𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - 𝐀 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

CHAPTER 10

"When we first came here, it was abandoned. Crumbling. Surprising, really, as you would think of it to turn into a museum or something. But no, Queen Rapunzel decided to leave it alone. So we use it as a watchtower, and nobody's ever tried to stop us. So we're good." 

I jumped and let out the most humiliating, high-pitched squeal. Jilly didn't answer my question. Someone else did. 

I spun around to find... nothing. 

Nobody. 

But who said that?

It was the first time I heard Jilly sigh. "Uninvisiblize yourself, genius. Very funny." (wow- Jilly acting sarcastic???) 

"Uninvisiblize?" The voice - I could tell it was male, now - snorted, "That's not even a word."

"Right. Appear. Show yourself. Whatever. " I replied. Jilly liked almost everyone. So, anyone she didn't like, I didn't like either. 

I heard a soft grunt and a figure materialized from my right. 

First, the figure shimmered into existence. 

Then his colours rushed in, defining his dishevelled blonde hair, sooty clothes and smug, scarred face. He was gripping a half-empty bottle with a midnight-coloured, bubbly concoction. A potion. 

"We have a new member, I see," He remarked, his bright blue eyes transfixed on my red cloak. "Not that I didn't know that, of course."

"Yeah, well, I think it's best we-" Jilly began pulling me towards the opposite direction. 

"Made of hay," Mystery Boy called. 

I craned my neck behind me. "Sorry, what?"

"Your cloak, Miss. It's woven by hay. You can tell by the kind of stitches it has. And only one person in history has ever been able to do that. Rumpelstiltskin. You must've been special to your grandma if she managed to get hold of that, yeah?" He nodded confidently.

My eyes stung at the mention of her name, but I forced them away. I would not cry in front of strangers. "And how in Oz could you possibly know that?" 

His calculating face broke into an idiotic grin. "I'm a Gifted!" (um... this isn't a Gifted as in like the Gifted from The Gifted XD) Spreading his hands out wide, he tilted his chin, making his teenage self look like a little kid- or a chipmunk. 

"What's-" 

"Congrats. Nice to meet you. Now, if you don't mind, we have a tour to finish." Jilly interrupted curtly. 

What's her problem?

The boy shrugged and gulped the rest of his potion down. "Easier to wander around like this anyway," He muttered to himself before blanching out of existence. 

I gave Jilly a funny look. "What was that for? What's a Gifted?"

"Nerds," She mumbled. "Descendants of the shoe-maker. Crafty, clever, sly, thieving little rogues. They know how to work around your brain so you bend to their bidding. That guy's older brother stole my stuffed panda once!"

I assumed that there was something else that she wasn't telling me because a stuffed panda didn't seem like something to despise someone for. Hansel used to nick my things all the time back at home- including my infamous cloak, but I didn't hate him for it. 

My eyes burnt at the thought of home. Home. 

It isn't your home anymore, A voice inside me chided. This place is. If you don't-

"Promise me you'll stay away from them, Red."

"What? Oh... um... sure." I replied distractedly. 

And we continued down the path, our voices drowned in a sea of our own thoughts.