Chloe stood in front of two large wooden doors with decorative handles. The hallway was short with dark wood paneling and historic baroque style chairs, tables and golden pictures frames. She held in her reason for being here. She'd received a text message from Mrs. Sara Apple stating:

【Please come to the teacher's quarters to help me organize the materials needed for class on Monday. -Mrs. Apple 】

She tapped gently against the door and called out. "Mrs. Apple? It's me, Chloe White. I'm here."

Chloe could hear the sound of heels clicking against the hard floor surface and after a moment the door handles rattled and opened with a creaking sound.

Sara Apple stood wearing a long ankle-length black skirt and a long-sleeve white blouse that went up past her neck. Her hair was down in black waves and her lips blood red. Between her fingers laid a slim black cigarette. She lifted it to her lips and puffed without any smoke.

"Before you think I'm breaking the school policy on smoking, I'll have you know it's an e-cigarette. I'm in the process of quitting. Do come in."

Mrs. Apple stood to the side and gestured for Chloe to enter into her quarters.

The inside of the flat was decorated modestly and there were still many unpacked cardboard boxes lying around.

Chloe at one point had imagined that her teacher slept in a coffin and was surrounded by floating candles, but she didn't and she wasn't.

Sara Apple's room was plain, much to plain for her strange personality.

Mrs. Apple flicked non-existent ash from her e-cigarette out of habit. "There is a box marked Class B in my bedroom, can you drag it out here please?"

There were only two additional doors. One that lead to the bathroom, and the other to the bedroom. It wasn't hard for Chloe to figure out where she needed to go. She pushed open the first door to see a queen-sized bed with a cranberry bedspread, and a few stacks of boxes were at the foot of the bed. Chloe bent to lift one, and on rising she could see something. It was something she never expected to see here.

A tall antique standing-mirror with the words "Who is the fairest?" etched at the top of it.

It was Elizabeth's mirror. . .

The box dropped from Chloe's hands as she stood paralyzed.

How did it get here? Why was it here?

"I heard something drop, are you alright?" Mrs. Apple stepped into the room behind Chloe to see what the trouble was.

Chloe swallowed slowly, unable to take her eyes away from her own reflection. Her voice became deathly quiet. "Why is that mirror here?"

"Oh that? It's a family antique. It's been passed down in my family for a few generations. There's a story behind this mirror you know—" Mrs. Apple took a puff from her e-cigarette and then waved it towards the mirrors surface. "—supposedly our great-great-grandmother was quite a gruesome looking widowed woman. She longed for her daughter to be pretty and to marry above their station. She sold all her worldly possessions to pay the magic mirror maker for this. . . hideous thing. The magic mirror man claimed he had the ability to make mirrors that would turn ugly women into beautiful women and he promised if she had her daughter look into the mirror every day, she would get prettier and prettier."

Chloe was breathing through her lips, trying her best to keep her heart from racing with panic. "Did it work? Is it magical?"

Mrs. Apple tossed her head back to laugh. "Oh please, that magic mirror man probably made a fortune off lies like that. However, our great-grandmother was beautiful and then our grandmother and our mother after her was beautiful so my sister believes the mirror is responsible. Now, you see the writing at the top of the mirror? That is the curse that was placed on the mirror. When our great-grandmother became too vain about her beauty, a gypsy tried to scrape onto it that question. 'Who is the fairest?'. The curse was that if the mirror found someone younger or prettier, then the previous owner would lose their beauty."

That had to explain why Elizabeth got so angry with Chloe. She thought Chloe had ruined the magic in her mirror. Still, it didn't explain why the mirror was here and not back in New York.

"Finish bringing the box into the living room, dear," Mrs. Apple instructed before casually strolling out of the bedroom.

Chloe somehow found the strength in her arms again and lifted the box. She still had questions, so many questions, but she wasn't positive about Mrs. Apple's role in all of this.

Was Mrs. Apple a friend—or an enemy?

Mrs. Apple placed her e-cigarette on top of her computer desk and stared at it. "I will confess to you, there's another reason why I invited you here. We traced the students IP addresses and found the culprit, the one who took the picture with you and the Elite boy and distributed it. Normally, we would not reveal the name of the perpetrator to students, but this student claims she was blackmailed into taking your photo. Her name is Ameesha Gupta, do you know her or anyone who might want to blackmail her?"

A pang of guilt ran through Chloe's chest. They used Ameesha because they saw Chloe help her in the hallway. Maybe Charlotte and Prince had both been right. Maybe trying to do good, or be good in Darkwood, was no good at all.

Chloe bit down on her lip and shook her head.

"It could have been anyone who used her. I'm not very . . . liked by people outside of my friends circle. Since two weeks ago, no one besides my friends will talk to me. I think I'm actually one of the most hated girls at our school."

Mrs. Apple looked a bit amused. "Oh Miss White, I don't think you're 'hated', it's more likely that you are 'envied', there's a difference. Being envied means you have or possess something they want, and as long as you possess. . . whatever it is. . . you have the power. You just have to figure out what they envy about you."

There was only one reason Chloe could think of. "I think maybe they envied that I was hanging out with an Elite."

"Are you so sure about that? Sometimes, things aren't what they seem. It could have been someone holding a grudge against you about something completely different, and they saw Miss Gupta and your meeting with the Elite boy as an opportunity to create chaos. . ."

Chloe hadn't thought about that. Now that she considered it, Prince had been careful, except the one time by the tree of the Seven. Maybe it wasn't some girl jealous about her being with Prince. What did she have that was worth envying?

"I will give you a great piece of advice, don't be so trusting."

Chloe hesitated. "Even of you, Mrs. Apple?"

Mrs. Apple smiled flatly through her bright-red lips. "Go through the box, organize six pages of each and staple them."

That wasn't an answer.

Chloe complied and started to work her way through the box, but the mirror still haunted her mind. How was it here? Why didn't Mrs. Apple seem to even know about Chloe's connection to Elizabeth? What if she did know about Chloe and she was just pretending to be ignorant? Who was blackmailing Ameesha Gupta?

Too many questions and she was no closer to finding answers to them.

Chloe massaged the side of her neck. It hurt from all the craning down to sort class paperwork all morning. She walked down the hallways towards the commons room. It was an area students could relax in and talk amongst each other, it was a room Chloe often avoided, but she had to pass through it to go outside.

Over by the glass case with the school's numerous golden awards, several Climbers were excitedly talking between two brown leather couches and drinking cider to fight off the weak heating in the commons.

"Guess who has a date next weekend?" A pretty girl was combing her fingertips through the ends of her ombre fade hair.

Chloe couldn't help, but notice the girl. It was Adrianna, the girl who approached her before to threaten her about Dominic. If she could remember correctly, Adrianna had warned her to not 'aim for stars she couldn't reach'. If only the girl knew how little truth there was to that.

Adrianna caught notice of Chloe as well. Her expression turned from sweet affection to ice-cold. The girl let her hair drop dramatically from her fingertips and instead crossed her arms in a way that made her look and feel like a more important person.

"Look who it is," Adrianna said with a flick of her wrist in Chloe's general direction.

A long-haired blonde girl looked from Adrianna towards Chloe and scrunched up her face disapprovingly. "Hey, isn't that the girl Dominic went off with at the bonfire? The one Mauricio said Dominic spent time with all alone?"

Adrianna looked like she was seething now. "Yeah. That's her." Her word was said sharp like daggers.

Wait a minute. Chloe hadn't even given Adrianna a second thought. If anyone had a reason to blackmail Ameesha it'd be this girl.

Despite everything in her body telling her to run in the opposite direction, she approached the small group of Climbers and faced Adrianna directly.

"I know what you did," Chloe said the words much more confidently than she actually felt.

Adrianna's brows knit with confusion, like she had to ponder all her bad deeds before suddenly she seemed to understand the meaning behind Chloe's words. Then she smiled and simply said, "Good. I was just hoping Dominic would see what a two-timing kind of girl you were. Who knew it would blow up so much. I'm pretty sure now every girl in school has you listed as their number one enemy."

Girls like Adrianna would grow up to be like Elizabeth.

Chloe's eyes lit up. She could see the award case behind Adrianna's shoulder, and the plate gleaming in the background stating a specific award Darkwood collected in 2002. It was a moment of clarity.

"Are you listening to me?" Adrianna irritably hated to be ignored.

"Shh," Chloe shushed Adrianna and dug into her coat pocket to find the metal tin Dominic had entrusted her with.

"Are you seriously shushing me?" Adrianna was getting angry, but Chloe wasn't even paying attention to her anymore.

She lifted up the picture of the woman holding the 3-year-old Dominic and this time studied the background in the photo. Just behind the woman's shoulder an award was visible. The letters were tiny, but the shape of the award and what it was for was unmistakable, she had seen that award in Elizabeth's secret shrine. Parts of the words were cut off, but enough was there to make out:

Best Breakout-

Born at Moon-

Chloe had found it. It was unquestionable proof.

That year only one star received a best breakout performance award and that was child-actor Elizabeth James. Dominic wasn't lying. Elizabeth really was his mother all along. This discovery was going to be the key to everything. Her way to prove to Henry that Elizabeth wasn't the woman he thought she was.

The relief and the realization made her chest swell with emotion.

"Wait until you find out that—" Adrianna had started to say this, but she was cut off by Chloe's hasty departure.

She hurried through the hallways, and lifted the white hood of her coat over her head. She started to dash outside and across the muddy ground. The skies were gray and the clouds were warning of the ice that was to come. She didn't stop until she was at the front of the boys dormitories building.

Chloe didn't care if she got a demerit or ended up in trouble. She was going to go see Dominic, no-matter-what.

She pushed open the doors and caught the eyes of the boys who were in the hallways. No one said anything to her, but they whispered or made cheering comments behind her back. She was immune to their comments today. Chloe reached Dominic's door and lifted her fist to knock against the surface only to find it was open.

The door parted and revealed Dominic and Prince holding each other by the collars.

Horror washed over Chloe's expression. "Prince? Dominic? What are you two doing?!"

Prince immediately released Dominic the second he could hear Chloe's voice. He gave Dominic a stern look then quickly exited the room and shut the door before Chloe could even step into it.

Chloe glared at him. "What are you doing? I need to talk to Dominic."

Prince placed himself in front of the door to block Chloe from going in. "You don't need anything from him."

Who was Prince to tell her what she did or didn't need?

Chloe faced him defiantly. "You're wrong, I have something important I have to show him."

Prince's hands reached out to gently touch Chloe's shoulders. He shook his head and tried to make his words firmer. "Trust me, you don't want to go in there."

She brushed his hands off her and tried to push past him. "Why not? You can't stop me."

"Chloe! Chloe stop! There's another girl in there!"

Her steps froze in place. "What?"

Prince was breathing deeply and pointing to the door. "If you don't want to see her, then don't open that door."

Chloe didn't have to open the door, it opened itself.

A girl held the door ajar, and peered up into Chloe's eyes. She had long waves of silky red hair, and pretty eyes. She was the same height as Chloe and in a strange way—even though they looked different—there was something similar in how their facial features looked.

When Chloe lowered her eyes to see what the girl was wearing, she had on Dominic's sweater from the bonfire and a pair of leggings.

"Prince, who is this?" The girl asked.

Dominic's hand gripped quickly onto the edge of the door. He stared over the girls head to see Chloe and seemed shocked that she was even there.

Prince placed an arm around Chloe's shoulders. "I'm sure Dominic can fill you in, come on Chloe. Let's go."

He didn't let her see the two any further. Prince turned Chloe towards the hallway and began to walk with her. She let herself be led away by Prince, she was too stunned to even process what was happening.

Why was the girl wearing Dominic's clothes?

"Chloe! Come back! This is not what it looks like!" Dominic called out.

Chloe shut her eyes tightly, and didn't open them again until she could feel the cold wind brush through her hair.

"Who was she?" Chloe asked with a voice that remained controlled and calm.

"That was Rosalinda Redd," he answered.

"So, what is she to Dominic? His girlfriend or something?"

"Rose was the first girl Dominic and I ever fought over. She had transferred to another boarding school, but I guess she came back. . ."

Chloe recalled Dominic mentioning a girl that Prince and him had fought over in the past. Dominic had also told her, he had no interest in that girl. Was that the truth? If it was a lie, then why was Rose in Dominic's bedroom and wearing his clothes?

"Chloe. . . I'm sorry," he said.

"What?" Chloe focused her eyes to his.

Prince shifted uncomfortably. Maybe he wasn't used to having to give apologies or to be vulnerable, but right now he seemed like a child who'd been caught taking a cookie. "I never apologized for what happened to you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of it."

Chloe didn't mean to smile, but she did. "Wow, your timing is really bad."

Prince offered up a small smile of his own. "I know."

"I guess you'll have to make it up to me." She wasn't fully ready to forgive him, but she was ready to open her mind to the idea of it.

"What was it you had to tell Dominic anyway?" He asked.

Chloe remembered the picture and the truth. She held the key to Dominic's identity in her hands, literally. Until she knew the truth behind Dominic's intentions, she would keep the secret to herself. She pushed the box deep into her pocket.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter now."

Prince shook briefly and Chloe could tell he wasn't shaking from the cold. "I have to warn you, Chloe. Rose being here isn't a good thing. She is really attached to us. She won't let another girl get close to me or Dominic."

She lifted up her hand to silence him. "Okay, stop, just stop. Since I arrived here you've just been warning me of things. I've been through so much, there's nothing more anyone can do to me. If you want me to forgive you, then stop warning me of problems and just be my friend."

"Okay then. . . how about this, how do you feel about us leaving the campus today?" Prince looked just a little bit cunning for once.

Chloe bit at her lower lip. "How? We can't leave the campus."

"Well, it's the weekend still and since you've only known the negative side of having an Elite for a friend. Let me show you the positive side."

Chloe's eyes searched Prince's face. Sometimes she couldn't figure him out. He would teeter the line between charming and avoiding so much. She wanted to stop thinking about Dominic and Rose so today she decided to follow Prince's request.

"Okay, let's go. . ."

________________________________

Author's Note: WELP. I FAILED NaNoWriMo XD But that's okay I will KEEP ON WRITING!

P.S.: For those of you who don't know, there's another story from Grimm's fairytales called "Snow White and Rose Red" while the story is different from "Snow White" I always wondered if Rose Red was jealous that her sister got the Prince and she didn't. Snow White was timid and quiet, Rose Red was loud, confident and strong and helped to save the Prince every bit as much as Snow White did, but Snow White got the Prince. I decided to bring her into the story to explore that aspect.