A Cinderella Ending

This is from prompt fun, "What if the slipper fit one of the sisters? Enjoy...

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We pick up with Cinderella locked in the attic and the two sisters trying on the glass slipper…

“Sorry Anastasia it doesn’t fit.”

“No, it’s not fair…mom! It’s not fair.” cried Anastasia.

“Shut up before I lock you up…and you know I’ll do it too. Try Drizella.” Lady Tremain said coldly to the prince’s servant as Anastasia moped down the hall while Drizella took her seat. She slipped off her right shoe and held it up to the servant. The servant shuddered; the foot was much too long to belong to a lady and smelled as if she hadn’t bathed in weeks. He slowly reached the glass slipper to her foot.

“It fits?” the servant said more as a question that a statement.

“It fits!” screamed Drizella, “It fits! I knew it would…of course it would fit me!”

“Shut your mouth Drizella.” hissed Lady Tremain, not recognizing the joy her daughter was showing, nor the astonishment the servant was displaying with his mouth touching the ground.

“Now go and tell your prince you have found the owner of that slipper.” She demanded.

“I will but I know my Lord has requested your daughter’s presence tonight at the royal dinner. May I tell him she will be there?”

“Of course I’ll…” started Drizella.

“If you open your mouth once more Drizella I promise you, you will not open it again. You may tell your prince she will be attending but only if I can attend as well.”

The servant studied her face; nothing. He knew something had gone terribly wrong. There was no possible way in reality that this was his master’s love. However, the shoe fit and his orders were to bring her to him at once; who was he to disobey the orders of the prince?

“I’m sure that can be arranged madam. And as for you Miss Driz…”

“Only address me while in my house.” Lady Tremain cut him off. “Have a carriage waiting for us at five so we can arrive at six.” She ordered.

“Yes…madam” said the Prince’s untrusting servant as he bowed out of the house.

Once the door was shut Drizella turned to her mother.

“I can’t believe it worked.”

“Of course it worked! Now go start getting ready, I have some business to attend to upstairs.”

Drizella rushed to her room as Lady Tremain began up the stairs leading to the attic. With each step the stairwell grew darker and the stairs screeched more and more.

Cinderella heard the key enter its hole and turn. The door swung open, framing a tall, stern, grey headed woman with her hair wound tightly in a bun held together with two long sticks. She had dark eyes absent of any sign of life and a mouth so small that her cheeks would rip if she ever attempted a smile.

“Why are you crying child?” She made no attempts to sound sympathetic.

“It was my slipper. It was me at the ball. It’s supposed to be me!” sobbed Cinderella, but her cries fell on deaf ears.

“Well, I remember quite well that I told you, you couldn’t go…didn’t I?”
“But…”
“And you disobeyed my orders anyways.”
“Yeah but you said I could go, and then the dress, and then…”
“Yes, let’s talk about the dress…where did you get those expensive items? Glass slippers…” Lady Tremain was curious.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” replied Cinderella.
“Try me…I know you don’t think of me as much more than an evil old witch, but I can believe some of the most bizarre circumstances.”

Something in Cinderella decided to test her step-mother. She would have never dared to do this but knowing she had someone watching over her; her own fairy god mother, she thought this would be the best time to do it.

“My fairy God-mother allowed me those things.” she said with a nervous shake in her voice.
“Your…fairy what?” questioned the step-mother.
“God Mother. Who watches over me and protects me and wants me to be happy.” said Cinderella, slowly gaining confidence to speak to her step-mother. Lady Tremain was still trying to comprehend what she was just told; about a fairy god mother who watched over Cinderella; it couldn’t be true.
“You lie!”
“I don’t. She came to me after you left for the Ball. She gave me a dress, the glass slippers, a carriage, everything. She told me I had to be back before midnight when all of the spells wore off.” Cinderella told her step-mother whose face was growing pale with each word she heard.
“I don’t believe you.” there was no confidence in her voice for the first time Cinderella could ever remember. She continued, “If there was a “fairy god mother” and she gave you all those things and they were to go back to normal at midnight, why’d that slipper stay the same and where is the other one?”
“It turned back.”
“Then you lie!”
“No, I’m not and you know it! I can hear it in your voice. You’ve seen the slipper yourself. You know I’m telling the truth!” Cinderella finally had enough of her stepmother; she was standing up to her for the first time in her life. Lady Tremain turned her back to Cinderella.
“So she’s still out there.” she whispered to herself.
“What was that?’ Cinderella asked.
A plan suddenly clouded Lady Tremain’s; this was her chance to get close to her, to finally do it!
“I’m so sorry Cinderella.”
“What?” Cinderella hadn’t heard anyone use her name since her father died.
“I am so sorry. I have treated you terribly. I have been a horrible person to you, and you deserved none of it.”
“What?” Cinderella couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Please forgive me Cinderella,” Lady Tremain started to cry, “Please forgive me.” She stumbled to her knees and crawled towards Cinderella’s feet. Cinderella didn’t know what to do; she stood frozen in confusion.
“It’s not too late.” stated Lady Tremain.
“What’s not too late?” asked Cinderella.
“The dinner tonight; with the prince. We can still get you there in time.”
“What do you mean?” Cinderella still had trouble comprehending what was happening.
“The dinner. The prince requested the rightful owner of the slipper to be at the palace for a royal dinner tonight as his guest. That rightful owner is you; we must get you to the dinner!” She shouted as if she were going mad.
“Do you mean it?” Cinderella asked.
“Of course dear, now hurry up and get ready, we mustn’t be late.”
“Oh Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!” Shouted Cinderella as she brought her stepmother to her feet and embraced her.

Lady Tremain returned the hug and while doing so she slowly reached up to the bun in her hair. A loud crack and a flash of light made them both jump. Cinderella turned to see what caused the commotion; then her eyes widened.

“Cinderella! No!” yelled her fairy god mother, but it was too late. Lady Tremain pulled Cinderella closer to her body as she dug the knife deeper and deeper into her back.
“Ungrateful little *****! After all I have done for you! I took you in after I killed your father. I thought I could make you like us, but no; you are too much like him.”

She pulled the knife out in a single motion and Cinderella dropped to the ground; her body limp and her eyes wide. A stream of blood streaked down her chin as she looked across the room to her fairy god mother who stood there, horror struck. A single tear rolled down her cheek and the last breath exhaled from her lifeless body; Cinderella was dead.

“Looks like you and your father have more in common now, than ever!” Smirked Lady Tremain, “But in your last minutes you have proven yourself more than useful.”

She held the knife to her mouth and licked the blood off of the blade; traces of Cinderella’s blood smeared on her cheek and chin as she smiled.

“It’s good to see you again, Laila.” Lady Tremain addressed the fairy god mother for the first time. “I always knew we would meet up again, but I had no idea it would be this soon.” Laila made no motion to reveal that she was aware of Lady Tremain’s presence.
“How fitting; don’t you think? Cinderella leads me to the all powerful fairy godmother, Laila! Two birds with one stone!” She laughed.

“What have you done?” whispered a defeated Laila; her head still bowed over Cinderella’s face.
“What had to be done!” declared the stepmother, “Cinderella told me you came to see her the night of the ball. I knew you must have been watching over her ever since her father died. I figured you had to be watching tonight and sure enough…here you are. The time has finally come, Laila. I will kill you tonight and you will all be dead! Our time has come! We will rule the world!”
“But why did you have to kill Cinderella? She did nothing to you. You wanted me.” sobbed the fairy god mother.
“Her? She was just a pawn in my plan; she was as good as dead anyways. We just used this family to gain status and lead us to the royal family. Once they did that it would be all too easy to gain control of the kingdom. If we couldn’t find you, we could gain as many followers we needed until we built up an army so big; the world would be ours anyways.”

Lady Tremain made no movements towards Laila. As she spoke she could see the fairy god mother’s breathing begin to quicken.

“But then her father started questioning our actions; threatened to turn me and my daughters in as witches. So I killed him. The only reason I kept your precious Cinderella around was to stay in the good graces of the town’s people. Oh how they would admire the great Lady Tremain, who took in the pathetic orphan child and raised her as her own. We were patient and our time came, the big ball! That’s how were would take over the kingdom. But as it turns out, fate had a better plan. Cinderella would lead me to you, the last of the fairy god mothers! And my daughters and I, the last of the witches, shall cut out your heart and drink its blood. Then nothing will stop us.”

Laila’s eyes rose to meet the stepmother’s. Lady Tremain could see the pain, the sadness, in the tears the fairy god mother shed on Cinderella’s face; she also saw a fire of hatred glaring back into her own. She started to motion towards her but in a flash of green light and deafening crack of thunder, the fairy god mother was gone.

Lady Tremain rushed to the window to see if she could see any traces of Laila. She saw nothing but darkness fill the window. Then a scream of great horror shook the walls and was suddenly followed by another scream from a different person. Seconds later, silence hit the ears of Lady Tremain. Something happened down stairs.

“Drizella! Anastasia!” Lady Tremain yelled after her daughters; silence was the only reply. She rushed down the stairs and turned right down the hall, she turned left into the first bedroom and there she saw Drizella, half naked, crouching in the chair at her mirror; her arms hanging by her side. A brush lay just out of reach of her lifeless fingertips. Lady Tremain could only see Drizella’s face through the reflection of the blood stained mirror. She could see her daughters red eyes staring into her own. She could see what remained of her throat; where there used to be skin was now a cavity, pouring blood onto her daughter’s chest.

Lady Tremain continued down the hall and turned right into Anastasia’s bed room. She froze in the door way. There stood the fairy god mother, towering over her dying victim. Anastasia suffered the same fate as her sister, however, was not as fortunate to die as quick. She grasped for any bit of oxygen that would grace her lungs.

“Anastasia!” cried Lady Tremain.

Anastasia looked up to her mother and reached her hands toward her. She was unable to speak but her eyes said everything, “Please mom; make it better.” Her eyes filled with tears as she used her last ounces of energy to crawl towards her mother, leaving a trail of blood dripping from her severed throat. Lady Tremain fell to her knees and reached out after her daughter’s hand. As the hands were coming together, Anastasia’s eyes widened. Lady Tremain looked up and saw the fairy god mother push her knife deep into Anastasias back. Anastasia’s hand fell short of her mothers reach as her head bounced of the wooden floor. Lady Tremain grabbed her daughter’s hand and cried.

“How fitting,” mimicked the fairy god mother, “you spill an innocent’s blood and I pour out the blood of your daughter’s throats.” The fairy god mother spoke in a monotone, yet sharp, voice. A voice one would never expect to hear out of a fairy god mother.

“I…will…kill you.” whispered Lady Tremain; her hand still clenching her daughter’s.

“You will try.” declared Laila, “but you are weak, and you are alone. You were never strong enough to take on one of us on your own. You always had to have someone else attack us; then when we killed them, you would come up and kill us from behind. Well, there is no one else here, it’s just me and you…and after I kill you, I will wash my face with your blood!”

With that Laila threw her knife towards the step mother’s face but she dropped her daughter’s hand in time to catch the blade and hurl it back towards Laila. Laila pulled her wand out of her pocket and with a flick of the wrist; the knife embedded itself into the wall.

The step mother reached to her bun and fetched her wand; releasing her hair down, which fell far past her waist. She raised her wand and flung her arm towards Laila sending a spell of white light streaking straight to her face. Laila pulled her wand back as if shooting an arrow and the wand absorbed the white light. The fairy god mother swung her arm around sending a ray of green light in the step mother’s direction. The step mother pointed her wand towards the floor, and in a flash of blue smoke, she disappeared. The spell Laila sent towards her, pierced the blue smoke and hit the wall, bursting into flames which all seemed to grab hold of the furniture in the room.

Laila ran into the hall in search of the witch. As she slowly stepped down the hall towards the stairs, she heard another loud crack and turned quickly to see the step mother charging after her with a knife held high into air; waiting its moment to strike another fatal blow. She brought the knife down to enter Laila’s chest, but as she did so, Laila flicked her wand again and the knife flew out of the witch’s hand. As the knife flew threw the air, Laila, made another flick of her wrist and the knife stopped in mid air, turned and flew towards the step mother’s head. The knife penetrated the back of the stepmother’s skull and she fell to her knees. She reached up and pulled the knife out of her skull and pressed the blade to her already bloody lips. She wiped the blade clean with her tongue and began to laugh hysterically. Laila stepped back wand at guard ready for any sudden attack.

As she held the knife to her mouth, the witch’s chest began to noticeably grow; as if her heart were about to explode. With each violent pump, the step mother laughed even harder. Laila stood in shock, not understanding what was happening. Finally, her chest exploded leaving a gaping hole which revealed and empty rib cage.

The fire, caused by a missed spell, in the bed room began to spread to the hallway; slowly creeping towards the dead witch and the fairy god mother.

Thinking she was dead, Laila dropped her arm to her side, wand still in hand. While she stared at the open chest cavity, a hand reached up from inside the step mother’s body. The hand grabbed hold of the rib cage and used it to pull itself up. Another hand began to emerge through the hole in the chest, followed by a long arm, which had to be taller than the witch herself. The hand grabbed hold of the stair well railing and began to pull its body out of the step mother’s chest. Slowly, a monstrous being forced its way out of the lifeless body; tearing the chest cavity from waistline to the neck. Before Laila stood a monster who was as tall as the ceiling. It had lanky legs and arms, but the feet and hands were as big its thighs, with nails that were as long as the feet themselves. The head was long and had various gray hairs waving from its crown to the floor. The face had a foot long nose, sharp as a blade, and the mouth was full of cracked, sharp teeth. There were two slits for eyes that constantly bled a dull red liquid down its cheeks. Its skin wasn’t skin at all, but a mixture of veins, scabs and scars, covering the creature from head to toe.

“I finally get to see the real witch you are.” said the fairy god mother, “after all these years of hearing about the powerful Gullreig, here she is standing in my presence.”

“Here I stand indeed. Are you not scared?” growled Gullreig.

“Frankly, I think it’s quite an improvement from ‘Lady Tremain’ if you ask me.” Laila smirked.

At that moment Gullreig leaped towards Laila, ripping giant holes in the ceiling and the walls. She wrapped her hand around Laila’s body and lifted her into the air. Gullreig opened her mouth and bit at Laila’s head. Laila dodged the bite, but the mouth of the great witch landed its teeth into her left shoulder. Laila screamed in pain as the teeth pierced her shoulder further and further until Gullreig snapped her head back, ripping Laila’s arm from her body. Gullreig slowly chewed the arm as the bones crunched and blood fled down the sides of her mouth. Laila managed to lift her wand just enough to send a cloud of red smoke into the eyes of Gullreig. Gullreig dropped Laila to the ground and howled in pain, blinded by the smoke. Laila fell hard onto her missing arm and let out a terrifying scream.

The fire was spreading down the hall towards them at a rapid pace. Laila knew she was no match for the witch but thought maybe she could use the fire to her advantage. She had to try and stop Gullreig to save the human race. After all, it was her purpose in life to protect the innocent; she knew this day would come.

With all of her remaining strength, Laila raised herself to her feet. There the great witch, Gullreig, toe to toe with the great fairy god mother, Laila; the fire slowly making it’s way towards them. Gullreig was still attempting to get the burning sensation out of her eyes while Laila lifted her right arm above her head.

Laila pointed her wand towards the ceiling and yelled:

“I AM LAILA; PROTECTOR OF MAN, THIS WITCH SHALL NOT HURT A HUMAN AGAIN!”

As she screamed towards the heavens, Gullreig stopped rubbing her eyes; she knew what she just heard. She swiped at Laila, but her hand cleared Laila’s head and connected with the wall, causing the entire will to collapse. The fire was now surrounding them. Laila took her wand and stabbed it into her chest. Immediately, red lights started to flow out of her mouth and eyes, filling the room. Gullreig screamed in protest and attempted another swipe at Laila but it was no use; the fairy god mother’s spell was too powerful. Gullreig stood their, unable to move, paralyzed by the spell. The light continued to flow out of Laila, as the fire began to envelope them; crawling up their legs.

Laila tilted her head down and looked into Gullreig’s eyes; connecting them with rays of red light.

Gullreig screamed as Laila shouted:

“FINISHED!”

With the end of the word Laila collapsed into the see of fire and the light soaked into Gullreig’s eyes and her head began to convulse. The convulsions slowly worked their way down Gullreig’s body as the fire worked its way up to meet them. Finally, with Gullreig’s last scream, her body burst open, liquefied from limb to limb. The liquid remains were splattered against the ceiling and the remaining wall of the hallway. It slowly dripped down into the fire, boiling as it met the flames. The last remains of the great witch, Gullreig, and the powerful fairy god mother, Laila, were laid to rest and destroyed in the house; along with the two wicked step sisters, Drizella and Anastasia, and the beautiful, young Cinderella.


The End