"Love
is like death, it must come to us all, but to each his own unique way and time,
sometimes it will be avoided, but never can it be cheated, and never will it be
forgotten."
―
Jacob Grimm

Prologue

Candy
House,

a
few
minutes after Loki, controlled by the Queen of Sorrow via his Fleece, ran off
to kill Shew.

Right
after the incident at Candy House, Lucy Rumpelstein couldn't stop thinking
about the Queen of Sorrow. She sat on her chair in the kitchen, not quite
believing she was looking at the
one and only
Queen. This was
her
in the flesh, Lucy thought—Carmilla Karnstein,
wrongfully known as the Evil Snow White Queen to all those giddy girls in love
with those misleading Disney movies. This was the woman who devoted her life to
eating her own daughter's heart. What a story!

Lucy
hadn't even cared when Axel and Fable ran out after Loki, trying to stop him
from killing Snow White—or whatever that obnoxious vampire girl's name
was. None of those annoying teenagers mattered to Lucy. All this talk about
True Love between Loki and Shew irritated her. She never believed True Love was
possible. She had never encountered it or seen it or felt it, except in teenage
movies. Lucy, although sixteen, known as Rumpelstein's high queen bee, always
wanted to feel older and more mature. True Love was for kiddos who wanted to
feed on an illusionary lie. She didn't think the legends like the Queen of
Sorrow ever believed in True Love.

Lucy's
eyes were still glued to the beautiful Queen. Carmilla sat with her chin up,
the tips of her fingers lightly tapping the table's wooden surface. She wore
modern clothes, trying to pose as a school principal. But she still looked like
a queen: elegant, powerful, and feared, as if she were sitting in her glass
throne in the Kingdom of Sorrow.

Never had
Lucy been infatuated by someone more powerful than the Queen of Sorrow. She was
her idol.
A figure to look up to and learn from.
Lucy
would have sold her soul to the devil to learn from this woman.

It
fascinated her how Carmilla was so unapologetically evil, so majestically
cunning and deceptive. If one trait amused Lucy the most, it was how the Queen
never sugarcoated her evildoing. She never claimed she wanted to kill her
daughter for the good of the world—although she had tricked Loki into
thinking that. She just said, "Hey, I am the Queen of Sorrow; bend before
me or I'll eat your heart with a slice of liver and chalice of bloody wine on
the side." The Queen had always been proud of her utter evil, and Lucy
adored her.

Lucy
inhaled the sight of the Queen of Sorrow with her eyes, memorizing every detail
of the European beauty.
This beautiful, slightly hard-edged
face.
Those curvy blonde curls of thick hair, only
missing the thin silver crown that was usually threaded through them.
Those intimidating blue eyes with that tinge of gold shining every
now and then.
Those thin, heart-shaped lips, and those long, fine
fingernails. Such a scary beauty was all that Lucy wished to be when she grew
older.

Please
look at me, Carmilla. Please notice me. Here I am, daughter of the owner of
Rumpelstein High, queen bee of a small, and lost, American town residing on top
of a whale
;
a town that can only be accessed through
hell. Here I am, willing to do anything you ask me to. You have awakened the
evil in me. The delicious evil of a lonely, spoiled, and bored teenager. I am
as classy as you only in a mundane world of absurd reality. Take me to the
Dreamworld, and honor me with a piece of your daughter's heart. I swear I will
bite into it like a hungry zombie.

Lucy
shrugged. Was this the effect of the Queen's presence, or had Lucy always been
ready for evil without her quite knowing it?

"What
are you staring at?" Carmilla said, still tapping her fingernails softly
and leaning back in her chair.

"I'm
sorry, My Majesty." Lucy lowered her head, aware of the silliness of calling
her "Majesty." This was the real world, the Waking World, almost two
centuries ahead of the Queen's time. No one called anyone Majesty anymore.

"Sorry
for what?" Carmilla grimaced.

"For
staring at you, My Queen," Lucy said. "I'm not holding anything against
you. In fact, I deeply sympathize with Your Majesty." Lucy shrugged.
"You sacrificed your life for the little princess. You've tolerated a bad
marriage and inherited a kingdom of evil. I don't consider you evil. You are my
hero."

The
Queen's grimace tightened, but she said nothing. Lucy wondered if she liked
what she had said.

"I
wish you'd take me on your side," Lucy said with pleading eyes. "I
wish to serve you. I wish to learn from you. Is there anything I can do for
you?"

The Queen
ignored Lucy's offer and turned her neck toward the window, making sure that
Loki and Axel and Fable had vanished into the blurry distance. "Lucy
Rumpelstein," the Queen hissed, not looking at her. "You have no idea
what you're asking. You also have no idea how insulting your inquiry is. You
know why?"

Lucy's
lips went dry. The Queen's change of tone scared her. Her tongue was too tied
to answer her.

"Because
I don't need anyone's help, sympathy, or love," the Queen explained. She
stopped tapping her fingers. "I've grown through centuries with the kind
of wisdom only immortals can acquire. You simply get all you want as long as
you love yourself above everyone, and everything, else."

Carmilla's
words made Lucy adore her even more.
Please teach me how to become like you.
Lucy's eyes itched suddenly. She wondered why, but didn't even bother to check.
Who had time to do anything in the Queen's presence?

"You
barely know who I am," the Queen continued. "No one really knows
me." She let out that same sigh she'd uttered when she had her back to
them a few minutes ago, that moment when Lucy almost thought Carmilla was
discreetly sobbing.

Could that
have been possible? Was that why she wasn't looking at Lucy now?
Who are
you, Queen of Sorrow? What great secret do you keep?

"Are
you crying, My Queen?" Lucy said, not caring if she'd trigger her wrath
this time. She
needed
to know.

The Queen
didn't reply. She snapped her fingers sideways without looking at her.
"You're free to go, Lucy," she said, still looking at the world
outside Candy House's windows.

Lucy stood
up, rubbing her wrists. She was caught between submitting to the Queen's orders
and defying her by staying to see if she were crying.

What was
the price of staring up at Carmilla Karnstein when she didn't want you to?
Will you be turned into stone, like Medusa did to those who dared look at her?
Was
the Queen Medusa herself at some time in history? Who knew?

Fragile as
she really was, Lucy walked past the Queen, toward the door, afraid to stare at
her face. For a girl used to getting what she wanted, it was a hard decision.
Fear consumed Lucy. Fear of the Queen, and fear of the evil self that was
surfacing in her soul. Her eyes itched again. She began to worry if it was some
kind of serious illness.

"I'll
see you at school, Principal Mircalla, right?" Lucy said, ever so slowly,
without turning back her head.

"Of
course," the Queen answered with a hint of mockery.

Lucy
thought of what kind of school Rumpelstein High would be with the new
principal. Hell, what kind of town was Sorrow going to be from now on?

"Actually"—the
Queen tapped her fingers on the table again—"there is something you
could do for me, Lucy Rumpelstein."

Lucy's
heart fluttered.

Yesss!

She didn't
say anything, but turned slightly around. She nodded with dilated pupils.

"But
you must know of the consequences of those who don't fulfill my wishes,"
the Queen warned her.

"I'm
aware that you can hurt me." Lucy nodded.
I like that I am afraid of
you. It gives me something to fear in this boring town. Isn't this what we're
all looking for in all those slasher movies—begging to be scared because
we're all so bored of our normal lives?

"In
my quest for my daughter's heart, I have no time to hurt you." The Queen's
tone was flat. "If you mess up, I will kill you with the snap of my
fingers."

"I
understand," Lucy said. Her eyes itched again and again. Her hands were
already numb enough that she couldn't reach for her eyes. In fact,
almost every inch of her body had been numbed by Carmilla's warning
.

"I
need you to find me a book," Carmilla said.

"A
book?" Lucy never thought she'd bargain with her life for a book. She'd
never read one in her life.

"It's
more of a diary," Carmilla explained, her voice tense again. "I don't
know how it looks like now, or what shape it's in after all these years."

"Your
diary?" Lucy asked.

"Don't
interrupt me." The Queen nodded, though.

"You
mean it's more than two hundred years old?" Lucy was about to jump in
place.

The
Queen's stare of irritation was strong enough to make Lucy stop and lower her
head again. "I mean, if it's such an old and lost diary," Lucy said
slowly, "it could have been passed by one person to another among the
years. That if it's not already—"

"It
can't be," Carmilla said. "It's sort of a cursed book—something
you teenagers like to call 'enchanted.' The book can only be read once every
one hundred years."

"Once?"
Lucy's puzzlement was profound. Intrigue and riddle solving had never been her
thing. She wished the Queen would tell her where the book was so she would go and
get it. "How can a book be read only once, Majesty? I don't
understand."

"It's
a Book of Sand." Carmilla looked impatient. "Each page dissolves into
sand when read once each one hundred years. If anyone attempts to read it
after, they can't even find it, as it takes the shape of something else for the
hundred years after being read. Last time someone read it was a hundred years
ago. I'm sure it hasn't been read again yet, because tomorrow at midnight,
exactly a hundred years will have passed. If you're quick enough, you will get
it for me."

"Oh."
Lucy frowned. "How do I find it, then?"

"Before
I tell you, I have to warn you again. This is
my
diary. I wrote it in
the Kingdom of Sorrow, and I would not accept failure if I ask you to get it for
me." Unexpectedly, the Queen shrugged—long enough to get Lucy's mind
working.

"I'm
honored to be in your service, My Queen," Lucy said. "Does the book
say something like 'The Diary of Carmilla Karnstein'?"

"No,"
the Queen said, but it looked like she wasn't sure. Lucy felt confused. "I'm
not sure. I wrote it a long time ago. The first sentence in the diary should
read something like, 'I wrote this on the night of October 31st.'"

"You
wrote it on Halloween?" Lucy had to hide her excitement. This was getting
better and better.

"I
will permit you to read the first page only," the Queen said. "Just
to make sure it's the diary I am looking for. But if you flip one page further,
I will hang you from your beautiful long hair and dangle you from the highest tower
in the world, make the pigeons feed on your eyes, and curse you with
immortality so you suffer for eternity. Do you understand?"

Lucy
nodded thrice. Out of fear this time, not understanding.
So I don't get to
read this diary?
She sighed disappointedly.

"Now,
go do as I told you while I watch Snow White's Dreamory through Loki's
Fleece." She pulled out a small crystal ball and placed it on the table.

Lucy
didn't know what she meant by that, but it didn't matter. She had all those
conflicting feelings swirling in her chest now. She turned around, about to
leave, but one last question had to be asked. "You didn't tell me where
the diary is," Lucy remarked.

"I
didn't?" The Queen smirked.

"No."

"Remember
when I told you that Books of Sand take different shapes after being
read?" The Queen didn't await an answer. "This diary took the shape
of a parrot."

"Parrot?"

"Pickwick
the Parrot." The Queen rubbed her crystal ball. "You must have seen
him around."

"I—"

"Whether
you did or not, it's now your job to get the parrot." The Queen tapped her
crystal ball to life, and it radiated silver and blue colors. "Find the
book or I will kill you."

Lucy ran
out of the house immediately, not just to get Pickwick the Parrot. She was now
really scared of the Queen of Sorrow. Scared enough that she almost regretted
not leaving when she had a chance. And damn those eyes. Why did they keep
itching?

BOOK: Blood, Milk & Chocolate - Part 1 (The Grimm Diaries Book 3)

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