Derek walked with his parents in search of Donna. They were checking all of the towers. Lily was left with Ally in her mother's office since she couldn't have gone anywhere anyway. He wished he was with her right now, but he had to look. Derek thought about all of the times he could have helped Donna, but he let her slip past. The two had come a long way from childhood. Before they never spoke, and if they did, it was in casual insults. he had to make up for that now.
As they approached the stairs, Derek skipped two at a time."You know son," Daring said as they walked up the stairs,"Going up three at a time will help your flexibility for the games. Derek suddenly stopped on the stairs.
"Is that all that matters to you?" Derek turned and asked his father. "How flexible I'll be for the next game? Did you know that your niece is missing? Or hadn't you noticed since you were checking out the trophies you won back in high school?"
"Of course its not all that matters to me," Daring said defensively. "I care about our family. You better get your attitude in check if you want to keep your high status."
"I'm sick of living your life!" Derek yelled.
"Both of you just stop!" Lizzie yelled suddenly. Derek had almost forgotten his mother was there. She still had the voice of queen. Except she didn't scream'Off with you're head!'
"You're not living my life," Daring said in a calm voice.
"You don't even see it, dad," Derek said in his deep voice. "Everyone thinks I'm a ladies man. I'm not. Everyone thinks I look just like you. I don't. I mean I have mom's hair, her eyes, her smile. All I have is your ego. I even broke Brandon's arm during try outs and I didn't even get a reprimand. I didn't mean to hurt him, but it was still an illegal play. I'm a quarterback and I didn't even want to do bookball. I just wanted to make you happy."
"You didn't want to play bookball?" Lizzie asked her son. "Why didn't you just not try out?"
"Well I do enjoy bookball," Derek admitted,"But I wanted to earn my spot, not have my dad earn it for me." There was silence between the family.
"I'm sorry," Daring finally said. "That's just the way we grew up. We were supposed to be like our parents, and it made me angry. I guess, that's why I rebelled, it lead me to love." He looked at his wife, who grinned.
"You can do what you want," Lizzie chimed in,"And don't be afraid to tell us because we'll always support you." Derek looked at both of his parents for a while, then walked down the few steps between them. He wrapped his arms around them quickly. After a moment, they continued to search.
Dexter walked with his son through the dorms. He wanted to go with Raven, but he knew she had to do some things alone. Worry began to rise up in him the more he thought about it. He remembered how Raven would go into visions similar to Donna's. He hoped his daughter could be saved, he couldn't imagine the pain of losing her.
"Dad?" Ryder interrupted his father's thoughts. Dexter fixed his glasses and looked at his son.
"Yes Ryder," he answered as they walked.
"During the wars of your time," Ryder began,"Did anybody die?" Dexter tried not to think about the wars too much. It brought back memories that would haunt his dreams at night. He couldn't count how many times he would awake in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. Back when he and Raven were first married, Dexter remembered talking to her about them. Raven claimed she didn't have nightmares, but it was a total lie, and he knew it. Now, he did't have them often. After the kids were born, they took his mind off things.
"Well we don't talk about it much," Dexter shrugged,"But your mother watched your grandmother bleed to death. That's how the war ended. Then there was Headmaster Grimm. He threw himself to protect Apple. That's why she's a headmaster now. Why do you ask?"
"I just wanted to know I guess," Ryder looked down. Dexter knew what he was thinking about.
"You're going to be okay Ryder," Dexter stopped. "You won't be put in harms way anyway."
"No," Ryder shook his head and turned to his dad. "What about Donna? You said grandmother was only stopped after she died. I don't want Donna dead." The thought made Dexter hurt inside.
"She's going to be okay," Dexter mad his best effort. "She'll realize what's happening and come back to us. Apple did. I promise we won't hurt her. All you need to do is hope everything's going to be okay." Ryder looked down at the floor. Dexter could feel the sadness welling inside of his son. The father put an arm around his son. His words were trued. All they could do was hope.
Raven took Matt with her. It was weird to be separated from everyone else. Matt felt it would have been better to look as more as a group. What would happen if some one without powers take on Donna.
Matt and Raven were walking out to the grave area. There was mostly silence, but Matt was getting nervous with every silent step they took. "How did you get to be such good friends with Donna?" Raven asked. Matt knew she was trying to break the tension. He was okay with it. He couldn't imagine how stressed this mother was after finding out that her daughter may be plotting against the school after being possessed.
"She sat with me at lunch on the first day of school," Matt recalled,"I thought they were just a bunch of perky freshman, but they all turned out to be pretty cool. Donna especially treated me different from the rest of the girls. We became very close very quickly."
"Well if you were so close why didn't you stop her?!" Raven used her angry tone. She had stopped walking her violet eyes huge. She sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry Matthew. I just was always afraid of this."
"Its okay," they started walking again,"If it helps, I feel terrible. I didn't want to leave her that day, but she tried to sabotage my possible relationship with Blondie Lock's daughter. Which it didn't even work out in the end. I should have stayed and maybe convinced her to talk to you."
"I've been through many situations like this," Raven admitted,"But its even harder when its about someone you love." Matt couldn't agree more. They reached the grave and Raven went white. "How did you know this was here?"
"I spent a lot of time alone before Donna," Matt recalled finding it last year. It was his hangout for a long time. An escape from reality.
"You saw memories when you touched it?" Raven got down on her knees and ran her fingers over the grave. Matt flinched a little, remembering when Donna came back from the memories. Shaking. Cold. Lifeless. He didn't get any symptoms but a dizzy head. She froze there for a while. Matt wondered if there was some sort of connection of power. "I see nothing."
"So it is only the bracelets," Matt concluded. raven looked back at him expectantly. "Oh, Ally and Donna's friendship bracelets allows some people to see the memories. Don't ask because we don't know why except for maybe Donna put some sort of spell on them." He pointed to the purple one on his wrist. He took it off of his wrist and walked over to Raven. She held out her arm. When both of their skins touched the bracelet. Matt's vision flashed.
Matt was in a weird box. He looked up to see an orb made of briers floated above. It was weird. He never seen any place like it. He turned to the sound of fire crackle. Raven was fighting her mother. The Evil Queen looked more terrifying in real life then in the pages of the books Matt had read before his dyslexia. They did this for a while, then Raven jumped onto her mother as if she were lunging for something.
They wrestled for a while. Then Matt's vision flashed. He was in the eyes of Raven's. Her mother was on top of her. Staring down with her violet eyes. Matt finally understood where Donna's eyes came from. They were her grandmother's. The Evil Queen put handcuffs on Raven's arms so she couldn't escape. A knife was conjured from the Evil Queen's magic.
"I'm so sad that the only way to get Ever After is killing you," the Evil Queen's voice was deep. She dragged the knife against Raven's cheek. Matt could feel heat of where the cut had been made. Raising the knife, she said,"But if duty calls." Raven suddenly grabbed the pink rose emblem dangling from her killer's neck and tore it from her neck with her teeth. She smashed it on the ground.
Flash. Matt was standing back as he watch pink dust rise to the top of the room and into the brier orb. The limp body of Briar Beauty fell from the sky on top of the Evil Queen. Matt gasped a little as Raven pushed her mother off of her. The handcuffs released her. Briar got up and stumbled to a corner of the box, terrified. Raven stare at her mother. The blade disappeared after she pulled it from her middle.
As blood began to pool, the Evil Queen looked at her daughter. "You won Raven. I'm proud of you even though it didn't end too well for me. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, but it was my destiny." Her body then went still. Raven leaned down and closed her mother's eye lids.
Flash. Matt was standing in the cemetery. This time, it was recent. The fence was up and surrounding the other graves. The present Raven and her husband both stood at the grave. Raven conjured a white rose in her hand, and placed it down on the stone. She then turned and left, Matt stayed there though and watched the rose. It was cover in ice, turned black, then to dust.
Matt was back in the present. He jumped back, still holding the bracelet in his palm. Raven had one hand on the grave stone, but now looked at him with bright eyes. "What was that?"
"I thought it could only happen when you had both bracelets," Matt clipped Donna's back on his wrist. He examined the beads and thought about the other bracelet. He stood up. "That rose. Donna has seen it before. In her first vision that Friday night when Brandon broke his arm."
"What do you think the rose means?" Raven asked. "I had conjured it from magic yes but I didn't turn it to ice or anything. I've never even seen that." Matt began to think but his vision was spinning suddenly. He felt like he was shaking. His heart beat pounded in his ears. There were muffled calls from Raven, but Matt couldn't see or hear her. His eyes flutter shut before he felt the cold ground.
Matt was in a black room. He couldn't see anything. He breathed heavily. Was this some sort of after shock? He looked around panicked before he saw her. Donna stood faced away from him. Her black hair almost blended in with the room if it weren't for the purple tips. He walked over to her. She was studying something closely, but there was nothing but continuing darkness.
When Matt was close enough, his heart sank. Tears rolled down Donna's face. Her dark makeup smeared a little. "Donna," Matt said softly. Her eyes widened as she wiped around and looked around, but then turned back.
"They're looking for you," Donna's voice echoed, but her lips didn't move. These must have been her thoughts. "Go find them. Tell them what's happening."
"You're not going anywhere," a deeper voice echoed in the room. "Remember how they treated you? Don't fool yourself. They don't want to help you, they want to lock you away. You're not going to let that happen."
"They don't care about me. They never have. I must teach them a lesson."
"Make them regret the day they wronged you."
Matt suddenly realized. This was the manipulation. The thing that possessed Donna. It sounded like her grandmother's voice. "No Donna!" Matt yelled. "Fight it Donna! I care! Everyone cares!" Donna's face turned to shock. He hope she heard him. She looked directly at Matt. He gasped. He hadn't looked into her eyes for so long. Tears were beginning to form in his blue eyes.
More tears fell from her eyes. Matt tried to keep back his own. Flashbacks of that day in the hall came flooding back. The way she looked at him."I need you." Donna said with her own lips. That's when Matt let the tears fall.
"I know," Matt said. He knew this all along. He was the one she needed, and he threw her away. But now he couldn't let go. "I'm going to save you! Just hold on!" He touched her face. She continued to look at him as he tucked a piece of hair back. She looked at him and nodded a little.
"Too late for that." Donna's eyes widened. Matt was suddenly pushed away from Donna. When he gained his balance, he watched as purple flames grew around her feet. She screamed as it surrounded her.
"What's happening to me?!" Donna's eyes glowed the same shade of violet.
"DONNA!" Matt ran forward. Her glowing eyes rested on him. Everything suddenly stopped. Matt couldn't feel anything. He only stared at Donna. Everything was silent.
"Hurry," said Donna before the flames exploded. Matt was thrown back to the ground.
Matt sprung up from the grass. He felt his body still shaking a little. Tears were beginning to dry on his cheeks. He breathed heavily as his eyes came into head was dizzy, but he had to get it together. He had to spread the news. Raven was staring at him, filled with concern. "I saw her," Matt said in between breaths. "Donna."
"What?" Raven gasped as tears formed in her eyes. "Where is she? Is she okay?" Matt shook his head.
"I don't know where she is," Matt said as he caught his breath. "We were in this black room. I could hear her thoughts. There was another voice too. It sounded like your mother's."
"That's impossible," Raven said quickly,"My mother's dead." Matt stared at the grave. He thought about the rose. It was magically made.
"Wait," Matt peiced some things together in his brain. "Donna said that night she saw the blue orb for the first time, it was in the older dormitories. But not the closed off ones. Where you used to go."
"What are you saying?" Raven raised an eyebrow.
"My mom said the Evil Queen set up traps for you with weird visions." Matt remembered his mother telling him about the war when he was littler. "What if she left one that was never found. The rose was magically made. What if it isn't really the Evil Queen possessing Donna, but the memory of her. That's why Donna saw all of those memories. The magic in the rose gave the power to the grave to show the memories. The magic from the magic mirror showed memories."
"If was one of her traps," Raven said softly,"This was her plan. To keep her memory alive. And I gave it to her. That's why the book appeared to Donna, it was meant for me."
"I think Donna is going to attack again," Matt recalled his interaction,"The voice told her to make them regret what they've done. If its anything like last night, I'm sure its going to be bad."
"We have to go now," Raven got up on her feet. Matt followed as they ran to the school. Raven magically threw open the doors and ran into the school. There wasn't a lot of chatter form the castleteria this time.
Matt followed Raven as she walked down the hall. When they got to the castleteria, everyone was gathered in a circle around something. Matt got on top of a lunch table, but still could see of the crowd of students. He got down and ran to the stairs. When he got high enough, he looked to see Laura laying on the ground. Her eyes wide and looking up at the ceiling. She was whispering something.
"What's with her?" Raven asked him.
"That's Laura." Matt wondered where Eliza and Fauna were, but then found them in the crowd. They were standing straight up looking forward with no expression. No one seemed to notice them. They were also whispering something in unison. Matt was about to point it out but was silenced by the buzz of his phone. Ally was calling him. He slid it open and put the phone up to his ear. There was nothing but heavy breathing on the line.
"Ally?" Matt called.
"She here," Ally said before hanging up the phone. Matt's eyes opened wide. The call ended. Matt looked at Raven. Fear rose in him as he spoke.
"Apple's office."