Disclaimer: I do not own The 10th Kingdom. This is merely a fanfiction.

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A long corridor. Mirrors on all sides. Frozen glass. Shapes could be made out within each mirror. Bodies. Some distorted. Some with horrific faces.

The young woman walked alone among the corridor. She shuttered at the bitter cold. The mirrors lining the corridor were glazed with frost. She stopped and stared at one of the mirrors, reaching out to touch it. She winced at the bitter cold. These mirrors weren't glass – they were ice.

SLAP!

A body appeared in the mirror, slamming against the ice, banging, begging to be set free. Its face was distorted, horrifying. A monster. She backed away.

"Virginia …"

The voice was carried along a bitter wind. Virginia turned, staring down the corridor.

"Hello?"

Bitter silence.

She slowly started her trek down the hallway again. Other forms appeared in the icy mirrors. Distorted faces.

"Virginia … Help me …"

That voice, so familiar.

More monsters appeared in the icy reflections. She picked up her pace.

"My little girl … my little girl …"

"Mom?" She was running now. "Mom, where are you?!"

"I gave away my soul …"

"Mom!"

A grand door made of the finest oak was at the end of the corridor. Virginia pushed against it. "I'm coming Mom!" The door splintered into icy fragments.

She was in the grand ballroom of Prince Wendell's palace. But it was empty. And dank. The entire floor was covered in ice, which crept up the walls and columns. At the far end of the ballroom, in front of the stairs, stood a mirror. It was larger than any she had seen before. It's clawed feet grasped the ice, the frame was gnarled and twisted, with horns rising from the top. And the frame – ice instead of glass.

"Virginia … please … help me …"

Virginia slowly walked to the mirror. A sense of deep evil pulsed from it. She walked on, mesmerized. When she found herself just in front of the mirror – there was no reflection.

"Virginia … beware … beware the Snow Queen …"

"Mom – where are you?"

A form appeared in the mirror. A beautiful middle-aged woman with red hair and a purple gown. She smiled sadly. Christine White, the former Evil Queen, had appeared before her daughter.

"Virginia … help me …"

"How can I help you? Mom, please?"

"I gave away my soul …"

"Mom, please just come back to me! Please, wherever you are -."

"Beware … beware …"

"Beware of what? Who's the Snow Queen? Mom, come back -."

Christine's image began fading away. "It's too late … I gave away my soul …"

"It's not too late! Mom, don't say that! Don't leave me!"

"Help me … please …"

Christine's image faded away completely. Virginia was screaming, pounding on the icy glass. "Mom! No! Come back! Don't leave me again! Mom!"

The ice suddenly shattered, blistering her eyes. Virginia screamed in pain as the ice swirled around her … and she fell into darkness.

~0~

Virginia sprang up in her bed, holding her head. Her breathing slowed and she looked around. She was in her apartment in New York. Wolf was next to her, mouth slack, snoring away. "Okay Mumzy, one more pork belly for the road."

Virginia's shoulders slumped. The same dream again. The same corridor, the same monsters in icy mirrors. But this time, she had gone further than ever before in her dream. This time she had seen her mother. And her mother was begging for help.

But what did it all mean?

She rolled over and pulled a pillow over her head to drown out Wolf's snoring. It was only a dream – or was it?

She'd be getting no more sleep tonight …