The Son Of Alice || A Once Upon A Time Story

The Storm

The wind picked up. As if we were all caught in a small blizzard.
We couldn't defeat him alone. So we had to stall. I turned and whispered something in Ashley's ear. She nodded and ran in the opposite direction. Matthew wouldn't chase her, he has what he needs from her.
Ethan gulped, and readied his axe. Mackenzie stepped back a little.
"To get to her, you go through me." I announced.
"Then I will." Matthew said. He flung a few ice shards our way. I struck two with my blade and Ethan blocked one with his axe. I marched forward with him alongside me. Kenzie quickly ran inside, like an instinct.

We began to duel two verse one. Matthew materialized shapes of ice that we knocked down and shattered. It lasted a bit before we were out of breath, and Ethan slipped on a sheet of ice. Matthew took the opportunity to suspend him in huge icicles. I only lasted a bit longer before a chunk of ice knocked my sword to the ground, then struck me in the head. I fell to my knees.
"You fought bravely." Matthew said as he stepped closer. He grabbed me by the shirt, and raised his left hand as if to cast a powerful spell.
Then a loud sound echoed. It made my ears ring, til I heard Matthew screaming. I turned and saw Kenzie, standing at the front door holding a shotgun. Her blonde hair flowed in the breeze. It looked like something out of a movie. Now I understood her instinct. The survival instinct of a real human who grew up in the real world. She had shot a few of Matthew's fingers off.
"Get away from him, you son of a bitch!" She shouted.
Enraged, he fired a few icicles that pinned me to the ground, and another one to knock the gun out of her hands. But Mackenzie didn't back down. She flew in the face of danger, raising her hands, sending a magical beam against Matthew. Like it was made out of pure light. It hurt him, but he was pushing through, getting closer to her, and managed to strike her down.

The wind stopped. It was sort of quiet.

Matthew attempted to reach into her chest to take her heart, but it was rejected. Some sort of protection spell was on her heart. Instead, he raised his intact hand to take her magic.
"No! Noo!" I shouted and jerked my body around until the fabric of my shirt ripped off and I was free. I stumbled my way over and planted myself in front of her.
"Stand down. You've already lost. Eternal winter is coming." Matthew demanded.
"You'll have to kill me too." I choked on my own words, gasping for air.
Matthew plucked my sword from the ground, and raised it.

Suddenly, something jumped out. Another animal like before, but this one was a bit bigger and vicious. It had a dog like appearance with brown fur and sharp teeth.
It was a wolf. I held Mackenzie close as Matthew attempted to fight it off. It didn't look like a full grown wolf.
"Shh..." I heard from behind. I turned and saw Petra standing above us.
Ashley did what I asked.
Petra put her hand out. We flinched.
"I have to borrow it." She said softly.
I was afraid, and angry, and cried a bit. Kenzie squeezed my hand. "It's okay," she said. "Just do it."
"Trust me, Lost Boy." Petra muttered before she used a spell to take Kenzie's magic.
By then, Matthew had fought off the wolf. It whimpered as it ran away. He stood, only seeing me and Kenz, then Ashley to his right, who held the magic cuffs. A cloud of black smoke appeared behind him. He went to attack Ash, but his body jolted upright. Petra had stabbed him in the side with a dagger.
It was over. It was finally over.
Petra walked past me. "Put a shirt on." She said.
I went to him, bleeding on the ground.
"It was supposed to be you, cousin." He gurgled.
"You can come back from this." I said.
"You and I both know that's not true." He replied. "This is the first time... I've ever felt cold."
He looked at the grey, cloudy night sky for a moment.
In an instant he lunged, but I was faster. I caught the icicle he tried to send into my neck. While putting my blade into his. I saw the light leave his eyes. It was the first time I had ever killed someone. And it was the worst feeling in the world.
The icicle had barely breached my skin, still, a trickle of blood ran down my neck, collarbone, then chest. I turned and walked by Ashley.
"She didn't say she would kill him." She said solemnly. Something was telling me we still couldn't fully trust Petra.
Mackenzie ran to me. We both cried. We held each other. And held each other. And held each other...
Her phone started teeming with alerts. From the ones who had been frozen. They were okay. We both looked around us and the ice began to melt. Not all of it, it was still December in Maine. But things were coming back to normal.
"Princess..."
"Alexander..."
"I'm proud of you." I told her. I was wrong for treating her like a damsel in distress. She's even more capable than I am.

Later.

At the site of Matthew's lair, fully thawed and just a clearing of trees now, Petra picked up a box that had Ashley's heart in it, and placed it back in her chest. Ashley practically glowed, fully restored.
"You'll have to give it back, you know. Kenzie's magic." I said to her.
"She's already got it back." Petra smiled and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
"I hate it when she does that. Freaky." Ethan said, spooked.
I picked up my leather jacket off the ground, full of holes.
"We'll fix it." Kenz said. I noticed the purple bottle was there too. It had fallen when the thawing happened. The cap was off and iridescent liquid had spilled from it. Maybe it was a potion, nothing more. We went home.

I watched a movie on the couch with family. Kenzie was over with her family as well. The living room was so warm, and bright and full of love. There was holiday baking, and lights and everyone wore pyjamas and drank hot chocolate with cinnamon.

Deep in the woods, far away, in the dark. The liquid from the bottle glowed. It began to shape into a humanoid form. The shadowy figure's eyes glowed red, until it faded, and it snuck off into the night.