A/N: Hi guys – this is a faster update than last time right? I hope everyone's having a great summer!
"Jake! Jake!"
Jake opened his eyes and saw Anjelika peering down at his face, looking worried.
It took him awhile to realize where he was. The leaves crackled as he turned around. He was still in the forest. He had curled in a ball and fallen asleep. His eyes were heavy with tears. The tower was still there. So was the sculpture.
"We couldn't find you anywhere," Anjelika whispered. "We looked everywhere – how'd you get here?"
"Why are you whispering?" Jake asked, getting up.
"I don't – I don't want to wake anything," Anjelika said, taking Jake firmly by the arm as they started to walk out of the forest.
Sunshine was streaming in through the filter of branches and leaves, but Jake still felt uneasy, crashing through the forest the way he was.
Maybe it had to do with the creaking of the tress as their branches swayed in the wind. Or maybe it was the unnatural silence – no birds sang, no forest animals scuttled around, no water was rushing past rocks. The forest seemed dead, save for the two humans tramping along the dirt floor. Or maybe, Jake just felt ill at ease at having left what he knew to be the Queen's rebuilt lair behind. Who knew what would happen in the short amount of time between his last look at the tower and when he got back to the tower.
"Anjelika," he finally said, more to break the silence than anything.
"Yeah?" she asked, not looking at him but pushing on through the thick bushes.
"Well…don't you ever, you know, feel scared in this forest? It's so…eerie."
Anjleika set her jaw defiantly. "It's not eerie. It was beautiful before that – that witch came. It was my home."
Jake knew that had touched a sore spot. He pretended that he knew exactly what Anjelika was talking about and nodded.
But that seemed to irritate Anjelika even more.
"You don't understand. You just don't get it because you've only seen this forest since its been cursed. But when I was a little girl, it was fine, just fine. Don't keep nodding your head like you get it, because you just don't. Don't pretend."
Jake's throat felt stuck. He tried to think of something to soothe Anjelika's angry wound.
"I guess…I don't get it."
Angleika snorted. "I'll say." Then she swung the hair out of her face and pushed another tree branch out of her way.
……
When they got back to Anjelika's cottae, Cavaldi was waiting for them at the door.
"There you are Jake – what the hell were you thinking, running off like that?"
Anjelika muttered something that closely resembled, "Idiot" and Jake turned red.
"I couldn't sleep," he said defensively. "And you'll never believe what I saw anyway."
All three of them walked inside and sat down at the breakfast table where Cinderella was waiting. Anjelika slammed bowls of porridge on th etable in front of her guests so violently that Cavaldi leaned into Jake and whispered with a raised eyebrow, "Dear, dear…what did you say to her?"
Cinderella was raising a spoon tentatively to her lips when Anjelika snapped at her.
"What? Is porridge no good enough for Miss-Newly-Crowned Princess?"
"No, its just that its – "
"Just that it's what? Not what you eat when you rise and shine with your little Princey-poo? Why don't you go back to your snug little palace?"
"Anjelika, aren't you being a little –" Jake began but Anjelika's voice drowned out his timid one.
"If you want to know, Miss. Ella, that mother of yours likes to kill little girls for fun. She's cursed this whole village! And you want to see her? What a nice little daughter you are. But you know what? Your mother's a bloodthirsty witch. And you're probably just like – "
"Anjelika!" Cavaldi barked, rising from his seat. Anjelika looked a little blown over by the loud outburst. But she gathered herself together quickly.
"Anjelika, you are being very unfair. I assure you that Madam Ella is nothing like – er – that. She is a very pleasant – "
"Her mother enslaved and killed my father!" Anjelika screamed. "Her mother took your brother Jake, and you know that if she had a choice, she'd have us all killed!"
Cinderella had dropped her spoon and turned very white.
There was a crashing silence at Anelika's words as everyone froze.
Finally, Cinderella whispered, "Is that – i-is that true?"
Jake looked at his hands. Cavaldi didn't reply. Hatred was still etched into Anjelika's face.
Pushing her chair away from the table, Cinderella ran out through the door, crying.
……
Anjelika sat in shock for minutes. That meant that Jake and Calvdi had to clear the table.
"Never knew she'd take it so hard, quite frankly," Cavaldi muttered, up to his arms in soap suds.
Images were flicking in Jake's mind. His brother falling from the tower. His brother's ebullient laugh. His brother cloaked in a dark cloak, killing people with his silver dagger.
"It must have been the same for Anjelika", he said in a low voice.
"What?" Cavaldi asked, distracted. Water poured out from the faucet, the soap bubbles were creeping up to his elbows. He was struggling to get them off.
……
The sun began to set over Anjelika's cottage later that evening and Cavaldi, Jake, and Anjelika were eating their dinner quietly. Each knew what the others were thinking: where was Ccinderella?
Jake's throat was hoarse from calling her name all day…Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella…
Meanwhile, as the same sun began to set over the Queen's fortress, the beautiful Queen was admiring her reflection in the mirror.
She drew one slender finger down the side of her milky cheek. She fluttered her long, butterfly feathered lashes prettily. Her hand crept through her luscious, silky brown hair that curled her hair over her collar bone.
Her servant, what was his name – Will or something like that? – was standing at the door. She turned to him and flashed her most brilliant smile at him.
"Do you think I am beautiful, my dear Prince?"
He looked at her blankly and answered dully, "Yes, of course, my Queen."
But that didn't satisfy her. It had been years since she had heard a young man cry for her beauty lustfully. She wanted to hear that throaty cry right now, she wanted to flaunt her beauty and flirt wildly and toy with men's passions again.
She waved her fingers and whispered an incantation.
With satisfaction, she saw the man lurch at her wildly. His strong fingers clutched at her delicate shoulders. She liked the feeling of his touch.
"Now tell me," she whispered, "how beautiful am I?"
He looked down at her and his fur-lined hood fell back. She saw his strong, rugged features and his dull blue eyes still showed the remnants of some boyish sparkle. Pity, she thought maliciously, he would have been quite handsome.
"More beautiful than the night sky. More dazzling than the sun rays, more charming than nay girl I have touched before," he answered huskily, as his hand traveled up through her hair, she felt a long lost thrill running down her spine, and as his fingers went to her slender neck and rested softly just above her chest. His other arm circled around her waist.
She sighed and rested in his arms. This is what she wanted for eternity…she saw her reflection through her half-closed eyelids, a beautiful young woman in a dazzling red dress in the arms of a handsome man. The mirror edges seemed to frame a perfect picture – the delicate lady swooning into the strong, reassuring grasp of a burly, muscular young man. She smiled.
Now was the time. Quietly, with her eyes still half-closed and enjoying the touches of the man holding her, she said, "Mirror, mirror on the wall…who is the fairest of them all?"
She waited for the reassuring answer. But the mirror took a while to reply. And when it did, it said.
"My dear Queen, you are fair it's true, but your daughter it must be said, is fairer than you."
The arm around her waist tightened and she screamed. Images whirled in her brain – they seemed long forgotten – a little baby girl in her arms, the girl at her death bed…
She blacked out.
……
Cinderella was lost. She had wondered around the village for awhile, but before long, she had plunged blindly into the forest. Now, she was in pitch black darkness and the trees were smothering any light that might have shone.
She hurtled through the leaves and the branches. She figured that if she kept moving, she wouldn't get caught by who – what ever was following her. The only problem was, the more she walked, the more she felt like she was walking into something awful.
Her limbs were sore and heavy, her dress was torn tattered. She wanted to sag down and sleep. But she wouldn't no – otherwise the dark creature of the night would swallow her up.
But it wouldn't hurt to…rest her head for just a little bit…
Her legs collapsed beneath her and she sank down next to a tree…
Was what Anjelika said true? That her mother was an evil witch who reveled in the bloodshed of innocent people? She wondered…
Where was Jake? That boy said he had loved her…wasn't a true love supposed to rescue her in times like this? Where was he?
Footsteps…heavy boots…Through the haze of sleep, Cinderella saw a large shape blundering through the forest.
Panic gripped her heart, but her body moved slowly. The figure had almost reached her before she was able to scramble half to her feet.
The figure stopped in front of her. She wondered what it wanted. Was it a bear? A hungry bear? The figure drew a silver dagger from inside his fur-lined cloak.
A cry escaped from her mouth, and Cinderella straightened up. For some miraculous – or cursed – reason, the moon chose that moment to shine through the trees so that she could see the attacker more closely – his twisted mouth, his blank eyes and his shining weapon.
"Please, please sir – don't –" Cinderella gasped as the dagger loomed closer and closer.
"Jake!" she screamed madly, "Jake, help me!" Where was the stupid boy? She was going to die!
But the dagger stopped, inches away from her face. She dared to open her eyes. The man had collapsed onto the floor and was clutching his chest as if something was paining him.
What was going on?
She knew she had to run away, quickly, but she couldn't leave this man on the forest floor. Was he hurt? Was this a ruse?
She leaned down to get a better look at his face. It had turned a ghostly white and his body was shaking.
"Excuse me, sir?" she said tentatively.
The man only just seemed to notice that she was standing there. He staggered to his knees and grabbed Cinderella's arm.
"Please – did you, did you say…Jake?" he gasped.
"Y-yes, I did."
He licked his lips and held a hand to his chest as if trying to stop the tremors. "M-my…brother?"
"Your - ?" Cinderella stared. Jake's brother? This was Jake's brother?
Her mother took your brother, Jake!
Was this the same brother?
"M-my brother…safe? Alright?" the man was wheezing.
"Yes, he's fine, he's –"
The man clutched her arm more urgently. "Is he here? In village?"
"Yes, he's"
"Tell him, go away! Nothing he can save here! Tell him to go!" The man was so emphatic about this point that he shook Cinderella violently.
"Do you know my mother?" Cinderella asked curiously, wincing as the man's fingers nails dug into her wrist. "The…Mirror Queen? Do you know her?"
At that, the man's spasms subsided, and the man's lips curved into an evil smile. He picked up his dagger.
"Yes I do. And she's the most beautiful woman of all time…more beautiful than the night sky –"
"She's still alive? I thought – she died?"
"Oh yes, she's alive. She is a clever lady and she has crafted her own magic to keep herself beautiful for eternity. I will love her and serve her forever…"
A thrill ran through Cinderella's skin. She wished that one day, some man would say the same about her. At the same time, she felt a deep sense of longing wash through her. She wanted to see her mother, the mother she had missed for such a long time…only to be abused by her stepmother and her stepsisters. If only she could see her again…
"Can I see -?"
But the man had doubled over again, clutching at his chest and moaning in pain. When he saw Cinderella, he reached for her arm and gasped, saliva dribbling down the corners of his mouth,
"Go away from here…go – Queen sent me to kill…" but he couldn't finish. He howled as a fresh spasm of pain went through him and his seizures started again.
"Kill? Kill who?" Cinderella was terrified now. This strange man seemed to be suffering from a two-part disorder of some kind.
The man used a great effort to raise himself once again.
"Go from here! Go – don't come back!" he was starting to look agitated.
"Kill who?"
The man's tremors shook him violently. He licked his lips again.
"You."
Cinderella screamed again.
"Go," the man repeated as his eyes started rolling. "Go. Your mother…want to kill…"
Cinderella didn't need to hear anymore. She dropped the man's hand and ran, tears streaming down her face.
Her mother wanted to kill her.
A/N: So…coupla questions for you, my dear reader. Was it just me, or was that scene with the Queen pretty gross? My pen tends to do things of its own accord, and I decided to keep it because it made me dislike the Queen even more. Also, do you like Anjelika? Is she a potential love interest for Jake? What about Cinderella? What do you think of her? And…(I'm going to cheat here) what should happen next? I have a good idea of how the story will end, but I want to develop it a little more.
Finally, totally unrelated question: Is it worth it to spend around $90 to attend a one-day writer's workshop from 10am – 5pm?
Thanks for reading!
