Once Upon a FairyTale

Chapter Twenty Seven: Maxwell

The trip to Hook's house was short and sweet. After I made Odette kiss frog-Peter, she was giving me the silent treatment. Peter kept glaring at me, even though I apologized. He would get over it.

When we arrived at Hook's home, I grinned. Wendy had successfully taken down the shields. We could get in. 

"Here's the plan," I muttered, "We'll go in through three different ways. Peter'll go through Wendy's room, I'll go through the cellar, and Odette, you go through the back window."

Odette scoffed, "Since when did you get to make the rules?"

"Since this was my plan in the first place!"

She was silent after that. Everybody nodded, understanding their jobs. With that, we separated and headed towards our openings. 

The cellar door was a small trapdoor parallel to the left side of the house. It was made of flimsy wood, so I easily broke through it. 

When I was in, I was met with barrels of wine. I smelled the old grapes, but there was another smell mixed with the grapes. Something like dead fish, maybe rotting apples. A loud gasp escaped my lips.

That's the smell of the potion I brewed to turn Alice evil. These barrels were full of the thing, and I suppose, since Hook had the other book, he figured out how to make it permeant. 

Before we did anything, those barrels had to go. If Hook managed to get even one of us to drink this, we would lose instantly. I took it upon myself to smash every single barrel in that cellar. 

There had to be over one hundred barrels. I ran around, clapping my hands next to the barrels. The wood silently turned to dust, and the potion spilled out over the ground. It would be of no use now.

Just as I made it to the final barrel, I heard the door creak open. Large feet began to trod down the creaky old stairs. 

I began to panic. There was nowhere to hide, and, if I was found, this entire mission would be in jeopardy. There was only one option, I had to vanish. There was a spell in my book, luckily I remembered it. I muttered the words, "Invisibilia vale, vale."

As soon as the last syllable left my lips, my body vanished. Not even my breath was visible in the frigid basement. I watched as the person came down the stairs. 

It was Hook, of course. He must've sensed my presence, or the barrels being harmed. He took one looked around the room and sneered, "Maxwell."

Oh no, he could sense me. His eyes travelled the room, almost as if knowing I would hide. I silently prayed that the invisibility spell would work. OF course, praying had never really worked for me. I suppose I just wasn't the type. 

"Did you really think an invisibility spell could keep you hidden from me?" he asked, beginning to walk around the room, "You and that Pan boy may have once been the best sorcerers in the town, but then I came along. I'm ten times better than any of you could ever hope to be. Even your stupid sister knows that, that's why she didn't put up a fight when I stole her book."

My eyes widened. He stole the book from Odette, which means that's who he must be talking about when he references my sister. He's confused, of course, Odette isn't my sister. She's some stranger who accidentally rolled into town.

"Found you."

I felt his warm breath on the back of my neck. Instantly, it felt as if my blood left my body. I was about to bolt, but he was to fast. He grabbed my shoulders. The spell vanished, leaving me to visibly fight against his grip.

"There you are, Maxie," he grinned devilishly. 

"Let me go, Hook, or I'll make your head explode!"