A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry for the late update. This chapter beat me up but I prevailed. Also, I'm thinking this might just be 5-6 chapters long. Maybe more. Depends on how it goes from here. I don't have chapters pre-written that's why I'm placing a limit on myself so I don't stray from the story. Nathalie7 - thank you for the feedback! It's definitely helped me on this chapter but I don't know how to turn on Anon reviews. (._.) White Gem - Yes. I love stories with so much scandals but alas I'm not adept at Angst although I did try my best in this chapter! I hope you like it. If you have tips on how to add more angst, please PM me! Elsaholic - Thank you! I basically read all the Malora fics and I just needed more, yknow? herlovethawedthefrozenheart, femslash4life, chichimerah, YvetteDel, Why88, Divine Fighter, Dontstraytoofar, ScientificHooligan, Allygen, Hylow - THANK YOU SO MUCH. I have no words to express how happy you guys make me feel and how inspired I am that I have your support. I swear, I will do my best on every chapter. Anyway, let's get to the chapter and don't forget to review!
Aurora walked several meters ahead of me, rounding the corner of the hallway towards Ms. Knotgrass, "Aurora, where have you been? Ms. Brickey called me and said you skipped class!"
From my place behind the corner, I could clearly hear the older woman's voice as if she was right beside me, "I'm sorry, Aunt. I had to um-"
"What?" the older woman prodded,
"Aurora stuttered, "I had to-"
I roll my eyes as I listened to the old woman berate Aurora. My relationship with Ms. Knotgrass was never ideal. There had always been this unspoken tension between us ever since I could remember.
Probably a soulenemy as Diaval would say. Imelda Knotgrass was always there to criticize everything I did. Always thinking I was up to no good. I sighed before stepping around the corner to rescue the poor girl.
"I asked to meet her, to check up on how her first day is going." My voice was steady as I stood in front of the smaller teacher, "Imelda." I greeted.
"Maleficent." She says, cautiously eyeing me, "Aurora was with you?"
"Yes. Don't worry, I'll talk with Ms. Brickey so Aurora's doesn't get-" "Aurora? You should go have your lunch." Imelda suddenly says, cutting me off.
"But-" Aurora started to protest, looking between Imelda then myself.
To avoid getting her in more trouble, I nod, "It's fine, Aurora. Go have lunch. Don't eat anything that has peas. The lunch lady uses disgusting moldy ones."
She looks at me and gives me a small smile before turning on her heel; sprinting towards the cafeteria. I fight to keep my face straight and not look like a lost toddler as I watch her disappear into the crowd. Once she's out of earshot, I feel a pressure on my arm as Imelda pulls me to the side of the corridor.
"What do you think you're doing?" She whispers harshly.
Her question took me by surprise, I simply stared at her confused, "what are you talking about?"
"Why are you doing this that poor girl?"
"Doing what, exactly?" I ask her, my forehead creasing as I feel the beginnings of a headache.
Imelda looked behind me and then behind her as she spoke in a hushed tone, "you know exactly what I'm talking about."
"I actually don't-"
She drew her face close to mine until we were inches apart, just like I had been with Aurora not two minutes before, "I will not let you... corrupt, my Niece."
The way she spat the word made me reel back, a sudden sinking feeling settling in my chest, "I haven't done anything to corrupt, Aurora." I threw the word back at her with as much venom as I could.
"It'll only be a matter of time before you have your claws in her. Well, I won't let her become another Claudia Franklin."
The name knocked the air out of me, "E-excuse me?"
"Everyone knows what you did to that poor girl, it may not have ever been confirmed but people saw her leaving your house in tears before she-" "How dare you?" I snapped at her, my steely blue-gray eyes staring daggers into hers. "You have no idea-"
"How dare I?" She scoffed, "How dare you?!" She whispered harshly, barely keeping her voice down. "You pray on children and then leave them broken!"
"I never touched those kids and I would never touch any of my students that way!"
"Oh really? I saw the way you looked at Aurora. Didn't look all that friendly." She says lowly when a group of students walked past. "I will not let my Niece end up as another one of your victims. Stay away from her or I will have you arrested." The older woman hisses before pushing past me.
My stomach dropped to my feet at the reminder of what had happened several years ago. The dark cloud of guilt filling my chest once again for the first time in a long time. Claudia Franklin. The senior student that threw herself into the nearby river, drowning herself.
Although Imelda was right that I was the last person to see her, it wasn't my fault. I tried to do the right thing, I tried to help. Claudia was- "Mal? I've been looking for you everywhere." Diaval's voice broke through my thoughts.
He was always there whenever I needed to be pulled out of my own mind. He would always be able to bring me back. "You're as pale as a ghost, are you okay?"
I nod, "yes, I'm fine." An easy lie that I knew he would easily see through. "Seriously, Mal. What happened?"
Taking a deep breath, I pull him to the Nest. Once we were there, I told him what had happened with Aurora and Imelda.
"Mal, Claudia Franklin was years ago and it wasn't your fault, you did everything you could-"
I shake my head at him, "did I?"
"Yes! Maleficent, listen to me..." He says softly, "Claudia was a troubled girl and you tried to help her. That's all you could have done." he adds, rubbing the knuckles on my left hand.
I pause for a moment, calming my mind "Thanks." I say, nudging his shoulder with mine as we sat out on the ledge of the building.
"What would you do without me?" He asks with feigned pride.
I laugh before answering, "probably be bored to death and buried in a whole hell of a lot of paper work."
"Seriously, though. Ms. Knotgrass is right about one thing."
"Which is?"
"You should stay away from Aurora." he says simply.
As if on Cue, the school bell rang out. Signaling the end of the day. He placed one arm around me and nudged me, shaking the sense back into me "don't lose yourself to Aurora. She seems great and... happy." he says, using the term I had, "but she's not worth your whole career." With that, he slides off the ledge and heads for the door. His words hung heavy in my heart, "No, she's not." I whisper to myself.
"Hmm?" Diaval called from behind me, "what was that?"
"Nothing!" I smile at him, shaking my head free of everything Aurora. Mentally tattooing the words on my mind so that I never forget;
I am a teacher. She is my student.
The following day, I promised myself that I would not let myself be distracted by Aurora, but the events of yesterday and last night had drained me of much of my energy. I had another dream where I was walking through a thick forest. The same black bird was flying around me and the staff on my hand glowed blue and green.
Normally, my dreams would be muddled and hazy when I woke up but ever since that night with the black bird, all my dreams had been so realistic and had stuck with me long after I had woken up. In my dream, I could hear music. A party of some sort where a lot of people were gathered around.
There were several soldiers scattered around the castle and I managed to steal a glance at my reflection off of one of the soldiers' steel armor. The reflection was hazy but I could tell I was ghostly pale with blood red lips, my hands move up to my heavy head piece- that's when I woke up.
"There you go." I whisper to the white lilies that I kept in my office, as I tilt the small watering can empty. "You're lucky, you don't get headaches." Using my thumbs to rub deep circles on my temple, I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I had gotten to school earlier than I normally would and my Homeroom wasn't for another forty or so minutes. Plenty of time for a quick nap.
I fished my phone out from my purse, plugged the headset in and into my ear and listened to some music to help with my headache.
A grand celebration for a baby? How wonderful... My body jumps at the proximity of the voice and I look around frantically. No one else was in the lounge, I was alone. "these dreams are driving me insane." I groan at myself before dropping my forehead on the desk.
"Haaaaaaall." I yawn while I go through my daily attendance, "Here."
"Hernandez." "Here."
"Hill." "Here, Miss."
"Johnson." No answer. "Johnson?"
"She's not here." a familiar soft voice answers me quietly. Aurora smiled at me but I simply feigned indifference.
"Not here. Alright." I mumble as I take it down on my notebook, "Kelly?" "Here, miss!"
"Kersey..." "Here."
"King is here." I say without looking at her.
Aurora's eyes were on me as I called out every name in my list, I didn't even need to look at her to know. It was like she was shooting laser beams out of her eyes that burned holes on the side of my face. "Okay, aside from the Swap Meet. We have the outreach program at the animal shelter at the end of the month, that's in three weeks-" Whoops of excitement exploded from the class, "- as practice for when you handle real, living animals. I've come up with a trial run."
I pull out the tray of eggs that I bought this morning, "I will pair everyone up and each pair will take care of one egg until the end of the month, make it's baby bed, clothes, whatever. Whoever has the healthiest looking egg at the end of the month will win a prize." I tell them as I purposely avoid Aurora's excited eyes. "Since there's only 25 of you, 11 boys and 14 girls, we'll have one same sex parents and one will be paired with me." I finished, winking at them mischievously.
In the end, I only had Aurora, Philip and a girl named Grace to pair up. There was a spark of excitement in Aurora's eyes but I couldn't quite understand whether it was for the possibility of being paired with me or Philip, the uncertainty made my stomach twist in a horrible way.
"Grace, you'll be paired with me. Aurora and Philip, you two get the twins." I tell them nonchalantly as they stepped up to take their eggs. I stole at glance at Aurora and noticed the excitement in her eyes dim and for a moment I wanted to take back what I said, what I'd decided. Maybe I could pair with her-
I am a teacher. She is my student.I repeated to myself. Forcing down the desire to comfort her. For the rest of the period, I would only look at the blonde when I absolutely had to. When she taught the class how to make Loom Bands and whenever she asked me a question regarding the outreach program or the swap meet.
Other than that, my eyes stayed glued to far wall of the classroom or on my notebook.
By the end of an hour, the effort of avoiding Aurora had exhausted me. "Alright, everyone out. Make sure your eggs are still alive by the end of the month and don't even think of replacing them if they break. I will find out." My eyes narrowing at the kids leaving the classroom.
Once they were all out I leaned my butt on the table and took a deep breath, letting my head loll around, "Miss?" someone suddenly erupts from behind me.
"Jesus!" I yelped and whipped around.
Aurora was standing behind her seat, looking at me with her doe-eyes; a sullen look on her face, "Aurora! You scared me! I thought you left with the rest of the class." my heart slammed hard against my hand as she approached me slowly.
"Why did you pair me with Philip?" She asks quickly while looking at the ground.
I sigh and force myself to be her teacher again, "do you have a problem with Philip?"
"N-no... I just thought..." she mumbled under her breath, "I thought you would pair me with you..."
"Me? Why?" I say with as much fake-confusion as I could muster.
"Because of yesterday."
My shoulders dropped as my stomach knotted itself, this was it. This was that moment where I had to make a choice.
Aurora or my career.
"That was a mistake." I tell her, allowing my voice to soften somewhat.
She takes another step closer to me and I instinctively moved back, "it was the first time I've laughed like that in a long time. I feel like-" she paused, trying to find the right words, "it felt like I've known you forever. I was so... so comfortable with you and so happy. I couldn't stop smiling if I tried." Her admission only made the rip in my gut that much more painful. She felt the same way.
I take a slow deep breath before looking at her, "I think it's cute that you have a school girl crush on me, but that's all that is, Aurora. Trust me. A one-sided, school girl crush on your teacher." her eyes suddenly filled with hurt at my words
Another wave of guilt passes through me, I fight the irrational urge to reach out and just hold her in my arms. To make the hurt in her eyes go away, but I couldn't. I swallowed the lump in my throat and squared my shoulders "look... I'm your teacher and I almost stepped over a very defined line yesterday. Let's just forget it happened, okay?"
Without waiting for an answer, I grabbed my bag and stepped around the blonde, "You should get to your next class."
"What if I don't want to?"
I froze half-way out the door and without looking at her, I said "if you're going to skip class, go ahead. But I won't be bailing you out of anything anymore."
"I meant yesterday..." she says quietly, "... what if I don't want to forget what happened?"
The electricity in my chest was so intense I felt like I was going to start glowing like a light bulb, I turned around and faced the blonde.
Her eyes were confused, pleading and hopeful as she stared back at me. Was she she feeling the same intensity I did right now? That hot pulling feeling in my gut that made me want to be as close to her as humanly possible? I shake my head lightly.
It scared me how much she's changed in me in the last 24 hours, I was so willing to give everything up for her; I still am. But this couldn't go on. This won't only ruin my career, but it was also going to destroy Aurora. This town was judgmental enough of me without basis, I couldn't let her burn with me.
She not worth your whole career. Diaval's words echoed in my mind, bouncing off the walls, getting louder and louder. I could almost feel my mind build the walls around my heart, constricting it, depriving it of air until it was broken.
I am the teacher. She is my student.
"You should." I croaked, "I have."
For the next two weeks, Aurora and I dance around each other; I avoided her eyes and she would skirt around me whenever we were both in the hallway. I had begun to take my lunch in the Nest just to avoid seeing her in the cafeteria.
Class was a nightmare especially when she needed to teach everyone, including me how to make the Loom Bands. It was like being poked and prodded by a live electric wire every time our hands would touch when she'd correct what I did.
As we grew further apart, I had noticed that Aurora made more friends, confirming that what I did was the best for her. On the off chance that I do see Aurora around school, she's always with Philip. Hanging out by the tree or eating on the bleachers as they watched the football varsity practicing for their next game.
One day, I was eating a pulled-pork sandwich in the Nest when I saw Aurora sitting under the shade of the large tree in front of the school. She looked like she was upset over something, her lips were pressed in a hard line and her brows were creased together.
"Aurora!" a boy called from the school door directly beneath me. Her face immediately lights up at the sight of the boy and a twisting feeling of nausea settled on my stomach as I watched Philip take his place beside the blonde. He leaned in and whispered something into Aurora's ear that made her giggle.
Giggle.
My giggle.
Everyone had heard Aurora laugh or chuckle but she only every used that giggle that first day when we were talking in the classroom. My stomach dropped somewhere between my knees and feet and I suddenly feel stupid for wanting to cry.
The two got up and walked towards the door beneath me,
"Hey, Philip?" Aurora asked, I could hear her from my place.
"Yeah?"
"What do you know about Ms. Maleficent?"
My heart dropped at her question, I wasn't sure what Philip knew about me but I was concerned of what he might say. A pedophile? A rebel? Drug dealer? Addict? I sigh as I look down at the two teenagers, It didn't matter, did it? When she hears of how messed up my life I won't even be surprised if she's want to transfer classes.
It would be for the best anyway, for her to find out the rumors, It'll make avoiding her so much easier since she'll want to be as far away from me as possible.
"Not much. I just know that she wasn't from here and that there was a very big scandal or something a few years ago."
I could see Aurora's head tilt to the side, "scandal?"
"Yeah. My mom says it had something to do with another student in Graystone. I'm not sure. You should ask your aunt, Ms. Knotgrass."
The blonde was silent for a moment, "I will."
"Word of advice?" Philip says before pulling the door open for Aurora, "Just do your schoolwork and get out, don't linger or try to talk to her outside of class. Everyone says she's nothing but trouble."
Well, well...
"Your flower seems to be blooming beautifully." Todd says from behind me, taking the stem of the lily between his fingers. I jerked away at the sound of his voice and quickly spun around to face him. He was looking at me with a guarded but curious look on his face.
After how I acted during our dinner, I guess I can't blame him.
"Did I wake you or break some sort of meditation thing?" He says apologetically.
Confused, my head unconsciously cocks to the side, "what?"
"You were kind of..." Todd trails off before a blank expression settled on his face, "...like that."
"Uh... n-no. Just... daydreaming I guess." I tell him plainly, unable to give any sort of explanation to my dreams. What was I going to say? That I was going insane? At first I only got them when I was asleep but lately they've been forcing their way into my mind. I would space out several times a day and be somewhere else.
It was seriously creeping me out and the only thing that made sense after my research on it was either I was going crazy or something called "Past Life Regression". Needless to say, I develop an intense headache whenever I try to make sense of these dreams, visions or whatever the hell these are.
"You okay, Mal?" He asks, concern lacing his voice. I smile at him before wrapping him in a friendly hug, "Yeah, I'm just- I'm... uh... Sorry for how I acted last time."
He shook his head, "caught you on an off-day, that's okay."
"You call hearing things and spacing out then disappearing after I go to the rest room, an off-day?"
Todd barked out a laugh, "Happens to the best of us."
"Ugh..." I groan, covering my face with my hands, "I'm just sorry. I guess I was more exhausted than I thought." He smiled at me, flashing his pearly white behind his ebony skin, "make it up to me, then?"
"How?" my eyes narrowed playfully at him.
"Buy me a drink."
A smirk ghosted my lips, "Fine."
"Fine." He says with a slight twinkle in his eyes.
"Groak!"
"Shit!" the loud squawk made my heart jump up to my throat, barely stopping the screech that would have surely escaped.
Todd's head snapped up and his eyes settled somewhere in the distance, just above my left shoulder. "Wow..." he whispered softly. I turn to see what he was looking at and saw the large black bird perched outside the window, I couldn't be sure but something told me it was the same one in my house a few weeks ago.
"He's beautiful." Todd said with a tone of awe in his voice,
I shrug as I stare at it, "It's a creepy stupid crow."
From beside me, I could see Todd shake his head at what I said, "No, that's not a crow..." "Groak!"
"... That's a raven." he tells me before walking closer to the winged rat.
"Todd, what are you doing?" I asked him, my tone hushed so that I wouldn't startle the bird. "That thing is going to poke your eyes out with it's beak."
He doesn't listen, "you know, these are one of the smartest birds. They use twigs and stones as toys and they can use hand- well, wing gestures instead of vocal ones."
I walk towards him and reach for his arm just before he could touch the raven, "you really shouldn't touch him." "Did you know that they can imitate human speech? Yeah! Amazing right?" He continued, not even waiting for me to answer.
"Such a shame that they get such a bad reputation just because of how they look or how they act. Since they mock humans and other creatures, it was believed that they were evil." he says lowly. I look at the raven again and it tilted it's head to the side to look at me, "Well, this one definitely is. It's been following me since last week."
"Following you?" A crease forms on Todd's forehead as he repeated what I'd just said.
I nod at him, "yeah."
"And you've never seen him before that?"
"No. Never. It just appeared out of nowhere, disappeared and now it's here again."
"That's interesting." He mumbles to himself.
"Why?"
Instead of answering, he turned and walked to his desk. "Because..." he starts as plops a large book on the tabletop, "Ravens can remember human faces, friend or foe. Ravens, much like humans, memorize and categorize relationship bonds and affiliations with other animals or humans- in your case."
"Relationship? No, I told you. I've never seen this bird before." I repeat myself, "I would know-"
"Maybe you interacted with it before your accident?" My brows crease again and I instinctively fold my arms over my chest.
The accident.
Again, I could feel the beginnings of a headache twisting against my temples and I let out a long sigh, "Maybe..."
"Look, forget it. Why don't I treat you to some coffee? You're done for the day and my next class isn't for another hour." He smiles shyly at me.
Yes. I needed to get some air and staying here isn't going to help. Plus, he'll be a good distraction from Aurora and this goddamn bird.
"Sure, why not?" I answer, my voice sounding a lot more chipper than I wanted.
Todd and I sat on the soft couches littered around Starbucks as we talked about everything and nothing in particular. He chose a simple brewed coffee and paired it with a Ham & Cheese Panini while I went with a Caramel Macchiato and a Chocolate Chunk Cookie.
I forgot how easy it was with him, we laughed about how Ms. Knotgrass' face would stiffen like a stone whenever Diaval and I made dirty jokes or how he had to awkwardly hand a roll of tissue paper to a student that didn't check the dispenser before doing his business.
"This was good, I needed this." A smile was plastered on my face as we stood to leave,
"well, I'm glad I could h-" "Maleficent?" I hear a female voice say from behind me.
Todd moved to his side to look at who it was before smiling and waving, "Lesley! I forgot you worked here."
"Lesley?"
I turn and see Lesley Flittle, Imelda and Juno's other best friend. She had long curly bronze hair and always seemed to have a blank or happy in her eyes. She was always so... Chipper.
"Yeah! I'm done for today though, just waiting-" A bell rings out from beside us, "oh! perfect timing, my ride is here!" she giggles before bouncing towards the door. I didn't even need to turn around to knew who she was talking to. "Aurora! Look, your teachers are here!" she says cheerfully.
Of-fucking-course Lesley had to work here when I was here and of-fucking-course it would be Aurora to come pick her up.
With a deep breath, I turn slowly and at first my eyes settled on her feet. She had exchanged her strappy gladiator sandals for a pair of pink Doc Martens. She was wearing black leggings, a loose Nirvana band shirt. Her hair was styled into a messy bun and she had very light make-up on. Just a thin layer of pink lipstick or gloss, eyeliner and a light blush.
She looked absolutely b- no.
I am the teacher. She is my student.The blonde simply looked at me like a deer caught in headlights, the afternoon sun reflecting against her baby blues.
"I give her a curt nod but Todd waves with his other hand, "Hey there, Aurora."
"Mr. Hall." She greets.
"She's here to pick me up, isn't she such a sweetheart?" Lesley cooed, pinching Aurora's cheeks playfully.
I was distracted when Aurora started fidgeting, she looked between Todd and myself with a confused look on her face. Her lips were pressed in a hard line and I couldn't tell if she looked sad or angry. We stayed locked in each other's eyes until Todd has to clear his throat.
"Well, we should be getting back now. Mal has a lot of paperwork to get done." He says courteously.
I turn my head towards him slowly as the Aurora-haze lifted, "I do? I mean- I do."
"We'll be driving by the school, I'm sure we can drop you-" "No!" I say abruptly, cutting Lesley off mid-speech.
"Todd and I can foot it, right? Todd?"
The man looked at me with a curious expression, "Um... Yeah. We'll walk. Thank you for the offer though."
Lesley looked between me and Todd, "Anytime. Let's go, Sweetie."
The older woman tugged on Aurora's arm before pulling her towards the front parking lot in a hurry. When they reached a battered-looking silver Toyota; Aurora slid into the diver seat, reached over and tinkered with the lock before pulling open the passenger side door.
She turns the key and meets my eyes on more time before pulling out of her spot.
"What was that about?" Todd asked from beside.
I shook my head and grabbed my bag before stepping outside, "Nothing."
Todd walked me to school and insisted in staying with me so I wouldn't have to be at school by myself even though I didn't really mind being alone. Luckily, the guidance councilor walked by and asked for his help to visit on one of his students for some sort of home evaluation. He couldn't say no and I watched as the two went on their way.
It was half past four when we got to the campus so the whole building was practically empty. Most of the people that stay this late were the members of different clubs and the janitorial staff. I could hear sounds of rubber shoes squeaking against the floor, muffled voices of their coaches and captains. Since I needed to photocopy the waiver for the Outreach program and fill out the forms for the Swap Meet, I decided to use the copy machine in the teacher's lounge where all my paperwork would be.
I noticed that the door to the lounge was pushed open and I could hear paper being shuffled or thrown around. There was also the sound of chairs and tables being moved around and the door was wide open which was odd since a door closer was installed to make sure it was always closed.
"Hello?" I called out, twisting to the side to peer into the room. "Is anybody in there?"
When I was close enough, I could see an overturned chair between the open door. Preventing it from fully closing. The lights were also closed and in the dim afternoon sun, it looked foreboding.
I stepped in and managed to walk several feet into the room before I tripped over something hard, "Ow! What the f-?"
"Groak!" A scream rose to my throat as I see the silhouette of the large raven land on the leftmost part of the window. The one farthest from me.
"Jesus!" I breathed out while trying to control the rapid beating of my heart. I watched as the bird hopped along the window that ran the whole top of the room before spreading it's wings and hopping on top of something else. My heart dropped when I noticed who it was perched on.
I had to squint my eyes against the darkness but I could immediately tell that it was a woman.
Tall, almost as tall as me. Her face was obscured by the shadow but I could tell she was wearing some sort of robe and a headpiece. The figure raised her left hand and I saw that she was holding a long staff with a glowing yellow, blue and green orb on top. The same one from my dreams.
My body stiffens at the realization as I watched the woman move with grace I've never seen before.
"Who are you?!" I ask her harshly before taking a step back. Instead of answering, she moves the staff in front of her, the glow casting a dim shadow on her features. Her skin was pale as chalk, her cheek bones were dangerously sharp, blood red lips-
"Remember..." the voice sounded like mine but I didn't even talk, "remember her."
She was using my voice.
Without another word, I bolted for the door.
"Save her..." my voice said again.
Before I could reach the door, it slammed shut. The force was so strong that the glass panel on the door shattered. "Save her..." the figure said and it sounded so close to me that I whipped around and pressed my back against the door.
She was standing four feet away from me and the light from the hallway that had spilled to the front of the lounge allowed me to see her face properly. The figure was me. A horned, pale, blue-green-yellow eyed version of me.
My vision started spinning but I fought to keep my eye on the impostor, "What the fuck..." I breathed, unable to believe what I was seeing.
The staff in her hands suddenly started emitting a soft green mist. It drifted lazily in front of the woman before moving towards me, wrapping itself around me.
It felt like being engulfed by warm water, it felt good. The mist settled on my hands and made them burn like I had reached into open flame, "Ah!" I screamed, trying to shake my hands free from the burning mist.
"Please stop!"
"Remember..."
"Stop! Please!"
"Save her..."
"No! It burns! Please!"
"Maleficent..." she whispered and the heat on my hands felt like it had melted through my skin. I just wanted it to stop. I was going crazy. This had to be some sort of delusion or nightmare that won't end.
"Maleficent!" the impostor screamed into my ear.
"Groak!"
"Stop!" I threw my hands out and I felt the green mist contract and then explode around my hands.
I could here glass shattering around me but my vision had gone black. I felt my head loll to one side and my knees buckling from beneath me. "Stop..." I whispered before the darkness consumed me again.
"Are you not offended?" A woman asks from behind me, a Queen.
The dreams were so vivid. I felt like a spectator. I would just know things about the dream like how much I hate the King and Queen, how hateful I felt or what I plan to do in this gathering. I would say things and my body would move on it's own but it didn't scare me. I had gotten used to it and instead of fighting it, I took note of everything so I could write them down when I woke up.
"Why no..." I answer the woman, "and to show that I bare no ill will, I too shall bestow a gift on the child." The smile on my face was wicked as I stared daggers at the bearded King, "we don't want your gift." he tells me.
Like I give a damn.
The knot of rage is my chest tightens as I look at him, I've never seen him before but he felt familiar. Looking at him felt like pure unadulterated hate. The King sat back in his seat quietly, watching me as I moved to my left.
I make my way to a golden crib where a small baby was looking up at me. Baby blue eyes, like oceans, stared into mine like something in them had grabbed her attention. It looked ugly.
"Stay away!" A small red...creature tells me. The Rabble from the Moors.
Knotgrass, Thistlewit and Flittle.
With a flick of my wrist, I send the three annoying things flying into a large padded chest before leaning down towards the child. It met my eyes and for a moment, I couldn't go through with my plan. I thought of turning around and walking away.
But I couldn't let go of it. Not after what he did to me.
"Listen well all of you..." I start, green heated mist appearing from my hands, "the princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty. Loved by all who meet her-" "That's a very nice gift." Leila interrupts, trying to save her child.
I glance over my shoulder and look at her when something shiny catches my eye from the pile of gifts behind me, A spinning wheel. More specifically, the spindle.
Hmm.
I straighten myself up before making my way in front of the King and Queen, "But..." My arms raise on either side of me as more of the green mist appears around me, engulfing me. "... Before the sun sets on her 16th birthday. She will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep-like death. A sleep from which she will never awaken." The King stood at hearing my words and begged me not to do it.
"I like you begging..." it gave me a sense of power over the person who ruined me. "... Do it again."
After hesitating and looking at his advisers, the King knelt in front of me, begging me to spare his daughter, "Alright..."He nodded once but I kept going, "the princess can be woken from her death sleep but only by true love's kiss. This curse shall last till the end of time. No power on earth can change it!"
The green mist around me burst and drifted to the baby then thickened in front of me. Blocking my vision so I couldn't see anything. When my vision returned, I found myself in a dark room; watching over a blonde that was sleeping on a bed in front of me.
Aurora.
It didn't matter whether I was awake or dreaming, I would always know her.
"I revoke the curse... let it be no more..." I whisper, a soothing gold mist appearing from my staff. "I revoke the curse, let it be no more..."
The blonde suddenly started emitting green mist, like I was pulling it out of her. I stepped out of the shadow and approached the sleeping woman, "I revoke the curse! Let it be no more!" I shout, holding my hands out to my side and pulling the green mist towards me, absorbing it from her.
"Let it be no more!" It felt like I was pulling on a tightly wound rubber band around Aurora. The green mist had thrashed as I pulled on the invisible rubber ban until I felt the power give.
The gold mist disappeared and the green slowly drifted back to Aurora.
"No power on earth can change it..."
"This curse will last till the end of time..."
I could hear my voice in my head and I couldn't help but close my eyes to try and shut it out. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes and I was in a large bright forest, watching over Aurora as she played with winged...creatures?
"Aurora?" I called out at the blonde, "Yes, Fairy Godmother?"
"Come here..."
I could feel my heart twist as I looked at her walk so cheerfully towards me, the girl I had cursed. The girl I had fallen in love with.
As soon as Aurora takes her place beside me, I fought the urge to hold her hand. "What's wrong?"
"There is an evil in this world..." I tell her, barely keeping back the regret from my voice, "... and I cannot keep you from it."
Because I'm the evil and I couldn't keep myself away from her. Because I cursed her in a way that gave her no way out. Before Aurora could answer, I felt a pull on the back of my head. Like I was being pulled out from underwater.
I woke up and took a moment to look at my surroundings. I was back in my apartment in my work clothes. "Ugh..." My groan sounded horse and I felt like I had been run over by a car.
Forcing myself to sit up, I notice that the whole apartment was dark and silent. "Diaval?" the man must have seen me and brought me home, "Val?"
Nothing.
The clock on my bedside read 2:14 AM.
"Groak!" I jump at the sound and whip my head to the windows where the sound had come from. "Gr-rr-oak!" "I'm going to fucking kill that stupid bir-" CRASH! I was cut off by the sound of something wooden falling on my tiled floor. I peeked around the bed and saw what had caused the loud sound.
There, in the middle of my living room, lay a wooden staff. The green and blue orb was shining bright in the darkness.
