Cinderella Dressed in Ashes

26 A Way Out

“It’s alright, Shew,” the voice said. “You’re safe now.”

Shew forced herself to see through the blurriness, already recognizing the voice. It was Alice Grimm, the mysterious girl sent by Wilhelm.

“Just breathe in and out, slowly, and your heart rate will ease. You’ve been through a lot in this dream,” Alice said. “You’ll be alright. I promise.”

Alice’s face began taking shape in front of her. She was Cerené’s age, blonde with an ordinary smile and fair skin. She had simple features that made her look almost like every other girl in the Waking World. Alice wasn’t immortal or a fairy tale character. She was only seventeen years old, and she had that Waking World vibe about her. She could tell Alice had not seen much of the old world. If she hadn’t been a descendant of the Grimms, she’d still be thinking Snow White was that giddy girl lost in the forest awaiting Prince Charming’s kiss.

Unlike Shew, Alice hadn’t experienced war or killings. Alice hadn’t been there when TV was first invented—Shew was trapped in the castle but a teenager had stolen a set and brought over to please his girlfriend. Alice hadn’t been there when man landed on the moon, or when they first invented sliced bread—Shew remembered it clearly because it happened in 1912, exactly a hundred years after her doomed sixteenth birthday.

“Where am I?” Shew said, touching the back of her head. “I don’t suppose any other Chosen One faints quite the way I do,” she muttered.

“We’re in Carmilla’s bathhouse,” Alice said. “You’re in the Queen’s bed where she gets her massages by her favorite goblins.”

“And where she slaughters all the innocent girls,” Shew added.

“I didn’t want to bring it up,” Alice said. “Don’t worry. No one is using the bathhouse at the moment. We’re alone, but we have to move fast.”

“So this is how this dream works, whenever Cerené leaves me, I get transported to another time?”

“Yes, because Loki used the Phoenix Incubator. It’s practically Cerené’s dream, seen through your eyes,” Alice said, “a neat and devious trick on Carmilla’s part.”

“So Cerené was really my childhood friend?” Shew asked.

“Very true,” Alice nodded.

“Then why don’t I remember her?” Shew said.

Alice hesitated for a moment, “because Cerené is one of the Lost Seven you split your heart with.”

“I already figured that out,” Shew sat up, stretching her neck against the pain. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

“Charmwill Glimmer,” Alice said then pursed her lips.

“What about Charmwill?” She wondered.

“He helped you forget the identities and stories of the Lost Seven,” Alice explained. “He used one of his Oblivion Spells on you when you were sixteen.”

“Why did he do that?”

“It was with your permission,” Alice sighed and leaned closer to her, “to protect them from the Queen of Sorrow. Charmwill was worried Carmilla would easily pressure you as a mother, or even read your mind. The only way for her not to know, was if you didn’t know.”

“Then why did I re-remember Cerené in this dream? Shouldn’t she be wiped out of my memories?” Shew said.

“Good point,” Alice explained, sounding as if she was in a hurry. “In fact, you should have met some of the Lost Seven in this memory, but you couldn’t remember them because they were wiped out of your memory. In Cerené’s case, Loki, with Carmilla as guide, used the Power of Names on you to bring back Cerené’s memory. He used the name…”

“The Phoenix, I get it now,” Shew said.

“Exactly. That’s why Charmwill’s spell broke, and you’re remembering everything that happened between you and Cerené in the past.”

“Does this explain why I am not capable of seeing the moon or mermaid who gave Cerené the Mermaid Milk?” Shew wondered. “Are they one of the Lost Seven, maybe?”

“Could be,” Alice said. “I don’t know who the Lost Seven are. I only know Cerené is one,” Alice said.

“Which brings us to you, Alice,” Shew eyed her. “I really have to ask how you know all of this.”

“I told you I’m Alice Grimm, a descendant of the Grimms,” Alice sounded impatient about it. Shew had a sneaking suspicion Alice wasn’t telling her everything she knew. “Wilhelm Grimm sent me to help you,” she said.

“Why Wilhelm? I noticed you never mention Jacob, Aren’t you a descendant of him, too?” Shew questioned.

“I am,” Alice said, “but Jacob is on the Queen’s side. Wilhelm is on ours. It’s a very old war between the two, but we really don’t have the time to talk about it.”

Shew didn’t care about the ticking clock in Alice’s head. As far as Shew knew, she had no reason to hurry. Shew intended to ask Alice a lot of questions, but then she noticed something that got her angry and instantly she wanted to choke Alice.

Alice was wearing the necklace Loki had given her; the pendant was dangling down her chest.

“What is Loki’s necklace doing around your neck?” Shew did her best not to draw her fangs.

Sensing the anger on Shew’s face, Alice retreated against the wall. She didn’t look like she intended to give it back though, “I’m not your enemy, Shew,” Alice said. “Calm down. I’m here to help you, and you’re not making this easy.”

“I don’t care who you are. Give me the necklace!” Shew demanded. “Why do you even have it?”

“I was trying to read it for you. It’s one of the things Wilhelm sent me to do,” Alice said. “I will give it back to you if you listen to what I have to say.”

“I’m not listening to any of your crap!” Shew was astonished at her own reaction. Loki’s necklace meant a lot to her and this dream.

“Please trust me. I know why Loki was so vague in the World Between Dreams.”

“You what?” Shew’s anger eased, just a little, out of curiosity. “How do you know about the World Between Dreams? He said it’s a private place.”

“It is a private place,” Alice said, and leaned a bit forward. Shew had underestimated her, thinking she was just an ordinary girl from the Waking World. “I only guessed he met you there because of the necklace. Wilhelm taught me that such a place exists deep in our minds. The World in Between Dreams is a personal place in Loki’s psyche. Very few people have access to it. They have to be people he loves dearly. There are usually only three to five people in each one’s life who can enter. And here is the good news about the World Between Dreams; Carmilla can’t see it,” Alice explained.

“He told me the same thing, but I don’t understand why it’s so important that Carmilla can’t see the World Between Dreams,” Shew’s anger had flown out the window.

“It’s because Carmilla can see everything else going on in this dream.” Alice said.

“Everything?” Shew’s brows furrowed. She was looking around, feeling as if she were trapped inside a snow globe in a witch’s hand.

“Every bit of it, through Loki’s Fleece,” Alice said slowly. “It’s like she’s looking through a crystal ball. All except the World Between Dreams. Thank God that the only way she can interfere in this world is through Loki.”

Shew sat on the edge of the window, trying to analyze every crazy detail she’d learned so far.

“But there is a catch about the World Between Dreams,” Alice said. “Whenever Loki’s inner soul reaches for you through this world, he can’t do it for long because she’ll notice his disappearance from her crystal ball. She has her own way to bring him back if he disappears, and torture him every time his soul longs for you.”

“Then why doesn’t he use the damn World in Between Dreams to freakin’ tell me what he wants to tell me?” Shew asked.

“Don’t you get it? Sometimes lovers prefer if their partners read their minds or pick up on the hints they send them, without having to be told” Alice’s eyes showed compassion when she said it, as if she wished someone loved her the way Loki loved Shew. “What’s the point of a relationship if two people have to explain everything to each other?”

“But I can’t read the damn necklace,” Shew’s face tensed and she did her best not to cry. It only took her a moment before she gathered her strength and stared back at Alice. She stood up again and gained her composure. She was stronger than she thought. “All right, I want my necklace back after I listen to you. So please tell me something useful,” she demanded.

“I will tell you something useful. It’s the one thing I wanted to tell you from the beginning, but you doubted me and kept asking too many questions,” Alice said, raising her eyes to meet Shew’s. “I will tell you how to wake up from this dream.”

“Finally,” Shew sighed with relief. “I’ve been trying to wake up from this dream since forever. Why has it been so long? I keep telling myself Axel and Fable should’ve broken the mirrors in the Dream Temple and disconnected the Dreamworld, but I don’t understand why this hasn’t happened yet.”

“It’s because they can’t,” Alice explained. “This dream is locked with a spell. Neither the dreamer nor the Dreamhunter controls this dream. Still, I can tell you how to wake up from it.”

“Come on, tell me,” Shew urged her. “I really wonder why you haven’t told me until now, since you’ve been following me for a while now.”

“Had I told you earlier, you wouldn’t have remembered Cerené or understood important information about your own life. And you wouldn’t have listened to me,” Alice said. “The only way to break free of this dream is going to be a hard decision for you.”

“OK? Can you just spit it out? She demanded. “In plain English please, and without riddles, how can I wake up from this dream?”

Alice shrugged, and her penetrating stare softened. What she was going to tell Shew was going to shatter her to pieces.