The Color of Fear (11 page)

“Indeed we are,” Snow White said, her voice warm and gentle.

Natalie spun around to Rapunzel.

“You mean you’re not wearing special-effects makeup and costumes? For Halloween?”

“Nope,” said Rapunzel. She pinched a stitched scar seared into the pale flesh of her arm. “It’s real.”

“How radically intriguing,” Natalie said.

Cinderella folded her arms across her chest. “Being dead is hardly intriguing.” She eyed Natalie hungrily. “Especially when you’re always famished!”

Sleeping Beauty pulled out a compact mirror and began patting her nose with a small powder puff. “Our complexions are always under the threat of mold.
You
try living up to the name ‘Beauty’ when your face is susceptible to mildew.”

Natalie smiled at the zombie princesses. “I think you’re hauntingly beautiful.”

Caitlin also found it strange that these dead princesses had managed to remain attractive and regal. She always thought of zombies as slow-moving, drooling corpses—a walking gore-fest of blood, decayed flesh, and rotted, spotty teeth.

Cinderella’s face had the delicate features of a hand-painted porcelain doll. Her shimmering, pale-gray complexion was accentuated by a splashy pink-and-baby-blue dress—the kind that would turn heads in a royal ballroom. She also moved about gracefully on slender, bare feet.

Snow White’s tousled coal-black hair and wide, deep-set, chocolate-brown eyes were absolutely gorgeous. Her skin was pale as fallen snow—and just as cold. The compassion in her eyes, however, would put anyone at ease. Her tattered top was golden yellow, her shredded skirt cobalt blue, and she, too, pranced about barefoot.

Sleeping Beauty was indeed worthy of her name. She was also shoeless, though breathtaking in an elegant pink-and-blue gown, which somehow managed to look stylishly tattered. A frayed sash hung smartly around her waist. Her hypnotic baby-blue gaze penetrated deeply; Caitlin thought she might be able to peer right into her dreams.

And Rapunzel? Rapunzel was clearly the leader of the group. The stunning zombie girl with the flowing, blonde locks was like a walking sunset. Endless ribbons of golden hair shimmered behind her like the sun setting over the horizon.

A look of shock overcame Caitlin’s features as she caught Cinderella once again sniffing the neck of the red-hot chili pepper.

“Back away, Cindy,” said Rapunzel, who shook her head, obviously frustrated by her friend’s insatiable appetite.

Cinderella stepped back sulking.

“You know I crave spicy food.”

Rapunzel turned to Caitlin. “It’s not easy controlling these impulses. They never stop. And we’re slowly losing control. Which is why we need your help.”

“But why me?” Caitlin asked.

Snow White chimed in. “It’s not about just helping
us
. This concerns all the subjects of this kingdom, including all the living things of the forest.”

Snow bent down. She caressed the drooping stem of a fern with the back of her hand. The plant slowly opened its leaves and wrapped them around her arm, like it was giving her a hug.

“What happened to all of you?” asked Caitlin. “And what happened to this place?”

Rapunzel sighed and slowly shook her head. “That’s what you’re going to help us find out.”

“Once upon a time,
our worlds embodied perfection,” Rapunzel said. “Everyone lived happily in Wonderland. Life was genuinely joyful in the Emerald City, truly delightful in the Enchanted Forest, serene and content in Camelot, Neverland, Oz, Munchkin Country, Lilliput, and all the fairy-tale kingdoms. Then it happened.”

“What?” Natalie asked.

Rapunzel’s eyes darted around suspiciously. She placed her hands on Caitlin and Natalie’s backs and nudged them forward.

“We need to keep moving.”

Rapunzel led the way. “Staying in one place too long allows them to pick up our scent.”

Caitlin lengthened her stride. “Who?”

“The Blood-Eyed.”

Blood-Eyed? Blood-Eyed what?

Caitlin didn’t want to know the answer. She tapped the back of Rapunzel’s shoulder.

“So what happened after all the contentment everywhere?”

“Sleeping Beauty fell asleep.”

Natalie and Caitlin exchanged puzzled looks as they scurried along.

Snow interjected while nodding toward Beauty. “She foresees things in her dreams.”

“As I was saying,” Rapunzel went on, “Beauty fell asleep. Upon waking, she told us of a strange dream she had—about the colors of the sun.”

Caitlin’s forehead scrunched. “What colors? Sunlight is white.”

Natalie shook her head. “No. Sunlight includes
all
the colors of the rainbow. Each color is a different wavelength of light. Red is the longest wavelength. Blue is the shortest. The smaller rays scatter when the sun is low, which is why it sometimes looks only yellow, red, or orange, and violet—”

“Enough. Showoff!” Caitlin said with a scowl. She turned to Rapunzel. “So what happened to your sunlight?”

Rapunzel nodded at Beauty who immediately stopped in her tracks. She reached into the ruffles of her skirt and pulled out a sparkling, triangular-shaped crystal. She handed the crystal to Rapunzel.

Natalie’s eyebrows arched. Rapunzel held the glittering gemstone up just above eye level. Then she delicately angled it toward the sun.

“See for yourself,” Rapunzel said. A shaft of sunlight struck the crystal.

Now it was Caitlin’s eyebrows’ turn to bend up like bows.

From the bottom of the crystal, a rainbow of seven colors fanned out onto the ground: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

A prism!

“Only six colors are shining in full splendor,” Rapunzel noted, pointing at the top and bottom of the rainbow with her long, slender fingers. “One color is dimming.”

She ran a finger through the green light, and Caitlin could see that its radiance was far weaker than the rest.

Natalie appeared fascinated by the phenomenon. Caitlin stared intently at the fading green shimmer.

“What does it mean?” Caitlin asked.

Snow White frowned. “We don’t know yet. But Beauty foresaw it all in a dream, including the arrival of the Blood-Eyed. Isn’t that right, Beauty?”

Silence.

Snow looked around. They all looked around.

“Beauty?”

A soft snoring was coming from the tall weeds to their left.

“She might have more to tell us when she wakes,” Rapunzel said.

“What was that about us standing in one place for too long?” Caitlin asked.

Rapunzel sighed. “Occupational hazard; it’s impossible to rouse her. Be on alert until she wakes. And, actually, it was through one of Beauty’s inconvenient, prescient dreams that we were instructed to come find you.”

Caitlin forced herself to ask two dreadful questions. “But
why me
? And what are the Blood-Eyed?”

“And where is everybody?” Natalie added. “This place, and that undersized village for people of slight stature are deserted.”

The zombie girls fidgeted nervously. Caitlin looked over at Snow, who avoided eye contact and rubbed her neck. Rapunzel pretended to fuss with her hair.

“And why are you all so jumpy?” Natalie asked.

Rapunzel swallowed. “The Queen of Hearts.”

“From Wonderland? You mean she’s real?” Caitlin asked in a jittery tone.

Cinderella laughed. “As real as the beings inhabiting
your
world. Probably
more
real.”

Snow White cringed. She covered Cinderella’s mouth with her hand. “Don’t go there, Cindy. Not now. You’re liable to frighten her.”

Caitlin glanced back and seriously contemplated grabbing Natalie and making a run for it. Except Natalie was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Nothing would delight that red-haired dork more than a discussion on the nature of reality.

Rapunzel raised her hand to silence Snow and Cindy. She then turned to Caitlin.

“Listen close. One morning, the queen’s herald banged a gong from atop the castle keep, then the queen raised her royal scepter to the sky. She waved it east, west, north, and south.” Rapunzel swallowed. A tinge of sorrow glinted in her eyes. “From that moment on, everything changed. Beauty had seen it happen in her dream.”

“What changed?” Caitlin asked.

Snow’s face became solemn. “It started with the vegetable kingdom. Plants. Trees. Flowers. They started decaying.”

“A few days later,” Cinderella added, “the queen slammed us with a second wave of her scepter.”

“That’s when the decay spread to the animal kingdom,” Snow said.

Cinderella nodded. “Yeah. The three Billy Goats Gruff turned into billy goat ghouls, and the three little pigs grew scars like Franken-ham.”

“It was horrible,” Snow said. “The food supply almost completely dried up.”

Cindy looked back at Rapunzel.

“It was the third wave that affected the highest thinkers. The Munchkins. Dwarfs. Pirates. Fairies. Elves. All forms of people—even Pinocchio, and he’s made of wood.”

Rapunzel exhaled. “After that third wave, the affliction sparked a relentless urge.”

“For what?”

Rapunzel’s commanding eyes hardened. “Anything. At first, people started taking things.” She shook her head. “Thieving. Stealing. Then the bodies soon began decaying. At first, it only affected people’s outward appearance—their clothes and flesh. But then it started to creep inward. Empathy and decency were drained from the heart. The urge to survive grew stronger. Strange, dark cravings arose.
Savage
cravings. Bright twinkling eyes turned dark, like hot coals.”

Even Natalie gulped. “The Blood-Eyed?”

The zombie girls nodded in unison.

“And with those burning crimson eyes,” Cinderella said in a tone that grew grimmer with each spoken word, “there came unspeakable yearnings to consume anything … especially flesh and blood.”

Caitlin shuddered.

Cinderella looked her in the eye. “The populace became like mindless automatons, operating under the complete control of their depraved impulses. Enslaved by their diabolic desires. They had become remorseless, bloodthirsty ghouls.”

Caitlin squeezed Natalie’s hand tightly.

Snow waved a finger. “With positively no manners and not a trace of dignity.”

Cindy’s eyes narrowed like a fox’s. “They’re dangerously agile. And deceptively quick. They’re also clever as weasels when it comes to hunting down food.”

“B-b-ut, what about you girls?” Caitlin said with a quiver in her voice as Cinderella eyeballed Natalie again. “Your eyes are still …
so beautiful
.”

“Royal blood. It gives us more resilience to resist the urges.”

“I’m only royal by marriage,” Cinderella noted. “Thinner blood … ” She leaned in toward Natalie. “Which explains why your scent remains succulent to my senses.”

Natalie shrugged her off and muttered, “Pays to be a princess.”

Snow said, “Our eyes won’t be clear for long, though.” The zombie girls exchanged worried glances as she continued. “If Beauty’s dream is accurate, the queen’s herald will sound the gong again on Halloween Night. Tonight. At midnight. And then she’ll wave her scepter for the fourth and final time.” Her eyes welled up. “We’ll never survive it.”

Beauty stretched and yawned, as she awoke from her catnap.

“Right now,” Rapunzel said, “we can control our cannibalistic urges by satisfying our appetites with spicy food.”

Cinderella whipped out a long, red sausage. “Pepperoni, anyone?” She bit off the tip and chewed heartily—while leering at Natalie. “And little you,” Cindy continued, caressing the edges of her chili pepper costume, “stuffed inside that pungent pepper outfit. What a delectable snack for
moi
!-”

Natalie glared. “You’re excreting saliva on my shoulder.”

“Shut it down, Cindy,” Rapunzel ordered.

Caitlin was now convinced she needed to do whatever it took to get out of here before Natalie wound up in some ghoul’s digestive tract. And if that meant helping these zombie princesses, so be it.

“I had another dream,” Beauty said.

Ears perked up and the group gave Sleeping Beauty their full attention.

“He’s ready to help us,” she said. “He knows how to end this malignant affliction!”

“Who?” Caitlin asked.

“A wise, old sage,” Beauty replied. “A master of metamorphosis. The one who appeared in my dream. The one who instructed us to fetch you. He’s demanding that we bring you to him in person.”

Caitlin gulped.

“At once.”