𝔗𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔗𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔰 ✓

Betrayal

It's been a few hours and I've honestly given up. There was no way I could even touch the doorknob without getting thrown to the other side of the room. It was obvious Hunter was getting anxious as well and Cinderella just looked heartbroken. I don't think she got over the fact that Hunter truly never loved her.

I looked up when I heard the door unlock and Morgana stepped in. She smirked when she saw our stricken faces.

"Given up so soon Mina?" she asked. "You truly weren't meant to be a heroine. It doesn't matter though. I'm here for the other one."

She beckoned Hunter to follow her. I nodded enthusiastically at him. Maybe he would be able to find a way to get out of here or even be able to subdue her long enough for us to escape.

The door slammed as she roughly pulled him out of the room and it was just left with the two of us.

"I have faith that he can find a way to get us out," I told Ella, but her face was the opposite of hope.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she told me. "Do you really think he's going to help us?"

"Of course," I smiled. "I'm just waiting for him to be able to stop her in some way. Maybe he'll give us a signal."

"We should check one more time," Ella replied. I hesitated, not really wanting to be thrown around again, but agreed nonetheless.

Slowly reaching my hand towards the doorknob, I cautiously touched the silver metal, holding my breath. I was shocked to see that nothing happened as I lightly tapped it. Grabbing it with my whole hand, it still didn't budge, but at least it wasn't charmed.

"The spell must have been undone when she came through the door," Ella commented.

"Now we can just knock it down," I smiled. The house was so old that it was easy to beat a hole in the worn out wooden door with a chair.

"Let's go before she suspects a thing," I told Ella, grabbing her hand. I heard voices from behind a closed door as we snuck through the hallway.

Opening the front door, I saw the swirling portal that had taken us here in the first place and sighed with relief.

"You go first princess," I ordered. "I'm going to get Hunter."

"But what if she captures you again?" Ella asked. "Magic is powerful. She can easily slow you down."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not going to leave him here and you need to go before you can get captured again," I said, shaking my head. "Your safety is our first priority. Now go!"

She reluctantly stepped through the portal, leaving me alone. Walking up to the door, I slowly turned the handle and peeked inside. I could see both Hunter and Morgana, but they were both too preoccupied in a conversation to notice me. The weird thing was that it sounded like a civil talk. I hadn't heard any yelling or fighting yet.

"Yes. Aldus knows about you. He's trying to stop us with that girl," Hunter was saying.

"Good my dear. You've done your job well," Morgana said sweetly, placing a hand lovingly on her son's cheek, but even from where I stood I could tell that it was a fake appreciation. "We'll have to get rid of that old hag and the little girl with the other princesses. She's no where near a threat, but I'm not taking any chances."

"I agree," he said. "I wouldn't underestimate her, Mother. She's clever."

"Well it will be your job to capture Aldus. He appears at random, so when he comes up again that's your chance. And now that we have his apprentice, Aldus will be lured out to save her."

"I'll be on the lookout," Hunter promised. "Mina has given up trying to escape so it shouldn't be long before Aldus comes."

"You are such a lucky boy to have a powerful mother like myself. And together we'll destroy these silly tales and I'll become the most powerful witch in all the realms."

She gave one of those cliche evil laughs while Hunter struggled to laugh. I would have rolled my eyes if I wasn't on the verge of tears. He had betrayed me. I don't know why that made me so depressed, but pain, sorrow, and rage ran through my head all at once.

Closing the door, I knew I had to get out of here before they found out we escaped. Stepping out of the room, I felt my eyes close as the I whirled around.

When my eyes opened, I found myself back in the forest. I had saved the princess, but I was still here.

"Why in the world didn't I go back?" I asked myself. Heading back to the castle, I became even more confused when I knocked on the door and Charming didn't even know a girl named Cinderella. That meant that she wasn't in the castle anymore.

Borrowing a horse, I rode to Cinderella's old house and noticed her in the attic, cleaning her room. Her family was nowhere to be seen, so I slipped in.

"Ella?" I asked, looking around.

"Hello Mina," she smiled. "I don't know what happened. When I left that realm the prince told me he didn't know me or someone named Thomas."

"The story must have started over!" I gasped. "We might have one last chance for Charming to fall in love with you!"

Somehow, I had been given another chance to set things right and this time there would be no way I would let Morgana mess this up!