Meanwhile, I was waiting in the garden, hoping for Yvette to come back. Everything was quiet. I took a deep breath of cool night air, listening to the small waterfall from the koi pond. 

There was a rustling in the bushes. I turned around with a smile, hoping to see Yvette. But there was no one there. I stepped a little farther down the path. "Um... hello?" No answer. "Yvette? Are you there?"

Suddenly, something clicked in my mind. I didn't understand. It kind of just... fell into my mind. Fell into place. A small part of my brain knew what was going on. "Prick of Roses, Prick of Roses." It was the spell. It was kicking into high gear, being almost midnight. 

I looked up at the clock. It was ticking away, second by second. 11:25. Almost midnight. "Jamie! Alison!" I called out. "It's happening!" Someone had to keep me under control. 

It was the strangest sensation I've ever felt. It wasn't exactly dizziness, more like... fuzziness. Like the corners at the edge of my mind were turning fuzzy, blurring it like with a tool in Microsoft paint. Slowly, the blur closed in on all the corners of my mind, blurring out one thing except for one thing, centered in the middle of my mind. 

Apples. 

It was the only thing I could think of. My mind functioned like a telescope, displaying the small end. A long dark cave, blocking out everything except for the thing at the center of my mind. 

Apples. 

The spell didn't work like I thought it would. I thought it would be some desperate need to find my downfall. But no. It was more like my mind blocked out everything but my downfall. There was nothing else except it. 

Apples. 

It was so strange. I knew that this was the spell affecting me. I could see everything normally, but it was like my mind rejected the things it was seeing. I tried to convince myself that this was just the spell; that I had to stay away from it. But my mind didn't care. 

I turned around. When I saw the bench I was sitting on before, I saw in the center of the bench, a single apple. Red, just like the story. I had to stop. I knew that this would be my downfall. I was afraid that my legs would start moving on their own, as a result of the spell. But even more terrifying, my legs didn't move on their own. I was moving. Of my own free will. I was trying to tell myself to stop, but I wouldn't. I just kept moving. The worst part was that I was under my own control. 

I stood in front of the bench and looked down at the apple. I knelt down in front of it, reaching out to the apple with both hands. I could see my own reflection in it. I felt drowsy just looking at it. 

Despite my own mind, I pulled it to my lips. I hesitated for a split second, before my mind kicked back in, and I bit into the apple. The world spun and twisted before my eyes. I couldn't even feel myself slowly falling to the side. 

I fell onto the ground, the back of my hand falling with a thud on the ground. My eyes slowly shut as a blurred silhouette came into my vision, reaching over to the apple in my hand. The last thing I saw before falling asleep was the figure stand up, holding the apple and looking down at me with a cold smirk and bright red eyes. 

"Alison...." I trailed off before falling into sleep. 

"Alison" tossed the apple up in the air and caught it in her other hand. "Not anymore."