Ch. 9: Nightmare

"A drop of bear's blood, a bit of mummy's dust, and the heart of a raven…let a nightmare begin that they can never get out of…"

Kaelyn opened her eyes to see a dark corridor. She looked down her clothes to see she was wearing her traveling clothes. "Eric," she called for. There was no reply back as she looked around as she began to walk down the hallway.

It was so quiet and eerie. There was no sign of life at all, as she continued to walk around; she began to call each of the dwarf's names. There was still no response causing Kaelyn to wonder where everyone was.

Y&S

"Guys? Kay," Eric called out as he walked through the forest. He had been walking for so long and it worried him that he had not reached a certain marker to indicate where he was.

Suddenly he heard a loud rustle. Eric quickly turned around, going for a sword against his belt that he would usually have but then he stopped, realizing he didn't have a sword on him. He closed his eyes in worry but as he looked up again, the rustling stopped. Eric swallowed a bit before he took a deep breath in. Then he resumed walking, continuing his search to find Kaelyn or the dwarfs.

Grumpy grumbled lightly at the sound of a low mumble. He ignored it at first before the talking got louder. "Grumpy," he heard his name being called.

"What," he grumbled.

"Grumpy?"

"Kaelyn, what," he turned to notice that Kaelyn's eyes were closed. He sat up as he stepped out of the bed then there was a knock at the door. Still looking at Kaelyn, he walked over and opened the door to see Sweetie with a worried expression across his face. "What's wrong, Sweetie," Grumpy inquired.

Sweetie looked at Kaelyn, hearing her mumble again. The dwarf grabbed his brother's forearm and quickly dragging him into his own bedroom to see Eric tossing around in the bed, grumbling their names while the others looked down at him.

Charmy looked up and pointed to him, "He's been doing this for a bit, we thought it was a simple nightmare but he won't wake up."

"Kaelyn is doing the same thing," Grumpy retorted. He watched as Eric groaned loudly then jerked toward one side, almost falling off the bed before being caught by Sicky and Smiley. Grumpy quickly looked at Sweetie and Charmy, "Bring Kaelyn in here."

"Eric," Kaelyn yelled as she reached the entrance of the castle. Beyond the castle was a dark and eerie forest, but she stayed at the doorway of the castle. She explored the empty castle noticing that there was no sign of life in the castle but she felt that someone was watching her.

"Kaelyn," she turned around to look up to see her father standing in front of her.

She smiled, "Daddy?" It was not possible but there he was, her father stood in front of her. He approached her slowly while Kaelyn moved closer to him.

Deep in the forest, Eric was running faster as the rustling returned. He could hear the sounds of low whispers with his eyes catching a shadowy figure. He turned to look at it but it disappeared before he could catch the sight. "Kaelyn," he yelled out of pure worry.

There was no response.

He looked up at the sky and his eyes widened at the sight of a tower. Immediately, he began to run to the direction, hoping that Kaelyn was there.

"Eric's sweating pretty badly here," Goofy stated to Grumpy.

"So is Kaelyn," Giggly giggled with a worried expression.

Charmy stood next to Grumpy as they watched in the two separate beds. "How can this be happening," he questioned as he watch Eric jerk slightly.

Grumpy wiggled his nose, "Witchcraft. Black magic. It has to be that."

"How do we stop it," Smiley asked as he touched Kaelyn's forehead.

Grumpy shook his head, "You don't."

"Daddy, is it really you," Kaelyn approached, touching the chest of her father. It felt so real, she could feel the heartbeat that was against the chest.

Her father smiled down at her, "It's me, my little snow." Kaelyn could feel the tears in her eyes as she quickly hugged her father tightly. She felt his hand run down her back, rubbing soothing circles as he held her.

"Kaelyn," she pulled her head back to look over to see Eric running out of the forest.

Kaelyn released her father and immediately ran over to Eric who quickly ran over to her, quickly hugging her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her close, he pulled back to look at her, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Eric, my father-" she turned to look over at her father but she noticed that he was not there anymore. She looked back at Eric who held a concern look, "He was just there."

Eric shook his head, "Kaelyn, we have to go. This place is not good."

"Eric-"

"Kaelyn, please. We have to go," he urged. Suddenly the rustling came as he looked over to see Kaelyn's father standing at where the rustling was. Eric looked around for a moment. He held Kaelyn tightly before he saw a sword against the wall. He immediately ran for it, grabbing it.

Kaelyn looked at him as she looked at her father. "Eric," she gasped, "what are you doing?"

"Kaelyn, this is not real. This is all a lie."

"That's my father!"

"Kaelyn, your father is dead!"

At the sound of those words, Kaelyn's father suddenly began to shift to a darker more gruesome being. The skin began to melt away becoming a skull while the royal clothing became pitch black. A sword appeared in this being's hand as it stepped forward toward Kaelyn.

Kaelyn felt her heart drop as she backed away. Eric felt his whole heart begin to pound against his chest as he pulled Kaelyn quickly aside. The skull figure attacked causing Eric to defend him, Eric attacked back while Kaelyn watched as the skull figure kept changing back to her father, calling out to her.

"Kaelyn help me," he begged as Eric kept fighting it.

Eric looked at her, "Kay, don't! This isn't your father."

Kaelyn shook her head as Eric was knocked back with his sword falling from his hand. He crawled back as the skull figure cut his shoulder causing Eric to cringe in pain. The figure then lifted the sword up, changing back to Kaelyn's father to send the final blow.

Eric closed his eyes preparing for the worse before there was a loud yell. He opened his eyes to see a sword through his chest and behind him was Kaelyn. The figure looked at Kaelyn as he gasped, falling forward slowly fading away as he whispered, "Why, my little snow?"

Kaelyn went on her knees, letting the sword slip out of her hand. Tears soon began to run down her face as she began to cry. Slowly Eric sat up and looked at Kaelyn, going to her quickly. He took her into his arms as he watched the figure disappear clearly but feeling Kaelyn crying against his chest.

"Eric, Kaelyn, wake up," he heard, "wake up!"

Eric snapped forward, harshly as he looked up to see Grumpy and Sweetie looking at him. Eric looked down at his shoulder seeing the cut but he quickly looked over at the other side at the loud sobs that were coming next to him.

There he saw Kaelyn crying against Charmy's shoulder. Eric looked at her before standing up, walking over to her. He sat down, not caring about his own injury while he took Kaelyn from Charmy, letting her cry against him.

He did not know what to say. He was as confuse as anyone what had just happen but it broke his heart to see her cry especially when it was his fault. It was his fault that she had to go through this. He swore to protect her and he couldn't protect her there. He felt horrible and heartbroken, seeing her crying.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

That was all he can say.

"How can this happen," Andrea yelled as she threw a bottle against the wall. "How can they break away from the nightmare?!"

"Something is stronger than your magic," the mirror retorted.

"Nothing is stronger than my magic. I will be the fairest in the land!"

Damn, scary stuff. Well, all I want to say is that you guys rock and roll! Love ya! Review, PM, and etc!