The Forgotten Fairytales

by Angela Parkhurst

  “Wolf,” I shouted as I gained on him. “Wait!”

  He stopped in place, the muscles in his back tensed at the sound of my voice. I swallowed the fear building in my throat, ignored the nausea twisting through my stomach and the shakiness in my hands. Pain burned my calves when I came to a halt in front of him. I still didn’t feel one-hundred percent.

  “Sorry about that, Desiree doesn’t know how to shut up.”

  He scratched his sideburns, not looking right at me. “I know. She’s my friend, remember?”

  “Yeah.” I flinched and pushed his negativity away. “Finn might like me, but I don’t like him. Not in the slightest. What do I have to do to prove that to you?”

  I’d do anything. Anything to show him I cared for him, that I loved him, that no one even held a candle to him.

  “Nothing, Norah. You don’t have to do anything.” He turned and walked away. No. He was not getting off that easily.

  I caught up and grabbed his arm, frustration coursing through me. “Yes. I do. God, Wolf. I slept with you. You might not feel the same, but last night.” I sucked in a breath and released it slowly. “Last night meant everything to me. I don’t know what is going on. Why you’re so hot and cold, but all I want is for you to let me in.” Tugging on his arm, my hand slipped in his. “Please, let me in. Tell me why you keep pushing me away.”

  His eyes held mine for what seemed like minutes, but was only seconds. Something happened in those moments. The wall which so carefully shielded Wolf’s heart fell and he stared at me with a different intensity. My cool fingertips trailed up his arm, whispering for him to unleash his fears.

  “The day of the rumor my uncle came to school. He reminded me of who I am, who my dad is, who he is. How being with me would kill you like it killed my mom. I fought them at first. Till they said the council would lock me away for being with you. I didn’t want to believe them. I tried not to, until my uncle saw you and your dad. Don’t you see how similar we are? If we defied the council we were both as good as dead. No matter what I feel it will never be enough. And I won’t let you suffer. I can’t.”

  My eyes shut, soaking in his words, his pain. They royally fucked him. Screwed him in the mind. There was a tiny part of me that feared the council. But the rest of me followed my heart, despite the laws, despite the consequences. Nothing made my feelings for Wolf lessen. No matter how similar the situation, we were different. My parents were too afraid to stand for what they believed in. I was not.

  “I’m not afraid of being with you.” I held his hand tight. “Because you and I? We’re fighters. Whatever happens we can get through it. Together. I’m not my parents. I won’t run away.”

  I wasn’t afraid of the future, of what they’d do to us. Well, okay, a little, but I wasn’t going to let fear stop me from having him.

  His forehead pressed against mine and he breathed in. “I’ll never understand what you see in me. But, god, I hope you never change your mind.”

  And then, he kissed me. It was smooth and level, like breathing life back into someone who was almost dead. Someone who was beaten and tired and defeated. His kiss told me I didn’t have to fight alone. He sealed his promise with something that left me winded, breathless, and begging for more.

  He pulled back and I opened my mouth to speak.

  The words disappeared when I glanced to the side. Through the small window into one of the classrooms I saw Gale and Danielle kissing. Not just kissing—full on making out, Danielle’s shirt was draped over the table, leaving her in nothing but a white laced bra and skirt. My heart hammered in my chest, my mouth dry and cottony as I watched them.

  With it being so early, there were few people roaming the halls. In fact, I hadn’t seen anyone walk past in minutes. She groped him and he groped her, and all I saw in my mind was April. Poor, innocent April. She was so infatuated with Gale and here he was, mauling Danielle like they were animals mating at a zoo!

  Beside me Wolf cursed as Danielle giggled and kissed Gale deeper. Poor April, poor James, poor Kate. Danielle deceived them all. Wolf’s hand poked at mine, trying to release the death grip fist I made at my side. With one swift motion, he yanked me away and into a doorway where we couldn’t be seen. God, I just wanted to kill her.

  “Just breathe,” he said.

  “I didn’t want to be right.”

  His hand trailed down my arm until it was nestled in mine. “She’s a conniving, soulless bitch. We both knew that.”

  Sometimes I wondered why I was surprised anymore. “I have to destroy her.” Venom seeped through my voice, my flesh aching with the desire to smash her head into a wall.

  “I know.” His arms laced around my waist, pulling me close so I could rest my tired head on his chest. Inhaling his deep pine smell soothed me enough to not stomp over and punch her brains in. “We’ll get her back.”

  “Together?” I peered up at his dark, rich face. The mark from the attack shone brightly from this angle.

  “Hell yeah,” he grinned. “We’ll come up with a killer plan. But that means you have to control yourself. No breaking skulls yet.”

  I smiled, relieved that Wolf was with me. “Alright. No breaking skulls.”

  How did a person become wicked? Something had to happen to make them snap, to push them over the edge. To change them from the inside out.

  The entire day I sat behind a desk, nervous and jittery as the image of Gale and Danielle dry humping replayed in my mind. My fists clenched and unclenched and I had a massive migraine. In princess classes, I sat as far away as possible and watched Danielle and April giggling, sitting side by side, locking arms when they walked as if they were the best of friends. Even worse. Sisters.

  I ground my teeth together. Her book played over and over like a film in my mind. She had no soul, no conscience, no heart. The weight of my knowledge was almost too much to bear. Too many secrets filled my mind and I couldn’t handle it.

  I walked from class to class like an angry zombie ready for the apocalypse. Holding in my fury only made it stir more, to bubble like a volcano ready to erupt. By lunch, my jaw ached from gritting my teeth. Wolf told Kate what we’d seen. Her eyes teared up at the thought of Danielle cheating on James. The love she still had shone through, like a bright beacon.

  Across the lunch room, Danielle sat like a queen on her throne, Gale to her left, James to her right. And while she spoke to James, Gale’s foot rubbed against hers while he flirted with my sister. Of course, April was oblivious. God, I hated how she had no clue, how she thought everyone loved her, when in fact, they were plotting against her. Danielle had no interest in Gale, he was her puppet. Everyone was. Danielle whispered something to James and rose from the table, pushing the blonde wisps of hair from her face. A face I wanted to destroy. I needed to destroy. Springing up, I ran across the cafeteria where she walked toward the line.

  “You are such a backstabbing whore!” I shoved her forward. She toppled in her glass heels but didn’t fall. Instead she caught herself and swung around. “I know about you and Gale.”

  A smile spread over her soft pink lips. “Wow, congrats, you’re a regular Nancy Drew. Now, if you don’t mind?”

  “How do you think James would feel if he knew the truth about you? About Gale? About Kate? Oh wait, he doesn’t remember Kate, does he? But I do. And I have the letters to prove it.”

  Her glittery blue eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I stepped closer, trying to control my breathing and the fierce anger coiling inside me.

  “Norah?” April’s voice peeped. My back went rigid. “What are you doing?”

  A group had formed around us now, April, James, Gale, all the people who hated me. Hated me because of her. Because she destroyed hearts. “Why don’t you tell her, Danielle? Tell them all how you’ve been messing around with Gale behind their backs.”

  Danielle rolled her shoulders back and stuck her nose in the air. “Fine. Gale and I had a fling. Once. Way before
James and I were ever together. Happy?” Her pale eyes glittered with fake tears. “Is that what you wanted to hear, Norah?”

  “You are such a liar! I saw you making out with him today.”

  “No one appreciates your stories.” She stepped closer, her voice hushed. “Would you really want to hurt your precious baby sister?”

  “You’re hurting her. You lying, manipulative bitch!”

  I shoved her and slammed my fist into her face. Danielle stumbled backward, latching onto a chair before she lunged at me, shrieking, and she grabbed a hold of my hair. My hands fumbled through her arms until I had a clear shot and socked her in the stomach. With a swift kick, we were both on the ground, rolling and screaming, her hands in my hair, as if she knew no other method of defense.

  “Just.Tell.The.TRUTH!” I shouted.

  I straddled Danielle and wrenched her hands free of my hair by elbowing her in the chest.

  “FINE!” She screamed again and slapped me across the face. “Gale never liked April. He likes me. He’s always liked me. Happy?”

  We both stared at each other, huffing and puffing, surprised that despite the crowd, no one had broken us apart.

  “No.” I punched her again, this time so hard I knew she’d have a black eye. “Now I am.”

  One hand flew to her face. Despite the hit, despite our fight, she stared at me with both pain and pleasure. Pleasure. A sliver of a smile spread over her lips. Danielle was happy. What the hell did she have to be so happy about?

  Oh-my-gosh. Oh no. Panic set in and I looked up and saw April. Her eyes were wide with tears, and then she took off running. Before I had time to do anything else, I hopped up and hurried after her, surprised at how badly my shins hurt.

  “April, please!”

  She swirled around, moisture soaking her porcelain face. A face that, despite the tears, was more alive than I’ve seen in years. “How could you?”

  “Danielle was playing you. I couldn’t let her get away—”

  “No!” She pointed her manicured finger at me. “You couldn’t handle the attention. You couldn’t handle that I was happy and in love. You had to come in and take it away from me!”

  I took a deep, shaky breath. The rusty taste of blood trickled into my mouth. How could she be so mad at me for protecting her? Gale had cheated on her. Used her. There’s no way she could be okay with it.

  “April, I never meant—”

  “Just stop.” She held her arms out to keep me away. “Danielle may be lots of things, but at least she didn’t make a scene in from of the entire school. You did. You embarrassed me for your own sake. I hate you, Norah. I hate you so much. I never want to see you again!”

  April ran down the hall and my heart sank, tears flooded my eyes. All I wanted was to keep my baby sister safe and protected and instead I’d lost my temper and hurt her even more. April was right. I was the worst sister in the world.

  I’ve heard it said, when you plot revenge, you end up burying yourself too. If I only knew how true those words were, I would’ve thought twice before acting. That was the thing about revenge. Taking one person down usually meant falling as well. And I fell. Hard.

  The door locked from the outside, keeping me prisoner to my bedroom. I sank on the bed and held a cool rag to my mouth. Until they figured out the harshest punishment, I was to stay here, locked away inside a bedroom with only one window. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom. Only the fancy suites had bathrooms.

  Loneliness crept through, driving me stir crazy and I’d only been alone for a minute. April’s hatred burned my mind, twisting through my stomach until I felt like throwing up. I curled into the windowsill and pressed my warm face against the cool glass. April was right, I screwed everything up. Wolf and I were supposed to work as a team. We were supposed to plot together and find a way to oust Danielle while staying hidden in the shadows. Wolf was good at being sneaky. Damn, why hadn’t I listened to him? Why did I have to be so hard headed? If I had, things would be different now.

  Tears soaked my face as I watched the sun dip into the horizon, streaking the indigo sky with pinks and oranges. I dragged my finger along the glass, wishing I had my dad to save me. Wishing I could talk to him and tell him about these horrible people.

  Turning away from the window, I spotted a box near the door. Slipping off the windowsill, I hurried across the room and fell to my knees. It was from Dad.

  My heart raced as I tore the tape off and pushed the packing peanuts around until I found another bin. This one was covered in floral designs with the letter N engraved on the cover. The box creaked as it opened and the smell of flowery perfume wafted into the air.

  Inside were pictures. I recognized myself instantly but not the woman holding me. Her sandy brown hair matched mine, as did her sun-kissed skin. The first picture was a close up, her lips pressed to the newborn baby’s forehead.

  The second was older, by a month. I was bigger and in a fluffy purple dress. The bow on my head was bigger than me. The woman smiled wide, cuddling me in her arms. I flipped the picture over and in the neatest script it read: Natalia and Norah, six weeks.

  I ran my finger over the photograph. This was my mother. Dad was right, she was beautiful. Like a bright ray of sunshine in a dark world. Her features were beautiful yet exotic. We looked almost identical.

  Beneath the pictures was a jade envelope. Like everything else, it had an N scrawled on the outside. Carefully, I pulled the flap and took the aged sheet of paper out. There were no lines and the ink had aged so much some words were hard to make out.

  Happy seventeenth birthday, Norah. I’m sorry I’m not there to see you reach such a darling age. Leaving my only daughter was not an easy choice to make, still it was a necessity.

  Seeing as it is your seventeen birthday, I’m going to assume you are on your way to the place I called home for most of my life. And also, the place I fear you may never belong, no matter how hard you try.

  With your beauty, they will force you to be a royal. So, I’ll warn you now, everyone is there for themselves, to move up in the ranks, to find a better fate than what is planned for them. By now your father has told you the truth about who you are, but what he does not know, is your destiny. People will be threatened by you, the girl who brings change. The girl who cannot be named. The hybrid.

  I’m sorry I have dealt you such a horrible fate. That’s why I left you with your father. So you could have a mortal life as long as possible, because, I’m sorry to say, the second you walk through those doors, your life will never be the same again. Fairy tales are a lie. There is no such thing as Happily Ever After. And whatever you do, don’t fall in love. Love only ends in tragedy for Petrovich women. Trust me.

  No matter how strange your life gets, know I am watching and I will find you again. I promise. If I do nothing else, I will find you.

  My heart raced as I read the letter over and over again, trying to process every sentence. Yet the only one that stuck out was the girl who brings change. She was right. I was screwed.

  The door to my room creaked open—I shoved the letter in my back pocket, the last thing I needed was for anyone to see—and Wolf poked his head inside.

  “Word has it, a pretty kick ass girl is held hostage in here.” He slipped inside and locked the door.

  “How’d you get in?” I scampered to my feet.

  “Never doubt my ability to get what I want.” He stepped closer, his eyes studying my face. “What happened?”

  Reaching in my pocket, I handed him the letter. “Read this.” I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my hands through my hair, chewing on the inside of my lip. He sat beside me and gritted his teeth together.

  He unfolded the aged paper, his eyes traveled down, soaking in the words as I had, and then they went back up, and down, several times before he stopped and finally let out a breath.

  “I have to tell you something, but you can’t get all girly and freak.” Just saying that was almost guaranteeing that I would. I motioned fo
r him to go on. “My grandpa, he used to be a prophet. He was also a drunk, so people ignored whatever he said, but, um, before you came here he babbled on about a hybrid that was born around the same time as me. One kept hidden from the council. He said the hybrid had an unclassifiable magic that would put the council in an uproar because she had the power to change everything. At first the changes would be small, but one day, she’d overthrow everyone.”

  His eyes blazed into mine and a wave of little pins rolled over my skin. “I never believed the shit my grandpa said, at least until you showed up. There were too many similarities. Then Koyte said he met a seer in the woods and she mentioned you too. The Hybrid. I wanted to tell you earlier, but with all the shit going down, there wasn’t time. I’m not even sure what it all means. To be honest, it kind of scared the shit out of me.”

  Me too. What the hell did they want me to change? Already I was in love with a villain and trying to hook Goldilocks and Prince Charming up. Wasn’t that enough?

  “Isn’t that what you wanted to do all along? Change the system?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t do it because I was meant to. I did it because I wanted to.”

  “Isn’t that the same thing?”

  I shrugged. “Look where it got me.” I motioned to my pathetic, dark, lonely room.

  “There are far worse things in the world than this.” He gave me a sideways glance, a lazy smile spread over his mouth. A smile I loved.

  Our hands fell side by side, our fingers brushing against the other as the possibilities hung over our heads. Weeks ago, the thought of any future with story books would have pushed me over the edge, but after talking to Dad, reading the letter from my mom, and finding the lost fairy tales, something different bloomed inside of me. Maybe I was meant to fix things. Wolf was right. All along, I wanted to create change. To inspire hope. But overthrow the council?

  I rested my head against his broad shoulder. “I’m sorry I lost it and hit Danielle.”

  “You do punch surprisingly well.”