Meanwhile, while I was out in the garden, Jamie and Alison were hiding in the bathrooms, with the door locked again. Alison's eyes were more red than brown at this rate, and she was starting to get nervous. She turned around to face Jamie. 

"It's got to be the blood. That wasn't me on the staircase. That was the Witch." She said. She was still pacing back and forth. "The Witch's Blood, it- I feel like it's spreading, like, it's destroying me, and replacing everything with her."

"What are we supposed to do, then? You're the one who understands this. I'm clueless, and Carson could fall asleep at any moment." Jamie asked.

That's when it hit her. "Carson could fall asleep... that's it!" Jamie jumped back in shock. "It's just like the Prick Of Roses! This isn't just the Original Witch, it's the Original Fairytale!"

"Um, what?" Jamie shook her head. "Explain, please!" 

"Okay, remember how I said that the story of Sleeping Beauty was inspired by the first time that the Prick Of Roses spell was used? Well, it was cast by the Original Witch." She explained. "That was the first fairytale! And tonight, Carson's curse, everything has lined up to be the perfect retelling of it."

"Which means that Carson gets to live happily ever after, right?" Jamie asked.

Alison shook her head and pointed to her eyes. "Not with her in my body. When I cast that spell, I let the true caster into my body. Now that she's awake again, she'll do anything to make sure that the story is told the way she wants it this time."

"With Carson falling asleep forever?"

"With Carson falling asleep forever." Alison sighed. "I can't trust myself right now. Who knows what she'll do with my powers."

"What can we do? Can't you just undo the spell? Or at least change the time limit?" Jamie asked. 

"No, I can't. Trust me, I would if I could. But... I think I can do something that may be of help." Alison dragged Jamie out of the bathroom and into the garden. They looked up at the sky. Alison pointed upwards.

"There. The clock tower." She said. "If I can tie the spell to that specific clock, then that means I can postpone the deadline by stopping the clock. It'll only come in handy if Carson falls asleep, but it'll be something."

"Well? Do it!"

Alison was about to, then stopped. "Jamie?" They looked at each other. "I need you to cover my mouth."

"Why?" 

"Because this is going to take a lot of magic to work. It's going to hurt." Jamie nodded, and tightly pressed her hand against Alison's mouth. 

From down below, the whole city saw a red glow erupt from the center of the clock's hands, before covering the entire face of the clock, and dissolving instantly. An agonizing, muffled scream went through the garden. The spell worked, but it wasn't foolproof. It meant that Alison could only postpone the spell, not stop it.

Meanwhile, I heard the scream as well, on the other side of the garden. But when I turned around to see if someone was behind me, I saw the one person I had honestly been hoping to see all night. Despite that, my voice still sounded shocked when I saw her. 

"Yvette?"

She bowed dramatically. "Princess. How is the ball?"