Henry left early Saturday morning for the event that I knew wasn’t
actually happening. I offered to drive him, but he said he was meeting his
friend on the way. I didn’t think it was a good idea to drive him, anyway,
because I didn’t want her to take me
over.
It seemed inevitable that Regina was going to take me over, but there
was one thing I thought of that I could try. When the pages from the book of
riddles were strewn around the floor, there was a page showing a picture of a
candle.
This world has no magic in it, but there are some things which can be
done that don’t require potions or fireballs. I first encountered this Regina
after being placed in a trance, and I’ll do it again. Only, I don’t want Dr.
Hopper’s help. I know how to do it on my own, and then I can confront her.
I sat on my couch, in my robe, with my diary pressed against me, and
waited for the sun to set. I hoped Henry was long gone and safe by then.
I got up and went upstairs to my room. On my vanity was a stand-alone
mirror in a brass frame. Clutching my diary to my chest with one hand, I
grabbed the mirror with the other and made my way downstairs to the library. I
sat the mirror on a table in the center of the room and pulled a large candle
off one of the bookshelves.
I sat the candle down just in front of the mirror, and remembered a time
when I was very small. I must have been seven or eight, and I hadn’t slept for
days. I had told my parents that a monster was keeping me up at night. My
father didn’t believe me, and I thought my mother didn’t, either. But on the
fifth night, she took me to my room with a mirror and a candle.
By this time, I already knew my mother could do magic, but this wasn’t
normal magic, she told me. This was something her mother had taught her as a
little girl, and her grandmother had taught her mother, and so on. She lit the
candle in front of the mirror and we waited. Soon, a large, scaly beast was
looking at us in the mirror. I wanted to hide in my mother’s arms, but she
forced me to look at it. We stared at it together, and it saw that neither of
us was afraid. It turned around in the reflected room and walked away, until it
vanished and we only saw ourselves in the candle light. I never saw the monster
again.
It was the nicest thing she ever did for me, and one of the few times I
truly felt safe with her. That one page from my book of riddles on the floor
reminded me of it. I didn’t know if it would work in this world, but I felt it
was my last chance.
I lit the candle, and the white smoke swirled off my match as I blew it
out. The burnt smell from the head of the match lingered for a moment. The
ticking clock on the wall was the only noise I could hear. I sat, staring into
my own face, waiting for anything. It finally occurred to me that in order to
face my fear, I needed to lose my protection. I released my grip off the diary,
sat it on the floor, and returned my gaze to the mirror.
“You can show yourself anytime,” I said after what seemed like five
minutes. “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”
It was subtle. She blinked. And then she smiled.
“Aren’t you afraid of me?”
“No.”
“Are you going to stare me down and hope that I’ll leave?” She laughed
at me. “Because that’s not going to happen.”
“You know about that?”
“Of course. Who do you think gave you the idea? I saw that page in your
book when I tore it up.”
“I can beat you.”
“No, you can’t. You created me. I am the curse. The savior hasn’t come,
so I’ve come for you.”
Her hand came through the mirror as though
there was nothing separating us. I pushed myself away from the table, but not
fast enough. She touched my arm with her cold fingers, and everything began to
spin. I stood up and stumbled back down to the floor, taking the candle down
with me. Its fall from the table extinguished its flame, and everything became
dark.
My whole house was dark and felt emptier than usual. I could barely make
out smoke rising from the candle’s extinguished wick, but I couldn’t smell it.
There was no sign of Regina, and I wasn’t sure what that meant. I stepped
outside to find none of the street lamps on. It was as though the power had
gone completely out, and I was the only one outside. A low, purple mist hung
low to the ground, and the air was as quiet as it is before a snowfall.
At first, I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t seen Storybrooke like this
before. It began to make sense when I stepped outside my door. I couldn’t feel
my porch beneath my feet; couldn’t feel my gate as I pushed it open with my
hand. I then wondered if this realm was reserved for the truly cursed.
Why was I here? Why couldn’t I feel her? Why wasn’t I viewing my life
with her controlling it? Was she asleep? I’d never experienced this before.
Maybe, because she had beaten me, this was my new prison?
I came to a stop. Crossing the street at the opposite end from me was
Snow White. Her hair was as long as it was back home, but her clothes were Mary
Margaret’s. She walked towards me with her head down, as she did most every
morning. I stood still and watched her, ready for a fight. No fight came, and
she walked right past me. All I could do was stare at her. I knew my jaw had
dropped. I finally turned and continued walking, only to hear her coming after
me. I tried to turn and face her, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t that I was
purposely ignoring her; my will to face her was simply not strong enough.
I could hear her yelling at me, but I couldn’t make out what she was
saying. I knew she was mad, but she didn’t strike me, didn’t even shake my
shoulder. She was so close, but her voice was muffled, like my ears were
covered by a pillow. When I finally was able to turn and look at her, she had
stopped yelling and had turned away from me. I backed away from her until she
started to move away from me, and walked on.
I came across more and more people like Snow White the further I went
into town. They looked as they did in the Enchanted Forest, but wore their
Storybrooke clothes. Most were silent as they walked past each other, heads
bowed, tired from twenty-eight years of not being able to connect with another
person. The only curious thing I saw was Jiminy and Geppetto walking together;
both silent and ignoring the other, but together. Every time I walked past
someone, I could hear their voices in those muffled tones. They were angry, and
I could make out my name, sometimes.
I saw Rumplestiltskin. His skin was gold and his eyes were dark, just
like back home, but he wore the same clothes as he did in Storybrooke. He stood
outside of his shop, looking down at the ground. I ran up to him without
feeling the street hit the soles of my feet, and screamed at him without
feeling my throat tense up. But he, like the others, ignored me. The
frustration was too much—how dare he trick me with a curse that failed! I
reached out to slap him in the face, but it was like a dream: I couldn’t swing
my hand to hit him, and the harder I tried, the harder it became. When I turned
away, I could barely hear him talking to me. He was furious, but I couldn’t
make out any of the words he said. Straight ahead of me, staring at the ground
was Snow White. I think she was following me.
I left his shop and could see I was correct. Everyone had seen me, and
they knew I’d seen them. I looked up and saw people shuffling towards me, with
their heads bowed. When I turned to walk away from them, I could hear them
yelling at me. I couldn’t turn or look at them, or speak back. All I could do
was wait my turn to look at them, and each time I did, they got closer. It was
like a game of chess, and I was the only piece on my side.
Rumplestiltskin, despite needing a cane,
was gaining on me the fastest. I tried to keep my eye on him for as long as I
could. I had no idea what could even happen. I couldn’t touch anyone, nor could
anyone else, but all it took was Rumplestiltskin’s cane to brush my ankle, and
I took my turn to run. I ran for the closest shelter to me, which was the
library. In this realm, its door was wide open, despite having its windows
still papered up. I ran in and shut the door.
The library was dark, but the same fog that swirled outside left the
inside of this building untouched. I backed away from the papered windows; the
silhouettes of the people of Storybrooke taking turns growing bigger, then
stopping. Random shouting that sounded blocks away rather than feet barely came
through.
I felt a presence in the room besides my own and stiffened. It could
only be one woman.
“Didn’t I warn you, using this curse was a bad idea?” Her voice was one
I hadn’t heard in decades. It almost sounded as though she was singing to me,
but I knew she was gloating. “Do you know what was worse? Keeping me trapped
here for twenty-eight years with nothing to think about except you.” She came
around in front of me. My head was already down, but I didn’t automatically
look away from her dark, sparkling dress that brushed against the floor.
Maleficent stood there and waited.
“You will look at me when I am speaking to you, darling Regina.”
My head instantly cleared and I easily lifted it to look at her.
“Why can we look at each other?” My voice came as loud and clear as
hers. “Why can we speak together? How come you’re not like the others?”
“Because, I’m not like the
others.” She smiled at the obviousness of this. “If you had wiped my memory and
allowed me to walk around this sad town on two human legs, I might only be able
to glance at you in dreams and shout at you in whispers as these people do in a
dream world. But here I am, with the knowledge of who I am. The fog that’s out
there won’t touch me. I bring clarity to everyone.”
“You mean you can break the curse? You could just walk around everyone
out there and free them?”
“No, only the savior can do that. I can bring them clarity, here. I
can’t free them from their waking selves. And when I leave them, the fog comes
back and they’re trapped again. Tragic, really. I don’t even bother, but they
would love to see your face.” She stepped even closer to me, her hand brushing
my hair. I didn’t dare move. All of her actions were calm and comforting, but
all of her words were dangerous. “Why would you use a curse without knowing
what it would do?”
“Revenge.”
“You are not the only one who likes revenge!” She lunged for me and I
bolted. “Where will you run?”
She was right, but I tried anyway. I ran to the door, but she would wake
everyone up. I ran to the elevator door, and she simply walked after me. I
pulled the heavy door aside, ran in, and tugged at it to close. Her hand shot
through, and she pushed it aside as though it were paper. The lever flew from
my hand, and pain shot across my face.
“Can’t use magic in a dream world, can we?” I rub my jaw as she held her
hand back. “Maybe the fog is just afraid of you?”
“The fog isn’t the only thing that should be afraid.” She threw herself
at me, but I was ready. I moved out of her way, and she crashed into the corner
of the cabin. I turned to step out, but the door closed. Her hand grabbed my
neck and threw my head into the closed metal door. I staggered back, not just
because that really hurt, but because the elevator jolted down. I turned and
tried to hit her, but I missed. She punched me in the stomach and I doubled
over. The elevator crashed to a stop. Cold, dank air filled the cabin as the
door opened behind me. Maleficent used all her force and pushed me out into the
caves below Storybrooke. I flew and landed on my back, just missing falling
into a ravine. Maleficent practically flew on top of me and placed her hands
around my neck.
“I hope the savior does come.” She smiled as I tried to pull at her arms
to get her to stop. “There’s still a little time left. Then I can kill you in
real life. Here, there is only constant torture. I could strangle you forever,
here. You’ll suffer for eternity but never die.” She squeezed harder and smiled. “I suppose I can be content with that.”
Tiny black dots appeared before my eyes. They grew bigger. I had no idea
how I was supposed to live through this so she could keep doing this. I didn’t
have much of an idea about anything. The dots grew until all I saw was black.
And then, my phone rang. I blinked, and I was in my kitchen. The lights
were on in my house and I couldn’t feel Regina inside of me at all.
