Chapter 2

I awoke to the feeling of hard, cold stone beneath me, making my back stiff and achy. Groaning, I sat up slowly, wrapping my arms around my thin frame. Vertigo hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to clutch my head with a wince. I didn't know where I was...but somehow, I had ended up in a dark cold room. It was a big room, I could tell from the slight echoing that my shifting body sent. The unpleasant smells of rust and dusty wood filled my nostrils as I slowly waited for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light.

Lowering my gloved hands, I pulled myself up and picked my umbrella up. "Hello?" I called out. Somehow, my voice sounded different, almost raspy but that might have been due to my dry throat. I needed water soon. As the echo subsided, I walked a few paces ahead, examining my surroundings. Where was I anyway? I couldn't seem to remember my past events, just that I went to Babayaga in search of a magic. Stopping short, I gasped loudly and hit my fist into the palm of my hand.

"That's right! I must be in that castle!" I said to myself loudly. The old witch probably transported me straight to here. Was it really that easy? This all seemed too good to be true.

Only one way to find out. Platform heels clicked against the stone floor as I wandered around the room. Rows and rows of dusty old weapons and torture tools lined the walls as I strode by. Axes, knives, and other torture weaponry filled the tables as I slid a finger along the dust, creating a heart shape.

"Someone has been neglecting their toys." I muttered to myself as my eyes landed on a dusty black ball hiding behind a nail puller. Not that I was afraid of them, they actually looked pretty cool.

Eyeing the ball once again, curiosity got the best of me and I leaned over with an outstretched hand to grab it. Patting it to remove the dust, I twirled it around and gasped. It was a bomb. Would it come in handy. Well, it was better than being unarmed. I did recall Babayaga mentioning a nasty vampire living here.

"Pfft, that's a lie though...I think." Blonde brows rose up as I contemplated the possibility. No way! Nothing was going to stop me from getting that magic! I just had to find it and leave, easy peasy.

Holding the bomb under my arm, I walked to the end of the room and came across the door. It was wooden and rusty to the touch, no surprise there, the vampire needed some cleaning tips, or a maid I thought with a snicker. However, it opened easily and I was able to slip through.

Closing the door behind me quietly, dim moonlight washed over my face as I squinted around. I was in a hallway, the same stone material decorated the place and huge gaping windows let in the moonlight, giving the hallway a ghostly glow. It seemed perfect for a horror comic. What I noticed most of all was that the place was clean, save for a few cobwebs gracing the walls. A red carpet was also strewn out reaching all the way down the hallway. The kind that pop stars walked on while the masses cheered and screeched.

The sound of boots clashing against stone echoed throughout the room as I rushed to a window to peek outside. There was nothing but dead black trees decorating the outside of the place, and it was a long way down. I couldn't see anything familiar even at this distance. For a moment, I worried about how I would get back to my school, I didn't even know where I was, but surely I would find a way. Once I had the magic I was invincible.

With that in mind, I backed away from the window and walked forward, following the carpet smoothly. There was another large wooden door with metal decorating it. It was those types that you would see in old movies. This was was also a lot cleaner and polished than the one back at the torture room. Pushing it with a grunt, it cringed as it swung open.

"Whoa." I muttered blatantly. The strong smell of rose petals and honey struck my nose so suddenly, it surprised me. This room literally smelled like perfume. I stepped forward, mesmerized at the pretty candles decorating the middle piece parting two stone stairs. Dim light flickered across the walls as I climbed the right side, heels clicking against the floor. There were candles all around the sides of the room, and once I reached the top, I knew why.

Dozens of roses floated on the double fountains of each wall that lay in one big oval shape. I walked over to the side to look down at the water. It was clear and clean, smelling like rose and flowers. I was tempted to drink it.

"Well this is odd." I mumbled softly to myself. These roses were fresh, save for a few dead petals gracing the floor, it meant that someone was keeping this room nicely decorated. Someone with a good sense of smell. Leaning back up, I let out a whiff and turned back around. There was an object in the middle of the room, and moonlight shone on it like it was gods shoe or something. It raised my interest and I just had to check it out.

"Oh." That came out a little louder than expected and the word echoed throughout the room, bouncing back and forth, sounding like mimicing ghosts. Now that I was closer, I could see it was a coffin. A black and shiny one with a steel cross plastered in the middle. It was rather fancy.

I wanted to try it, just for kicks, so I set my umbrella between my legs and planted both gloved hands against the top frame. To my surprise, it slid off easily, I had expected it to be heavy...but what surprised me even more was the figure that lay before me, making me jump for a second.

For a moment, I thought it was a dead guy...thinking it was bad luck to find that the coffin wasn't empty. But a closer look told me it wasn't. The boy that lay there was much too clean and fresh to be dead. Long silver hair fell against his face beautifully, bangs covering one eye. Pale skin matched the bright silver moonlight that blanketed his body. Long eyelashes swept down as he slept. He was also dressed in some sort of black cape with a white button shirt underneath. A single red ribbon lay limply as a tie, and I noticed the red rose resting on the left side of his chest. His hands were clasped together like a student in a classroom, in front of his lower stomach. I couldn't stop staring, he looked so...so...what? I blinked a thought to myself. Kinda cute? Yeah in a bloodsucking sort of way, that must have been the vampire Babayaga was talking about.

But hell...there was nothing nasty or or evil looking about him. Even his nose and lips looked better than mine, it made me scowl with slight envy. I wondered how long he had been living here...he looked about 18 years old or so, but why was he even here?

A devious thought crossed my mind as I watched him sleep. "I want to draw all over his face." I muttered. The temptation was real, I would have brought a marker if I knew I was going to encounter him sleeping. Snapping my fingers in his face, I waited for a reaction. Nothing. The guy looked like he was dead rather than asleep. Chuckling, I got up and picked my umbrella off the floor. If he was here that must mean he was supposed to be guarding the magic...which means its somewhere here.

Purple eyes scanned the room and landed on the hard cracked stone at the end of the room. There, that looked so suspicious. Grinning from ear to ear, I practically floated towards the wall from my excitement. It just had to be here. But there was one slight problem, the wall was cracked yes, but I couldn't break it with my bare hands. What to do...violet eyes widened and I looked down at my hands. The bomb! I could use it to break the wall...but where did I put it.

Mentally kicking myself for misplacing it, I looked around wildly. There, it was resting by the candles over the fountain. I must have placed it there when I looked down at the water. Rushing to it, I grabbed the bomb and straightened the wick. Good thing there were plenty of lit candles around. Shoving the wick into a candle, I slightly jumped as it burned quickly, making a hissing sound. I had to hurry or the thing would blow me to bits. Running quickly towards the wall again, I placed it under it, and ran for cover.

Heels skidded to a halt as a loud BOOM filled my ears. Smoke engulfed me completely and pieces of charred debris and stone flew everywhere. It was a shame really, because I felt like I disrupted the piece and tranquility that made this room pretty, but I couldn't think about that now. I had to get the magic.

I hurried inside the gaping hole that the bomb left, thinking I might have heard a shout, but it must have been in my mind. Shaking it off, I stumbled into the dark dusty room that reeked of decay and moss. This room had also been neglected apparently. There were old cobwebs and dried mystery liquid adorning the walls.

Coughing a bit, I squinted over the remaining bits of smoke and saw a small stone shrine holding a book that looked about as old as this room. Curious, I stepped over to it, blonde locks bouncing slightly with each step. The book had peeled off edges, most likely water damage, and was covered in layers of dust. This must have been it, the forbidden magic.

"Hey you! Stop right there! Get away from that!" A voice rang out from behind me, startling the hell out of me. I glanced back and saw the boy, he stood by the entrance and waved at the smoke, gleaming crimson eyes were fixated on me and I could see a hint of anger and alarm in them. He looked a lot taller standing up, a good foot taller than me. Even so, I couldn't afford to be intimidated now, the magic was an arms length away from me.

Ignoring him, I reached for the book, and opened it.

"No!" The boy's voice was drowned out by a sudden roar that deafened me for a moment. Light burst out of the book and I took a step back, raising my arms over my head for protection as laughter filled the air. I don't know how it was possible or if I was hallucinating, but a transparent woman shot out of the book, hovering over us like a tower as she laughed.

When the light subsided, I had to blink several times to adjust my eyesight again. The woman in front stopped her laughter and eyed me over. Her white hair glistened in the air and red eyes pierced through me like a lance. There was something powerful about her. Her mere aura spelled trouble.

"Whats this? My savior is but a little girl?" She snickered at me and grinned, showing rows of sharp teeth. Was she a vampire too? A thought struck me, maybe she was the evil nasty vampire, and she was going to suck my blood! My blood turned cold and I stood frozen on the spot. What was she going to do to me? She chuckled, pale olive skin gleamed as a long pointed fingernail traced a pattern in the air. "No matter, now I can claim revenge on Alice!" She screeched. Light engulfed the room once again and she was gone. Just like that the creepy psycho lady vanished with nothing but the outstretched book on the floor to prove she was here in the first place.

Silence fell across the room once again and I could feel my heart beating wildly.

"This is bad...really bad...Alice...I couldn't protect the tome." A low soft voice echoed and I turned to see the boy looking down at the book with a defeated look.

"Uh...well that was weird." I said outloud to no one in particular.

The boy scowled at me, one red eye darkening, because the other was covered in perfect silver locks. He wasn't amused. "You, come with me." He instructed flatly. I frowned. Was he ordering ME around? Who did he think he was?!

Nevertheless, he left the entrance and I grabbed the book before heading out myself. He waited by the coffin he was resting on moments before. I stopped and stared at his back cautiously. The cape he wore reached all the way to his feet so he kinda looked like a shadow in the dim light, but somehow it made him look mysterious rather than scary.

He turned and stared at me dead in the eye. Now that I was closer, I could see his features more properly. He was sickly looking really, with high cheekbones and pale skin that was whiter than snow, but it had an odd beauty to it, it made him look eternal and flawless. Long spider-like fingers griped his belt as he leered at me. His red eye was full of conflicting emotions I couldn't read.

I took a step back and frowned. "W-what?" I snapped. What was he staring at?

His pale lips curled downwards and long lashes brushed against the bottom of his eye as he blinked before speaking. His voice was eloquent but a bit slurred from sleepiness. "That was the Eld Witch you set free just now, do you have any idea what you have done? The power you unleashed?" He scolded with a frown.

I glared at him. "What? Some dusty old hag in a book? Big deal! What is she gonna do? Go turn people into frogs?" I shot back defensively.

He took a step towards me and I took a step back, highly conscious of his height. If he got too close I was going to wack him with my umbrella. "That 'dusty old hag' is the Eld Witch, she holds powerful magic, not only is she seeking to kill Alice, but she will kill everything in the surface world too." He spoke out with a softer tone.

That struck me back into my senses. So she wasn't the vampire, she really was the Eld Witch from 1000 years ago...what had I done? And the surface world? Where exactly was I? For some reason my mind became foggy if I tried to think about it so I put it aside for the moment.

"Well it's not like I meant to! I only wanted to get this book! How was I supposed to know an evil witch lived in it?!" I exclaimed in frustration. I refused to take the blame for this. The book I read didn't say where she was sealed after all.

"That doesn't matter now, what's done is done, come with me." He instructed again, turning around in one swift motion. I stared at his back before following him reluctantly. Was he going to let me leave? I only hoped so.

The silver haired boy led me to the same hallway I came from, and opened a door that led to a different hallway. His legs were a lot longer so I had to semi jog to keep up. Silence enveloped us as we walked, the only sound being my clicking heels and his soft leather shoes stepping on the stone cold floor. For a moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of something from the corner of my eye and I turned sharply, holding the book in front of me protectively. Nothing, just my own shadow reflecting against the wall.

"Stupid..." I muttered to myself. Why was I so jumpy? It must have been the castle. Turning again to catch up to the boy I nearly screamed as a small figure appeared in front of me. It was a think scrawny boy with short blonde hair and a silly clown hat with bells on the ends. I couldn't see his face because he was wearing a circus-like mask.

"Are you lost?" He questioned with a voice that made me wonder if he was ten.

"Uuuh who are you?" I asked with a confused expression.

"Nevermind, here's a card, I scattered them all around the world." He said, ignoring my question.

I raised an eyebrow, taking the card from his outstretched hand and put it in my skirt pocket. It was a king of hearts card, the kind you play in casinos to gamble, but why was he giving it to me? "Uum ok why?" I asked again. This guy was a weirdo.

"No reason at all!" He said simply. I blinked. "Oookay."

"Hey! Hurry up! What's taking you so long?" I turned sharply at the sound of the silver haired boy. He was walking back with an unamused expression.

"Oh! Nothing this boy just..." I looked back to point at the clown boy, only to see he was gone. "Hey! Where did he go?!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Where did who go?" The pale one was in front of me now.

"There was a small masked boy who was saying weird things!" I said in confusion.

"Huh? No one lives here but me, you probably imagined it, come one we are wasting time." He turned again and started heading back to the end of the hallway.

"Okay..." I muttered, looking back at the spot where the boy was one last time before following the pale one.

After a few minutes, we reached the end of the hallway. There was no door but there was a strange looking circle on the floor. He stepped around it and looked at me once more.

"Ok." He started. "Open that book." He mentioned to the tome in my hand.

I did as instructed and nearly stumbled back in surprise as wind swirled around me. Strange patterns and designs appeared on the old pages, decorating it in different colors.

"Whoa!" I shouted, keeping a firm grip on the book once the wind had subsided.

"Interesting." The boy smirked, red eye slanted slyly. It almost made him look like a predator. "Those runes are the ancient magic the witch used to destroy the surface world 1000 years ago, only Alice has been able to use it...but maybe..." he trailed off, red eye scanning me over.

I fought the temptation of covering myself. Maybe I should have worn something less revealing. "My name is Loue, and as you can see I am a vampire." He changed the subject.

"My name is Liddell." I spoke out softly. So he was the vampire. The old hag has lied yet again. Nasty vile thing was not what this guy was. More like pretty boy with sleeping problems.

"Well Liddell, I was supposed to be guarding the tome...so I am a bit at fault here." He said sadly. Eye downcast and lashes flashing for an instant.

I laughed at that. "Yeah! You were sleeping!"

His eye flickered up at me and pale cheeks reddened. He rose a hand up to his head as he spoke in embarrassment. "W-well, I have a condition..." he laughed softly at that. I thought he looked a lot better when he was embarrassed. The moody upset look didn't suit him at all.

"Right...well narcoleptic vampire, are you going to kill me and suck my blood?" I shot at him. I needed to know what he had in store for me.

"Hmm yes what to do with you...wait what?!" He blinked in surprise and shook his head vigorously, sending silver locks flying gracefully. "No...I don't like blood much, I mean only if i need it, actually my favorite food is tomatoes." He said with a reassuring grin.

I had to frown at that. "Huh?! Are you serious? What kind of vampire are you?" I muttered with a stare. This guy was weird. A tomato loving narcoleptic vampire...was he sure he wasn't just some weirdo who thought he was a vampire? But the pointy fangs that slightly showed when he talked convinced me otherwise. And he must have been 1000 years old himself. Yikes.

"Anyways, come with me, I will tell you more." He said again. He stepped into the circle and vanished.

Whoa...this place was full of whimsical stuff. Taking in a deep breath, I followed Loue's lead and stepped into the circle. Light filled my vision and I felt a warmth wash over me.

"There you go." Loue smiled at me as I opened my eyes. I was clutching the book and my umbrella a little too hard so I loosened up a bit.

I was in a darker room with smooth marble floor decorated in a card pattern. Spades, diomonds and hearts. It was pretty. It took me a while to realize I was in a ballroom. A hauntingly sweet melodic tune echoed faintly across the room. Like a piano being played in a funeral. It almost made me sleepy. No wonder Loue was narcoleptic.

"So where are we?" I asked in curiosity, walking towards him.

"This is the room between doors, look around." He swept his arm over me and I took in the sight of six different doors that stood standing in a circle around the room. It looked like a surrealism painting. Was this even real?

"Those doors are portals to the six kingdoms Alice has saved from the Eld Witch." Loue stated simply. "Since you were the one that released her, you must take responsibility and clean up this mess."

That made me gasp. Clean up my mess?! "Hey! I'm not doing it! Like I said I didn't know this was going to happen! I'm leaving!" I hissed, fed up with the tomato freak.

"You can try, but you're already stuck in this world." He said with the same creepy grin he wore in the hallway. I inched back, fear gripping me. This psycho couldn't keep me in here forever. There had to be a way out. I just had to look.

Turning around, I scaled the walls with my hands, feeling Loue's eyes on my back the entire time. He wasn't trying to stop me so maybe he was right...there was no way out.

Defeated, I turned back to him and saw him grin slyly. "Tired yet?" He teased jokingly. It made me want to smack him.

"T-take me back home!" I insisted.

"No, not until you agree to fix your mistake." He said bluntly.

I bit my lip and glared at him. This was going to turn into a nasty fight if he didn't comply. I was about to raise my umbrella, when a sudden noise stopped me.

The glass from one of the doors broke, sending shards of glass flying across the marble floor. A figure emerged from the opening, coughing and gasping for breath. Loue hurries over to him, cape flowing behind gracefully.

I followed suit, curious as to who could have broken through the door. When I stopped before the figure I was startled to see that he was made out of cookie. A gingerbread man was sobbing and choking on his own words as Loue tried to comfort him. Was that even possible. This castle was full of freaks!

"What happened soldier?" Loue pressed, holding on to the cookie mans shoulder.

I just stared as he wept. "T-the princess!" He choked out. "The kingdom has been poisoned by evil! A witch has put a curse on the soldiers of the candy kingdom and caged in princess Gretel! We tried to fight back! But the curse has changed everyone! Monsters wont let the princess free!" He cried out.

I realized, in horror that it must have been the Eld witch. I couldn't help but guiltily look down at my feet. "You need to rest, come, lets get you healed up." Loue spoke out, helping the gingerbread man up to his feet.

I followed behind them slowly, eyeing the cracks in the bread mans back. He must have been attacked back there, but where was Loue taking him exactly? As if on cue, Loue stopped in front of a lone tombstone that I had failed to notice before. It stood at the front of the room, in the middle of the doors. Loue was most likely blocking it earlier with his body. That must have been the reason why he didn't try to stop me from escaping.

"This tomb is the gateway to shadow town, there's an old inn there that is famous for its soothing health restoration, we should take him there." Loue stated at me.

Anger flashed in me for a moment, because now I knew that Loue was hiding the escape route from me the whole time, but it quickly subsided once the cookie man groaned in pain as the vampire helped him on the tombstone. "Ok..." I whispered.

I watched as they both vanished, a sight I was growing used to, and clutched my belongings against my chest as I stepped into the stone. It wasn't like the circle in the hallway, this Time no light was present. Instead, it was a clean fast feeling, like being in my school elevators. I felt cold air hit me the instant I stepped into it and I knew I was somewhere else.

The moon shone bright above me and I had to wrap my arms around myself to trap what little body heat I had. Blonde pigtails danced in the wind as I took in my surroundings. I was in some sort of cul-de-sac made out of cracked stone steps with dead black trees surrounding the square. Black shadows floated about, the only color they had was red gleaming eyes that looked like floating orbs in the darkness of the night. None of this looked familiar at all, the only thing I could familiarize with were the lit jack-o-lanterns that decorated the dead trees. Only they didn't talk. I was far away from home...

"Come on!" Loue called to me. I jumped and hurried over to him and the weeping cookie man. He seemed to know exactly where he was going as we passed some shacks and venders that called out to us, trying to sell odd items and dolls I had never seen before.

"Hey Loue! Where are we?" I asked while holding my book.

"Shadow town." Loue replied without looking back. "This place was lively back before the Eld witch turned against us, but now its a dead barren land filled with the ghosts of those that were killed in the war between the witch and Alice."

Alice...Loue seemed to know a lot about her, I have only heard of her in books and such, what was she like? I contemplated the possibility of Loue being her friend or something more. For some reason the thought didn't sit well with me...but I shook it off. Soon enough, we came across a large inn with the sign 'Demon Mouth' in the front. The door itself was shaped like a mouth.

We entered and I was grateful for the warmth washing over me. A black shadow stood behind a counter and Loue whispered something to it. Its red beady eyes swept across the three of us and it nodded, handing a key to Loue as he reached for it with a pale hand. I could see the white tucked sleeves of his shirt as it slid out from his cape.

"Come one." He said and I followed him through a small hallway that led to a door. Loue opened it with ease, and led the cookie man into the lone bed that stood at the corner of the room. The sobbing cookie slipped into the sheets slowly, clutching its face in sadness. It was so weird...watching a cookie cry.

Loue adjusted the lamp light above the bed to make it dim, and pulled over two chairs from the side of it for us to sit on against the wall. I sat, letting the book rest on my lap and my umbrella on the floor against my chair. Loue sat next to me, legs outstretched since he was taller, showing black pants and shiny black shoes over his cape.

"So what exactly happened? How did the Eld witch get into The kingdom in the first place? Its supposed to be protected by the sigil." Loue asked the cookie man once he calmed down.

"We don't know...it happened out of nowhere, one second we were standing guard at the palace and the next the skies became dark and foamy, the Eld witch appeared and attacked the kingdom! It was her no doubt about it! I recognized those eyes and that terrible laugh anywhere! She turned us against our own princess." The cookie choked back a sob and I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat. "The few of us that fought against the curse were attacked and left to die."

"This is bad..." Loue murmured. "The Eld witch is attacking the kingdoms, not just Alice."

"I'm sorry!" I blurted out. Tears were threatening to spill from my eyes. "I didn't mean to okay? Honest!" I choked out.

Loue eyed with me that crimson eye of his, I could see my reflection in his hue as he penetrated me with a stern stare. "If you really are sorry then take responsibility for it, this is your fault."

I frowned and blinked several times. I couldn't help it, I grabbed my umbrella and wacked him on the head, much to his astonishment. "Ow! What was that for?!" He exclaimed exasperated. His red eye was wide with surprise as he clutched his head.

"Why do you have to be so mean!" I shouted angrily.

He adjusted his cape shakily and scowled. "It's the truth, don't forget this is because of you."

I was about to throw myself at him when the cookie man interrupted. He was no longer crying, and his candy eyes were fixed on me. "Please...please save princess Geretel, please save the candy kingdom." He pleaded.

I could feel my face growing hot. What could I do? "Yes of course!" I blurted without thinking. "I'll save You all!" I mentally kicked myself for giving in so easily, but the look on the cookie mans face couldn't be ignored. "It's the least I could do.. besides, I want to be the greatest witch in the world, and for that to happen I have to be known!" I exclaimed enthusiastically, trying my best to conceal my obvious guilt.

"Finally!" Loue groaned, and slumped back on his chair.

"Thank you so much! I leave the rest in your hands!" The cookie man gushed happily as he relaxed under the sheets.

"Don't mention it!" I grinned. Yikes...what have I gotten myself into? Sighing deeply, I gathered my belongings.

"Well, lets go, I want to hurry it up alrea-" I stopped mid-sentence at the sight of Loue's sleeping face. Lips slightly parted and left eye closed, he was dead asleep.

"Are you serious?!" I groaned. Great, now I was stuck here with a crybaby and a vampire who slept every ten minutes. "Might as well rest too." I mumbled to myself as I let my body relax against the chair. My eyes did feel a little bit heavy, and in no time at all I was overcome with a dreamless sleep.

...

I have extended the story line a bit so it wont appear rushed, but the plot is the same, reviews will be welcome!