thoughts, not when she was supposed to be good and pious, like her mother told her to be. With the thought lingering in the back of her mind, she went back to work.


That night, Cinderella woke up from her sleep. She looked at the big clock tower that was near the castle and saw that it was ten minutes to midnight. As she tried to go back to sleep, she remembered the conversation she had heard earlier that day. She also thought back to the moments where her stepfamily treated her like she was less than dirt.

She touched her cheek lightly and felt over the bruise that appeared a day ago. Yesterday, her stepmother slapped her for having dropped a plate by accident. The worst part was, that bruise wasn't the worst physical abuse Cinderella had suffered from. There were times when her stepsisters had kicked her for absolutely no reason, other than for their twisted enjoyment. A few times, when she failed to complete a chore, her stepmother would strike at her with an antique whip, leaving scars on her back.

"You're bleeding on the floor." Her stepmother would scold her. "Clean it up at once!"

Cinderella knew that her cruel stepfamily was going to hell eventually, but she never dared to dream that there would be a way to send them there instantly. She wondered if maybe, just maybe, this rumor was true. She got out of bed and went to her desk. She pulled out a sheet of parchment and a quill and inkwell.

She wrote: To Hell Correspondence: Every day, since my parents died, my stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia, abuse me and force me to work as their maid. I have been putting up with this for years, and I've finally had enough. If you please, send them to hell for all the wrongs they have done to me. Sincerely, Cinderella.

Cinderella folded the parchment and slipped it into an envelope. She now realized that she did not know the address of the correspondence. She heard a cry outside and she walked over to the window. Sitting on a tree branch and staring at her was a nighthawk. It flew up to Cinderella and perched on the window sill. Cinderella had a feeling that somehow, the nighthawk knew her predicament. She asked it, "Do you know where Hell Correspondence is?"

The nighthawk gave a single nod. Cinderella looked at the clock and saw that it was one minute before midnight. She held the envelope in front of the bird and told it, "Please, take it to them this instant!"

The nighthawk took the envelope in its beak and it flew off into the night. Cinderella now realized just what she was doing as the clock struck twelve. The bells rang twelve times, but nothing happened. She lowered her head and said, "I knew it; the whole thing is just a rumor."

"It is not." A cold, emotionless voice said.

Cinderella turned around and saw that she was not alone. Standing near the doorway was a girl with long, black hair and red eyes. She wore a black kimono (to which Cinderella thought was a strange-looking dress) with a floral pattern on it. She stared at Cinderella with an almost dead look to her red eyes, which made Cinderella feel highly uncomfortable.

"Who are you?" Cinderella asked. "How did you get in here?"

"You have summoned me." The girl said in a quiet, emotionless voice. "My name is Ai."

"So, you're really from the Hell Correspondence? Are you the Hell Girl?"

Ai held out her hand. In it, there was a black straw doll with a red thread tied around its neck. She said, "This is for you."

Cinderella walked up to Ai, but she hesitated in taking the doll. Did she really want to do this? She thought back to her mother's words, then to the cruelty of her stepfamily. She slowly reached her hand out and took the straw doll.

"If you truly want revenge," Ai explained, "just untie the scarlet thread around his neck. Pulling the thread will bind you into a covenant with me. I will ferry the souls of your tormentors straight into the depths of hell."

"Just like that?" Cinderella actually considered pulling the thread.

"However, once vengeance has been served, you will have to deliver your end of the bargain. There is always a price to pay, so when you die, your soul will also belong to hell."

Cinderella gasped and covered her mouth with her spare hand. She did not want to go to hell. As she thought this, darkness surrounded her. The next thing she knew, she was hovering over a pit full of lava. In that pit, thousands of people were screaming and being burned alive by the lava. Cinderella screamed in terror and turned her head every which way, hoping to find a way out.

"You will never know the joys of Heaven," Ai's voice echoed, "you will be left to wander through a world of pain and agony for all eternity."

Cinderella suddenly started to fall. She screamed as she landed in the lava and joined the other victims. Her body instantly caught on fire and her skin began to melt off her bones. She screamed, and screamed, and screamed, yet the pain would not stop.

"The choice," Ai's voice said, "is yours."

Cinderella's eyes snapped open and she found herself in her bed. She sat up and looked out the window. To her surprise, it was now morning. She lowered her head and sighed with relief. She said to herself, "It was all just a bad dream."

She looked at her hand and saw that she was holding onto the black straw doll. She groaned at the realization that the events from last night weren't a dream. She cringed at the memory of the vision from hell. She had felt the heat of the lava and the pain of being burned alive like it was actually happening to her.

"With this doll," she said to herself, "I can make my stepmother and stepsisters suffer in hell, but only if I suffer with them when I die." Again, she remembered her mother's words. If she was good and pious, then she would be happy and eventually join her parents in Heaven. If she pulled the thread, then her hopes of joining her parents would be gone forever.

"No," she shook her head, "I cannot do this."

Cinderella tossed the doll into a corner of the room. She got dressed and, trying to put herself in a good mood, proceeded to the kitchen to fix her stepmother and stepsisters breakfast.


Early in the afternoon, a footman came to the chateau with a message from the king. According to the letter, there is a ball to be held tonight at the castle honoring the prince's return from his trip, and all maidens are to attend by royal decree. The stepsisters were eager to attend, and their mother was more than happy to take them. Cinderella also wanted to go, but Lady Tremaine wouldn't let her until she finished all of her chores.

Back when both of her parents were alive, Cinderella had always dreamed of going to the castle to attend a royal ball. Hopefully she would also meet the prince and marry him. Though it was a childish dream, it was the only thing she had to hope for now. Even if she was forced to work for her stepfamily, they could not take away her dream.

To make sure Cinderella didn't go, the stepfamily had her do more work than usual. Now, Cinderella had her mother's dress to wear to the ball, but it was old fashioned and it needed to be improved. She was hoping to work on the dress in her spare time, but the cruel stepfamily made sure she didn't have any. Fortunately, her animal friends were there to help. So while Cinderella worked, the mice and the birds worked on improving the dress for the ball.

When the clock struck eight, a carriage arrived to pick up the maidens at the chateau. When Cinderella came down in her dress, the stepsisters were so furious, they ran at her and tore her dress to shreds. Satisfied with the ruination of what was supposed to be Cinderella's best night in her life, the stepmother and stepsisters boarded the carriage and left for the castle.

Left behind at the foyer of the chateau, Cinderella, who wore only shreds of her mother's dress over her undergarments, dropped to her knees in despair. Her eyes watered and she broke down crying within a second. She sobbed to herself, "No! It isn't true!"

For years, she had dreamed of going to the castle and meeting the prince. Even when the odds were slim, she kept a cheerful attitude and never stopped giving up on her dream. When the opportunity did come, just as she thought no one could take away her dream, her stepfamily had to ruin everything for her.

"It's just no use." Cinderella continued to cry. "No use at all. I can't believe. Not anymore. There's nothing left to believe in. Nothing!"

"Oh now I wouldn't say that, my dear." A warm voice said.

Cinderella lifted her head up and saw that an elderly woman in blue was kneeling beside her. She had a warm, white aura surrounding her and her face was that of a kindly grandmother. Before Cinderella could ask who she was, the woman said, "If you had stopped believing, then I wouldn't be here."

Cinderella stood up and now asked, "Who are you?"

"Your mother saw what had happened, so she sent me here to make your dream come true."

"Mother sent you? So…you're an angel?"

"You may call me that, if you wish."

Cinderella couldn't believe it. Last night, she saw a girl who could instantly send people to hell. Now, she was seeing an angel her mother sent her who wanted to help her. She asked, "How can you help?"

The angel took out a magic wand and said, "I will make you a beautiful dress and glass slippers, and I will provide you a carriage to take you to the ball."

"Oh, you will? Thank you, thank you! I…" Cinderella paused.

She could now go to the ball, but what about her cruel stepfamily? If she went, they would just stop her again. Even after the ball, everything would just go back to normal and she would still have to work under the iron thumbs of her stepfamily. She asked, "But what about my stepmother and stepsisters?"

The angel could sense the hostility in her voice, and she said, "I cannot do anything to change them, but for this one night, I can make your dream come true by taking you to the ball."

"Please!" Cinderella pleaded. "They are always mean to me! They make me clean the place and they never give their gratitude! When I don't do what they want me to or if I mess up, they hit me! What good will it do if I go to the ball when they can just keep ruining my life?" She turned around so that the angel could see the scars on her back.

"Cinderella-."

"Since mother and father died, I had faith that my dream would come true, but now I see that having faith isn't enough! Tonight, I'm going to do something for once. I'm ending all of this once and for all!"

Cinderella started to run up the stairway to her room in the tower when the angel shouted, "Cinderella, stop at once!"

Startled by the loudness of her voice, Cinderella stopped and turned to face the elderly angel. The angel scolded her and said, "I know you have contacted Hell Girl, and I know how you are feeling, but vengeance never leads to anything good. If you complete the Hell Girl's contract, then you will never be with your mother and father in Heaven. Think of what you're doing. Please, for your parents, do the right thing."

So Cinderella began to think.


The next two "chapters" are possible endings to this story. The first is where Cinderella decides to do the good thing and not pull the thread off the straw doll. The second is where Cinderella decides she wants vengeance and pulls the thread off the doll. You can pick one to read, or you can read them both.

As you may have noticed, I changed the fairy godmother to an angel. I did this so that it would match the religious theme of the story. Personally, I would find it strange to include a fairy godmother in a story that just talked about God and Heaven (the whole religion-and-magic-don't-mix thing, you know?).

"Then why does the angel have a magic wand?" In the Inferno, a heavenly messenger appeared to open the way for Dante and Virgil, and he used a magic wand to open the door. If Dante can do it, then why not I?

"That just contradicts what you said earlier about religion and magic not mixing! Besides, Snow White had magic, along with mentions of God and demons." [No comment.]