Rapunzel wrapped the top of her hair around the hook on the wall and pushed her feet against the bricks, taking her mother’s weight. As soon as she reached the top and climbed onto the window ledge, Rapunzel let go and sighed. ‘Can’t we have a door?’
Her mother, Jackie, was, in fact, a witch that had sort of adopted Rapunzel after her episode.
Jackie looked at the annoyingly beautiful woman in front of her. Rapunzel, now twenty-six, was thrown into the tower ten years ago. A man had tricked her, and she had turned into a frog after a kiss. Fortunately, she had turned back into a human after three days. At first, they believed Rapunzel. The problems arose when her father, the king, returned from his trip and declared her insane. He didn’t believe a word of the nonsense. He threw her into a tower and paid off a witch, Jackie, to take care of her.
‘How was your visit, Mother?’ asked Rapunzel.
Jackie insisted that Rapunzel call her Mother. She had longed for a child for many years and had landed with, surprisingly, a princess. A disobedient princess. At least she didn’t have to put up with bum changes, tantrums, and feedings. That was all that mattered to her, getting what she wanted with very little work.
Jackie growled, throwing down her basket. ‘Tiresome. I travelled for three days. Three. And she wasn’t even there. Lori had made it out to be an urgent matter and didn’t even bother to turn up!’
‘I thought you said all of the witches would be there?’ asked Rapunzel.
Jackie sat on a lone ivory-coloured chair and undid a parcel on her lap, which was full, to Rapunzel’s delight, with delicious fruits. Jackie passed Rapunzel a handful of strawberries. With no ladylike manners at all, Rapunzel shoved three into her mouth and resembled a hamster as she chewed. Jackie frowned and wrapped the rest of the fruit back up.
‘Sorcerers. Not witches. There are only two witches, me and Gertrude.’ Jackie pulled a face and took a bite of a green apple.
‘What’s the difference?’ Rapunzel asked who was now sat across from her mother. She swung her legs back and forth. Jackie noticed that Rapunzel was not wearing any shoes, again.
‘Won’t you put some shoes on! You’ll get corns.’
Rapunzel laughed. ‘In this tower? No one ever comes in here. I’m safe,’ Rapunzel said, putting emphasis on ‘ever.’ Jackie noticed it and changed the subject. She didn’t want to jump into another ‘I can’t go outside’ argument.
‘Witches use the pentagram, symbols, and signs to draw their magic from. We are not born with magic. It comes after many, many years of practice. And sacrifices,’ Jackie added on seeing Rapunzel’s interest pique. ‘Sorcerers are born with it. They are more powerful, but us witches get to use magic in any way we wish with no consequence. There are always consequences for sorcerers who abuse magic, in one way or another.’
Rapunzel nodded, got up, and started prodding the fire. Winter was coming, and the evening chill entered through the only window in the tower. Jackie closed the shutters. Light from the fire flickered off every surface—the oak coffee table, the white fur rug in the centre of the room, and a bookcase that covered the whole length of one wall. It was filled with books. Downstairs in the tower, through the trap door, were more books. Jackie had to keep buying more and more as Rapunzel got through them so fast.
‘Can you go to get me some more books please, Mother,’ Rapunzel asked sweetly. Jackie rolled her eyes and tied up her shoulder-length matte black hair.
Jackie sighed. ‘Can’t you wait? It’s so much effort.’
Rapunzel pouted. ‘It’s the only thing that prevents me from trying to escape.’
Jackie stood up and grabbed her basket, annoyed. ‘Slow down with the reading!’
Rapunzel laughed. ‘I can’t make any promises. At least I have an imagination, unlike you,’ she teased.
Once Jackie wrapped her red knitted shawl around her shoulders and climbed down the tower to go and buy more books, Rapunzel formulated a plan.
Books had given her more than just an escape from her boring reality; they had provided her with essential information.
Sneaking glimpses at Jackie’s grimoire when she was away, along with the history of witchcraft, meant that she could try to learn the art of witchcraft behind Jackie’s back. Jackie had unknowingly confirmed it today. The books didn’t say whether the magic of a witch was something one was born with, or something that could be practiced.
Now, Rapunzel knew she could do it, so she could get to work. She grabbed a load of spells that she copied from Jackie’s grimoire. She collected some pentagrams and discarded candles from the cupboard and hid them under her bed. If she could get the incantations right and draw the energy, she could light the candles and use the symbols to remove the boundary spell from the tower.
***
Rapunzel had little luck with her spell. ‘Come on, work!’
Jackie would be back soon. She had probably less than an hour left to try to at least get it half right. Then, if she wasn’t caught, she could try again in a couple of weeks when she’d be alone again. That’s if Jackie could be bothered to go again. She sometimes made trips, but if Jackie could get away with doing nothing, she would. That was why she had taken the job to keep Rapunzel trapped. It meant very little work for her and a comfortable lifestyle. Jackie had wanted a daughter too but couldn’t be bothered with the tantrums. At least, Rapunzel was fully grown.
Jackie needed Rapunzel’s hair to grow full-length for herself and Lori. Their dreams would be fulfilled, and then Jackie wouldn’t have to lift a finger again. She could have powers that would enable her to turn whatever poor soul came her way to a servant.
Rapunzel averted her attention back to the spell.
‘Dolores inferni circumdederunt me, et in elementis maiores animos tollere et emissum huic ligat. Aufer ligat. Da libertatem. Parvo aedificationis.’
A breeze swept outwards from the pentagram on the floorboards. A warmth protruded through Rapunzel’s hands. ‘Did it work?’
Rapunzel ran over to the window. When Jackie would get back, she’d sense the barrier spell had been lifted. This was her only chance of escape.
‘Rapunzelll, let down your … Wait. Rapunzel?’ Jackie was back and had sensed the shift in magic. ‘Rapunzel!’ she screamed.
Rapunzel let down her hair, pulling Jackie into a false sense of security. Rapunzel hated what she was about to do, but she could almost taste her freedom. She could not die alone in the tower!
Jackie climbed halfway up, waiting to see what had happened, and Rapunzel got a dagger and cut her hair.
Jackie fell with the hair, and Rapunzel cried. She’d killed her. Looking down the window, she saw Jackie move under the pile of hair and smiled. She was alive.
How to escape?
A woman dressed in red and another dressed in black walked over to the tower. The woman dressed in black, Rapunzel noticed, was holding a blue sword with a white glowing handle. She was gorgeous, straight jet black hair, luscious red lips, and skin as white as snow. Her side fringe complimented her oval face. The black dress hugged her slim figure perfectly. The woman cut through the air with her sword and slammed it into Jackie’s chest. Rapunzel screamed, and both of women looked up. Jackie turned into a black mist and swept into a small box. She looked down at the faces of the women.
Wait?
Could it be?
Surely not.
‘Rapunzel, it’s me. Red!’
Rapunzel burst into tears. ‘You came for me. You came back!’
Snow looked up. ‘Hold on, let us get you down. Where’s the door?’
Rapunzel pointed at the left side of the tower. ‘It’s blocked.’
‘I can take it down,’ Red shouted and smirked.
After a lot of banging and swearing, Red and Snow finally pushed open the trap door and jumped up onto the floor.
Red ran over and pulled Rapunzel into a hug. ‘I’ve missed you.’ Snow smiled at them both. ‘This is Snow,’ Red said.
Rapunzel looked
at them both tearfully, half smiling. ‘Thank you for saving me. But you killed my mother.’
‘Your mother?’ Red asked, confused.
‘Well, she’s been acting like my mother,’ Rapunzel replied.
Red’s fists tightened. ‘She is not your mother. She kept you locked up here!’
‘She clearly has Stockholm syndrome,’ Snow added.
Red rolled her eyes. ‘She didn’t fall for her kidnapper; she just believed all of the crap that came out of that witch’s mouth.’
Rapunzel still had tears running down her cheeks. She looked incredibly innocent, with her honeysuckle hair, her pretty brown eyes, her straight white teeth, and sun-kissed skin. Her hair now fell down to the bottom of her back. Red had never seen her look so gorgeous. Rapunzel looked Red up and down. Red, although she hid it well, was fairly muscular underneath the pretty dresses and cloaks. Rapunzel had always admired Red’s strength. Red’s dark hair fell in layers down past her shoulders and half of it was braided. Snow and Red had gone to a town in Milborn to buy new clothes, and Snow had braided her hair.
‘You haven’t aged a day since I saw you,’ Rapunzel said, furrowing her eyebrows.
Snow cut in. ‘Red was trapped as a wolf. She wouldn’t have aged. Plus, it hasn’t been that long, so she wouldn’t have aged that much.’
‘It’s been longer than that,’ Rapunzel stated.
‘I’m just lucky, I guess,’ Red said, laughing it off. ‘I’m just glad I found you.’
‘How did you find me?’ Rapunzel asked.
Snow smiled. ‘I kept on Red until she told me who you were, but she didn’t know where you were being held. We searched the forest, and the closer we got to you, the more my sword shone, so we followed the glow. Except it didn’t want me to find you. It glowed brighter as we approached the woman who was keeping you captive. That’s why I killed her; took her soul, I mean. The sword wanted me to.’
Rapunzel cried. ‘I’ve missed you, Red. Thank you, to you both!’
Red’s fears about Rapunzel not wanting her anymore disappeared. The look in Rapunzel’s eyes told her everything she needed to know. It wasn’t the look of lust. It was the look of love.
BATTLE OF MAGIC
Lori and Stilt vanished with Ariel and reappeared at Lori’s palace. Ariel stepped forward, blocking Lori from entering the palace. ‘Give me Eric, and we will go now. You got what you want!’
‘The frog isn’t Eric, silly girl. You heard what I wanted you to hear. He’s in Milborn, looking for you. He thinks Ursula got to you.’ Lori grinned. ‘If he finds Ursula and tries to kill her, she will kill him.’
Ariel screamed. ‘No! Please, help me get back there soon. Hang on, no, she won’t. I made a deal with her to free her. She won’t hurt him.’
Stilt bit his lip. ‘When she helped you kill Merlin, she said that you’d be even. Deal’s fulfilled I’m afraid. A wish got her out of there. You wishing her freedom meant that she would have got her powers back. She can now use them to kill whoever she wants.’
Ariel cried. ‘Please help me get to Milborn. I must tell Eric not to go after her.’
Lori shook her head. ‘No. Unless you’re willing to make a deal with me?’
‘What’s that?’ Ariel scowled.
Lori grabbed a lock of Ariel’s hair. ‘This will do nicely.’
‘My hair?’ she asked.
Lori nodded. ‘Mermaid hair can call up the souls of lost pirates. I will need them to crew a ship. Now, I will send you home.’
Lori clicked her fingers, but Ariel didn’t vanish back to Milborn as expected. Stilt stepped forward. ‘My fault.’ He grinned. ‘That cloak, when worn, will keep you from magical harm.’
Ariel’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘You were trying to protect me?’
Lori tried to grab the cloak, but Stilt stepped in front of Ariel. ‘Yes, Ariel, I did, and no, Lori, I gave it to Ariel.’ He turned and smiled at Ariel. ‘Take off the cloak and just hold it. Keep it. It will protect you. Thank you for your help.’
Lori huffed and clicked her fingers, keeping her deal, and Ariel disappeared. ‘That cloak would have helped us!’
Stilt shrugged. ‘Guess we are doing this the old-fashioned way then.’ With that, he walked out of her chambers to get ready for their journey. Once he had gone, Lori turned to her mirror but jumped when she saw the reflection. Snow was standing behind her and by the window were Red and Rapunzel.
Lori turned and looked at Snow with annoyance. ‘Why won’t you just die?’
‘Feel free to throw me to the wolves time and time again. I will always come back unscathed, a leader. I am much stronger than you are.’
Lori laughed manically. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Lori threw a bolt of red Snow’s way as if it were nothing. The bolt, aiming for her heart, bounced off Snow’s sword. She lifted the sword and cut through the air. The blue and diamonds glistened in the sunlight that escaped through the gap in the curtains. Lori’s lips parted. Beads of sweat dripped from her forehead.
‘What is that?’ Lori asked, fear lacing her words.
Snow grinned. ‘Oh, this?’ she said, pointing the sword in the direction of Lori’s heart. ‘This is the last thing you will see before you end up in an eternal prison. I got it from someone who has more kindness in their little finger than you have in your whole body!’
Lori gritted her teeth and threw another curse at Snow. The curse bounced from her sword.
Snow moved with such grace and ease. Lori narrowly avoided the curse which had jumped back in her direction.
Panicking, Lori clicked her fingers, but Snow cut through the air with the blade. ‘It cuts through magic as well. You’re not going anywhere.’
‘Why didn’t you use it when I threw you to the wolves?’ Lori asked, trying to stall Snow until she could gather enough concentrated magic to disappear without Snow having time to cut the magic.
‘You caught me off guard,’ Snow admitted. ‘It won’t happen again. I’ve been practicing. I’m about to become your worst nightmare!’
Lori laughed. ‘Such big threats for such a little girl.’
‘Do your worst.’ Snow’s eyes flashed green for a second. She had a killer in her, Lori could tell.
Lori turned in a full circle. The skirt of Lori’s dress was layers upon layers of black net, which reached down to her black heels. The net spun away from the dress, licking their way toward Snow. One piece wrapped its way around her ankle, the other around her wrist. Frantically, Snow waved the sword around, cutting at the netting. But whenever she cut it, it grew back. Lori aged as she tried to kill Snow, her magic draining her beauty. Lori could see that she wouldn’t have much strength soon to be able to vanish. Snow dropped the sword whilst trying to free herself. Lori seized the opportunity and clicked her fingers. Red clenched her fists and lunged at Lori, but Lori disappeared just as Red reached her. ‘Dammit!’ Red shouted. ‘I honestly thought you had her. Guess we will need to do more than that to kill the Evil Queen.’
***
Stilt dressed in his finest suit and stood in front of the rectangular mirror, plucking at the cuff of his shirt.
Cinderella was now almost one. He couldn’t believe it. Not that he had seen much of his adopted little Cinderella. He worried that the King and Queen of Dolorom would not hand her over when the time was right. Cinderella might biologically be their child, but he had made a deal with them. If it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t have the twins. As a precaution, he had placed a curse on Aurora. Edward had given him the idea when he was alive.
When he and Lori travelled to Milborn, Stilt activated the curse on Cinderella’s twin sister.
If he didn’t have Cinderella with him by her sixteenth birthday, then Aurora would fall into a death-like slumber. She wouldn’t awake until he and Cinderella were reunited.
With that worry gone, he could concentrate on the most important things, which was bringing Sadie and his daughter back to life. The memories still haunted him. How he had eaten his da
ughter when cursed with a ravenous hunger for his loved ones. A curse placed on him by Lori. The same woman who ripped his wife’s heart out. Ironically, the one who was now helping him to reunite him, his wife, and daughter.
He would still get his revenge, though. When they found the fountain of youth, Lori would die. He would see to that. He was so glad they were going to Neverland. If he had any chance of killing Lori, it would be there.
A piece of parchment flew through the open window. He caught the note which opened in his hand. It was from Lori.
~ Ran into a problem. Meet me at the Dolorom Mountain.
Stilt vanished and reappeared at the mountain. The crackling fire and falling snow were the only sounds that could be heard. Everything was still, giving the whole place an eerie feel. The rocks, which were covered in snow, sat around the two-bedroom log cabin.
The mountain had once been a popular resort, but now, all of the cabins were desolate, making it an excellent place for people to hide.
‘Stilt.’ Lori addressed him and let him in. He looked around the room. Somehow, everything was modernised yet made of wood. Whoever had designed the cabins had done an excellent job in finding a balance between traditional and modern.
Stilt brushed the snowflakes off his suit. ‘When do we leave?’
Lori drank the last of her red wine and adjusted her large black wedding style hat. ‘We leave in an hour. We must push forward with this. Once we have the boy, we can combine our power to obtain the fountain of youth. We just need James, but I have a plan for that. That plan is chained up, ready to take with us.’
Stilt nodded. ‘And Snow … is she going to be a problem?’
‘Not where we’re going,’ Lori said, grinning. ‘She possesses a type of sword that I haven’t encountered before. Once I have the power of the fountain, I will take it from her and with it, her life.’
Stilt nodded. They had a meal, packed some supplies, and stepped back outside. Both of them clicked their fingers and appeared on a ship. Stilt looked around wide-eyed. ‘Why are we on a ship?’
Journey to Neverland (Haunting Fairytales Series Book 2) Page 5
