Poison and Mirrors Read online

  He reached his back door and stopped with his hand on the handle. “Mara, go away. You don’t understand what’s really going on here. You’ll make things a lot worse if you keep pushing at this.”

  “They’re already bad,” I said. “Sara has you enchanted. I don’t know what she told you about me, but whatever it is, it’s not true. Did she tell you I tried to kill Moanna or something? That I turned Joey and Nort into donkeys?”

  Eric stood there.

  And laughed.

  He actually stood there and laughed at me.

  I didn’t like the sound of it. It was a knowing laugh. A scary one. The horrible thought wormed its way into my head again, but I pushed it down. No matter what was going on, Eric was gone to me. I’d never get him out of here. I was outnumbered and he probably had a bouncer or two around.

  And Sara was still here.

  Waiting to kill me.

  I stood there as Eric stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. He stood there, glared at me again, and closed the blinds. They tilted and waved around each other before settling. And then, almost like an afterthought, his hand appeared and he locked the door.

  Leaving me there to pick up the shattered pieces of my heart.

  Everyone hated me and I had no idea why. The story was on the verge of ending the wrong way. Darkness might spread through this world like Alric had warned me—if the guy was even right.

  I kept my face straight as I stalked through the yard and around the house, pushing through all the shrubs and foliage and leaving the splashes and laughs of the party behind. I wanted to run. I just wanted to get away from this town and never come back. There was nothing for me here. Maybe even nothing in this world for me. I belonged in Fable, after all.

  Perhaps I should go find a mirror and wait for the stroke of midnight and cross back over. Get back whatever memory I had left behind.

  But Alric would be there, waiting.

  Disappointed. Angry that I had let darkness spread over this world.

  Somehow, the thought didn’t feel right. There was something about Alric I knew I should remember, but it had vanished. I left out the front gate of Eric’s yard, which slid open for me as if there was some motion sensor in the ground. Eric was a prince, after all. He had wealth. He could install whatever he wanted and have what he wanted.

  Except for his freedom.

  Sara had to be doing something to him. Eric hadn’t looked happy standing there in his own yard.

  As I walked back down the street, I thought of the mirror in the downstairs bathroom of Haven House. The dwarves might still be there, though. I couldn’t risk that. It was only nine or so and I had three hours to wait for the portal to open. At least I had an escape from this. Maybe my crush on Eric had been a false memory and I never even liked the guy in the first place.

  I turned the corner and left the rich neighborhood behind.

  But my dream journal had dozens of entries that all revolved around him.

  Eric in varying states of dress. Eric making out with me under a candelabra. Eric sitting across a long table from me, a feast spread out in front of us.

  That had happened. I knew it. Eric and I had spent time together in Fable and Sara never liked that. It was probably her who nuked my real memories in the first place. All I had left I carried in my backpack.

  Horror exploded.

  My backpack.

  I had left it in Eric’s yard, complete with said journal and the deadly apple.

  I swore and turned around. I had left Eric’s house several streets behind now, so far that I couldn’t even see the tops of the houses anymore. Someone would have found that backpack by now. My horror increased. Someone could eat that apple.

  The apple meant to kill someone. And if stories progressed the way Eric said they did, it would find a target.

  But I didn’t have to deal with that. I could leave this world tonight and never look at it again. But someone would bite into that apple sooner or later. It might take hours or it might take a year, but an unlucky soul would taste that poison and fall over dead. I couldn’t go back to Fable, knowing I had someone’s death on my hands.

  Even if it was Sara’s.

  Even if she deserved it.

  I turned and broke into a run, my sore feet protesting with each footfall. My journal. Oh, God. My thoughts. That was in there, too. I couldn’t run fast enough or even pull out my phone to text someone in a panic, since that was also in my backpack. I had nothing but my terror. The night deepened and the last light of the sky vanished as I turned the corner to Eric’s street again. The gate was closed and the faint sound of music floated out of the house. The party was getting cranked up.

  I stopped before I got to the gate, remembering the camera. The bars loomed high over my head. I’d have to climb. It was my only chance. I rubbed my hands together and grabbed onto the bars, hoisting myself onto the concrete barrier that held them up like a row of spears. There was no squeezing through. My arms quivered as I pulled myself up onto the bars. I kicked off my shoes and let them fall to the sidewalk so I could grip with my bare feet. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. I slid back down and hit the concrete, biting in more curses. I had to try again. There had to be a way. Someone could be eating that apple right now but this fence was impossible.

  I fell again, stumbling to the sidewalk and feeling stupid. I got my bearings and hit the fence with one hand. Someone would call the cops on me. One of the neighbors might be watching right now.

  And then I saw him.

  Alric, robed in black and hooded. He stood at the corner I’d been at a minute ago, watching my pathetic efforts. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him standing there. But he nodded and raised one hand. Black cloth with red trim toppled around his wrist, revealing the normal arm of a man.

  And something clicked.

  The gate.

  I watched as it slid open with as much ease as the school doors had opened for him right after he’d wiped the memories of my Foods class. Eric’s yard stood accessible to me once more.

  I was too freaked out to run in at first. My gut warned me against going in. Against doing what he wanted. There was something about Alric I didn’t like. Something I didn’t trust.

  But I had to get the apple back.

  Alric raised the same hand and pointed in the direction of Eric’s house. I felt like someone in a play, someone getting directed. Like a pawn, almost.

  I ran through the gate.

  The lights were still on inside Eric’s house colored lights danced against the closed curtains. I knew that the front door would be locked. Being a prince, Eric must be used to dealing with invaders. I’d have to work around that. If I got lucky, Alric would open the back door for me.

  But a window near the front corner of the house was sliding open instead. It slid up with a scraping sound, revealing darkness within.

  I stopped right in the yard and looked back.

  Alric now stood in the gateway like some medieval version of Slender Man. A small scream escaped from my throat. There was no way he could have moved that fast. He just stood there, watching and waiting for whatever I was going to do next.

  Scary or not, I had to take the opportunity.

  I ran to the window, pushed through more shrubs, and climbed in through the window.

  Curtains brushed my face like cobwebs as I swung my legs into the room and found the floor. Clutter was lying everywhere. Something cold pushed against my legs and I stumbled. There was no light in this room except for a little coming under a door. The music remained muffled. I took a step and made sure the curtains were closed behind me. Check. I didn’t want to know how close Alric was.

  I took another step and something spilled out a container. Cold pebbles covered my bare feet and I jumped. Marbles, or something. I flailed around and felt down the wall until I found a light switch.

  But when I flipped it on, I got a shock.

  I stood in a bare room with plain white walls and
actual treasure piled up everywhere.

  Golden swords stood propped against the walls. A crown with lavender jewels stood on top of a wicker container that had gold chains sticking out of the top. I’d knocked over another wicker container full of jewels, which sparkled on the plain white carpet in every color I could think of. Golden and silver chalices stood stacked on top of one another like Eric was planning on popping in here and playing beer pong with the treasure. There were even shoes, some covered in jewels. There was even a pair of dark gray iron ones sitting in the corner, trimmed with gold around the soles.

  Alric was right.

  Eric had to be a prince and all this stuff came from Fable.

  He just didn’t realize he was supposed to be my prince.

  The door to the room was shut tight and locked from the inside. I turned the lock on it and opened the door a bit. Music floated down the hall. It was some rap song I didn’t know the name of. Laugher floated down the hall. Hysterical laughter.

  “Guys, this needs to stop!” Eric shouted.

  “…as I intertwined my tongue with Eric’s, I pressed my chest up against his and our heartbeats merged into one…” Nort read.

  All thoughts of the apple left my mind. I bolted down the hall, past a room with a pool table, and through an archway. The house opened up into a grandiose living room and everyone was sitting in a semicircle around Nort, who sat on top of a piano with my dream journal—no, memories—open in front of his face. My backpack rested next to the piano. He squinted at my writing and tried to make out what it said next. Eric stood there on the other side of the room with his arms held by Joey and another guy from the football team. He struggled against them both and his face was redder than fire. Sara slapped at Joey's arm, trying to free Eric. She was so focused on freeing Eric from him that she didn’t even realize I had entered the room.

  I stepped over people and the smell of beer and the sound of laughter and I slapped my journal out of Nort's hands. He looked up at me and blinked as if he wasn't sure I was standing there. He breathed out. His breath smelled like beer.

  And then I slapped him.

  "What is your problem?" I asked. I gathered my fallen journal off the floor and searched for an exit. Heat exploded in my face. Everyone stared and someone choked on their beer.

  "Mara," Sara managed. She backed into the wall.

  "You set this up!" I shouted at her. "You let them read my dream journal that only you were allowed to see!" Rage flowed through my veins. She sure hadn't tried to stop Nort from reading it. I advanced on her. I was done. Sara backed into the wall and dropped the red cup she was holding. Good Sara had been drinking like everyone else.

  "I didn't set up anything!" she shouted back. "Get away from me, Mara."

  "What did I ever do to you?" I stepped closer, knocking over some beer. Everyone watched like they didn't know what to do. "We were best friends and then you took everything from me. You tried to kill me."

  People gasped. I didn't care.

  Sara didn't say anything. Guilty.

  "Well?" I asked.

  "You need to go. Or you're going to die."

  A chill swept through me. Sara's look was serious. She wasn't that drunk. Her eyes were hard. Even Eric gave me the same stare.

  "You took Eric. You even took my privacy. And then you had Stephanie and those dwarves try to kill me. I can't ever forgive you for that." The air turned cold and I spotted my backpack sitting against the piano, just two feet from me. I fished out the apple. I had to do this now. I was going to die if I didn't. There was no guarantee that Sara wouldn't follow me to Fable and hunt me down.

  "No," Sara said, pressing against the wall. "Someone get her away from me!"

  But no one moved. This was entertaining. Besides, what was I going to do with an apple? That wasn't dangerous. The air in the room dove down to the Arctic. The man in black must be close. I wondered if he would erase the memories of everyone in this room. He had my back, at least.

  "Leave her alone!" Eric shouted. He still pulled against Joey and the other football guy. They were laughing.

  "Cat fight," Joey said. "We've got to see this!"

  Some of the guys started hooting. Bodies moved closer. They were anticipating a fight and they were going to get one. I was gone. My body was cold. Hateful.

  The world slowed around me. The crowd stopped closing in. People froze all around me. Blinked and slumped in place. Everyone was falling asleep around me. Zoning out. People dropped their drinks. A girl groaned and leaned against the wall, somewhere else.

  Sara blinked and took a step away from the wall as if she were prey being lured in by the eyes of a snake. Her gaze fell on the apple and stayed there. Eric said something, but it sounded so far away. In another room, almost. I glanced to see him slumping in his captors' grips like he was falling asleep. Joey and the other guy had also frozen. The man in black must be here, helping me. This was what happened when he erased memories. He was knocking out everyone but Sara and I.

  But I stayed awake.

  The coldness remained. Sara was pale as if she were already dead. Her eyes glazed over. She blinked.

  And stepped away from the wall.

  She reached out for the apple and a look of total greed came over her face.

  And I let her take it.

  She took it.

  Raised it to her mouth.

  I could only watch as Sara, eyes blank and dead, took a bite.

  The crunch filled the room and played again in my mind. Around me, everyone watched, dull and gone. Someone dropped their beer. It fell to the floor in slow motion, splattering everywhere. The music even stopped.

  It wasn't then until the horror hit me, pushing through all the hate and the rage.

  I was killing Sara. Committing murder.

  "Sara, no," I said, reaching for her. "No!"

  She chewed.

  And then her eyes rolled up into her head in slow motion and she fell.

  She fell as if through gelatin. I could almost reach out and catch her. Sara thudded to the floor without so much as a groan and her head rolled to the side. Her black hair spread out everywhere and the apple rolled away to settle by my backpack. Dark purple leaked from the apple and stained the white carpet.

  And the same dark purple liquid ran in a line from Sara's mouth and down her cheek.

  "Sara!" I yelled in the silence. I kneeled down beside her. Shook her, but it was no good. Her body was warm as if she were still alive, but when I checked for a pulse on her wrist, nothing responded.

  Sara was dead.

  Chapter Eleven

  I stood in a room of statues.

  Everyone faced us, but no one moved. Beer continued to trickle out of the fallen cup as if it had all the time in the universe. As if it had eternity.

  Eternity. It was such a scary word.

  Sara remained still and very pale on the floor. She faced my backpack and her eyes were still open. I'd seen plenty of dead bodies in my dreams, but nothing like this. Sara's eyes were dilated so much that I could no longer see the color. I felt as if I were staring into twin voids.

  Voids like the one the man in black came from.

  "Mara," he said from behind me.

  I whirled around. Alric stood there in front of still bodies, hood hiding his face from view. But then he lowered it to reveal a middle aged man who had a clean beard. He looked more like a businessman than a wizard. Or a politician.

  And then he smiled.

  "I see you have succeeded."

  I eyed the purple substance, the poison, leaking out of the apple. The carpet it dripped onto began to smoke.

  My knees quivered and I dropped to them. I felt for a pulse again, but there was nothing. Sara remained as warm as ever, as if she had entered some stasis rather than death. I couldn't bear those eyes. I'd never unsee this.

  "I don't blame you for wanting to kill her," Alric said. He took a step closer. "In Fable, lifetime after lifetime, she was always more beautiful than you
. She always won the heart of Prince Eric, the man you loved. Your story has so far played out the way it should." Then Alric stood over Sara and studied her, then glanced at Eric, who still slumped in the grasp of the two guys. We were in a room full of living mannequins. Eric had his mouth open in a scream. A silent scream.

  "What have you done?" I asked. "You did something."

  Alric backed away from Sara and held both his hands up. "Mara, I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet. Must I lay the story out plain for you?"

  I stood. "I'd like that." My mind searched for a way to revive Sara. There was a cure for the poison apple. I just had to remember that that was.

  "You're right that Sara was planning to kill you," Alric said. "Once she got Eric like she always does, she was planning to make you dance to death. Did you see the shoes in Eric's storage room?"

  The metal shoes. I had.

  I nodded. "So I just saved my own life." Maybe I didn't have to feel too bad about this. But I faced Sara's still form and I wanted to throw up.

  What had I done?

  Alric grinned again. "You did. But we have to make sure it stays that way. If Eric is able to revive Sara, she will have you killed with those shoes. It's the story. Not that I could blame her, either. You only made several attempts on her life."

  "Huh?" I asked. Ice spread through me. The air was still cold and sharp, full of Alric's energy. "I never did anything to Sara."

  "Only you did," Alric said. "Did you not read the story? You first try to strangle her to death. Then, you try a poisoned comb. At last, you succeed with the apple. Sara is revived by Prince Eric here and they live happily ever after. And of course, you die."

  I backed away.

  He couldn't be saying what I thought he was.

  Alric sensed my vulnerability and stepped closer, stepping over Sara in the process. "You are the queen from the story, Mara. Always jealous of Sara, and rightly so. It was your magic that strangled my Watcher. Your magic poisoned the glass comb that Sara should have used. You even enchanted that lettuce in your garden, even though that was an amusing mistake. You're almost as full of dark magic as I am."