The Unusual Suspects

₁₀

_{Chapter 10}

Sabrina! Wake up!" a voice shouted from far away. She tried very hard to pay attention to it but she was exhausted and dizzy. "Sabrina, you have to wake up now!"

She slowly opened her eyes. Mr. Hamelin was standing over her with a wild, desperate look on his face.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" she grumbled.

"Sabrina, we're under the school!" Hamelin said, sounding frantic. "I know it's hard, but try to concentrate."

Sabrina looked around and saw she was standing in a huge tunnel, where children were rushing back and forth with wheelbarrows full of dirt and rubble. She looked down at herself and saw she was covered in soot and holding a shovel.

"Do you understand what has happened to you?" Hamelin asked.

"No," the girl replied. Her head felt heavy.

"I entranced you and your friends," the principal explained. "I had to. They have Wendell and they'll kill him if I don't do what they want."

"Where's my sister?" Sabrina demanded.

"They've got everyone-your sister, your grandmother, Canis, Charming, the sheriff, Snow, Puck, and my son-at the end of the tunnel. I managed to send you off into the mine to dig, and so far they haven't noticed."

"How long have I been down here?"

"Six hours."

"Six hours! They could all be dead."

"This is the soonest I could get to you," Hamelin said. "They've been watching me, but now that they've tunneled so close to the barrier, they don't seem to care that I ran off."

"Oh, I wouldn't say we don't care," a voice from behind them said.

Sabrina heard the sound of ripping flesh and Hamelin fell to the ground. The frog-girl was behind him, holding a bloody knife.

"You're coming with me," she hissed, grabbing Sabrina roughly by the arm.

Sabrina swung her shovel and hit the monster in the head so hard the frog-girl fell to the ground and moaned. Sabrina rushed to help Hamelin.

"Wendell," Hamelin said, as blood pooled beneath him. "You have to find him and get him out of here."

"I'll come back for you," Sabrina said, and rushed into the nearest tunnel with her only weapon-the shovel-slung over her shoulder.

She scampered forward, stumbled over jagged rocks, and accidentally kicked over some abandoned tools. Dust lifted into the air and filled her lungs, choking her and making it that much harder to concentrate on where she was going. Each step was a challenge to her balance and, unfortunately, her path was a complicated, twisting, turning maze. Every few yards, she would spot a child she recognized from school. Each was glassy-eyed, staggering through the tunnels, hauling buckets of broken stones. None of them seemed to notice Sabrina pass them, even when she stopped and begged for directions. They were still under the piper's spell.

At last she spotted a faint light in the distance. As she came closer to it, the tunnel widened dramatically, revealing an enormous room carved out of the Ferryport Landing bedrock. She paused at the mouth of the room, doing her best to calm her breathing and listen for any movement. Hearing nothing, she lifted the heavy shovel off her shoulder and entered, swinging the weapon in the air in case anyone was about to ambush her. But she was alone. Only a few old buckets and a couple of tools littered the floor. There were no exits other than the way she had come. The tunnel was a dead end.

She raced back the other way, passing more of the zombie-faced, filth-covered kids. Ishould head in the direction they're coming from, Sabrina realized.

She darted down the tunnel, fighting the crowds of children. At one point, Natalie and the frog-girl came lumbering down the tunnel after her, but Sabrina stepped into the line of children, and being as filthy as they were, went unseen by the monsters. The tunnels went on and on. Some led to massive rooms, while others narrowed so that there was hardly room for two children to stand side by side, but eventually Sabrina found what appeared to be the end of the dig.

The room was high and wide and filled with boxes of dynamite and mining tools. A few flaming torches illuminated the room, but there were still deep shadows along the walls that Sabrina could not see into. Anyone could be hiding in one. She knew she was vulnerable.

"I've come for my family," she shouted into the cave. Her voice echoed off the stone walls and bounced around her ears.

Suddenly, something hit Sabrina squarely in the back. Unable to keep her footing, she tumbled over a sharp rock and fell hard onto her shoulder. Searing pain swam through her veins, followed by a dull, throbbing numbness. She tried to scamper to her feet, but her arm hung loosely at her side-it was broken. She cried out more in frustration than pain. But she grew quiet when she heard an odd clicking and hissing sound, followed by a disturbed laugh.

Using her good arm, she picked up the shovel that had slipped from her hand when she'd fallen and swung it around, doing her best to make it seem as if she had not been seriously injured. She walked in small circles, scanning the room for the source of the noise.

A long, spindly leg struck out from the shadows, narrowly missing her head. It slammed against the wall behind her, pulverizing stone into dust. Sabrina lifted the heavy shovel and swung wildly at the hairy leg, sinking its sharp edge deep into the monster's flesh. Shrieks of agony echoed through the cavern.

"I'm not going to be easy to kill," she threatened, hoping her voice sounded more confident to the monster than it did to her own ears.

"Kill you? This is a party!" the voice replied. One of the torches was snatched off the wall. It rose high into the air, shining its light on the ceiling. There, suspended in mounds of thick, horrible spiderweb, were her family and friends. "And you're the guest of honor."

Daphne, Granny Relda, Puck, Mr. Canis, Snow White, Sheriff Hamstead, and Mayor Charming hung above, with only their heads free of the sticky threads. Their mouths were covered as well, but Sabrina could hear Daphne's choked cries and Hamstead's angry groans and knew they were alive.

The spider monster slowly crawled out of the shadows and walked along the ceiling. It was gigantic and as Sabrina stared up at it, she realized that it wasn't simply a giant spider. The lower body was spider-like, but the upper body had the chest, head, and arms of a boy. Even with the two huge pincers that jutted from his mouth and clicked excitedly, she could tell it was Toby.

"Surprised?" Toby laughed.

"Not really," Sabrina admitted. "The bad guy is usually the ugly, giggling idiot.”

"Then, I've got a surprise for you," a voice said from behind her. Sabrina spun around and found Natalie standing there. Sabrina noticed her front tooth was now missing. Then someone else stepped out of the shadows, someone who made Sabrina's heart ache-it was her only potential friend in the entire school-Bella. The blond girl put her arm around Natalie's shoulders and smirked.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" Sabrina said sadly. "Why did you pretend to be my friend?"

"Duh! She's evil," Toby said. He and the girls burst into laughter.

"You killed Mr. Grumpner," Sabrina gasped.

"Yes, I did," Toby said. "He was just too nosy and way too heavy with the homework."

"Don't forget Charlie," Bella said, patting Natalie on the back. "They just kept getting in the way of our father's plans."

Suddenly, the girl leaped into the air, higher than any human being could possibly leap. Even more startling, Bella's hands and feet stuck to the roof of the cave and her body started to change. Her skin looked as if it were filling with water. Dark spots rose to the surface on her hands and legs. Her eyes bugged out to disgusting proportions and migrated to the top of her head. Her shoes exploded off her feet, revealing long, green webbed toes. Within minutes, she had transformed into the frog-girl that had attacked the family and Principal Hamelin. Like a streak of lighting, a long, slippery tongue shot out of her mouth, latched onto Sabrina's shovel, and yanked it out of her hand.

When Sabrina turned, she saw Natalie had already made her transformation into the hairy animal she truly was.

"Rumpelstiltskin is insane," Sabrina said. "When he cracks a hole in the barrier, these tunnels will collapse and kill everyone in them. All the kids will die."

"Actually, the children are already outside, trying to figure out what has happened to them," a new voice said. Mr. Sheepshank emerged from the shadows.

"Mr. Sheepshank!" Sabrina cried. "You have to get out of here. They're going to blow this place sky high!"

"Duh, Sabrina," Toby the spider clicked. "You're even dumber than you seem in class."

"Hush, Toby," the counselor said. He turned to Sabrina. "They're not going to do anything of the sort. I'm going to do it."

"You're Rumpelstiltskin!" she gasped.

"Oh, I have many names," Sheepshank said. "But the one I like best is Daddy."

Sheepshank extended his arms and Natalie, Bella, and Toby rushed to stand by his side as the odd little man began to morph and bubble. But, unlike the others, Sheepshank didn't get bigger. In fact, he got a lot smaller. When his transformation was complete, he was hardly three feet high. His head, back, and arms were covered in kinky brown hair, but his face and pointed ears were pink like a pig's. He had a short, stubby tail, hoofed feet, and a couple of rows of sharp razor teeth.

"No fair," the little monster said sarcastically. "You guessed my name. Someone told you! Really child, I must agree with my son. You aren't as bright as your records suggest."

"Well, at least I'm not some sick pervert who steals children," Sabrina shouted, hoping to distract the little man and his freak show for a while longer.

"I don't steal children, Sabrina," the little creature said, as if he were genuinely insulted. "I care for them. These children have been treated with nothing but love and affection. I give them everything they ever wanted."

"Then what do you get out of it?" Sabrina asked.

"Why, I get their love, and their joy, and their sadness, and their frustration, and their hope, and most of all I get their anger," Rumpelstiltskin cackled. "I get their feelings, child, every last delicious morsel of them. You don't understand, do you? Let me spell it out for you. I feed on their emotions."

"That's where you get your power," Sabrina said, as Mr. Sheepshank's advice about feelings came flooding back to her. Of course he would encourage her to express her anger. He was eating it.

"You're starting to get it. That's the reason I have always loved

children. Their emotions are so raw and uncontrolled. When people get older, they've already found ways to control their feelings, but not children. Children are like emotional all-you-can-eat buffets. So, where's a guy with tastes like mine going to find work? Why, Ferryport Landing Elementary, of course! And trust me Sabrina, it has been a truly rewarding experience. For years, I sat back and feasted on the fights and humiliations you kids pile onto one another. The senseless bullying, the humiliation of being picked last for baseball, the endless teasing about someone's hair or clothes-when it comes to being mean, kids have cornered the market.

"Well, when the piper came to me with his plan to blow up the barrier from below, I was hesitant. After all, I had a pretty good thing going here at the school, and at night, well, I have these little rug rats to keep me fed."

The three Everafter children laughed at their "father's" teasing.

"But then I realized there's a great big world of anger, war, and pain for me to feast on out there. So, I signed on. It wasn't easy, though. Piper used his magic music, and every night the children of this school came to dig out the tunnels. At first, we tried to use all the kids, but the little ones are so weak, we had to make do with the fifth- and sixth-graders. Unfortunately, there was another unforeseen problem. The next morning, those same kids-the ones who supplied me with the most energy-were too sleepy to argue with one another. They went from a raging river of emotions to a dripping faucet overnight. The piper and I were just about to give up when you walked through the door."

"What do I have to do with it?" Sabrina asked, doing her best to buy time until she could come up with a plan.

"Sabrina, you're like the Niagara Falls of anger-it just keeps pouring over the edges. Every time you lost your temper, it was like a four-course meal with all the trimmings," Rumpelstiltskin said, as blue electricity crackled out of his fingertips.

"Once I tapped into it, I turned up the volume on you and could barely keep up with the energy," Rumpelstiltskin continued. "Truth be told, we probably didn't have to kill Grumpner or the janitor, but I could sense how outraged you would get. And it worked! Every little paranoia and prejudice was amplified by a million. Thanks to you, I finally have what it takes to blast a hole into the barrier. Once it's open, I'll be free and the Scarlet Hand will march across the world, destroying anyone who gets in their way."

"So, you're the Scarlet Hand," Sabrina said, even now feeling the anger rise within her. "You took my parents!"

"The Scarlet Hand isn't a person, child. It's a movement, an idea. It's bigger than all of us and I am just one spoke in a very big wheel."

"Where's my son?" a man shouted. Rumpelstiltskin shrieked and moved to safety behind Natalie's hulking body, just as Principal Hamelin raced into the cave. He looked exhausted, beaten, and on the edge of madness. His shirt was covered in his own blood and he limped painfully. In his hands were his bagpipes.

"Tell me where my boy is or I will play a song that will tear you apart," Hamelin raged as he charged at the little man. Rumpelstiltskin cowered in a corner.

"The boy got in the way," he cried, gnashing his teeth at his much taller partner. "I warned you about keeping him under control."

"Where is he?" Hamelin demanded.

Toby pointed one of his long, spindly legs at the ceiling. High on the cave wall, away from the others, was a mound of webbing from which no head poked and no movement came at all. Hamelin fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands.

"Bring him down, Toby," Rumpelstiltskin said.

"Awww, Dad, he was almost ready to eat," the spider kid whined.

"Do it," Rumpelstiltskin demanded.

Reluctantly, Toby scaled the wall, cut the web loose with his razor-sharp legs, and carried the boy gingerly to the ground. He set him down at Hamelin's feet and scurried back to his father.

"He was causing too many distractions," Rumpelstiltskin explained. "He was jeopardizing our plans."

Hamelin ignored the explanation as he tore the rest of the threads off his son. When the boy was finally free, Hamelin leaned down to listen for breathing.

"He's gone," Hamelin cried, as he set his boy down gently and climbed to his feet. He took his pipes and filled them with air. "And you are going to pay for it."

Before he could blow a single note, Bella leaped across the room, shot out her sticky tongue, and wrapped it around the bagpipes. She yanked the instrument out of the piper's hands and into her mouth, swallowing it whole.

"That's Daddy's little girl!" Rumpelstiltskin cheered.

Natalie rushed to a corner of the room and returned with a can. She dipped her hand inside it and when she pulled it out, it was covered in red paint. "Should I lay the mark on the kid's body?"

Hamelin shook with fury. "You and your Scarlet Hand, killing innocents. This wasn't part of our plan, troll! I just wanted out of this town."

"You've never had the backbone to do what has to be done, Piper," the little creature cried. "Someone had to make the hard decisions."

"Like killing my boy?" Hamelin said.

"I know your pain," Rumpelstiltskin said. "If I were to lose one of my children, I would be heartbroken, too. But I would still put them in harm's way for the greater good."

"These aren't your children!" Sabrina shouted. "You took advantage of their real parents. You played on their fears and made them feel hopeless. Their real parents want them back."

Toby looked confused. "Is that true, father?" the spider boy clicked. "You said they abandoned me in a park."

"They did, son," Rumpelstiltskin said.

"He's lying," Sabrina cried. "I've talked to your parents, Toby. They've been searching for you since the day they gave you to this sicko. He played with their emotions, made them believe you'd be better off with him. You weren't found in any park. Rumpelstiltskin manipulated your mom and dad and then paid them millions of dollars for you. He bought you, Toby, for the same reason he bought Natalie and Bella-so he could feed on you!

"She's lying, children," Rumpelstiltskin said. "People are always lying about me! They want to take you away from me! It's not fair, children. Something has to be done to stop the people who hate me."

"We believe you, Father," Bella said, her lace boiling with rage.

"Can we kill them now?" said Natalie as she looked at Sabrina with murderous eyes. Sabrina knew that Rumpelstiltskin could control the anger in others. Looking at the two girls, it was obvious to her that the little man had turned his power all the way up.

Rumpelstiltskin grinned. "How could Daddy resist his little Natalie? Go have your fun."

The monsters stalked Hamelin, backing him into a corner. Sabrina wanted to rush to his side, but Toby blocked her path. The Pied Piper was about to die and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"Without your pipes you are nothing, Hamelin," Rumpelstiltskin said. "And now that the barrier has been reached, your usefulness has expired."

The piper reached into his pocket and pulled out something shiny. He looked down at it lovingly, then he raised it to his lips and blew into it. A low, sorrowful note came out of Wendell's harmonica and the ground began to shake violently.

"I don't need my pipes," Hamelin shouted at his former partner.

Suddenly, the floor cracked and a huge fissure opened. At first, nothing but steam belched out of it, but soon a flood of ants, worms, roaches, centipedes, and a million other creepy-crawling things flew out of the hole and attacked Rumpelstiltskin and his "children." The frog-girl leaped onto the ceiling, but was immediately overcome by a swarm of flying cockroaches. Losing her balance, she fell painfully to the ground.

Natalie was quickly overrun with centipedes that wiggled and raced along her body, biting her fiercely. The monster girl growled and whined, but soon fell to her knees, unable to fight.

Toby scurried around the cave, spraying webs at the sea of maggots that poured over him. He shrieked and cried as he rushed around the room, but the tide of insects was too much for him and he was engulfed.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't fare much better. Leaches covered the little man and he fell over in agony.

"Mr. Hamelin, please help me get to the roof," Sabrina said, grabbing her shovel. Hamelin blew into the harmonica again, and a rolling wave of spiders, worms, and roaches lifted Sabrina high off the ground to the ceiling above. Granny Relda was hanging closest, so Sabrina used her good arm to pull the cobwebs from the old woman's mouth and hands.

"Oh, libeling," Granny said. "This is one time I'm glad you didn't listen to my rules."

Sabrina smiled as she used her shovel to cut the sack of threads from the wall. The wave of bugs expanded to hold the old woman up and when she was free she reached into her handbag and took out a pair of scissors. She put these into Sabrina's hand and then descended a flight of stairs the bugs created for her so she could easily step to the ground.

Sabrina rode the tide of creepy-crawlers to the next person, who happened to be Daphne. She yanked and pulled until the little girl was free, using the scissors to cut her off of the wall. Daphne was in tears, but she threw her arms around her older sister and hugged her tightly. The hug hurt Sabrina's arm, but she bit her lip and let her sister continue.

It was then that Sabrina noticed that Rumpelstiltskin was emitting a blue energy that swirled around him. A fireball blasted out of his chest, sending a huge explosion ripping through the caves, incinerating the entire insect army. The wave of bugs that supported Sabrina and Daphne turned to ash and the two girls tumbled to the ground, jarring Sabrina's broken arm and causing an agony that nearly knocked her unconscious. Through the haze of pain, she saw that the blast had destroyed some of the cave tunnel and sent tons of rock tumbling to the ground, blocking the only exit. Worse still, the blast had damaged the foundation of the cave and large chunks had begun to fall from the ceiling.

"Look what you have done!" Rumpelstiltskin shrieked. He lunged at the principal and knocked him down. In the struggle, Hamelin's harmonica slipped from his hand and slid across the cave floor, and was crushed by a falling boulder.

While the two Everafters fought, Granny Relda said, "Girls, we have to find a way to get the others down."

"I have an idea," Daphne replied. She took Granny Relda's scissors and shoved them into her pocket, then rushed over to the unconscious frog-girl. She kneeled down and rubbed her hands all over the beasts super-sticky skin. Then she rubbed her sneakers until they were covered in the goo, as well. Then she rushed to the wall, pressed her hands against the stone, and slowly but effortlessly climbed the wall. Each step made a squishy sound.

"Liebling, do be careful," Granny Relda cried.

"That is so punk rock!" Sabrina shouted.

When the little girl got to where Puck was trapped, she used the scissors to cut through the spiders web. Soon Puck was free and as indignant as ever. He sprouted his wings and fluttered around the room.

"Someone is going to pay for this," he shouted.

Meanwhile, Daphne went to work on Snow White. As soon as the teacher was free, Puck carried her back down to the ground safely. Soon, he was doing the same for Mayor Charming and then Sheriff Hamstead. Daphne crawled along the ceiling to the last of their group, Mr. Canis, but before she could even cut away a strand, she slipped and fell. Puck caught her just before she hit the ground.

"I ran out of sticky stuff," Daphne said.

In the meantime, Hamelin had picked up the gnashing Rumpelstiltskin and thrown him violently against a wall. The little man slumped to the ground and lay very still. The piper rushed back to cradle his son. Snow White followed and crouched beside him.

"It's too late," Hamelin whimpered.

"No, it's not," the pretty teacher replied as she felt Wendell's wrist. "He's got a pulse." Snow White took the boy, laid him flat on his back, and tilted his head up. Then she took a deep breath and blew it down the boy's throat. Instantly, Wendell shuddered and coughed. He was alive!

"He had some of the cobwebs in his throat," the teacher said. "He couldn't get any air."

Hamelin stroked and kissed Wendell on the forehead.

"Dad," the boy said, "I think I solved the mystery."

Hamelin laughed and sobbed at the same time. "I know you did, son! You're a great detective!

"Thank you! Thank you for saving my son!" the principal cried. He reached over and gave Snow White a huge kiss on the mouth. Charming was standing nearby and raised his eyebrows as Snow White blushed. Then he scowled.

Rumpelstiltskin crawled to his feet. He looked at his fallen children and a tear rolled down his face.

"It's over," Sabrina said.

"Oh, it's far from over," Rumpelstiltskin said. "All I need to do is collect some more power, and there's someone in this room that could give me enough to blow this little town off the map."

Sabrina had never been afraid of anything the way she was of this little man. He knew her anger, he feasted on it, and she had provided him with enough raw energy to destroy them all. But she wasn't going to let him play with her head any longer.

"You can't do it," she said. "I'm not angry anymore."

"True," the little man replied. "I'll miss your rage. It was delicious. But I'm not talking about you, child. I'm talking about the Wolf."

Sabrina gazed up at the skinny old man still trapped in his web prison. Even from such a distance, she could see the fear in Mr. Canis's eyes. It was the first time she had ever seen the old man afraid of anything. It seemed to unsettle Charming, as well, because the prince stepped in front of Rumpelstiltskin with his fists clenched.

"We're trapped down here, troll," Charming said. "If you pull that stupid trick of yours on the Wolf, you'll let him out, and he'll kill us all."

"No, my friend, he will save us all," Rumpelstiltskin said. "The Wolf will bring the barrier down, freeing us from this prison! Freeing himself from his own prison, as well. Look at him- trapped inside Canis, parading around like he's human! He's just like us, except his barrier is his own body. It's disgusting! We're Everafters. We shouldn't be acting like humans, we should be ruling over them. The Wolf will be thrilled to help. His rage will open the barrier and the world will be ours for the taking!"

Sabrina watched Mr. Canis struggle, but the change was already coming on him. The webs ripped as the old man's body tripled in size. A hideous roar echoed over the crumbling walls and the Wolf was free. He fell to the ground, sending a shock-wave through the floor as he landed on his feet. He looked around at the desperate group and licked his lips.

"Guess who's back!" he snarled as he struck Charming, throwing him against a wall. The Wolf sniffed the air. "What's for dinner? Something smells good!"

Puck's wings sprang from his back and he stepped in front of the Wolf.

"What's this? An appetizer?" the beast asked. "Relda, you sure do put on a fancy party."

"You know me, Wolf," Puck said bravely. "You take another step or try to harm anyone here and you will have to answer to me."

The beast studied the boy for a long moment and then a chuckle came up through his throat. "Trickster," he said, sniffing the boy. "Love will be the end of you."

Puck blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The Wolf turned and eyed Sabrina. He chuckled and then turned his eyes back on the boy.

"All right, hero. I'm going to make you famous," the Wolf growled.

The boy spun around on his feet and immediately transformed into an elephant. He snatched the Wolf up in his long trunk and smashed him against the wall. The Wolf fell to the floor, stunned.

"Fantastic!" Rumpelstiltskin cried out. A glimmer of the blue energy began to swirl around him.

"Puck, stop!" Sabrina cried out, but Puck was still in the moment. He transformed back into his true form and drew his wooden sword. He jammed it into the beast's belly and the Wolf winced. Puck couldn't know he was actually helping Rumpelstiltskin build the Wolf's rage.

"Stay down, dog," the boy shouted, smacking the Wolf on the top of the head with his sword. "Or there'll be no table scraps for you."

The beast opened his big blue eyes and laughed. "You're a funny boy!" He sprang to his feet so quickly that Puck nearly fell backward. The boy's wings erupted from his back and he flew into the air, hovering at the top of the cave. The Wolf leaped high, grabbing at the boy with his claws, missing him by only inches.

Puck laughed and stung the beast's paws with his sword. If it hurt, the Wolf didn't seem to mind. His face was a combination of anger and amusement. It was horrifying to watch. Luckily, Puck seemed to be out of his reach, until the boy's wing clipped the ceiling and he fell to the ground. The beast lunged at the boy, grabbed him in his huge claws, and opened his jaws wide. His fangs glistened in the tunnel light.

Suddenly, Daphne was standing in front of him.

"Stop it right now!" she demanded.

The Wolf turned to look at the little girl with sadistic amusement. "Don't worry, child," the Wolf said. "You'll get your turn to fight for your life."

"Daphne!" Granny cried.

"Leave Puck alone," Daphne said. "And let me talk to Mr. Canis."

The Wolf snarled. "Child, Mr. Canis is not real. There is only me.

"I know that's a lie!" the little girl cried. If she was afraid, Sabrina couldn't see it. "Mr. Canis is real because I said he is. He's part of my family and I love him!"

Briefly, the Wolf's face changed. For a flickering moment, Sabrina saw his steel-blue eyes change to Mr. Canis's dull gray ones. The old man was inside, trying to control himself.

"Daphne," the Wolf said quietly, dropping Puck. Then a shudder ran through him and any trace of their family friend was buried again. His disorientation gave Puck another opportunity to attack. The boy climbed to his feet and picked up a large rock from the ground. He tossed it as hard as he could, beaming the beast in the head.

"Hey, Wolf, you ever hear of a game called dodgeball?" he said.

"Death is moments away for you and you want to discuss a child's game?" The Wolf laughed.

Puck threw the boulder and it hit the Wolf in the chest, knocking the air out of the big brute.

"I don't want to talk about it," he shouted, bending over for another boulder. "I want to play it!" With impossible speed, he tossed one heavy rock after another at the beast.

"Puck! Stop!" Sabrina shouted.

The boy looked over at her. His face was red with excitement, but his eyes were full of confusion.

"Uh, I'm trying to save your life, Grimm," the boy said.

"You're going to kill us all," Sabrina said. "You're making Rumpelstiltskin stronger."

The Wolf staggered to his feet. "No child, you've got it wrong. I'm going to kill you all."

"Take a look around you, rover," Snow White said, stepping between the Wolf and Sabrina. "Your little tantrum is helping to fuel your destruction."

The Wolf turned to face the beautiful teacher. She continued, "The angrier you get the stronger the real enemy becomes." She pointed at Rumpelstiltskin, who was encircled in his blue energy. He seemed to be enjoying each second of the fight. The Wolf turned to face the little creature and immediately the blue glow around him expanded.

"What are you up to, little man?" the beast growled.

"Fantastic," Rumpelstiltskin cried. "Your rage is unbelievable."

"He's powering himself with your anger and when he has enough he's going to blow up this cave and bury everyone in it, including you," Granny Relda chimed in.

"You're signing your own death warrant!" Hamelin added. He had managed to get Wendell to his feet, but the boy was dizzy and obviously needed a doctor.

"Keep going, people," Rumpelstiltskin shouted. "Direct his anger at me!"

"You want my rage?" the Wolf said.

"It's fantastic," the creature said.

The Wolf eyed Sabrina closely. He had an odd expression on his face, filled with disgust and disbelief, one that seemed to say, Can you believe this guy? If Sabrina hadn't been so terrified, she might have laughed, but she did recognize the opportunity. The Wolf's attention was no longer on eating everyone in the room. He wanted a fight.

Sabrina cocked an eyebrow at the Wolf and said, "Sick 'em, boy!"

The Wolf turned on Rumpelstiltskin and lunged forward, grabbing the little creature. As soon as they collided, both were enveloped in the blue energy.

Sabrina's arm hurt so much she tried to prop it up with her knee. It brushed against a lump in her pocket. The little matchbox! Her eyes lit up as she pulled it out. Inside were the two matches. She removed one, wished she were outside, and struck the match. In the flame, she could see the outside of the school. Everywhere, dirty students milled around in confusion, having just broken free from the piper's magic.

"Sabrina, where did you get those?" Granny Relda asked.

"Charming. We need to get everyone out of here!" Sabrina shouted over the fighting. She tossed the match on the floor and a giant flame appeared.

"Mr. Hamelin," Sabrina shouted, "get Wendell out of here!" Hamelin nodded, picked up his son, and stepped into the flame. Daphne and Granny rushed to Toby, and together they dragged the big spider by his legs through the portal. As they did, Sabrina heard the old woman ask Puck to help with the other Everafter children. He spun around on his heels and transformed into a gorilla, hoisted Bella and Natalie onto his back, then raced through the flames himself. Snow White and Sheriff Hamstead helped the mayor to his feet and together they raced to the portal.

"I'msupposed to rescue you,"Charming said to Snow White.

"Maybe it's time we both started trying some new things," Snow White said as the three disappeared into the flames.

Granny came back through the portal and waited for Sabrina.

"We can't leave him down here," Sabrina cried, as she watched the Wolf and Rumpelstiltskin fighting.

"I believe Mr. Canis knows what he is doing," Granny Relda said.

"I won't go," Sabrina insisted, but Granny grabbed her sweater and dragged her through the portal. In a flash, they were standing outside in the cold, with a hundred elementary school students, who were staring at the gorilla carrying a big, hairy girl and a frog monster.

"This is going to take a lot of forgetful dust!" Daphne said, under her breath.

"Get away from the school!" Sabrina shouted to the children and they obeyed. They ran for the parking lot just as Sabrina heard a slow, horrible rumble from below. Everyone raced to the other side of the road, where some children were already congregated. When she reached them, Sabrina turned and watched the school. The horror unreeled like a car crash you couldn't stop watching. First, smoke billowed out of the school's windows, then a terrible explosion blew out the glass and knocked the doors off their hinges. The roof collapsed, a flame a hundred feet high shot out of the center, and then the ground around it sank and the school fell into it. Finally, a cloud of dust rose up, covering the site, and when it settled again, the school was gone. Only a huge hole remained as evidence that there had been anything there at all.

"Mr. Canis," Sabrina gasped. "He's gone. I killed him."

"Sabrina, don't," Granny pleaded.

"This is all my fault!" the girl said as she broke down in tears.

"No, child, you are not responsible for this." Granny tried to reassure her. Sabrina pulled away.

"It was my anger and my prejudice that did this," she cried.

"Child, Rumpelstiltskin manipulated you," her grandmother insisted.

"He only manipulated what was already inside of me." "Oh, libeling.”

Suddenly, Beauty and the Beast, the Frog Prince and his Princess, and Little Miss Muffet (aka Mrs. Arachnid) and the spider raced through the crowd of children.

"We heard there was trouble at the school," the Beast grunted. "Have you found our kids?"

Puck pointed at the three unconscious monsters lying on the ground. The parents cried out in unison and rushed to their children. The Beast picked up his grotesque, unconscious daughter, Natalie, and lifted her into the air. "She's beautiful, darling," he cried to his wife.

Sabrina watched the happiness in the parents' eyes. The Frog Prince and his wife kneeled down to their unconscious daughter, Bella, and slowly caressed her face. Even the spider cooed over his son, Toby. They loved their monstrous, murderous children. Sabrina looked into her box of matches. She reached in and took out the last of the Match Girl's matches. She could save it until her arm was well, then rescue her mom and dad, but it would take weeks. She couldn't be without them for another day. She needed them right now. She made a wish, then struck the match against the box's flinty surface. The flame came to life and shined in the cold night.

"Sabrina, no!" Granny Relda cried.

"Look at what I've become," the girl said sadly. "I need my mom and dad."

"Sabrina, you listen to me! I forbid it. It's too dangerous," Granny said, but Sabrina could already see her parents, safe and asleep on a bed, inside the flame. She tossed the match to the ground and the portal grew. Without even a glance at her grandmother or sister, she stepped through and found herself on the other side.

The room was dark. It was also warm, which made Sabrina a bit dizzy, stepping from such icy cold air into the heat. She shook off the dizziness and rushed to her parents, embracing them both the best she could.

"I'm going to take you home, now," she said, dragging her unconscious mother from the bed and onto the floor. She pulled as strongly as she could with her one good arm, edging closer and closer to the portal, where she could see Granny, Daphne, and Puck waiting with worried faces.

Suddenly, Daphne's face grimaced in terror and she started shouting, but Sabrina couldn't hear a word. Sound didn't cross the portal.

What is she trying to tell me?

And that's when the figure stepped out of the shadows. Sabrina knew she might someday have to confront her parents' kidnapper, but her imagination had not prepared her for the person she now saw in front of her. She was a child, probably Daphne's age, wearing a red cloak and a sadistic grin. Sabrina had never seen an expression like that on a little girl.

"Did you bring my puppy?" the child asked, sniffing the air.

"Who are you?" Sabrina asked.

"No, you didn't," the little girl said angrily. "But you've been around my puppy. Where is he?"

The little girl reached out and put her hand on Sabrina's shirt. When she removed it, a bloodred stain remained-a handprint.

"I can't play house without my grandma or my puppy," the girl said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sabrina said, trying to find the strength to get her mother through the portal.

"Yes, gibberish, that's what I speak," the little girl agreed. "Not a word makes sense. That's what they said. They said 1 had imagination."

"What do you want?"

"I want to play house!" The little girl's face grew very angry and she pointed a finger at Sabrina.

"I have a mommy and a daddy and a baby brother and a kitty. Do you want to pet the kitty?"

Just then, Sabrina heard an inhuman voice slurping and slavering behind her. It said, "Jabberwocky, Jabberwocky, Jabberwocky" over and over again. She turned to see what was making the noise and a shriek flew out of her throat. Hunching over her was something too impossible to exist-a combination of skin and scales and jagged teeth. Even in a town like Ferryport Landing, Sabrina had never seen something that brought so much horror.

"My, you are an ugly one," a voice said from across the room. The monster turned. Puck was standing next to the portal, hands on hips, like some kind of comic-book hero. "Come on, Grimm. I'm here to rescue you."

With a hiss, the portal burned out and closed behind him. Puck looked back and grimaced. "Uh-oh."

The little girl screamed with rage. "I don't need a sister or another brother! I need a grandma and a puppy!"

Suddenly, the monster swung its enormous arm at Sabrina, and then the room went black.

To be continued…