Even Natalie gulped. “The Blood-Eyed?”
The zombie girls nodded in unison.
“And with those burning crimson eyes,” Cinderella said in a tone that grew grimmer with each spoken word, “there came unspeakable yearnings to consume anything … especially flesh and blood.”
Caitlin shuddered.
Cinderella looked her in the eye. “The populace became like mindless automatons, operating under the complete control of their depraved impulses. Enslaved by their diabolic desires. They had become remorseless, bloodthirsty ghouls.”
Caitlin squeezed Natalie’s hand tightly.
Snow waved a finger. “With positively no manners and not a trace of dignity.”
Cindy’s eyes narrowed like a fox’s. “They’re dangerously agile. And deceptively quick. They’re also clever as weasels when it comes to hunting down food.”
“B-b-ut, what about you girls?” Caitlin said with a quiver in her voice as Cinderella eyeballed Natalie again. “Your eyes are still … so beautiful.”
“Royal blood. It gives us more resilience to resist the urges.”
“I’m only royal by marriage,” Cinderella noted. “Thinner blood … ” She leaned in toward Natalie. “Which explains why your scent remains succulent to my senses.”
Natalie shrugged her off and muttered, “Pays to be a princess.”
Snow said, “Our eyes won’t be clear for long, though.” The zombie girls exchanged worried glances as she continued. “If Beauty’s dream is accurate, the queen’s herald will sound the gong again on Halloween Night. Tonight. At midnight. And then she’ll wave her scepter for the fourth and final time.” Her eyes welled up. “We’ll never survive it.”
Beauty stretched and yawned, as she awoke from her catnap.
“Right now,” Rapunzel said, “we can control our cannibalistic urges by satisfying our appetites with spicy food.”
Cinderella whipped out a long, red sausage. “Pepperoni, anyone?” She bit off the tip and chewed heartily—while leering at Natalie. “And little you,” Cindy continued, caressing the edges of her chili pepper costume, “stuffed inside that pungent pepper outfit. What a delectable snack for moi!-”
Natalie glared. “You’re excreting saliva on my shoulder.”
“Shut it down, Cindy,” Rapunzel ordered.
Caitlin was now convinced she needed to do whatever it took to get out of here before Natalie wound up in some ghoul’s digestive tract. And if that meant helping these zombie princesses, so be it.
“I had another dream,” Beauty said.
Ears perked up and the group gave Sleeping Beauty their full attention.
“He’s ready to help us,” she said. “He knows how to end this malignant affliction!”
“Who?” Caitlin asked.
“A wise, old sage,” Beauty replied. “A master of metamorphosis. The one who appeared in my dream. The one who instructed us to fetch you. He’s demanding that we bring you to him in person.”
Caitlin gulped.
“At once.”
Natalie Fletcher nodded pensively as she massaged her chin.
“Hmmm. A master of metamorphosis,” she said. Her face brightened. “I’m betting he has twelve eyes. Am I right, ladies?”
Beauty nodded with a smile and said, “He’s a wise caterpillar. And he can transform chaos into order.”
Natalie pumped her fist in the air. “I knew it. The hookah-smoking caterpillar! From Wonderland. How cool.”
“Okay,” Caitlin said, “So where and why does this caterpillar need me.”
“He usually hangs out at the Ali Baba Ganoush Hookah Lounge,” Cindy said.
Snow frowned. “Oh, no! That place is most unsavory. We cannot bring children in there.”
Natalie crossed her arms in a huff, obviously offended.
“Don’t worry,” Beauty responded. “The caterpillar gave up the hookah. He’s an organic tea drinker now. In my dream, I saw him hiding in a cave near his mushroom. He’s trying to steer clear of the Blood-Eyed.”
“There’s proof of his wisdom,” Natalie whispered to Caitlin.
“I saw a boulder,” Beauty said. “Covered in moss. It sits by the hidden entrance to his cave. We’ll recognize it by large clusters of four-leaf clovers surrounding it.”
“Is he a caterpillar or a leprechaun?” Natalie muttered.
“How do we find it?” Rapunzel asked.
“I can get us there,” Snow interjected in a solemn tone. She closed her eyes and raised a hand to catch the soft warm wind. She caressed it with her fingers.
An exasperated Caitlin stamped her foot. “Will someone please tell me why you need me?”
Beauty gently put an arm around Caitlin’s shoulders. “Only he knows that. That’s why you must go to him.”
“Can this caterpillar help me get back home?”
Natalie smirked. “Sounds like there’s a yellow-brick road in our future.”
Beauty gave Natalie a blank look. “No. That belongs to another kingdom, rather far from here.”
“I was being irreverent.”
“Oh.” Beauty yawned.
Snow White opened her eyes as she turned to survey the vast landscape. She pointed southward. “Zeno’s Forest lies that way.”
Zeno’s Forest?
When the zombie girls saw the direction Snow was pointing, their faces became a collective mask of concern.
“You sure you wanna go that way?” Cindy asked.
Snow shrugged nervously. “No choice.”
After a good half an hour of hiking under a blistering sun, the girls came upon an expansive meadow overrun with bamboo plants; large, green flowers; and rows of odd-shaped plants that were mostly the same size as Natalie—though some were three times her size.
The blooms of the green flowers were oval-shaped and their petals were mainly all closed. They were attached to thick, succulent stems. When the large, elongated pods did open, they did so unexpectedly and on their own, like magic books.
Crimson glistened on the insides of the pod petals. The leaves were lined with long, graceful wisps. From a distance, they looked like fluttering eyelashes, delicately opening and closing.
Caitlin wondered why these flowers had remained green—they were not decaying.
“Better get ready to dance and dash,” Cinderella said as they drew close.
Dance and dash?
Snow explained. “The flora here rely on something besides water and sun for nourishment.”
“Yeah, like rodents,” Cindy said. “Those plus-size pods could easily hold a few rats.”
“Hehhhhhhhh.”
A weird hiss was audible as they drew closer to the flower field.
Caitlin jumped. “Snakes!”
Her bulging eyeballs scoured the withered grass beneath her feet.
“Hehhhhhhhh.” A louder hiss.
The bulbous head of a green flower suddenly unhinged like a jaw. Saw-blade sharp, polished fangs glistened in the sunlight. They dripped thick mucus.
“Hehhhhhhhh!” The flower hissed like a python, pivoting its eyeless face toward the girls. Caitlin shuddered. Those graceful wisps they’d seen from afar were in fact spindly, pronged teeth. They studded the inner edge of each pod half. The flower opened its jaw. A hot-pink tongue lashed out at Caitlin.
“Ssssssssss!”
Natalie took out her camera and snapped a couple pictures of the monstrous plants. She seemed thoroughly intrigued.
“What are these ghastly creatures?” Caitlin asked.
Natalie lowered her camera. “They appear to be some exotic form of Dionaea muscipula.”
“English, please.”
“Venus flytraps.”
Cindy elbowed Caitlin. “Ravenous and carnivorous Venus flytraps.”
Caitlin rocked back and forth on her heels. “You mean, like, flesh-eating plants?”
“I do,” Cindy replied. “And those razor-sharp teeth also secrete venom.”
Caitlin swallowed.
Deeper in the meadow, Caitlin could see more unfamiliar and fierce-looking plant life. All species were supersized and scattered thickly across the dry grassland.
Natalie snapped another photo and said, “It’s the meadow from hell.”
“Got that right,” Cindy said.
“What’s that disgusting, foul odor?” Caitlin asked as she suppressed a gag reflex.
“Corpse flowers,” Natalie said, aiming her camera at the flower patch. She snapped two more pictures and said, “They stink like rotting corpses. The stench attracts blowflies and beetles, which feast on decomposing flesh. Don’t get too close. If that putrid smell invades your nostrils, you’ll be projectile vomiting lickety-split.”
Cindy lifted her chin. Her nose twitched. She was sniffing the air. “But I sense something sweet too,” she said.
Natalie pointed. “Over there. The carnivorous pitcher plants.” The meat-eating plants had huge pitcher-shaped digestive tracts easily big enough to hold a frog or two.
“Their leaves are moistened with sweet nectar,” Natalie said, “But it’s a deathtrap. When a bug comes to taste, it lands on the slippery rim of the pitcher. The insect slips into the pitcher and drowns in a pool of digestive enzymes.”
Ugh!
Natalie suddenly squinted and knitted her brows together in bewilderment.
“What is it?” Caitlin asked.
“Cannibal tree.”
Caitlin followed Natalie’s line of sight. There it was: a twenty-foot-high tree with a thick, pineapple-shape trunk stood tall in a grove. Long, slithering tendrils moved around like octopus arms.
Natalie slowly shook her head in amazement. “It’s called the Madagascar Tree. Some call it the Devil Tree. Except this particular species is not supposed to exist. At least not where we come from.”
“What are you talking about?” Caitlin asked.
Natalie was clearly in her element.
“Karle Liche.”
“Who’s he?”
“A German explorer. He visited Madagascar back in the late 1800s. He came upon a cannibal tree. Said it possessed some kind of demonic intelligence. With his own eyes he watched the tree snatch a primitive tribeswoman. Wrapped her up in its tendrils. Kept her wrapped up like that for a week. When the tree finally let her go, all that was left of her was her smiling skull. Except someone claimed that Karl Liche never existed. And that the whole story had been made up. A fabricated myth.”
Caitlin relaxed her shoulders. But Natalie remained spellbound as she pointed vigorously at the Devil Tree.
“Except that’s the tree from the story.” She poked her finger in its direction. “It fits the description to a T.”
Cindy smiled guilefully. “Welcome to our world.”
Caitlin felt the blood rush from her face.
Natalie shrugged. “Stop worrying. Just steer clear of the tree. It’s the garden of Venus flytraps on that winding path in front of us that you need to worry about.”
Natalie suddenly handed her camera to Cindy and slid out of her yellow boots. She plunged barefoot into the deadly flower patch, dodging and dancing between the snakelike stems of the stabbing flowers. Caitlin could only watch, slack-jawed.
“Natalie!” shouted Caitlin in panic.
Thankfully, her kid sister made it safely to the other side of the patch. But instead of appearing pleased with herself or cocky about her deft maneuvering, Caitlin could see that Natalie had turned white as a ghost—a rarity for Girl Wonder.
“Natalie, what is it?” Caitlin shouted. Natalie didn’t answer. She only pointed toward a particular flytrap in the middle of the patch.
Caitlin clutched her chest.
A furry blue cat’s tail dangled from the plant’s throat. Then a sickly, morbid meow seeped out of its jaw.
My God! The blue British Shorthair cat!
Natalie whimpered. Caitlin stared helplessly.
“That poor kitten,” Snow White said. “We have to help her.”
“Poor us!” Cindy replied. “We might be next.”
Before Snow could run to assist, the cat’s tail disappeared down the plant’s throat leaving only a deathly silence behind.
Rapunzel shook back her hair and raised her chin. “Don’t worry. I’m armed.”
Snow White’s brow furrowed. “Rapunzel … you promised.”
“Stop whining, Snow. Did you see what that … that thing did to little blue kitty cat over there?”
Cindy nodded decisively and muttered, “Fanged that unfortunate feline to kingdom come.”
Rapunzel turned to Snow. “I’ll only use it as a last resort. Now let’s get going.”
To everyone’s shock, Cindy suddenly began to hike up her skirt. She exposed long, bare, sexy legs.
“Cindy, really!” Snow scolded. “That’s not very dignified or courtly.”
Cindy paid her no attention. She hiked her skirt a bit higher. Then she knotted the hems above the knee. Snow’s look of disfavor suddenly gave way to a knowing smile.
Snow now gathered the edges of her own skirt. She unashamedly slid it up to her thigh, and tied it firm and tight. Rapunzel and Beauty exchanged wary looks, then followed suit. Rapunzel then reeled in her long flow of locks and bundled her hair up in a bun. She tucked it under her arm like an oversized football.
Caitlin sighed gratefully as she patted her skin-tight denim. With so many needle-like fangs nipping at them wildly, the flytraps would surely snatch up loose garments.
The girls approached the carnivorous flower patch. One at a time, with meticulous and precise footing choices, they darted and hopped through the flesh-eating obstacle course. Snarling jaws snapped mere centimeters from their legs.
One beefy flower suddenly arched its stem, cobra-style. It pounced on Snow White.
Whhhiiippp!
Its vicious mandible clamped down on her foot.
It tightened. Twisted.
Snow dropped to the ground. She landed in a patch of moss. The flytrap’s fangs sunk deep into her ankle. Snow wailed in pain.
Horrified and dumbstruck, Caitlin stumbled. She teetered over a patch of hissing flytraps. She regained her balance and froze, contorting her body to barely avoid snapping fangs.
Rapunzel reached behind her and into a narrow bag strapped across her back. She extracted a long, metal baton. It had a shiny, golden tip.
“No!” Snow screamed.
Cindy winked at Caitlin. “The zapper.”
“That hideous flower has you in its jaws,” Rapunzel said. “How can you have compassion for these … things?”
“They feel pain. And you promised.”
“I promised I would only use it as a last resort.”
Snow cried out again as the flytrap tightened its bite.
Rapunzel’s frown sharpened. “And this is a last resort.”
“Help Caitlin first!” Snow screamed as beads of sweat trickled down her face. “We need her.”
Rapunzel brandished her baton and tipped her head toward Caitlin. “Don’t move. Not an eyelash. When I give you the word, run. Fast!”
Caitlin stood perfectly still, struggling to maintain her impossible pose.
A flytrap opened its head. Its set of needle-sharp fangs prepared to strike. Caitlin’s flesh tingled. Rapunzel thrust her prod into the flytrap’s head just before it bit. The flower stiffened from electroshock! It convulsed, sizzled, smoked, and then fell limply to the ground in a crumpled heap.
“Now!” Rapunzel shouted. “RUN! NOW!”
Caitlin dashed for her life between beds of biting flower heads.
“You can do it!” Natalie shouted.
Caitlin felt Rapunzel close at her heels. Crackling sounds sizzled behind her. She stole a backward glance. Hordes of vicious flytraps were flinging themselves at them, trying to plant their razor-sharp teeth into her legs. Rapunzel fried them one by one. Short puffs of smoke ignited with each zap as plants drooped over, one after another. The acrid smell of roasted petals burned in Caitlin’s nostrils.
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She picked up her pace. Her calf muscles burned as she weaved and bobbed her way to the other side, finally reaching Natalie and safety.
Rapunzel turned back. She raised her weapon. Like a Roman gladiator, she fenced her way back across the flower patch, leaving behind a scorched trail of wilted, wounded flytraps. The seared plants lay limp; their toasted heads flopped in all directions, wet, pink tongues hanging out in defeat.
Cinderella scrambled back through the patch of broiled plants, heading for Rapunzel. Caitlin and Natalie followed.
Sleeping Beauty, in the meantime, wandered over to a small clearing of grass as a heavy sleepiness descended upon her. She made a pillow out of some fallen leaves. No sooner had she laid her head upon on the withered leaves, though, than two snakelike tendrils slithered under her arms and coiled around her shoulders. Simultaneously, a third tendril wormed around her head, roping her mouth shut before she could react. Beauty screamed, but only muffled squeaks slipped out.
The tendrils belonged to the Devil Tree. And they began dragging a bug-eyed Beauty back toward its trunk.
Caitlin, Natalie, and Rapunzel rushed over to Snow, now facedown in the moss. The flytrap’s fangs were still lodged in her flesh. Rapunzel poked the plant with the cattle prod.
Zzzzzzzzt!
The fangs recoiled from Snow’s leg. Rapunzel closed her eyes in relief.
Caitlin glanced about. “Hey, where’s Beauty?”
“Sleeping, no doubt,” Rapunzel replied.
Caitlin turned back to Snow White. Snow still wasn’t moving. Alarmed, Caitlin nudged Rapunzel, who then shook Snow by the shoulders. No response. No movement.
Caitlin grimaced. “Is she dead?”
Cindy rolled her eyes. “We’re all dead. Not the problem here.”
“She’s comatose,” Rapunzel said. “She’ll sleep for eternity if we don’t extract the venom from her bloodstream.”
Caitlin and Natalie exchanged nervous glances.
The Color of Fear Page 8
