Killer Pointe

by Kristi Helvig

  My stomach dropped. Those girls were dead. “Snow,” I said. “She killed Snow.”

  I watched Rolph as he sagged against the bars, wrapping his thin, pale fingers around them. My heart broke for him. “Rolph, I know this is obvious, but you’re not a girl. Why you?”

  A gutteral sound came from his throat. I realized he was trying to laugh. “She said I was the closest thing to a girl she could find. She’ll never stop now. No girl is safe.”

  “What about the King?”

  Rolph scoffed. “No one has heard from him in a few days. Some guards think he left Liralelle. My guess is she got fed up with his philandering and took him out. Bree, you have to stop her.”

  Great. It was hard to stop someone from inside a metal prison. “Doesn’t she realize her plan has a serious flaw? She’ll run out of girls eventually, right?”

  Rolph had sunk to the floor and was resting his face against the bars. “In this world she will ... but then she has yours.”

  My heart skipped a beat. I remembered the night she traveled to my world to leave me at the orphanage. She’d likely been visiting my world for years, scoping out places where it would be easy for a troubled young teenage girl to disappear. She really could stay young forever, and who knew what damage she could do if her powers kept growing. She’d make our world dictators look like harmless, fluffy kittens.

  “I have to get you out of here, Rolph. I’ll figure something out.” I tried to portray a confidence I didn’t feel.

  He simply nodded his head before curling up on the floor. “Think I’ll just rest awhile now,” he mumbled.

  I went back to the cot and sat down, my head in my hands. Whatever I did, I’d have to do fast. He wouldn’t last another feeding and then she’d be sure to turn to me as her next donor. I knocked on the stone walls. They were thick and sturdy. I’d seen movies where people used eating utensils or homemade shanks to dig holes in the wall over a period of years, but I didn’t have years—I probably didn’t even have days.

  As if on cue, the sound of the door opening echoed down the hall. A guard—one of the same ones that had brought me here—stopped in front of my cell with a large tray. He smirked at me and held up one of the keys from the ring that must have been the one to the cell. “Don’t you wish you had this?” he taunted. Though I had no plan, if he opened that door, I would take my chances and run for it. Instead, he slid the tray through a long, narrow opening near the bottom of the door. He chuckled. “Eat up. Tomorrow’s a big day for you.”

  He took the other tray and brought it down to Rolph. “And tomorrow’s one of the last days for you.” All the guards were pretty bad but this one was awful.

  Tears filled my eyes. Her Highness would be back for the rest of Rolph’s blood tomorrow, and would probably start on mine. The effects of the blood must only last a few days. The strong aroma of the food hit my nose, and my mouth watered in spite of myself.

  Under the tray’s lid lay a juicy steak, green leafy salad and fresh assorted fruit. A meal fit for a Queen. Which ultimately, it was. The menu was high in iron, vitamins and minerals that would ensure strong, rich blood when she feasted on it. Silverware hadn’t been provided—she wasn’t stupid. It wouldn’t do any good to refuse it because I was starving and I’d need the strength to get out of here.

  I grabbed the steak with my fingers and chewed off a good-sized bite. It was tender and delicious. If this was my last meal, I couldn’t have asked for better, though I would have preferred to top everything off with some chocolate mousse. I gulped water from a large cup—she wanted me hydrated—and alternated between mouthfuls of the greens and the steak. I’d save the fruit for dessert.

  I tried to think of ways out of here while trying not to think about Mom or Jay and those brown eyes of his. Hopefully, Cal and A were still safe with Muriel. It crossed my mind that I might never dance another day in my life. Ava was right; I couldn’t plié my way out of this. Juilliard didn’t seem nearly as important as saving my world from a blood-hungry witch.

  I popped a grape in my mouth and stood. Though I might never dance at Lincoln Center, ballet cleared my mind and focused me like nothing else. I hummed the tune to Sleeping Beauty and started dancing in the tiny cell.

  “Love the music.” Rolph’s tired voice filtered into my cell. “If I close my eyes, I can almost pretend I’m sitting in my little boutique in the village, fussing over the newest shipment of scarves …” His voice trailed off.

  I spun in a pirouette. “You’ll get your boutique, Rolph. I promise.” My eyes closed, as I continued humming along to the song in my head. I thought of the real Sleeping Beauty here in Liralelle, and pangs of empathy gripped me. It would be hard to be filled with music but have no outlet. No wonder she roamed the forest, singing to whatever creature she came across. People thought she was crazy, but her only real crime was tone deafness.

  An idea formed. It wasn’t a great one, but it was something. I grabbed another handful of fruit and relished the sweetness of the strawberries. It would be a shame to waste the rest of it. I used my knuckles to mash the rest of it into a pulpy juice.

  It seemed like hours before I heard the click of the door down the hall. I slathered the red juice up and down my arms and smeared some around my mouth. His loud, heavy footsteps grew closer. I let my body go limp in the middle of the cell and lay there on my side, limbs askew. As he reached the door, I held my breath so it looked like I wasn’t breathing.

  “What the—?”

  The keys clanked against the door as he fumbled for the lock. I hoped he’d hurry because I really needed to breath.

  He mumbled as he opened and scrambled toward me. “You better not be dead, or Her Highness will have my head.” Guess fresh, oxygenated blood was important. I recognized the voice. It was the guard who’d taunted me earlier. He nudged my arm with his foot.

  My lungs burned and I’d have to breath in another second. He was bigger than me, so my only chance was to get him off balance.

  His finger swiped at the berries on my mouth as he leaned over me. “These aren’t even poisonous. I don’t–”

  My eyes flung open and I inhaled a deep mouthful of air. His eyes widened in surprise as I leaned up on my arms and swung my top leg forward and then kicked back in a sweeping motion as hard as I could against his ankles. He crashed down next to me and his keys skittered across the floor toward the open door. I leapt to my feet to go after them, but he reached out and grabbed my arm. Thanks to the fruit pulp, he couldn’t get a strong grip and when I yanked my arm away, it slid easily from his hand.

  I sprinted to the door, barely slowing down as I leaned down to snatch the keys. The guard stumbled as he got to his feet. I swung the door shut and fingered through the keys until I had the right one. He swore and charged at the door. I jammed the key in the lock and turned it, hearing the comforting click just as he hit the door with the full force of his body.

  “You’ll never get away with this,” he growled.

  I shrugged. “I probably wouldn’t have if you hadn’t shown me the right key. Thanks for that.”

  I ran to Rolph’s cell but he stopped me before I could get the key ready. “No,” he said. He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the door. “I’m too weak to move and then we’ll both get caught. Go and get as far away from here as you can.”

  The guard screamed for help over and over again.

  “Don’t worry,” said Rolph. “No one will hear him. It’s basically sound-proof down here.”

  I reached for his hand through the bar and squeezed it. “I’m leaving but I’ll be back, hopefully before Her Highness realizes I’m gone.” With that, I took off down the hall, my feet pounding against the hard, stone floor. The guard hadn’t bothered to lock the first door so I didn’t have to search for that key. I bounded up the steps two at a time and paused by the door that I knew led into the throne room. I pressed my ear to the door. Surely, she wouldn’t still be in there. She’d be more apt to be resting in her chamb
er until it was time for her next “snack.”

  I looked through the keys and tried two before the third one slid right in. The lock made a sharp click when I turned it and I held my breath as I opened the door. The room looked empty. Not a guard or a Queen in sight. I crept around from behind the throne, half expecting to see her hand resting on its arm. After ensuring it was empty, I raced across the slippery marble toward the large columns at the far side of the room. Beyond it was another hallway and then the entrance rooms. Beyond that, freedom.

  The problem with the distance between me and the front entrance is the guards that were posted along the way. I peered out from behind the large column. At least two guards paced back and forth by the front door. I’d never get out going straight through, and I doubted I’d even make it as far as the entrance rooms. To my left and right were halls that I knew led to a myriad of other rooms, but I had no idea where they went—aside from the one leading to Her Highness’ chamber and that was the last place I wanted to go.

  I took a guess and went left, trying to ignore the stickiness of my hands and arms from the smashed fruit that was drying in a congealed glaze on my body. Various rooms lined the hall, including a parlor, a library, a conservatory, and a ballroom. Of course, the one room I hadn’t seen was a washroom.

  The ballroom was mostly empty, save for an ornate chandelier in the center of the ceiling, which meant nowhere to hide, so I opted for the conservatory. A large grand piano was the focal point of the room and behind it, a partially open window. I stole over to the window, which faced the front courtyard. Several guards stood outside the castle entrance. That was unusual.

  Whenever I’d come from my world, the courtyard itself was typically empty. The guards often met us at the front door but rarely patrolled the grounds. Her Highness had grown complacent and must have thought herself invincible until Muriel’s recent resurgence.

  There had to be a back entrance and servant’s entrance to the castle, but they would likely be guarded as well. I’d have to find a room along the side of the castle. It’s not like they could guard every window—at least I hoped.

  Just as I turned away from the window, a growing sound reached my ears. A grating, god-awful sound that no human should hear. No way. This was not happening.

  I leaned as far as I dared out the window. Beauty wandered through the castle courtyard, looking lost and confused, yet singing at the top of her lungs. Every guard swiveled in her direction, two of them already holding their hands over their ears.

  What was she doing? It would take the guards all of three minutes to get over their annoyance and realize they had a fresh victim for Her Highness. Beauty would be her next unsuspecting beverage supplier.

  Sure enough, the guards moved away from the entrance toward her. Guards I hadn’t known about appeared from around the castle corners and joined in the effort. Beauty had to have noticed them—she couldn’t be that unaware—but she continued to stroll toward the woods and sang loudly as if her life depended on it.

  Or maybe my life. Was she doing this on purpose? The guards swarmed from behind her. Just once, she turned and glanced over her shoulder, her head tilted up as though searching the castle windows. Then she disappeared into the woods, with a troop of castle guards following her like some bizarre version of the pied piper. She had to be helping me. It was now or never, because I couldn’t let the same thing happen to her that happened to Snow and the village girls. I darted out of the room and down the empty hallway. After I turned the corner, I headed into the first room and dashed to the window.

  There was no one on the ground below. Beauty had drawn all of the guards to the front of the castle. Luckily, the window opened easily and I started to climb out before realizing that I had no weapon. How could I fight all those guards with my bare hands?

  The room looked like a type of formal sitting room, with a severe looking couch and several straight-backed chairs. An antique table contained only a book and candle. The book wouldn’t do much damage but I grabbed the candlestick and tossed the candle as I climbed out the window. The candlestick must have been made of pewter or a similar metal because it felt heavy and substantial in my hand.

  I dropped down to the grass in a crouch and crept along the castle wall, following the shrill sound of Beauty’s singing. Ear splitting though it was, it was a huge relief to hear her. Other voices rose from the direction of the forest and outbreaks of shouting and yelling soon drowned out Beauty’s song. What was going on? When I reached the end of the castle wall and peered around the corner, some sort of whistle sounded and what must have been thirty more soldiers poured out of the castle entrance and headed into the woods. I pulled my head back to avoid detection.

  When I dared to peek again, one lone guard remained. He faced away from me toward the direction of all the commotion. I tiptoed up to him, grateful for the soft grass underfoot. It wasn’t until I’d almost reached him that he sensed something behind him. Just as he turned, I smashed the candlestick into the side of his head. He slumped to the ground soundlessly. An absurd image of a child’s game came to mind, and I could picture Cal proclaiming, “It was Bree in the courtyard with a candlestick.”

  In the distance, Beauty’s singing came to an abrupt halt amidst the cacophony of yells and grunts. A second later, I heard her again.

  Instead of a song, it was a long, blood-curdling scream.

  17

  “No!” I yelled and sprinted into the woods. My heart raced as I ran in the direction of her shrieking. More yelling broke out ahead and it seemed to be coming from several directions. I tore through the trees until I caught a flash of golden hair. Guards flanked Beauty on either side, pulling her by the arms while she tried to back away from them. Other guards looked like they were battling something I couldn’t see from the back. I crept closer and gripped the candlestick tighter.

  A guard went down in front of me, shouting in pain, and revealing their attacker in the process. It was a troll. I’d never been so happy to see a troll in my life. It took me a second to register that the trees were teeming with trolls. They carried blunt wooden weapons and one troll smashed his baseball-bat looking tool into the kneecap of the man holding Beauty’s right arm. The guard yelped and I went after the other guy on her left. He released her arm to grab his sword, but I was faster. I did an échappé leap and came down hitting him square in the forehead with the full weight of the candlestick.

  The guard dropped like a stone, as other trolls streamed in from all sides to attack the remaining castle troops.

  “Bree!”

  I spun around to see Ava flanked by Travis, the troll who’d professed his crush for her, and Helga’s husband, Horace. They all held clubs in their hand. “You’re okay!” I exclaimed.

  “Yeah, and that was a perfect échappé by the way,” she said.

  I turned back toward Beauty. She gave me a strange smile then turned and ran into the woods. “No,” I yelled. “It’s not safe out there. Don’t go.”

  A guard gripped my sticky fruit-pulp-covered arm as I attempted to run after her. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  Travis, Ava, and Horace were on the guard in seconds, and Travis delivered a crushing blow to the guard’s chest, which looked like it killed him instantly.

  Ava hugged me, then stepped away and peeled her hands from my fruit-stained arms. “What on earth is all over you?”

  Before I could respond, another batch of guards crashed through the trees. One went after Travis while another attempted to wrench the candlestick from my hand. I yanked my arm away but he grabbed my wrist instead.

  A troll jumped on him from behind and something nudged my left hand. Another troll shoved a wooden club into my hand. The guard twisted to pluck the troll off his back with his free hand without letting go of my wrist.

  He smirked as he turned back around to face me and reached for his sword. “I have you now.”

  I smiled. “You think?” I swung my left hand and the club connected with his ch
eekbone, making a strange cracking sound.

  The guard howled and grabbed at his face. Another troll dropped down from a low-lying tree branch and landed on his shoulders, then clocked him in the head with his weapon until he crumpled at my feet.

  I swiveled around as Ava swung her club and hit a guard right between his legs. He dropped to his knees as he groaned, his hands covering his crotch. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” she said.

  “Where’s Cal?” I yelled over Travis’ head who had just taken down another guard. “Is he okay?”

  “Yes, he’s fine,” she said over the chaos. “He’s somewhere safe—” her eyes darted around at the guards “—with you know who.”

  I ducked as another guard came at me but was quickly overtaken by a horde of trolls. “And Evan?”

  Ava’s brow furrowed. “Don’t know. He should have been here by now. He was trying to round up people in the town center.”

  Just when it seemed like we were winning and that the number of trolls outweighed the number of guards, the galloping sound of horses thundered through the forest accompanied by the war cries of Her Highness’s soldiers. The troops on patrol around Liralelle must have been alerted or somehow summoned. They crashed through the trees, brandishing large swords.

  Great. There must have been twenty more guards to contend with, and all I had was a club and a candlestick. The trolls whooped and charged the soldiers, undaunted by their small stature as compared to the mounted soldiers. Several trolls went down in a pool of blood from enemy swords just as a horse charged me. The guard’s eyes gleamed as he readied his sword to slice me in half. He didn’t seem worried about saving me as a meal for the Queen. Maybe her orders had changed.

  I dove for a tree, dropping the candlestick on the way, and managed to bring the club over my head for protection just as he swung down. The sword sliced through the air and became embedded in the trunk a few inches above my head. As the guard directed the horse to circle back around, I jumped up and yanked the handle in a desperate attempt to free the blade from the tree. A sword would make a much better weapon than what I had. I jiggled the blade back and forth in a frantic motion as I scanned the area.