Poison and Mirrors

by Holly Hook

  "I didn't do that," I said. "I didn't do any of that. It was Sara."

  Alric folded his arms over his chest. "Who was there when every single one of those things happened?"

  "Sara. It was her. I'm not the evil queen." My breath spiraled in front of my face. The room was freezing.

  "Interesting. My Watcher saw you tapping that lettuce with the stick and muttering something. It sounds like a magical act to me. Sara merely watched the vegetable change. What were you saying when you tapped the lettuce?"

  "I was just talking about my teacher," I said. "What does that have to do with--"

  I had been talking about how Mr. Rain was such an ass.

  And the donkey curse had fallen on the lettuce. Nort and Joey had just gotten in the way. Sara had saved Eric from the horror.

  The horror I might have created.

  I had the comb when Moanna came up to our table and started going all possessive on Eric. It had been in my hands. I remembered my feelings of jealousy at the time.

  And Mr. Rain.

  Of course I had been beyond angry with him when his tie constricted his throat.

  "You are the queen of the Vine Kingdom in Fable's dark region," Alric said. "Your kingdom neighbors mine. Sara was the beautiful princess, born from the former queen there. And Eric was a prince traveling through the area with his family, trying to flee the darkness growing in Fable. Is it a surprise that you feel at home in darkness? It's where you came from."

  He was right. I did like my morbid dreams. My dreams full of dark forests and castles and poisonous things. Could those be my memories of the dark region?

  "Sara and Eric escaped to this world from Fable a few months ago," Alric continued. "Eric's family knew you would turn your jealousy on them and hurt them, so they found a portal somewhere and came here. Sara would go to Haven House to be guarded by those seven stupid dwarves and Eric's mother, Stephanie. Eric would retain his fortune and whisk Sara away when the time came, because stories always follow the characters of Fable. And sure enough, it did."

  "Okay. I'm a horrible person," I said. I trembled. "We have that established." I'd done the exact thing the story wanted me to do. Alric had fooled me into it. He wasn't on my side after all. He wasn't on anyone's side.

  "You are not a horrible person," Alric said. "You are merely following your nature, and nature for some of us is dark. There's nothing wrong with that. But as I was saying," he said, sitting on the piano stool, "Is that after Sara and Eric left Fable, you were left there, burning with jealousy that you had every right to have. You know Eric belongs to you. The two of you almost fell in love back in Fable when he stayed at your castle during his travels. But Sara had to come in and steal him away with her beauty. She betrayed you on the worst level. In Fable, and here. She is the villain here, not you."

  Alric gestured to Sara. She remained still and dead, like some rag doll thrown down and forgotten. What was she experiencing right now? Did the poison hurt?

  No one deserved to die like that.

  And I studied Eric again. It seemed like he was frozen in that scream for the rest of time.

  "Your story always ends with Sara killing you. Dancing you to death. That is a far worse way to go than any poison could give her. Anyways," Alric said, standing again, "I sent you here to this world only a few days ago, to help you win this story. I apologize for blocking your memories the way that I needed to do. You and I had...a little spat that I could not have get in the way of this plan."

  "A spat?" I asked.

  Alric held one hand up to me.

  A force hit and I came off my feet, flying back and hitting the wall behind me. Pain erupted in the back of my head, flaring up the bruise above my temple that I had forgotten about by now.

  I tried to peel my head from the wall, but it was no use. I felt as if an invisible strap were tied around my head and the rest of my body, keeping me pinned against the wall. Eric remained still just feet to my left and the whole party stayed frozen. Another cup of beer fell from a girl's had and drifted down to the floor. It was the creepiest scene I'd ever set eyes on.

  In this world, anyway.

  "I tried to make eliminating Sara easier for you," Alric said. He dropped his hand, but the force remained. "When I put you in Mr. Rain's class, I made her forget who you were and made her think the two of you were friends. I also erased Eric's true memory of you. I even sent the woodsman to find you, to offer you his services. He was not looking to kill you, Mara. He was looking to do business with you. Perhaps I should have left some pieces of your memory intact after all."

  "What's in this for you?" I asked. There was no way I could move. Alric had me under some spell. I wondered if he could erase my memory again. A big part of me wanted him to. I didn't want to remember this. How could I live with it? "What are you messing with my life for?"

  "I'm saving your life, Mara. I think it's a fair trade for keeping your magic mirror."

  "My magic mirror?"

  Alric waved an invisible bug away like this wasn't some big deal. "You know. Your one where you would ask who is the fairest in the land? My predecessor, King Henrik, stole it from you a couple of years ago. When he was...deposed...I took over his kingdom and found a lot of use in your mirror. You wanted to take it back, of course, to help find Sara and Eric, but I couldn't let you take it from me. Hence my sending you here and erasing your memory. I even altered Stephanie's memories so you could stay in Haven House. Dwarves, however, are resistant to magic and did not fall for the deception. And when you came here, I even took the poison apple from you that you created for Sara, to keep it safe until this time came."

  He pointed to the floor, to where the apple continued to leak purple death.

  I'd made that apple. Not Alric.

  And the thought felt right. No wonder I was angry at him. He'd taken something that was mine. Played me like a pawn.

  "I asked, what's in this for you?" I gave up struggling against the cold magic that held me here. All my fear had vanished. There was just my opponent in front of me.

  "When a story falls, Mara, another piece of Fable turns dark and falls under my control. But since we're not in Fable and your kingdom is already as dark as mine, perhaps this world can feel the effects of a story falling. You'll feel more at home here if that happens."

  "So you're power hungry," I said. "That's all. And I'm a means to an end."

  "That's what everyone calls me," Alric said. "And you have no room to speak. You are just as dark as I am."

  "I'm not like you," I said. "I'm not trying to take over Fable or whatever."

  Alric whirled on me. "No one understands that I'm trying to free Fable from an endless cycle of stories that play out over and over. There is always a price for freedom. Always." He walked closer to Sara and lifted his hood back over his head, hiding his face. "I will help you one more time, Mara. I am taking Sara back to Fable with me and I will keep her hidden and away from Eric. I'll even put her in a glass coffin like she's supposed to go in. I have a talent for that. I will also alter the memories of everyone in this room except for you. You win, Mara. At long last, you win."

  And then he kneeled and picked up Sara. He stood and turned away from me.

  "You can't," I said, pushing against the magic again. But it was no use. I was stuck and everyone else was useless. I might never get her back. I might never cure Sara--the Sara who had run from me when she found out who I was. The Sara who had hidden with Eric so I wouldn't destroy her.

  And I still destroyed her.

  Alric muttered some low words and the front door came open. A breeze blew in and the air warmed a bit. He turned to the side and carried Sara's form out into the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  The cold force kept me pinned to the wall for minutes. I screamed curses after Alric, but the front door remained open and only the wind answered.

  Sara was gone.

  He had taken her and now the story had fallen. It might have saved my life, but the stor
y was screwed.

  I stopped screaming after some time. I could only watch the frozen party around me.

  At long last, Nort blinked, followed by the rest of the party.

  The music started up again. I'd forgotten it had even been playing in the first place. I fell from the wall as the coldness vanished and the breeze coming through the open front door calmed down.

  "What are you doing?" Eric asked.

  He was awake. The guy who had only wanted to protect Sara was awake.

  He was the guy who, for a day or two, had forgotten who I really was. It was the only reason he had talked to me in Foods and the only reason Sara had encouraged it. But now Eric was confused. He stared at Joey and the other guy like he didn't know what was going on. They let go of his arms and stared at each other.

  Confused chatter started up.

  "How much did we have to drink?" Joey asked.

  I looked around the room. Everywhere, people shook their heads and wandered around like they weren't sure what was happening. I knew the feeling. This had been done to me by the same man who claimed he was helping me.

  "Mara. Did I pass out or something?" Eric was there, asking me. "Did I fall asleep at my own party?"

  There was no fear or hate in his eyes. Eric had forgotten about me breaking into his party. It seemed like he had forgotten who I really was, too.

  "I don't know," I lied, because I was trying to get my bearings, too. I was standing in a room where I was the only one who knew what had really gone down. The apple was still sitting there, leaking purple into the carpet. There was still a tiny purple spot where Sara had been lying minutes ago, poison dripping from her mouth. Alric had taken her. He would probably take her back to Fable and hide her forever.

  And then whatever he wanted to happen would happen.

  But Sara was gone. And Eric was here.

  If I wanted, he could be mine.

  And there would no longer be any Sara in the way.

  Glee rose up inside of me. Eric could be mine. It was as if the events of the last few days had never happened. I'd have to get away from the dwarves and Stephanie, but I would get to start all over again with Eric.

  But the glee got chased away with Sara.

  She would lie in stasis for all eternity as if she were frozen in some kind of sleep. She’d never know anything again. Except for dreams. Terrible dreams.

  Dreams of me killing her.

  It might have been my magic that made her reach for the apple. Not Alric’s.

  Eric took a breath and rubbed his hand through his hair. “Maybe someone spiked our drinks with something. I remember seeing Sara here, but where is she? She always hangs out with you.”

  The clueless look on his face told me that he didn’t remember hooking up with her. Alric had messed with his memories, but he hadn’t completely blocked them. Doing that to someone must be difficult.

  “I…” I said. “I don’t know where she went. She must have gone home.” I took a step closer to Eric. Sara was out of the way. Sara had stolen him from me. She was the real villain along with Stephanie and those horrible dwarves. I could kiss Eric now. I knew what his lips would taste like. Like fresh air combined with dry leaves. We had kissed before, before Sara came into the picture and stole him away.

  I leaned closer to Eric.

  He hesitated, then moved a little closer to me. Yes. He had forgotten the truth. Alric had wiped most of Sara from his memory.

  And then a girl screamed.

  We both jumped and I whirled around.

  A blonde girl was pointing at where the apple still lay on the floor. I faced it. It was still leaking purple, but more intensely now as if there was a pressure inside that needed to be released. Poison sprayed onto the floor, making the puddle larger and larger. It spread across the white carpet and the girl jumped away. Smoke rose and a horrible stench filled the room. People gagged and stampeded towards the kitchen.

  “What’s that?” Eric asked. “What’s all over the carpet?”

  I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the puddle. “I don’t like the looks of it,” I said. “I think we’d better leave the room.”

  People had crammed into the kitchen. Eric and I backed into the small crowd and I wedged in between Nort and the blond girl. The poison had spread over half the living room and carpet sizzled. The air smelled like burnt rubber. How much was in that apple? I checked the house around us to see if Alric had returned, but he hadn’t. He had left with Sara in tow.

  And the story had fallen.

  That was what was causing this. Alric’s plan was working. This world might be going dark. Or at least, this part of it.

  The poison spread faster, dyeing the carpet the color of purple velvet. Smoke curled and rose into my face. My nose burned as I inhaled and gagged. Even I couldn’t stand this. The darkness was invading the entire house. People backed away and the back door opened. How far would this spread? It wasn’t showing any signs of stopping.

  “Everyone,” I shouted. “Get out of the house!”

  Screams pierced the air and red cups fell on the floor to get trampled. I kept a hold of Eric’s arm and we piled out of the sliding doors. Another girl tripped and got trampled under panic. Eric stopped to help her up.

  "Come on!" I yelled at him. We were wasting time. The girl sobbed as Eric helped her up and the three of us ran out into the night.

  We didn’t stop until we had reached the far side of the deck. The girl cradled her arm and heaved with sobs. I couldn’t believe I had wanted to let Eric leave her. Maybe Alric was right that I was just as dark as he was.

  “What is that stuff?” Eric asked. “It smelled worse than the locker room at school.”

  “I don’t know,” I lied, hating that I was doing it. “But I think it’s reached the kitchen.”

  I stood on my tiptoes and peered into the house. The poison had reached the linoleum. Plastic cups melted into red goo. The lights flickered in the kitchen and shattered, casting the room in darkness. The poison was affecting everything. I coughed again, trying to get it out of my lungs.

  “We’ve got to go,” Eric said. He rubbed his hand down the girl’s back and she calmed down, but kept her arm close to her body. I wondered if it was broken. “This darkness won’t stop spreading for a while.”

  More screams and shouts sounded as people ran through the yard. Someone dove into the pool, surfaced, and coughed, probably in an effort to get any poison off their body. Even the shrubs around Eric’s house seemed to be moving. The one at the corner writhed and reached for a guy running past it, but missed. Were those huge spikes on the plant?

  “I agree,” I said. I nodded to the crying girl, who blinked tears away. “Can anyone open the gate?”

  “I have to,” Eric said. “Let’s run around front and I can get back in through the front door. I hope the poison hasn’t gone into that room yet.”

  We ran around the house just as the guy in the pool climbed out and followed us. Everyone else had vacated the back yard, but screams of panic along with rattling fence got louder as we ran. And the shrubs were alive. They'd turned into huge clumps of the scariest brambles I'd ever seen, with blood red flowers.

  One of the branches moved towards us. Reached for the girl. She screamed and ran around Eric and the bramble slapped against the ground as if angry it had lost its prey. Thorns three inches long scratched at the dirt. I'd seen these brambles before.

  We broke into the open front yard.

  Everyone was at the front gate, screaming and pounding at the bars.

  Eric stopped and swore. "I have to go back in and open it."

  "You're not going back in there," I said. "The poison--"

  "This has to be something Alric did," Eric said. "Mara. I'm a prince. I came from another world. Alric--he's an evil magician who wants to make everything like this. A story must have fallen." He leaned closer and squinted at me. "It might have even been mine, whatever it's supposed to be."

  I sucked in a bre
ath.

  He remembered Fable. And he was so, so right.

  I had helped Alric do this.

  The brambles were snaking around the side of the house now. Eric ran to the front door and yanked it open. I ran after him, leaving the crying girl to run for the gate. The brambles would rip him apart and feast on his flesh.

  And it was all because of me.

  Eric vanished into the house. I followed. The burning tires smell was worse now but the screams got fainter. The wooden floor of the entryway was warped and cracking, but the poison hadn't reached this yet. Eric was beating on a digital touchpad with his fist and text jumped around on it. "There!" he shouted. A cheer rose up from outside. The gate was opening.

  "Come on!" I yelled, grabbing his arm. "We have to go."

  Eric tore past me and ran out the front door.

  And stopped.

  I was behind him, but close enough to spot the bright green bramble wrapping around his leg. Eric cried out in pain and grabbed at it, but the bramble squeezed harder and blood spotted the ankle of his jeans. He screamed, full of agony.

  Something inside of me broke.

  It wasn't supposed to be this way. Not for Eric.

  Not for the guy I loved.

  I advanced on the bramble, lifted my boot, and brought it down on the thorns. One of them poked through my entire boot, right between my big toe and my second toe. The bramble thrashed like an angry snake and struggled against my weight, trying to get free. It released Eric and he stumbled down off the steps.

  "Leave him alone!" I shouted. My body felt cold. This was what my magic felt like. If I was dark, I should be able to control these brambles. I let the feeling wash over me and the air turned sharp, almost like it was when Alric was around. "Go back to wherever you came from and leave Eric alone."

  And then I lifted my boot and stared after the brambles.

  And slowly, they retracted, vanishing around the side of the house.