Part One

The old woman bent over her desk, her writing rushed and frantic. The laughs of the Queen echoed behind her, growing closer every second. After what seemed like an eternity, she finished, her frail hands shaking as she signed the scroll with a small feather. The motion seemed small and insignificant, but right now, this paper was the most important thing in the world. Suddenly, the door exploded, and the Queen walked in, smiling wickedly.

“Did you really think you could run from me?” She asked, her voice sharp and cold.

The woman shook her head. “I don’t need to run from you, Vanessa.”

The Queen stiffened at the sound of her childhood name, but she still held her sinister grin. “You were always such a sentimental old fool. Is there any reason why you chose this place for your last stand?” The Queen gestured to the room around them.

The woman’s gaze softened, but she was silent. The woman grabbed the scroll off of the table, and the Queen looked over at it. The paper flew out of the woman’s hand and into the Queen’s. The woman watched as the Queen opened the paper. The Queen laughed, a malicious cackle that chilled the blood.

“You will never stop me, not even with your little Nursery Rhyme.” The Queen took a knife from her robes, and quickly stabbed it into the woman’s heart. The woman stared up at the Queen as the light faded from her eyes.

“The Six will be found, Vanessa. That is my promise to you.”