Matt was back in the black room. He sprung up to where he laid. His head was a little dizzy, but it was minor. He thought they would show Donna memories about the past. How much they've been looking for her. Showing her that they cared, but he was back in this dark room. He looked down to see Ally still on the floor. "Ally!" He called as he bent down and shook her. She groaned.
"Five more minutes mom," Ally said sleepily. She then jumped up. Her glasses half off her face. She looked around. "I can't see! I can't see! I'm blind!" Matt raised an eyebrow before pushing her glasses up to her eyes. She turned to Matt and sighed with relief. "Oh thank goodness I'm not blind."
"Not without your glasses," Matt rose to his feet.
"Where are we?" Ally asked as she got onto her own feet. Matt looked down to see the bracelet was still on his wrist. He then checked Ally's wrist, hers was gone. It must be with Donna.
"I've been here before," Matt said,"I think its Donna's mind."
"Why is it so...dark," Ally looked around. It was never ending darkness.
"I think its the spell," Matt said.
"More like curse," a voice called from behind them. It was a voice Matt hadn't heard in a long time. He paused before turning around to see Donna. Her hair was not black and purple, but brown. Her face had its usual color. Her eyes weren't lined thickly with makeup, but tears.
"Donna?" Matt asked. He didn't want to be tricked anymore. She sniffled with a grin and nodded. Matt ran to her and wrapped his arms around her. He could feel tears forming in his eyes as he buried his face in her shoulder. He never wanted to let her go. His soul felt completed even though he could feel her shake a little in his arms. He leaned back to see her face, but his arms still around her. More tears fell from her eyes. The curly haired boy took his thumb and wiped them away. Her violet eyes looked into his blue, and a wave a happiness brushed over him.
"I'm sorry," Donna whispered. "I didn't mean to make you mad. If you're happy with Molly I want to support you."
"I don't care about what happened," Matt told her. "I'm just glad you're safe. I'm sorry I left you. It's all my fault." Donna shook her head before embracing him again.
"Well at least give me some credit," Ally said from behind them Matt almost forgot about Ally. He finally let go of Donna and faced Ally. He let his hand linger on her back, then put it back to his side. Her face was straight. Donna looked at her best friend.
"Ally," Donna's voice was still raspy,"I'm so sorry I said those things. I was just so mad and I overreacted. I don't even think it was because of Brandon, I just think it was the idea of him that made me go crazy when I saw you."
"No Donna I'm sorry," Ally said. Matt watched in silence as ally brought down her walls. He knew she still wanted Donna back. "I should've been a better friend and knew that you liked Brandon. I should have never accepted his invitation. I just thought you liked someone else, but I never want another boy to come between us. I just want you to move back in. Our friendship is too strong for this to break." Donna walked towards Ally, but stopped. Ally then ran to her best friend and wrapped her arms around her.
They embraced for a moment. Donna then turned to Matt again. She looked between the two. He knew she was so happy to have her friends back. There was sudden noise of crackling flames. Donna paused, her eyes widened in horror. "She's still here."
"Who is?" Matt asked.
"My grandmother," Donna explained. "She's the one who possessed me. It was a trap set for my mother, but I found it."
"I know," Matt said,"But when I saw you here earlier today, you were still possessed."
"You broke me," Donna looked at him with sincere eyes. "Just before you put the bracelet on me. That's when her soul came out of me in here, but we need to get rid of her."
"We you do still have magic," Ally shrugged,"Can't you just push her out?"
"She has the other bracelet," Donna looked down at Matt's arm to see her bracelet. "It deflects my magic. I tried to send her away as soon as she got out of me, but she hid me back here. That's how I found you. She's somewhere in my mind."
"But its all dark here," Matt said, looking around. "Nothing but black."
"Its just the entrance," Donna explained. "Like when a thought just pops into your head. Its like the main focus. That's why you're here." Her violet eyes met Matt's. "You're my main focus." Matt wished they were alone. He would tell her how he felt, but he couldn't. It wasn't the time or place. He had to keep it in a little longer. She suddenly looked down,"We can just go into the long term memory."
Donna began to walk. Matt exchanged looks with Ally before they followed. After a few steps, Donna disappeared into thin air. Matt was taken aback, but Ally kept walking. She then turned to dust too. Matt took a breath before walking again. He felt a weird tingle on his skin before the black turned into a hallway. On the walls, were Donna's memories being played out.
He watched as a young Donna was riding her bike for the first, playing with Ryder, catching a ball her dad had thrown to her, and even when she met Ally for the first time. There were a few friend gatherings in the mix. He found a younger, more bushy haired Matt in the background of a Christmas party. Even then he was alone. He remembered that party. he begged his mom not to go, but ended up having a good time.
"You can go inside you know," Donna's voice came from beside him. He only just realized that he was lingering in font of the picture. Matt shuffled his feet and turned to her. Ally was looking at the other memories.
"How?" Matt asked, looking back at the picture. Donna grabbed his hand. They interlocked fingers before Donna put her hand up to the memory. They stepped inside. Holiday music and chatter filled his ears. he looked around to see the bright lights. Donna and he still held hands as they walked through the memory. Little Donna, Catherine, and Ally were running around with barbie dolls in their hands. Lily wasn't far behind.
Matt looked to see the twins, Derek, and Ryder all playing with the toy cars and their tracks. A little later, Cassidy joined in with the were other kids at the party that Matt knew now as a teen, but didn't know them at all in his youth. Eliza and Fauna even made an appearance. Matt looked to see all of their parents chattering about what they've been up to in the past year. He missed doing this tradition. They were all more in touch back then. Matt looked to see his younger self sitting by the tree, gazing an ornament. It was a tiny canvas with a painting of a Christmas tree.
Matt's older age showed compared to all the other boys. He was the first of them, then everyone else decided to have kids after he came. Matt didn't have many friends at these parties. He wasn't into racing cars like the other boys, but interested at the pretty works of decorations on Apple's tree. Little Matt then looked down at the book in his lap. He remembered this moment, it was one of the first books he ever read successfully. He let go of Donna's hand and sat with his younger self. Little did this Matt know that he wouldn't be able to read at all in the future.
He was startled when a small voice called to him. "You can read?" Matt looked up from his book to see a little Donna, staring at him with her bug violet eyes.
"Yeah," little Matt raised and eyebrow. "You can't?"
"No," Matt moved as little Donna sat in his place. The little Matt looked confused. Matt knew what he was thinking. Why is this little girl sitting with me? She sighed as she looked at the tree. "Aren't these decorations beautiful?" Matt looked up from his book again, annoyed.
"Yes," he said before looking down.
Little Donna looked at him with a weird stare. "You're different."
"What?" the small boy set the book down this time.
"You're just different then the other boys," Donna said,"Good different." Matt shrugged this off and began to read his book again.
"Donna come on!" Ally called. Her big blue glasses stuck out to Matt the most. "You need to rescue the princesses!"
"I gotta go!" little Donna got up. Matt watched her. She looked down at him expectantly. "Bye!" She then leaned down and kissed his cheek. Little Matt's eyes widened as she ran away. His cheeks burned red. he was so young then. he couldn't have been older than 5, and a girl just kissed him on the cheek.
Matt had forgotten about the kiss, but he remembered her talking to him. It lit up his night. The present Matt turned to see Donna staring at him from across the room. He could feel his own cheeks beginning to heat up. A slight curve appeared on her lips, then changed to a full smile. Matt grinned. He began to walk to her, but then he realized, they were in Donna's mind still, he couldn't do this here.
"We need to get back," Matt said as he approached Donna. At first, she seemed disappointed. Her smiled faded as she nodded. She did take his hand as they walked back to the blurry screen and back into the hall of memories. He saw Ally was looking for them, and he let go of Donna's hand.
"I found the recent memories," Ally said as they got close to her. "There not far up ahead." Matt and Donna followed behind her. Matt looked at all the memories. Donna slowly grew older and taller, but her eyes looked the same. They came to the memories of the first day of school, Matt and Donna hanging out during meal times, and even when Matt gave her the drawing. Then the memories came to the try outs, Donna getting rejected, walking down the hall, the rose, the orb, and the briers. It transferred to the gravestone memories, the mirror room, and the dance. Matt was prominent in the dance one. Was it it he who caused that out burst after all, did he make her jealous?
It shifted to the night at the gravestone, Laura, Matt finding her in the hallway, and the hug. It then shifted to the old dormitory hallway. It was where Matt left the normal Donna last. A wave of guilt fell onto him. It was one of the biggest mistakes of his life. He still wished he had stayed with her, but he knew he wouldn't have discovered his feelings without leaving her. He looked back at the silent Donna, her eyes now looking down. Matt looked up at Ally, who was still leading the way. He then grabbed Donna's hand. She looked up at him before intertwining her fingers with his own. He wanted to let her know it was going to be okay. He wouldn't leave her again.
He could feel guilt build up in Donna as they past a memory of her arguing with Ryder and Derek. He wished they would have been able to come, they could tell Donna how much they've been worried about her. He knew they would have to wait awhile to apologize. He wondered what was going on outside of Donna's mind. Was Raven, Ryder, Derek, and Lily all watching as Donna stood still while he and Ally clipped the bracelets together? Or was this moments locked in time? When they would go back would it seem like no time had past at all? Would the beast of Donna's grandmother suddenly escape her body? Or would it stay to fight outside of the mind? Only time could tell.
A chill ran up Matt's spine as they all stopped. He could hear some kind of noise. It was unnatural. It was oddly muffled until it filled his ears. It was the laugh. Matt looked around to only see the memories had frozen from their slow moving screens. The screen ahead of them turned white, then they all did. Matt exchanged looks with Donna and Ally. They both looked scared. The white screens slowly began to blink. Matt's heart rate began to speed with the flashes.
Suddenly, Donna's hand slipped from Matt's. He turned to her to she she was beginning to collapse. He caught her with the help of Ally. They lowered her to the black ground. Matt began to shake her. Ally followed his actions. "Wake up Donna!" Ally shook her on the arm. "Wake up!" Matt touched Donna's now pale face and moved a piece of hair from her forehead. She looked peaceful, but he knew she was in trouble. Ally suddenly pressed her ear against, Donna's chest. She sprung up. "Its faint."
Matt didn't know what to do. The strobe lights began to mess with his head. He felt very dizzy. Ally kept on shaking her best friend with no response. Matt's vision became blurry. His head throbbed with pain. He felt like his skin was burning. He put his hands over his head and bent down. He could hear Ally trying to call for him, but his hearing muffled. The laugh was the only thing that entered his ears. he was about to scream, but everything suddenly went away.
Matt's breathing slowed and he could hear Ally's clear voice. "Matt, get up. Now." Matt sprung up. Ally's face turned white as she looked beyond him. The strobe lights had turned to a deep purple. He didn't want to look to see what was behind him, but then he looked down to see Donna still unconscious. She needs him. The tense boy turned around to see her in the flesh. The Evil Queen.