Scream

"It is not me who can break your curse"

Henry looked at the witch blankly. The witch sighed. 'Handsome but no brain'

"It's Irene. Only she can break the curse since she was the last person to be called ugly by you-"

"But I called you ugly too", Henry intercepted.

The witch sighed again. "I don't count. I'm not a "person" technically. So, no. It's Irene"

Henry's face turned pale. How could he asked that person to love him? She hated him. 'I should have chosen my words carefully just now. Now what?'

The witch disappeared and Henry paced around his room. Racking his brain for ideas.

"She walked towards the forest therefore somewhere in the forest is her house then? Urgh, not only she's ugly but she lives in the middle of nowhere. She might get some money for seducing old man but i guess that's not enough. How can my father….", thought of his father, Henry sighed. A wise man should never be seduced by something that easy.

"But...that girl...that Irene, why did I felt like I know her? But I don't friend with uglies"

Still pacing around, Henry can't find any idea. Maybe he should wonder around the mansion and town to test who else can see him. Decided that's the best, Henry went out for a walk.

Walking aimlessly, his high hope of finding someone who can see him was crushed because apparently no one else can see him. He couldn't even ask anyone of Irene's whereabouts.

Henry looked towards the eerie woods. This woods was surrounded by a mysterious and dark aura. Maybe it was cursed but no one dare to point it out. It really different from when Henry came this morning.

He walked into the woods hastily and was afraid of wild beast or some other things will target him. Henry walked deep in the forest and he can't even see the midnight sky. It was covered by thick tall trees. The canopy of the forest was covered by some other plants either parasites or not, Henry's couldn't tell.

Nocturnal fauna were found wandering around but none actually sense Henry's presence.

Out of the blue, Henry heard a scream.

He ran towards the sound and he came across an old run down mansion. It was covered by moss and curling plants. It looked abandoned but Henry knew it is not because of the lights in the room were lit.

High pitched scream was heard again.

This time Henry was sure it came from within the mansion. He did not bother to knock or call for help because no one will see him anyway.

Henry walked in the mansion, looking for the source of the scream. He glided through the hallways and peek into every room, locating the scream.

Then, he peek into a maid chamber in the basement and he was shocked when he saw…..

-------------------------------

Irene was doing her chore quietly when Adeline, Madam Angelina's daughter, disturbed her.

"Hey, what are you doing? Come with me for a second. I need a volunteer to test my work,"

Irene looked at her blankly and in monotonous, she replied, "I'm doing my work. Madam will get mad at me if she found out I'm abandoning my work just to be your lab rat. And plus, volunteer means I have to be willing. I'm not willing to sacrifice my life to be your volunteer"

Adeline just rolled her eyes and grabbed Irene's hand, forcing her to come, "Just do what I ask you. Don't be such a smarta**,"

Irene relaxed herself and walked with Adeline. She knew that Adeline wouldn't give up and ended up forcing her anyway. They arrived in the kitchen and Adeline gave Irene a slice of cake. It has dark blue frosting.

"All you have to do is taste this." Adeline commanded.

'All you have to do is taste this. Easy for you to say. I got food poisoning when I tasted your cooking before. Just by thinking about it makes my stomach churn.' Irene grumbled.

Not saying a word, Irene tried taking a bite of the cake. The moment Irene tasted the cake, she choked and spit it out.

Running to the sink, Irene gurgled some water and spit it out again, washing her mouth.

"What did you put in that cake", Irene asked. Her voice sound huskier.

"Em, just the norms. Butter, sugar, essense, eggs, salt, pepper, chilli sauce, ketchup and some other stuff. So how does it taste?"

Irene stared at Adeline. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. No matter how angry she get, she can't really be mad at her master's daughter even though they knew each other since childhood.

'How does it taste? she asked. You freaking put pepper and sauces in the cake and you freaking asked me how does it taste. I will shove this cake in your mouth if you ask me to finish this', Irene thought, not saying it out loud.

"It taste horrible. Don't put useless stuff in a cake. Just follow the recipe that the chef wrote. I don't want to taste anymore of these disastrous food from you."

Adeline scoffed. She smirked and said in sinister tone "Ha! That will be boring. I will not get to see your funny reaction if I actually follow the recipe. Finish the cake or I will tell my mother that you try to poison me with that cake"

Irene stumped. 'How dare she threatened me. I show you how!!'

Grabbing the whole piece of cake, Irene shoved it right into Adeline's mouth.

"You dare to threaten me? Your mother is not here. I follow your mother but not you. Even if she's here, what can she do to me?!"

Tears streaming down Adeline's cheeks. She choked on the cake and was screaming on top of her lung when she actually managed to swallow the cake down.

BAMM

The kitchen table was flipped. Yes flipped.

"You shoved a cake into my daughter's mouth and you threaten her?? What can I do to you?! I CAN DO ANYTHING TO YOU!!"

Madam Angelina's voice shook Irene's soul. She quickly lowered her gaze but Madam Angelina's aura was too heavy causing her to kneel in front of her.

To the outside world, Madam Angelina is a wife of a wealthy and successful merchant. But to those who live in the mansion, they knew that was not all. Madam Angelina is a sorcerer.

A python suddenly came out from under Madam Angelina's dark blue dress and curled itself around Irene.

Irene couldn't resist. She was scared witless. But she couldn't move even if she was not scare of the snake.

"Follow me" Madam Angelina commanded.

Words have powers. Irene followed her to her room in the basement. Other maids have their own room on the ground floor but only Irene was given the basement's room.

Inside the room, only a bed and a cupboard were there. Everything was lifeless and as soon as Madam Angelina walked into the room, it turned even more darker than it was before.

"Kneel"

Irene knelt before her. Adeline watched the show quietly behind her mother. Enjoying herself feeling her revenge will be fully paid.

Madam Angelina brought her right hand above her head and suddenly a whip appeared.

WHIPP

"I give you one chance to explain yourself. What did you do to my daughter?"

Irene trembled.

"I shoved a cake in her mouth but I only did it becau….."

WHIPPP

"Arghhhh" Irene screamed out loud.

"I change my mind. I don't want to hear your pathetic excuse. You should know better. You should never defy me. Oh or do you think that my daughter is easy to bully? You want to let out your grudge for me to her? Ha! Think again!"

"N-no.. I just…"

"Mother, she was bullying me. She tried to poison me with the cake.", Adeline intercepted.

Madam Angelina let out even darker aura and the room was suffocating.

"You. Try. To. POISON. MY. daughter?!"

"N-no. No! I did not!! She asked me to taste the cake that she made. But I don't want to finish it so she…"

WHIPP

"Arghhhhh", tears fell and Irene felt hopeless. She knew that she can't turn this around. No one will be able to help her.

"You dare to accuse her?! You shameless whore!! I LET YOU HAVE YOUR OWN LIFE BUT YOU WENT AROUND SEDUCING OLD MEN, GETTING THEIR SYMPATHY AND MONEY. NOW YOU THINK THAT YOU HAVE GROWN AND TRY TO HAVE YOUR REVENGE????"

"I-I did n-not seduce anyone. I-I was j-just helping them. They were nice so I'm n-nice to them too."

Madam Angelina and Adeline scoffed. Adeline suddenly have this wicked idea to humiliate Irene. She stepped forward next to her mother.

"Take off your dress. We'll see the proof that you were not selling your body" Adeline said. Madam Angelina smirked, currently please with her daughter's idea.

"W-what? N-no. Please." Irene begged.

Madam Angelina's eyes turned cold and commanded, "Strip!"

Without her consent, Irene was force. She can't resist the magic. Irene slowly unzip her dress with tears rolling down her cheeks, feeling humiliated.

She turned around, really can't bear to face the mother-daughter combo. She slowly slide off her right arm and trying to remove the one piece dress off her left arm.

Suddenly she froze, causing Madam Angelina and Adeline who were enjoying the show to questioned her, "Aren't you going to show us proof?"

Irene still froze, looking at the door. Suddenly she fell on the floor with a thud. The other two were puzzled.

That's rude. Just by seeing my face she fainted. But, well if you suddenly saw a head coming through your door, I think you will faint too. Fair enough' Henry thought.