Snow White (Enchanted Fairytales) (13 page)

“They’ve taught you well, haven’t they?” she murmured. “One thing they forgot to take into account, though. I can only be destroyed by one who is pure of heart. Trying to kill me blackens your heart, which ironically makes you unable to kill me.” She cackled and lunged at Snow.

Snow was prepared for her to attack and neatly sidestepped, using an elbow in Katarina’s back to force her to the ground. She quickly moved away, knowing Katarina would get up and try again.

Snow was correct that Katarina would get up, but she was unprepared for the face that now scowled at her. Katarina’s face had transformed. Her fac
e was lined with deep grooves, tinted
green. Her black lips peeled back to reveal razor sharp protruding teeth. Her nose was large and hooked, and her eyes glowed red.

She jumped toward Snow,
Katarina’s
hands wrapp
ing around her neck. C
laws extended
from Katarina’s fingers d
u
g into her neck. She fisted her hands and brought them up between Katarina’s arm
s
, thrusting her own arms apart. It wasn’t enough to break Katarina’s hold,
but
loosened it enough for her to shove one palm against Katarina’s grotesque nose.

Katarina dropped to the ground, wailing as she held her bleeding nose.
Snow quickly scrambled backward
, out of Katarina’s reach
, and brought her fists up
. Katarina glared up at her and Snow tried to think.

“You’re not so beautiful now, are you?” she said. Katarina’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t attack, so Snow continued. “You look like a hideous old witch. No wonder he couldn’t stand you. He’d rather be blind than look at you as you are now.”

Katarina screeched,
piercing
Snow’s ears. I
nstead of attacking, she brought her hands up
to look at them
. T
hey were grooved like her face,
long black claws protruded. Her expression went from rage to fear in an instant. She touched her face, feeling the ridges there.

“What did you do to me?” she asked, her voice pleading.

“I didn’t do anything,” Snow said. “This is all you. The
real
you.”

Katarina screeched again and suddenly she shot upward toward the sky and disappeared. Snow’s hands dropped in astonishment. She stared at where Katarina had been. She was gone. But
how
gone? She glanced toward Hugo’s body and with a shock saw that
he
was gone also. A scan of the clearing showed that
everything
was gone—her weapons, her pack, everything.

Suddenly panicked, she began running. Did her weapons disappearing with Katarina mean
everything
had disappeared? Including Fableton, Grouchy, Dim, Medic . . . Philip? She ran as hard and fast as she could, thrashing through trees, tripping over roots. Her hands and knees where shredded from falling and still she ran. Finally she ran into a tree in the darkness and, knocked violently backward, stayed down. She couldn’t see anything, not even her hand in front of her face
. She curled up in a ball, unable to stop the tears that soaked her cheeks or the sobs that wracked her body.

*****

A slice of sun came through the trees, beaming directly onto Snow’s closed eyes. She turned away from the searing light, blinking her eyes open. When she saw where she lay, the memory of the night before came flooding back. She pushed her battered body into sitting position.
Her eyes burned from the amount of crying she’d done, and her throat burned where Katarina had choked her.

She had to get back to Fableton. She
needed
to
know
if it was still there. She used the tree she’d run into the night before to push herself into standing position. She looked around and realized she had no idea where she was. She tried to remember what Dozy and Sneezer had taught her about tracking. She pressed her hands against the side of her head as she tried to remember, but it was gone. She had no memory of what they’d told her.

She moved
, stumbling through the trees, searching. She’d found it before, she coul
d find it again. But s
omething wasn’t right. Something was off. She stopped and listened. That was when she heard it. Birds chirped in the distance. Critters scrambled through the brush. Bugs scrabbled across leaves.

And she knew.
Fableton was gone. Katarina
had disappeared
and the enchantment over the forest had been lifted, allowing living things to once again thrive in the forest. Her shoulders slumped
in defeat. She slid down against a tree, not caring that the bark scraped up her spine. She dropped her face into her hands, too emotionally exhausted to even cry.

She’d failed. She’d failed all of them. She’d broken her promise to destroy Katarina and break the curse. And now they were all gone.

Snow wasn’t sure how long she sat in that position when she heard it.

“Sno-o-ow,” a female voice called. Her head snapped up. Was it Katarina? Maybe she’d been wrong. “Snow, are you out here?”

The voice came closer and Snow looked around for something to use as a weapon. She picked up a jagged rock and pushed herself to her feet.

“Snow, please! If you’re out here, answer me.”

The voice was fa
miliar, but not Katarina’s. Who
s
e
then?

“C’mon, Snow, answer me.”

Snow gasped as the rock rolled from her hand.
Channy.
The thought was followed by action.

“Channy!” she called, her throat binding the words into little more than a rasp.

“Snow?” This time Channy’s voice was a question.

“Channy!” Snow called again, pushing her words past the pain.

“Snow!” Channy’s answer was a delighted squeal. She began thrashing through the trees and suddenly she was there.

“Channy,”
Snow gasped, stumbling forward. Channy caught her in her arms and together they sank to the ground as relief and grief mingled in Snow’s tears.

Channy held her for a few minutes, then pushed her to arm’s length. “What happened to you? Are you okay?”

Snow shook her head. “No, I’m never going to be okay again.”

Channy gave her a little shake. “You’re going to be fine, do you hear me?”

Snow gazed at Channy. There was something differ
ent about Channy. H
ow long
had
she
been gone?

“You look like you need a good shower and some sleep,” Channy said. “We need to get you home. But first, you need to eat something.”

Channy
shrugged her ba
ckpack off, turning to unzip
and dig through it. She turned back around trium
phantly, an
apple held in her hand. “I knew I had something in there. Here, eat this. You’ll feel better and we can get you home.”

“No,” Snow said, shaking her head. “I can’t go home. I have to find Philip.”

Something flashed in Channy’s eyes as Snow said Philip’s name, but
was gone so quickly
she must’ve imagined it.

“Who’s Philip?” Channy asked. Before Snow could answer, she said, “Never mind. You can tell me later. If
you don’t want to go to your hous
e, we’ll go to mine. I’ll hide you there.”

Snow nodded. Channy was right, she needed to rest and get her strength back if she had any hope of finding Philip
and the others
. Channy would take care of her, and she’d help her find Fableton.

“Now eat,” Channy said. “And then we’ll go and you can tell me about  . . . everything.”

Snow took the apple. Her stomach churned. She had no
appetite, but she wanted to go.
S
he knew she must eat or Channy wouldn’t take her. She bit into the apple. It was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted, crispy, wet, and sweet.

“Did you love him?” Channy asked. Snow glanced up at her. “This Philip, did you love him
?
”

Snow thought it strange that Channy would ask her that, but she nodded. “Yes, I did . . . I do.”

She took another bite of the apple, but this bite was bitter
. She chewed as she looked down at the apple. The skin of the apple was blood red, the same as the strawberries that Katarina grew, the same as the berries Dim warned her not to eat.

“Where did you get this?” she whispered, alarmed.

Snow
looked at Channy when she didn’t answer. Channy smiled benignly at her. “It’s fine. Keep eating it.” Snow
looked into
Channy’
s eyes. Channy’s eyes were brown
, she
knew
that. But the Channy before her had dark eyes, eyes that were almost black. Eyes the same color as . . .

“You’re not Channy,” she gasped, throwing the apple away from her. She watched as it rolled away, horrified
to see it was nothing more than a collection of berries
. A
ll of the little berries turned into worms and began a frantic bid for escape across the dirt.
At the same moment she realized that the forest was silent once again. She’d been tricked into hearing the sounds.

“You’re smarter than I thought,” Channy said. Only it wasn’t Channy’s voice, but Katarina’s. Her eyes widened as Channy’s face morphed into that of Katarina. She glanced toward the apple. “Too bad you didn’t figure it out sooner.”

Snow struggled
to her feet, but
the effects
of the berries quickly swept
through her body.
Lethargy stole her strength and she sunk back down. She struggled to keep her eyes open. “Wha’ ‘id y’ . . .” Her mouth felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton, and she couldn’t form any words.

“Nothing more than I did to that pathetic father of yours.”
Katarina leaned down, her eyes boring into Snow’s. “I win, Snow White. You could have broken the curse if you believed in yourself, b
ut you didn’t. So now
the curse remains, and Philip will forever be mine.” Snow tried to spe
ak, unable to force anything
from her throat. Only a breath came out, and Katarina laughed in delight. Then her smile dropped, pure evil coming into her countenance as she said, “Now, you die. And I shall make a gift of your lifeless body to Philip to show him what happens when he tries to defeat me.”

No!
Snow tried to scream, but nothing emerged as the darkness claimed her from the world.

*****

The Seven stood around the glass casket, heads bowed and shoulders drooping with
grief
. Within, Snow lay looking as perfect as she had in life. She was dressed in a beautiful white dress, mockingly reminiscent of a wedding dress, a wedding she’d never have. Her cheeks bloomed with color, her lips were red, her hair looked as it did when she was heading to the castle to see Philip.

As one, the turned their sorrow filled eyes to Philip, who stood at the head of the casket. He gazed down at Snow unerringly. He’d not moved from the spot since she’d shown up five days p
rior, with a note from Katarina
which read, “You did this. Now she’s yours forever.”

If it weren’t enough
that Snow lay there to mock
and accuse him, Katarina had given him the ill-fated gift of sight whenever he looked at her. He was still blind otherwise, but when his eyes fell upon Snow within the casket, he could see perfectly clearly.

Food and water was brought to him, and a chair in which he could sleep when his body betrayed him and insisted on slumber. Still, he was gaunt with heavy
,
dark circles beneath his eyes. They knew he wouldn’t die—none of them would without taking purposeful action toward that end, but he’d suffer mightily. They knew he’d do whatever bare minimum was required of him to stay alive to watch over her for an eternity, thus his willingness to eat and drink when food or water was brought.

Many times, tears rolled silently down his face as he gazed at Snow. He’d whisper that he was sorry, over and over, but only if The Seven were there alone. If anyone else was near, he remained silent in his agony.

Everyone from town had come to pay their respects, and the ground was littered with flowers beneath the casket. Everyone who’d met Snow had loved her and respected her. They’d all expected she would marry Philip and become their princess. Now her lifeless body lay in repose, taunting Philip in its healthy glow.

The first day she’d arrived, Philip had sent for Medic and opened the casket, urging him to help her. But she was gone. In spite of her appearance, her body was cold. Her heart hadn’t even flickered at his ministrations, nor had a single breath escaped her. He’d been witness to Philip’s overwhelming grief at that time. He’d never forget the sounds that came from the prince, nor the look of utter hopelessness on his face.