Fairytale gone wrong in all the possible ways

It’s been quite a while now since the demon last appeared in one of Jo’s dreams, but that was probably because Jo hasn’t been having any dreams in the first place – only nightmares, which are quite tiring to have sixteen times in a row. Jo hated waking up in the middle of the night because once she wakes up, she’s not going to fall asleep until the next night comes.

Wrapped up in a blanket, Jo wandered who she is going to see tonight: her mother and all the so called “challenges” she makes her daughter go through to prove she deserves to be the heir to the throne or the demon who has been a better friend than anyone else in her life.

“You should stop thinking about me, you know” whispered a sweet voice in Jo’s ear.

“I thought you only come in my dreams” said princess, looking right into the demon’s eyes.

“I do. You’re sleeping now”

“Well, it’s all good then”

“No, it’s not. Otherwise, we would’ve seen each other earlier”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, not now”

Jo didn’t like getting short dry answers to her questions, what she despised even more was when someone was either lying or hiding the truth from her.

“Bella,” Jo stood up and looked down on her friend “don’t coax me like the last time”

The princess was good at threatening people, but she didn’t have as much experience with demons.

“I won’t but you should calm down now, everything is alright, and you need to rest after all those nightmares with your mother”

If it was her first conversation with Bella, Jo would ask how she knew about what her mother has been doing but Bella has a way of knowing everything, maybe even too much, but that never bothered Jo much. She even liked Bella knowing everything about her because that meant she didn’t have to talk or explain anything. Bella didn’t talk much either, she was always deep in thought.

“I wonder—”

“I just wanted to compliment you on not asking stupid questions but here you go—”

“It’s not stupid, I just wondered why you come in my dreams and my mother only in my nightmares”

“Well, what’s wrong with that?”

“You’re a demon and my mother—”

“I’m the only one in your life who has been nothing but fair and good to you. I can’t say the same thing about your mother”

“I might agree on fair, but calling you good would be disgraceful”

“Oh, don’t start acting all fancy now”

“You were the one who has made me agree to our bargain”

“I didn’t make you do anything. This kingdom did though”

“I didn’t have a choice. I fell from the pedestal. I can’t take the throne”

Jo looked at Bella’s eyes or more likely the two black mirrors which were instead of them. You could only see your reflection in them. Jo’s skin was pale and the bags under her eyes were a painfully purple. She could see it even in the matte black.

“You should really stop staring at me like that” Bella snickered.

“I haven’t looked at myself for a long time. Your eyes are perfect for that”

“I think we should talk about the bargain”

Jo shivered. She disliked her part of deal, but she disliked her home even more. She had to choose between two bad ends: one was worse than another.

“There’s a lot you will need to sacrifice. Your reputation, for starters. You’ll be called names worse than ‘the rogue’, you should be prepared”

“I don’t care about those”

“But you’re still worried about something”

“The sacrifice I need to make”

“I thought it wouldn’t be that hard for you”

“Well, it is. I’ll give up my home and I know it’s pretty imperfect, but it’s the only thing in my life that I have good memories of”

“I’ve mentioned it already and going to do it again: your thoughts are calamitous. They’re going to be the death of you”

Jo knew that. She knew that a long time. Her mind is the place where all the nightmares come from. Not just hers, but everyone’s who lives in the kingdom. Jo was glad that Bella read her mind and figured out that herself, means she doesn’t need to do any explaining. Her practically giving birth to the nightmares was another reason she wanted to escape. She hoped that herself wouldn’t be the only person set free once she leaves. Her parents will have to find someone else to put under pressure and haunt the “lucky one” with all their arduous challenges and tests.

“It’s not just about happy memories, I can see it. What else is there?”

Jo looked at Bella. Maybe there was a downside to her being able to know everything.

“How do you know?” Jo asked, hoping Bella would talk long enough for a dream to end and for them to part; but Bella always answers in short sentences. This one wasn’t an exception.

“I have three voices in my head. One is helping me with knowing past, the other with foreseeing all the future possibilities and there’s a third one. It lets me know everything that’s occurring at the moment, in the world and in people’s heads.”

That was the demon’s answer. No details, only key points.

“Now you tell me: what’s wrong?”

“It’s not just the palace I’m leaving behind. It’s all the memories too. When I enter a new place, I will be a brand-new person. Literally. I won’t have any clue who I used to be before. I will know the basics, like how to eat, speak and tie my shoelaces but nothing that made me myself”

 “We can cancel the bargain—”

“Oh, no. I don’t want that. My mother always told me: “It’s better to do something and regret and not do it and regret anyway.” In my case I will only regret if I stay, because if I go, I will never know I actually left so the deal sounds good to me”

“I’m glad that you’re certain because the spell wouldn’t have worked otherwise. Okay, if you’re ready, let’s go”

“Where?”

“To leave the kingdom once and for all”

Jo blinked and in front of her didn’t stand Bella anymore, but a girl. She had pale skin like everyone who lived in the castle and piercing blue eyes. No more tanned skin, or two black polished mirrors she had instead of eyeballs.

“That’s still you”

“Of course. I just mixed it up a bit for blending in with the crowd”

“Yeah, that was smart. You look good”

“Thanks, because you don’t as much. Anyway, I’m going to the room on third floor, down the corridor fifth door on the left. You’re not going to see me there, but there’s going to be a mirror. You’ll have to look at it and pronounce the line I taught before. Remember it?” Bella ran through her speech and glanced at the princess. After seeing a node, she carried on: “We will take two different ways to avoid any suspicions. You’ll have to take the longer one. Understood?”

“Yeah—”

“Hurry up then!”

“Wait, does it mean we’ll never see each other again”

That was the thing Jo couldn’t wrap her mind around.

“It does”

And that’s when Jo understood it. That’s what was onerous all along. Not forgetting everything she once knew but leaving Bella. Jo’s best memories were all from the times spent in the castle, but they were all from the dreams she had there. All the dreams Bella was a part of.

“Goodbye, Bella” Jo murmured. It sounded much better in her head.

“Goodbye”

The merged into a hug. It’s hard to say goodbye to someone you own all that’s good in you to. Bella’s eyes lingered on Jo’s silhouette as the latter left her bedroom. She wanted to beg Jo stay so they could continue seeing each other in her dreams or at least say something more than just ‘goodbye’ but she didn’t do either. Her body was paralyzed.

Jo ran down the staircases: one after another. People and noised mixed up in her mind. She was saying goodbye to the life she wouldn’t have in couple of minutes time. She was saying goodbye to Bella. Ever since the start of their relationship, she believed that the demon could read her mind. She never asked Bella though and Bella never said anything about it, but she hoped that her speculation was true.

When finally reaching the needed door, Jo checked the corridor. There was no one there. She hesitated anyway. Did she really want this? To risk everything she had for God knows what. But did she really much to risk in the first place? No. Why not step in the door then? So she did. The room was dark with only four small torches lightning the surroundings. In the middle of the room was a mirror set by no other than Bella obviously.

She went over the line she had learned by heart months ago:

“Mihi volenti mihi dare praeteritum, maxime vulnurable habeo rem, ut ad vitam novam”

Tears were streaming down her cheeks. If she waited to say the line even just a bit, she wouldn’t have been able to pronounce a thing. Her heart snapped too many times that day, she couldn’t take it anymore.

Suddenly, she felt a cold rush run through her skin. The magic was working. The last thing she heard before losing consciousness was a familiar to bones voice:

“You won't regret this, not this”