The Forgotten Fairytales (27 page)

“What are we looking for again?” Kate whispered, as we crept into the room and split up.

I wasn’t sure what we were looking for exactly, just something to use against her. On the other side of the room was Danielle’s dresser. Opening each drawer, I lifted the perfectly folded clothes organized first by type—shirt, tank top, shorts—then by color. No whites touched blues, no blues touched grays. She kept everything as flawless as she portrayed herself to be.

I glanced at the clock a few times, knowing she’d be back between tea and dinner to change outfits, and focused on the desk. The first drawer had pens and pale blue sticky notes. Nothing out of the ordinary. The second had notebooks. Flipping through the pages did nothing, the only comments inside were ideas for the ball and future events.

As I shut the drawer and prepared to open the next, Kate gasped. I swirled around and found her on the floor, a large plastic bin beside her and paper everywhere.

“What it is?” I settled at her side.

“The notes James and I wrote each other.” She held the letters closer and pointed to the top. “Look, they’re dated, too.”

On the top of the lined paper was the date, which indeed dated back a year ago. His handwriting was sloppy and almost illegible.

I have a bad feeling about tonight. I think Danielle may be onto us even before I tell her. You know better than me, the girl has spies everywhere. Let’s meet at the fountain instead. 8pm. Always, James

“I never got this note.” Kate’s voice was barely a whisper. Her eyes grew large as she turned to face me. “If I’d gotten the note, I never would’ve gone. He knew she knew. He wanted to warn me.”

My heart hammered inside my chest as Kate and I devoured the letters they wrote to each other. James
was
different. Loving, passionate, charming. He promised he loved Kate more than anyone in the world. He promised they’d find a way around the system so they could be together.

Something didn’t add up. You don’t go from loving to hating and ignoring someone in a day for no reason. Danielle had to have interfered. The pills, maybe. But they had to be super powerful to make him forget about Kate altogether.

Voices erupted outside the door and Kate and I bolted up.
Shit
, I thought as I scanned the dresser for the clock. Time was up. We hurried throwing the letters back in the bin.

“We have to hide.” I whispered.

“Where?”

The closet was out of the question, she’d go in there right away. The bathroom. No, that wouldn’t work either. We were too high up to climb out the window.

“Under the bed.”

I pushed Kate down first and clamped the lid on the box, pulling it under the bed beside us seconds before the door opened. There was barely room for the two of us. Danielle crammed a lot of crap underneath—broken shoes, boxes, old notebooks. I held my breath as she walked inside, her glass heels soundless on the plush carpet. Someone was with her too, but all I saw were a pair of beaten up black Converses.

“The door was unlocked,” Danielle said. I cringed at my mistakes, I should’ve watched the time better.

“April probably forgot to lock it.”

The boy’s voice sounded familiar. Beside me, Kate’s eyes widened as she mouthed a name, one which sent a chill up my spine.
Gale.
Dresser doors slammed and Danielle paused.

“My jewelry box is open. I never leave it open,” her voice trailed off.

Gale came up behind, stopping only inches from her, but Danielle shifted away, hurrying around the door, slamming the drawers of her desk and hope chest until she finally ran into the closet. The noise continued for a few minutes. Gale sat down, the bed sinking inches from our face.

Her bare feet ran across the room to the bed. Kate’s hand grabbed a hold of mine, her face buried in my shoulder as the space between me and the bin grew wide, spilling light upon us. Danielle exhaled as she opened the box and sifted through the contents.

“What’s that?” Gale asked.

Danielle snapped the top on and pushed it under the bed so hard, it slammed into my side. “Nothing. We’d better go before April gets back and sees us alone together.”

The mattress springs groaned as Gale slid off the bed and the two of them walked out the door, locking it as it shut. I let out a long breath and we stayed under the bed for a few minutes to be sure it wasn’t a trap.

Slowly I moved the box so we could get out, but not without taking a few letters and a journal. Kate shoved a few in her pocket too. There had to be something here to work with, but I didn’t want to stick around any longer.

Everyone had secrets. I did. April did. Kate did. Some secrets were darker than others. Like Danielle’s. The pale blue journal with hand painted orchids on the cover smelled of jasmine and sandalwood. Judging a book by its cover, I expected journal entries of love and heartache, even haiku. Danielle was many, many things, but a poet was not one of them.

Dear Diary,

Tonight I saw James and Kate walking together out of the courtyard. I followed them, hoping to tell them about my plans to change the dress code, but then, as they turned the corner to the gardens, their hands intertwined and he kissed her. Really, really kissed her. To my surprise, she didn’t fight him. How dare she! She knows he belongs to me! What’s worse? The way he looked at her, the love and adoration in his stare, he’s never once looked at me like that.

When I confided to Madrina, she told me I had to end it now or chance losing my dreams. And I sure as hell am not going to mess this up, that bitch has to pay in the ugliest way. Immediately I got in touch with an old friend, one who will assist me in ruining Kate and stealing James’ memories. After tomorrow, he’ll never ever remember loving her. In return, he’ll believe me to be his one and only love. And I? I couldn’t be happier.

So rest soundly, Diary, knowing I will put an end to whatever madness comes our way.

The book fell from my hands and into my lap, my heart racing a million miles per hour. Danielle
stole
James’s memories with black magic. Wiped them free from his mind and implanted her own. How was that possible, I wondered, to change a person’s memories completely? I hoped she threatened him, but this, this was so much bigger.

I jammed the book in my bag and ran out the door, unsure where I was actually going, but I knew I had to tell someone. Not Kate, she’d be so upset if she knew the truth. I couldn’t tell her till I knew more.

So, I ran, not sure where I was headed until a thick brown door stared back at me. The last person in the world who wanted me, yet the only one I trusted.

“What are you doing here?” Wolf asked, standing in the doorway in nothing but a pair of jeans. Jeans that hugged him in all the right places. Did he ever wear a shirt in his room?

I pushed my way through the door and paced back and forth. “Look at this.” Opening the journal to the page, I handed it to him.

His attention focused on the page, skimming the ink over and over again. I ran one hand through my hair, trying to breathe in and out. But his silence was unnerving. Moisture coated his hard muscles. In the right corner of his room were two large weights. Was he working out?

“Where did you get this?” He fingered the spine and drew my attention from his arms to his face. I shifted back and forth, tugging at the hem of my shirt, wishing I didn’t have to tell Wolf. “Norah.” His voice was firm and unyielding, like a father scolding his daughter for misbehaving.

Instead of backing off, I told him what Kate and I did, and about Kate’s history with James. Somehow I thought he already knew, considering Wolf seemed to know everything about everyone. This stumped him.
Point for Norah.

“When I read the journal, I wasn’t sure who to tell or if I should. It was so heavy, you know?”

“Why not Finn?” He sat in the plush red chair in the corner. His brows knitted together, holding in the venom I knew he felt by speaking Finn’s name.

I plopped on the bed across from him, crossing one leg over the other. “I’m pretty sure Finn will never talk to me again. I kind of punched him in the nose.”

“He said he lost a battle in combat class,” Wolf said. I laughed, knowing he’d have to find a reason for the swelling and raccoon eyes.

“Figures. Anyway, back to the book. I wanted to tell someone I trusted, someone none of this affects. I’m just trying to stay proactive. I mean, she took away a guy’s memory. Who’s to say she won’t do the same to me? Who’s to say you won’t wake up tomorrow and forget I ever existed?”

“That’s highly unlikely. Memory is a heavy element. She had to have dark magic behind her. No fairy godmother could pull that off.”

“Then who?” I leaned forward on my elbows. “Who could’ve done this?”

“There’s more, too.” Wolf fingered through the book and held it in my direction. “Says something about the lost fairy tales.
Her
fairy tale. I bet we’d find the answer in there.”

“That’s great and all,” I glanced at the entry, but it said nothing of value. “But Desiree said getting a hold of the lost fairy tales were impossible.”

“Only if you don’t know where to look.” Wolf’s auburn eyes twinkled with mischief.

I
n the daytime, sunbeams glittered through the stained glass windows of the castle library, casting rays of light upon the wooden shelves as if they were enchanted. Now, vacant of any light whatsoever, the tall cases stood like silent soldiers guarding temples of knowledge.

Wolf flicked on the small pink flashlight I found at the bottom of my duffle bag. The second level of the library held more books than the first, the spines colorful and whimsical even without the added daylight. Somewhere nearby, the heater kicked on, groaning so loud, I gripped Wolf’s elbow.

His eyebrow hiked up, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You’re not scared, are you, little princess?”

I scoffed and let go. “Of course not.”

“Good, because we’re about to break every rule in the book.”

I followed him across the library, careful to make each step silent. Still, I felt someone watching us, like murky yellow eyes trailed behind. I checked over my shoulder, again, holding onto Wolf with my sweaty hand. I told myself it was due to the heat, but I was scared. Just a little. I mean, who wouldn’t be when breaking into a library at night to find forbidden stories that were supposed to be hidden from the world.

The hush of the empty room magnified my raging heartbeat. With his animal-like qualities, I was certain Wolf heard it too. With each step my heart raced faster, sure someone was going to pop out at us at any second.

We approached the wall farthest to the back and he shined the light on the sandy brown rug beneath the carrel desks. I let go of his arm and helped him lift a few of the desks out of the way. He bent over and pushed the rug back.

“Shut the front door,” I breathed. A smile spread over my mouth, I couldn’t believe it, a secret passage way. I mean, castles had a lot of corridors, but I’d never actually seen a secret passage, well, except in movies. But low and behold, beneath the rug was a door.