Chapter Two: Three Shades of White

~July 18th 1254~

"Can I ask you a question, Stella?"
Snow White stood at the window of the highest tower of the castle, overlooking the Kingdom. It was summer, but autumn was on it's way.

Snow White had eyes green as emeralds, lips red as blood, hair as black as a raven's feathers and skin as pale as snow.
She was the only daughter of King Stefan, and she was the rightful heir to the throne. Until now. It was her father's wedding day, he was getting married to Stella, a lady he had rescued from a conquered kingdom.
Snow's mother had passed away when she was very young.
Snow White turned around to face Stella.
"Sure, anything," she said.
"Do you really love my father?"

Stella was quiet as she considered the question. 

"Of course I do. Why else would I be marrying him?"

"I can think of a few reasons."

Their eyes met and Stella merely glared at Snow. She had always despised the wretched princess.

"I love your father, Snow. Whether you like it or not."
Snow's step-mother-to-be turned away from her and faced her mirror.
"I need to finish up now."

"So be a dear, and hand me my hair brush, Snowy."
Her voice was sarcastic.
Snow hated it.

~*~

The wedding march started playing, and King Stefan and Princess Snow stood by the thrones, along with the Bishop, who was leading the ceremony.
Stella walked down the aisle, radiant and beautiful.
Snow felt sick to the stomach.

King Stefan took Stella's hands in his, and together they stood in front of the Bishop, ready to get married.
Snow White stood next to her father, eyeing Stella carefully. She saw something catch light on Stella's dress, a silver gleam. Snow looked again, but she saw nothing.
Must be her imagination.

"We are all gathered here today..."
The Bishop's voice droned on, he talked about God, marriage and how important love is. Snow had never met anyone before for whom she had cared for in a romantic way.
She pushed the thoughts from her mind.
The Bishop was coming to an end.

"Do you take Stella Ravenna Lockwood as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"And do you take King Stefan White, his majesty, as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

Finally came the kiss, the gesture that will seal the deal, and will put Stella second in charge of the whole kingdom.

Stefan and Stella's lips touched, and she was Queen.

Snow saw the gleam of the silver object again. It was a knife.

Too late to do anything, she saw how Stella sent the knife through her father's body, blooding leaking out form the backside.

"What... are you doing?"

Stefan's voice was barely a whisper.

His eyes were wide, as he felt his life being sucked out form him by Stella. It's then that he realized what she was.

A Witch.

"Taking your throne."

Air rippled from Stella's body as Snow tried to reach for her. The Bishop and Snow were knocked back. The Bishop knocked his head against a column, and he was out. 

All the guards in the room fell down spontaneously. She must be spelling them.

Quickly, Snow picked up a sword and charged towards Stella.

A spray of fire came hurtling towards Snow, and she quickly dodged out of the way.
She swore under her breath as she saw Stella gathering power, getting ready to throw it at her.

"I hate you, you know?" Stella said as she shot a wave of steam and air towards Snow.

Snow was sent backwards, and she landed in between the seats, knocking her head against the wood.

She looked up at Stella, who was floating higher and higher, air and dust gathering around her/

"It's high time, I finished you!" Stella screamed hysterically and she shot a stream of water, fire, wind and dust towards Snow.

Snow saw the oncoming doom and she closed her eyes, as she felt the ice and heat of the four elements washing over her, starting to suck her life out of her...

She just wished she could have hit the bitch at least once...

~August 18th 2012~

Clea  Emerson bolted up in her bed after having tossed in turned all night. Wait until Angelia founds out she's having the dreams again. Sighing Clea climbed out of bed and glanced outside, it was so nice out and she wanted to go for a swim but the pool still needed cleaning. 

Getting dressed Clea tossed a book in her beach bag and headed to the seaside pool believing she could be alone there as few people ever went there considering the other public pools in town and that most people, like her, had their own.

After reading for awhile she set her book down and decided to take nap in the shade of the beach umbrella. She still felt tired not having slept well the night before due to her nightmare.

When she woke up Clea was shocked to see the sun was already starting to set, she had not intended to sleep that long. Having worn her swimsuit under her clothes Clea starts to remove her shirt when she notices a man watching her. "Do you mind?" She asks, lowering her shirt. 

"Not at all" He replies with a cocky grin continuing to stare as she grabs her bag and starts to head towards one of the changing rooms. "Oh, come on, lighten up Princess."

"My name," She said, now getting quite annoyed, "is Clea."

"Richard." He stated simply, having somehow managed to come around and step in front of her.
"Outta my way, Dick." Clea placed her hand on his chest to push him away.
"Ooh, I'm hurt. Never gotten that one before." He replied, still that same cocky smirk glued to his face but let her pass none the less.

A short time later Clea came back out from the changing booth after having removed not only her clothing but also her make up as well as having tied her hair into an intricate braid.

"Whoa there. How did you do your hair that fast, let alone everything else on top of it?" Richard was still there.

"I'm good with my hands." Clea replied flatly.
Richard laughed "Oh I bet you are."
"That's not what I meant." She sneered. 

"Your words, not mine. Well, I've gotta get going. See you around sometime....Princess."

After he was gone Clea jumped into the pool and had a quick swim before heading home, undoing her hair on the way.

 "Someone's been swimming." Angelia, Clea's bestfriend and roommate said with a laugh as she came in.

"Swimming?" Clea asked," No I actually went into public without straightening my hair first, of course I was swimming Angie. So how was your day?

"Ugh. Tell me Clea, how did love get so off course? I mean, when did it all get so complicated, you know? Wasn't it that you used to think you would just find the right guy right away and just be together and that would be it?" 

"I don't know sweetie. So I'm guessing the Mayor, our boss, still doesn't notice that you're in love with him?" Clea asked as kindly as possible despite her thoughts on the situation.

"Of course he doesn't notice me." Angelia replied, "I'm just his house keeper. He knows you better than he does me, and you're his daughter's tutor."

~ January 18th, 2936~

Emily White sprang up from her bed, sweaty and trembling from the nightmare she just had. She has been having the same recurring nightmare every night for a week; ever since that terrible day when Carimir the Great, dictator and ruler of their homeland, Grimvalley, had her parents killed.

The trauma she experienced that day had left her with repeating nightmares and flashbacks of that day. Just two years prier Carimir the Great banned all things supernatural and if you were to get caught breaking that law you were issued the death sentence. Her parents were caught practicing witchcraft.

Emily's breathing began to return to its normal pace and her heartbeat slowed. Finally she was able to think and notice her surroundings again. Just then Nickolas woke up, curious about all noise coming from Emily's bed.

"Emily?! Are you alright?" Nickolas asked with concern in his voice.

She pulled her knees closer to her chest and her hands rested in underneath it. She didn't look at her bother and instead just narrowed her eyes.

"I had the nightmare again, Nickolas," Emily said in barely a whisper.

 "Again? The same one?"
"Y-yes." Emily chocked up on the last word and tears began to swell up in her eyes. She couldn't hold in the sadness any longer. Soon Emily's cheeks were soaked in tears.

Nickolas noticed the sudden tears and jumped up from his bed to go comfort his baby sister. He sat on the edge of Emily's bed and pulled her close to him; arms wrapped around her, he tried his best to calm her down.
"W-why did they have to kill mom and dad, Nickolas? They just wanted to make to make a cure for the supernaturals that couldn't hide their identity. They were doing Cairmir a favor and he still had them killed," Emily sobbed. "Mom and dad are not witches. A-and I just want them back. Nickolas I want mom and dad back."

"They can't come back Emily, you and I both know that. But at least we have each other and I promise you that I will always protect you. I will always be here for you no matter what. I will never leave you. Just like dad always says 'you're a princess that needs to be protected'."

"Thank you, Nickolas. You're my knight in shining armor."

~*~
Thank you all for reading the second chapter of Hourglass.

Please leave a comment and tell us what you think!

Thank you Ashby Lemi for letting us use her sim.

Thank You Charmain Collins for her sim for the role of Stella the Witch.

~Dawn, Skylar and Addy~

Chapter One: Initiate

 ~March 7th, 2937~

Just on the outskirts of Grimvalley near the pond by the rocks, two kids are playing. It was just another day in the wasteland we used to call America, but the dead plants and sandy surroundings didn't seem to bother the two kids at all. They're having the time of their lives playing their favorite game 'Huntsmen and Supernaturals'.
"I'm gonna get you, you evil witch."
"Just try and get me you huntsman before I put a spell on you."

Emily was much faster then Alex, so it was hard to catch her. She usually always wins 'Huntsmen and Supernaturals , but not today because Alex had a plan. When Emily wasn't looking, Alex hid behind a giant rock that was more then twice his size, and waited until Emily came to him.

When Emily was looking for where Alex went she walked right by the rock that he was hiding behind. Then Alex jumped out from his hiding place, pointed his finger gun at her and yelled, "BANG! Huntsman wins!"

Emily fell to the ground with her hands clutching her midsection, laughing as hard as she can. Alex fell to his knees next to Emily, laughing as well.

"Alright you got me," Emily said, as she sat up on the ground.

"Finally! You run fast," Alex said to Emily, as he sat down across from her. 

"Yeah, but you're smart. You knew what to do to catch me," She said, smiling.

"Yeah I guess I did. Haha," he said, letting out another laugh.

Emily laughed again.

Alex quickly stopped laughing when he caught sight of something hiding in the bush.
"What's that?", he asked, getting up from the ground and walking towards the greenery.
"What's what?", Emily asked, following Alex's gaze.

"Is that a chest?", Alex asked, moving the leaves out of the way, "What's it doing out here?"
"I wonder what's inside," Emily said, starring hard at the wooden box.
"I'm gonna look inside."

Alex reaches over and undoes the latch, which was easy since it wasn't locked. He begins to open the chest when Emily stopped him. "ALEX! You don't open that. It might belong to someone."

"But if does belong to someone, why would they leave outside behind a rock? And besides it looks real old, whoever owned this chest must be long gone by now."

Emily didn't say anything as Alex opened up the chest and looked inside. "There's nothing but books and stuff in here."

"Maybe it belonged to a book collector or something."

"Maybe, but I thought there would be something cool, like toys or something."

There was some rustling noises coming from a distance, which caused Alex to quickly look out from the box.
Gasp!
"What was that?", Alex whispered.
"Maybe it's the owner of the box. See you shouldn't have opened it. They might be mad," Emily whispered back.
"We better get out of here."
"Yeah."

Alex and Emily sprinted away from the rocks and back towards town, fear of what might have made the noise could possibly be following them, running through their minds. Holding Emily's hand so they won't get separated,  Alex took the lead out of the grassy fields.

Once they each the safe haven of Alex's home he pulled a book out of his front overall pocket.
"Where'd you get that?", Emily asked, surprised by the sudden book in Alex's hand.
"From the chest. I put it in my pocket before we left," Alex responded.
"But what if whoever owns it finds it missing and come after us?"
"Relax. I don't think anyone saw us by the chest anyways. Now come on, let's see what it says."

Emily and Alex got seated by the table and Alex pulled out the large book and opened it.

"What kind of book is it?", Emily asked.

"Um, It's a journal."

"A Journal? You can't read someone's journal, Alex!"

"Relax, Emily. It says 2012. So whoever wrote this is dead. I'm pretty sure they won't care if we read it now."

"Well okay. What does it say?"

"Um," Alex looked down at the writing written in the journal and began reading it out loud,"November 8th, 2012. Rachel would probably laugh if she knew I have a journal, call it a diary. Ah, but I do love her...."

~November 8th, 2012~

  ...She’s still asleep now. She cut her hair recently, I’m still not used to it being short, it suits her though. She always looks so beautiful.  I wish I didn't have to work today, I can get away with making my own schedule most of the time but I can’t put off these meetings. Plus I’m having lunch with Jason Lee. I wonder if I should tell him I plan to ask Rachel to move with me on our date tonight, she spends most of her time here anyways and...

He closed his journal putting it in the desk as he heard her moving about in the bedroom.

“Aiden?”  She stood in the bedroom doorway, the robe he had gotten her hanging loosely over her body. “I woke up and you were gone.”

   “Morning sweetheart. Just doing some work. “It wasn't a complete lie; he had been looking over so files while writing in the journal. 

"Come back to bed baby.” Rachel said sweetly, her voice, soft and delicate, saying more than her words, come and lay with me and hold me and be with me and let me just fall back asleep in your arms.

 She walked over to him as he stood up and he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm tempted, sweetheart, I am, but I have work to do. "

"It's still dark out." She protested.

Aiden did not reply. "Please?" Rachel asked.  

"Sometimes I think, if you had your way, I would never get any work done." 

She let out a giggle, "I think you're right."

"It's a good thing then, my dear, that it's not up to you. Especially with you're family owning the compaction." 

"Aiden! Just what are you implying?"

"Nothing sweetheart, I know your motives for keeping me from work, while not pure, are entirely your own." She flushed bright red at that implication. 

"I love it when you blush like that" He said pulling her closer for a moment.

"But it's still not enough to get you to come back to bed, is it?" She asks, sadly, disappointed, already knowing the answer.

"If only I could, my sweet angel," He said gently caressing her cheek, "But I have a few meetings that I can't get out of, and I'm having lunch with your father."
After that Aiden took Rachel back to her apartment before heading to work.

The sun was starting to set as Aiden lounged on the back of his car outside of Rachel's apartment, waiting to take her out. They went to one of  their favorite restaurants and then to the theater, dinner and a movie, some may call it tired or cliche but to him it was simple and classic.

"I didn't know it would rain. Sorry." Aiden said apologetically 

"It's alright babes, it's not your fault." Rachel assured him.

"I'd offer you my jacket if I thought it would do any good, but it's soaking wet."

"Thanks anyway, sweetie."Rachel smiled at him "It's the thought that counts, right?"

"I guess," Aiden replied somewhat uncertain, "Let's head inside and get out of this weather before we miss the beginning of the movie. 
"What are we seeing anyways?" Rachel asked sweetly.
"It's a new take on Beauty and the Beast, they say it's the real tale finally told, or something like that."

~October 5th, 1254~

It all started on the day I heard the scream. It was bloodcurdling, and it sent a shiver down my back when I awoken from my slumber. I quickly threw on my boots and got my coat. I needed to help.

I left my castle, the one that my parents had left me after their untimely deaths. The Count and Countess Claw were respected people, and their death came as a shock to everyone.

Knowing what I know now, I would've never entered the woods. It was a journey that had changed my life. For the worse.

Being as clumsy as I was, I got myself lost. Great. That was just typical of me, Alexander Claw, to get myself lost in the middle of the forest. The insects and the hoot of an owl made me shiver, and it didn't help that it was cold either. What was I thinking? Going out into the night because I heard a scream?

 Then I saw it. A small shabby cabin in the path ahead of me. A single light shone from the window. I hurried to the cabin and knocked on the door. Maybe the person could help. But there was no answer, and I suddenly had the feeling of being watched. I turned the doorknob. 

I entered.

The cabin was cold as ice, and was lit by an single ominous glass ball in the back of the room. Fog, dust and shadows curled and coiled in the room, threatening to engulf me, to absorb me alive.
The door slammed shut.

I twirled around saw her. A woman, draped in black, shadows dripping from her flesh. She had startling green eyes and luscious blonde hair. Her skin was cracked and darkened, and her lips were dried out. She could have been beautiful. "Who are you?" I said, in a voice below a whisper.

"Hello Alexander. So nice to finally meet the son of the people that murdered my family." Her voice was cold and had an edge to it.

"I don't know what you're talking about..."
"Your father led the witch hunt that killed my parents. Luckily, I was saved so that I could avenge them." 

I chuckled. "Witches? You're a witch? Please, there are no things such as witches..."

"I'll show you my power!" She swirled her arms, and a gust of wind slammed into me. I was sent back wards.

Pillars sprang up from the thin air, and shackles grip my hands. They tightened and I was imprisoned, completely at the mercy of the woman before me. The woman who wanted revenge on my family. 

"I'm here to right the wrongs your family had made, Alexander. It's nothing personal really. You see, I was the one who killed your parents. I let them die slowly and painfully." This woman was mad.

"But before your father died, he told me that he had met my mother. They had been close. Too close. And I had been the fruit of that relationship. Your father wanted to get me and my mother killed for witchcraft, to protect his own bloody name."

"So you see Alexander, do you mind if I call you Alex? Very well, so you see Alex, I am your half-sister, and I am here to teach you a lesson. One you won't forget." The magic started rippling off her skin, clouds and wisps of red and purple light. 

"My mother and our father's love was fake, and unreal. It was based on looks and what the eye could see. So I'm cursing you, to search for someone who can love you for what you are on the inside. And I know what you are. You are kind and gentle. But with this curse, the eye will see something much more evil than that."

"Good luck, Brother." She sent a stream of energy through me and the glass ball behind me, intertwining my fate with it's fate, and she created a new me. She created the Beast.

Thank you for reading!!
Please leave a comment and tell us what you think!
Thank You Aideybabes Sims for your sim <3

~Dawn, Addy and Skylar~