by Holly Hook
It was all the more reason not to leave.
Mother didn't leave the area that day, and I remained at the window, hoping to glimpse Henry, but to no avail. I wondered how far out in the trees he was hiding and how he was staying out of Mother's view. Occasionally I caught a flash of Mother's purple dress as she worked out in the garden and wandered among the berry bushes she had depleted the days before, taking her time doing nothing. I'd never seen her act this way before. I imagined she hadn't hung this close since I was a baby.
Or perhaps when I was a baby, I wasn't even in this tower.
Even children got to leave their homes if Henry was right.
* * * * *
"The dark spot is growing."
Those were Mother's first words as she climbed through the window and I gathered my hair. I rubbed my aching head, and she landed on the floor, brushing leaves and twigs off her dress. Mother frowned and reached for the cabinet.
"Growing?" I asked.
"I looked all around it today," Mother said. Her face was long and tired and her eyes were darker than usual. "It's been about the same size for several years, but now it's grown bigger and I don't like the rate it's happening. The edge of it is almost in sight of the tower now. It's just under those trees toward our trail."
I remembered my nightmare and fear constricted my chest. "That's almost to the berry bushes." I thought of the ones Mother milled around every few days. "Will it get all the way here?" The dark spot sounded like it was less than a couple minutes' walk away. It had taken ten minutes to walk there before if I recalled the distance right.
"I don't know," Mother said. "Dark spots are strange. Anything inside of them turns dark, including animals and magical creatures. They bring out the worst in people, too." She blinked and turned away as if trying to hide her eyes from me.
"What's making it grow?" I thought of the rampion plant healing it. "I thought it was going away?"
Mother looked at me strange and I realized my mistake too late.
"Whatever makes you think the dark spot is going away?" she asked. She leaned closer, studying me close. It took effort not to cringe.
"I thought you said something about it once. I might have made an error."
"Few things can make them go away," Mother said. "Only powerful light magic can do that and that's dying in this world. Another reason I'm keeping you here is because darkness is spreading through Fable. Our dark spot is not the only one. There are hundreds of them out there, maybe thousands. No one is sure how big this world is."
I shuddered. "Hundreds?"
Mother opened the cabinet up and stuffed bread inside. "Dark spots only get bigger, not smaller. If things continue this way for much longer, all of Fable will be inside of them." Mother breathed out and stopped rummaging through the cabinets. "There is...a dark magician out there who wants to make all of Fable like that spot and bring it under his control. He's so full of dark magic that if he so much as stands in one place for too long, a new dark spot forms. There's no stopping him." Mother was shaking. She faced me. "That's why you must never, ever leave, Rae. I don't care what happens."
"I won't," I said. "But what if the dark spot gets here? We can't stay in it."
Mother glanced out the window. Her eyes were wide. Scared. "I don't think it will penetrate the tower. But I fear it will surround us soon."
"But you have to walk through the dark spot every day. And why do you think it won't get in the tower?"
"I can handle myself there. You can't." She pointed at me. Her face paled, and the nightmare returned in a flash.
I thought of Henry again and his word that not all the world was evil. Good things existed. He might not return if the dark spot grew much bigger and chased him off. Panic rose inside of me. I imagined having nothing to look at but sadness if that happened.
Torment covered Mother's face as if she were fighting something inside. She looked frail, and I wondered if I'd need to hold her up. But then she caught her composure and let out a breath. "Give me your word, Rae. Give me your word that you will never leave me."
I hated my words, but I needed to speak them. "I won't go."
Mother embraced me. "Thank you, Rae. I need you here. I'll make sure that nothing can get to you."
And then she released me, grabbed a bronze key from her pocket, and unlocked the trapdoor that shouldn't lead to anything.
As she vanished down the steps, I died a little inside.
* * * * *
I hung by the window all day long the next day. Every so often, Mother would circle the tower. She never looked up at me as if ashamed of whatever she was doing. Mother would mutter under her breath and make strange expressions. She was carrying a gnarled stick with her I'd never seen before. It didn't look like a twig, but a piece of polished wood. As Mother worked, waving the stick around and surrounding us with an imaginary ring, I noticed the encroaching dark spot.
I first spotted it in the midafternoon, poking out from under the trees and hugging the trail. It looked like a shadow at first, but on closer inspection, I saw the truth. The grass there had turned dark, almost black, as if it was burnt or dying, and the trees growing out of it grew thicker and darker. Leaves coiled on others and fell. Mother kept her distance from it as she worked, but eyed it every so often.
It was evening when I noticed that one tree had lost all of its leaves in the distance and become a wooden skeleton. The two trees next to that one had grown extra leaves and gone almost black as if their roots had sucked up some of that evil. The dread feeling returned looking at it.
And now the darkness was almost in our large clearing.
How close would this be in the morning? I marked its progress by how close it was getting to the huge clump of daises right off the trail. I held up my fingers. The dark spot had been four fingers away from the daises a few hours ago. Now it was only two. The region of despair was growing a few feet per hour.
I estimated that it would get here sometime late tomorrow.
Mother finished her muttering and climbed back up the tower, using my braid as a rope. "What's making this dark spot get bigger suddenly?" I asked.
Mother stood there. She was even paler today and her eyes darker than they were yesterday. My nightmare was coming to life. She hadn't braided my hair this morning or last night and that hadn't helped. "I thought I saw the dark magician out there one night." She cleared her throat as if she were scrambling for an explanation. "I believe his presence gave it more power. I hear he is able to walk through his magic mirror and appear anywhere there's a reflection, but his power to do that is much stronger in dark spots. This is why I don't want you leaving."
I looked around the castle. "Will he try to hurt us?"
"I don't know," Mother said. "If you leave the tower, he might."
We had nothing reflective here except for the old, broken mirror we kept facing the wall at all times. Mother had told me about mirrors, where you could look at yourself, but she had never brought a new one home from the village. Mother always said they were too much trouble. Now I knew why.
"Oh," I said. "What would this magician want to do with me? I'm just an ordinary girl." I felt the urge to challenge her. To make her admit something.
I also feared that my decision not to leave the tower had something to do with the dark spot. It hadn't grown until I told Henry that I couldn't go with him. Alric had visited two weeks ago. If it was being caused from him, it would have started then. Right?
Alric had even said if I didn't leave, this place would be his. And if he was a dark wizard, he'd want his land to be dark, too.
Mother swallowed. Her eyes were sharp like a hawk's. "Would you like dinner?"
"No. I want answers. What would he want with me? Why can't we both get out of this tower and leave together?" I couldn't believe the words coming from my mouth, but getting away from the darkness might be my only chance at seeing Henry again. "There has to be another tower we can live in."
Mother got out th
e bread. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked.
I was stewing at that point. "No. I feel you're not telling me everything I should know about this situation. I gave you my word I wouldn't leave you. There's no reason for you to keep me in the dark."
She looked back and forth around the tower as if searching for someone to help her. "Stop asking all these questions," she snapped. "It won't do you any good."
"We're sitting up here while darkness is marching towards us right now. There's no reason we can't leave this tower together before it gets here." We could both win if that happened. I'd stay with Mother and we'd both get away from the darkness.
Mother paced around the room in a full circle around me. Something about her movement made me think of a predator. She rummaged in her dress pocket for something and she drew the stick. It wasn't a stick at all. It was the same gnarled piece of wood she'd been waving all around the base of the tower all day. "Rae, I am only trying to protect you," she said. "This is the best way. If I don't make the story end the way the dark magician wants it to, he will take care of it. And he will do it in a way more cruel than I. I have to make you forget this conversation."
The room filled with a cold, sharp energy. "Mother—what do you mean?"
She pointed the wand at me and uttered a word.
* * * * *
My body felt heavy.
I opened my eyes to find myself on my straw mattress. Morning sun beamed in through the window and I sat up, blinking the grogginess out of my eyes.
The tower was empty. Mother had gone. That was strange. Her basket was still here on the table, so she must not have gone out to the market.
"Mother?" I asked. When did I lie down and fall asleep?
Something about last night rose in my mind, but flew away again. Mother had been ready to cut bread, and then...nothing. I couldn't even remember what we were talking about before the lapse in memory struck.
I must have been ill, gone to bed and forgotten all about whatever we said. I had been ill before, and every time Mother refused to leave my bedside until I healed. I had always healed fast, but Mother always worried whenever my stomach refused food or fever struck.
But I had forgotten nothing before.
Not that I knew of, anyway.
I got out of bed. I still wore my dress from yesterday and now it had wrinkles. We'd have to wash it and hang it outside now.
Dread expanded in my stomach.
The dark spot.
How close had it come during the night?
I ran to the window and leaned out.
The darkness had reached the edge of Mother's garden now and the blueberry plants were turning dark. The berries had gone an angry shade of purple. They no longer looked safe to eat. The rest of the garden looked fine, but I knew would change within hours. The entire forest to the west had changed and for a second, I wasn't sure if I was still in the same place. Many of the trees had lost their leaves, and many others had grown thicker and darker. I could see the ground through many of the dead trees and I could even make out the small pond the man in black had risen from in my nightmare. It looked even darker than it had before.
“Mother?” I called. I couldn’t see her anywhere in the trees. In fact, the only life I spotted were black ravens that perched on top of one of the dead trees. One of them was trying to eat a piece of mysterious meat.
The dark spot might even reach the base of the tower by the end of the day.
“Mother!” I repeated, louder this time.
“Rae.”
I looked down and my heart swelled.
Henry stood at the base of the tower, waving. He cast a glance at the growing dark spot, which had now overtaken all the blueberry bushes. It was growing ever faster as if it had sensed his presence and wanted to eat him.
“Henry,” I said. “Have you seen my mother?”
“You mean the enchantress?” he asked. “I saw her earlier. She was walking around the tower again, casting spells. Can you let down your hair?”
“Spells?” I asked. Something about a wand came to mind. No. I’d never seen Mother with one. Or had I? Something tickled at the back of my memory, then fluttered away again.
“Yes. Spells.” Henry managed a tense smile. “Please. Let me up. I like none of this one bit.”
I gathered my hair, which trailed behind me on the floor. Then I tossed the big, heavy heap over the windowsill.
Henry climbed with more care this time. I was glad he was here, and I didn’t care about the tugs. At last, he climbed over the windowsill, panting, and I went to work gathering my hair again.
“The dark spot,” I said. “It grew only two days ago.”
Henry frowned. “They rarely grow that fast. Dark spots are slow. Some don’t change size for years. But something must have made this one hit a spurt. I’ve been watching it, and it’s only getting faster and faster. It’s almost like this part of Fable is ready to fall.”
A sense of déjà vu washed over me, like I had had this conversation with someone before, but I couldn’t grab onto the feeling before it flew away again. “What could have done that?” I asked.
“There’s an evil magician out there named Alric. And from what some sources have told me, entire parts of Fable can go dark if he causes a story to end the way it shouldn’t.”
Alric had said this part of Fable would belong to him if this story fell. “What is it with these stories? Are we parts of them?”
Henry spoke fast. He held my arms, and I was so nervous, I could barely feel the tingling rushing over my skin. “That’s what this world is. Stories. We’re all stories in the imaginations of the other world.”
“Other world?” I asked. “You’re saying Fable isn’t the only world?”
“There’s another universe, and it’s filled with more people than there could ever be here. Their imaginations are the reason we exist. We all have endings we’re supposed to achieve. Your story is to escape this tower and live in happiness. And if you don’t, your story falls. This part of Fable turns dark. It’s what Alric wants. That’s why we need to get you out of here before the enchantress finds me here. If that happens—"
"I can’t leave! I want to go, but I can’t. Mother will turn evil if I leave her."
Henry’s gaze pleaded with me. “She’s evil for keeping you here. Don’t you see? She’s been manipulating you. She might even have joined with Alric and she’s trying to help him take over Fable. That could be why she doesn't want you to leave. I'm sorry to tell you this but it might be true. Not all the story is known to me. I'm only relaying what Mary the wise woman told me.”
“My mother doesn’t even like Alric!” I shouted.
Henry held my arms. “Please, Rae. You need to leave this place or this forest and the village and this entire kingdom will fall into darkness. Can’t you see it? Our story is on the verge of not ending the way it should. That’s why this is happening.”
Henry let go of my arms and waited for my answer. I hesitated, then checked out the ground again. The spreading darkness had taken over the expanse of Mother’s garden. Cucumbers had gone rotten, and the ravens were picking at them, taking away every scrap of food they could. Huge bugs swarmed over the tomatoes, tearing them into pulp. Leaves fell in droves, blanketing the once black ground that was now becoming dry and cracked. Brambles grew around the perimeter of the garden, thick and covered in spikes three inches long. It made the blackberry bushes tame by comparison.
I was fearing I caused this.
"I'm not part of any story," I said. "Please. Just go." I wanted Henry to leave as much as I didn't. There was no way I wanted his words to be true. Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes.
Henry winced as if I had stabbed him. "There's nothing wrong with being a part of a story. We're no less real than the other world. All of Fable is in danger. Please, don't let the enchantress keep you here for the rest of your life. What do you have to look forward to?"
"Safety." That word weakened every time I spoke i
t.
"There's nothing to look forward to with safety all the time," Henry said. "Nothing. We need to climb down this tower before the darkness gets here and prevents us. I'll stand at the bottom and make sure you don't fall. We might have only a few minutes left." Henry waved me towards the windowsill.
Fear rose inside of me as I thought of the nightmare. Henry getting stabbed in the middle of the dark spot. Mother turned into a monster. "Please, don't," I said. "I want nothing bad to happen to you."
"Nothing bad will happen if we hurry." The hurt vanished from Henry's features as he swung one leg over the edge. He looked down and back at me. "The dark spot's almost to the base of the tower. There are brambles growing down there. This is our last chance."
"It's not even that," Mother said from the other side of the room.
I turned. Mother stood there in her purple dress, arms crossed and pale. Her hair had darkened and her eyes had taken on that sharpness I'd seen only twice before.
She was already turning dark.
"Mother," I said, moving in front of Henry. How had she gotten up here without me letting down my hair? The trapdoor hadn't opened. None of it made sense. "I didn't see you come in."
"I never left," she said. And she smiled in a way I didn't like. "Invisibility spells are very handy."
"You are an enchantress," Henry said, stepping in front of me. "Stop keeping Rae here as a prisoner."
She eyed him with a look of pure hatred. I pulled him back. The urge to protect him washed over me. But Mother charged forward and pushed me out of the way. I jumped, shocked at her actions. She'd never done this before. Henry backed to the windowsill, mouth falling open.
"You," Mother said. She raised her hand and a cold, sharp feeling filled the room. Her nails had grown longer. "You will not take what is mine." This wasn't the Mother I was used to.
Or maybe this was the real Mother. The one she had spent her life trying to hold back.
I rushed towards her. "Don't hurt him!"