The Girl in the Dark

A Cold

Gothel had never wanted children, she despised them with every inch of her being, however she had adored the attention she received from men, in particular, when she was pregnant.

Everyone rushed around her, offering to help her in any way they could, offering her money, food, remedies to soothe the pain of morning sickness (little did they know about the flower), and even toys and knitted blankets, for when the little pest arrived. She was only a poor, helpless, single woman, who's "husband" had abandoned her, after all.

The attention only grew, when the little brat was finally born.

Gothel placed the child, who she had called: Cassandra, in the pink and white pram, decorated with frilly laces and ribbons she'd received as a gift, and drew a floral blanket over her, to keep her warm.

She then strolled over to her vanity and grabbed her favourite, long, black cloak from the set of hangers and draped it around her form.

The baby whined, wiggling impatiently inside the buggy.

Gothel sighed, as she opened the cottage door and reversed the pram out, into the front garden.

Cassandra looked up at the deep, blue sky in awe, and reached a hand up, as if she was trying to touch it.

As Gothel pushed the stroller through the forest, Cassandra's curiosity only grew.
She kept waving her hands at every treetop, every bird and every cloud, whilst screaming: "Dat!", which was some stupid baby talk, Gothel couldn't be bothered to even try and understand.

When they finally arrived in town, Gothel wheeled Cassandra towards a market stall, which sold fresh produce, such as fruit and vegetables.

"Good morning, Gothel," the man, at the stall, beamed, "how are you?"

"Fine, thank you, Travis. And yourself?"

"I'm great!" Travis replied, before his eyes travelled to the pram, "oh, this must be your new arrival!"

Gothel jumped at those words, almost forgetting that Cassandra was there.

"O-oh, yes, this is Cassandra," she replied.

Travis peered into the baby carriage and waved.

"Hello, little one! Don't you look just like your mother?!"

Gothel held in a scoff. Cassandra was cute, she had to admit, with, her huge eyes, pale skin, that rivalled Snow White's, that stupid fairytale character, an adorable, little button nose, and tufts of dark-brown, wavy hair that were just beginning to sprout, but she doubted she would grow up to look as breathtaking as her, and if she did, then, stabbing her would only take a second and watching her bleed out would be satisfying.

"It must be hard," Travis said, dragging Gothel from her thoughts, "caring for her on your own."

Gothel quickly nodded, ready to seek attention.

"Oh it is!" She whinged, dramatically, "all the crying, the nappy changing, the lack of sleep, the feeding, the burping, on top of everything else I need to do! It's absolutely exhausting!"

"I bet it is," Travis replied, "listen, if you ever need my help, I'm always here for you."

Gothel smiled and gushed about how thankful she was to him, before bidding him a "good day," and striding off.

"Good morning, Gothel, dear!"

Alice, the flower seller, practically ran up to her, with a wide smile.

"Good morning, Alice," Gothel said, behind gritted teeth. How she hated just how cheerful the woman was.

Alice gasped when she saw Cassandra and instantly began baby talking, which made the infant giggle and coo.

"What a sweetie! What's her name?"

"Cassandra."

"Oh that's such a beautiful name!" Alice squealed, "you must be so proud of her, but I'd imagine it's hard, all on your own."

Gothel once again put on the act of the lonely, single woman, who was going above and beyond for her baby. It worked every time.

Many months went by, and it became part of Gothel's weekly routine to bring her baby daughter into town, and act as the poor, lonely woman everyone saw her as, to gain sympathy, however, she was starting to notice how the attention was shifting from her, to Cassandra.

"Isn't she gorgeous?" One woman mused.

"Look at her little nose!" Another cooed.

Other women and even men fussed over her, showering her with compliments like "adorable!" And "darling!"

It made Gothel sick.

This was why, after a while, she decided to keep her daughter locked away in the cottage, and trained her up to be nothing more than a slave.

By the age of four, the girl grew into a thin, bony little thing, who was far from looking anything even relating to cute.

However, as of the age of twenty-two, Gothel had reached for her knife a couple of times, but had managed to restrain herself. Without her, the house would be a mess, her clothes wouldn't be cleaned and the cooking wouldn't be done, so it was worth keeping her around for a while longer, she supposed.

"Good morning, Mother, did you sleep well?" Cassandra asked, putting water in the kettle.

"I slept fine."

"That's good. D-did you like your dinner?"

"It was fine."

Cassandra narrowed her eyes, when Gothel didn't even look up from what she was reading to address her.

She put the kettle on the boil and sat down.

"S-so what are you reading?" She asked.

Gothel signed and looked up.

"Cassandra, would you be a dear and be a little quieter!" She hissed, "can't you see that I'm trying to read?"

Cassandra jumped a little but nodded.

"I-I'm sorry mother."

"Lousy, little pest."

Rapunzel noticed that something didn't quite feel right, as she sat down with her parents and began to eat.

"Are you alright, Rapunzel?" Queen Arianna asked, her brow crinkling.

"I-I-feel sorta hot and d-dizzy."

King Fredric put his hand on Rapunzel's forehead.

"You have a temperature!" He exclaimed.

"I-I'm sure I'm fine. It's probably just a cold."

"I think it'll be better to get you checked out first, just in case," Arianna said.

Rapunzel was about to protest, when her mind went completely blank.

She looked down at her half-eaten breakfast and felt her stomach churn.

"Please, may I leave the table?" She asked.

"Rapunzel, you've barely touched your food," Arianna replied, "I think we do need to get you to a medic."

"I-I'm fine, really!" Rapunzel shrugged, standing up from her chair.

Her legs began to wobble and her dizziness became overwhelming.

She leant against the chair, causing it to topple over, when her legs gave way, and she fell back. She smacked her head against the ground.

The last thing she heard was her parents crying her name, hysterically, before everything faded to black.