Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Maddie Hatter was given a very very important mission that day, a mission by her narrator, in fact, so Maddie knew to take this task seriously. Brooke Page entrusted her with the safety of a cardboard box she needed for school, she told her that she couldn't trust her classmates not to mess with it were she to store it in her locker or the classroom. The box had a piece of paper taped to its side labeled "Goosebumps Replicas" in Brooke's neat handwriting. And although Brooke put her trust in Maddie, fully believing that Maddie would keep it safe and untouched, Maddie didn't.

Throughout the day, she ran into people with problems and dilemmas she could solve with the items in the box. It was a strange assortment of items, Maddie didn't understand why Brooke needed these specific, completely normal objects to be kept under lock and key. One of the items was just a regular soda can.

And so, by noon, almost all the items in the box were gone, loaned to people Maddie thought needed them more, blissfully unaware of what the box's contents were truly capable of. Maddie made all of the loaners promise to return them by the evening. She thought it'd be fine, Brooke's school presentation wasn't until the next day, that's plenty of time.

Earl Grey sat next to her, squeaking in a scolding, anxious manner.

"Don't worry, Earl Grey! Brooke will understand, and my friends only borrowed them. She won't even know they've been gone."

The little dormouse crossed his tiny arms. Taking him into her palm, Maddie petted his thin fur in a comforting manner.

"You heard Brooke, she trusts me. And I trust my friends. Therefore, Brooke also trusts them! It's basic logic."

Earl Grey makes a sound reminiscent of a huff and jumps out of her hands, scuttling off. Maddie tilts her head with a grin and peeks inside the box again.

“Besides, it’s not like everything is gone.” She grabs hold of what looks like a normal, scary-looking monster mask. “This thing is still here, untouched. Or, I guess I just touched it.”

Something was strange about this mask, but Maddie couldn’t quite place what it was that seemed so odd to her. Her eyes squinted at the mask’s eyeholes. Call her crazy (no really, do, she likes that), but she thought she could feel the mask staring back at her. A grin made its way onto her face and an idea into her head.

“This is the perfect thing to prank Kitty with!” she exclaimed. Earl Grey squeaked disapprovingly from a mousehole. Maddie rolled her eyes. Kitty Cheshire was a master at playing pranks on people, and Maddie admired her for that, but nobody ever dared play pranks on her, which Maddie found unfortunate, after all, who wouldn’t appreciate a good prank more than Kitty? Maddie had been trying to come up with a good prank for days, but she just wasn’t as proficient at pranking as Kitty was. But this was perfect. Nothing too mean, nothing too obvious, nothing that would make Maddie laugh and give the prank away.

Just a little scare, nothing more.

Maddie hesitated briefly, but then she pulled the mask over her head. It smelled horrible, and it felt disgusting on her skin. She shivered, but after a few moments, she got used to it. She walked over to her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. She grinned, though her grin couldn’t be reflected back at her underneath the mask. She looked positively terrifying . Kitty wouldn’t know what hit her. Maddie didn’t know why, but something about imagining Kitty’s horror-filled face made her giddy. She shook her head. It was probably only pre-prank excitement.

Kitty was not hard to locate, as Maddie knew her friend well enough to know where she’d hang out. She was lying in a tree, napping peacefully and without a care in the world. Maddie climbed the tree, bent over her sleeping figure, and screamed. Her voice sounded not like Maddie’s own. It was more of a low growl than anything resembling Maddie’s voice. Kitty bolted right awake and when she caught sight of Maddie’s mask, she lashed out, knocking Maddie off the branch and on the grass below. Maddie didn’t move, instead placing her hand upon her throat.

“Maddie!” Kitty yelled once she recognized her by her clothing, disappearing and reappearing next to her. “What the hex?!”

Maddie turned to face her, and Kitty backed away. Maddie found joy in how scared she looked. The mask was working.

Then, Kitty’s demeanor shifted. “Were you trying to prank me? Because that was an awful way to do it.”

Maddie frowned. “You think?”

“A cheap mask? Come on, be more creative.”

Be more creative. These words rang inside Maddie’s head. She feels a strange feeling in her chest. Something wild, something untamed. Anger. Pure, unfiltered rage.

"And the execution? You can do better."

Maddie tried to repress it, she didn’t even know where this negativity came from, she never felt like this before, but the feeling overtook her. She growled. Just like before, her growl sounded so unlike her. It sounded almost animalistic.

Before Maddie knew what was happening, she lunged at Kitty, who was completely taken aback by her friend’s raw strength as she pinned her to the floor.

“Maddie?” Kitty asked, trying to fight her off. Maddie didn’t let up. She grabbed Kitty by the throat and began to throttle her. Kitty kicked and gasped for air, begging her to stop, yelling at her to get off.

“I hate you!” A beastly voice said. Maddie blinked. What was that? Did Maddie really just say that? She had to, she had felt the words coming out of her throat herself. Why did she say that? All at once, Maddie realized what she was doing and quickly retreated her arms back to her side before Kitty was seriously hurt.

Kitty gasped for air, taking several deep breaths. She said nothing, only staring at Maddie, confused, hurt, uncertain.

Maddie, not knowing what else to do, began to laugh. “You should have seen her face!” She said, “you looked so scared!”

An awkward grin formed on Kitty’s face, she still looked at her with wide-eyes. “Yeah, you got me. Can you take that thing off now?”

Maddie shrugged and pulled on the mask.

Then, she pulled again.

And again.

“It won’t come off”, Maddie realized.

“Maddie, you can stop now. It’s not funny.” Kitty reached forward and started to pull on the mask, to which Maddie gave out a shriek and swatted her hand away.

“Don’t touch me!” Maddie slapped her hands in front of her mouth, trying to silence the other voice. “I’m sorry, that hurt.”

Kitty backed away. “What is with you today?”

“It’s all a very elaborate prank, of course!” Maddie said, unconvincingly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to our room!”

Maddie slammed her dorm room door shut behind her and rapidly approached her vanity. Sir Earl Grey climbed up the leg of the vanity and sat atop it, squeaking with worry at his owner’s, his best friend’s frightened and hasty movements.

“I’m fine, Earl Grey.” Maddie said, opening a drawer with sewing materials inside, including a pair of scissors which she equipped in an instant. “The mask is just stuck, that’s all!” She removed the necktie she was wearing and opened the top few buttons of her dress shirt. When she pulled it apart however, she noticed something very, very concerning. Maddie felt over her neck.

There was no bottom. The mask had no rim. Nowhere to start cutting it open. It was like the mask had fused with her skin. No, that couldn’t be right.

Then, she caught sight of her eyes and twitched.

Those eyes. Those sickly, bloodshot, yellow eyes staring back at her through the eyeholes of the mask. “They aren’t my eyes.” Maddie realized. “My eyes don’t look like that!” She put a hand on the mirror. “What’s going on?” she asked frantically, “what’s happening to me?”

Earl Grey squeaked in alarm, but Maddie couldn’t hear. She grabbed the vanity by the edges of the tabletop before forcefully knocking it over, sending the little dormouse flying across the room. Luckily, he landed safely on Maddie’s bed.

Maddie grabbed her head. It hurt. It hurt so much. Her head felt like it was going to explode. But the worst thing was the touch. She could feel it, as though the mask's skin was her own. She pulled away in horror.

Luckily, at that moment, a very familiar voice entered her ears.

“Hey, Maddie! I wanted to check on the box I–”, the voice stopped. “Maddie! What? How long have you been wearing that?!”

Maddie looked up, she was so relieved to hear Brooke’s sweet voice. “Brooke! I’m so glad you’re here. The mask, it won’t–”

“Come off? Yeah, I know , that’s its whole thing, this is why I told you to keep the box safe!” Brooke somehow sounded annoyed, disappointed and worried at the same time.

Maddie whimpered. "C- Can you take it off?" She asked in a small voice.

Brooke stayed silent, and somehow, Maddie knew this wasn't a good sign. "No. I can't. Only you can."

"I've tried!"

"You need a symbol of love, love so strong it nullifies the evil of the mask."

Maddie's eyes darted around the room.

"Don't worry, Maddie, just stay calm! We'll fix this together, I promise." Brooke said softly. "Everybody loves you, surely someone at some point made or gave you something representing that."

Earl Grey squeaked at the air, and Brooke was lucky to understand animal speech thanks to her being a narrator. "It can be any kind of love", she clarified, "it just has to be love. Pure, unfiltered love for the victim."

The little dormouse thought and thought, and as he did, Maddie became more and more frustrated.

"Useless!" She shouted at the sky with a gravelly tone. "You're useless!" Brooke wasn't deterred however.

"Maddie, try to fight it! The mask may be powerful, but I know you, you're strong! We need to find the symbol!"

Maddie didn't listen. She couldn't. Brooke's voice was only an unbearable noise to her by now. In a fit of blind rage, Maddie started to tear the room apart. She ripped the curtains from the window and threw them at the wall, leaving a dent, and then moved on to her closet.

"No, no! Maddie! Listen to me! Earl Grey, how long has she worn that thing already?"

The mouse gave a short squeal.

"Oh no, that's way too long. She must be exhausted in there! Earl Grey, you have to do something, please, I wish I could, but can't help her from here!"

The mouse stared at his owner stomping and growling and throwing things without rhyme or reason, and his eyes narrowed. He stood as straight as he could.

"You know her better than anyone, you can find the symbol of love and bring it to her."

A squeak.

"You know what to do? That's perfect! I knew I could count on you. Be careful!"

And so, the brave little dormouse sprinted toward his owner, narrowly avoiding her foot trying to stomp him into a little, furry Earl Grey pancake.

"Stay away from me!" She spat as she repeatedly brought her foot down.

Still, Sir Earl Grey prevailed. He caught her leg and held on tight as Maddie tried to shake him off. It was a tough climb, but Earl Grey managed to dig his claws into his owner's clothes for support and soon enough he reached her shoulder. He threw his small body against her cheek, hugging it with all his might and the love he had for her in his tiny mouse heart. Suddenly, as he held tight to her cheek, Earl Grey could feel the texture of the mask changing. It became less fleshy, less… real.

It felt like rubber now.

He also noticed that Maddie stopped her rampage. She had fallen to her knees.

He held his breath, and so did Brooke.

Then, Maddie reached for the top of the mask and pulled.

It slid right off her head.

Her face was red and drenched in sweat, her eyes wide with terror. She turned to face her companion.

"Earl Grey! You hat-tastic little thing!" She embraced him tighter than she ever embraced him before. "I love you so much!" She buried her nose into his fur, tears spilling from her eyes. She pulled away and held him high in the air. "Sir Earl Grey, your valiant efforts shall be rewarded by promoting you to knight-status! Again!"

The dormouse smiled and squeaked proudly.

"Yes, of course I'll have to knight you right away!"

Just as Maddie set him down, Brooke cleared her throat.

"I really hate to interrupt, but, Maddie, I couldn't help but notice the box I gave you is kind of… well…"

Maddie paled. "Brooke. Was every item in that box cursed or haunted in some way?"

"I'm afraid so. And some of those things can cause serious damage, too."

Maddie bit her nails as she looked around her trashed dorm. She knew she had to come clean. "I gave the items away."

"You WHAT?"

"Wait, bad phrasing. I let people borrow them."

"That's not any better!" Brooke cried.

Grabbing the mask, Maddie threw it inside the box and closed it before looking at the ceiling with determination. "I promise, I'll get everything back by the time of your presentation, you just go and prepare while–"

"We will get everything back." Brooke asserted. "I'm coming with you, of course, I know what we're dealing with. And after what you've been through already..."

Maddie nodded. That made sense to her. She grabbed Earl Grey and set him down in a small cupboard that hadn't been destroyed and placed a teacup beside him. Instantly, he climbed and curled up inside the teacup. He had done enough, it was time for him to rest.

Now, who did Maddie give the other contents of the box to again…?

Chapter Text

Pinocchio’s daughter, Cedar Wood, was lucky to find a replacement for her puppet, Splinter, on such short notice. Where Maddie had acquired the ventriloquist dummy that was now sitting stiffly on her lap, Cedar would never know. She didn't need to, and while she thought the taller-than-average dummy was pretty ugly, she was glad she was able to find him, and grateful that Maddie had even let her borrow him. It took a little getting used to, Cedar had never worked a real ventriloquist dummy before, it was a lot different from her usual hand puppet, but nothing Cedar couldn’t handle. The movable eyes and eyelids were new and, in addition to moving the mouth, it gave the hand inside the dummy more to do. Unlike Splinter, this one had comfortable stuffing inside. While how cozy the inside was didn’t really affect her, she still made note of the change, it did give her extra stability if nothing else. The only criticism she had on the dummy was his outfit. While the red bowtie was okay, the suit he was wearing was strange. It was plain, completely devoid of any color but gray, there weren’t even any highlights, the sleeves weren’t cuffed, even the buttons were the same shade of gray as everything else. It looked unfinished, and yet the dummy wore it with so much confidence. It was incredibly off-putting. But Cedar had promised Maddie not to mess with his looks. Or, well, she had promised to bring him back exactly like she got him.

Cedar looked at the little dummy and if she had wheels in her head instead of just solid wood, they would be turning. She had only promised to give him back exactly the same, nothing would stop her from temporarily modifying his outfit. She unbuttoned the dummy’s little suit jacket and pulled it off his shoulders, a note fell out of its breast pocket.

“Huh?” Cedar folded the jacket neatly and laid it next to her on the blankets of her bed. She bent over, dummy in hand, and picked up the note. “What’s this? ‘My name is Slappy’?”, she read aloud and then turned to the dummy who, without the jacket, sported a pair of suspenders and a red cummerbund, and tilted her head. “Slappy? Odd name, but I guess it suits you, you are a very odd thing.”

Slappy stared back at her with his lifeless eyes.

As she was about to return the paper, she noted something else written on its back. Curiously, she took a closer look, and ended up stumped. It looked like total gibberish to her.

“‘Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano’?” She read. She stayed still for a moment, as if waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. She shrugged and sat the dummy straight on her lap. “Now, Slappy, let’s try that again, from the top!”

“Why not the bottom? That’s where your routine is headed anyway!” Cried the dummy.

Cedar turned her head to Slappy and blinked. “Oh”, she said, “you’re alive, too.”

“You better believe it, dummy!” Slappy freed himself from Cedar’s grip and faced her. “You-!” He stopped, looking Cedar up and down in what Cedar thought was surprise.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Slappy?” Cedar asked. “I’m sorry about your jacket, if I’d known you were alive I would have never taken it without your permission.”

Slappy crossed his arms and huffed before snatching the jacket from the bed. He had no trouble getting the first arm through the respective sleeve, but struggled with his other one.

Cedar reached for him. “Let me help you.”

“I don’t need your help, Pinnochio!” Slappy spat, wrangling out of the suit jacket and throwing it on the floor.

“No, no, my name is Cedar, Pinnochio is my dad!” Cedar smiled.

The dummy rolled his eyes. “I can see the resemblance.”

“Really? I don’t think we look alike at all”, Cedar started and put a hand on her chin. “But I guess that’s because I’ve only ever known him as a human, since he became a ‘real boy’ before I was made.”

Slappy stared at her, unblinking. Then, he laughed. “Wow, I don’t even need to ruin your performance, your material is already terrible without my meddling!”

“What do you mean?”

“Listen, lady, your costume is impressive, had me fooled for a second, but the whole ‘daughter of Pinnochio’ spiel is a little uninspired, don’t you think?”

“Costume? I’m not wearing a costume. And I’m not uninspired!” Cedar stood up. “You’re not being very nice!”

“Your face is not nice! Is that even your face, or did you forget to take out the trash this morning?” Slappy grinned, a sick, twisted grin that looked out of place on his face. “Why don’t you go cry to daddy Pinnochio and tell Little Red Riding Hood that the evil dummy is bullying you?”

At that moment, the door swung open. Cerise Hood stood still in the doorway. Nobody moved. She looked back and forth between Cedar and Slappy before slowly, slowly walking backwards and closing the door again.

“What.” Too confused to pay attention, Slappy only noticed too late that Cedar picked him up. “Unhand me!”

“Not unless you apologize!”

“How dare you, nobody gives Slappy orders! You listen to me!” Slappy unhinged his jaw and clamped his wooden teeth shut on Cedar’s hand.

Cedar held on tight to him, unbothered by the attack. “You can’t just bite people to get what you want.”

Slappy waited a moment before letting go, but it appeared Cedar really did feel no pain. “What is wrong with you?!”

“Well, I wish I was a real girl, and—“

Slappy screamed and Cedar dropped him. “Listen up, dummy! You can’t keep this shtick up forever! You will have to break character at some point, and I will be the one to do the breaking!”

As it turned out, Cedar could keep “this” up forever. After many, many fruitless attempts to ruin Cedar’s reputation, Slappy had to concede and accept that he really did somehow end up in a strange fairytale land, and Cedar really was the daughter of Pinnochio. But that wasn’t the worst part, Slappy could have worked with that. No, the worst part was that everybody, with no exception, believed Cedar when she clarified that it wasn’t her insulting them when she practiced her routine with him close to other people. They didn’t doubt her for even a second, no matter how many insults he threw at their heads. Everyone just told him to shut up.

Cedar, meanwhile, found his quips quite irritating.

“That’s it!” Slappy shouted out while Cedar was busily working on a project in the Arts and Crafts room. Everybody needs a break from practice once in a while, especially when your dummy is both alive and a meanie. “You”, he pointed at Cedar, “are insufferable!”

Cedar ignored him. Slappy rushed to her and slammed his little body into Cedar’s easel, knocking it right over, and with it the painting she had been working so hard on.

“Hey!” She called, picking up her now ruined painting.

Seizing the opportunity, Slappy jumped on a table and threw a poorly-made teacup out of clay at her. Cedar dodged. “Stop that!”

Slappy threw more and more of the little trinkets and art pieces students made in their free- and schooltime at her, causing them to shatter and break when they smashed against the floor or the wall.

Realizing the dummy wouldn’t let up, Cedar just worked on trying to preserve the items thrown at her by catching them. Unfortunately, Cedar really wasn’t a sports kind of person and many of the objects still broke.

When he ran out of things to throw, Slappy turned to open and look through the drawers, eventually finding a drawer full of carving knives. He grins, and Cedar wonders why she didn’t think to just fix Splinter in the first place.

“Slappy is the most dangerous”, Brooke said as Maddie rushed through the halls of the boarding school, “we have to find him first, and fast.”

“Don’t worry, Brookey! I know exactly where Cedar is right now.” Maddie assured.

A sigh was heard to none but Maddie. “I hope so, who knows what kind of damage he’s already done! I mean, I did do some modifications when I replicated him, so he’s a lot weaker than he usually is, but I never actually tested him. I don’t even know if he starts japping right after being brought to life like I want him to! It would be so embarrassing if I brought him to life in front of the class and he—“

“Brooke!” Maddie warned, bringing the young narrator back to reality. “Hocus focus!”

“Right, sorry.”

And so they kept running, or, rather, Maddie ran, Brooke just kind of omnipresently followed along. They reached the Arts and Crafts room, and Maddie kicked the door open. An unnecessary act, since the door wasn’t locked.

“Cedar! I’ve come to—“ Maddie gasped. The classroom was a mess! It looked worse than Maddie and Kitty’s dorm did after Maddie’s rampage! Cedar was at the center of it all, the tips of small knives stuck in her wooden skin which was punctured in a few places. Logically, Maddie knew this didn’t really hurt Cedar in the slightest, but it still made her skin crawl.

“Cedar!” She rushed to her side.

“Look out!” Cedar pushed Maddie down just in time to avoid a spoon sailing over her head.

“I’m really sorry”, Maddie started, “I didn’t know Slappy was alive!”

“I forgive you.” Cedar said in a haste, dragging Maddie to take cover behind a table. “Do you know how to stop him?”

“Brooke!” Maddie looked at the sky.

Brooke thought for a moment, which was no easy task in this scenario, especially now that Maddie was here with her fleshy, vulnerable-to-sharp-objects body. "Um", she stuttered, "there's a spell that can make him go to sleep forever!"

Maddie repeated the information to Cedar, who was nodding along and eyeing the tantrum-throwing doll with an unreadable expression.

"Well, what is it?!" Cedar asked.

"It's…" Brooke hesitated. "It's something very easy, I- I just can't remember!"

"Come on, Brooke!"

"Yeah, come on, Brooke!" Cedar cheered as well, although she wasn't entirely sure who Brooke was.

"It's… Um…" Brooke tried her hardest to think, she really did. And eventually, it came to her. "Reverse! You have to say the words that bring him to life in reverse order!"

Again, Maddie relayed the information to Cedar. Cedar cupped her hands in front of her mouth and yelled, "Karrano Molonu Loma Odonna– Whoa!" Cedar ducked to dodge a pack of noodles. She stood up and tried again. "Karrano Molonu Lo –", again, she had to duck. She tried a few more times to no avail.

"It's no use!" Cedar said. "He won't let me finish!"

Maddie bit her lip. She solemnly looked at the sky, then at the dummy, then at Cedar.

"Sorry, Brooke!" She said, emerging behind the table. She took out her Hat Of Many Things, and pulled out a hammer. She aimed for the dummy, and threw the hammer as hard as she possibly could.

Slappy was too stunned to react, this wasn't how things usually went, not all. The hammer crashed into Slappy's head, splitting it in half.

The doll didn't scream, it just fell limb on the floor.

And just like that, Slappy was gone.

"Sorry about breaking your dummy." Maddie said as she gently laid Slappy back into the box next to the Haunted Mask. It was strange, it felt as though the mask still wanted her to wear it. Maddie slammed the box shut.

"It's okay. I mean, I spent a lot of time on him, but he was bound to break eventually, I guess." She stayed quiet for a moment. "I thought you looked cool, actually."

"Aw, thanks! You're a sweetheart." With that, Maddie stood up and straightened her back. "One down, four more items to go!" Maddie felt confident, she held out hope that every item would be this easy to retrieve.

The only question now was, "which one do we get next?"

Chapter Text

It wasn't the best camera, but it would do while Blondie Lockes' own was busily charging in her dorm. When Maddie had presented her with this ancient camera box, Blondie hadn't thought it was even a camera. She'd never seen a camera this big and cube-like, and the absence of a screen confused her. How would you see the pictures you've taken without a screen?

Nevertheless, she was still grateful she even had anything to record with. Blondie was no fool, she would figure out how this strange gray box worked all on her own! It had buttons at the top, and Blondie realized that, since this contraption had no touchscreen, one of those had to be the trigger. Eventually, she found a small hole she could look through, presenting her with what was most likely a preview of what she would capture once she pressed the button. Blondie grinned, and looked all around the computer room through the camera's lens, eventually settling on Humphrey Dumpty, standing on a ladder, trying to fix something on the ceiling.

"Hey, Humphrey!" Blondie called. "Say Cheese!"

Humphrey turned his head, giving Blondie an unamused look.

The shutter made a satisfying noise when Blondie pressed the trigger and a bright light flashed in Humphrey's face.

"Argh! Blondie!" He rubbed his eyes. "That flash is unbearable! Couldn't you have turned it- Whoa!" Humphrey lost his balance and was sent crashing on the floor, Blondie saw his crown flying through the air when he landed.

She jumped to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good." A shaky thumbs up emerged from behind a row of tables.

Blondie scratched her head. That flash was pretty bright. She inspected the little box, wondering if she could turn it off somehow, she didn't need a flash in this brightly-lit school anyway.

Just as she tried to decipher where the flash had come from however, she noticed something was poking out of a thin cut that spanned the length of the camera and was located right in the front. Blondie carefully pinched it with two fingers and pulled it out.

At first, she didn't understand what it was, but then she turned it over to see the picture she had just taken appear on the paper.

"Oh!" she realized, "it's a photo. That's so cool, it gets printed by the camera right away!"

"Have you never seen an instant camera before?" asked Humphrey who was setting his crown back on his round head.

"Hang on…" Blondie squinted her eyes at the photo. "That's not right."

The photo displayed her friend falling from the ladder.

Humphrey walked up beside her. "Did you take another picture when I fell?"

Blondie shook her head. "No, I only took one. That's weird. I did take it before that, right?"

The boy shrugged. "Maybe it just has a delay." He returned to the ladder, which was now on the floor, after that.

Blondie kept her eyes on the picture, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Blondie, it's not a big deal."

She sighed and turned to Humphrey, a smile on her face. "You're right, it's not a big deal!" she said, but something about that picture still didn't seem right to her, but Blondie just couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"I can't use this to photograph the school play", Blondie said eventually, her lips forming into a pout.

Humphrey took the camera from her and inspected its flash.

An hour or so passed.

"You can see the flash", said Blondie insistently, "you fell after the flash, this doesn't add up."

Scratching his head, Humphrey said, "I guess that's a little odd." He then let his hands fall at his side. "I honestly don't think it's anything you have to worry about. Weird stuff happens sometimes."

For a moment, Blondie didn't say anything, the strange timing of the flash irking her in a way that she just couldn't shake. She forced a smile on her face and looked at Humphrey. "You're right!" she announced, hoping that soon, she would believe that too.

Blondie glanced around the room, and her eyes fell on the clock just above the door. Upon seeing the time, she jumped out of her seat. "Grimm! It's already so late!"

After taking a look at the clock himself, Humphrey gave Blondie a questioning stare.

"I'm supposed to take pictures of the preparations for the play", Blondie clarified, hoisting a bag over her shoulder, "for documentation!"

"Oh!" Humphrey straightened out his vest, "I'll come with you."

Blondie nodded, and together they exited the, in Blondie's opinion, much too cluttered computer room. They really ought to clean up sometime.

On the way to the auditorium, Blondie halted.

Humphrey spun around. "What's up?"

Quickly, Blondie took the camera out of her bag. "Let's take a picture!"

"Why?" Humphrey asked, staring at Blondie in confusion.

"To test the flash", Blondie squeezed next to him, "and for documentation, of course."

Humphrey rolled his eyes. "Of course."

The camera now pointed at the two of them, Blondie could see their reflection in the clear glas of the lens, deep and dark like a black hole. Her smile grew weary. Nevertheless, her finger pressed down on the shutter.

The bright white flash nearly made Blondie drop the precious camera, neither of them could see anything clearly for a few seconds.

"Humphrey!" Blondie yelled as she rubbed her eyes, "you said you fixed it!"

Humphrey, having taken off his glasses to relax his eyes, replied with a murmur, "I thought I did."

Soon, the sound of their photo being printed was heard, and Blondie giddily reached for the paper.

Then, both Humphrey and Blondie paled.

That wasn't right, was it?

The picture showed them yelling in utter terror, their mouths hanging open and eyes wide. Behind them, a beast. A beast with silky black fur and piercing purple eyes, its jaw as big as their heads, ready to clamp its sharp, saliva-dripping teeth down on their flesh while they could do nothing but scream.

They gulped.

Slowly, they dared to turn around.

They blinked.

The hallway behind them was empty. All they heard was the soft whistling of the wind carrying through open windows.

"Blondie", Humphrey said quietly, "are you doing this?"

Blondie shook her head.

"Then I don't think we should stay here."

They looked at each other, fear written all over their faces. Nodding, they stayed close to one another, almost sneaking through the hall as careful and quietly as they could.

"Maybe it's a prank camera", Blondie whispered in Humphrey's ear.

Humphrey shook his head. "It's too realistic of an image. Not even the best magically assisted AI can edit images that well."

They continued to whisper, bouncing ideas off each other, trying to convince themselves they were being paranoid.

Until, they heard a loud rumble. The earth beneath them started to shake. Humphrey held on to Blondie's arm. The shaking grew louder, closer. Were those footsteps?

A howl. A growl. More footsteps.

Blondie's eyes widened.

Around the corner appeared a large, wolf-like creature. Its pitch black fur made it seem like a shadow given mass as its striking purple eyes fixated on them.

For a moment, none of them moved. Then, at once, the creature barrelled toward them.

Blondie screamed, as did Humphrey, and they ran as fast as their legs could carry them in the opposite direction.

The beast followed. Clawing and scratching, trying to get a hold of them.

Blondie heaved, her legs were starting to burn, and she could tell from Humphrey's panting that he wasn't any better off as the monster came closer and closer.

She gripped the camera in her hands, and as she did a brilliant idea popped into her head.

With her heart pounding, Blondie held up the camera, spun around, and pressed down on the flash as fast as she could.

The wolf-like creature howled and recoiled harshly, shaking its head aggressively and tearing at its eyes with its paws.

Blondie was too stunned to move. Yet, she moved anyway as Humphrey firmly grabbed her arm and pulled her into the nearest door, which turned out to be the bathroom.

Humphrey collapsed, nearly dropping his crown as he caught his breath. Blondie stared at the camera, sweat pouring down her skull.

A brand new photo poked out of the front of the camera.

With shaking hands, Blondie grabbed it.

Her heart leapt once more with the revelation that, again, the picture didn't show at all what Blondie had photographed in the first place.

This time, nothing that was within reach of the camera's disaster-spelling flash was actually depicted. Instead, the image showed Raven, wrapped in some sort of furry coat, Cerise was standing next to her, reaching out. Behind them, the sun bathed the sky in an orange hue. They were outside, between grass and trees.

Quietly, Blondie stuffed the photo into her pocket. She would worry about its meaning another time, she was done with creepy pictures and strange, future-predicting cameras for at least a week.

"They ran this way!" Brooke cried as Maddie dashed through endless halls of Ever After High in hot pursuit of her friends.

Maddie breathed heavily. "Why do they have to be so fast?" she complained as she wiped her forehead. Cerise had overtaken her long ago, she was a lot quicker on her feet than Maddie, who felt like she was about to just drop on the floor. A few more steps, and Maddie gradually slowed down until she came to a full stop. She huffed and puffed as she leaned on her thighs. "I- I don't know if I can keep up anymore."

"Hm…" Brooke quieted down and for a few seconds Maddie thought she was disappointed. "It's okay, Maddie. I'm sure Cerise can handle this one alone."

Maddie craned her head to the sky. "Are you sure?"

"Absotively, Cerise is a tough girl", Brooke responded. "You should take a break."

"Much obliged", Maddie said, flashing her a thumbs up.

Within the blink of an eye Maddie was seated at a small table that wasn't there before, holding a teacup with steaming hot tea which she gently lifted to her lips.

There was nothing, absolutely nothing that could bring Maddie more peace than a nice, hot cup of tea.

A minute passed. Then another. And another. So many Brooke had stopped counting, she was busy thinking of ways to best the rest of the cursed items.

With a clink, Maddie set her now empty cup atop the saucer. "Now", she said, "where were we?"

Before Brooke could even say a word, a door across from Maddie creaked open, Humphrey and Blondie tumbling out, their faces as pale as the walls.

Maddie jumped when she noticed the camera Blondie was gripping tightly.

"Blondie!" Maddie called, catching her attention, "Blondie, over here!"

Blondie stared at Maddie, and Maddie couldn't fathom what must be going through her head.

"I'm sorry", Maddie started, "I didn't know the camera was all cursed and haunted."

"It's not, actually", Brooke clarified, her voice turning giddy, "it's very fascinating. You see, the flash within the camera has reality-altering properties, and–"

"Can I have it back?"

Blondie nodded and pressed the camera into Maddie's hands. Maddie then dropped the camera within her Hat Of Many Things.

"Wait a minute", Blondie asked, "you had a whole box of those weird things, right?"

"Yeah!" Maddie responded.

Blondie lit up. "So are all of them haunted?"

Maddie choked.

"This is fable-ous!" She announced, a bright smile on her face. "This is going to make the most exciting story the MirrorCast has ever reported!"

Humphrey snapped his head toward her. "You're insane."

Without another word, Blondie skipped away, Humphrey in tow, probably to write a detailed report on her own experiences, and then find out more.

Maddie looked after them. "That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

"Uh, let's just not tell her where you keep the box."

"Good idea." Maddie nodded. Then, she smiled. "Brooke, we got another item!"

"We did!" Brooke cheered. "This is going a lot smoother than I thought it would", she confessed.

Maddie heard some sort of scratching noise coming from Brooke.

"That's another one down, only", she counted quietly under her breath, "three more to go!"

"Did you make a list?" Maddie asked.

"I like lists", Brooke replied.

They exchanged a few more words before they decided it was time to continue their dangerous quest. They agreed to let Cerise handle one of the items, and ventured off to find the other two, hoping deeply they hadn't caused too much damage.