Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

"So..." He said, eying me. "What about you? You’re definitely not from around here. What is your story?"

I glanced nervously at my backpack in my lap. Should I tell him? I trusted he wasn't a mad axe murderer by now, but would he even believe me? Though, from the sounds of it, stranger things had happened to Ezu himself...

I sighed, and fiddled with the zipper on my bag.

'Well, you see..." I began, but before I had even gotten the words out of my mouth, the entire room shook with such force that I was nearly thrown from my chair. "What the hell was that?" I shrieked at Ezu, as I scrambled to my feet.

Ezu didn't answer me, but instead jumped to his feet so suddenly his armchair was knocked backwards to the ground.

"Oh gods..." He muttered, hastily plowing through his sea of junk, among which the huge boom caused even more confusion and devastation.

"What? What was that?" I asked hurriedly, hastening to his side.

Ezu glanced at me, and underneath his forced calm and stony exterior, I saw what looked uncomfortably like panic in his eyes.

"Giants..." He whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me off my feet.
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"Giants? Giants? What the hell do you mean, 'giants'? There are no giants around here! This is Little Red's territory, not freaking Jack's! I see no beanstalk!" I hissed at Ezu angrily as he peered out a curtained widow.

He stopped for a minute to stare at me incredulously, as if I had grown a second head or something. Then I realized what I had said, and how to him, that made about as much sense as if I had grown another head.

"Um... another expression?" I tried hopefully. Ezu just gave me a strange look and shook his head. He was probably wondering what asylum I had snuck out of. I gave up trying to explain myself, and instead concentrated at the problem at hand.

"What in the world are giants are doing here, and what they want?" I asked Ezu, my tone verging on the edge of panic. I didn’t care. I think “panic” is a pretty good response to “giants”.

“Honestly, now is not the best time to be asking questions,” Ezu snapped back.

“I don’t think now is the best time for giants to be attacking your house!” I pointed out.

“Grab your stuff, we gotta go. NOW." He said frantically. He pushed past me, calling to Jinx, and grabbing a small bag. He began throwing things into it while I trailed behind, still bombarding him with questions.

"Wait one minute! Would you please explain to me what giants are doing here? And why do we have to leave? Are they going to grind our bones into bread or something?" I said, starting to get angry. If I was going to be eaten by something twenty times my size, I wanted to know why, dammit.

Ezu stopped abruptly, almost causing me to run into him. He sighed exasperatedly, and threw his hands into the air in defeat.

"You want to know why there are giants in my front yard?" He huffed.

“Yes!”

"Fine. They are here to collect a debt. A debt which I can't pay. And if they catch me--if they catch us, yes, they will grind our bones into bread or something. Happy?"

I stared at Ezu incredulously. "A debt? What kind of a debt?" I asked, dumbfounded. Ezu groaned loudly and dropped his face into his hands.

"Do you ever shut up? Enough with the questions! There isn't time for this!" Another crashing boom proved this statement to be true. From the sounds of it, these giants were getting closer at an alarming rate.

"Fee fi fo fum..." I muttered under my breath, grabbed the back of a chair to keep myself standing upright. Ezu hastened to the magic door and hastily knocked five times. He threw it open, revealing a narrow, sparsely stocked cupboard. He grabbed a loaf of bread and a lump of cheese, shoving them into the sack.

I almost rolled my eyes, that was such a fairy tale stereotype. Cheese and bread. Really.

Then he rushed over to that cluttered table, Jinx in tow, and began pushing piles of paper and dishes and what ever else onto the ground. Before I could ask what he was doing, he had found what he was looking for.

He pulled out a tall bow and a quiver of arrows out of the rubble, slinging the quiver across his back. I got a good look at the bow, and my mouth fell open. It reached to about Ezu's hip, and was already strung, quivering at the ready. The bow was made out of a creamy white wood, and was absolutely beautiful. It was covered in intricate carvings along the entire length, and at closer inspection revealed tiny figures of people and animals, apparently locked in an epic battle. They had been carved with such care, and were so life like, I almost expected them to start moving.

Suddenly I heard a sharp voice in my ear, making me guiltily tear my eyes from the work of art.

"Ahem! What part of GIANTS do you not not get! We have to move!" Ezu growled. he grabbed my arm and dragged me to the enchanted door. But before we reached it, A booming voice stopped us in our tracks.

"WHERE ARE YOU, LITTLE ARGANNON?" A deep rumbling, barely recognizable as speech, shook through the woods outside, shaking the very foundations of the house.

"Crap... Come on!" Ezu said more frantically now, pulling me through the wreckage of his house.

Instead of following Ezu to safety, I didn't move. I just stood there, staring out the window. He turned angrily to me.

"What the hell do you think you're dong now?!" He shouted at me. He would have said more, but just then he caught the look of horror on my face. His expression turned to one of concern, and he followed my gaze to see what had me so freaked out. When his eyes alighted on the far window next to the front door, the blood drained from his face, leaving it a pasty white color.

"Too late..." I muttered, staring transfixed into the vast, glaring eye that peered through the window at us.