Some Cinderella Story

Cheri was a slave. There was nothing glamorous about her life. She had been a slave since birth, and when her mother’s owners got tired of caring for a whining useless baby, they sold her for the highest bid. She was purchased by a plantation owner who had an unusually high amount of sympathy than the other white people of the south. She was raised by the plantation owner’s wife until she was 16 years old. However, tragedy struck when the plantation owner was killed by a neighboring plantation’s runaway slave. Cheri’s home was sold off, and she was purchased this time by a rich woman with two daughters her same age. Upon arriving at her new home, Cheri saw before her a giant mansion, painted purely in white. When the mistress saw Cheri eyeing up the mansion, she grabbed her arm and quickly jolted her around to the back of the house. There Cheri saw a little run-down shack, with holes in the ceiling and walls. With downcast eyes, Cheri knew this was her new home.
Any hopes that Cheri had about befriending the two daughters were quickly shattered. You see, by this time in her life, Cheri had grown into a pretty young girl. She had long, flowing dark hair and big green eyes. For being a slave for her entire life, she had no physical signs of abuse or mistreatment. The daughters, on the other hand, were not as easy on the eyes. They were rich of money, not beauty, and it quickly came to be that the daughters were very jealous of Cheri’s beauty. Adding to their jealousy was Cheri’s charming personality and intellect. The girls, full of hatred of not being as gifted as a slave girl, quickly took to physically beating Cheri, in hopes of destroying her beauty and charm. Month after month, the sisters abused and tormented Cheri. Being the only slave on the property, she was completely alone, and took the full front of the sister’s ferocity. For two years, the abuse went on and slowly but surely, Cheri’s beauty and charm were worn down and nearly erased.
During the summertime two years after Cheri first arrived at that horrid mansion, a nearby family of considerable nobility was holding a ball, in which the prince of the family was hoping to find a suitable bride. The daughters were anxious to attend and impress the prince, as rich young girls in their prime will often do. Cheri, overhearing their conversations, wanted very badly to join as well. Just hearing about the handsome, rich prince ignited a fire in her that she thought the sisters had extinguished. So, the night of the ball, after the sisters and the mistress had departed, Cheri stole a dress and headed for the castle. Upon reaching the castle, Cheri snuck inside and, getting her first glimpse of the handsome prince, fell instantly in love. Wasting no time, she ran up to him and requested a dance. The prince, not wanting to hurt the young girl’s heart, agreed, and the dancing commenced. Her heart aflutter, the dance was stopped by the voices of the two sisters. She turned around, and saw them pointing and laughing, mocking every bit of her persona. The entire crowd joined in, and the prince, who wanted to keep his appearance and status, backed away from Cheri laughing, stating he was only doing a public service. Horrified and embarrassed, Cheri ran out of the castle and into the woods sobbing.
Coming across a clearing, Cheri sat on the ground and cried until she could not force any more tears. All of a sudden, a breeze blew around her, and the forest was lit up with supernatural light. Cheri looked around fearfully but could not muster the strength to run anymore. Out of the light, a shape took form, and a woman stood before Cheri, wearing a wonderfully beautiful gown. The woman, however, was repulsive, with warts covering her face, and patches of hair missing from her head. The woman began cackling, and introduced herself as Cheri’s guardian spirit. She stated she was here to help Cheri find happiness and freedom, and would restore her beauty if Cheri promised to take revenge on the mistress and the horrid sisters. Her sorrow turning to hate, Cheri happily agreed, and the woman raised her arms into the air. The unnatural light swirled around Cheri, and she felt as if her body was on fire. She screamed out in agony, than collapsed on the ground.
When Cheri awoke, the forest was quiet, and the only light was pouring down from the moon. She rose to her feet, and walked to the nearby stream. When glancing into the water, she was shocked to find her beauty restored. Remembering her promise to the woman in the forest, Cheri quickly headed back to the mansion, planning her vengeance along the way. The hatred in her heart was only matched by her renewed vigor and insight; she knew exactly what needed to be done to repay the woman for the miraculous gift. Upon reaching the mansion, all was quiet, and Cheri found the mistress in her room, accompanied by the carriage driver, both fast asleep in her bed. Acting quickly, Cheri went to the first sister’s room and, taking a razor from the sister’s vanity mirror, covered her mouth and slit the sister’s throat. Her dark blood ran down her neck, and began soaking the snow white sheets. Lifting the corpse out of the bed, Cheri carried her to the mistress’s chamber.
With the sister’s body slumped over her shoulder, Cheri walked over to the mistress’s side of the bed and laid the body down. Next she moved to the carriage driver and slit his throat as easily as the sisters. Being as quiet as she could, she stooped down, and covered her hands in the blood. A pool began to form as the blood ran off the bed, and Cheri stepped both feet into it. She walked out of the room, leaving blood-stained footsteps, and stopped at the door. With her blood soaked hands, she closed the big wooden doors, and wrote her name in the driver’s blood.
Her mind full of hate and her madness at the peak, Cheri ran to the furnace in the basement of the house and grabbed a shovel-full of red-hot coals. Carefully carrying them up to the remaining sister’s chamber, Cheri swiftly executed the last part of her plan for revenge. Placing the hot coals in string baskets, she hung them directly over the last sister, just barely above her face. The stage was set, with all the parts in place. Now was the time for her vengeance. Making her way back into the mistress’s chamber, the mansion was filled with silence. Cheri stood just outside the mistress’s chamber, and let out a deathly wail.
Her scream ripped through the mansion, piercing the souls of the sinners within. The sister awoke with a fright and, just as Cheri expected, sat right up, planting her face into the smoldering hot coals above her. The mistress, a sound sleeper, had only stirred with the first scream, but was now fully awake with the second. She turned to the driver and tried to wake him. When she put her hand on his chest, she felt the warm liquid. Hastily she jumped off the bed, only to trip over a mass at the side of her bed. Just then, Cheri threw open the door, throwing the light from lamps in the hallway into the room. The mistress screamed, looking first at the body of her daughter covered in blood, then at the dark figure standing in her doorway.
Cheri’s eyes glowed with a supernatural presence, and she began cackling hysterically. Her laugh chilled the heart of the mistress, who backed up against the window of her room. Cheri stepped out of the room, closing the doors and locking them from the outside. The mistress ran to the doors, pounding and trying to open them. Cheri walked down the hallway, and found the other sister lying dead on the floor of her room, the smell of burning flesh still lingering in the air. As she walked past the mistress’ chamber for the last time, she could hear the sobbing from behind the door. Cheri let out a horrid laugh, which was the last thing anyone ever heard from her. She left the mansion and escaped into the woods just as the sun was coming up.