The shadows of the human world clung to them even as they stepped through the portal.
One minute, Belinda was blinking against a flat gray sky in Ohio — the next, she was falling forward into darkness, the spellbook clutched to her chest and Slappy's hand gripping hers tight.
The air was thicker in HorrorLand. Damp and warm.
She could smell the moss again, the smoke, the faint tinge of something metallic beneath it all — like the land itself had blood beneath the ground.
When they landed in the familiar stone chamber, the portal's magic cracking shut behind them with a hiss, Belinda didn't let go right away.
Neither did he.
When they emerged from the castle's portal tower, the guards were already waiting.
The two pumpkin-headed sentinels bowed as Slappy swept past them, his cloak catching the wind.
His posture was different now — sharper, prouder, his confidence returned. The magic of HorrorLand was his to command, and with the spellbook in hand, he looked more like a ruler than ever before.
Belinda followed close behind, her Mary Janes echoing down the marble hall.
Her disguise had begun to fade; her skin shimmered faintly like porcelain again.
The magic from the human world was wearing off.
A group of whispering goblins scattered at the sight of her.
She clutched her cloak tighter.
"They're afraid of you," she muttered.
"Always" Slappy said. "But they're more afraid of what I'm about to do."
~~~
Back in his study, Slappy cleared the massive desk and placed the spellbook on top with a strange kind of reverence.
Candles lit themselves along the walls. The fireplace roared to life.
Belinda stood back, watching him as he peeled off his gloves and turned the old leather cover.
The pages shimmered with handwritten symbols that almost squirmed when you looked too closely. Gold, silver, blood red. Some inked with bone dust. Some with... other things.
"It's really in there?" she asked.
He nodded, flipping carefully through the brittle parchment.
"The reversal. I know the spell. But..."
He trailed off.
"But what?"
"It's not that simple."
He closed the book and looked at her, his expression unreadable.
"The spell will make you human again. But it'll undo all the magic that touched you."
"What does that mean?"
"It means... you won't remember this. Me. HorrorLand. What happened here. Once you're human, it'll be like you woke up from a dream you barely remember."
Her chest tightened.
"So I'll go back to my life, just like that?"
"Not just like that. You'll feel the loss, somewhere. But your mind won't understand it. It's protection. Magic has rules."
She looked away. Her hands trembled.
"I thought that's what I wanted."
"Isn't it?"
She didn't answer.
He stepped closer.
"You came here begging to be changed back. But now you're hesitating."
"Because now I know what I'm leaving."
That silence returned — the one that always seemed to hum between them, especially when the firelight flickered just right, especially when they were too close and too tired to lie.
Slappy turned from her and walked to the window, green eyes catching the moonlight.
"You don't belong here, Belinda."
"And you don't belong anywhere," she whispered.
That made him turn.
"Say the word," he said, his voice lower. "Say it, and I'll cast the spell. You'll be free."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you stay cursed. You stay mine."
Her breath caught.
"Is that what you want?"
His jaw tightened.
He didn't answer.
~~~
They didn't speak again that evening.
He told her she could rest — that the spell wouldn't be performed until the next full moon, in three nights. The magic would be stronger then. More stable.
She returned to the bedchamber, her thoughts racing.
The castle was quiet again.
But not peaceful.
In the mirror, she saw herself.
Porcelain again. Gingham dress. The tiny wind-up key in her back glinting faintly.
She sat at the vanity and brushed her hair, slowly.
Was this what she wanted? To leave this place, forget it all? Forget... him?
Or had something shifted?
She still didn't trust him. But she no longer feared him. Not really.
He had risked his life to get her the book. He had shared his secrets. His past.
He had pulled her close in his sleep.
She brought out a side to him he had never let anyone else see.
Not even himself.
And somewhere between all the threats and teasing, he stopped seeing her as a burden.
He saw her.
And maybe, just maybe...
She saw him too.
VOCÊ ESTÁ LENDO
The Strings Between Us
FanficBelinda is no ordinary teenage girl - sassy, sharp-witted, and craving something deeper than her shallow high school life, she dreams of a mysterious, old soul who can truly see her. But her world is turned upside down when an eerie encounter cause...
