Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

I gave the wrapping around his ankle one last tug, and sat back on my haunches, rather pleased with myself.

"OK, all done." I said, admiring my handy work.

"You'll have to help support me a bit when we walk," Ezu said, glumly. But then he apparently thought of something, an brightened. "Unless you can find a big stick somewhere around here, and once we get into town we can probably find a doctor somewhere to fix me up professionally." Ezu said, struggling to his feet. I went to help him, but he pushed me away. I rolled my eyes. What was it with guys and acting tough? Ezu stumbled to a standing position, and before he could protest, I slipped under his arm, letting him lean on me.

"I'm not finding you a stick. You shouldn't walk at all with your ankle like that, and we'll go faster if you aren't hopping around on one foot." I told him firmly. We started to walk, but then I stopped suddenly, nearly causing Ezu to fall on his face.

"What is it?" He said, irritably. I shifted my weight to my other foot nervously, remembering the night's previous events.

"Um, I almost forgot... there is this thing I kind of want to take care of, you know, after we stop at town, and um, I might need your help..." Ezu sighed heavily.

"I'll never get rid of you, will I? Well, what is it you need me to do?" He asked warily.

"Um, we need to rescue a princess..." I mumbled, watching Ezu's face carefully.

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Previously...

Ezu stumbled to a standing position, and before he could protest, I slipped under his arm, letting him lean on me.

"I'm not finding you a stick. You shouldn't walk at all with your ankle like that, and we'll go faster if you aren't hopping around on one foot." I told him firmly. We started to walk, but then I stopped suddenly, nearly causing Ezu to fall on his face.

"What is it?" He said, irritably. I shifted my weight to my other foot nervously, remembering the nights previous events.

"Um, I almost forgot... there is this thing I kind of want to take care of, you know, after we stop at town, and um, I might need your help..." Ezu sighed heavily.

"I'll never get rid of you, will I? Well, what is it you need me to do?" He asked warily.

"Um, we need to rescue a princess..." I mumbled, watching Ezu's face carefully.
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"We need to what?" Ezu said, very quietly.

"Erm, we need to find a miller's daughter who is being kept locked in a tower, break into the tower without letting the king know we’re there, and switch a room full of hay with gold thread..." I muttered, hopefully too fast for him to hear. But I had no such luck. Ezu let out a huge groan and collapsed to the ground, head in his hands.

"What did you do?" He cried, his voice muffled.

"I kinda... killed Rumpelstiltskin..." I coughed. Ezu glanced up at me through his fingers, his expression incredulous.

"I don't even want to know." He said, stopping me as I tried to explain. "Do I have to baby sit you forever or something?! If I had known how much trouble you were going to cause me, I'd have left you to be eaten by those wolves!" He complained, now struggling to his feet. I grabbed his arm, ignoring his protests, and pulled him up.

"I believe you've said that before..." I said, my lips a thin, hard line. "But... you will help me, right?" I pleaded, giving Ezu my best puppy dog eyes. He just glared at me, unfazed. "If I don't get to that girl in time, she'll be executed..." I begged, tugging on his arm lightly. Ezu's eyes softened a tad bit, and I jumped on it. "This poor girl, her father told the king she could weave hay into gold, and now the king will lock her away, and if she doesn't transform the whole room by sunrise, she’ll have her pretty little head cut off! The only person that could possibly help her apart from us is dead, we’re all she has now!" I pleaded, trying to look as helpless as possible. Ezu's fierce expression faltered, and he bit his lip. I batted my eyelashes at him. He broke.

"Fine!" He spat. "Fine, I'll help her. But how the hell are we going to get that much gold?" He growled. I practically jumped for joy, and threw my arms around Ezu's neck.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" I said. "You have no idea how much this means to me!" And probably the fate of this entire world too, though I didn't mention that part... Ezu just grumbled and pried my arms off of him.

"Okay, okay. Whatever." He turned away from me and started hobbling away, but before I could move to help him, he abruptly stopped in his tracks. He spun around, his mismatched eyes peering at me intensely, like he was trying to read my mind.

"Wait... how do you know all that?" He asked, hesitantly, as if he didn't really want to know the answer. Oh crap, I thought. Now was definitely not a good time to tell him about the book, but I couldn't think of a good way to talk myself out of this predicament.

So I decided to play dumb.

"All of what?" I asked, my eyes wide and innocent. In contrast, Ezu's eyes narrowed.

"About the miller's daughter or whoever it is?" He said. Then his eyes widened as he seemed to remember something. "And what do you mean you killed someone?" He sputtered. I glared at him. He had said it like he didn't think I had it in me to kill anyone! Well, I guess I didn't, but still!

"Well, I didn't really kill him I guess." I explained, purposefully ignoring his first question. "This little man came out of no where. He told me he would help me find a way out of the forest if I guessed his name in three tries, and if I couldn't, he would kidnap my first born child or something along those lines." I said, shrugging like it was no big deal. Ezu blinked, apparently speechless. "Well, I managed to guess his name, and he got all angry and kind of... tore himself in two." I finished lamely, shuddering at the memory. At first Ezu just stared at me, and then he made a funny coughing sound in the back of his throat. It bubbled up, until a roaring laugh escaped his lips. His body shook with laughter, even as he clutched his arm to his chest in pain.

"You... you... made a guy so angry he tore himself in two? How the hell do you do that? Wh-what was his name? Rumpelstiltskin? You had to guess that? Are you psychic or something?! What kind of a name is that? And he wanted your 'first born child'?'" He managed to gasp out through his guffaw. I glared at him, my arms crossed. I was seriously considering pushing him to the ground and running away. Ezu caught my death glare, and tried to stifle his laughter. He struggled internally with himself for a few moments, then coughed lightly, and wiped the grin off of his face, though his eyes were still laughing.

"After you, milady." He said, bowing.

"Come on." I growled, grabbing his arm and dragging his with me.

We walked in silence after that, Ezu's good arm slung over my shoulder, my arm wrapped around his waist, letting him lean into me. I didn't look at Ezu. I didn't trust myself not to say something stupid, or trip or something. To be honest, I was thinking about him as we hobbled along.

That boy was so damn confusing! One minute he would be all mopey and angsty, the next he was all smiles and rainbows. He must have multiple personality disorder or something. I let myself have a sideways glance at Ezu. His forehead was creased and his lips pursed, as if he too were deep in thought. He turned his head slightly, and our eyes met before I could look away. I felt a blush creep up my cheeks, and I made a pointed show of looking away.

"Hey Rikki? You didn't answer my question before." Ezu said, quietly.

"What question?" I replied, looking anywhere but at the boy next to me. He gave me a dirty look. There he goes again with the mood swings!

"You know what question! How did you know about the miller's daughter and all that?" He demanded. I sighed, and I knew I couldn't hide it this time. I slipped out from under Ezu and helped him into a sitting position. I sat down cross legged across from him, and reached into my backpack to pull out the Book.

"Well, you see... um, I don't actually know how to explain this... but... um..." I faltered, fiddling with the spine of the Book.

"Out with it, woman!" Ezu prompted, poking me with a stick.

"Okay! Geeze. But you're not going to believe me." I warned. Ezu just gave me a dirty look, growing impatient. "Fine. I'm going." I snapped. I heaved a sigh, and began my tale.



"Well, I'm not perfectly sure where my story starts. Maybe it was the day we moved to that small town, maybe it was the day I first picked up a book of fairy tales. But for your sake, I'll start in the book store.

"The store was very small, and horribly cramped. There was a counter with a cash register on one wall of the room, and shelves overflowing with books on all the others. It was heaven to me. I hadn't been in there before; I had just moved to the town, so I planned on taking my sweet time going over the selections. But before I had looked at single book, a beautiful woman came dancing out of a curtained doorway behind the counter. She didn't really dance out, but the way she moved was so graceful and light, she might as well have. She was wearing a long, swirling red shirt the swished elegantly around her legs, and it had dozens of little metal coins sewn onto it, so whenever she moved, they tinkled musically. Her skin was the color of a rich coffee, and her long, black hair was thick and shiny, hanging to her waist, and she had the most lovely big, brown eyes.

"She came over to me and shook my hand, introducing herself as the owner of the bookstore. She said her name was Jyesthila, and then asked me my name. I told her, and she began asking me innocent enough questions. I told her I had just moved to the town, and how much I loved to read. She asked me what types of books I liked. 'Fairy tales,' I said. 'I love fairy tales.'"

Ezu gave me a questioning look and opened his mouth to speak, but I shushed him. "I'll explain later. Let me finish my story." I prompted.

"Anyway, she seemed to look me over, like she was thinking hard, and she stared at me with a fiery intensity. I started to get uncomfortable under her gaze, and suddenly she smiled widely, showing a neat row of perfectly white teeth. 'I have just the book for you!' She said, her voice dropping as if we were sharing a special secret, though there was no one else in the store. She took my hand and led me into the back room behind the curtain. To my surprise, there were even more books stacked in tall piles around this room too.

“But, in contrast with the cheap paperbacks in the main room, these wore hard, leather covers, and were many times thicker, with black, swirling writing in ink on the covers, most in languages I didn't understand. The smell was perhaps the most intriguing thing about these books. They smelled old, like they had been hidden away for a millennium in some Pharaoh's forgotten tomb. The pages were thick and yellowed, and I had the feeling most of them were made of vellum rather than paper. She led me over to a small desk crammed in the back corner, the only clear place in the room. She lifted a book off of a stack and turned to me, her eyes glinting."

I ran my fingers almost lovingly over the spine of the Book, then handed it to Ezu. He took it gently, as if it would crumble to dust with the slightest touch, and let his long, thin fingers trace the raised pattern of roses on the cover.

"She looked me in the eye and said, 'How much to you love fairy tales?' I hesitated, trying to figure out what all this was about, but finally said, 'Very much. Ever since I was a little girl I've always been enthralled by them. I always used to wish that I could have my own, like Little Red Riding Hood or Jack and the Beanstalk. I still do.' I told her. Jyesthila's eyes lit up when I said this, and she pushed the Book into my hands. I remember how my hands tingled slightly when the Book touched them that first time, like an electric current jumped through me, how the feeling spread up my arms and all throughout my body.

"'Well, my dear. Today is your lucky day.' She whispered."

I paused, remembering the events that moment had led up to, the way that one, stupid book had completely changed my life.

"Go on..." Ezu said, slightly hoarsely, breaking me out of my thoughts. I glanced at him, and noticed he was listening to me with wide eyes, clearly very into the story. I fought back a laugh at his enthralled expression, wondering if he remembered this was what actually happened to me not three days ago, and continued my tale.

"So, Jyesthila gave me the book and led me out of the back room, me still completely confused. She brought me to the front door that led back outside, and took my hands in hers. 'Listen to me very carefully,' She said. 'When you get home, I want you to go up into your room. Make sure nobody is in there, and if you can, you might want to lock the door. You will open this book to the first page, and only the first page. I want you to start reading from the beginning, out loud, in a strong, clear voice. Don't stop, no matter what you see, no matter what you hear. Just read, until the end of the page.' She stopped speaking abruptly, and let go of my hands with a little smile. 'Now go. Trust me.' She said.

“Of course, by now I was sure she was crazy, so I didn't argue. I reached into my pocket to get some money to pay for the book, but she stopped me. 'No dear, I won't accept money. Not for this book. Trust me, I will get my payment soon enough.' And she smiled again, only this time, her teeth seemed more pointed, and her smile more like that of a predator.

"But then she gave me a shove in the back out the door, sending the little bell tinkling, and she waved goodbye. And as I walked away, the Book in my arms, she called after me, 'And whatever you do, don't read the last page!'"

Ezu immediately flipped the Book open to the very last page, but to his disappointment, it was blank.

"You would be so dead right now." I scolded him, taking the Book back and closing it.

"Why didn't she want you to read the last page?" He asked, still perplexed by the blankness of the paper.

"You'll see soon enough." I grimaced, remembering the moment all too well. "Now let me continue. Enough interruptions.

"I went home with the book, and checked the house to see if anyone was there. My mom had taken my brother to football practice-"

"What's football?" Ezu asked, interrupting me.

"It's a game. Now be quite, unless you want me to stop." I replied, glaring at him. He gave me a bright smile and pretended to zip his mouth shut and throw away the key. I looked at him like he had lost his marbles. Where had the moody Ezu gone? That boy went through mood swings like crazy.

"Have you shut up now? Will you stay shut up until I have finished?" I said. Ezu nodded, keeping his lips pressed together.

"Good. So my mom and brother were gone, and my dad was at work. I figured I had twenty minutes at the most before mom came home, so I decided to get straight to work. I ran upstairs into my room, locking the door behind me just in case. I was about to start reading the book, but somehow the mood just wasn't right. After all the cryptic messages and mysteries in the book store, I felt I might as well do it right at home. So I lit a few candles and some incense, placing them in a circle on the floor. I turned off the lights and sat in the center of the circle and opened the Book to the first page, and I began to read.

"It started very simply with 'Once upon a time'. It went on to tell about a girl, a girl who loved fairy tales. She went into the village one day, and met a gypsy vender, who sold her an enchanted book which would send her to another realm. When the girl goes home, she begins to read the book, and as she does a big portal opens up, and whisks her away. Well, I assume it said that. I never actually made it that far.

"It started when I began reading the part where the girl was reading her own book. At first, nothing happened. But then, out of nowhere, the temperature starts to drop. First just a few degrees, but suddenly it is freezing in the room. I swear the windows were beginning to crust with ice. I didn't stop reading, remembering what Jyesthila had said. But then, one by one, the candles went out, leaving me in complete darkness. I can't see the page anymore, so I stopped reading, and to be honest, I was pretty freaked. I saw the similarities between the story and what was happening now.

“But the moment I stop reading, this huge wind starts up, making the window rattle in its frame. The bed covers fly off and hit me, getting me tangled up. The Book falls from my grip and lands on the floor, open. Suddenly, all the candles burst back into flame. The wind is still going, screeching like a banshee, getting louder every second. My stuff is flying around the room, caught up on the mini hurricane, and I was ducking frantically, trying not to get hit.

“The pages in the Book start going wild, flying back and forth, and I crawled over to it, and tried to slam it shut, but I couldn't. It was impossible, like someone had glued the covers to the floor. And then one of the candles rolled over to the window, and the flame caught my curtain on fire. The dancing flame cast everything into a sharp contrast, the shadows leaping out everywhere, and before my very eyes, they stood up and twisted into constantly moving shapes, vaguely in the forms of human bodies. They started to dance, a bizarre, intricate, twisting dance, long protuberances I took to be arms and legs flailing in the air, wild hair writing like snakes upon their shadowy heads.

“They danced around me, darting in close before leaping out of reach, sometimes even coming close enough to pull my hair, which they did with cruelly grasping, insubstantial fingers. The curtains were burning fast, the smoke began to fill the room. I remembered what Jyesthila had said to read no matter what happened, and flung to book back open to the first page and tried to keep reading, but the pages seemed to have a will of their own. They slipped from my fingers and flew about in a whirl, eventually stopping. On the last page.

"I couldn't help myself. I was looking at the page before I even realized what was happening. And after I saw it, I couldn't look away. It was a picture of me, a beautifully drawn likeness, down to the last detail, sitting in my room. It was a perfect still image of that exact moment, me hunched over the book, my comforter wrapped around me; the blazing curtains framing the ice cracked window; the shadow beings leaping around me in their tribal dance; my hair flying around my face whipping at my cheeks; and my eyes, locked on the book in terror, wide and unseeing, the look of horror so foreign and animal it sent the whole situation suddenly crashing into perspective.

“But even worse than the inhuman look in those eyes--my eyes--was what I noticed in the next second that lurked behind me in the drawing. A huge, gaping hole, not like a rip in the paper, but like a rip in space and time itself. It was the deepest black I had ever seen, actually sucking the light out of the air around it, and yet at the same time, I saw thousand of iridescent rainbows shimmering though the blackness, bouncing off of the walls and wrapping their delicate tendrils around my stationary body, as if trying to pull me into the void.

"And then, everything went black."