Into the Woods: After the Battle

Chapter 2: Exploring

Jack's P.O.V:
I woke up to find that instead of waking up in my usual bed of hay, I woke up on the floor. I looked around and saw that I had fallen off the mattress. I immediately stood up, not wanting Red to see. No doubt that she would tease me mercilessly. I guess that I wasn't used to sleeping on something that's not crackly and dry.
It seemed like I was the only person awake. I did the natural thing that anybody would do in a new place. I went exploring.
I cautiously opened the door without making a single squeak. I'm kind of an expert at that. There wasn't much to explore at the right, it was all ruins, and I did not want to find out what was under those.
But left, however, there was the witch's garden. I felt uneasy climbing over the wall, but she was dead, killed by her mother. I remembered that, and I also remembered that she said the garden was ours, and I had no reason to be nervous. But my heart beat faster. Everywhere there was greens, greens, nothing but greens. I seriously didn't want to touch anything, but then I saw the bean.
It was a lone bean plant, with only one on it. This made me think of memories, bad ones and good ones. I felt dizzy, I leaned against a tree, but it didn't help. Voices were swirling in my head, telling me things that I should do, shouldn't do, that it was my fault.

" She was lying, it was all your fault..."

" Your fault, that the giant came down..."

" Your fault, that the village is destroyed..."

" Your fault, that your mother is dead..."

" Take the bean, boy, it will make everything right..."

" Don't stay, leave these people..."

I listened. They were right, it was all my fault...My mother...All that suffering... I heard someone calling my name, but I didn't care. I... had... to... take... the... bean...
A sharp slap seared across my face. I stumbled, clutching my cheek.
" Sorry!" Cinderella was standing in front of me, looking apologetic. I rubbed my face angrily
" What'd you do that for?" She took a step back.
" I'm sorry! Your face was blue, you looked like you were going to pass out, and... and you were about to take that."
She gestured toward the bean. I shivered. What were those voices?
Cinderella watched me carefully. Wisely, she didn't ask me about it.
" The baker's worried about you. You just disappeared. Be more cautious, next time, OK? Come on, lets go back."
I followed her, the voices murmuring at the back of my mind.

Little Red was out cold. When I closed the door behind me, she was next to the fireplace, still snoring. I mentally stored this up in my brain folder called " Little Red Teases" and walked into the bakery.

The bakery had a sense of melancholy, as if it sensed the death of the baker's wife. I gulped. I had been the one who had found her at the bottom of the cliff.It was one of the worst moments of my life. One arm and one leg had been bent at the wrong angle, and her nose was bleeding. What really scared me though, was her eyes. They were wide open and bloodshot. I took her scarf and ran away. Looking at the baker, I wished that I had taken her body. He looked miserable, and to be honest, I felt that way myself. Cinderella said that he was worried about me, but when I walked in he didn't even look at me.
I cleared my throat.
" Mr.Baker?"
" Yes?"
" I'm... I'm sorry." He sighed.
" It's no one's fault, Jack." I wasn't so sure.
Right on cue, Red walked into the room, rubbing her eyes.Amazingly, she didn't ask about breakfast.
" Let's go to the witch's garden!" she said brightly. The baker frowned.
" Why?" Red rolled her eyes.
" She said it was ours! We have a right to it."
" Jack beat you to it, I'm afraid." Red glared at me. I was surprised that he had noticed.
" Trust me, you do not want to go in there." I said. Would it give any other people those voices? But she stubbornly went on.
" Were you scared? Well, I'm not scared. I'm going." and she flounced out of the room.
" Just my luck." I huffed. I grabbed my cap and was about to leave when the baker stopped me.
" Was it bad in there?" he asked urgently.
" Yeah, it was..." I searched for the right word.
" Really bad. That's why I'm going." He nodded.
" Right." and we headed out the door.
When we climbed over the wall, Red was purple. However, she wasn't reaching for the bean like I was.
She was pointing the tip of her knife at her own heart. My own heart stopped.

I acted quickly. In one second I had bounded across the garden, thrown away the knife, and slapped her in the face. Honestly, there was a tiny bit of pleasure from that.
Red turned from purple to white to red. She slapped me across the face too.
" Ow!" I cried. Red was not happy.
" What was that for, idiot! I hate you!" she screamed. She looked like she was going to slap me again, but Mr.Baker stopped her.
" Calm down, young lady. Jack just saved your life!" Little Red blanched.
" Wh-What?"
" You heard me! You were about to commit suicide!" He was getting angrier by the minute.
" How could you? You are so lucky to be alive, and yet you were going to throw that all away?"
" It wasn't her! It was the voices, yeah?" I interrupted. She nodded, growing paler and paler.
" It was them..." she muttered. Her face changed.
" But I am not some damsel in distress! I can slap my own face, OK?" She stalked off, but I could tell she was thankful. Possibly. I snorted. The baker stared at me in disbelief.
" What voices?"
" I'll tell you inside."

After me and Red had finished explaining, Cinderella leaned across the table.
" Do you think it could be ghosts?" she asked. I thought about it.
" I don't believe in them, so, no." Red said primly.
" I believe in ghosts" Cinderella replied. A thousand different emotions flashed across her face.
" We need to find out more." I said excitedly.
" No." Mr.Baker mumbled. I blinked.
" Sorry?"
" No!" He yelled and banged on the table.
" No one else is dying! I won't let anyone else die!" His voice broke at the end and he rushed into the babies room, leaving us shocked and wondering what we did wrong.
Please vote and comment! Thanks for reading!