Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 13)

Ch.42 Slithering surprise

The tremors continued to shake for a bit longer, making it almost impossible to get anywhere as everyone tried to run to their homes. It was shaking so hard that everyone had to hang on to something to avoid falling down, desperately waiting for the shaking to end. It shook for a few more seconds until it finally came to a stop, but even though it had stopped, the sky was still dark and everyone knew there was more to the tremors.

"Everyone okay?" Elena asked her friends who all held onto a lamp post.

They nodded yes while letting go of the lamp post.

"What the hell just happened?" Terrence demanded.

"I'm not sure."

"Well where's that Lydia bitch?" Mira growled, "She better tell us what's going on."

"Oh I can tell you" they turned around to see the person they were looking for.

"What's going on right now is something your little Narrator friend has been dying to tell you all."

"Well what's going on?" Elena demanded a bit harshly.

"A little something called the apocalypse" Lydia replied with a smirk as everyone's eyes widen.

"The apocalypse?" Aidan gasped while looking around in a rapid motion "Uh, where are the zombies?"

"Oh my God" Lydia muttered while rubbing her forehead "This isn't a zombie apocalypse Charming. No, this apocalypse is gonna be worse than that. I recommend you all get prepared for what's about to come because everyone's worst fears are about to come true."

And with that, she disappeared.

"Okay we need to get inside right now" Elena declared as they all hurried into the 'Wonder diner' where most people had already sheltered themselves in.

"Hey what's going on?" Lauren demanded from behind the counter.

"Yeah why was there that sudden tremor?" Kayla asked.

"And why is the sky dark now?" Ramona added.

Elena gave a small sigh before explaining "Apparently it's the start of some apocalypse."

"What?" everyone gasped.

"No zombies though" Aidan put in "Which is a bummer because I was already prepared for a zombie apocalypse."

"So what's this apocalypse about?" Lauren asked.

"All Lydia told us was that all of our worst fears are about to come true" Olivia replied "And that we should be prepared for them."

Everyone could believe what they were hearing until Elena spoke up.

"Hailee," she said to the girl who was sitting in the back "Do you have any signal on your tablet?"

"Um..." she began to check "Barely."

"Well use whatever you can to send everyone a message on what's going on. And tell them to stay inside until we figure out how to stop this."

She nodded as she began to do so.

"So what are we gonna do until then?" Aidan asked Elena.

"Well first I suggest we find that Trigger gem before Lydia does."

"And how are we suppose to do that?"

"We gotta talk to someone who knows a lot about gems, perhaps Danielle or Natalie. Although I think Mira and I should go while you guys stay here. If anything happens in here, get out as soon as you can and find shelter somewhere else."

They then left the diner as everyone could feel the panic running through them.

"Well whether this is a zombie apocalypse or not" Aidan spoke, "I'm still gonna use some guns."

_________

Now standing on top of a building, Lydia and Noah gazed down upon the town and spotted Elena and Mira walking down the sidewalk.

"Such brave girls" she commented "Willing to walk outside at this condition, they have no idea on what's about to happen."

"What do you wanna start with first?" Noah asked.

"I like to start off with something small first before going onto the big show. But I don't wanna start it on the Queen's just yet, perhaps their friends in the diner would enjoy this much more."

_________

In the diner, everyone sat quietly while looking through the window at their now dark town.

"Damn" Terrence breathed "It hasn't been that long since the tremors and yet Storybrooke is already looking like a ghost town."

"I had a feeling something like this would happen" Aidan stated, "Although I never thought it would actually come true."

"Well I don't see any danger yet" Lauren put in "Maybe we still have some hope that this will all go away. But until that happens, does anyone want anything? Snacks? Drinks? On the house."

"Seriously Lauren?" Ramona muttered.

"Hey I'm trying to stay positive here."

"I'll take a muffin" Aidan raised his hand "I don't care which one, surprise me."

"Alright then."

She bent down near the counter to grab a muffin, but that's when she suddenly heard a small hissing sound that sent down chills down her spine as she froze. She then felt something slithering on her shoe, and when she looked down, she was horrified to see a snake slithering over her shoe. But this wasn't any ordinary snake, this one she recognized as an Agrabahn viper, one of the most poisonous snakes she knew, one bite from them and it's a slow and painful death.

At first, Lauren was too frozen to move as she just watched the snake slithering over her shoes as her heart was beating rapidly with fear. But when the snake turned it's head to her, it let out a loud hiss while showing its fangs as she screamed while springing up and shaking the viper off her. Before anyone could ask what was going on, she jumped over the counter and onto the other side while breathing heavily.

"Lauren what's wrong?" Olivia asked with a frightened look.

But before she could reply, Hailee suddenly let out a scream as she jumped out from her seat as everyone saw another viper slithering out from her seat. At that point everyone was out of their seats, Olivia tried to open the door, but to her shock, it was locked.

"The door's locked!" she gasped.

Pretty soon everyone was in full terror when more vipers began to appear out of nowhere. All from cupboards, seats, vents, one of them even fell on Aidan's head as he shrieked while throwing the viper off him. Now with poisonous snakes surrounding them, everyone began to panic while trying to open the locked door.

"It's not working!" Lauren screamed after trying to use her keys.

"Move!" Ramona suddenly ordered as everyone did so "Sorry Lauren, but we gotta get out of here."

And with that she used her foot to kick on the door handle, causing the door to break open as everyone ran out and shut the door before any vipers could come out. Now safe, everyone let out breaths of relief.

"This is already worse than a zombie apocalypse" Aidan grunted.