Ah...after a year...I wonder how many reviews I would get this time...it's been so long that I hardly remember what I wrote and have to go back and reread the whole thing. lol. Anyways, hope those of you who continue to read my story enjoy what you can understand from me. XD

Meggie turned first red for the mentioning of Farid as her boyfriend then white. If I am truly cursed, then he cursed Farid too. That's why he died! Oh, I will never forgive that little rat, never! Tears welled up in her eyes. Meggie was going to make him pay for Farid's death. She was determined to make his life hell!

Chapter 9

Meggie raised her hand to strike the little boy. He flinched and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to come. However, due to lack of food and water in the past couple of days, Meggie had became very weak. She collapsed onto the grass before she can complete her action.

Mo can tell Meggie's struggling to keep her anger and sadness of Farid's death down to the minimum so other people don't have to suffer her wrath, but the appearence of this boy had thrown her off balance all over again.

"Come on, let's get inside and then talk." He announced before dragging the little boy inside their house.

Resa and Elinor both came to Meggie's side and half lifted, half carried Meggie onto a stool beside the kitchen counter. After that, Resa made refreshment despite the tension in the air while Mo took Inkheart away from the boy. Meanwhile, Darius went around with Elinor to close and block all the possible exit. It was after the preparation was done before Mo let go of the boy.

The boy assessed his situation and with a sigh, he sat down onto the floor and started to munch on a cookie that Resa gave him. Meggie said nothing as she played with her food. Once in awhile, she would put a small piece into her mouth.

"So..." Mo began after sipping his tea, "start by telling us your name."

"What are you going to do with me?" the boy ignored Mo's request and asked.

"It will depend on your coorperation. If you tell us what we need to know, then we won't hand you to the police." Mo said sternly.

"The police? What's that?" the boy asked, again, avoiding Mo's request.

Everybody froze and stared at the little boy. He does not know what a police is! Suddenly, Meggie has a theory. She said with a hoarse voice, "you came from somewhere special am I right?"

The boy simply stared at her. Then he nodded once and then twice.

"What's your name? We can't keep on calling you, boy." Mo said, making his voice soft again after sensing the boy might answer some question. He figured out that it all depends on how he phrased the question.

"Ah, my name is Hansel. Ma'am, may I get another cookie for answering your question?" the boy asked Resa. Resa smiled and went to fitch the jar of cookies.

The room went silent except for Resa's soft steps. Everybody is trying to make the connecting of this boy to Inkheart. Meggie drank her water and with a clearer voice this time, she asked, "are you the boy from the story, Hansel and Gretel?"

Hansel paused in the middle of chewing his cookie and looked up, "you know of me and my sister?"

"oh, a bit." Meggie said. What she just heard confirmed what she thought. Hansel was just a character from a story, just like Farid. At the thought of Farid, Meggie unconsciously hugged herself. Looking around the room, she could tell that everybody is thinking what she was just thinking. "We know the story of you and your sister and how a witch tricked you guys by having a lot of sweets for both of you and then end up imprisoning you while making your sister work. Then, together, you guys defeated the witch and reunited with your father. However, Hansel, we don't know what happened after that. Would you care to tell us?" Meggie said in the sweetest possible way. "We will give you the whole jar of cookie if you tell us."

At the mention of more sweet reward for his story, Hansel willingly agreed. "Well, my life turned very weird after we took left the witch's house. As you might know, we took some of the jewels with us so we may spend it to find our father. We did find my father but one of the jewels...it has some kind of curse on it. When I touched it, I discovered that I have the ability to wish anybody ill and I am able to reverse the curse as well. I loved my newly gained ability and still do. Then one day, when Gretel and I were walking home, I suddenly feel like something was calling me. Not someone, but something. I couldn't move or ran away as I watched the world I knew so well disappeared before my eyes and an old man with a group of youngster replaced my surroundings." Gretel started on another cookie.

Meggie and Mo exchanged glances. They knew this experience well.

"I was scared at first because of the abnormal change, but soon, I became more confident as I realized the people around me are more surprised or scared than me. So I loudly demanded to know where am I and what they've done to me. I even threatened to curse them all. Then that old man approached me. What was his name again? Mmmm...I can't remember. It starts with a F though...anyways, you don't need that much detail or we'll going to be here for hours. Mmmm...well, he approached me and led me away from the group. He sort of explained what had happened to me, but I didn't understand so I forgot. However, he said, if I can do something for him, then he would send me back to where I was. Of course, I tried to threaten him into just sending me home but that old man is soo stubborn, so I finally agreed to his deal."

"You didn't hurt him did you?" Meggie asked, a bit worried.

"Well...nothing that couldn't heal if given some time..." Hansel said.

Meggie gritted her teeth. This boy hurted Fenoglio and now, killed Farid! He was going to get a piece of mind from her after they've known his full story!

"What was his deal?" Mo asked, interested.

"The deal was for me to protect a blue binded book!" He then pointed towards Inkheart. "Also, I was told to find that book and bring it back to him. He also told me other abilities I can do with my cursing skills. I can also track objects now. He just told me to track the book named 'Inkheart' and bring it back to him."

Meggie and Mo exchanged another look. "So you are saying that you found the book...using tracking?" Mo asked, incredulous.

"Mm-hm." The boy nodded, proud of himself. "and I've been watching you guys for days now. I know everything needed to get the book. For example, I know your name is Mo...although I don't think it's your real name. And I know that the shed belong to you and you have Inkheart. I also know your name..." He turned to point at Meggie. "You are Meggie and your boyfriend is Farid."

Meggie muttered, "Don't talk about him. He is not my boyfriend."

"Oh?" Hansel said, surprised. "You guys surely don't act like it. Well, I followed him here knowing he had Inkheart. Anyways, you should know, he's seeing somebody else as well."

"Tell us about how you've gotten into this world." Mo interupted, knowing Hansel is tearing up Meggie's heart.

"Mm...I'm not too sure about that. I never truly understood how I arrived at that old man's place so I never understood how I gotten into your world. I know it is somewhat similar to what I've gone through to get to the old man's because it has a similar feel to it." the boy scratched his head. "However, I do know that we are in a different world because I can't find that old man anymore using my tracking ability. I also tried to locate Inkheart while I was in that old man's world and it never responded."

"What never responded?" Mo asked.

"Se-cret!" The boy said, smiling. Mo clubbed him over the head.

"Okay, okay. It's the ability that the old man taught me. You see, he somehow knew of my ring's power. This is the jewelery that give me the ability to curse people. I am also cursed because I cannot take it off and the old man told me that it also cut short my life." He shrugged. "Each time I curse an object or thing, I have an invisible thread that only I could see that is attact to that person. It won't disappear unless the curse is fulfilled or I break it myself. So if I follow a particular thread, I can find the object of my cursing." The boy said proudly.

"Mmm...where did you find yourself when you came into this world?" Mo asked.

"Oh...a place with lots of books and a lot of people running around." He turned and pointed to Elinor and then Darius. "They were there and so was Farid. He took the book that I was supposed to protect and Inkheart. Now you have it. I want it so I may go home." He said to Mo.

"Interesting..." Mo ignored his demands. "You said earlier that you cursed Meggie and Farid. What exactly did you curse them"

"Se-cret!" Hansel sang and started to munch on another cookie. Mo was about to hit him again before Resa stopped him by standing between them.

Mo growled. "Resa, why are you protecting him! He cursed our daughter."

Resa did not move. Defiance shone in both of her eyes. Mo regarded his wife for a moment before sighing. "Fine then, Hansel. You don't have to tell me what it is, but please, would you kindly remove any curses that you've placed on anybody here."

Hansel smiled. "No. Give me the books then I will."

"Answer me this first," Meggie's voice rang out, breaking the tension between Mo and Hansel. Resa moved away to fetch another round of refreshments. "How do you plan to get back."

"Oh yeah, that might be a bit of a problem. The old man told me to find this 'Silvertongue'. However, my ring revealed that he's not in this world." Hansel replied.

Mo and Meggie exchanged a look before Mo spoke softly. "Well, lad, you've found him. I'm Silvertongue."

"What?!" The boy exclaimed. "You have two aliases?"

Mo laughed at the boy's surprise. "You have to answer this one more question before you have any chance of going to any other worlds. The question is, what happened to Farid?"

Hansel looked at Mo for a long time, the half eaten cookie forgotten. "Fine. You want to know about Farid? Well, I'll tell you what I know."

Meggie leaned in. Her eyes fixed on the boy even though she knew what he is going to say. She also know that hearing the words would shatter her heart into pieces once more. She'd have to pick up the pieces by herself all over again.

"Farid. I cursed him to have a little accident, that's all. For all I know, he is not in this world anymore." Hansel said, serious for once.

Meggie launched out of her chair. She couldn't take it anymore. She could feel her heart breaking and the tears forming. Most of all, she is angry, more than she was ever before. Meggie just wanted to wrung that little neck...

"...but, I also know for a fact that he is alive." Hansel added.

Meggie froze, and so did everybody else.

Whew! Chapter 9 is finally finished. Mmm...where is Farid and what would Meggie do now? Will Basta and his gangs make another appearence? What about Hansel? What will happen to him? Maybe all those questions would be answered in the next chapter, so stay tuned (if you can ! )
I wish everybody a happy summer!
Until next chapter,
Rain kisses!

Sorceress Shadow Rain