CHAPTER 16

When the door opened, they saw Jim lying weakly on a stone cot. They quickly rushed over to him.

"Jim," Eric called to him. Jim didn't respond. Eric began to shake him gently. "Jim!"

Jim stirred and opened his eyes weakly. "Eric?" he asked hoarsely. "Cindy? Al? What are you doing here? I didn't think you'd come back for me."

Eric shook his head and smiled. "Hey, what are friends for?"

Jim looked Eric in the eye. "We're friends?" he asked. Eric felt his heart drop, and his smile faded.

Aladdin stepped forward. "Yeah, we are." Jim smiled and held out his hand. Aladdin took it.

Suddenly, without warning, Jim pulled Aladdin hard. Losing his balance, Aladdin fell forward and hit his head on the corner of the cot, knocking him out.

"Jim, what are you doing?!" Cinderella exclaimed, horrified.

Jim didn't answer, simply stood up and pushed her against the wall hard, knocking the wind out of her. Eric began to fight him. But Jim was stronger, and immediately got the upper hand, placing his hand around Eric's neck and beginning to choke him.

"You made a mistake trusting me," Jim snarled.

But Eric saw in his mind, and he knew that this wasn't him. "Jim," he gasped, "she's controlling you. You have to fight her!"

"I can't!" Jim spat out, squeezing harder. Eric's vision began to grow dark.

Having caught her breath, Cinderella used a power she didn't know she had, her magic pushing Jim against the wall and holding him there. Eric was released, and fell to the floor, coughing and breathing heavily. Cinderella tried to rush over to help Eric, but was stopped by a hand on her arm. Looking behind her, she saw the witch.

"You're going to regret that," Vanessa warned.

Cinderella pulled away. "I may regret whatever you do to me," she answered bravely, "but I'll never regret saving his life!"

Fire burned in the witch's eyes. "He should have died the day he lost his power!" she screamed furiously, and threw Cinderella so high that she hit the ceiling. When Cinderella fell to the floor, a few of the ceiling tiles fell with her. She simply lay there for a minute, the breath knocked out of her.

Vanessa laughed, her voice deep and cruel, and suddenly began to transform. Her hair grew short and white, her skin turned purple, and her two legs became six black tentacles. Slithering over to Cinderella, she picked the stunned girl up by the neck, the suckers on her tentacles leaving marks that would last a long time. Cinderella gasped, trying desperately to breathe, but failing.

The witch looked at Cinderella, a gleam in her eye. "The last fairy," the witch sneered. "The final obstical." Then the witch smiled. "Now I will be ruler of all the world. No one will be able to defeat me!"

"You want to bet?" Aladdin asked angrily. The witch looked up in surprise. He had transformed into a huge tiger and immediately pounced her, claws out and teeth bared. She lifted a hand to swat him away, but was surprised to be attacked from behind by Eric and Jim, who had been released from both of them unconsciously during the fight. The witch screamed in fury. She had been so focused on Cinderella, that she hadn't even noticed the boys waking up!

As Cinderella struggled to stay conscious, she heard Eric's voice in her head: "Cindy, now!"

Mustering all her strength, Cinderella managed to take away the witch's magic in the few seconds that the boys had caught her off guard. Screaming in agony, the witch dropped Cinderella, who crawled away, gasping for breath.

As the boys gathered protectively around Cinderella, all four of them watched in horror as they saw the witch die, quickly disintegrating before their eyes until there was nothing left but a pile of dust.

The four friends sat in silence for a minute, shocked. Finally, Cinderella spoke up. "Did I kill her?"

"No," Eric assured her quickly. "You didn't. She killed herself. Three hundred years caught up to her all at once. It couldn't be helped."

Jim shook his head, ashamed of himself for being controlled, and happy to be rid of the witch at last. "Come on, let's get out of here."

...

Sorry for the short chapter, I'll try to do better. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!