A gilded, suffocating manor where time seems to have stopped. The chimes of a distant clock tower are the only measure of passing hours.
She hesitated. The air grew thick, syrupy. The glass slipper on her nightstand began to hum, a low, warning vibration. Obey.
Ella walked to the grand staircase. She was not wearing the glass ballet heels. She carried them in one hand, and the mirror shard hidden in the folds of her tattered gown.
The mirrors exploded. The step-family froze mid-grin, then crumbled into porcelain dust. Reinhard stumbled back, clutching his chest, as a black, oily substance bled from his mouth. Cinderella Escape- R18 -Hajime Doujin Circle-
“Invert the story. Cinderella doesn’t run from the ball. She burns the castle down.”
She stepped through. Behind her, the manor collapsed into a silent heap of glass dust and wilted roses.
“Ella!” he gasped, reaching for her ankle. “I gave you everything! The gowns, the palace, the eternal dance!” A gilded, suffocating manor where time seems to have stopped
The lock clicked. The slipper fell.
It was the day of the ball. Again.
“For the next phase of our dance,” he said. “You see, I’ve grown tired of the ball. Let’s try a new scenario. Tonight, you will wear these and walk the length of the grand staircase. If you fall, the glass breaks. If the glass breaks…” He leaned close, his breath cold against her ear. “You know what happens when you break a gift.” The air grew thick, syrupy
She opened the box.
A knock at the door. Three even, metallic raps.
The west parlor was lined with floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Reinhard stood in the center, tall and impossibly handsome, his smile a blade wrapped in velvet. At his feet lay a box wrapped in black ribbon.
And the manor screamed .