Here is the next chapter. Thanks to antica and ultraclutch for the reviews. I'm hoping to have another chapter up this weekend but it depends on how much work I still need to do. I was in a bit of a funk Tuesday because Brett Favre retired and so I'm a little behind on studying for midterms. But reviews, especially with constructive criticisms, are very much appreciated.
"You!" Giselle exclaimed as she took a step away from the hag and pointed her finger at her accusingly. "You sent me here."
"I'm so glad to see you. I've been so very worried," the hag lisped giving Giselle an earnest look. Stepping closer she grasped Giselle's arms and started to turn her towards the dance floor. "It was such a horrible accident that brought you to this terrible place with so much sadness." Giselle shivered as the hag began to stroke her hair while continuing to speak. "So much pain. To never be with the one you love. Doomed to be with another . . . for eternity." Giselle found herself frozen as the hag directed her attention towards the dance floor. She could see Robert dancing with Nancy and Edward at the refreshment table trying to discover a way to carry a full plate and two glasses at the same time. Tears came to her eyes as the hag's words began to reverberate in her mind.
Giselle tried to leave but the hag quickly moved to block her path. "But it doesn't have to be that way," the hag crooned. "No, no, no it doesn't have to end there. I can make all those bad memories disappear." Giselle felt a wave of hope rise through her. To be able to forget and return to how life was before falling through the wishing well! To not have to face a choice between Edward and Robert! But to forget everything that had happened here? To forget Nancy's kindness, the sights of New York City, Morgan and Robert? It didn't seem completely worth it but the choice was still very tempting.
Sensing this dilemma the hag quickly produced a shiny, perfect looking red apple and held it in front of Giselle's face. "Here it is," the hag said cajolingly. "Just one bite and then all of this will go away." Against her better judgment Giselle felt herself being drawn into the hag's proposition. She stared pleadingly at the hag, not even sure herself what she was pleading for – whether it was to be released from whatever spell the woman was weaving or if it was actually wanting to give in and take that bite of the apple. This time when the hag brushed the hair away from her face Giselle didn't even flinch, she was too caught up in the choice being held before her.
"The people that you met, you won't remember anything," the hag promised still holding out the apple. As she began to sense victory approaching a note of menace began to enter her voice even as she was still trying to be convincing. "Just sweet dreams and happy endings"
Trembling Giselle took the apple from the hag's hand and held it in front of her pondering all the possibilities it entailed. Deep down she knew that whatever the hag intended, it wasn't to help her. Giselle could still remember feeling a bony hand on her back shoving her into the well. But the choice before her seemed so impossible that any avenue of escape seemed welcome.
"But you must hurry," the hag insisted. "For the magic will not work unless you take a bite before the next time the clock strikes the hour. Hurry now. Hurry." The hag began to tap her fingers together anxiously as Giselle raised the apple to her lips. "Yes, yes, yes."
Giselle opened her mouth to take a bite when she saw Edward beginning to make his way across the dance floor, heading for the stairs. He was carrying a glass in each hand with a small plate balanced on the top of the glass in his left hand. It was the refreshments he had promised her. At this Giselle's foggy brain had a flash of clarity and she remembered Edward's other promise – that he would give her time she needed to make her decision. Feeling weak with relief Giselle knew that she didn't need the apple. The decision wouldn't be easy but it also didn't need to be made now. She had time to think and ponder and learn and then decide.
"No thank you," Giselle whispered as she began to lower the apple away from her mouth.
With a almost completely repressed shriek of rage the hag reached out and grabbed the hand holding the apple and forced it to Giselle's mouth. She viciously shoved the apple into Giselle's mouth. Out of reflex she bit down.
At first the apple tasted exactly like an Andalasian apple should taste like. Sweet with just enough tartness to give the taste some variety and contrast. But after that first impression you began to notice something wrong, a taste of death and decay that lurked just behind. Giselle felt a sensation that was both icy and burning at the same time begin to race through her body and she began to experience everything that was happening at a distance. She could hear the hag's triumphant laugh and feel her body begin to fall to the ground but it all seemed as if it was happening to someone else. Even the feel of the apple in her hand seemed so far away.
The only thing that seemed real were Robert and Edward down the dance floor. She could see both of them as clearly as if she was standing next to them. Desperately she opened her mouth to call to them but not only were her mouth and vocal cords no longer responding to her wishes but she still didn't know who she truly wanted to call out to. As she dimly registered her body hitting the floor and the apple slipping from her hands and begin its journey down the stairs Giselle felt one tear slide from her left eye as darkness overtook her.
Cackling in glee, the hag lifted Giselle over her shoulder and with a menacing look and a growled, "Out of my way," she made her way to the elevator. As the doors closed she said the words that restored her to her true form as Narissa, unaware of what was going on below.
The poisoned apple had continued to role down the floor until it ran into Robert's foot as he danced with Nancy. He bent down and held the apple before him looking at it with a questioning gaze. He had just turned to Nancy to ask her what she thought when he heard another voice.
"What is that," Edward asked with a note of panic coloring his voice. Being Andalasian he knew that the apple did not bode well, especially with the one bite that had been taken out of it.
"I don't know," Robert replied hesitantly. "It must have fallen down the stairs or something." At this Edward looked up where he had left Giselle and upon realizing what was happening all the color left his face. The plate and champagne glasses he was carrying fell from his hand to shatter into shards on the dance floor. Edward was already charging up the stairs three at a time as he drew his sword from its scabbard. Seeing the elevator doors beginning to close as well as the horrified looks of the bystanders he thrust his sword into the door and felt a measure of relief as they began to open once more. Until he saw who was inside.
"Step-mother?!" he cried incredulously.