“It’s so magical,” Jaq said, sighing.
“And comforting,” Gus added. “Look! There she is!”
They watched as Cinderella walked out from the barn, sprinkling bird seed on the ground. She sang, twirling in a circle, and birds flew around her. Behind her, a horse peeked it’s head out through the doorway, letting out a loud neigh.
Cinderella jumped, laughing. “Oh, I didn’t forget about you, Major.” She lifted a hand, petting his large head, and glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widening when she saw Jade. “Who are you?”
“A friend, I hope. My name is Jade, and I’m here to help,” Jade said, pointing to the mice on her shoulder. “With a little help from a couple of little ones.”
“Jaq! Gus!” Cinderella propped her hands on her hips, scowling at them. “What did you do?”
“We’re helping you, Cinderella!” Jaq cried. “You don’t deserve to be treated like this. To work day in and day out, for people who are supposed to be your family. It’s not right!”
“He’s right,” Jade said. “Family should support you, be there for you. Not make you do laundry, clean the dishes, or muck out the stalls. You have a right to be happy, Cinderella. Just like they do.”
“I was happy once,” Cinderella whispered. “I found love, but then it was taken away from me. By her.” She lifted her head, staring at her step-mother as she stared through the window. “He’s been looking for me ever since.”
“How do you know?”
“I hear them talking. They’re not very quiet, and the birds…” She smiled, as a white bird flew through the air, landing on her shoulder. “They tell me of his journey, but he’ll never find me. She’ll make sure of that.”
“Please. Even Lady Tremaine doesn’t have that kind of power. Come on,” Jade said, holding a hand out. “I’m getting you out of this place, Cinderella.”
“I can’t leave, Jade! I’m cursed!”
“Please! Curses aren’t real!” Now why did I say that? “Plus this is a fairytale. Your fairytale. Whatever you want to do, you can do it! Now come on, let’s get out of here!” She let out a whistle, gesturing to Major. The horse let out a neigh, racing out of the barn. He jumped over the fence and slid to a stop next to them, pawing his large hoof into the ground as he snorted.
“Hmm. I think someone wants to go for a ride,” Jade said, smiling. “Come on, Cinderella. We should go, quick!”
“I don’t know…”
“Do you want someone else marrying your prince? Maybe one of them?” She gestured toward the mansion.
“No! Okay! Okay! I’ll go!” She jumped on Major’s back. “Hit the button next to the gates, Jade. It’s the only way to open them.”
Jade nodded, punching her hand against the button. The gates swung open. “Go, Cinderella!”
“Not without you. She’ll kill you for helping me.” Cinderella held a hand out. “Come with me.”
“To a ball?” Jade laughed. Could she really say no? She placed her hand in Cinderella’s, and Cinderella pulled her up.
“Hey!”
The shout sounded behind them, and they turned. Watching as Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drusilla raced toward them. “What are you doing?”
“Helping someone in need. It’s what I do.”
“You’re a witch,” Lady Tremaine said, narrowing her eyes. “I knew I should have never trusted you!”
“You’re right. I am a witch,” Jade said. “A good witch, and you will not stand in the way of Cinderella’s happiness. Major, go!”
The horse reared up, racing forward. Bouncing back as something invisible blocked his path.
“What’s going on?” Cinderella asked. “Why can’t we cross?”
“Looks like there’s some sort of invisible fortress around the mansion,” Jade said. “I’m sorry, Cinderella. I was wrong. You are cursed.”
“So what do we do now?”
“You clean,” Lady Tremaine said, yanking them both off the horse’s back.
Jade cried out, falling into the mud. “Yuck!” She brushed her hair out of her face, lifting her head as Lady Tremaine tossed a bucket at her. “Welcome, Jade. You are now officially the newest member of my cleaning crew. Now, get to work!”
“Oh. Ouch.”
Julie groaned, glancing at the rock surrounding her. “Well, this is just great. I get stuck in my favorite fairytale, meet all my favorite characters, and almost die in the process. How is any of this fair?”
The rock in front of her shook, and she jerked her head around. Sunlight seeped through and she squinted, staring at Sebastian as he squeezed through the tiny hole. “Sebastian!”
“Jesus, Lady! I thought you were dead!”
“So did I,” Julie said, laughing a little at the predicament she was in. “That was one scary sea witch!”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Sebastian said. “Do you think you can wiggle free?”
Julie shook her head. “No. My leg’s caught under a rock. I don’t think I can move it.”
“Hold on.” Sebastian scurried over, pushing at it with his small claws. He grunted, panting out a breath as he stared at the rock.
“It’s too heavy for you, isn’t it?”
“Maybe. Let me try another thing.” He leaned back against the rock, trying to push it with his back. His tiny legs creating a hole in the ground and he slid to the ground, panting. “I’m sorry, Julie. It’s too big. I can’t move it.”
“So I’m just stuck here?”
“Hold on.” Sebastian leaned back, scratching his head with his claw. “Let me think a moment.”
“Sebastian, we don’t have a moment! The very waters you live in are in danger! Who knows what she’s going to do!”
“You think I don’t know that?” Sebastian asked. “Julie, this is my home!”
“Caw! Caw!”
The noise sounded overhead, and Julie lifted her head, as sunlight seeped in from above her. Rock upon rock disappeared from above her as a dozen seagulls flew through the air, taking the rocks off her.
“Oh my God! Scuttle! You are a life saver!” she cried, the rest of the rocks disappearing, and she finally wiggled free, rising to her feet.
“Nah. I just have a lot of winged friends,” Scuttle said, winking at her. “Now, where’s Eric?”
“Over here!”
Flounder bounced out of the water, pointing his fin outward. “Julie! Sebastian! I think he’s hurt!”
“Eric!”
Julie turned, racing across the beach to where he was lying motionless. She fell to her knees, touching a hand to his cheek. “Eric?”
“He needs a doctor,” Scuttle said. “Looks like he’s got a tumor.”
“A tumor?” Julie raised a brow at him. “How could you possibly know that?”
“The bruise on his head.”
Julie rolled her eyes. “Oh my goodness, Scuttle! You know absolutely nothing! Just like when you told Ariel to use that fork as a comb!”
“What?”
“That pronged thing Ariel found, remember?”
“Oh, yes! You know what that is?”
“Of course I do,” Julie said, laughing. “It’s called a fork, you eat with it! Just like a bruise does not mean he has a tumor. If anything, it means he has a big headache, or maybe a concussion. Come on. Help me get these rocks off of him!”
Together, she, Sebastian, Scuttle, and the seagulls lifted the rocks off of Eric. “Eric, can you hear me?” Julie asked.
“Loud and clear,” Eric said, opening his eyes and grinning at her. “I knew you were the right person for the job. You’re spunky!”
“Spunky?” Julie raised a brow at him. “I don’t know about that.”
“Oh, you are definitely spunky,” Sebastian said. “And tough. A lot like Ariel.”
“Ariel. Ariel!” Eric suddenly jumped to his feet. “No. No! No! No!”
“Eric, what’s wrong?”
“The casket! Ariel!” He held a hand to his side, wheezing out a
breath, as he searched through the rubbish. “Where is she?”
“Oh no.” Julie held a hand to her mouth, staring down at the shattered glass near the beach. “Eric…”
“No!”
Eric fell to his knees, staring at Ariel’s body lying, motionless on the beach. “No! No! No! Her body was supposed to stay in that casket! It was preserving her body until she gave birth! This is not good! Not good at all! Now she’ll never come back to me.” Tears ran down his face, and he lifted his head, looking at Julie. “Julie, you have to do something. I brought you here for a reason. To help us.”
“I don’t know how I can, Eric,” Julie said, softly. “I have no powers in this realm. I have no way of defeating Ursula.” She bowed her head, drawing in the sand with her foot. She then turned, looking at Eric, Flounder, and Sebastian. Her heart breaking at the sadness etched on their faces. Finally, her gaze went to Ariel, laying in the sand, and she suddenly knew in her heart what she had to do.
“I guess I’ll have to figure it out,” she said, spinning on her heel, and racing across the beach. She lunged forward, landing in the ocean with a huge splash.
“Julie!” Sebastian hurried across the sand, staring at her with wide eyes. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to do what I was sent here to do,” Julie said, watching as her feet turned to a fin. “I’m going to put this story back the way it’s supposed to be.”
“But how?” Flounder asked, swimming toward her. “Like you said, you have no powers!”
“I’ll have to improvise,” Julie said.
“But you’ll get yourself killed!” Sebastian and Flounder cried at the same time.
“Ursula is very strong,” Sebastian said.
“Her power comes from the trident,” Flounder added.
“She sees everything.”
“Hears everything.”
“And she has the king,” Eric added. “Defeating her will be no easy task, Julie.”
“I don’t expect it to be,” Julie said, looking back at Eric. “But I’m a witch. A good witch, and dammit, I am not going to let my favorite fairytale get jerked around as if it means nothing! This sea witch, doesn’t know who she’s messing with!” She turned, diving into the water.
“Julie! Wait! I’m coming with you!” Sebastian shouted.
“Me too!” Flounder cried.
“No. You can’t come,” Julie said. “I can’t risk you dying!”
“What’s the reward if there’s no risk?” Sebastian asked. “And you need a lot of help right now, Julie, if you’re going to be successful, and I have an excellent idea.”
“Oh?” Julie raised a brow.
“Please! As if I’m going to tell you all of my secrets!” Sebastian cried, rolling his eyes. “Come on! We’re losing daylight!”
“Tyler, what the hell?”
Josslyn cried out, landing on the cold cement with a loud thump, as the dungeon door slammed shut with a loud bang.
“You’re causing too much trouble, Josslyn,” Tyler said, staring at her through the bars. “You’re just going to make things worse.”
“But I’m trying to help you!”
“No, you’re going to ruin me,” Tyler said, turning the key in the door, a click sounding. “And I will not let you ruin me, before I help the people I love.” He disappeared around the corner, his feet sounding on the steps, and Josslyn sighed, leaning against the door.
“What the hell happened?” she asked aloud, staring around the dungeon, feeling utterly helpless. She held up her hand, silently wishing her powers worked here, but she was in another realm, another universe. A universe, where she didn’t exist, and neither did her powers.
“Kind of a mean, little prick, isn’t he?”
The voice sounded nearby, and Josslyn jumped. She jerked her head around, staring at the candlestick in the corner. “More talking furniture?”
“You’re in a fairytale, Josslyn. Your favorite fairytale. Don’t look so shocked.” The candlestick bounced forward, gesturing one of his candles. Behind him, a clock, and teacup appeared.
“Do you think she’s safe?” The teacup asked.
“She’s awfully big?” A smaller teacup said, peering around the larger teacup.
“But she is pretty,” the clock said, gazing up at her. “Too bad the beast doesn’t like women.”
“What happened to him?” Josslyn asked, looking from one to the other. “He just changed. One minute we were talking, working together to get this damned curse lifted, and the next boom!” She clapped her hands together. “He was like a completely different person!”
“It was the beast talking,” the candlestick said. “Any sort of contact with the sun, turns his heart even darker.”
“But the rose…”
“Is losing petals even as we speak,” the clock said. “Between that, and the sun, his heart will be black before this evening if we don’t do something.”
“But what can we do?”
“Find Brandon.”
“Is he here?”
The teacup shook its head. “No. We’ve looked everywhere. He must be in town.”
“In town?”
The small teacup nodded, jumping forward. “There’s this city, not far from here. Has everything you could ever want.”
“Jewelry.”
“Clothes.”
“Beer.”
Everyone turned, swinging around to look at the clock.
“What can I say. I miss my beer,” the clock said, gesturing away their looks of shock. “Don’t tell me none of you don’t miss some parts of your normal life.”
“Of course we do,” the teacup said, shaking her head. “But Clocksworth, be respectful to the lady! She’ll think you’re a drunken fool!”
“All men are drunken fools,” Josslyn said, pushing herself to her feet. “So, how do you propose I get out of here?”
“Over there,” Clocksworth pointed to the window on the other side of the room. “You should be able to squeeze through.”
“Of course,” Josslyn murmured, rolling her eyes. “Thank God for being petite, right?” She started across the room, stopping at the window to glance back at the four. “Please don’t lose hope. I’ll do whatever I can to help your master.”
“He’s not our master!” the teacup said.
“He’s our friend!” the smaller teacup said, bouncing up to her. “I’m Chip!”
Josslyn laughed. “Oh, Chip, I know who you are. You were one of my favorite characters in the fairytale. And of course there’s your mother, Mrs. Potts, and of course Lumière.”
“It’s kind of freaky you know so much about us, but we don’t know anything about you,” Clocksworth said, placing his hands on his hips. “How do we know you’re not just another evil witch?”
“I guess you’re just going to have to trust me, Clocksworth,” Josslyn said, gripping the edge of the window, and lifting herself through the opening. “But I give you my word. I’ll be back.”
“I hope so,” Mrs. Potts said, glancing at the sky. “We’re running out of time. If we don’t find Brandon, Tyler will never be able to find happiness, and you…”
“What about me?”
“You’ll be stuck here, forever.”
Josslyn froze at the words. “Wait. If I don’t fix this fairytale, I’ll be stuck here? Forever? I won’t see my sisters?”
“That’s right. I think it’s part of the witch’s plan,” Lumère said. “To keep you here, so she can be the most powerful witch of all time.”
“Then the bitch doesn’t know who she’s dealing with,” Josslyn said, crawling out onto the grass, and racing across the lawn. She slid to a stop in front of a dapple-gray horse, a smile spreading across her face as she lifted a hand to the creature. “Hi there.”
The horse snorted, nudging her with its big nose, and pawed at the ground. Josslyn glanced over her shoulder at the saddle laying on the fence. “You wanna go for a ride?”
The horse snorted, nudg
ing her with his big nose.
“I guess I’ll take that as a yes,” Josslyn said, quickly saddling the horse, and mounting. She gripped the reigns in her hands, remembering the days she used to ride, and suddenly missing them. It had been so relaxing!
“Alright, let’s go!” she cried, nudging the horse with her heel, glancing back at the dark castle behind her, sadness washing through her. “Don’t worry, Tyler. I’ll do my best to break this curse. I promise.”
“Ahh!”
Jasmine screamed, her body tumbling downward through what seemed like empty space. A hole opened up below her, and she gasped as her body hit the hard ground with a loud thunk.
“Ouch,” she groaned, rubbing a hand against the side of her head, and pushing herself to her feet. Her foot slid on loose rock, and she let out another scream, glancing below her at the rolling, hot, orange lava lying far below. “What the…”
“Ahh!”
The shout sounded above her, and she jerked her head around. Watching as an air pocket opened overhead, Sky, Aladdin, and Abu falling from the skies.
“Sky! Aladdin!”
“Jasmine!” Sky jumped to his feet, his eyes widening when he saw the hot lava. “What the hell…”
“Welcome to the cave of wonders,” Aladdin said, rising from the pillar he was standing on, glancing at Sky across the lava, then at Jasmine either further across the room. “Or at least what’s left of it.”
“What happened to it?” Jasmine asked, swallowing as lava spouted up from below. “I thought it was full of treasure!”
“It was, a long time ago,” Aladdin said. “When we first found the lamp. Now though, it’s in ruins. Ever since someone decided to touch the diamond…” He turned, glaring at Abu.
Abu glared back at him, lifting his hands in the air as if asking, who me?
“And now it’s Jafar’s banishing grounds?” Jasmine asked.
“You got it,” Aladdin said, pointing a finger as an air pocket opened above them. A young man fell through the opening, plummeting downward. Lava spewed up from the orange depths, swallowing him. The man’s screams echoing through the air.
Once Upon a Hallow’s Eve Page 7
