Pain flares through me. A wave of shock ripples through me. A name flashes in my mind.
Aurora.
The faces from my dream—the boy and the girl—flicker before me. The same room. My room. All at once, I remember everything. My house. My family. My life.
With all the good memories come the bad. The hopelessness. The emptiness. A sadness that I could never shake no matter how hard I tried. The wish to end it. End all the pretending and trying. To finally be done with everything.
Rain drowns out the broken cry on my lips. I remember it all now. I remember why I made the deal with the princess.
“Ah. You found your rose,” her voice echoes behind me.
The rain stops suddenly as I turn to look at her. The sky brightens, revealing her silhouette as she walks towards me. She’s still dressed in her black gown, her creepy eyes on me.
She smiles. “Do you remember now, Rosie?”
“That’s not my name.”
Her grin widens. “No, it’s not. Aurora. It means dawn, doesn’t it? Do you think your parents pictured this when they named you?” She gestures at me with an amused laugh.
“Pictured me here, kidnapped by some crazy fairy? No, I don’t think so.”
She cocks her head at me. “You came here willingly. Don’t you remember? You were a burden to your family. Always bringing everyone down.”
I glare at her. “My family loves me.”
She arches one eyebrow at me. “Maybe. But can you love yourself?”
Her question rings through my ears. I stare down at the rose in my hand. My fingers are red with blood, and a numbness fills me.
The last thing I remember before coming here was writing a note. A goodbye note, trying to explain to my family why I had to do what I was going to do. A lump grows in my throat. Tears blur my vision.
What did they think of the unfinished letter? My disappearance? Did they think I ran away?
Running wouldn’t have saved me. Even coming here to this strange place, I couldn’t escape it. There was something broken inside of me that I could never fix. I could never be the smiling sunshine girl they wanted.
“I can take it all away. The memories. You can stay here in my court. Be an honorary princess. We would accept you for who you are. Who you truly are.”
Princess Maloret’s words interrupt my thoughts. I glance around at the gloomy garden and black castle behind us. Maybe this is where I belong. The Court of Shadows. Maybe I do belong here with all her dark, broken creatures.
“I can even bring your little friend back,” the princess continues, her lips spread into a cold smile.
Meriwether.
My heart sinks. She sacrificed herself for me. To help me find out the truth and escape this place. How could I ever repay her? Could she really be gone?
“Now that you’ve had time to think it over, do you have an answer for me?” Princess Maloret asks, black eyes drilling through me.
I stare back at her, fighting the urge to shudder.
“I don’t want to be your honorary princess.” My voice echoes around us, carried by the wind.
A shiver runs through my still soaked body.
The princess laughs. “That wasn’t the question. Let’s try this again. What do you desire most in the world, Rosie?”
She throws her hands up and a crackle fills the air. I flinch and close my eyes, waiting for a blow, but nothing happens.
I open my eyes to see a familiar figure hovering between us. My breath catches.
“Meri!” I step toward her.
Something is wrong. Her little body jerks and shakes, her blue lips morphing into a silent scream.
“Stop it! What are you doing to her?” I whip toward Princess Maloret.
“Do you want me to bring her back? Is that what you desire most?” the princess taunts me, eyebrow raised.
I turn to Meriwether again and watch in horror as my friend transforms into one of the grotesque shadow beasts. Its mouth spreads into a cruel smile.
Bile fills my mouth. Meri is gone. I’m certain of it now, and guilt and anger swirl inside me. It’s my fault she’s gone. Tears blur my vision.
It’s too late for me to save her. Even taking what the princess is offering wouldn’t truly bring my fairy friend back. It would only be a trick, I’m sure.
Blinking back the tears, my hands clench into fists. “You’re a monster.”
Princess Maloret laughs. The sound is sharp and shrill, ringing through my ears. Anger rolls inside me. It’s all I can do to not lunge for her.
“Maybe, but I can accept myself for who I am. Can you say the same about yourself?” she asks me, her lips still turned up in amusement.
She lets out a loud sigh and motions to the castle behind us. “I’m not the enemy here. I brought you here to save you. What you were about to do, dearie—there’s no coming back from. Not even with all the magic in the world.”
I don’t answer. What she says echoes through me. Maybe in her own twisted way, she really does believe she’s the hero in this, but deep down, I know she didn’t save me.
“If you go back, you can never return here. And you will be going back to the same life. Facing the same dragon. What will you do when it gets too hard? Because, trust me, it will get hard. Do you really think you have what it takes to survive?”
A lump grows in my throat. I swallow hard, eyes burning hot. “I don’t know,” I answer honestly.
The same hopelessness fills me. The same darkness. I don’t know what my future will hold, but I know I can’t stay in her court.
Her hand lashes out. She grabs me by the wrist, her grip icy and steely. Black, pupilless eyes bore into mine. “What do you desire most in the world?”
I don’t know what to say. Asking to go home didn’t work last time, so how do I get away? Suddenly, realization dawns on me. The dream. This is the dream. Or nightmare, really.
A tear runs down my face. “I want to wake up.”
The princess smiles. Then everything turns black. Alarm fills me. Was that it? Was that the right thing?