Blood Apples (4 page)

The night after, I met Jack at the base of the Rudaba Tower. I snuck away into the dark of the forest and stopped at the base of the tower before the Rapunzel plants. Jack wasn’t alone. He had a beautiful girl with him.

“Who is she?” I wondered, feeling uncomfortable in a third person’s presence.

“Meet Marmalade,” Jack said. “At least that’s why I call her,” He said as she engaged his arm. The shocking, yet mesmerizing, thing about Marmalade was that she wore almost nothing, leafs covered the lower part of her body, and her own hair covered her breasts. Her hair seemed fixated though, not affected by the now and then breeze coming from the forest.

“Why is she here? And why is she naked?” I frowned.

“It’s a bad habit of hers,” Jack waved a hand in the air. “Can’t change her. She’s inherited it from her ancestors,” Jack said as she kissed him on his cheeks. “Besides, she is not naked. Can’t you see she covers her breast with her hair? Can you do that?”

“What—“ I stopped myself from even considering his silly question. It occurred to me that Jack might not be taking this mission seriously. “Nevermind.” I mumbled.

“I like you when you say that,” Jack adjusted his hat after Marmalade had messed with it playfully. “Relax. I like to relax before stealing something. It gives you more confidence. And believe me, Marmalade will be very useful.”

“Nice to meet you,” Marmalade said to me, winking and chewing on something. I was used to girls flirting with me. I couldn’t deny I had been spoiled as a prince, but this situation felt awkward.

“So she is
your
 monster?” I asked, not even replying to her.

“Monster?” Marmalade frowned.

“He doesn’t mean it that way, darling,” Jack said, staring at me as if he was going to kill me. “Prince Charming loves to joke.”

“Aha,” Marmalade winked again. “It wasn’t funny,” She pursed her lips at me, fiddling with her hair. “I guess you’re used to that because your lover is a monster.”

I wasn’t going to reply to this. It was true.

“You know what Adage means?” She asked me.

I shook my head no.

“It’s a beautiful word,” She said. “People will tell you it means the purest love in the world, or love that consumes you, but I know what it really means. It means ‘love beyond reason’, and that is best love in the world.”

“OK? Why are you telling me this?” I wondered.

“Because this is what you are experiencing. You’re in love with a girl you shouldn’t be in love with. You’re in love with a girl who will eventually hurt you, and others too, but you still risk your life to save her. If you’re destined to be together, she will repeatedly cause you trouble and hurt those you care for, but you’ll still be a slave to her love.”

“Is that good?” I asked, starting to like Marmalade. Behind all that flirty, semi-naked girl, she seemed to have great insight.

“It’s
Adage
,” She smiled with her heart-shaped curving lips. “Love doesn’t come more intense and fulfilling. It’s why people burn bright and the rest of the world withers to ashes because of their fire.”

“Fire?” Jack seemed to consider. “It’s funny when you talk this way about fire, darling,” Jack told Marmalade.

“I know,” She looked sad, lowering her head on his shoulder. I was really curious if she was a thief like Jack. She looked so otherworldly, though. “I shouldn’t be in love with fire.”

“Why is that?” I asked, astonished by my involvement in the conversation when I had to save Snow White.

“It’s a long story,” Jack shook his head. “Let’s go save a monster.” He changed the subject.

Jack seeded his magic beans in the earth and then we waited for a while. The earth started to shake and rumble before his Beanstalk came out dancing like a dizzy snake, branched and leaves stretching into the air, all the way up.

“I told you,” Jack smiled at me, noticing my amazement while looking up. “Someone has to write a book about me.”

The three of us climbed up the spiral tree. Looking down, I could see the angry Rapunzel plants trying to reach out for us, but we were far enough and safe. This was going to be one hell of an adventure.

Jack instructed Marmalade to climb before us and talk to Rapunzel after he used his magic harp to summon her out. We listened to Marmalade sympathizing with Rapunzel and telling her how beautiful she was. She even told Rapunzel that she was the most beautiful girl in the world. I couldn’t confirm that because I couldn’t see Rapunzel, hiding beneath the green leaves. Then Rapunzel complained about how impossible it was to comb her long hair. Marmalade offered her a magic comb that did the job. Rapunzel started using it and she fell inward into the tower, not uttering a word.

“What kind of comb was that?” I asked Jack.

“A poisonous one,” Jack answered, climbing up as Marmalade had already jumped into the tower.

“Where did you get from?” I climbed after him.

“Property of the Queen of Sorrow as well,” He answered. “She is pretty fond of stuff like that.”

“And the apple?” I asked.

“I decided to use the comb trick first,” Jack said. “So we could spare the apple for something else. Now it’s time you get inside and take hold of your girl before she bites mine.” He said and jumped inside, still playing his harp which put the crows to sleep.

I jumped after him through the window, but I couldn’t find Snow White in the cozy and dimly lit, round room.

I saw Jack nailing a wooden coffin and making sure it’s shut.

“What are you doing?” I yelled. “Is Snow White inside this coffin?”

“You know she is,” Jack said firmly. “And you know
what
she is. They kept her in the coffin so they can have control over her, and so shall we.”

“But no,” I said. “She is not like that with me. Just open the coffin and you’ll understand.”

“Understand what?” Jack approached me and brushed away my long hair, showing the bites marks on my neck. “This? You’ve let her feed on you and now you’re under her spell. That’s all.”

“It’s not like that, believe me.” I pleaded, desperately wanting to lay my eyes on Snow White.

“It’s Adage,” Marmalade’s eyes twinkled. “Don’t explain it to Jack. He will not understand.” She told me.

“Ok, lovebirds,” Jack said. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll pull this coffin, unopened, down and hand it to you, Prince Charming. You give me my gold, and you take the coffin with your monster inside and have your ‘own scary ever after’. Are we clear?”

“Hello?” A sweet, soft, and innocent voice called from inside the coffin all of a sudden. It was her, the light of my life, Snow White. “Is anyone out there?” She asked.

Jack snapped back for a moment, staring at the coffin. It wasn’t Snow White being alive that shocked him. It was how childish and sweet she sounded.

“That’s no sound of a monster.” Marmalade said, kneeling down to the coffin, touching it with her nimble hands as if wishing it were glass so she could see through.

“I am here, my love,” I said. “I came to save you.”

“Prince?” Snow White wondered. Her voice was enchanting like when she used to sing in the forest when she were a kid, when birds and squirrels gathered around to listen to her.

“It’s me,” I nodded, noticing Marmalade’s eyes moistening to Snow’s heartbreaking sound, wondering if the world could have been harsh on a young girl who wasn’t a monster at all.

“You came here for
me
?” Snow White asked me.

“Always,” I said. I could hear her sigh of relief and appreciation from inside.

“Can you please let me out?” She asked, sounding like a girl asking me politely to do her a favor, like lifting her up to ride a horse.

“No!” Jack interrupted. “It’s a trick. I’ve seen this before with Peter Pan’s girl. They all sound so sweet in the beginning.”

“Let her out,” Marmalade pleaded to Jack.

“I can’t breathe,” Snow White whispered in a thinner voice from inside the closed coffin.

“I said no,” Jack was firm, staring at me, too.

I couldn’t argue with Jack, because the truth was that I knew what kind of monster she could be. What if she killed Jack and Marmalade now? I needed them to help me on the way back. It was alarming how my intention and thoughts changed when I was around Snow White. I could’ve killed for her by only hearing her voice.

I wanted so much to talk to her and hold her in my arms, but suddenly we heard a huge thud on the tree outside.

“Fee-fi-fo-fum!” Someone, or rather something, growled in a deafening voice.

“What was that?” I winced.

“Not again,” Marmalade shook her head.

“What you mean?” I wondered as the sound came closer.

“It’s a…” Jack seemed hesitated. “A troll.”

“This awful loud sound came from a troll?” I asked.

“He has a big mouth,” Jack said. It showed on his face that he was lying.

“What is it, Jack?” I insisted.

“A
big
troll,” Jack said.

“How big?” I asked, and another thud shook the Beanstalk outside.

“That big,” Jack answered. “We have to move back to the tree. Now!”

We pulled the coffin out and got back on the Beanstalk, following the path Jack took, high enough to pass through the clouds.

It was such a beautiful place up there, so peaceful and silent. If only we weren’t being hunted by some secret huge friend of Jack’s we could have stayed here for a while.

“Where to?” I asked.

“Walk on the clouds,” Jack screamed back, holding on to the front of the coffin behind his back. “It works as long as you don’t look down.”

I did as he said and we walked on the clouds, presumably to another tree that should’ve taken us back down. As we started running, I could see a huge shadow casting itself on the clouds. It was that thing which hunted us, thumping on the clouds, turning them into rain falling down on the world. That thing started summoning Jack.

“What did you do to that thing?”

“I don’t know,” Jack yelled. “You know it’s big. I am small. So it doesn’t like me very much.”

“What explanation is that? I think you stole from it.”

“Why do keep asking—“ Jack turned back to me with angry eyes, but then he suddenly stopped, looking over my shoulder.

“Oh my—“ Jack shrieked. “It’s too close. We’re not going to make it if we keep pulling this heavy coffin.”

“What do you mean? I am not giving up on the coffin. If you want us to run, release Snow White and she will run with us.”

“Nice trick,” Jack said. “Never going to do that, but I got a better idea.” He said, and nodded at Marmalade.

I didn’t understand what was going on, but Marmalade held me gently by the shoulder and told me to trust her as she pushed the coffin over the clouds, back down to earth.

“Noooo!” I screamed as Jack stopped me from jumping after it.

“Marmalade will take care of it,” He said.

I saw Marmalade turn into what I suspected she was from the beginning: a Mermaid. Her look stole the breath from my lungs, but I didn’t have time to appreciate her beauty. She held my head with her hands and kissed my cheek. “Don’t worry,” She said. “Snow White will be safe with me.” Then she went and kissed Jack.