(Mal)
Despite knowing there was nothing she could do Mal found herself still searching for an escape route, a way to keep herself from having to experience this moment any further than she already had. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. How am I going to get out of this? She cursed herself for being so careless; for crawling closer to the school instead of away from it; for allowing herself to even be injured in the first place. How could I be so ridiculously careless? Why didn't I even consider the possibility of those agents wanting to lure me out instead of Evie? To get rid of me so Evie's an easier target. Which made her wonder if they had figured out that Evie had protection simply from one group disappearing.
She glanced up at the boy who had spoken, noting that it was the same boy she had questioned about Evie on her first day here. Hey, kid. It's been a while. She tried to remember the boy's name, remembering that she had asked him during their first meeting, she just couldn't recall it.
"Just a little fun, is all," Mal replied finally, moving further up the wall and wincing at the pain the action caused her. "Nothing to worry about, I promise."
"That's not what it looks like," the small boy shook his head, denying her explanation and moving closer to her.
Magic surged through her and lit up her eyes, causing the boy to take a step back in fear, however, knowing that all the boy wanted to do was try to help she forced herself to calm down. When the magic lay dormant in her body the boy moved closer once more, much more hesitant this time as he crouched down beside her to get a better look at her visible wounds. She hissed when his fingertips accidentally brushed over the raw skin that remained punctured by the splintered wood from the tourney stick. The boy glanced over at the shattered stick and turned back to meet her gaze, his eyes telling her that he knew she was lying about it having happened for amusement. Well, it could have worked on someone stupid enough. Bravo, kid, for not being an idiot like the rest of Auradon seems to be. Once again, she felt almost guilty not excluding Evie from that statement. Don't worry, Princess, she addressed the girl, though she was well aware she couldn't hear her; I don't think you're an idiot.
The next words that came from the boy's lips caused a bullet of fear to rip through her skin and directly target her heart. "Dude, go get help."
At first, the fear eased because she remembered that it was only the two of them there, and who could he be talking to – right? - but it flared to higher limits than before when the dog barked, running down the outside hallway to turn the corner Mal had turned to get outside. Oh, great, the mutt can understand English. Just my luck. She decided to try to use that as a way to get the attention off of her.
"Your dog can understand you?" Mal questioned, knowing she didn't sound nearly as kind as she had intended to.
"Yup," the boy responded, reaching to peel the leather from her open wounds.
Mal's arm jerked from the pain and she closed her fingers around Carlos' wrist with a viperous grip. Carlos! That was his name. She forced out a painful laugh, her fingers only closing more tightly around the boy's bone as her fingernails dug into his skin.
"Listen, buddy," Mal let the friendly nickname slip her lips coated with venom. "If you don't leave right now I'm going to put you in a much worse state than I'm in."
Carlos' puppy-like eyes met hers, but he didn't budge. "You need help. You've been seriously injured, and…"
"It's not even that bad, kid," Mal interrupted, well aware that she was lying; the pain was thick enough to cause her to shake. "Please, I'm begging you to leave it to me. I can deal with it on my own."
"You're not used to anyone helping you, are you?" Carlos asked, still not leaving.
A groan of frustration tore through Mal's throat, and she leaned her head back against the cool stone wall in exasperation, finding herself desperate to get the boy to leave her alone. Though it seemed that it wouldn't matter even if she did convince him to leave because not even five minutes later the incessant barking could be heard again, and only a few seconds after that the dog had returned to her side, once again bringing someone with him. Too fucking careless. Mal thought, cursing herself another time for letting things come to this. I won't make this mistake again.
"Oh my goodness, are you alright, dear?"
Fantastic, she thought sarcastically when she realized the person the mutt had fetched was none other than Fairy Godmother; because she's just the woman I wanted to see again.
"Let's get her to the nurse," Fairy Godmother said, meeting Carlos' gaze.
"No, um… how about you don't," Mal replied, planting her palm on Carlos' chest and shoving him to the ground when he tried to grab her. "I don't need a nurse, I just need you two to leave me alone."
"Just hold still, sweetie," Fairy Godmother ignored her, bending down to help Carlos get her onto her feet. "Moving you will cause a bit of pain."
A bit? Mal wanted nothing more than to blow this woman one-thousand feet from her, but as she struggled she caught a glimpse over the woman's shoulder and noticed the crowd that had gathered. Well, shit. What a show, huh?
"Come on," Carlos grunted, having taken a few blows to the side of his face as the three of them struggled against each other. "The more you struggle, the more it'll hurt."
Kid's right, she sighed in defeat, letting her body fall motionless in their arms – purposefully leaning more against Carlos and away from Fairy Godmother – and finally allowing them to support the majority of her weight as they moved slowly in the direction she assumed the infirmary was. She grumbled the entire way, scrunching her face each time pain shot through her entire body, the loss of blood due to the prolonged healing severely weakening her. A few other people ran up to help, but after only a few more minutes at the slow pace they had adopted, for Mal, everything went black.
A shooting, unbearable pain drew her back into consciousness, the pain resonated – but not limited to – her right side. Before her eyes even opened her arm snapped forward and she clasped a wrist in her hand tightly, twisting the person's arm until she heard them cry out for help, and before she knew it there were more hands on her, breaking her grasp and pinning her to the surface she currently laid on. Not having the proper strength to break free from the number of people holding her she submitted, lying perfectly still against the heated surface warming her body, her chest heaving rapidly.
"She sure is strong despite the blood loss."
"Yeah, she never seems to stop fighting."
She knew that second voice. Slowly, Mal pried her eyes open, searching through the blurry coating over her eyes for the boy, finding that she was almost relieved he was somewhere with her, and once her vision cleared enough for her to locate him she almost found herself smiling at the sight of him. Almost. It was just something about his brown puppy-dog eyes that made her like him.
"She's awake," Carlos told someone out of Mal's sight.
"Keep her distracted," a woman's voice responded, one she didn't recognize.
"How?" Carlos asked, seeming bewildered by the order.
"I don't know, what kinds of things does she like?" The woman asked, finally coming into view.
Mal studied the woman briefly, noting that she was wearing a bright yellow dress, an apron tied around her – which Mal assumed was to keep her dress free from any possible bloodstains.
Carlos shrugged, his eyes widened as he looked up at the woman. "I don't know her that well. I've only seen her twice, and despite telling me to leave her alone the only thing she's said to me was when she was asking me to point out Evie."
"Well, do something," the woman sighed heavily, wiping at her forehead with her arm. "Or she's going to freak like she did when she woke."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Your Highness? Now, she was properly confused.
She watched as Carlos took a deep, unsettling breath, his gaze sliding over her briefly before the smallest glint of hope sparked in his brown eyes. He must have found something he thinks will work, Mal thought, her eyelids fluttering and threatening to block out the world again; I feel bad he doesn't know nothing will work. I will always freak because I could have healed myself already if I hadn't gotten myself caught up in this horrid situation. Still, she found herself grateful that the boy – despite not really knowing her – cared enough about her health to call for help and stay with her until the worst was over; at least, that's what she assumed he was doing sitting in a chair beside her.
"You have a tattoo," Carlos spoke up, getting her attention and causing her to force her eyes open.
Glancing down at her forearm, she noticed that her shredded jacket and her shirt had both been removed, completely baring her arms and the majority of her upper-body. She didn't have time to completely take any of that in though because something else caught her attention immediately after she looked down at herself; her side. Her skin was almost completely raw, the broken stick having punctured in several places, each wound as they traveled up her side seemingly deeper than the one before it. Damn, he got a good shot.
Acutely aware that both Carlos and the woman were staring at her in hope she tore her gaze from the wound in her side and focused back on the young boy. "Yeah, I got it a couple years ago."
A wide smile appeared on Carlos' face. "How old were you when you got it?"
"Just turned fifteen," Mal answered, too tired to be rude to the boy. "I was positive I was already done growing, so I figured it wouldn't be a terrible idea to get it early."
"And your mom just let you, honey," the woman chimed in, focusing her attention back on Mal's side.
Mal winced when the woman pulled a shard of wood from her skin, but fought the initial urge to strangle her. "I don't have a mother." That was all she was saying about that topic, though.
"I'm sorry to hear that," the woman replied, meeting her gaze briefly before returning her undivided attention back to the wound.
Well, I'm not. I don't need a mother.
Carlos cleared his throat, clearly sensing Mal's patience was wearing thin. "So, you like dragons, I take it."
"Oh, you have no idea, kid," Mal smiled weakly at the boy, knowing it would forever remain a secret that she could turn into one.
"Why do you keep calling me kid?" Carlos questioned, moving onto another topic.
Mal would have shrugged if she could, but she settled for cocking her head. "Don't know, you just look young."
"I'm sixteen," Carlos said quietly, almost like he was ashamed of his age. "But I'll be seventeen before the school year's out. How old are you?"
"Seventeen," Mal breathed out heavily, trying her best to hold in a yelp of pain when the woman pulled out another shard, this one feeling much deeper than the last.
"That's all of them, sweetie."
"Don't call me that," Mal growled, chest heaving and vision swimming.
The woman ignored her. "Now, I have to tend to your arm, but it doesn't look nearly as bad, so it shouldn't hurt as much."
"Oh, goody," Mal huffed in annoyance.
Suddenly, she felt a light tug on her chest, and she immediately found herself craving for Evie's presence. Stop it! Mal all but shouted at the connection between them. I don't need her like you're trying to make me believe I do. She was tired of the connection making her crave the girl, and she was almost desperate to break it, however, she knew she didn't have the power necessary to perform the spell. She needed more power, more magic, and she knew exactly where she could get it once her mission was complete. I need that necklace if I want to break the connection. And I need Evie to cooperate with me because she's the only one who can use the damned thing. Breaking the spell had already proved more difficult than she had wished for, but she had a plan for making it more simple, and as long as she never managed to get on the girl's bad side she knew she should be capable of meeting the plan's criteria.
Picking the splints and slivers from her arm didn't take much time at all, and within the next five minutes she found herself in a sitting position while the woman caring for her wounds wrapped a strange white material around her side. To keep the ointment on the wound instead of spread all over every surface you touch, the woman had told her; and she was forced to believe her considering there wasn't much else she could do in that moment. Finally, the woman left the room, leaving her with only Carlos, the boy making no move to leave her as well.
"Why are you still here?" Mal asked after she had laid her body back against the soft surface of the infirmary bed, her eyes closed due to the unbearable weight of her eyelids.
She could feel the sheets beneath her shifting, letting her know that the boy was manipulating the material in his nervous state. Nervous, huh?
"I just… I don't want you to be alone," Carlos answered after a brief moment, his voice timidly quiet.
"I can handle myself, you know," Mal stated, struggling to pry open her eyes enough to bring the boy back into her sight. "You don't have to worry about me."
"I know," he whispered, his big brown eyes meeting her smaller green ones. "I'm still worried, though. You looked pretty bad when I found you."
"That was nothing," Mal breathed out, wishing she was lying. "I've had much worse, kid."
"Really? How much worse?"
Mal hesitated, everything inside her screaming at her not to tell the boy anything more about her past, but as she managed to open her eyes fully she noticed the vulnerable, caring look present in his eyes, and it suddenly made her want to divulge her past to him.
"I've been beaten close to death before," Mal replied honestly, seeing no reason to keep the truth from the small boy; and she didn't stop there. "By someone who all but called himself my father."
She could see the sympathy in his eyes, and although she didn't want anyone feeling sorry for her she couldn't bring herself to hate the fact that he worried about her.
"I'm sorry, that sounds so terrible," Carlos spoke softly, his fingers still manipulating the sheet. "I don't have the best family life either."
"Oh, yeah?" Mal questioned, delighted to get the focus of the conversation off her.
Carlos nodded. "Yeah, my mother treated me like a servant. Making me do things like touch up her roots and scrape the bunions off her feet. And she made me terrified of dogs for the longest time."
"That's disgusting," Mal scrunched her face in disgust, the second part of the boy's confession almost making her laugh. "Afraid of dogs?"
"Yeah," Carlos chuckled, reaching to scratch the back of his neck. "I'm not afraid anymore."
"I can tell," Mal stated, her gaze searching the room for the mutt and finding him resting on the floor by the boy's feet. Of course, there you are, you scruffy mutt. I bet you rarely leave his side.
A bell unexpectedly sounded through the room and Carlos looked up at the clock at the sound, his eyes falling to meet Mal's again before he spoke. "I'm sorry, but that's the lunch bell, and I'm really hungry."
"Go ahead, kid," Mal waved him off with her good arm. "Doesn't bother me."
"Do you want me to bring you anything?" Carlos asked, looking hesitant to leave her alone.
"No, I'll be fine," Mal answered, her gaze falling on the needle stuck in her hand. "I think the drugs took away my appetite."
"You sure?"
"Positive," Mal nodded in confirmation. "Now, go."
She watched the boy leave the room hesitantly before struggling into a sitting position, her head pounding with the effort. Fucking pain-meds, she grumbled, reaching down to remove the needle from her hand. Tossing the entire tube onto the ground she looked around the infirmary, noticing that she was the only one occupying a bed. What? Are people in Auradon so careful that they don't get injured? Does the goodness inside them make them immune to viruses? That one made her laugh, but she sighed heavily shortly after and fell back against the bed, disappointed that she kept laughing at her own jokes recently.
Now that she was alone her mind wandered to the entire reason she was stuck in the infirmary, healing like a mortal. The agents. They had seemed to be luring her out, clearly knowing that she would see them moving outside the window and follow them. But why would they be trying to lure me into a trap? It's Evie they want. She's the one with the necklace. It didn't much make sense, and the only thing that made it believable was if they had found out about Evie's protection. And even in that case, it was a long shot that they'd know it was her. Unless… she stopped for a moment to mull the idea over; unless they didn't know it was me. They could have just as easily been hoping to unveil that information by seeing who followed them. Fuck! Mal cursed herself for being so idiotic. Of course they were testing it out. Of course they were trying to figure out who had taken out the first guys sent. She reached up with her uninjured arm and rubbed both her brows. I'm so stupid.
So, they knew Evie had protection. And now, if those guys had had any sort of device attached to them that sent out a picture or likeness of Mal they all knew who that protection was. She blew out a heavy, irritated breath. I can't be careless anymore. I can't even be the slightest bit careless. I can't mess up anymore. Not now. I have to be constantly on guard from now on. If they knew Evie had protection chances were that they would only send in larger amounts of agents to take out both the target and the protection, meaning she had to completely change her tactics. I have to protect myself as well as protect Evie; which would be a great deal more difficult, especially if they were ever lured into a trap that made her have to choose between Evie's life, and her own. She just hoped it wouldn't come to that because she had no doubt which life she would favor.
And that decision would bring her entire mission crashing down into a pit of failure.
(Evie)
Evie wandered aimlessly through the hallways and toward her locker, her body seeming to move habitually as her mind kept her from focusing on where she was going, her thoughts completely consumed by her roommate. Why didn't she come back to class? Where did she go off to so suddenly? Why did she even leave in the first place? It had taken less than a split-second for her to crave the girl's presence after she had left, everything that had made her hopeful that it would be a strangely pleasant day tearing from her when the girl had disappeared.
After stopping briefly to exchange the contents of her bag with the materials in her locker she moved on down the concrete pathway, completely ignoring the fact that Jay would be expecting to find her waiting for him. She went through the lunch-line fairly quickly due to the short period of time it had taken her to arrive, and before she knew it she was sitting down at her usual table, the only one present.
Almost as if she were reliving the moment, a shadow pain coursed through her body, reminding her of the unbearable pain she had suffered from a little less than four hours ago. This reminder only brought something else to mind. There was a moment, a brief moment, where the pain had lessened. Where it had almost seemed like it was dissipating. And that moment had been when someone else's hand had replaced Doug's. Mal. No matter what she thought about her mind always seemed to end up in the same exact place; thinking about her new mysterious roommate. The pain had begun dissipating the very second Mal's hand had come to rest on her shoulder, seeming to be drawn from her body in every area she could feel the girl's body heat radiating onto her. It confused her, made her think; was she somehow drawing the pain from my body? She shook her head at that thought, believing it just as ridiculous as the idea of a necklace warning her of nearby danger. What is wrong with my head lately? She couldn't seem to keep herself from delving to desperate matters in search of answers for everything she'd been experiencing. She couldn't have been drawing the pain from my body, it's impossible. But then she recalled how the pain had come crashing back worse than before when Mal had released her, only continuing to increase in intensity when the girl had chosen to leave the room. Could she have had something to do with lessening the pain? She had only managed to confuse herself further.
Before she could allow herself to dwell further on the situation the sound of multiple trays being set on the table yanked her from her overwhelming thoughts, and she looked up to find Doug and Jay. Oh my goodness, Jay!
"What's up today, Evie?" Jay asked before she could get out an apology. "You didn't wait for me."
"I know, I'm so sorry," Evie apologized quickly, shifting her body so she was facing the boy. "I just… I don't know what happened. I got lost in my thoughts and forgot. I'm sorry."
"Chill," Jay grabbed her shoulder, a rough laugh escaping his lips. "It's cool. I just thought it was weird."
Evie calmed down a little knowing Jay wasn't upset with her.
"She had a rough first period," Doug spoke up for her, his eyes studying her for any sign of the behavior she had exhibited in AP Chemistry. "Something seemed to be hurting her."
"Did you get hurt?" Jay questioned, suddenly becoming more alert. "No one hurt you, did they? Because I will…"
Once again, Evie cut his threats short. "No one harmed me, Jay. I'm fine. I… I don't know what was wrong, but it's passed now, so we should just forget it ever happened."
"What if something's seriously wrong with you?" Doug asked, the look he gave her almost cautious.
"I'm fine," Evie repeated, hardly being able to keep a sharp bite from her words.
At that moment, Carlos joined them at the table with a heavy sigh, stealing all their attention away from Evie and toward him. Her usual greeting shoved itself back down her throat when she noticed the dark purple bruise on the boy's jaw and another, smaller one, on his cheek. Jay was the first to speak.
"What's wrong with you?" Jay asked, studying the smaller boy. "You look like someone's kicked Dude."
Carlos sent a brief glare his way before responding. "Nothing's wrong with me, technically. I've just had a frightening day."
"What, are you afraid of your classes?" Jay joked, earning only a laugh from Doug; Evie and Carlos ignored the teasing.
"What's wrong, Carlos?" Evie questioned more seriously, well aware that Jay wasn't going to stop joking around. "Where did those bruises come from?"
"Something terrible happened…" Carlos paused for a moment, seeming to consider something. "You know, now that I think about it, it happened just outside your first period."
Evie swallowed the thick lump that formed in her throat at Carlos' words, only to find that nothing seemed to clear her airway. "What happened?" Her voice cracked as she spoke.
"I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but this girl got seriously injured just outside the windows of the classroom next to yours," Carlos started his explanation, stabbing mindlessly at his food with the fork he held loosely between his fingers. "Dude started barking and took off when I was getting a drink from the hallway fountain, and so I followed after him, trying to get him to slow down, at the least," he paused, and Evie could tell he was definitely shaken by this event. "And when I found him again he was barking by a girl laying on the ground. When I got closer I noticed a large amount of blood, so I sent Dude to get help and Fairy Godmother and I ended up helping the girl to the hospital."
Oh my… what happened to this girl? And that's when a horrid thought entered her mind, causing her stomach to twist violently with a nauseous feeling, almost forcing her to hit the ground in order to empty the acid in her stomach. What if…? No, no, please don't let it be. All she could think about was the fact that Mal had never returned to the classroom.
"Do you know who it was?" Doug asked, beating Evie to the question that had been swirling around in her mind.
"Yeah, somewhat," Carlos answered, nodding lightly. "She was that girl I told you about the other day, you know, the one who was searching for Evie."
"Her name, Carlos," Evie managed to choke out, his response only intensifying her fear.
"Oh, um…" he had to think about it for a moment. "Fairy Godmother called her Mal. She said she was a new student."
No, no, no, no, no. Something reached into her chest and grabbed hold of her heart, squeezing with a vice-like grip as it twisted everything inside her in continuous circles. I never even considered… she didn't return to class because she was taken to the hospital. Without a second thought, Evie pushed against the surface of the table until she was on her feet, making a move to leave the table without even eating. However, a hand grabbing hold of her wrist stopped her from moving any further than a few steps toward the infirmary.
"Evie, don't," it was Doug, his grip loose enough to refrain from hurting her but tight enough to keep her where she stood. "You barely even know this girl, and there's definitely something off about her."
"That's exactly what you all thought about us when we first showed up," Evie stated, finally letting her words out with a bite. "She's my roommate, Doug, I have to check on her."
Pulling her wrist from Doug's grip she moved away from the table more quickly this time, not giving the boy another chance to protest; though she did hear him saying something to the others. She didn't care what they thought of her for doing this. Despite having only known the girl for three days Evie felt as though she were connected to Mal in an indescribable way, almost as if they shared something neither of them shared with anyone else, and she wasn't about to leave the girl alone in a hospital bed to heal from wounds Carlos had said were serious.