Scarlet

This Hunger Seems to Feed on Me

Darkness is what claimed the air when Emma woke, the tickling sensation of a scurrying mouse across her foot had pulled her from another dream of haunting crimson lips. The torch's flame must have gone out again, she thought, sitting up with no chance of finding slumber again; she could still hear the squeaking of the rodent nearby.

She pulled herself up off the straw bed, the prickly bits sticking to her nightdress and poking her with every movement she made. With a few memorized paces, she found the iron bars and looked out into the darkness. She shuddered and wondered if the Queen would appear again. Though, part of her would be relieved to see the woman. At least she wouldn't be alone. It was cold and damp, and her stomach complained, ready for another meal.

"Hello?" the princess called into the chillingly quiet air. Her fingers grazed over the rusted iron as she gazed down the corridor again, searching for a wayward flame, but it was completely dark, this time.

"Hello," a rumbling voice sounded just before the blonde's face, forcing her to fall away from the bars and trip over the wooden tray from her last meal. Her head met with the hard stone, leaving stars to dot her vision and made her brain swim on the brink of unconsciousness.

Emma knew immediately who the voice had belonged to; she could feel the dark presence engulf her and it was smothering and powerful. A flame brightened her cell and she squinted against it, now able to make out the shape of the Evil Queen.

"Princess, it does well to see you again." Her words were sardonic and those dark eyes ate her up. "Have you thought over what I had said?" the husky voice inquired, slender fingers curling into the bars. Emma stood, her head buzzing as she attempted to ground herself. The dancing shadows only seemed to pull the world around her.

"What was there to think over?" She paced forward, though kept her distance, a desire to keep any further bruising from her jaw.

"Cooperation, child. Would you willingly submit yourself to me?"

"What?" The blonde could have laughed if she felt she had the energy for it. "Why would I do such a thing?"

"What other choice have you, princess?" She spat the word as if it were a curse. "You will never make it out of here with your head attached to your shoulders. You can either rot down here forever, or join me."

The princess swallowed thickly, but stood straighter, her eyes on fire. "You cannot kill me. My choices may be limited, but that is one thing that cannot happen."

The Queen smirked, her head tilted to the side as if she found amusement in the younger woman's words. "Perhaps you cannot perish by my hand, but I do have plenty of other options. Any one of my knights would be capable of carrying out such a deed."

"You would not let some knight take your revenge away from you," Emma spat, though when the older woman moved, she tensed in her spot.

The Evil Queen waved a hand over the rusted lock and used an invisible force to push the barred door open, barely giving Emma enough time to miss the whining iron as it slammed against the bars. The witch seemed to pay no mind for she merely stepped into the cell, forcing the blonde to move further back, slowly resenting herself for speaking at all.

"You are frightened, yet there is valiance in your soul." There was a sparkle of admiration in the dancing light of her eyes, but it was quickly quelled and replaced with an insane anger that could have expelled the urine from her bladder. "Do not be brave with me, girl. It will only get you killed." Emma cried out softly when her arm was squeezed and she was pulled forward, roughly falling into the Evil Queen. "You think your life was hell? You haven't seen hell, yet."