Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

Chapter 123 - An Apple As Red As Blood

Regina walked down the stone steps, through her vault in the midst of the graveyard followed by Jefferson.
"Watch your step." she said.
"What is this place?" asked Jefferson looking around at the stone walls and cobwebs.
She brushed away some cobwebs ands stepped into the main vault, the giant room with arches and little grooves in the wall where trinkets and strange and mysterious items were kept. "Where I've kept the last bit of my magic." she explained. "The only magic in this world is in the things I brought with me."
They both looked around then Jefferson held up the tattered black hat and placed it down on the patterned mosaic tiles. He stepped back and stared down at it.
She shook her head in confusion.
He sighed. "It's not spining. It's not working."
"It needs to absorb the magic that's here." she walked over to the grooves in the wall. "I have some things left. A few trinkets." she turned back to him holding a little chest. She opened it and poured the mysterious, small items into the hat and put the box back into a groove in the wall. She sighed as the hat sat on the ground still.
Jefferson bent forward and picked up the hat, staring into it. "It's not enough. You need something that still works."
Regina sighed and slipped her hand in her coat pocket and took from it a golden ring. She stared at it between her fingers and it glowed, shimmering and sparkling as an image of her dearly departed Daniel apeared in the ring.
"Who's that?" he asked.
She gazed at Daniel sadly. "Someone long gone."
"Well, ehateverbor whoever it is, it still has magical properties."
She looked up at him.
"Give me that and let me see what I can do with it."
Regina stepped back, her eyes glistening with tears.
"If you want your son back, if you want your revenge, give it to me."
Regina stared at him and pointed to the floor. He placed the hat on the ground. She stared at the ring sadly once more and threw it into the hat.
The hat began to spin slowly but it didn't pick up speed as the dark purple mist surrounded it.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Why isn't it opening a portal?" she asked angrily.
The hat stopped spinning and Jefferson went down on his knees. "The magic. It's not enough. We can't go anywhere." he rested his head in his ringed hands.
"Well, then you failed." she sneered.
"Maybe not....... There's enough magic to touch the other side, just not to get us there. There might be enough to reach through and retrieve something."
She went down on her knees, a thought coming to mind. "I can bring something back?"
"Is there an object that can help you? Perhaps I can open it enough and reach though and grab it. It would have to be small. Something that you can take with your hand. Is there anything like that that can help you?"
Regina smiled. "Yes. Yes, I believe there is."
"Then you need to direst me to the time and place where this object exists." he held up the hat.
"How?"
"Think about it. Guild the hat."
She held the hat between her hands and stared into it. She then closed her eyes and thought hard about the special place and time. Jefferson stared at her and the hat as a smile grew on her face and she placed the hat back down on the ground. They both stepped back and the hat began to spin, faster and more ferociously nowx the purple mist almost filling the vault.
She laughed as she stared down at it.
"Excellent." commented Jefferson. "It appears to be working. Now, what is it we're after?"
She moved her gaze up to his face, smiling maliciously. "An apple."

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Regina walked slowly and sadly through the vacant, silent stable she had so many times before strolled through long ago, her dark, decorative purple gown trailing accross the straw covered ground. Nothing had really changed except her dark, evil completion, and the absence of her love Daniel.
She looked down at the golden straw on the ground, tears shimmered in her dark brown eyes as she relived the terrible memories that took place in the stables. She sighed deeply.
Footsteps approached the stables behind Regina and she looked up.
"Hello, Regina." said Snow White's voice from behind her.
She turned to her and stared at her holding up her hands in a sign that she was unarmed. "Follow me." she walked past Snow and out into the fields. She turned and followed her.
They walked along the hill between the green fields beneath the grey, cloudy sky.
"Do you remember when I ran down your runaway horse, Snow? Do you remember when I saved your life?" Regina asked.
"Of course." she chuckled drily. "It all looked the same." she said staring around.
"Not quite." said Regina as they walked towards a little, patterned, carved stone at the top of the hill with a red heart printed on it. "This is new." she gazed down at it.
"Is that........" she stared.
"A grave."
Snow looked up at her down, sad face gazing at the grave confused.
"Daniel's grave." she said quitely.
"Daniel...... But I thought........"
"He ran away?...... I told you that to spare your feelings. Out of..... kindness."
Snow looked down at the grave sadly.
"But he died because of you."
She stuttered, shocked then looked back up at her. "I'm sorry." she said finally.
"I'm sorry, too. But noting can change what hhappened...... What happened." she stepped closer to her. "You promised to keep my secret......"
Snow sighed.
".......You promised, but you lied."
"I was very young, and your mother........" she stared.
"She ripped his heart out." she said loudly, tears in her eyes. "Because of you. Because you couldn't listen to me." she shouted, her voice hoarse with the sadness and depression she felt with the memory.
"You took my father. Haven't we both suffered enough?"
"No."
She sighed.
Regina held out a little black satchel ans slipped her hand inside.
"What is that?" asked Snow.
"It's just a morsel." she said taking a blood red apple from it. She held it up. "Did you know that apples stand for health and wisdom?"
"Do why do I get the feeling that one might kill me?" she said as the wind blew her dark, black hair accross her pale face.
"It won't kill you. No, what it will do is far worse." she stepped closer to her. "Your body will be your tomb and you'll be in there with nothing but dreams formed of the own regrets." she smiled.
"And you're going to force me to eat it."
She chuckled. "No. Of course not. It wouldn't work anyway......... The choices yours. It must be taken willingly."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because if you refuse the apple, you Prince.......your Charming......will be killed." she smiled maliciously.
"No."
"As I said, the choice is yours." she kept the apple up before her.
"I take that apple and he lives? That's the deal you want to make?" she said her voice muffled as tears rowled down her cheeks.
"With all my heart."
Snow took the blood red apple in her hands and stared at Regina. "Then congratulations....... You've won." she held up the poisonous fruit and took a gracefully bite from the apple.
Regina stared happily at her as she chewed the fruit in her mouth, tears rowling down her pale cheeks. Then her face changed, pain took over inside of her and she choked.

Charming lay in his prison cell in the dungeon on the Queen's castle. He jolted up and he groaned in pain on the stone ground.

Snow felt the pain flow through her body and gasped, choking as she fell to the ground with a thud, the Queen staring down at her, beaming with delight and taking joy from her suffering.

Charming groaned and grunted on the ground in pain, chained down.

Snow lay on the green grass, her raven black hair blowing in the wind, her blood red lips still, her face white as snow tear-stained, the apple in her outstretched hand.

Charming tripped and stumbled to the bared door of the cell. "Snow!" he shook the bars vigorously. "What have you done to her?!" he shouted into the dungeon helplessly.

Regina stared up into the sky happily, smiling, satisfied with fall of her enemy.

He shook and shook the bars. "What have you done?! Snow!........"

Snow lay motionless on the ground before Regina and the blood red apple slipped from her pale hand and rowled down the grassy hill and bounced into a little purple portal the apeared in the earth and sucked it inside.

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Jefferson caught the blood red apple with the single bite taken from it as it flew up from the hat. Regina gasped.
"Is this it?" he asked.
"Yes." she took it from his handand stared at it maliciously. "Yes, it is." she smiled.
"And my Daughter? My Grace?"
"First things first. The deal's not done. Not until I solve the next conundrum...... How to get the saviour to taste my forbidden fruit." she said gazing at the blood red apple.