Hey guys! I am so sorry for the long wait for you, but I've been completely stuck, and I decided to just leave it for a few weeks. It helped. I have new ideas and a new chapter for you! Jeeyy!
I think the chapters will be shorter from now on, just so you know. It is to keep the tension present. I hope you enjoy this short chapter!

Thank you for your continued support! It is what helped me get back at this story. Love you,

Lily

XII

There is a sharp knock on the door, which makes the Huntsman and Sahila startle while they're having breakfast. The morning started worse than last night ended. Snow couldn't keep food down. They tried and they tried, but it just kept coming out. Now she is not only dying, but also starving.
The Huntsman has never felt better.
He frowns, he has never been this sarcastic before, not about anything this serious. This must be a very, very bad sign.
Standing up to get the door, he rubs his eyes. The knocking becomes louder, more pressing. "Yes, alright!" he shouts, not feeling friendly at all. "What?" he asks, opening the door to a total stranger, before realising it is a total stranger. For a moment, Eric deliberates if he should slam the door in the stranger's face.

"Where is she?" the stranger asks, sounding out of breath. Eric looks the man over. His eyes are dark and clouded, his short, dark hair is dishevelled and wet from the rain that is pouring from the skies. When he looks up, Eric sees that the man has a strange look in his eyes. Perhaps he is crazy?

"Where is who?"

"The Queen, you moron! Take me to her!"

When the man tries to push past Eric, but with that he oversteps all bounds Eric ever set up. Eric pushes the man back hard, and the man stumbles, falling into the street behind him. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Please! I only wish to offer my assistance! I believe I can cure her!"

Eric stops. Did that dark, dishevelled man just say what he thinks he said? "Come again?"

The man scrambled to his feet. "I think I can help. Please, let me help you."

"Who are you?" Eric asks again. He refuses to let the man in before he knows his true identity.

"I am Elijah." he says, offering his hand as a truce. Eric accepts, but with caution. He still doesn't trust this man. "Listen, if we don't hurry, I am not sure if I can help at all!"

"Can you save her?"

The man looks sincere. "I think I can."

"What can you do that my aunt can't?"

"That is what I want to find out."

Eric nods. "Fine. Go in. If I even smell danger on you, you are finished. Permanently."

Elijah nods and steps over the threshold. "Fair enough. Now where is she?"

"Eric, who is that?" asks Sahila.

"A man who claims to be able to help Snow." says Eric, showing Elijah to Snow White.

"What? You have let him in?"

"Of course!"

Sahila comes running from the kitchen and stops dead when she sees the guest. "Elijah?"

Elijah turns, and his face turns soft at once. "Sahila!" The two of them just stare at each other for a minute, before Eric coughs rather loudly, and then they both turn away from each other. "Right. So, you are the Queen that has healed our land?" Elijah leans over Snow's still and cold body. "She's so far gone. This is going to be tricky."

Eric frowns at Sahila. "You know each other?"

"Yes, we have met. A long time ago."

"Oh, darling, does he not know?" says Elijah, his voice like black silk. Eric turns to him with thunder in his eyes. He should not joke right now. "Well, if your aunt has not told you yet, than I am not going to tell you. I am busy." He gestures to Snow. Eric takes a very deep breath, but it helps very little.

"Sahila?"

"What Elijah is talking about is a secret of my own, one that I am not willing to share just yet. Not because he decided to show up." Eric does not understand at all. Sahila somehow knows this person, and by the way she is speaking about him, Eric gathers that she does not like him at all. But why? And why will she not tell how she knows him? Eric hits the wall hard, mostly to vent his anger out of him. He is so on edge, he feels the need to kill somebody. "Would you kindly leave my house intact?" spits Sahila, before pacing out of the room again.

"Well. She has not changed one bit." says Elijah, amused and chuckling. Eric throws open the door and paces through the rain towards the forest. He needs to kill something now, before he kills Elijah or William or someone else he might regret.

My love...my life...my everything...what do I do without you?

Snow White POV

Everything is black around her. She is very cold. Is this what it feels like to die? It is not what she imagined it would be. She always imagined it to be warm, and good. But this doesn't feel that way at all. This harsh and cold environment, this is not Heaven. This is not where she will meet her mother and father again. She opens her eyes, but meets only blinding whiteness, so she closes them quickly. Then she notices her body is not as exhausted as it was anymore. In fact, she has never felt stronger. She opens her eyes again, and now she is used to the light and she can see more. She looks down to see her body clothed in a beautiful blue dress. She sits up. Her head does not swim for a change. Is this a good sign, or is she really dead? She lifts her hands and looks at them. Her skin is white as snow, but that has always been that way. Slowly, she stands up, and takes a few steps. It feels amazing to walk again, to even be fully conscious again. For the first time in days, she is not feeling nauseous or dizzy. This is probably a good sign.

She lifts her head and looks around. The whiteness is still present, but now Snow can see shadows around her. Chairs, figures. She still has not figured out where she is. "Hello?" Her voice echoes, making her head buzz a little. The longer she is engulfed in this silence, the more restless she becomes. "Eric? William? Anybody?"

"My Queen." Snow startles, and turns quickly. "Welcome." A dark shadow stands a few paces removed from her.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"Come on, you have not figured out yet? I thought you were brighter than this."

Now he is insulting. Who is this man? "Look, if you are going to start insulting me...I can make you very sorry." Her voice is strong and confident, and she knows her father would be proud if he heard her right now.

The shadow laughs, an icy, frighteningly familiar laugh. "You have no power here, my Beauty. This is my world. My world, my rules."

"Where am I?" she asks again, her voice a little less stable and confident. She is not awake at all. She is even deeper than before. She is dead.

"Oh, you are not dead. You are not exactly alive, either. You are...in between, at the moment. And if it were up to me, which it is," the figure laughs at his own cleverness, "you are not moving back or forwards for a very long time." He laughs again, and Snow shivers.

"What do you mean?" she asks, her voice not more than a soft whisper. "Am I going to stay here forever?"

"Exactly."

"Why?" she exclaims, her heart racing, fighting for the life she knows she has already lost. The pain Eric must be going through...and what about William? She cannot do that to them, not again, not now. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Because I love you." Of course. "I have followed orders all my life! Now that my mortal life is over, I will not do that again! I am sick and tired of orders, and I am going to live for myself now! I am taking what I want now, and the only thing I want is you." The entire scenery changes. The white turns to warm brown. A fire place appears, along with a fur and cushions to sit on in front of it. This looks like her own room from so long ago. "I know you recognise it. Sit. Enjoy the heat. It is not very warm in this place, although there are plenty of things you can do to stay warm." Snow shivers when she hears the smirk in his voice. She does not want to think about the 'things' he has in mind. Also, she does not move an inch. The figure is still in the shadows. "I know you are cold. Go sit in front of the fire place, Snow." Now it sounds like an order. Snow used to follow them. But she is Queen now. People follow her orders.

"No." she simply states. This may be his world, but she will not have to follow his rules. She is still her own ruler. "First, you tell me who you are, what I am doing here and how I am going to get out of here. Because, contrary to your believes, I will not stay here forever. I have a life I need to get back to."

The man chuckles. "Alright. Then I will leave you here, leave you alone with your thoughts. I will come back tomorrow, then we will see if you have changed your mind. Good night, my Queen." The figure turns his back on her and walks away, disappearing into the shadows. The sound of a closing door announces that he is really gone. Snow stumbles towards the fur and collapses on it, only now giving into her fear.

"Oh God. Oh God, what am I going to do?" she whispers to nobody in particular, while tears slide over her cheeks. "Please, Eric. Do something. Get me out of here. Save me." She does not know why she calls to Eric. Probably because of his connection to Sahila. Maybe, if he hears, she can do something. "Help me."

She feels cold. Lonely. And above all, extremely frightened.