Coming up in this chapter : more things that don't make sense!
Yay.
It was beginning to get Irritating.
I was trying to concentrate. As usual.
While Jay and Carlos tried to talk to me. As usual.
No matter how many times I tried to tell them that all 3 villains were still out there, they continued to disrupt my tracking state.
Its complicated magic, tracking. To tap into a particular person's body, mind and soul, like you have to do to track, is a complex process - one that takes many hours.
It's not my fault the boys have such a short attention span.
Opening my eyes, I stared into the swirling abyss that was the mug of black coffee before me, picturing the faces of our targets in its surface.
Quickly, I found myself glaring at the imaginary image.
Sighing, I dropped my concentration and drank the coffee, wincing at the bitter taste.
As usual.
"Got anything yet, Mal?" Carlos asked me. I turned my head, catching sight of the hopeful expression that slid off his face when I shook my head.
Normally, the Mal thing to do would've been yelling at him for disrupting my concentration, but it wasn't like I was getting anywhere anyway.
Okay, fine. I didn't have the heart to either. He was friends with... Evie... A long time before I was; I knew he was in just as much pain as I was.
We knew how the other felt. It brought us closer together.
"...Okay," I could hear the misery in his tone, "do you want any more coffee?" I wrinkled my nose, and he cracked a smile. Barely a second later, it disappeared, but I saw it. I knew the excitable, caring, smarty pants dog boy was still in there. Somewhere.
"One more pot of coffee coming up."
<><><>
Tracking is much harder with cold liquid than hot.
It could've been anything : water, milk, potion. It was coffee because tracking is boring. I need to keep myself from falling asleep.
Carlos put the mug in front of me, and I wriggled in my chair, preparing for another failed attempt at tracking any of the free villains we need to clear our name.
But my mind insisted on drifting over to other things.
What would happen when we got back to Auradon? Would we get a pardon, or would the rest of their thick-headed community insist on locking us back up.
I considered sending a message to Doug about what happened to Evie, but in the end decided against it. Not only would it make Doug unhappy, which is not something Evie would want for him, it would also give Auradon's stupid officers a way to track us down.
Though I doubt their skills are as fine tuned as mine. Unless they used Fairy Godmother. She would be able to beat me in a magic contest any day.
Only becuase she's more experienced than me - I'm only 17 and spent 16 of those years on the magic-free Isle!
That is the only reason that she'd be better than me. Absolutely, yep.
I let out a sigh. I would never admit it, but I knew I was stuck, and I was certain the boys knew it too.
I was still thankful that they didn't try to bring it up, though.
Settling my attention back on the mug of dark filth, I again concentrated on the words needed to perform a tracking spell.
It's not a verbal spell, so I don't need to actually say anything, but that doesn't mean I don't need to think it.
My eyes were again getting droopy, and I reached out for the mug when the surface of the liquid rippled softly. Then it did it again.
And again.
An image appeared in the murk, flickering into sight.
It showed a dimly-lit cave, cracks in the walls with rotten wooden supports holding the collapsing roof up.
The cave floor was littered with bones - human, bones.
Two dead bodies hung in shackles, slumped against the right wall, hair filthy and matted, blood coating their ripped clothing.
There was movement to the left, as I noticed a distorted figure appear in the shadows, sweeping towards the wall on the right. Towards the bodies. One of which slowly raised its head.
I realised they weren't actually dead, just starved, and too weak to move.
The figure stopped before the moving prisoner, and its arm quickly swept across their face. The prisoner's head snapped to the side, then lowered its gaze.
The shadow nodded in satisfaction, before moving on to the next body. This one was still passed out.
That didn't stop the figure slapping it though; the second figure jerked awake, and looked around in a panic, before spotting the figure before it, and sinking into the floor, as far as its shackles would allow it.
I could tell the figure was shouting, by the way both prisoners continued to shrink into the cave floor, the one on the left shaking slightly.
Then the figure stopped, as if it was sensing someone watching it.
It turned around until it was staring directly at me, and I saw a select few features; muddy brown eyes glinting evilly, and a shark's grin to rival a Great White's.
The grin stretched further, like a horrific version of Chelsea's father, before slamming its fist into the nearest support.
It shuddered upon impact, and a few rocks clattered to the ground.
The figure grinned even wider.
The message was clear - time is running out.
Both figures looked up, seemingly meeting my eyes.
The prisoner on the left had icy blue eyes that almost pleaded with me for help, while the other had hauntingly familiar red-brown eyes - the eyes of my fallen best friend.
Both prisoners - now easily recognisable as female - had blue hair. The girl on the left's was a light blue, cut just below her shoulders, while the other had the dark locks of my best friend.
It was undeniable.
Evie was still alive.
Then I snapped out of my daze, and I felt my head hit the table just before everything went black, and I was lost to the world.
<><><>
When I finally did awake, and the baby blue sky had turned pink and orange, I found Carlos with his head resting on his arms on the table.
His eyes were closed, and a drop of dribble oozed from his lips.
Despite being asleep for an extended amount of time, I still felt like passing out, my bones and eyelids heavy with fatigue.
Gently, I nudged Carlos awake, yawning as I did so.
He slowly lifted his head from the table, looking at me with drooping eyes.
He stretched his arms and looked around, before his chocolate irises snapped back to mine, widening in surprise as if he had just realised I was there.
"Mal!" he cried out, "You're up!"
He grinned at me; I gave him a tired smile back.
"Did you get anything? Did you track anyone? What happened? Why did you pass out-?" I put my hand over his mouth, abruptly shutting him up.
"Carlos," I yawned, "Stop with the questions, okay?"
He nodded as well as he could with my hand over his mouth, and I dropped it. He kept his word.
"Carlos... Can we talk about this tomorrow?" I asked him softly. "I'm really tired.". My yawn emphasised this point.
"Yeah, sure," he responded.
Despite the overwhelming urge to put my head back on the table, I pushed my chair out and rose to my feet.
I guess it hadn't registered with me how truly knackered I was, because my knees immediately buckled, and I would've been pulled to the floor if Carlos hadn't rushed forward to catch me. As a result, we both fell onto the floor instead.
I groaned. Thankfully, there's only one bedroom in the wooden building, so I had been bunking on the couch. The couch which is only a short distance away.
You know what they say : one small step for Mal, one giant sleep for Mal-kind.
Thoughts of what I had witnessed in my coffee ran through my head as I dumped myself onto the soft leather.
Where is that cave?
How is Evie still alive?
Who was the girl next to her?
And who is the dark shadow keeping the two of them bound?
That night, my mind was plagued with nightmares.
What do I do? How can I save Evie? How do I find out where she is? What do I do?
I was forced to watch as the figure continued to hurt my blue-haired best friend in a variety of twisted ways, her screams bouncing off the cage walls.
For all I knew, this could actually be happening.
In my mind, there was only one at least a bit logical move to make - it was time to chase up those flashes that destroyed the barrier, releasing the parents of my friends who are now free to wreak havoc in Auradon with nothing stopping them.
It was time to visit the Isle of Fate.
It was time to visit my mother.
The end!
Soo, Evie's not dead. She's fine. Surprise. Well, not really, because she's tied up in a cave.
I can't believe I remembered what I called the Isle I put Maleficent on.
There's a bit of Marlos in this chapter. Not planned.
Questions :
Who is the shadow?
Where is the cave?
Who is the other prisoner? (AlyssaJGross shhhh)