With my friends gone, I knew that I only had one thing left. The one thing I stayed for. Joseph.

I knew that after the stunt that my hand pulled, if anyone at the palace were to see me, they would have me burned, so I knew that I had to let my magic reach him, somehow. I tried in small, subtle ways, like thinking about him, in hopes that he would feel my hand on his, like Clara and I did. But I had no way of knowing it was working.

That's when I had an idea. We all had our mediums of spell-casting. I used my bare hands, while Julia used a cauldron, (and sometimes her hands,) and Clara chose to use a wand. When thinking of this, I remembered something about my mother. In some of her schemes, she used a crystal ball. It was totally non-magical, just a trick, but I still had. And perhaps, I could give it some magic.

I pulled it out of my trunk, and set it down. Holding my hands above it, I could see the red streaks of my magic fill the ball, the once clear glass now filled with a red, glittering mist. I held my hands above it again, I thought of Joseph, as clear as I could. Then, in the glass, I saw his image appear. He was looking in the mirror, adjusting his red sash. That gave me an even better idea. I lifted the mist out of the crystal ball, and it hung suspended in my hands.

I threw it at the mirror, and it sunk in. The mirror swam with a red glaze. It was beautiful to look at, but it started to clear, showing me Joseph's front now, still adjusting the sash. When the image finally became clear, I could see that he was in the grand hall. Briar Rose was behind him, already sitting down.

"We can't do this, Briar Rose," he said to her. He turned around, finally satisfied with his clothes. He sat beside her.

"If you have any other options, I would be open to hearing them," she said. "I don't want this any more than you do."

Joseph sighed. He took one of her hands. "You know that I love Elise."

"And I think you know that I'm in love with Connor, don't you?"

Joseph paused, but nodded slowly. "Of course I do. I always had a hunch. That's exactly why we can't let this happen. If we both-"

Briar Rose stood up. I guess she was going through another one of her "moments," because her hands were balled into fists, and her glare was cold and stony. "Joseph, enough. We have to go through with this, like it or not."

Joseph also stood up. "I thought we were friends," he said, his eyes downcast and his hands in fists.

Briar Rose softened and turned back to him. She reached out for his hand. "We are, Joseph-"

To my suprise, Joseph caught the both of us off-guard. He grabbed one of the glass goblets off the table, and threw it against the wall. It shattered into pieces. Briar Rose screamed, and Joseph grabbed her wrist. I could almost feel his iron grip on her myself. It looked so painful. I felt my face curl into the tiniest smile. I didn't bother to suppress it. I wanted to see that doll of a girl shatter, just like glass.

Joseph leaned over towards her. "Clearly not, if you enjoy seeing me suffer like this."

"You're hurting me," she said, eerily calm. "Let's not repeat past mistakes."

Joseph suddenly let go. "I humbly apologize, princess," he said through gritted teeth, spitting out the "princess" with a venomous hate. Raising his arms above his head, he backed away from her, then bowed so over-the-top, I could taste the sarcasm in the air.

Briar Rose slowly approached him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "These outbursts are new for you... what has been happening?" Joseph remained silent. "I hate to even consider it-"

"Then don't."

Briar Rose ignored him. "But what if it has something to do with Elise? With those... abilities?"

I could almost hear Joseph growl. His eyes squeezed shut, trying to block out what was going on around him. What Briar Rose was saying about me. "I think she got those powers from somewhere dark. What if they're corrupting you? Maybe it isn't even Elise's fault. She could be in trouble, too," Briar Rose just wouldn't shut up. "I don't want to see you get hurt. You're my best friend, Joseph. I don't want to watch Elise destroy everything I cared about in you-"

Joseph snapped. He swung back into rage again, this time swinging his arm around with him. The back of his hand collided with her cheek, and she fell to the ground. For a second, even I was scared. He stood above her. "Never speak of Elise that way again," he said. He pointed to the door. "Now leave me alone. I'll find another way to stop this."

Briar Rose jumped up and practically ran out of the room. I could have sworn I saw tears. It felt good.

Joseph stood back at the mirror and placed his forehead against the glass. He sighed. I let a sad smile slide onto my face, and pressed my head against his, separated by the glass. Joseph raised his head and suddenly, his eyes went wide with shock. "Elise?" He said.

"Joseph! You can see me?" I asked.

"And hear you, too. How did you do this?" He asked with a smile.

"Magic." I shrugged, and placed my hand over his, separated by the glass. "What's going on? Why so fancy?"

He dropped his hand. "Elise... there's something I have to tell you," he sighed. "It's about Briar Rose."

"Oh. How is she after... that night?" I asked, biting my lip.

"She's fine, but... my parents decided that I have to stay away from you."

"You're not going to, right?" I asked.

Joseph looked hurt. "Of course not. You doubt me?"

"I could never," I said, leaning closer to the mirror. "but there's something you're not telling me."

"I was going to. Elise, Queen Annabelle has set up a fiance for Briar Rose," he said. His eyes were downcast and glazed over with sorrow, touched with a hint of anger. I knew what it meant. I could read those eyes.

"She didn't."

He sighed. "Elise, Briar Rose and I are to be married in a week," he said. "I tried to object, but they said that there is no one else for her but me."

"That's impossible! What about that man? The one at the ball with the glass shoes?" I asked.

"He ran off before midnight even hit. They didn't even give him a chance. Part of me thinks that the queen had her mind made up even before the ball." he pressed his forehead against the glass.

I sighed. "This is my fault. I should have kept my powers under control."

"Don't say that. It's not your fault," he said. "we have to find a way to fix this."

"I know. I won't let this happen," I was boiling. Fuming. My cells, set on fire. That stupid little doll of a person had humiliated me, and now, she had taken from me the one person I had left. I had to get rid of her. "But what do we do?" I asked.

He suddenly looked back up, with a strange, twisted determination in his eyes. One that I liked, because I knew it meant that he agreed with me. "We have to get rid of Briar Rose."

"You mean kill her?"

"If it comes to that, yes!" He said. He backed away from the mirror, but still stayed close to it. "We need to remove her from the picture."

For a split second, I considered it. Then I remembered what Clara said about me being the least corruptible. I felt that if I did kill her, I would let down Clara. That was something I didn't want to risk. "We can't. There is no coming back from death. That's an unforgivable sin," I said. "but maybe we can find another way."

"So what are you thinking?"

I don't know why my mind told me that it was okay, but I was more focused on the non-lethal part of my plan. I thought that if I could do something that didn't kill her, it would be okay. "I'm a witch, right? I'm going to do what witches do best. I'm going to give our little princess a curse so severe that she'll never wake up again." I balled my hand into a fist and smiled. I could feel something inside me. The rage cooled, but the fire inside my chest didn't. Rather than rage, it burned with a glorious, burning sensation. Bursting from a tiny glowing ember in my heart. My hands felt hot again.

I noticed it. I knew it was bad. I waited for it to dissipate. But now, the biggest light in my life (literally) was gone. Clara had left. All I had was Joseph. And the thing that bound us together was this shared, dark wish to make the princess suffer. So it burned bright.

Joseph was feeling it too. His smile matched my own. "What are you planning?"

I placed my hand against the glass. I watched it fog up slightly around my hand. "We'll just put her to sleep. We get the curse into her bloodstream, and she'll never wake up."

"And you're going to make it?" He asked.

"Of course. I'll need some time, though. Can you do that for me?" I asked.

"Anything for you, Elise," he looked around. "my father will be wondering why I'm not there. I have to go. Until we meet again."

He left the mirror's view, but I was not left empty. I had our dark wish. Something twisted, beautiful. We shared it, just the two of us. And I was not going to let the princess take that away.