Inescapable

Chapter 3

Doug turned the page and kept reading. "Well, it could be that the spell worked but could never show effects until allowed to. That is to say that it latched onto you, but the magical barrier kept it from harming you whenever you doubted your mother's teachings or something. You get the idea. So, when you came here and started questioning her even more, the immunity your body had built up to the spell started to unravel. Then you did that whole big announcement at the coronation about wanting to be good, and well, the curse probably took that as the cue to push through."

Mal frowned at him. "So why wasn't Ben affected then? Why is he being affected at all? And why am I still fine?"

"It just says here that the triggers for the spell are disobedience and love," Doug said. "And it appears to affect the person who causes you to love."

"Ok, and? What does that mean exactly?"

"I think it means that if you directly disobey your mother or fall in love, it activates the spell. That's also what it means by being dormant. If you were to never disobey her or fall in love, you wouldn't ever feel its effects. It looks as if your mother meant for this to be a precaution to prevent being overthrown by the only person who actually could do it: you. And, well, you triggered both parts of the spell today in one go, but because you had built up sixteen years of immunity to the spell, it hasn't started hurting you yet. Or, it could be that this 'pain worse than death' you'll experience is watching Ben suffer." Doug grimaced the instant the words were out of his mouth, and he looked up at Mal sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

Mal shrugged a shoulder. "My mom's cruel. I wouldn't put it past her for that to be my punishment."

Doug frowned, looking unsure. "Maybe. But I doubt it. A spell this big is going to have big effects, especially if it's been building up every time she repeats the incantation to you. Right now, your own magic is probably fighting it. As for Ben, he doesn't have any magic, so he was overcome within hours."

Mal watched him closely as she asked her next question. "How long does he have?"

"It's..." Doug looked back down at the page, his fingers toying with the corner. "It's hard to tell. It says the symptoms vary. Really, it could make him suffer for weeks before it kills him. Or it could be as little as days, hours."

Mal nodded, thinking. A lump was forming in her throat again, and she instantly wished Evie was there to stroke the back of her hand and tell her it would be alright. "What about me? How long until something happens to me?"

"Again, it's hard to tell. If your punishment is watching Ben suffer, then it's already happening. But, it could also be making your biggest fear reality or having horrible nightmares or anything. Mal, I really have no idea."

"Well, it's not my worst fear. That was always disappointing my mother," Mal said. Then she frowned, because she realized that having broken her mother's reign of terror over her that afternoon had also been directly facing her biggest fear. That meant a new fear could move in just as easily.

Doug nodded. "Right."

"What about the Enchanted Lake?" Mal asked suddenly, remembering that Ben had said her love spell on him had washed away when he went swimming.

"What about it?"

"Doesn't it have, like, mystical healing and cleansing powers?"

"Yes, but you're talking about a spell that's been repeatedly applied. It's powerful and reinforced from years of dormancy. It's had time to grow strong. You can't just wash this away."

"What about the rocks in the lake? The ones that glow?" Mal asked.

Doug shook his head. "Same thing. Wishing won't help either. From the incantation, it looks as though your mother's made this virtually impenetrable."

Mal fell silent then, her mind turning with thoughts, most of them angry revenge plots. She pulled one foot into her chair and wrapped her arms around her leg. Hugging her thigh to her chest, she rested her chin on her knee. Quickly, thoughts about revenge on her mother were replaced by those of Ben. If the spell couldn't be undone, how long did she have left with him? Would he even regain consciousness long enough to speak before he passed?

A tear rolled down her cheek. She pressed her mouth against her knee in an attempt to control herself and not burst into sobs. Ben had wanted to teach her how to swim. He had said so on the way back from their date. She had been excited, too, at the idea of spending more time with him, especially in a place that had felt so isolated, so romantic, so...theirs.

She swallowed and raised her head. "What can we do?"

Doug had closed the book and was now focused on her. He gave her a sympathetic smile, just an upward twitch of the corners of his mouth. "Hope Fairy Godmother has better answers than we do. Sadly, this isn't something that can be solved by one of the classic answers, like True Love's First Kiss."

Mal actually managed a laugh at that, though it came out throaty and touched with sadness. "Yeah, I don't think my mom would have chosen that as the solution to one of her curses again." She fell quiet for a moment. Then, struck by an idea, asked, "Fairy Godmother closed the magic barrier around the Isle after the coronation, right?"

Doug nodded. "Yeah. Only your mother escaped."

"What if..." Mal swallowed, honestly wishing the words about to come from her mouth weren't her only idea. "What if I went back? If I went back to the Isle, would it contain the spell? Would Ben be ok?"

Doug's eyebrows knitted together in uncertainty. "Well...the magic barrier would likely stop the spell from affecting Ben, yes, but Ben also risked a lot for you and your friends to even be here. Going back, well, the people on the Isle saw what happened at the coronation on the TVs there. I don't think they'd be very happy with you if you went back."

"But, you're saying it would work...?" Mal asked slowly, wanting him to confirm it.

Doug looked uncomfortable. "Probably. Maybe. I don't know. If the spell has already infected Ben, going back to the Isle might not even be enough to stop it. Besides, that's not what Ben would want. Even if it worked and he recovered, it's completely possible that coming back to Auradon later would reactivate the curse and make it start all over. In that case, you would have to live on the Isle forever, and that's not what Ben would want. He wouldn't want you to be unhappy."

"Yeah, well, I don't want him to be dead, either," Mal snapped. She slid her foot back to the floor and crossed her arms over her chest. She hated people poking holes in her plans. She definitely hated hearing that if she wanted Ben to be safe and this was her only plan, that it might mean never seeing Ben again. She didn't want that as an option.

"Come on," Doug said, pushing back his chair and standing. "Don't consider the Isle as an option right now. I wouldn't until you talk to Fairy Godmother at least. In the meantime, we should get some rest."

Mal shook her head. "I don't think I can."

"Well, then you can always stay here and do research."

"Hm?"

Doug gestured to the bookcases. "You're in the best place to figure out a solution to a spell. All the answers to past fairy tale riddles and curses are here, among other things."

Mal bit the inside of her cheek, glancing at the towers of books. "I wouldn't know where to start."

For the next ten minutes, Mal and Doug pulled books from the shelves that either of them deemed potentially helpful. When they returned with their respective armloads of books, they set to work. For an hour, Doug helped Mal sort through books like 1000 Cures to Common Curses and Victims of Villains: A Guide to the Most Mysterious Murders of the Last Millennium. After that, he left Mal to the rest, saying that he was no use to her when tired and promising to return in the morning to pick up wherever she left off.

Once left to herself, Mal's thoughts drifted back to Ben and what Doug had said. He was right; Ben would want her to be happy. But, still, her thoughts nagged at her. How could she really know what Ben would say if he was unconscious and slipping farther and farther away?