“We won’t open it,” Sabrina said.
Mirror roughly snatched Sabrina’s hand and forced it onto the stone in the center of the door. Her hand fit perfectly into the carved relief and a warm sensation came over her. She heard a chime and then watched the stone sink into the door, triggering a series of internal locks and tumblers, as well as bursts of steam that hissed out of the cracks around the door. The door swung open. Mirror’s eyes welled with happy tears and he barged inside, pulling the children behind him. Unlike the other rooms that had wild, fantastical items or impossible creatures inside, this room was completely empty except for a thin wooden stand. On it sat an old book.
Mirror set the baby on the floor and rushed to the stand. He caressed the book’s cover lovingly. “The Book of Everafter. After eons of wishing and praying, the power is finally mine.”
“Are we supposed to be worried about an old book?” Puck asked.
“You ignorant little rodent! This isn’t just an old book. This is the Book of Everafter.”
“Sorry, I haven’t read it. I’m waiting for the movie,” Puck said.
Mirror scowled. “The Book of Everafter is a collection of every fairy tale, folk story, and tall tale ever told. Inside this book are the complete works of the Brothers Grimm, Andersen, Baum, Lang, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Perrault, and a thousand others you’ve never heard of. Every version of the stories of Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Prince Charming, Dorothy, Alice, Puss in Boots, and every other tale can be found in this book. No one knows where it came from or who wrote all these stories down, but there was magic in his pen. This book is the source of our immortality, our magic weapons, everything—this is what gives us our power. It also allows an Everafter a second chance at a happy ending.” He turned to Pinocchio. “Boy, this book will give you the opportunity to right the wrong the Blue Fairy cursed you with so long ago.”
“What do I need to do, Master?” the boy asked.
“Open the book and find the story written about you. Find the moment in the story that you would like to change and place your hand on that page. You will be drawn into the story, allowing you to relive it and, if the legend is true, revise it.”
“You’re saying he can go in and change his own story?” Sabrina said. “That’s impossible.”
Mirror shook his head in disappointment. “With everything you’ve seen in this town, I would have thought you would have more of an open mind about the impossible. What this book does, in essence, is turn you into a fictional character that you can then revise. Once you have made your changes you can leave the book and return to the real world. In Pinocchio’s case he can step in as a boy and step out a full-grown man if he can manage to change his story to his liking.”
Pinocchio rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Let’s get started.”
The odd little boy opened the book, but instead of opening to a certain page, the book flipped through every page, back and forth, as if it were trapped in a relentless wind. He tried to stop the furious pages but failed.
“I will never be able to find my story if it keeps acting like this,” Pinocchio whined.
“An unforeseen wrinkle,” Mirror said. “Unfortunately, you’re going to have to do it the hard way. Put your hand on a page and it will pull you in. Once there you’ll have to move from story to story until you find your own. I’ve heard there are doors if you can find them.”
Pinocchio looked uncertain.
“What if I can’t find the door?”
Mirror shrugged. “Perhaps you feel you’d have better luck on your own?”
Pinocchio frowned and turned back to the book. He slipped his hand into the whirling pages, and in a flash he was gone. His marionettes chased after him, plunging into the pages of the book and vanishing.
“What does this have to do with our baby brother?” Sabrina asked.
“He’s going to provide me with my happy ending, Starfish.”
“Don’t call me that,” Sabrina yelled.