• Once upon a time there lived a beautiful maiden whose heart was so pure it attracted people to her from miles around. All who saw her loved her and it was ever their desire to please her.

    Her admirers brought her all kinds of gifts; lumps of gold from the Americas, diamonds from Africa and plates of precious jewels from Persia. But there was ne creature who did not want to please her. Who saw her and whose heart grew black with envy.

    This monster, knowing that the young maiden cared not for the gifts brought to her from far across the land, led her to a beautiful garden where all was green and leafy, and where the only spot of colour was that of a blood-red rose.

    The young maiden was so taken with its beauty that she bent down to pick it, but at the very moment she plucked it from the ground the monster who had led her to this place appeared. He was dressed all in red and his teeth and nails were blackened with dirt and decay.

    The young maiden dropped the rose in her fear and surprise, and it wilted upon contact with the ground. She backed away from the rapidly advancing creature but she was not fast enough to escape him. Slowly, and with great relish he reached forwards and sank his talon like hand into her chest. The young maiden felt his hand in her ribcage, closing around her heart then, with a violent jerk, he ripped it from her chest.

    The maiden’s eyes opened wide in shock and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

    “Poor sweet dear” the creature crooned to himself “soon her heart will be cold and she will never have it back. And to ensure this I will place upon this tree a beautiful apple. Should she awake she will immediately succumb to its beauty and with one bite she will fall immediately into the deepest sleep, and this time never awake”

    The creature placed the apple on a nearby tree and faded slowly away, clutching onto the heart and leaving the young maiden laid out on the floor.

    Much later when the sun has set and risen once again, the maiden awoke. As she remembered what had befallen her, her eyes filled with tears and she wept for her lost heart.

    “I did not die, but alive remained, a rose so sweet, so innocent to touch now has harsh effect upon my life”

    When all her tears were spent, the young maiden stood and looked around her. Her eyes immediately alighted on the poisoned apple and she was entranced by it.

    “Look at that beautiful apple” she whispered to herself “that one red apple”

    And though she now knew the consequences of temptation the girl could help herself. She reached out and took hold of the apple, breathing in its sweet scent before taking one large bite.

    The moment she swallowed the apple the maiden knew she had once again made the wrong choice. Her body flew into a chain of spasms and she felt her breath catch in her throat, sticking so she could not breathe. She fell to the ground once again.

    Presently however a solution to the young maiden’s curse appeared. A boy, travelling the land in search of his own salvation, happened upon her resting place. Understanding what had befallen her, he immediately bent down to restore her to her former life.

    Before he could administer the kiss that would free her, however, the heart stealing monster emerged once again and called out to him.

    “DO you like her?” he asked quietly “I do. Her heart feels warm. It flutters like a little bird. I feel it . . . even now . . . straining to return to her. It’s getting colder.” He paused momentarily. “Perhaps I could offer the . . . dashing . . . young gentleman with a proposition? Your heart will soon be ice, like hers. Then it will be mine – forever. But hers? I want it more. But I cannot touch it, cannot feed on it – not while it is so strong. It must be broken . . . by you. An eye for an eye, a heart for a heart. Break her heart and you will have yours back.” The monster brushed a long, pale hand across the girls face and retreated back, an evil smile on his face “think on it” he muttered before disappearing completely.

    The boy turned to the maiden lying on the ground. Copper hair framed her pale face, set with pale pink lips. He brushed away the dirt from her cheek and sighed heavily. “For that monster to demand such a thing of me . . . how dare he? How could I betray someone so pure? So innocent?” he sighed again “I couldn’t” he murmured and leant forwards, placing a chaste kiss on the young maiden’s lips.

    The maiden’s eyes fluttered open to the sight of a handsome young man whose lips were turned upwards in a gentle smile.

    “You need not be afraid” he told her “I will be your guide and aid you in the search for your heart”

    He held out his hand to her and the maiden took hold of it tentatively, smiling brilliantly when nothing untoward occurred.

    And so their journey began its long and winding road. Over mountains high and through deep tides they travelled on, encountering weather fair and foul. There were many obstacles in their path, and all were overcome bravely – though always were there more ahead. As time passed their affection for each other grew, though darkness filled the empty whole in the young man’s chest.

    At long last they reached their destination, and the young maiden’s eyes were filled with the dazzling sight of the hall of mirrors. Light sparkled off of every surface and all images were reflected a thousand times over. As the maiden followed her guide through the glacial hall, she saw something that made her blood turn cold and she stopped dead in her fear and revulsion.

    “You look as though all the demons in hell were after you” the young man told her, confused “what has happened to make you so afraid?”

    “The image I perceived did scare me greatly – your reflection was fractured and broken, you appeared as though you were the creature himself –”

    “Hush” the young man clamed her, holding her close “the mirrors in this hall do often play tricks upon the mind” he laughed easily “you are safe with me, that much can I promise”

    “What a touching scene” the Heart Stealer’s voice drifted towards them and with a sudden and violent crack every mirror in the hall shattered, leaving the crimson figure of the heart stealer in full view.

    The young man released the maiden immediately and ran at the monster ina fit of rage. Halfway to his quarry, however, he disappeared into the darkness, causing the young girl to cry out in surprise.

    With a disgusting grimace that might once have been called a smile, the Heart Stealer turned to the young maiden in front of him.

    “You’ve trusted him . . . you’ve travelled with him far and long, yet never have you been aware of his true purpose have you my dear?”

    “Your words have no meaning for me” the girl hissed, and anger was all that she could feel “there has never been a moment in which I have not trusted him with my life!”

    “Well, that moment is soon to come then isn’t it?” he hissed back and an odd mist seemed to form in front of the maiden’s eyes. When it cleared she was no longer in the destroyed hall of mirror, but stood in an odd blue room. In front of her was the young man and in front of him lay a great golden platter, on top of which rested two hearts, half covered in a layer of ice.

    The young maiden tried to call out to him, but she found herself unable to speak, much to the Heart Stealer’s delight.

    “Let us see his true feelings . . .”

    “A heart for a heart he said” the boy murmured and slowly circled the table upon which the two hearts rested. “A promise was made that should not be broken. To take my own heart would surely lead to no good thing, to have the death of such a maiden on my conscience would be too much to bear . . . although. To choose her and return it would mean the end of my own life, and who’s to say that monster won’t try to take her heart again, but by other means? Who then would protect her? Surely it would be better for her to die now, and not relive the same pain, the same terror? I would not fall for such tricks again.

    A heart for a heart . . . but whose heart for whose?

    I made my promise in a moment of senselessness, no man on earth would hold me to it.

    I have made my choice and this is it. My own heart is the most important thing to me. No other object can take its place”

    And with this last line, the young man reached forwards and took hold of his own heart, the layer of ice falling from it in tiny fragments.

    All through this speech the maiden’s heart had been breaking, and now, when she knew there was no turning back she breathed her last goodbye, and watched as the silver blue ice consumed her heart. She heard the Heart Stealer’s vicious laugh and she saw the shock in her companion’s eyes as he realised she had been listening all along.

    Slowly, ever so desperately slowly she fell to the ground, feeling her body knock against the hard ground. She blinked once, a lone tear falling from her eye and at the same time felt something warm and sticky trail from the corner of her mouth. It was blood, she thought.

    All this passed through her mind as it began to slow, but she felt nothing, only a bitter chill consuming her.

    The maiden’s vision descended into darkness and she knew was alone. Forever.