The Forgotten Fairytales (34 page)

I
skidded across the cold cement, my knees no doubt bleeding through my jeans as the Men in Black tossed me into the cell. With my hands freed from the ropes, I tore the bandanna away from my mouth and gasped for air. The metal bars rattled closed and on the other side, the multi-colored eyes of my friend stared back at me. The eyes of a person I
trusted
.

“How could you do this?” I whispered. “We were…”
friends
dropped from my lips, and I blinked back the tears I refused to shed.

“Don’t act so surprised, Norah.” Desiree blew on her crimson nails as if they were wet. “I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

“How the hell am
I
the enemy?” my voice escalated to the point of insanity. “Look at all she’s done. She’s an evil bitch!”

“All
we’ve
done.” Danielle slipped her arm through Desiree’s. In that moment, the world seemed to shrink in. “If it wasn’t for Desiree I’d still be a peasant, trading chicken eggs for coins. I have to give you credit, you put up a good fight, but no one can stop me from rising to the top.”

Desiree grinned and for the first time since we met, I realized how truly evil she was. She refused to help me because she’d sided with Danielle. That’s how Danielle knew my every move. Desiree had to be the go between, the one who tricked me into trusting her. I’d never felt so deceived in my life.

“Oh, and you can forget being rescued by your pathetic creature of a boyfriend. By time the sun rises everyone will believe you’ve run off,” Desiree said.

My hands clamped on the cool, steel bars. “Wolf would never fall for that.” He was too smart to believe Danielle and Desire’s tricks.

“With this lovely note from you he will.” Danielle flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, no trace of the black eye she should’ve had, and held a note to the bars. The script matched mine to a T.

Wolf, I’m sorry I had to leave, but I’m safe now. I promise. Don’t bother looking for me. You were right all along. You and I, we were a mistake.

The air rushed from my lungs.
No.
We were never a mistake. He wouldn’t believe the letter, despite the perfectly forged handwriting, there was no way. Except, what if he did? Tears brimmed my eyes, but I willed them away, no matter how weak and crippled I felt.

“He’ll never believe this,” I said through clenched teeth. “Unlike you, Wolf has a heart.”

A deep, hollow laugh filled the air in the room. Desiree reached through the bar and ran a finger through a loose strand of my hair. “It’s sweet really, but take it from me, while your love makes you stronger, Wolf’s love makes him weak.” The smile faded from her lips and both of her irises burned crimson. “And the weak are easy to destroy.”

Fire grew within me and I focused my energy on forming a ball of fire in my hand. Nothing happened.

“The jail is spelled.” Danielle smirked. “Your magic doesn’t work here.”

Heavy footsteps thudded down the stairs and seconds later, Madrina appeared in a flowy pink cape. Her silver hair twisted in a loose bun on top her head. She had a knowing smile when she spotted me.

“I hope you haven’t said too much,” Madrina said to Danielle and Desire.

“No ma’am.” Desiree flashed Madrina a look of admiration. An expression I’d never seen on Desiree’s face before.

Something inside me snapped. I clutched the iron bars, wishing I could reach through and strangle them all. “Let me out of here. If my dad finds out about this…”

“Jonathan Grimm has no power here.” Madrina’s double chin jiggled. “The council owns you now, girl. You’ll be dealt with properly, saving everyone from the destruction you’re fated to cause.”

Madrina’s mouth twisted into a sneer, her shoulders tense and rigid as she stared at me with the upmost hatred. Bile twisted up my throat. I never intended to hurt people, only save them. Help them.

“Why do you hate me so much?” I asked. “What did
I
ever do to
you
?”

In the blink of an eye, Madrina grabbed hold of my arm, and wrenched it through the bars. My face slammed against the iron rods, and I winced at the pain. Danielle and Desiree backed away, staring at Madrina with a moment of confusion.
So much for nice fairy godmothers.

“Your selfish bitch of a mother ruined my life.” Her fingernails dug into my flesh, almost drawing blood. “What better way for revenge than destroying the one person on earth she loves more than herself?”

“What she did has nothing to do with me,” I said, the words barely able to escape. “We are nothing alike.”

“You are exactly alike,” Madrina said.

Danielle stepped forward, placing her hand on Madrina’s shoulder. “Shh…it’s okay. I promise we’ll take care of her. Come, the ball is tomorrow and we still have so much to do.”

Madrina released her death hold and smoothed her frizzy hair. “You’re right. The wicked will be punished.”

The three of them strode out of the dungeon. Their shadows were lost somewhere up the stairs. I was going to be sick. My nightmare played out in front of me. Plus the irony of Cinderella locking me away in a cell, when she was locked away in one once... Did she even know how ridiculous she was acting? How ridiculous they all were?

After racking my brain, I still couldn’t figure out what my mom could have done to Madrina for her to want me dead. Though I guessed the options were endless. My hatred for Danielle did nothing but spiral out of control. Somehow I doubted my fate would’ve been any different if I’d obliged and been friends with Danielle as planned. If I had, they would’ve found a different way to destroy me.

I ran my hands through my hair, backed into the wall and slid down till my butt hit the cold, damp cement.
This can’t be happening.
After a while my eyes grew used to the dark stillness of the cell. Throughout the night and into the morning, guards came, their footsteps echoing down the walkway as the shifts changed. The smell of decay and briny water made me want to vomit. I tugged off my sweater and found a dry patch of cement to rest my head on.

I closed my eyes and traced circles in a small puddle beside me, pretending I was somewhere else, anywhere else. I should have run away, convinced Wolf to leave, and together we’d find safety. I didn’t know much about the people who ran the school or the council. He said they knew everyone, that running was not an option. My mother seemed to believe the same. That’s why she hid me before they knew I existed. Koyte was proof that running away was impossible.

I rolled on my other side and something poked me. I stuck my hand in my back pocket. The dark blue compact from Beth lay flat in my palm. I fumbled opening it and looked in the mirror. All it showed was my tired eyes and dirt smudged cheek.

The mirror came with no instructions, only that it had the power to show my desires. But how? I flipped through my mental little black book of fairy tales till I found hers.
Beauty and the Beast.

Was there a mirror in her story? Damn, why did I have a dad who rarely let us watch movies? If I was a movie buff, I’d know this already.
Think, Norah, think.
I wanted to see Wolf, to see if he believed the note or not.

The mirror flickered, hazing over like after a rainstorm and then, in seconds, the fog cleared, exposing Wolf in his room. He was shirtless as he towel dried his hair and walked to his bed where an envelope sat with his name on the front. God, he was gorgeous. A small patch of hair ran down his navel to his hip bone.

His brows knotted together when he opened the letter and read. The muscles in his jaw jumped, his eyes flickering with more crimson than gold. His hand rested over his tensed face, rubbing his eyebrows as if he were trying to make sense of it all.

Please don’t believe it. Don’t believe any of it.

A growl rumbled the room and he ripped the letter in half. With speed as fast as lightning, he slammed his fist through the wall. The
stone
wall. Holy crap.

My throat tightened to the point I could hardly breathe. Tears spilled from my batting lashes, down my face and into my mouth. He believed it. He believed I didn’t love him. No matter how many times I told him differently.

With one single note, my existence washed away like words in the sand. The chance of somebody rescuing me dwindled to zero. Earlier, if Wolf found out they had me down here, I knew he’d come running to me like a rabid animal threatening to tear each person limb from limb. Not anymore. Not now. Not ever.

“What did you do to her?” Wolf’s low growl resonated in the cold cell. I jerked up. The mirror rippled like waves in the water and cleared. Wolf had Danielle cornered in an empty classroom. Every part of him exploded with anger. His eyes were dark, nearly black, and crimson streaked through his irises. Crimson streaked through his pupils. “You took her, didn’t you?”

“Who?” Danielle’s eyes were wide and innocent, like a girl who possessed no evil.

Wolf slammed his fist into the wall beside her head, but she didn’t flinch. Not one bit. Evil bitch. “You know who. Now tell me where she went.”

“Oh, you mean, Norah?” Danielle placed a finger to her pink lips. “She didn’t say goodbye? Her dad came and got her. She said they were going back to the states where she could forget this place ever existed. Sad too. I wish she could’ve fit in.”

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. Guess you weren’t worth her time.” Danielle shrugged. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a ball to prepare for.”

Danielle ducked under Wolf’s arm and strutted away, but not before she peeked over her shoulder and shot Wolf a sly smile. A smile confirming her lies.

The mirror cleared, showing me myself again. Son. Of. A. Bitch. I seriously wished someone would strangle her. But he didn’t believe the note. That’s all that mattered. I still had hope.

Heavy, deliberate footsteps dragged my attention to the giant man walking toward me. I stuck the compact in my back pocket and rose to my feet as he came jangling keys. Behind him was another person, a black hood covering their face. A horror movie scene flashed in my head. One where the girl died. Because the girl
always
died.

They stopped in front of my cell and the person pushed the hood back. My jaw tensed. Finn. This couldn’t be good.

“Open it.” Finn said to the burly man.

The keys jingled as the cell unlocked. I stepped forward and he twisted my arm behind my back and slammed me against the sticky cell.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”And why did everyone insist on throwing me around like a fucking doll!

“You didn’t choose me. You could have had me and instead you wanted
him
.” The stale, cold smell of whisky enveloped my senses. Great. He’d been drinking. My life was in the hands of a drunken prince who couldn’t get his hormones in check.

“That’s what this is? Poor, jealous Finn gets revenge because I don’t love him? Get over yourself!”

Finn spun me around to face him, pressing his hips against mine until we were mashed against one another. His warm, sticky fingers latched onto my chin. “My entire life, I searched for you. I waited for
you
, so I could change my fate. And now you’re here, refusing the truth.”

“How the hell have you been waiting for me?” Sweet mother of God, the poor dude was insane. Maybe Desiree worked her voodoo magic on him too.

“Because you and I, we were destined to be together from the beginning, but the story was lost. You were lost.” He exhaled, loosening his grip on my face. “The quill may not have placed you, but I did the second you saved me. Just like in the book. The princess from the temple. You’re her. And in that story, I love you, not the mermaid. You’re supposed to love me back.”

The princess from the temple. The story I feared the second I read it. But Finn, he didn’t know the real story. Maybe I was her, maybe I wasn’t. Either way, I didn’t love Finn. I couldn’t. His hand rested on my cheek, panic filled his gaze, pleading for my love.

“I need you to love me back.”

Tears swelled in my eyes. “I’m sorry, Finn, I am. But you don’t know the real story. I can’t love you.”

“Then I’m sorry, too.” Pushing me against the back wall, he exited the cell and waved his hand. The guard slammed the door, locking me inside. “Lucky for me, I mastered failure at a young age.” A window on the very end opened, and water poured inside the basement like a rushing waterfall.

“Finn, please don’t do this!” I stretched my arm through the bar to grab him. “Please don’t let me drown!”

“You’re wrong about one thing, Norah. I do know the story. And today you’ll die. Just like she did, and Wolf will live a long, miserable life knowing he couldn’t save you.” Finn walked back up the stairs with the guard.

I screamed his name, over and over again until the door sealed shut. I kept screaming until my throat was raw and my voice gone.
This is not happening.