A/N: I debated whether I should post this here or on fictionpress for a while, but decided on here. This was written last year as an assignment for english class to put an original spin on a fairytale. The ones i could choose from were Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Blue Beard, or Sleeping Beauty. I decided to combine all of them and set the story in the twenty first century, and this is the result. Enjoy!

In a town very similar to this one, not too long ago, their lived a rather charming family of three. It consisted of two teenage daughters of fifteen, and their mother Ella.

Although Ella was very proud of both her daughters and how beautiful and kind they both were, people were often surprised to learn that they were twins. Mostly because they looked and acted nothing alike. Rain, the older twin who had been born one minute apart from her sister was shy and softspoken. She was tall and sleek, with long golden hair that was as soft as silk thread. She enjoyed going on girly outings with her mother, but she was hardly conceited. She had helped many of her fellow students to feel better about themselves and achieve their goals.

Her sister Rose on the other hand was loud and outgoing. Her short but wild dark hair was unmistakable as it fanned out behind her when she ran on the school's track team. She was always eager to participate in events, especially if it meant being active; and took to wearing overalls and jeans most of the time.

But even though the sisters couldn't be more different, they still had a beautiful relationship. They hardly ever fought or spoke rudely to one another; which made it much easier for Ella to relax. People would always ask her: "How do you get your children to behave so well?" But she never had an answer.

Of course, this doesn't mean that their lives were in anyway perfect. Because the world they live in is filled to the brim with weird and wonderful things. Fairies, goblins, elves and trolls just to name a few. Magic was everywhere, and many humans were descendents of characters you may recognize. For example Charlie, a boy both girls had a crush on was descended from the very same prince that married Cinderella. He was brave and charming just like he must have been, and both girls wished with all their hearts to build their relationship with him, for they have already been friends since early childhood you see. Yes both girls were mentally begging him to notice them in ways he never had before, and now they just might get their chance.

"Rainy! Rainy! Guess what, guess what?!" Rose shouted as she bounded into the living room. She had just gone out to get the mail even though it was raining, and drops of water sprayed across the room as she jumped with excitement.

"What?" Rain asked, looking up from her fashion magazine. Most of the tips were given from vain mermaids, so they weren't really that good. She and Ella only ordered it so the they laugh about how dumb and nonsensical they were. For example, how were they suppose to get a live starfish where they lived? It was quite a good bonding experience.

"We've got an invitation from Charlie!"

That took Rain's mind off of starfish. "Really? Let me see."

Rose took a lime envelope from one of her many pockets and threw it towards the couch like a frisbee. Rain somehow managed to catch it before pulling the decorative letter out and looking it over. It read as follows:

Dear Rain And Rose,

I've finally convinced my dad that I'm old enough to have parties! So of course the proper thing to do is have one right away. Come to my house next Saturday and I'm sure we'll have lots of fun! I'm also inviting a couple of our classmates. Hope you come!

Charlie

"This is great!" Rain chirped as she put the letter back into the envelope, placing it neatly on the coffee table. "You think Mom'll let us go? What should we wear? Is it formal or informal?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down Rainy!" Rose exclaimed, making a shushing gesture. Though Rain was rather quiet around strangers, she could become rather talkative when around people she knew well. "I'm sure Mom won't mind if we tell her now so she can prepare, I don't think it'll be that fancy, so we should wear something comfortable but still look good."

"Right." Rain agreed quickly. "Now we just have to ask Mom about it."

"Ask me about what?" Ella asked, walking into the room with a tray of freshly baked ginger bread people. Rose grinned and pounced on them immediately like a hungry cat as soon as Ella set the tray down. The cookies screamed in terror and tried to run away, but Rose had been doing this for years and eventually caught all the ginger bread men and women she wanted. The rest she just played with, chasing them around the room and knocking things over. Rain flinched. She never liked the fact that ginger bread cookies were alive and wished that her sister would be less violent when eating them. She would always bite their heads off quickly first so they wouldn't feel any fear or pain as she savored the rest of them. When both girls had eaten their fill they gathered the remaining cookies and stuck them in the fridge before tidying up the living room. They then sat down with their mother to talk about what they had received in the mail.

"We got an invitation from Charlie." Rose explained. "He wants us to come to a party at his house next Saturday. A couple other kids will also be there."

"So ... can we go?" Rain concluded. Even though they were a bit different, the twins did finish each other's thoughts sometimes.

Ella thought for a moment. "Well, Charlie seems like a nice boy so I don't see why not. Although I'd prefer you to be home by ten, you can stay out until midnight. But no later, understand?"

"Yes Mom, thank you Mom!" The twins said in unison.

The next day, the twins were contemplating what they wanted to wear to the party. "I think we should wear dresses." Rain suggested. "We need to look good, and I think Charlie will like it."

Rose sighed. "Huh, I didn't know you were so eager to impress Charlie, Rainy. But anyway I don't wanna wear a dress, it's not my style."

Their conversation was cut short however by a short knock at the door. "I'll get it." Rose said, confidently heading out of her sister's room. "It's probably just Mom forgetting her keys again."

She couldn't have been more wrong. Standing at the door was an elegant dark hair girl dressed completely in black. Rose recognized her as Nadina, a fellow student who had strange rumors going around about her. "Hello Rose." Nadina greeted. "I heard you were invited to Charlie's party next week, and would like to discuss preparations with you. I even brought some tea for us to drink."

Rose, who was always eager to make new friends, agreed. "Okay, sure."

The girls headed into the kitchen where a kettle was already merrily boiling away on the stovetop. Nadina pulled a bundle of strangely colored leaves from the small bag she carried. She then pulled out a long silvery wand and waved it; causing the leaves to transform into two small teabags.

"You're a witch!" Rose exclaimed. "So, the rumors are true!"

"Yes, but I prefer mage or sorceress." Nadina replied easily.

She handed Rose a cup of the slightly bubbling liquid. It was a calm deep blue color, and the smell made them both yawn. Rose found it strange that Nadina didn't take a cup for herself, but dismissed it and took a sip. And another. And another. The flavor kept changing with every mouthful. First it was hot chocolate, and then butterscotch, then apple, followed by peppermint and then just plain old milk. As she drank, Rose could feel her muscles relax and her heartbeat slow. "So ..." She began. "What are these sugges-"

She never finished that sentence. For soon the full effect of what Rose was drinking hit her hard, and she slumped forward; fast asleep. Nadina congratulated herself on a job well done. That put one girl out of the way. Now she just needed to take care of Rain and then she would be the most beautiful girl at Charlie's party. Then, he would have no choice but to notice her. And he would be hers. All hers.

Meanwhile, Rain was sitting in her room waiting for Rose to return. She had been gone for an awfully long time, and Rain couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Suddenly there was a knock on her bedroom door, but the voice didn't belong to her sister.

"Hello Rain, this is Nadina. I heard you were invited to Charlie's party next week, and would like to discuss preparations with you. I even brought some lipstick I think you will love."

"Where's Rose?" Rain asked, now feeling a little scared.

"Why in the kitchen of course." The girl on the other side of the door replied easily. "I've already finished talking with her."

"Oh ... o-okay." Rain said, satisfied with that answer. She than opened the door, allowing the girl to enter. Nadina pulled out her wand once again and cast a spell on a pink marker she happened to be carrying. It changed into a tube of lipstick.

"You're a witch!" Rain exclaimed. "So, the rumors are true!"

"Yes, but I prefer mage or sorceress." Nadina replied easily. She handed her the slightly glowing tube of lipstick. "Well go ahead. Try it, and tell me what you think."

Rain hesitated, but soon she became curious as to what this new product would do for her. So she uncapped it, and dabbed the smallest bit onto her soft pink lips. As soon as she did, her whole body began to tingle causing her to drop the tube onto the floor. It disappeared instantly on contact with the carpet. That wasn't all that was changing, though. When Rain looked down at her bare feet, they were covered in dirt and grime. Her clothes were now ragged and threadbare, her hair a tangled mess.

"What have you done!" Rain cried, frantically grabbing a hairbrush from her dresser. It broke in half almost as soon as she began attempting to untangle her hair.

Nadina smirked evilly. "Oh, I thought that would be obvious. You see, Charlie is the love of my life, and I can't have you two screwing up my chances of having him." As she spoke, the evil girl glided across the room and opened up the window. She transformed her wand into a broom, and stratled it like so many before her.

"Wait! What did you do to Rose?"

A plethora of horrible images fluttered through Rain's head, but Nadina nearly shrugged. "I was telling the truth when I said she was in the kitchen. Go and see for yourself." And with that, she yanked the broom upwards and flew out of the window. It was almost as though she'd never been there in the first place.

No sooner than the witch had left, Rain could hear a door closing downstairs followed shortly thereafter by a scram. "Mom!" Rose cried, going as fast as she could into the kitchen. She is greeted with a terrible sight. Rose is slumped on the table, a glass with a bit of strange blue liquid at the bottom sitting in front of her. Ella is in a panic.

"Rain! Your sister has been given a sleeping potion! What happened while I was gone?" It was then that she noticed the state of her other daughter. "Rain! You've been cursed, too? Why! Who did this to you!"

"I-it was Nadina." Rain said, still focused on the still body of her twin. Before this Rose had always been moving, she even rolled around in her sleep curling herself into a blanket taco in the process. But now she was completely motionless except for her slow breathing. As they attempted to make Rose more comfortable, Rain explained what had happened (or her side of things at least.)

"Rose must have let her in." Ella said as she tucked said girl into her bed. "She didn't realize that even people you don't know that are your age can be dangerous. Wait, what's that?"

At first Rain was confused, but then she noticed what her mother had been referring to. Lying on the ground near the window, was a small black rectangle. Rain bent over and picked it up. It was cool and smoothe, and made completely of glass and metal. "It's a phone." She realized. "Nadina must have dropped it when she flew out the window."

"Let me see it." Ella's tone left no room for argument, so Rain handed it over. Ella tapped through the phone for a while before addressing her daughter once again. "There's an app on here that acts like a spell book. It says that the curse that was put on you will not go away just by washing and changing clothes. If anything you'll look even worse."

Rain sighed. "I know that but how do I get rid of it? And what about Rose, is there any way to wake her up?"

Ella tapped through the phone a bit more. "Ah, here we go! Hmm, it says here that Rain can be woken up if she drinks tea made from mistic mint. It only grows in the mistic forest, but that's easy to get. As for you ... it'll be a bit more difficult. You see, your curse can only be broken if you wear the glass slippers that were owned by Cinderella herself. And those are currently in the possession of an evil man named Bluebeard. I'd get them for you, but it'll only work if you find them yourself. So ... what do you say, can you do it?"

Rain stared for a while, dumbfounded. But finally she came to a conclusion. "I have to try."

Rain tentatively knocked on the large door of

the mansion. It was beautiful, but there was just something about it that rubbed her the wrong way. Finally the door opened, and a tall man with a blue beard peered down at her. "Who are you?" He asked gruffly. "And why would you come to my home dressed like that? You're too young to marry, and even if you weren't I wouldn't want you. So go away."

The man was about to shut the door rudely in her face, but Rain stopped him. "E-excuse me, Mr. Bluebeard, sir. But I was recently cursed by an evil witch to look this way. A-and the only way to break the spell is if I wear the glass slippers that were owned by Cinderella herself and well ... I heard that you had them."

Bluebeard sighed, looking thoughtful. "Fine. You may look for them but on two conditions."

Rain didn't know whether to be relieved or nervous. "Ok ... w-what are they?"

"First," Bluebeard began. "Do the best you can to not get too much dirt on anything. I just cleaned."

Rose nodded. "That sounds reasonable, sir. What else?"

"Secondly, whatever you do do not go in the last room at the end of the hall. Trust me when I say that the slippers are not in there."

Rain nodded again. "Yes sir, of course I'll respect your privacy."

"Good. Now off you go, and try to be quick about it."

Rain looked for a very long time, but it was difficult for some of the things in that mansion made her a bit uneasy. For example, why were there so many things scattered with the treasures that looked as though they had belonged to women? Not just any old thing like a necklace either, but a dress. A purse. And strangest of all, a rope made out of long golden hair. It was all just plain creepy, and Rain wanted to get out of there as soon as she possibly could.

Finally, she found the beautiful glass shoes on a pedistool in the corner of a bedroom. The room was completely filled with women's things but that was hardly a surprise at this point. The girl wasted no time in yanking her ragged shoes off and placing the magical slippers on. Surprisingly, they fit perfectly and were surprisingly comfortable even though they were made out of hard glass. Rain guessed it was because of their magic. And best of all when she looked down at herself, she was back to normal. The curse had been broken!

"Well, have you found them yet?" Bluebeard's voice drifted in as he stepped in the room. What he saw there completely blew him away. Surely this couldn't be the same girl he'd allowed into his mansion. She had been raged and worn. This was a living treasure, a walking talking jewel. Absolutely beautiful. He had to have her.

Rain didn't like the look in Bluebeard's eye as he approached her, nor the fact that he walked almost like a zombie. It was strange, and it reeked of danger. So without another thought, Rain trusted her instincts and ran.

"Wait!" Bluebeard called after her, his voice filled with an emotion Rain couldn't quite identify. "Come back my love so that we may marry, and have a happy life together!"

What? What was this crazy man talking about? Rain was much too young to be married. She ran faster, yanking open the mansion door and sprinting out. Bluebeard was still on her tail as she raced through the courtyard towards the stairs leading to freedom. "Beautiful, you're making a big mistake!"

But Rain ignored him completely, wasting no time in going down the stairs. One of the slippers fell off her left foot and flew into the air. Bluebeard tried to catch it, but he missed and it shattered instantly when it hit the ground. Rain found that a bit odd since that didn't happen to Cinderella, but no way was she stopping now when she was so close to freedom. "WAIT! WAIT!"

But Rain didn't wait. Not when the grass got taller, not when the forest got thicker, not when the remaining slipper gave out and crumbled beneath her; the shards cutting into her foot. The blood dripped onto the ground and she let out a small squeak of pain, but other then that nothing else happened.

Well, maybe there was one thing. Bluebeard got a smell of the girl's blood, and though he'd normally be worried for his new lover his previous wife had been a witch and cursed him. That had lead to the scent of blood causing a deersome transformation. He grew and shifted until finally he wasn't a man anymore. He was a wolf with furr the color of his beard. Bluewolf wasn't running after Rain for love anymore. No. Now that he had transformed, he was very hungry.

Even though Rain was seriously in pain now, she ran even faster and thought, Man, I wish I joined the track with Rose. That would have made this a whole lot easier.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rain managed to loose Bluewolf in the woods and headed home. She immediately headed into Rose's room, where she crumpled into a chair by her sister's bedside. She must have fallen asleep because a little later her mother had arrived. She carried with her a bundle of leaves, a bent shovel, and the corpse of a familiar blue wolf. They were both glad to see the other alright, and they hugged for a long time before they told each other what had happened.

"This weird blue wolf attacked me in the forest." Ella explained. "He started asking me questions and wouldn't leave me alone. I knew what he was trying to do so I hit him with my shovel. Turns out he's got a skull as soft as a newborn baby's, and I killed him. But hey, I got the mint."

When they were both done with their stories, Ella and Rain began making the tea that would wake up Rose. It only took about five minutes to mix and brue, and soon it was ready.

"I hope it works." Rain said anxiously.

"It will." Ella replied. "I've checked that spell more than I can count."

They poured the tea carefully between Rose's lips, and she slowly opened her eyes.

"So Nadina did all that just so you couldn't come?" Charlie asked. He'd been hanging out with the girls for the majority of the party, bringing jealous looks from every side of the room. This made the twins nervous so they decided to tell their friend what had happened.

"Yup." Rose said, stuffing another handful of bugles into her mouth.

"Our mom called her mom about it," Rain continued for her otherwise occupied sister. "Nadina's grounded for two months, and has to make a fir rug out of Bluebeard's wolf corpse. Pretty weird and gross punishment if you ask me but I'm certainly not complaining."

"She got what she deserved." Rose agreed. Then they all decided to head outside for a nice game of basketball. It didn't look like either girl was getting a kiss today, but it's better than not going at all.

THE END