Beneath the Night

Silent as the night, a young princess stood, bow in hands, as she aimed for her prey. Her long ebony hair flowing in waves down her back, her piercing red eyes watching for any movement. She slowly grinned as her prey, a young fawn, stepped into her line of view. She pulled the string back and raised the bow slightly as she saw the animal was a bit further than she anticipated. Just as she was about to release the arrow to pierce the animal, she heard leaves crinkle behind her. She spun around, bow still poised in defense.

Nothing was there. She cursed some questionable words under her breath as the young fawn took off in the opposite direction. She stared into the trees trying to figure out what could have made the noise. Just as she was about to give up and return to hunting she spotted a lake in a clearing.

She slowly made her way towards the lake, with her long black lace dress floating in the cold night air. She shivered slightly as the temperature had dropped noticeably. She arrived at the lake and stood not knowing what to do. Then she saw a boy not much older than her standing across the lake. His eyes were fixed on something to her right. She saw the most beautiful apple tree she had ever seen. Its apples were not the regular shade; they were deep red, almost black. The same color as the princesses eyes.

She turned back to the young man. She couldn’t see him very well, the only thing that stood out were his eyes. They were the most brilliant shade of blue. She picked up her dress and slowly made her way around the lake, her eyes never leaving his.

Finally she stood right in front of him. He turned his gaze away from the tree to look at her. She noticed that they were alike in many ways. They had the same pearly white skin and raven hair. They had the same sharp features and lean figures. He turned and looked back at the tree; she followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. He was staring at an apple at the top of the tree. Instead of being red this apple was silver like the moon.

“Did you want that?” She whispered, but his eyes never left the tree. She pulled her bow up and aimed the arrow at the stem of the apple. Before she could let it go she felt a hand on her shoulder. Well not exactly, she knew it was there yet she couldn’t feel it.

“Be careful” He said quietly. Even though his mouth did not form the words she knew it was him speaking.

She reached up to touch his face, getting lost in those blue eyes. When her hand got to his cheek she did not feel anything. It was just a ghost of a touch. He put his hand on hers and pulled it away with an unspeakable sadness in his eyes. “You must go”

“I never want to leave” She said looking away from his eyes “The only thing waiting for me is cold empty stares”

His jaw tensed noticeably. He nodded towards the silver apple again. She aimed her arrow again and shot it. The apple fell and landed in the lake. She started walking towards the lake, but he stopped her. He walked into the lake and was back out in less time than the princess could comprehend. The strange thing was, he wasn’t wet at all. He was the same as when he first went in. He handed her the apple.

When the apple fell in her hands it felt like a thousand needles stabbed into my hand at once. She yelped in pain. He wrapped his arms around her. “It will be worse when you eat it, but we will be together forever.”

She hesitantly brought the apple to her mouth and took a bite. The same feeling in her hands now traveled to her mouth. She had tears streaming down her face. As she swallowed it felt like she had knives going down her throat.  

Her knees buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground. Before everything went to black she heard a small whisper “Snow White, Snow White, Together forever”