Rapunzel Untangled (28 page)

Suddenly another form appeared next to him, clearly there and yet not quite solid, like a thick mist. Vedmak turned petrified eyes on the creature that was dark, with long, wild black hazy hair and dressed in a vaporous black robe that was shredded and torn. Where eyes should have been were gaping holes into nothingness. Its long black talons were lifted threateningly toward Vedmak. Rapunzel wondered wildly if this were the spirit Vedmak hoped to house within her body.

“What in the—” Fane’s shocked voice caught her attention. She saw that he stared with horrified disbelief at the scene before him.

“No!” Vedmak cried, terrified, tremors so violent it seemed to blur his features. “Please, I tried to get her—”

His words choked off as the misty hand moved toward him. She watched in shock as Vedmak seemed to
implode
. It was as if his body collapsed in on itself, aging at lightning speed as bolts of blue light shot from his hands, pinging around the room until finally they converged on him in one glorious, blinding blue ball of light, consuming him and the cloudy form that surrounded him.

A loud reverberation rent the air as a huge portion of the tower’s ceiling fell. “Come on, we have to get out of here!” she yelled over the noise of the house cracking apart.

Fane tore his eyes from the tower, focusing on her. “Right,” he said. Together, they turned and made their way downstairs, lurching against the movement and dodging falling items. Finally, they staggered out the front door and ran as quickly as possible away from the swaying house.

Rapunzel looked back and watched as the house crumbled after them.

 
^.*
*

R
apunzel sat on the edge of the hard hospital bed. Severe dehydration, malnutrition, and exhaustion had required her to stay in the hospital.

She didn’t have SCIDs.

That was the first thing they’d tested her for. Apparently it was nothing more than a ruse Gothel had used to keep her compliant with staying locked in the tower.

The police found the papers, read everything Rapunzel had, and now knew that Gothel had been responsible for the deaths of Gothel’s parents and husband—and she had kidnapped Rapunzel.

They’d done a DNA test on her to discover who she really was. It was disconcerting, not knowing. Everything she’d ever believed about herself was untrue. She wasn’t sick, she wasn’t a Gothel, and she wasn’t Rapunzel. Even her age and birthday weren’t her own. Gothel had given her June sixth as a birthday when in reality her birthday was December third. She was older than she’d thought by six months. In fact, her eighteenth birthday had passed while she was in the dungeon. They told her that her birth name was Sara Rowley. Her biological parents were John and Karen Rowley, who were now divorced.

Strangers.

She had nowhere to go.

Her door opened, and Fane walked in. Her face widened with a smile, faltering a little as her eyes dropped to the white bandage that covered the front of his neck and his arm in a sling. His shoulder was severely sprained from ramming against first the dungeon door to break it down, then the tower door trying to get to her. She cringed when she thought of how badly his battered shoulder must have hurt when he caught her as she fell. He’d been released from the hospital this morning.

“Even in the hospital, you manage to look hot. How do you do that?” he asked, crossing the room to her, placing his free hand alongside her neck, and tipping her chin upward. Rapunzel didn’t blush, only grinned as he bent to kiss her. His mouth moved across hers, hungrily, desperately, gratefully. Rapunzel wanted to leap up and press herself more tightly against him but was afraid she’d hurt him or knock him over with her fervor.

“You have no idea how good it feels to do that without having to worry about the harm it might cause you,” he said huskily.

“I missed you so much,” she said.

Fane laughed. “I was here this morning.”

“I know,” she said, blushing now. “I mean during the time Gothel had me locked in the dungeon. Every moment of every day, all I wanted to do was talk to you. I wished for you harder than I’ve ever wished for anything.”

“Even chocolate?” he teased.

“You’re
so
much better than chocolate.”

“I knew I liked you.” He laughed.

Fane sat on the bed next to her and threaded his fingers with hers.

“I’m scared,” she said.

Fane looked at her, squeezing her hand. “Of what?”

“I don’t have anywhere to go now. I don’t have a home. Even though she wasn’t really my mother, Gothel is the only family I’ve ever known.”

Fane wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close as her tears began to fall.

“Don’t worry, Rapunzel. You can stay with us.” Rapunzel shuddered against his side. “And that’s not just me saying that. That’s my parents extending an invitation.”

Rapunzel looked up at him. “Really?” Fane nodded. “But . . . do you think
they’ll
let me stay with you?” She swept a hand at the doorway.

“Rapunzel, you’re eighteen years old. You can do anything you want to.”

“Oh.”

“Hey, I just realized I’m dating an older woman,” Fane said. “I won’t be eighteen until February.”

Rapunzel glanced down at their intertwined hands, felt the weight of his arm around her shoulder. “You’re dating me?” she asked shyly.

“We saved each other. It seems like we
should
be dating after that, right? That is, if . . . if you want to.”

Rapunzel pushed her face against his chest. “I know I shouldn’t love you, Fane, but you’re everything to me. So, yes, I think we should date.”

“Why shouldn’t you love me?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just always thought I shouldn’t love anyone because it couldn’t turn into anything. I never
expected
to be able to love anyone. Plus, you know, my life is mostly just crazy. Who wants anything to do with that?”

“I do,” he said with a laugh. “With you, there’s never a dull moment.” He paused, hugging her closer. “And now you know that you
can
love anyone, because you can do anything with your life that you want to. When I say you can love
anyone
, what I mean is, you should love me.”

Rapunzel heard the teasing note in his voice. “I
do
love you,” she said.

“Good.” He paused. “I love you also. So that works out well for me, doesn’t it?”

Rapunzel laughed. “For us both.”

They sat quietly, just holding one another. For a few minutes, Rapunzel felt content, even euphoric.

“They’re coming in to cut your hair soon?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Worried?”

Rapunzel shuddered. “Terrified.”

“I’ll be right here,” he promised.

“I know it won’t be easy for you,” he said, “letting them cut it off.”

“They said they can use it to make hair for people who have lost theirs. They told me it was a ‘generous contribution.’ ”

“Oh yeah,” Fane said. “My mom told me they talked to you about contributing it to Locks of Love. That’s a really cool thing to do.”

“What if something bad happens?” Rapunzel said with a shiver.

“It won’t.” Fane squeezed her again.

“How do you know?” she asked.

“I guess I don’t. The world could end at any time for any reason, right? But it doesn’t. It just keeps going on. When I got up this morning, my neighbor was outside shoveling the driveway, same as he does anytime it snows. I drove past Starbucks and the line was out the door, same as every other day. I had to stop and put gas in my car, and it was as expensive as every time. The world goes on, Rapunzel. And actually, now that you’re out of the tower, it’s a whole lot better than it was before. With your hair cut or not.”

Rapunzel sighed. “I suppose you’re right. The world doesn’t hinge on me.”

“Mine does.” Fane laughed.

“Ha, ha,” she said, smiling, snuggling against him. She was grateful—not for the first time—for whatever fate had brought Fane into her life.

 
^.*
*

T
he earthquake was the largest to hit northern California in over a hundred years. Damage was extensive everywhere, and yet nowhere had there been as much damage as there was to the Gothel Mansion. Of course, the earthquake had originated near where the manor stood, on an old, inactive fault line that hadn’t moved in recorded history, not even as the result of other earthquakes.

Rapunzel knew. She knew why the earthquake had hit and why it had come from the manor. It was Vedmak’s fury that had created the disturbance that had shifted the earth itself. She couldn’t tell anyone, not even Fane. He believed it was coincidence—or at least he claimed that was his belief. Rapunzel suspected that somewhere deep inside he knew as well. But she wasn’t about to force him to admit it. She wished she could convince herself the truth was anything but as well.

Rapunzel was at peace. She knew that no one could hurt her. She’d survived Gothel and Vedmak and had come out a much stronger person.

* * *

“You sure about this?” Fane asked.

She nodded. He shrugged, putting the car in park before opening her door for her. He took her hand and together they walked toward the rubble that had once been Gothel Manor. A construction crew surrounded it, this time clearing away debris rather than building onto the monstrosity.

“How’re you doing today, Ms. Rowley?” asked the foreman. He shook Fane’s hand.

“Fine, thanks. How’s it going?” she asked, indicating the pile of wood and stone with a sweep of her hand.

“It’s a mess, but we’ll get it done,” he assured her. “There’s something I think you ought to see.”

He gave them both a hardhat, then led the way to the back of the house. As they came in sight of what he wanted to show them, Rapunzel gasped.

“It’s the darndest thing,” the foreman said, scratching his head beneath his own hardhat. “The logs are old and so should have collapsed beneath the weight of the house. But once we uncovered it, we could see that it stood quite steadily.” He shrugged as they looked at the log house standing in the middle of the piles of crumbled wreckage. “Not only does it stand, it’s in perfect structural condition. I assumed you’d want it left intact,” he said, looking to Rapunzel.

A smile crossed her face. Not only was the “albatross” of a house gone from her, but remaining was the most important part of the home, the original, humble beginnings of what should have been.

“Yes, of course. You say it’s okay? Structurally, I mean?”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s as perfect as the day it was built. Probably more so, actually.” A man nearby called for the foreman. “Excuse me,” he said, hurrying toward the man and leaving Rapunzel and Fane alone.

“Well, whaddya know,” Fane said with a low whistle.

She turned to Fane, wrapping her arms around his waist. “It’s time to let go,” she said. “I’ve held onto this place for so long, I think I was afraid that if I let go, I would lose me.” She glanced up at him. “I don’t think that anymore. Now the only thing that remains is the most important thing. The beginning.”

Rapunzel saw Angel sitting on the only remaining pillar next to where the gate had been. Angel ruffled her feathers and bobbed her head. Then she flew away. Free.

1. What was unique about this modern-day version of Rapunzel compared to the traditional fairy tale?
   
2. Do the characters seem real and believable? Are their predicaments relatable?
   
3. How do you feel about Gothel? Could you relate to some of her ideas and reasons for the things she did, even if they were extreme?
   
4. How did Rapunzel change or evolve throughout the story? What do you feel triggered those changes?
   
5. Rapunzel was doing things she’d been forbidden, such as sneaking out and having Fane over. How do you feel Rapunzel’s story would have been different had she complied with all of the rules Gothel set for her?
   
6. Do you think Fane was key to Rapunzel’s evolution, or do you think she would have been able to come to the same conclusions and the same ending without him? How important was he to her story?
   
7. Do you think Vedmak held too much influence over Gothel? How did you feel about him using Gothel for his own ends?