Beauty Never Dies (10 page)

“Hunchy,” I summoned. “Basketball, please.” I demanded.

“What? You have a basketball court in the Dracula mansion?” She looked insulted, reminding me of parents always being mad at their children for just being children.

A rainbow-colored basketball came dribbling out of the dark towards me. Hunchy couldn’t help but add some creepy and scary atmosphere.

“Continue, my Queen. I am all ears.” I said, dribbling the ball. It was a magic basketball. It made no sound.

The Queen sighed impatiently, but she knew that I didn’t care. If I got bored, I had to find something to play with. “All right. What about this piece of wood I found along with the items in the cottage. It looks like it’s part of a chair.”

“Where there is wood, there is a woodpecker.” I said.

The Queen looked puzzled.

“I am just joking,” I swooshed the ball in. “Frankly. I don’t know. However, this piece of wood doesn’t look like it belongs to a chair to me. It looks like someone’s nose.” I winked at her.

“What? No way. Pinocchio is not even a fairy tale character.”

“He is not even human if you ask me,” I flew high up the ceiling and landed down with another swoosh. I tried not to show off with my flying abilities too much. It made two-legged human uncomfortable. “I got you again, my Queen.” I winked at her.

“This isn’t funny, Peter,” She gritted her teeth. “I need to have at least one clue to start from. What about this mug? And don’t say it’s the holy grail.”

I stopped the ball, looking at the mug. It was a glass mug, and it definitely caught my attention. “A glass mug,” I recited, rubbing my basketball.

“So you’re thinking what I am thinking? Cinderella?”

“Not everything that is glass is Cinderella,” I said. “Her item should be a glass slipper not cup. But it still looks suggestive to me.”

“I always knew that this little peasant girl had something to do with my daughter.”

“Even though it does not make sense that Cinderella was one of her friends in the cottage, I heard that you actually manageded to kill her in the Dreamworld.”

“I did,” The Queen mused proudly. “But someone is bringing her back.”

“How is that possible? I understand that once an immortal is killed in the Dreamworld, they can’t be resurrected.”

“It’s true, but there is a nagging human girl who found out a way to rebirth the dead.”

“What?”

“I don’t know, Pete,” She sighed impatiently. “Somehow, this nagging girl entered Cinderella’s mother Dreamworld and replayed the birth scene again so that Cinderella is reborn from dreams.”

“Cinderella has a mother?” Ok. That was a shallow question. “So tell me how this works?”

“Every hundred years when we surface to the real world, we could trick each other into playing the old tales again. If done right, you can bring the tale upside down, which means if Cinderella was dead, and you entered a certain dream and manipulated her mother into rebirthing her, she becomes alive.”

“Oh,” I scratched my temple. “You mean the Dreamworld is like a movie scene that you can replay every one hundred years?”

“Close,” She nodded. “And if you play the cards right, that movie becomes the truth for the hundred years after.”

“Pretty damn confusing, I must say.”

“Do you understand why I am looking for the Lost Seven now? If I find them before Snow White does, I can rewrite the new truth in the Dreamworld my way. So, do you still think this is Cinderella’s mug?”

“Second thoughts, it’s doesn’t have to be?” I dribbled and walked closer to her. “I think it is not about the mug. It’s about what was
in
the mug.”

The Queen’s face shone brighter. “That’s the first thing you say that makes sense. The mug might have been filled with a potion, a drink, or any other item that could lead me to its owner. But how can I know?”

“Can’t help you with that,” I said, turned around, and swooshed again. Damn, that was brilliant. “Which brings us to the magic beans,” I said impatiently. I wanted her out of my castle before midnight. “I don’t remember the dwarves in the book talking about magic beans.”

“Remember the phrase,
’Who ate my vegetables?
” Beans are vegetables.” The Queen explained.

“Oh. Then that’s an easy one. Who else has magic beans in his pockets all the time?” I cocked my head happily.

“Jack,” The Queen mumbled. “That little crook.”

“He is a thief and a crook, but he is very lovable.”

“You sound like you know where he is. In fact, you sound like you have seen him recently.”

“Of course, I did. But I can’t get him for you. Jack is becoming so important in the Dreamworld these days.”

“Why is that?”

“He is the only one who can
climb
out of a dream,” I mentioned. “You know how many Dreamhunters need a guy like Jack? He is all business, and he is doing fine. I don’t think that waking up every one hundred years tempted him at all. He is still in the Dreamworld, getting paid very well to save Dreamhunters who get stuck in dreams.”

“But climbing out of a dream is prohibited in our Dreamworld.”

“Yeah. So is eating a young girl's heart and liver.”

“At least I know where he is now.” The Queens looked happy.

“But please, when you find him, don’t squash him like a giant would do to him?” I threw the basketball away. I got bored easily, just like Dracula.

“Which brings up to the last item, Peter,” Suddenly the Queen sounded creepier. I knew when she got into that mood. She was holding a cool knife in her hand.

“And now we come to the last item, Pete,” The Queen said in a rather intimidating way. “A knife. One that really looks like yours.”

“Wow,” I said. “Are you saying that you think I am one of the Lost Seven?”

“I don’t know, Pete. You tell me.”

“Well. It does look like my knife, but I could have dropped it anywhere, and someone might have picked it up. Aren’t there any other fairy characters with knives but me?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Come on, please. Do I look like give a damn about Snow White? Do I look like I don’t want her dead? She is a threat to everyone.”

“She is a threat to us, but not necessarily you.”

“But she is a threat to the one I love.” I said firmly. It was time to show seriousness in my voice. I could play, dance, and fly all day, but when it came down to the one I loved, I wasn’t a nice boy anymore.

“The one you love is dead.” The Queen said.

“Not dead,” I waved my hand. “She is just taking a nap. A long nap. Thanks to the Brothers Grimm for placing that ridiculous curse upon you guys.”

“So?”

“She won’t be sleeping anymore,” I said. “I will resurrect her tonight. And if you could just leave, I could happily start my ceremony.”

“What?” The Queen wondered. “You’re bringing Sleeping Beauty back? Sheis a mischievous brat. All she causes is trouble.”

“A
beautiful
mischievous brat,” I corrected her. “I have been living without her for a hundred years. And I am feeling kinda lonely here.”

“Isn’t Hunchy entertaining you enough?” The Queens teased me.

“He is alright. But it’s not him. It’s me,” I teased her back.
No one makes fun of the boy who wouldn’t grow up.
“I broke up with him, on his birthday, so it’s most painful for him.”

The Queen chuckled. “Oh. Peter. You still can’t live without love, even if it’s with one of the most wicked girls in the world.”

“Why do you say that about her?”

“Don’t you remember, Peter? She’s always been cursed, even before the Brothers Grimm. We needed to put her to sleep for long times because she likes to kill people, make a mess, and bring down the sky for the fun of it.”

“I like my girls naughty.”

“That’s not naughty. That’s nuts.”

“She loves me. That’s why I like her. And she doesn’t have a specific agenda like all of your fairy tale folks. And please, don’t call her a Grimm. She belongs to both worlds. You know what I mean.”

“Do whatever you want, Peter. It’s not like we’re back in the real world for long. All I am saying is that she brings out the worse in you. Is that why you brought Dracula back ?”

“How do you know that?”

“I can smell him. I can always smell my family.”

“You want to meet him?”

“Oh. No. He is a douche bag. And I don’t need him. Did you tell him about his ancestors?”

“I did, but didn’t believe me.”

“Didn’t I tell you he is a douche bag? So you need him to help you with resurrecting her?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Now, if you please, could you go? Poof. Like a Genie back in the bottle? I believe you have to hunt down seven lost young people.”

“I will certainly go now,” the Queen packed her items. “I don’t want to be here when she wakes up. She will turn this castle into a circus.”

“Kids love the circus; adults don’t. That’s what I love about her.” I smirked.

“Peter,” The Queens stopped on her way out, putting a finger to her lips. “You’re not just waking her up because you’re lonely. There is something else on your mind. Trouble in Neverland?”

“None of your business,
Evil
Queen.” I stuck out my tongue. She hated that name: Evil Queen.

“So there
is
trouble in Neverland,” She looked happy, knowing that I was suffering somehow. “Even though the Snow White war isn’t exactly yours, you know you will be joining my army soon, Peter. Even the safety of Neverland depends on Snow White’s death.”

I didn’t comment, listening to the clock strike midnight in the halls of my castle.

“Shall we begin?” Hunchy came out of the shadows.

“We shall,” I said. I didn'’t mind saying
shall
. It’s better than him calling me
master
. “Would you show the Queen the way out?”

As they left, I could hear the Queen taunting Hunchy about his bad teeth as if this was the only bad feature about him.

I burst into Dracula’s chamber, expecting to get into a lame conversation about zombies. Surprisingly, I found him reading Harry Potter. The way he laughed while reading, he looked like a goblin.

“What the hell are you doing?” I protested. We had to get going.

“This book is awesome,” He said. I had to blink twice, making sure I am not in the Dreamworld anymore. “This Draco boy kicks butt. You say his character is based upon me?”

I was tongue-tied. Sometimes comedy is most appalling.

“Slytherin.” He said aloud and laughed like kids.

“Please stop this,” I said. “You’re destroying everything I love about vampires.”

“Oh?” he frowned, suddenly aware of himself losing his prestige. “You’re right. What has gotten into me?”

I grabbed him by the arm. “Don’t you want to feed?”

“I had enough of those ugly boars.”

“I mean to feed on people, on a most beautiful princess?”