The wind blew through Apple's blonde hair and she clung to the rock for her life. The wind threatened to blow her off and large waves crashed below, sending sea foam and water in a multitude of directions and soaking Apple through and through. She had finally made it to the castle, but she still had to get castle was surrounded with a large moat, bordered with boulders. The stone bridge had crumbled part of the way, so they only way to get inside was to climb the huge boulders. It took a while, but she eventually reached the top, unharmed. There she had a good glimpse of the old, blackened castle. Black vines with thorns grew all over the castle and it's grey, crumbly stone was scarred with deep cracks in several places.
'This is where Raven lives?' Apple thought out loud to herself as she hauled herself over the top of the boulder and, to her dismay, onto the moist, black soil that clung to her clothes and hair. Quickly she brushed herself off as well as she could, though there was no way that she could get all of it. The path up to the castle was covered with dangerous-looking sharp rocks and all sorts of debris. Her walk to the front door seemed to take forever and Apple found her aware of the unforgiving silence that filled the air. The only sound that broke it was the distant sound of waves crashing over the boulders and the sharp squarks from a couple of of crows that circled the castle. Apple pulled her thin cardigan tighter across her arms and mentally kicked herself for not bringing anything warmer. What she wouldn't do for a nice warm coat. Apple continued her hike and when she finally reached her destination, it was made apparent just how much the castle was in disrepair. Many of the windows on the lower floor had been broken and some were completely missing. But worst of all there were twisted black thorns gripping the two front doors together, effectively closing off the entrance. Apple ran to the door and tried to pull the thorn from the door but they were too thick. Before giving up hope, Apple spied a palm-sized rock with a sharp rigid point. Carefully she fitted the rock in her hand and in one sift movement, she brought the sharp edge down on the thorn. With a soft crunch Apple saw the thorn started to crack. With growing hope she brought the rock down on bramble after bramble. It was hard work but the door were soon cleared. Apple brushed a stray hair, coated in sweat away from her forehead when she felt something warm on her palm. It was a single drop of royal-red blood. Apple watched as one drop turned into two, then three. Quickly, she puller out her first-aid kit and bandaged the wound. This place was already having an effect on her. She wanted to leave it as quickly as she possibly could.
As she opened the door it gave out a long groan. Inside the place looked very unkept, which made sense considering that no one actually lived here until Raven came home for summer break. The wallpaper was flaking away and cobwebs lined every nook. The ceiling were high up and the entire castle being made out of stone resulted in the deprivation of nearly ever speck of warmth. Whilst walking down one of the long dim hallways, Apple stumbled upon the only room that wasn't dirty or broken. She immediately concluded that this had to be Raven's room.
A black bed was against one side of the room. It had stiff black and purple bed sheets. On the opposite wall hang a dark purple mirror and a short dark-wood desk without a single piece of paper or stationary on it, instead there was a thick layer of dust. In one of the bottom draw of the desk Apple food the only personal belonging so far in the room. It was a dusty photo frame with a photo of Maddie and Raven when they were younger, maybe 9 or 10 years old. Apple never realised that Raven and Maddie went so far back. It did explain why Maddie was so protective of Raven, especially in the last few days. She put the chipped photo frame back in its draw and continued on in the room. Lastly, Apple went towards the rickety old wardrobe. The second that she opened the right door, she wished she hadn't because it immediately fell off it's hinges and crashed to the ground, causing Apple to leap back in surprise and scream. The loud sound echoed through the empty castle for a few seconds before returning to it's still quiet. Getting over her shock, Apple looked inside the wardrobe only to find that it was completely empty, except for a single coat hanger lying on the floor.
'Huh.' Apple thought. 'Even though it's the only well kept room in the house, it's so empty that Raven couldn't stay here all of break.' Apple shook her head and ignored the thought. She had to get back to work and find that mirror.
Apple left Raven's room and continued searching down the hall. Bats flew in the rafters of some hallway. Apple screamed and covered her head with her arms to get through. She was thoroughly shaken and trod through the castle a lot more carefully afterwards. She winced every time one of their howls echoed through the hallow halls of the castle. After wandering tirelessly, she entered what looked like another bedroom. There were many key differences that defined that this bedroom was different to all the rest. There, in the middle of the back wall, was a deep red-coloured four poster queen-sized bed with red satin curtains. It would have looked quite remarkable and magnificent if it wasn't so dust and tattered. Holes were spotted her and there in the satin curtains and the golden-brown colour of the wood was dimmed by a thick layer of dust. It looked like the bed hadn't been disturbed in centuries. The entire room matched the bed, in grand and magnificent style, but tarnished, worn with age and coated liberally in dust. All the furniture looked as if it had come from a different century. But none of that mattered as Apple's eyes locked on another object, standing of to the side, near a corner. Apple hadn't even noticed it was there when she had first entered the room but there it stood. Tentatively, she crept over to it and reach out her hand to touch it. In one swift movement, she pulled the heavy white cloth that concealed the object off. The movement caused dust to fly into the air and Apple to cough profusely. But there in all it's glory stood exactly what Apple had been searching for. The Queen's magic mirror. As Apple approached the mirror with caution it started to swirl purple and black, as if aware of her presence. Apple stretched out her hand slowly and cautiously to touch mirror. There was a flash of bright light as Apple felt herself being pulled inside. She tried to resist but it was too late. She was stuck in the mirror with no way of getting out.
Back at Ever After High, Dexter slumped in his chair in the Castleteria, pushing around his lunch. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Cupid until she was forcefully shaking him.
"Dexter Charming!" She shouted at him. Dexter jumped at the sound of another person.
"Oh hey Cupid. What's up?" He asked awkwardly.
"Might ask you the same question." Cupid said back.
"What do you mean?" a confused Dexter asked.
"Don't play dumb with me. I've been watching you for the last couple of hours and I can tell something's up. You insist on being by yourself and you haven't eaten a thing."
"Fine! I can't hide anything from you." Dexter put his hands up in defeat and Cupid allowed herself a little giggle.
"So, what's going on?" Cupid asked again. Dexter sighed, knowing that he was going to have to tell Cupid the truth.
"You know how Apple has to start hers and Raven's story. Well I've just realised that if Raven's going to be the next Snow White, then she's going to end up marrying my brother." Dexter revealed glumly. He went back to moving his fries around on his plate, pretending not to notice Cupid's gasp of shock as she realised that he was right.
"Oh Dex, I had no idea! I never thought of that!" Cupid ran over to comfort Dexter, knowing how badly a broken heart feels. She tried her best to push that little devil side of her away as it was starting to celebrate Dexter heartache, because it meant he was now available.
Unable to stop her little devil she blurted out "Dexter, we need to take your mind off things. How about dinner, then we can properly talk things over."
"Why not." Dexter replied, not really listening and realising she meant it more as a date. Despite the circumstances, Cupid couldn't help but feel victorious as she gleefully left to go and pick out an outfit.
Apple stood all alone, it was too dark to see more then a metre in front of her, although she could make out a strange purple mist that came up to her knees. She stumbled blindly in the dark, hoping to find some way out, until she was interrupted by a loud, booming female voice.
"I see that the daughter of my nemesis has trespassed into my lair! Apple White, you seek the key to your story."
"Yes. That is um.. correct." Apple trembled, terrified of the mysterious voice. "How do you know?"
"You dare question me in my own home! Why do you think I should give it to you!?" The Evil Queen asked menacingly. Apple could hardly believe that this was Raven's mother. No resemblance whatsoever. They didn't even seem related. While Raven could loose her temper from time to time, she was usually so gentle and wouldn't do anything to hurt others.
"Please, if you don't give me the key your daughter will never wake up." Apple weakly argued as she tried to convince her. There was only silence for a little while. The Evil Queen seemed to contemplate this before making her decision.
"Fine." she agreed somewhat half-heartedly. "I'll give you one chance. You are to pass all three challenges I throw at you. If you succeed then the key is yours. If you fail even one task you'll be stuck here!" Apple hesitated before agreeing. She didn't like it, but there was no other option. The challenges couldn't be that hard, could they? As she waited for something to happen, Apple thought over the conversation she had had with The Evil Queen.
'If the Evil Queen changed her mind when she found out that Raven was in danger, then maybe she does care. Maybe there is some motherly love.' Apple thought to herself. Suddenly the darkness changed. The room was then dimly lit by some mysterious light source which revealed two dark green hedges, almost 4 meters or about 13 ft. It was the entrance to a maze. Without hesitation, Apple made her way into the maze. She wanted to get this over as quickly as possible.