Inescapable

Chapter 3

A few minutes later, Mal was hammering on Doug's door. She was aware, of course, that it was well past curfew now, but it wasn't as if Fairy Godmother would come around the corner to tell her off. She slammed her fist against the door harder.

The door swung inward to reveal a very sour-looking boy her age. "Can I help you?" he asked, his dark eyes narrowing.

"I'm looking for Doug," Mal said, shifting forward to the balls of her feet to try to peer over the boy's shoulder into the room for a sign of Dopey's son. She was out of breath from running from her dorm to the boys', and frankly, she wasn't in the mood to deal with Sourface.

Before the boy could get out an answer, however, Doug appeared behind him wearing blue pinstripe pajamas. "Mal?"

"We need to talk," Mal said. She glanced pointedly to Doug's roommate, and Doug nodded in understanding. He slipped past the boy and shut the door after a soft promise that they wouldn't disturb him again.

"What's up? Any news on Ben?" Doug asked.

Mal shook her head. "No, but I thought you would be the person to go to if I needed help with a spell."

Doug's expression immediately turned wary. "I don't think casting more spells is going to help right now. And I think you should really be talking to Fairy Godmother." His hand moved toward the doorknob.

"No, please, Doug," Mal said quickly. She held up the spell book for him to see. "I think I found something."

"I can still hear you!" Doug's roommate called.

Doug sighed, casting an annoyed glance at the door. He focused his attention back on Mal. "This can't wait until morning?"

Mal shook her head. "No. We need to figure this out right now."

Doug nodded. "Give me a moment." He slipped back inside the room silently. He was only gone a moment, which was even far too long for Mal to bear. They had work to do! But he soon returned with a set of keys. At Mal's raised eyebrow, he said, "Keys to the library. I volunteer as an assistant when I don't have band practice, so they gave me a key. I figured since I always do my best thinking in there..." He shrugged a shoulder.

Mal nodded. "Fine, whatever, let's go."

Doug jogged to catch up with her as she was already speeding down the hallway in search of the stairs. "By the way, don't mind Gregory. He's not pleasant to anyone at any hour. Grumpy's son, you know."

"Charming," Mal said, though she couldn't find it in herself to care about Gregory or any of the dwarves' sons past Doug right then.

Mal explained what she had learned about her mother's spell book as they walked. They soon reached the library and stepped inside. Doug remained quiet, a calculating look on his face as he turned on a few lamps surrounding a study table in the back of the library.

"Well?" Mal prompted him, impatient. His eerie silence the entire time she had been explaining was unnerving enough. Now that she was done, she wanted him to start spouting answers.

"Well, it's all really strange," Doug said, sitting in one of the plush chairs at the table. Mal took the seat across from him. "Can I see the spell?"

Mal opened the book to the spell, which she had dog-eared, and pushed the book across the table to him. She waited, tapping her foot nervously against the carpet as he read over it.

"You said she sang this to you every birthday?" Doug asked, his eyes not leaving the page he was on.

"Yeah, as I was falling asleep. But how could it be working if she cast it while on the Isle?"