I stood there for maybe a minute, eyes closed, warm, sticky blood sliding down my face.

I concentrated on breathing deeply, trying not to hyperventilate. I didn't dare open my eyes. I didn't want to see the body, the two halves laying open like a split melon, with guts strewn across the forest floor, the pine needles underfoot soaking up crimson blood.

One thought was running through my mind over and over again. You killed him, Rikki, you killed Rumpelstiltskin. The beloved children's character was laying in pieces at my feet, and it was my fault. I felt a mixture of panic and sorrow and rage well up in my throat like bile, hot and painful. I turned away and carefully shuffled away from the mess, squinting through eyes opened just enough to see where I was going. I made my way to a tree stump and sat down slowly, not trusting myself to make any sudden movements without throwing up.

I looked up through the branches at the night sky, dotted with stars, and felt the cool wind breeze my face. I tried to find peace in the gentle night.

I couldn't.

I slipped my backpack off and opened it, pulling out the Book without really knowing why, and rested it on my lap. I just stared at it, without thinking. I traced a finger over the embossed patterns that wound their way around the edges of the cover. Inside, on the crisp, slightly yellowed pages in elegant script were a collection of about 200 different fairy tales, each illustrated beautifully. My fingers found the table of contents, and I scanned the page. When I had found what I was searching for, I flipped open to page 124, and stared at the title.

I bit my lip, then let my eyes drift to the bottom of the page, the ending. 

I just killed Rumpelstiltskin. I knew the story well, how a passing king sees the beautiful miller's daughter, and how her father lies, telling him she can spin straw into gold, so that he will take her away to make her his wife. About how she is doomed to fail, but her hopeless tears in her darkest moment summons the mysterious Rumpelstiltskin, who can get her out of her trouble, for a price. And then she marries the king, they have their baby, and the little gnome comes back to make good on his bargain. The miller's daughter-turned queen has had her faithful servant discover his true name, and she succeeds in keeping her dear child.

Except I had forgotten, completely and utterly forgotten, what happens after the miller's daughter guesses right. I had read the story a thousand times as a child, but somehow I always seemed to forget that the story doesn't just end there, with the miller's daughter victorious.

No. Fairy tales cannot end without blood.

Yet here Rumpelstiltskin was, alive and well—until very recently—and conveniently present to help get me out of a spot of trouble. And if he was here, then that meant...

He hadn't met the miller's daughter yet? If that were true, then what would happen to her? I felt my stomach clench, and I struggled to keep from losing its contents. I knew exactly what would happen to her. She wouldn't be able to spin the straw into gold, and she would be executed, just like the king told her would happen in the story.

Tears started streaming down my face. Was I going to be the cause of two deaths? Two days I'd been here, and I already had the blood of two people on my hands. And Erik... 

For all I knew, Erik was already dead too. The giant thing hadn't been my fault, that was true, but he had tried to help me, tried to get me out of danger while he could, and those few seconds he took to push me out of the way from the giant's grasping hand could have been enough for him to escape if it weren't for me.

Panic rose in me like a tsunami. What else would I ruin before I managed to get back home? What other lives would I destroy, purely by accident, or by my own stupidity? But I squeezed my eyes shut, and pushed the fear welling up inside me back down. Get a hold of yourself, Rikki. Panicking will do you no good.

I had no real plan apart from "panic", so that was easier said than done. The worst part of all of this, at least for me at that exact moment, was that the damn gnome had gone and lost his cool in the most violently destructive way possible before showing me the way out of this dark, lonely forest, like he had promised to.

*   *   *

An hour and a half later, I found myself still wandering the forest. I was on the verge of panic now; the fact that I was lost in a deadly forest at night alone, and the knowledge that I had just killed Rumpelstiltskin before he could save the miller's daughters life were driving me to the brink. I was a murderer, a murderer! And somebody else was going to suffer, maybe even die, as a result.

I stumbled around blindly, tripping over tree roots and bushes in the dark. Every rustle in the trees, every crack of a twig made me jump almost out of my skin and set my heart pounding. I was sure the shadows were monsters waiting for me to turn my back so they could eat me, I was sure the terrible wolves that nearly killed me that first day were stalking me at that very moment.

I silently cursed that god damned Book. I was only in this mess because of it. Everything would have been fine if it hadn't sucked me into this stupid fairy-tale world... I let myself continue to spiral into a bottomless pit of despair, allowing myself to feel utterly miserable without shame for the first time.

Just then, I heard a branch break somewhere behind me. I froze, listening hard for any other sounds. I wanted to pass it off as nothing important, a small animal maybe, surely nothing threatening, but something in the back of my mind wouldn't let me do that.

I stood stock still, fear constricting my throat in case I got any wise ideas about screaming for help.

For a moment or two, there was silence, but then another crack and a rustle made me whirl around in a circle, trying to pinpoint the direction of the noise. Somewhere to my right, something was making its slow but steady way toward me, pushing through the forest with no regard to the amount of noise it made. I swallowed with some difficulty, my throat very dry. If whatever it was was big enough or reckless enough to crash through the dangerous woods like that, I was sure I didn't want to come face-to-face with it.

Unfortunately for me, the thing in question seemed to have other plans. It was heading straight for me, and it seemed to be coming faster now. I looked wildly around, trying to decide where to run. I didn't want to make too much noise and draw any further attention to myself, but if I didn't move now, the thing would be in my face at any second...

Too late. With one final crash, a large, dark shape came stumbling from the darkness, nearly colliding with me. I barely managed to leap out of the way in time, and I watched with terror as the thing collapsed to the forest floor, trembling. I could hear its labored breathing, and see it try to push itself up to a sitting position. It failed, and fell back down. Against my better judgment, a twinge of pity stirred in my chest, and I edged cautiously towards the dark figure.

"Um... are you... okay?" I asked. Well, squeaked, more like. The thing shifted suddenly at the sound of my voice, and I scurried backwards swiftly.

"Rrrr…Rebecca? R... Risa? Rikki? Rikki--that was it! Rikki?" it croaked, its voice hoarse and cracked. I froze on the spot, blinking confusedly. How did it know my name? "Rikki, is that you?" it said again.

It managed to push itself up, though I still couldn't see it in the shadows. What looked like an arm reached out for me, grasping at my leg. I shuffled away, out of its reach, confusion beginning to dominate the fear I felt.

"Well, don't just stand there, help me, you stupid girl!" it croaked, sounding distinctly annoyed. I paused, thinking hard. Then it clicked into place. "Erik? Erik, is that you?" I said.

"Yes! Yes, of course it's me! Who else would it be? Now get over here and help me up!" he snapped.

I let out a cry of relief and launched myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck. "Oh Erik! I was sure the giant had killed you! I was all alone, you were dead, and I couldn't find my way back! I thought I was going to be eaten by wolves or freeze to death or something! And then I ran into Rumpelstiltskin, and he made me play a game, and I won but then he ripped himself if half, and now we have to go rescue the miller's daughter before she gets beheaded by the king, since Rumpelstiltskin is too dead to do it himself, and I need your help because I don’t think I can do it by myself! Oh Erik, thank God you found me!" I was slightly blue in the face after finishing all of this. I said it all in one breath, my relief at finding Erik again overwhelming.

Unfortunately, Erik didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. He gave a whimper of pain when I launched myself at him, and pushed me off with a growl. "Ow! Get off me! What in the world are you talking about?" he demanded, his face screwed up in pain.

I backed off, trying to get a better look at him in the darkness. "Wait... are you hurt? What happened? Did the giant get you after all?”

"No, I'm perfectly fine,” he snarled in reply, “I just had to battle and escape from a thirty foot tall giant hell bent on revenge by myself with only a bow and arrow to help me which are pretty much as effective against a giant as a bee sting would be against you, thanks for asking, how 'bout you?"

I felt myself go red. Of course he must have been hurt, the fact that he was lying in a heap on the forest floor was proof enough of that.

But then Erik sighed, and grit his teeth. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," he muttered, as if the apology physically pained him. "I'm just in a little pain right now."

Well, that just made me feel worse. Where as before I just felt dumb for asking a stupid question, now I felt guilty for making Erik feel guilty for making me feel dumb.

Or whatever was going on. But there was no point in dragging the awkwardness out any more than we already had, so I focused myself on what I knew I could help with.

"So, where does it hurt?" I asked, my voice steadier and stronger now. I noticed that Erik was cradling his left arm, and I reached for it. He scooted backwards a bit, but I grabbed him anyway. He flinched when I touched it, though I could tell he was trying to hide the level his discomfort.

"So your arm? Here?" I asked, putting pressure on his wrist, "Or here?" I said, moving to his forearm.

"No, actually, it doesn't hurt that bad. I'll be fine, really,” he insisted, trying to pull away.

I didn't let go, instead shooting him an incredulous look. "I thought you just said you were in terrible pain after battle a thirty foot giant? Which is it, are you hurt or not?"

"I'm fine. I was just making a fuss. No big deal, really," he replied, increasing his efforts to squirm out of my grasp. He moved wrong, and gave a yelp of pain that he tried but failed to turn into a fake cough.

"That’s what you get for not holding still,” I admonished. “I’m first aid certified, so just sit still and shut up—unless I ask you a question. Or if something hurts. Actually, it’s fine to talk in general, just quit lying and being so sarcastic. I’m just trying to help.” I ran my hands up and down the length of his forearm, judging his reactions and trying to feel the bones as best I could. “There is some serious bruising here, and it seems to be hurting you pretty badly. I think you might have a fracture. There isn’t any displacement or deformity that I can see or feel, so hopefully it isn’t anything too bad. Anything else in pain? And don't try to put on a tough guy and tell me you're fine!" I said, glaring at him as he began shaking his head to deny any other injuries.

He gave me a morose glare, and motioned to his leg. "I think I twisted my ankle," he muttered. I touched it lightly, and he winced. I sighed, gently pulled off his boot and rolled up his pant leg, trying to move his foot as little as possible.

His ankle was swollen to the size of a cantaloupe, and an ugly purple color that I could make out even in this darkness. “Shit…” I hissed under my breath. “It might be worse than a sprain,” I told him, “but there isn’t any real way of knowing for sure without an x-ray.”

“A what?”

“Can you walk on it? I mean, I assume you can since you got all the way out here. How much does it hurt?”

Erik shrugged. “It’s not crippling. At least, it wasn’t two hours ago when it happened.”

“But you’ve been walking on it since,” I said, and Erik nodded.

“Now that I’ve stopped, I’m not sure if I can keep going on it.”

I pulled off the cloak I was wearing. The red one. The one I stole. On accident. I stared at it for a moment, feeling guilty about what I was going to do. I had wanted to return it in perfect condition, but at this moment Erik needed it more then Little Red did. With some effort, I tore off a long thin strip from the bottom, then took a hold of Erik's arm, trying to locate the break. As I did my best to fashion a crude sling for him, thanking providence my brief summer job as a lifeguard required me to get my first aid certification, I took advantage of Erik's trapped state to question him.

"So, how did you get away?"

"It wasn't easy," Erik admitted. "I had to avoid being crushed, first of all. That didn't go too well." He gestured to his broken arm with his good one. "I managed to lead him out of the clearing, a little into the forest where the trees there closer together. Their size makes it hard for them to maneuver in confined spaces like that, so that helped me for at least a little while. But then he got frustrated, and just began knocking down trees like they were saplings, trying to get at me. Half an acre of forest is completely demolished." He shook his head sadly. 

I finished with his arm, and tore off another strip of cloth for his ankle. 

He used his good hand to help me hold the cloth in place while he continued his account. "One of the trees nearly crushed me. As it was, my foot was trapped underneath it. Luckily it wasn’t too big of a tree, and my foot wasn’t completely crushed. I think it was pulling myself free that did more damage, honestly. The giant almost got me then, while I was stuck, but I still had my bow and arrow and was able to get a shot right into one of his eyes. While he was thrashing around and howling in pain, I managed to get my foot free and escape into the woods. I headed in the direction I saw you run off in, but between the pain was clouding my mind and the darkness, I wasn’t in much of a state to track you. I wandered around for a couple of hours until I heard something blundering around in the undergrowth, and I thought no animal could possibly be that loud and clumsy, so I figured it had to be you and I headed in that direction. Sure enough, I ran right into you."