Chapter 7: One Bite

Not so much to my surprise, everything had changed on the inside as well…

It was just as shocking as what had happened to the exterior of the house. I stared around the place with extremely wide eyes, and my heart was pounding very loudly in my chest as I ventured deeper and deeper within. As my eyes adjusted to the cold darkness of the place, I realized that my father's ruby-red blood still continued to stain the once perfect white carpet that had been my playground when I had still been a little girl-- the blood was, of course, Jacqueline's doing.

Everything about the place was utterly strange and surreal. The place looked and felt like a dream world, and I couldn't help but wonder if there was the slight possibility that I would somehow wake at any moment beside Matthew in our apartment over a thousand miles away from here-- home, for this place simply could not be referred to as "home" any longer; my previous feelings of being content at being here quickly vanished; this place was too dark, and too dirty to still be the place that I had once loved with all my heart. Time had changed it-- time had changed me as well.

I took in an extremely deep breath, and for the first time in years caught the fragrance of the place; it was not the same-- it was dusty-- filthy, actually. I sneezed; once, twice, three times, and then I looked continued to look all around me. The curtains that Jacqueline had hung up a few months before she and my father had blissfully "tied the knot" were still hanging in the living-room windows, relatively unchanged, unlike everything else, and I knew that if I bothered to part them, and look out, I would only find my own mother's flowerbeds rotting and dead-- just as I had left them. How ironic such a frivolous thing had once sent me into a mad rage.

My eyes were now watering from my allergies. My heart was throbbing from being there again. I wanted to wrench the door open, and run out into the relief of cold night, but then I remembered Matthew. I had to be here-- at least for him… Somehow, I felt that the answers I now sought pertaining to his disappearance would be found here. It only made sense. Otherwise, REHtoMna would never have had sent me that troubling dream-- the one that helped lead to Matthew's vanishing from off of the face of the earth.

The floor creaked beneath me, and I nearly let out an unearthly scream, and then I remembered-- Old houses are apt to make such strange noises in the middle of the night, Beatrice, I told myself as I would a child, It's commonsense, but all the same…

"Is anyone here?" I called out.

No answer.

I was obviously all alone.

Just like I had been in my dream…

How I hated it when they ended up coming true, "Fuck," I breathed, looking wildly around me in order to reassure myself that no one was with me. "Is anyone here?" I repeated; still no answer. I breathed in a sigh of relief; I was obviously alone now. Thank God I wouldn't be forced to battle anyone or anything tonight… It was bad enough that the whole world was spinning around thanks to the disappearance of my husband of three days, and I didn't need anything to overcomplicate matters any further.

Obviously, whatever I was meant to find here simply was not on the first floor… I looked around me one final time, and then began the long ascent up the stairs to the second floor; and all the while, I was plagued with images of my father's head bouncing upon each lightly bloodstained stair… I gripped the banister tighter still; determined not to faint on the stairs and suffer the same fate-- or at least an unpleasant wave of unconsciousness… I didn't feel like dealing with crap like that today. One foot in front of the other, Beatrice, I thought, after having been overcome by another wave of dizziness, You can make it… You can make it…

After what seemed like an eon had passed, I at long last stepped directly over the final stair, and found myself in the dark hallway; the place where Jacqueline had given me the apple, and had then cursed me with a spell that made me forget all of my troubles and suspicions momentarily; just long enough for her to knock me out, in her first of many attempts to kill my mortal being.

I gripped the graying walls, and flicked on the light switch to throw the place into the welcoming glow only associated with light… Nothing happened, Fuck, I thought, they cut off the electricity as well… It figures, I placed my cool hands upon my warm face, and continued to walk down the hallway; the carpet slightly tickled my bare feet. Everything-- simply everything was covered in three or more layers of dark-colored gray dust. I sneezed once again, and then stuck my head into my bedroom to catch a glimpse of what lay inside.

Everything that I had left there was now gone… It nearly broke my heart in two. I simply could not believe that all of the memories I had made here were now gone forever; maybe in other homes in other parts of the country… It was strange.

"Beatrice…" the voice. Again. Why did I keep on hearing it? Was I losing my mind once again…? I need to calm the fuck down, I thought, and then continued walking in the other direction, for it was now clear that since my bedroom was now empty, it would provide zero answers to this mystery I was now involved in, Why have I been instructed to come to this place? I wondered, bitterly, Maybe it's all a trap, I frowned, No-- otherwise, they would have made their presence known sooner as opposed to later…

I continued to walk; glancing into every room as I passed by. I found each to be as empty as the next, and I soon realized that the entire house had been unfurnished-- not counting the ghastly curtains that still hung downstairs. I frowned in despair, and looked above me towards the ceiling, when I finally remembered.

There was the attic-- and if memory served me correctly, the old family that had lived here before ours had left loads of stuff up there, and it had remained undisturbed-- and that most likely meant that all of the stuff we had moved up to the attic had most likely remained untouched as well. I smiled at my cleverness, and found the door that led to the upstairs room in a great hurry.

I wrenched it open, and ran up the steps; causing gray dust to swirl up in clouds with each step I took… Moments later, I found myself in the attic. It was dark, and I could hardly see a thing, but that didn't matter. Whatever I was meant to find here, I would find it eventually one way or the other.

I immediately set about looking within the large dusty boxes that had kept many keepsakes of my mothers' completely safe from Jacqueline's destructive tendencies; I suddenly remembered having taken them to ensure that she wouldn't have had them burned like the paintings; dresses, photographs, and other small trinkets-- nothing that would prove helpful. I stood, and looked around me, realizing with a heavy sigh, that other than the three boxes labeled Bea's Toys, I had sifted through all of them. I looked towards the far right corner, and found a dark brown dusty coat that had belonged to my father covering up something long and circular.

I seized upon the spot, and tore the coat away; my hands came into contact with something that was warm to the touch, even though the room was freezing cold thanks to a broken window. I gasped in astonishment; it was a beautiful looking-glass with a long crack running down its middle lengthwise; it had been my mother's, but I did not remember having ever brought the thing up there, and then I remembered. When I had been very young-- about six or seven, the mirror had become damaged somehow, and my mother had had my father bring it up here to ensure that I would not play with it as it was now dangerous; as a child, I had been fascinated by the thing, and had pretended for hours on end to be talking to other children or people on the other side-- maybe I really had been. I traced my finger down the crack, amazed at its simple beauty, and then gasping as it suddenly glowed white-- no, silver.

"Beatrice…" the voice whispered from within, and I was no longer afraid of it, "Yes," I whispered, "It is me… I have come here. Who are you?"

"Surely you know," the voice answered, and I at last recognized it.

"REHtoMna," I breathed a sigh of relief, and placed my hand upon the mirror once again, "What is this thing truly?" I asked, now knowing that it was not an ordinary mirror.

"It is a mirror of magic, my child… Time is short. Danger lurks everywhere… You must join me here. I fear that I have waited too long." Her voice sounded whispy, urgent, and faraway all at the same time; hearing it sent shivers up my spine.

I remained silent as her face appeared within the mirror. She looked just as beautiful as the last time I had seen her, "You are unharmed," she whispered, and I nodded, deciding not to mention the fact that Matthew clearly was not.

She held out her hand; almost as if I were expected to take it, "What are you--" I began, and then I realized what she was holding; an apple.

"Take the apple…" she whispered, and I grimaced, "Sorry, but I have an aversion to apples ever since--"

"Do not be foolish now, Beatrice… You are in more danger now than you ever were."

"But, I--"

"Take the apple," her voice was now more firm.

My hand melted into the mirror, and I was able to place my grip onto the apple; a few seconds later, I had brought it out of the mirror.

"What now?" I asked, already knowing and dreading the answer.

"One bite, my child… That is all it will take… One bite from the apple."

I hesitated, "But, can't you please explain first why--"

"Time is limited. Do it, or your life will be limited as well."

I looked around me, not wanting to take a bite from the wretched piece of fruit I now held in my hand, although it smelled beautiful… But, all the same… I did not want to stay in this house any longer, and it wasn't as if I would be at the mercy of a shaska from eating it as I had been last time…

"Beatrice…" a voice whispered once again, and this time, it wasn't REHtoMna's. Something was in the room with me, and I could actually see it-- the red eyes…

I raised the apple to my lips, and allowed my teeth to sink into its tender flesh; I chewed for a few moments, and then swallowed, "Now what?" I asked, discarding the piece of fruit among the boxes.

"Take my hand, and think of nothing but the journey on which you must now embark…"

Her hand suddenly came from out of the glass of the mirror-- I felt uneasy; my stomach was knotting up, but I took her pale hand, and as my body came into contact with the glass of the mirror, it melted away; becoming a shimmering silver fluid-like substance, and I was suddenly in a long, silver room, all alone with the Queen of the Faeries.