Wicked Dawn | 'Till The Night Falls Book 1 (Disney Descendants)

Chapter 4: Seeing In Black and White

"Jay! Wait! Hold on! Do you even know where we're going?"

Jay sprinted down the corridor, faster than he'd ever run before. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure what was going on but he knew it was serious. Mal never joked around when it came to asking Uma and her pirate crew for help. And now, Jay and Doug were in charge of rounding up the newest arrivals for some kind of special mission and Jay was still a bit suspicious of them--even if they had helped stop a tyrannical Audrey from destroying the barrier and sending everyone in Auradon to sleep.

"Are Uma and her pirates even on the school grounds?"

That didn't mean they were just suddenly good. Jay didn't fully trust them. Particularly Harry Hook. He always seemed to be lurking. Gil, Gaston's son, yeah, he was probably not too much of a threat. Uma...Jay had never personally been very fond of Uma but had been mostly due to their travelings in two separate clicks. But Mal trusted her now. And Mal was usually a pretty good judge of character.

"What are they going to be able to do? What if we can't find them? What if everyone's disappeared? What if--"

That's it. I'm done. This has gone on long enough.

"Doug!" Jay came to a dead halt and spun on his heels to face the anxious dwarf, still reeling at the concept of having to look up at him. "Take a chill pill will you? Why are you asking me all of these questions that you know I don't have the answers to?" He tried to give an encouraging smile but his friend did not seem comforted in the least. "Look," Jay said with a sigh. "I get that this is a bit overwhelming but, right now, our main mission is to find the others."

"But what if Maleficent--"

Jay really fought the urge to facepalm. "Chill. Pill," he repeated through clenched teeth. "Maleficent wouldn't hang around," he added, seeing the fear in the dwarf's eyes. "She wouldn't risk someone spotting and recognizing her. And she never did like socializing with the 'peasants'. Besides, I think a fifty-foot dragon would be quite noticeable just hanging around on campus."

They darted out two sets of glass doors and down several marble stairs into the courtyard. The large rectangle of grass was the heart of Auradon Prep. Tables were scattered all across the lawn, each with a collection of chairs in perfect organization. On a normal sunny day, the field would be crowded with laughing students and unruly Tourney players, studying or just fooling around. Not today, however. Today, it was entirely deserted and the ugly green clouds growled overhead.

Jay stopped and scanned the clearing, frowning as he took in the seriousness of the situation. He'd never heard of magic this powerful. Not even from Maleficent. And if what Mal had said was true, the evil fairy was roaming free throughout Auradon. That meant everyone was in danger. They had to figure this out...and fast.

"Where do you suppose everyone went?" Doug questioned, coming up behind him.

"Don't know," Jay responded honestly. "But I think we can cover more ground if we each go a different direction."

Doug paled. "Split up?" He immediately moved to grab something in his pocket. The gesture was not lost on Jay but he had no time to try and guess what it was about. "Are you sure that's the best idea?"

"It'll be fine," Jay insisted. "I'll go right and you go left." It was more of a statement than a question. Jay knew, in these kinds of situations, it was better to give a command than offer a suggestion to one's soldiers--ahem, solider--even if Doug wasn't exactly...designed...for battle--Jay stopped there with a sigh. Forget the war analogy. It didn't work in this situation.