I felt the sun on my face for the first time in three days as the henchmen dragged me and my friends out of the stage coach. It didn't last long, though, for I had only seconds to admire the scenery (wherever the heck we were) before the henchmen chained our wrists and ankles and dragged us inside a cave.
The cave was damp, with moss growing all over the stalagmites and stalagtites, and it reeked horribly of some mixture of fruity perfume and something burning. I wondered where they were taking us.
As we rounded a corner, I saw a sight that made my blood run cold. At once, I knew where the burning smel had come from. We had emerged onto the scene of Frozen Fire Castle.
It looked just as it had in my vision, which now seemed so long ago. Pillars and towers of frozen flames, coming down in splashes from the flags waving above the structure.
I looked at my comrads. Annabelle's eyes were as wide as dinner plates; Darletta and Clover were both crying; Hannah was staring at her sneakers; Catt was staring defiantly at the castle, as if daring it to hold her in it's dungeons.
I looked down at my feet, ballet flats slowly making tracks on the damp ground, and wondered what I looked like, without a bath in three days, and cooped up in a smelly old stagecoach.
We entered the castle, the henchmen pushing us from behind, holding our chained hands behind our backs.
They led us to a door, a grand one at that, embellished with runes and other ancient symbols I did not recognize. They kicked the doors wide open, and forced us inside.
Malicia was lounging on a chaise of gold, clothed in a black miniskirt (quite possibly the tiniest skirt I'd ever seen) and a matching cropped top with armbands and leg warmers. Her choppy, blue-black hair was down, laying gracefully over her shoulders and down her back.
"ah, my lovely ladies are here!" she said dramatically, sweeping herself across the room and over to us.
"Who do we have here? Aaaah, Lenore Telltale."
She walked over to me and put a finger on my cheek. "You are a pretty one, my dear."
She moved over to Annabelle. "Oh, darling, why so blue?"
Annabelle failed to laugh. Malicia reached over and yanked Annabelle's blue rhinestone choker off her neck.
"Ow!" Annabelle shrieked, "Give that back!"
"Hmmm," Malicia closed her eyes lazily, "Don't wanna." And with that she summoned a purple wind that lifted Annabelle and threw her against the wall. She sat on the floor, agast.
Malicia moved over to Darletta. "This one's been stabbed." And with that she took a knife from her pocket and whirled Darletta around, slicing a thin hole in her shirt and revealing a large stab wound. Drletta was horrified and jumped away from the villainous woman.
"Hmm, bored now. Throw them into the dungeons, men!" Malicia ordered, shoving Darletta back more.
The hechmen dragged us to the dungeon I saw in my vision, throwing Darletta, Annabelle and I into one cage, and Clover, Hannah and Cat into another.
As soon as they left, I curled up into a ball and tried to get some rest, but in the cold night air I heard a small voice whisper, "Brothers, wake up. Someone else is here."
I lifted myself up and walked to the corner of our cage. In the age next to ours, filthy, thin and hungry-looking, were Lock, Shock and Barrel.
"Lenore." Lock whispered so quietly I could scarcely hear him.
I moved closer to the edge and reached my hand through the bars, letting it rest on their cage. Lock and shock reached their hands up to meet mine, and Lock entwined his fingers with mine.
"How did you know my name?" I whispered.
"Because..." Lock hesitated before answering me, "You are our sister, Lenore. We thought you knew."
