Snow White #OnceUponNow

Chapter Three - Snow

"Shut—shut me down?"

Randy turns pale as he struggles to find words. His fingers are wringing each other, steadily turning white. "Yes. Yes, I was sent to shut you down. I mean, I am sent to shut you down. I'm on a mission—ah, forget it all."

He reaches into his back pocket and slowly brings out a small, rectangular device. "This is something my mom made. Not my birth-mother. My step-mom. It sends electromagnetic pulses toward wherever it's programmed to and temporarily shuts the machine down. Although," Randy says with a wry smile, "you know this all with a quick scan." He's calming down now. It seems like showing off his knowledge is easy for him.

I step back from the device. "So. You're going to do it? I'm warning you. I won't go easily."

Randy fumbles to put the device back. "No! Snow! What are you thinking? I grew up with you my entire life. I can't just, throw away a friend because of my mom! Look, I'm here to warn you about my mom's dumb plan, okay? All mom asked for is your chip. I have a prototype chip that looks like yours, and can do nearly the same functions, but it's not worth much," he quickly says, showing me a small, compact chip. "So all you have to do—"

"—is run away?" I finish for him, raising my eyebrows. Randy shrugs sheepishly. "No. I'm not running away, no, I won't run. Leo has poured his whole life's work into me, and he's already lost his wife. If I ran away, he'd . . . I don't know what he'd do."

Randy's gray blue eyes darkens. "Yeah, well, what if Dr. Grimhilde takes this matter into her own hands, and destroys you? Dad would still be heartbroken. Better for you to live and hurt Dad than get, oh, I don't know, blasted into oblivion?"

I stiffen, finally understanding his words. A small breath escapes my lips. "Oh . . . I see . . . It's just that, would you leave if you were in my place?"

"Will my answer change your choice?" he asks, eyes boring into mine.

I will trust you. "Yes."

"Then, yes, I would leave."

I stare at him, several different emotions running through my head. Disbelief, at how easily Randy could send me away. Horror at running away from home.

"Alright," I simply say, pushing myself off the wall with my shoulders. "Then I'll leave."

I blink back tears and prepare to leave.

Randy pulls me into a hug. "I hope you'll find somewhere safe and comfortable," he murmurs into my shoulders. I just realized that Randy is the same height as me. That fact makes me think of all the precious time that flew by. "I don't mean ill will when I'm saying this, but please don't call or anything. Mom will find out. Okay? Stay hidden, Snow. Sneak around so that even ghosts can't find you."

A lump rises in my throat. I bury my head in his shoulder. "Thanks," I choke out, "for everything. I'll find a way to repay this."

I can't tear myself away from Randy's arms. Randy does it for me, gently untangling our arms.

"'Bye," I whisper. I whip around and dash out of the library, hot tears spilling down my cheeks. First tears since creation.

The music playing breaks through the rhythmic pounds of my feet running. Instead of it being playful, it sounds like it's teasing me. I hate it. I hate it. I hate its mocking tone. 

The beat, the notes, the sounds—small little things fit perfectly together to create one whole masterpiece. Just like how I am made: bits and pieces put together. The reason why I had to run.