Apparently, the curse felt like keeping us in the tale for a while longer. Chord and I were forced to live with that wretched woman and her husband for more than a week before anything more happened.

I was restless. I didn't like all this waiting around and doing nothing. Not to mention the old woman kept calling us 'sluggards' and forcing us into doing all sorts of chores for her. She was beginning to get on my nerves.

"Stay calm," Chord warned for the hundredth time that day after the old woman barked yet another order at us from inside the cottage, "don't make a scene. Keep your head on your shoulders."

I grit my teeth and gathered up the weeds and clippings we had just spent all morning picking out of her garden. "She's just using us. It's clear she doesn't want us around. We're only good as her slaves. I hate this."

Chord scoffed. "Honestly, what else did you expect? That we'd be able to sit back and comfortably enjoy the last few days while we wait for the story to continue?"

"We've sat at that bedroom door every night now, but there hasn't been anything to hear except the old woman's snoring. I'm tired of waiting around. When is this story going to move on?" I dumped my weeds onto the growing burn pile.

"It'll move on when it wants to move on. For now, there's not much we can do expect continue to play the part."

I groaned and dropped to the ground beside him again. "How can you be so calm about this? Aren't you anxious to get out of here."

He shrugged and kept his eyes focused on his task as he said, "Unlike you, this was my life in the curse. Whatever role I was forced to play each round, I had to live in that fairytale until that couple left. I was confined to one tale for months at a time. In your case, I was in that tale for almost an entire year. Compared to most of them, this world is fairly nice." As he spoke, his voice continued to grow lower.

"Wait, so you're saying that you remained one character the entire time someone was in the curse?"

He nodded and looked up to me, confused by my question. "That is what I just said."

"But that doesn't make any sense. Dixie switched roles when I was in here the last time. Why couldn't you?"

"Some characters were granted a little bit more leniency. They were able to change characters as the couple moved through the tales. Some were even able to jump through the tales and enter which ever one they wanted to."

"Yeah, Dixie did that. I remember that much because we used that ability in order to escape. Even I was able to do that when I kept inside the curse as a side character. I never had the same role for very long."

"You were a special case. You are the reason the curse was created in the first place. Of course you would be able to tale jump, but for most of us, we were stuck with the same character each time."

"That sucks."

"Tell me about it."

"Who were you?" I asked slowly, cautiously. "When I was going through the tales, which character did you play?"

Chord's face darkened just like it always did whenever I brought up the subject. "It doesn't matter now."

"Of course it matters," I pushed, ignoring the instinct I had to back off, "do you really think I can trust you if you keep holding back on me like this?"

He took a deep breath, only barely containing his anger and cracked his knuckles. "Look, there are some things that just shouldn't be talked about. Besides, I never want to relive that again. That year was hell. I'm not going to let a little brat like you drag me back into it just so you can trust me. I frankly don't care at all if you trust me or not. That's not why I'm here. I'm here to free everyone else like me. The people with homes and families to return to. Those who are being forced to relive the same nightmares all over again."

I couldn't find anything to say that didn't make me sound like a complete jerk. So instead I asked, "Why are you here?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped. "I thought I just made it clear that I'm here to help rescue eveyrone."

"I know why you're here, in the curse. I mean why are you here, with me, playing the part of a main character? Why weren't you sent back as a side character like you were before?"

Chord went to snap back at me but stopped. He frowned and looked back at the ground. "Now that you mention it, I'm not completely sure to be honest. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I came back into the curse the same way you did, instead of having Iris pull me back in."

"You know Iris?" I was completely shocked, though I wasn't sure why. It was completely logical for him to know her. She was Isis' sister after all and they had probably worked together to build the curse and bring in all the characters. As far as I knew, I was probably the only one who hadn't heard of her before.

He looked back up at me like I had lost my mind. "Of course I do. She's the game master in all of this. Sure Isis controlled the last curse, but this one has Iris written all over it. It's essentially the same curse, but there's something very different about it. It's Iris' handy work, that's for sure."

The old woman's head poked out of the kitchen window above us. "Aren't you two sluggards done yet? I need your help here in the house, and instead the two of you are out here yapping. Keep your mouths shut and your hands busy. I want you both in here in the next ten minutes and that flower bed had better be fit for a king when you do."

"Yes ma'am." Our voices rang out in unison and she darted back inside.

That night, things finally began moving along again. Chord and I found ourselves back outside the couple's bedroom door. At first, there wasn't much to hear except some very loud snoring. I wanted to give up early and go to bed, but Chord insisted we stay just a few more minutes. For once, I wasn't ashamed to admit he was right. If I had given up before, I would have missed it.

"Wake up you lazy oaf." The woman's voice cut through the silence of the night and I could hear her shaking the old man beside her.

"What is it? Is there something wrong?" He asked through a yawn.

"The famine has returned. All the food has nearly vanished. We will not be able to sustain everyone in this household for more than a few days. We must be rid of the children. That is our only hope of survival. Just as we did the last time. We will take them into the woods, deep into the trees, and leave them there, where they will not be able to find their way home again."

The man tried to protest, but the woman insisted and eventually he gave in to her wishes.

"You shall soon see, my dear, that you have made the right decision."

"I do hope you're right."

I turned to Chord with a grin. "Looks like we're back on track."

He sighed. "It appears we are."

The next morning, the old woman came to wake us up and gave us each a slice of bread far smaller than the last time. This time however, on their way out to the woods, they both walked behind us, keeping Chord from being able to sneak some pebbles into his pockets.

"I suppose we'll be using the bread crumbs today." Chord groaned.

"Don't be so uptight. This just means that the story is that much closer to being finished. If we were able to use the pebbles again and have to repeat all of that, I would have gone insane."

He cracked a small smile. "Fair point."

"My you two have been full of words to say recently," the woman said, pushing past us. "if you two walked half as fast as you talked, we'd be there by now."

The man only grunted in consent and slipped by us to go walk beside his wife.

We took our chance and began breaking off pieces of bread to throw on the ground. Chord was far more discreet than I was. Frankly, I just didn't care. So what if they caught us? It wasn't like this trail was going to help us anyway.

I broke large pieces off my bread and it wasn't long at all before I had nothing left. Chord however, was more diligent. He made sure that the trail led all the way to the small clearing where we were to build a camp for dinner.

The couple set to work on building a fire while Chord and I gathered up some kindling for it. After the fire was built, the woman once again told us to stay put and that they would be back to fetch us after they had finished chopping some more wood. Chord and I waved politely and promised to stay put until they came back.

Once they were out of sight, I jumped to my feet. "Alright, lets go. I want to get out of here."

"What's the rush? Nothing happens in the tale until nightfall. Even if we did go now, I doubt we'd find anything. We'd just be wandering around until dark, wasting all our energy. Nah," he yawned and stretched out beside the fire, "I say we just relax and rest here for a while."

"But I-" I groaned and dropped down beside him, "I hate you."

He grinned. "I'd be worried if you didn't."

Once again it didn't take long for night to fall. Within half an hour, the sun had disappeared, leaving in its place, one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. The moon was full and illuminated the earth below in a beautiful white light, while the sky itself was dressed in millions of sparkling stars. The milky way was visible as well, adding some color to the darkness. For a moment, I forgot that none of this was real. The sky above us, the grass tickling the back of my neck, or even the cool night breeze, all of it was a fabrication produced by magic.

"How could anything be this beautiful and not be real? I find it hard to believe that this is all just some magic trick." I wondered aloud.

Chord chuckled beside me. "It's magnificent, isn't it?" He sighed. "I'm surprised you didn't notice it the last time."

"I was a bit preoccupied the last time I was here."

"Despite their many flaws, the Ingreman sisters do have an eye for beauty. This whole world is created to resemble the most beautiful aspects of our own world. If you take the time to slow down and look around, you'll find that this sort of beauty is all around you."

I turned to look at Chord with the hint of an amazed smile. "You never cease to surprise me."

He rolled his eyes. "Let's just get going. We're wasting moonlight."

"Fine, but I don't know how you expect us to find this witch's house. Our trail's already been eaten away by the animals. Which way do you propose we go?"

Chord pointed up at the sky.

I frowned in confusion but followed his line of sight. He was pointing to one of the only constellations I was ever able to find. "You want us to follow the Big Dipper?"

"No," he trailed his finger down an invisible line, "we follow the north star."

"North it is then! Lead the way, my good man."

"How does August put up with you all the time?" Chord groaned as he stood.

I grinned, as we began walking. "This is not the first time you have asked me this question. Perhaps you do not realize it yet, but it's all part of my charm. People can't stay away."

"Mhmm."

"So what's your story? You got a girlfriend back home?"

Chord shook his head. "My girlfriend and I had just broken up before I found myself here in the curse."

"Oh," I shuffled along in silence for a while, unsure of how to follow that up, "how long have you been part of the curse?"

"Since Isis created it. Five years. The day it was finished, she pulled random people off the street to play her characters. There really wasn't much thought behind it."

"That's our Isis," I shook my head with a sigh, "five years is a long time to be here. How are you still sane?"

"A lot of us aren't anymore. To be honest, not many of the original characters are in their right minds anymore. A lot of them have died. Out of the seventy-five people she pulled in that day, only around twenty of them remain with their sanity in check."

"That's horrible."

"Tell me about it." He froze and grabbed my shoulder to stop me. Before I could question what he was doing, he raised his hand pointed to a small clearing in front of us. Through the trees, I could see the outline of a small house. "We're here."

I really am enjoying writing this story and hope y'all are enjoying it too!

Review! :)