I expect to hear the sounds of violins and laughter, but all I hear are the horses hoofs on the dirt road. The lights still burn bright, but something feels out of sorts. There are no trumpets announcing our arrival or people outside the castle. The carriage stops just outside a long shining staircase. I step out and the silence is deafening.

The climb to the top is tiring, but once there I'm convinced something has gone awry. I walk in and the only thing I hear is the sound of soft growls below me. I look over into the massive ballroom to discover monsters.There are lots of them wandering around bumping into one another like those wind up toys I had as a child, only this is a lot more terrifying.

"Help!" A raspy male voice calls out

The monsters below growl and turn in that direction.

"Please help!"

I keep to the top and scour around to see where the voice is coming from.

"Please."

At the edge of the balcony against a wall I see him. He's swinging from a crimson red curtain. I'm distracted by growling behind me. I spin and come face to face with one of them. They look human, but aren't. It snaps its teeth at me and I back into a wall. My feet ache from climbing the stairs in these awful glass... I grab the shoe off my left foot and break off the heel leaving a sharp shard on the edge. I swing it and it lands right through it's head. It stumbles and falls blood shooting out. I feel sick.

"Help!"

Hating what I'm about to do I pull it from it's head and I cringe. I think about how I'll get down there in the midst of all those monsters. I scan my surroundings and see there's another set of stairs. A torch sits at the top. I run, grab hold of it and scream. They all turn in my direction.

"Hey!" I yell.

The growls grow louder as I swing the fire around. I look into the crowd, three familiar faces stare at me. I gasp. This life seems to suit them better anyway. They growl at me and snap their teeth. I'm not the type of person that wishes bad things on people, but they deserved this.

"The garden," he yells. "Take them out that way, to your left!"

Behind me the snarls increase and my heart pounds hard in my chest.

I race towards the left to a set of garden doors, there's a balcony and if I plan it just right maybe they will fall off. I reach it before them. The jump isn't far. I contemplate what to do next, I see a small opening that I could lead them to. One growls in my ear, I turn and slash it with the shoe. It snaps and I think I'm done for but I swing again and it goes down with a thud. I swing the torch around to grab their attention. Leading the pack are my stepsisters and Lady Tremaine.

My hands shake, but I try to hold steady. I lead them right for the opening. This is it. I along with the torch and shoe jumped down. For a moment I feel weightless. I land in a crouching position and look up, the herd has started to fall. One nearly takes me out but I roll. I still have the shoe, but my hand is cut from the impact. Lady Tremaine growls as I hold my heel about to attack. My mind says to do it but my heart is screaming at me to not. There's no time if I don't I'm the one who will end up like them.

She lurches forward as the others cascade to the ground in what looks like a synchronized stunt. I take a deep breath when the torch begins to light up the dry grass. Fire erupts as the creatures scream out. A wild scream shouts from my right and in flies the prince. His cream colored jacket and puffy golden shoulder pads are torn to shreds. He comes running over with a sword in his hand, he whips it around like he's an expert sword fighter and slices into Lady Tremaine, her head rolls to the ground. The prince grabs a hold of my shoulders.

"Thank you for saving me, but we should probably go," he says.

I stumble backwards as he tugs at my arm. A few of the monsters have caught up, Prince Henri tells me to duck as he swings his sword around again. Next to me is another growl and I take the heel and stab it into its head. The shoe sticks out, but I don't have time to gawk as the prince pulls me out of the burning inferno.

A clock begins to chime leaving an eerie echo over the land. Midnight! Lucifer.

"I've got to go," I tell the Prince.

"How can I repay you for saving my life?" he asks.

His deep brown eyes are mesmerizing, but if I stay any longer he'll see the real me.

"No need, will you be able to find shelter?" I ask.

"Yes."

I turn, Lucifer neighs like he knows the magic is about to wear off. As I run my other slipper falls off my foot. I'm far from the Prince, but can hear him shouting after me as I get into the carriage.

"But I don't even know your name."

I don't have time to respond as Lucifer starts running towards the cottage. The carriage and everything falls apart. I tumble out and grab hold of Lucifer in one hand and the mouse in the other. I race towards home even with the looming sounds of growls in the distance.