Disclaimer: Me no own Twilight. Oh, did anyone else hear that SM has decided she is definitely not completing Midnight Sun??? Can anyone confirm this for me??
Shoutouts to xparawhorextwerdx and Lady Dragona xxxx
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Chapter 3 – Fire, Spells and Broomsticks
Bella woke the next morning and got out of bed. She went over to the window to look out at the sunlit morning, except it wasn't sunlight she saw, but darkness. She'd woken in the middle of the night.
"Fiddlesticks," she cursed under her breath and got an idea.
She grinned to herself and fumbled on the shelf for a box of matches and a candle. She found the matches, struck one and lit the wick of a candle. She then carried it out into the corridor so that it provided enough light for her to move around.
The castle was scary at the lightest part of the day and creeping around it at night was a lot worse. The emptiness of the castle and the strange chill that came over Bella made her fear what could possibly be prowling such an old castle's corridors at night.
She walked slowly, feeling the walls with her left hand and holding the candelabra in her right.
Suddenly, she stepped on something, and when its claws dug into her ankle, she jumped back and dropped the candle.
The "Maioooow!" let her know it was Sooty, who often came to the castle kitchens for scraps. Bella searched through the darkness for the ball of fluff, but he'd disappeared. She was left alone again, with the smell of burning filling her nostrils.
"Oh no," she said, turning to see the carpet alight.
On instinct, she grabbed the first thing she could—which happened to be a very old tapestry—and she batted it at the flames. This caused the tapestry to set alight, along with her nightdress. Screaming, she pulled it off herself and ran down the corridors.
"Fire, fire! There's a fire!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Servants ran down the corridor, ignoring her nakedness as they took buckets of water to put out the flames.
The shouting woke King Charles, who came out of his bedroom to see his daughter run past naked.
As soon as she's married, she'll stop behaving like this, he thought, then proceeded to follow the running servants up towards the cause for concern.
Bella, meanwhile, found her way to the kitchens by instinct alone. She filled the sink with icy water and plunged her hands into it. Luckily, it was the only part of her body that had been burnt.
Thinking of her body, it immediately dawned on her that she was naked. She took her hands out of the icy water and tried to cover as much as she could. Her hands were throbbing steadily with pain.
To make her night worse, in walked Mike Newton. He looked at her, blushed, and then said, "Miss, Your Highness, um..."
"What?!" Bella snapped back, trying to hide herself behind the stove.
"You seem to have misplaced your clothes, Miss," he said.
Bella was about to scream profanities at him when Jessica walked into the kitchen with anoher nightdress. She turned to Mike who was still gawping.
"Mike, get out of here now," she said.
"But—"
"Now!" Mike nodded and left, leaving Jessica to help Bella into the dress. Bella then plunged her hands back into the icy water and began to shiver.
"Charlie will kill me," said Bella. Jessica was trying to inspect Bella's hands.
"Oh, I don't think he will do that, he might put you in the dungeon for a bit to scare you...he did that to Mike one day. Put him in a stock. Problem was, it didn't bother Mike. He was asking if he could have a go on the rack...Witch Esme says it was because he was dropped on his head as a baby..."
"That explains a lot," remarked Bella. Jessica smiled and finished her inspection of Bella's hands.
"I think we need to pay said witch a visit." Bella couldn't help but feel the butterflies flutter in her stomach. She knew Edward lived next door to Esme and just being in such close proximity with him brought a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. It was a shiver of anticipation.
"Get some shoes and a coat on whilst I tell Charlie, I mean, King Charles," said Jessica.
Bella nodded and hurried off up the corridor, ignoring the chills that ran deep into her bones and the throbbing pain in her hands. She started humming to herself. It was to the tune off, "We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz," except the word 'wizard' was replaced by 'witches' and 'Oz' was replaced with 'Forks'.
When Jessica found her again, she was dressed warmly and followed Jessica into the crisp night. The fire had now been extinguished and Charlie was irate that Bella had used one of the tapestries. Bella was just thankful that she was getting away from the castle whilst Charlie was in such a bad mood.
"Which turn off is it?" Jessica asked as they came to the end of the road.
"This one," Bella said eagerly, pointing straight ahead. She then added hastily, "I visit Esme quite a lot, what with me being so clumsy."
Jessica nodded and they walked through the cobbled streets of the village. Various house lights were on and the strumming of a banjo could be heard coming from one of the houses. Bella smiled, happy that the atmosphere in the castle hadn't penetrated the rest of the kingdom of Forks.
They reached Esme's cottage and opened the black, iron gate before they then went down the path. Esme's lights were out—which was understandable, with it being night. A strange coldness ran through both Bella and Jessica as they knocked the door.
"I don't think she's in," said Jessica blatantly.
"Me neither, aren't witches supposed to do that naked dancing in the woods at night?"
Jessica shrugged. "Maybe."
Sooty had followed them both from the castle and was now meowing and weaving between their legs.
"Esme?!" shouted Bella, but again, there was no answer. Sooty started to paw at the door, and after a considerable amount of effort, the door creaked open.
"Go in," whispered Jessica, pushing Bella forward. Bella didn't usually like asserting her authority, but she was scared right now.
"Jessica, get in there first, I'm Royalty," Bella snapped back, with a capital 'R'. Jessica nodded shakily and stepped into the dark house.
Sooty whipped past their legs and Bella felt around on the ledge close to the door. She knew Esme kept her matches there. She found them and lit a candle carefully, as to not repeat what happened at the castle.
"Bella, there's a note on the table." Bella walked over and picked up the parchment. She handed the candle to Jessica to hold as she read Esme's note.
Your Highnesse, Bella,
I have gone to visit a friend who will solve our problem. Don't worry about any of it. There iz also a bottle of ointement on the kitchhen countarr for the burnz.
Speake Soone,
Witch Esme x
"What does it say?" Jessica asked over Bella's shoulder. Bella scrunched up the note and put it in the pocket of her dress.
"That Esme left me something for the burns," she replied.
"That's nice."
"Yeah, it's a shame she didn't warn me before it happened though." Bella's sarcasm was lost on Jessica.
She put the liquid on her hands and then waited. At first, it stung, but then the pain lessened. She rewrapped her bandages and put the remainder of the bottle in the pocket hiding her note.
They then walked back in the direction of the castle, but were stopped by Jasper, the blacksmith.
"Miss Bella," he said, "Pleasure it is." He took her hand and kissed it lightly.
"Um...yeah..."
"Did you know Witch Alice, Witch Esme and Edward have gone to visit an old friend of Esme's? And so close to the ball too, they might miss it."
Bella dropped her hand. "They have?"
"Yes, Edward told me it was something that had to be done. He said he'd be back for the ball, but I doubt it. He packed two pairs of underpants. You don't pack that much unless it's a long journey..."
Bella felt her heart jump into her throat. "Oh..."
"But peasants ain't allowed in the main ballroom anyway, so there's no point him coming back beforehand, Miss."
Bella regained her composure, although she was disappointed that Edward had found something more important than her. She did tell herself that she was as much to blame. How must he have been feeling about the ball? How would he feel if she married someone else?
"Yes, I don't see the point," she said finally, acting as she thought she should, before bidding him good day—night—and walking back to the castle with Jessica.
"Edward won't be too happy with your attitude...Miss," said Jessica.
"Why should he mind?" snapped Bella, although she felt sorry for Jessica.
"Well, I thought the both of you...you know..." Bella stopped.
"What did you say?" she asked with shock.
"Well, you know with you and Edward...Don't look at me like that...everybody knows...apart from the King, of course..."
Bella found the news too much to digest and the shock of te entire night began to fall on top of her. The world started to fade and she plunged into darkness, fainting unlike Mike Newton as she landed with a thud onto the cobbled steps. Jessica screamed.
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A/N: Read and review!!!!
