Authors Note: Hello readers, I am pleased to present the newest installment of Magic After Dark. I hope you all enjoy! More to follow.
I do not own anything!
After the events of last night, Jazzlyn Sanchez did not know what to expect when she entered the park this morning. Then again, every day she did not know what to expect, as every morning brought about new, magical adventures. What she did expect, however, is that she is the first to enter the park this morning. Every morning she arrived at five am sharp, but this morning, she arrived at six am sharp as the park was to open to guests an hour later than usual. The park was open later to ensure the safety of the guests as what happened last night can be viewed as incredulous and inexplicable – even to seasoned cast members, such as Jazz's boss and good friend, Danny Griffins. The demon beast from Fantasia known as Chernabog had escaped from his prison: the float in Spectromagic that was made in his likeness for the Fantasia section of said parade. He is not currently in the park, but Jazz's fellow cast members agree that he could not have gone far. Jazz, however, knows almost nothing of this event as she has only been in her position for a little over two years – the month after she "graduated" from the Disney College Program. This morning was to be a lovely one, as for once in a long while she would have the park all to herself for a good twenty minutes – the privileges of being early or so she thought.
"High ho, high ho, it's off to open the park I go, high ho, high ho" Jazz sang softly to herself as she walked up to the gates of the Magic Kingdom.
Turning the key in the lock, she sensed that something was different – other than her being the only cast member on the premises thus far. Jazz entered the park, her senses on high alert. However, as soon as she stepped onto Main Street USA, she encountered a rather unfamiliar sight; eight disheveled teenagers sleeping on the ground!
'What the in the hell!?' Jazz groaned quietly as she went to wake them up. She gently nudged the first teen, a female with blond hair tied back in a messy ponytail.
The blond slowly started to wake up, removing her presumably, boyfriend's arm from her waist and then rubbed her eyes. She then looked around and gasped when she saw Jazz looking down at her. Jazz helped the girl onto her feet and then immediately started to question her.
"Hi, I'm Jazzlyn Sanchez, who are you and may I ask what are you and your friends doing here?"
"My name is Bridgette O'Malley. My friends and I found ourselves trapped in the Pirates gift shop last night and by the time we got out, everyone had left and the park gate was locked" Bridgette started to explain, knowing that she and her friends were in a heap of trouble.
All of a sudden they heard a yawn behind them.
"I'm not surprised that you are up before me, Bridge. I just want to go back to sleep, I don't know how you're such a morning person" Gwen yawned, walking up to her friend.
Bridgette then stepped aside to reveal Jazz.
"Jazzlyn, this is Gwendolyn Robertson and Gwen, this is Jazzlyn Sanchez. Gwen, do you think you can help me explain our story to Jazzlyn?" Bridgette introduced.
"We were nearly killed on the Pirates ride, that's what happened! First the mermaids tried to tip our boat over, then the small waterfall turned into something the likes of the Splash Mountain drop, then we were nearly bludgeoned by cannonballs, and finally we were nearly set on fire by raining embers!" Gwen explained in one breath, still shaken from the previous night's events.
"Nice story, very creative. Now get serious, what happened last night? What were you doing that got all of you stuck in the park? Listen, I really do not want you guys to be in more trouble than need be. Tell me every little detail and I can get you guys out of here as scotch free as possible" Jazz reasoned, or at least tried to.
"Let's wake Courtney up, perhaps Jazzlyn knows her mother" Bridgette advised as the pair had no way of logically explaining their situation without getting everyone thrown in jail.
The girls walked over to their friend and Gwen burst out laughing when she saw Courtney and Duncan cuddling. Courtney's head was on Duncan's chest and Duncan's arm was gently around Courtney's waist. The pair looked odd, yet adorable.
"Hahaha!" Gwen laugh hysterically, wiping a tear from her eye. "Hey Jazzlyn, can I borrow your cell phone? This is too good of an opportunity to pass up."
"If I let you borrow my phone, will you give me my answers?" Jazz asked, hoping that by doing Gwen a favor, no matter how silly, the Goth girl would, in turn, also do her a favor.
"Yea, sure, of course" Gwen chuckled sinisterly, smirking at the pair on the ground. She gratefully accepted Jazz's phone and snapped a photo of the pair.
"Hey Gwen, I normally don't do this, but can you snap a picture of Noah and Katie over there. I am sure Geoff can find some use for it, plus Katie would definitely love to have the photo to show to her cousin, Sadie. Also, stop laughing, you're starting to sound like Heather Chiang" Bridgette requested glancing over at Katie, who had Noah in a very tight embrace.
"Sure thing" Gwen replied, before snapping the photo and sending both photos and a message to her brother, Seth.
Gwen handed the phone back to Jazz while Bridgette woke Courtney up.
"Courtney, Courtney wake up, you're late for school" Bridgette teased, knowing Courtney would automatically jump up in a frenzy.
"Oh crap!" Courtney panicked, before realizing where she was. "Bridgette, that was not nice! You seriously had me worried!" she whined.
"Courtney, this is Jazzlyn Sanchez. Court, why don't tell her about your mom?" Gwen said, trying to get on with business.
"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you" Courtney greeted her cordially, shaking her hand. "My mother is Francesca Preston, she works here as a financial executive. I don't suppose you know her, do you?"
"No, I don't personally know her, however, I have heard of her. Her name comes up a lot when I assist my good friend and boss, Daniel Griffins. Danny is an Imagineer as well as a cast member and if he knows her or at least knows of her, then she is very important" Jazz responded, somewhat surprised.
"Good, then please call her. She'll vouch for us" Courtney replied, pleased to her of her mother's high standing.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. First, give me a logical explanation, then I'll phone your mother" Jazz asked, her patience slowly dwindling.
"I shouldn't have to explain anything! We arrived at the attraction with ample time before park closing and it SHOULD have been open!" Courtney argued.
"You went on a closed attraction!?" Jazz shot back, flabbergasted.
"I..uh..oh.." Courtney stammered.
"It was my idea" A deep voice chimed in behind Courtney.
"I don't need your help!" Courtney spat, spinning around.
"Admit it, Princess, it's my fault that we are in this mess. If I had just listened to you, then we would all be in our homes, planning our next visit to the parks" Duncan lied, using his sweet talking skills to bail them out of their current predicament.
"He's right, no one would listen to me. He picked me up, kicking and screaming, and would not put me down until we were on the boat" Courtney added, following his idea.
Jazz chuckled, "If I were you, I would listen to your girlfriend. She definitely has the common sense in this relationship"
"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Courtney screeched, horrified at the thought.
"Okay, okay, calm down. I thought you were from the way the two of you were cuddling" Jazz apologized.
"Eww! Duncan, I am going rip your-" Courtney started, flames in her eyes.
"Mocha, chill. Bridge and I were cuddling, it's no biggie. Big D saw you shivering in your sleep and wanted to be sure that you didn't catch anything" Geoff said, putting his arm around the seriously pissed brunette.
"What's with all of the yelling, man?" a shaggy-haired teen asked, rubbing his head as he walked over to the group.
"Bout time you got up" Gwen replied, playfully.
"Sleep well?" Trent inquired, sweetly.
"Yep, and thanks for being my pillow" Gwen blushed.
"Anytime" he replied, smiling.
"Oh, how did you sleep Trent?" Gwen asked back, trying not to be rude.
"Better than I have in a while" Trent answered, subsequently and unintentionally causing Bridgette and Courtney to sigh.
"Back to business, people. Let's get this matter resolved before all of the other cast members arrive. Some of them are not as understanding as I am" Jazz announced, cutting off the couples.
"Agreed" Courtney replied, now back to her usual self.
"Now you said that you guys rode the attraction even though it was shut off and closed?" Jazz asked, still skeptical.
"Well, it looked open. There weren't any cast members ushering us away and the attraction was not roped off or locked" Courtney described.
"Come to think of it, I actually saw a family exiting the Pirates gift shop right before we entered the attraction" Bridgette added, hoping it would help their case.
"Why didn't you point them out to us?" Courtney asked, slightly peeved at her best friend.
"I thought you guys also saw them. Sorry" Bridgette apologized, sheepishly.
"That means that there had to have been cast members still on duty" Jazz stated.
"Well, there certainly wasn't anyone working the attraction's controls and loading area" Gwen added.
"So then you guys got the attraction working on your own!?" Jazz inquired, shocked.
"The guys bribed their genius friend, Noah, to get the attraction working" Courtney explained, pointing in the direction of the still sleeping forms of Noah and Katie.
"I am surprised that those two are still sleeping after Princess' little tantrum" Duncan joked, walking over with Geoff to wake the pair up.
"Dude, we should take a picture!" Geoff suggested, smirking.
"Way ahead of you. We borrowed Jazzlyn's phone to take a picture of Noah and Katie. That was Bridgette's idea, mine was to take a picture of Duncan and Courtney" Gwen snickered, already knowing how her friend was going to react.
"What!? Gwen, how could you!?" Courtney shrieked.
"Oh how I love waking up to shrieking" A now awake Noah said sarcastically as he walked over to the group with Katie following close behind.
"Relax, Court, it will be erased just as long as you follow through with your promise to buy me a deluxe funnel cake tower" Gwen replied, still smirking.
"Oh, it's not going to be erased until I get a copy" Duncan added, also smirking.
"Deal" Gwen said, high-fiving Duncan.
"Wait, who did you send it to?" Courtney asked, giving her friend an all-knowing smile.
"My brother, Seth" Gwen replied, knowing that Courtney had thought that she sent it to her phone because Courtney is the only one in the group who actually knows where their phone is or even has a working phone, for that matter.
"Wait, so your brother knows that we are trapped in the Magic Kingdom?" asked Bridgette.
"I guess so. My message was to not delete the photos and to send them to me once I got my replacement phone. I did not say anything about being trapped, I guess I was too preoccupied with my devious plan. However, our mom takes us here for the Halloween and Christmas parties, so he would definitely recognize it" Gwen explained, realizing that she was slightly foolish.
"Does that mean that your mom is on the way here?" Courtney asked.
"I have a feeling that she would have called your mom and my mom upon hearing the news, Court" Bridgette added, knowing how friendly the three moms were.
"So that means that we could possibly be going home very soon" Katie figured, hopeful.
"If she called my mom, then yes" Courtney agreed.
"Okay, back to the program, people" Jazz announced, growing frustrated. "So, Noah, I was told that you turned on Pirates, last night?"
"Yes, I did, it was easier than anticipated. However, I would not have done it if I was not bribed" he replied truthfully.
"You should not have been able to. I have never actually worked the rides, but from what I was told, the ride system is locked each night using codes that only a handful of people know" Jazz said in complete and utter disbelief.
"Well, I am a child genius" Noah replied, smugly.
"Still, I really do not think that you should have been able to do it. Something is clearly up, I'm going to call my friend and see what he says" Jazz pondered, pulling out her phone and calling the first number on her speed dial, Danny Griffins.
"Good morning, Danny. Suppose someone who is not a cast member nor an Imagineer turned on one of the attractions last night?" Jazz asked, predicting what he was going to say.
"That is not possible, even if that person is a genius or techie. Why are you asking me this Jazz, is there something that I should know about?" Danny inquired, sensing that something was up.
"No, no, I was just asking that out of curiosity" she replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"Alright then. Well, I assume that you are already at Magic Kingdom. I am going to be there in about ten minutes and actually, I was about to call you" Danny chuckled.
"Do you have a task for me?" Jazz inquired, curiously.
"Yes, in my office you will find a single green file folder sitting on top of my desk. It's for you, take it and read it, do not let anyone know the contents. Once you are done reading it, come find me in the parade float storage area, there is something I have to show you" Danny instructed in a serious tone.
"Will do, see you soon" Jazz replied before ending the call. "Okay, I really do not have a lot of time. For now, let's pretend that none of this ever happened. Can I get one of your phone numbers so that we may finish this at a later date?"
All eyes sans Jazzlyn's landed on Courtney as she was the only one with a working phone. Courtney then proceeded to tell Jazz her cell phone number, silently thanking God that they were not in any trouble, yet. Jazz then led them out of the park and put them on the large white boat, which would take them to the Ticket and Transportation Center.
"Hey Princess, do you have a Chat Trap account?" Duncan asked as he walked over to the brunette who was at the very back of the boat on the top floor, pensively staring back at the Magic Kingdom.
"Yes, of course I do, everyone has one" she replied, not turning to look at him.
"Then why don't we exchange chatnames? I already have Bridgette, Gwen, and Katie's" the punk offered, hoping to keep in touch with her.
"Fine, mine is C-I-T and what is yours?" the preppy girl asked him, unsure if she really did want to keep in touch with her new friends, especially him.
"Ju-Vy Pu-Nk" he started simply before going back downstairs to talk to Geoff again.
Within a few minutes the boat docked at the Ticket and Transportation Center. The eight teens got off and boarded a tram to the parking lots. The tram stopped at the Jafar section and then Captain Hook section. The boys got off, gave hugs goodbye to the girls, and departed in Geoff's Camaro. The tram then made its way through the rest of the Villain Lot and then it went into the Hero Lot, finally stopping at the Peter Pan section. The girls silently got off the tram and boarded Courtney's Hybrid. Courtney found her phone on the floor by the gas pedal and pocketed it, deciding it would be best to drop off the girls and then deal with her parents.
On the ride back, Gwen and Katie sat in the back and napped while Bridgette sat in the front next to Courtney. When they had passed through the entrance/exit to Disney World, Bridgette yawned and opened the glove box in front of her. She pulled out the Magic Kingdom map and opened it. Courtney gave her a sideways glance, shrugged, and fully focused on the road once more.
"No way" Bridgette muttered under her breath as she stared at the Tomorrowland section of the map.
"Bridgette, did you say something?" Courtney asked, eyes on the road.
"Oh, I just wanted to check something and I was shocked to see that I was right" Bridgette replied, looking out the window again.
"Right about what?" the brunette questioned, intrigued.
"Geoff and I saw a pair of big, oval shaped eyes in Tomorrowland last night. I thought they belonged to Stitch, but I wasn't positive since it was dark. I took a look at the map and the location of the eyes is right next to Stitch's Great Escape. Therefore, Geoff and I saw Stitch last night!" Bridgette exclaimed, trying not wake her friends.
"What you saw was the sign above the attraction" Courtney stated, turning onto the exit that would take them to the South Eola District of Orlando, the area that they all called home.
"No Courtney, the eyes were close to the ground" Bridgette corrected, placing the map back into the glove compartment.
The rest of the ride was silent as Bridgette's last comment gave Courtney a lot to think about. The first street that Courtney went to was Gwen's, followed by Katie's, and then Bridgette's. As she pulled up in front of her house, Courtney braced herself for the worst. She exited the car, walked up to the door, took her house key out of her purse, and opened the door. When she stepped inside, she heard the sounds of a hair dryer, her mom's TV, and her dad's phone. Courtney quickly ran upstairs, called into her mom's room that she was home and jumped into the shower. It took her all of five minutes to get herself cleaned up. She then proceeded to brush her teeth and put on her favorite Chanel lavender dress. As she was drying her hair, her mother appeared in the doorway of the bathroom. It was time for an explanation.
"Courtney, before your father gets to you, tell me what happened" her mother requested, sternly.
"It's a really long story and we have to leave very soon. I tried to call you around one in the morning through the park's pay phones. I called your cell, the house, even father's cell" Courtney explained, switching from the hair dryer to the curling iron.
"The phones did not ring and we did not receive a single voicemail. I will have the payphones looked at when I go to work on Monday. Sweetie, I am ready to go, just tell me what happened" her mother asked again.
"Okay, so Leshawna left right after Wishes and then we literally ran into four guys our own age. We went on attractions together until closing. For some reason Spectromagic was not working, so instead they put on a showing of Fantasy in the Sky. So after the second firework show, we wanted to go on Pirates of the Caribbean as that was the only attraction that the girls and I did not go on yet. Duncan, one of the guys that we met, wanted to go to Pirates through Frontierland. Also, they had the wailing dog effect on that night, it scared the crap out of me. So by the time we get to Pirates, its three minutes to park closing and I refuse to go in because I knew that it was either closed or closing. Duncan picks me up and carries me in while one of the other guys, Noah, starts the attraction. You are never going to believe this, but we were almost killed in the attraction, several times. We exited the attraction soaked to the bone and had to lock pick our way out of the Pirates gift shop. When we got to Main Street, every store was locked and so was the main gate. I tried to call you until I ran out of quarters and then we went to sleep on Main Street in front of the train station" Courtney explained while curling her hair.
Francesca took the curling iron and started finishing her daughter's hair, allowing Courtney to start applying make-up.
"I am not sure what to say to that, however, I know that you would not lie to me. I will try to come up with something to tell your father, either way you are grounded for a week. When I go into work on Monday I will also inquire about the howling dog effect and the Spectromagic cancellation. I think it was smart of them to put Fantasy in the Sky on, however, I do not think that they will do that again. We are acquiring the Main Street Electrical Parade from California. It will not be officially used until next summer, but once we receive it and get it working properly, that will be the replacement if Spectro goes down again. We should be receiving the parade in a few weeks, I hope nothing happens to Spectro again before then. There, all done" Francesca replied turning off the curling iron, seeming pleased with the results.
"You don't think that the electrical parade is a replacement for Spectro, do you?" Courtney asked as she left the bathroom with her mother.
"It could be, however, I am against it. Your father is more than likely waiting for us downstairs, so quickly grab your purse and shoes, we cannot be late" Francesca ordered, starting to walk down the marble spiral staircase.
Courtney hurried into her room and put her large, 14k gold hoop earrings on. She also put her 14k gold heart-shaped locket as well as her favorite piece, an expensive charm bracelet that she has been adding to since she was very young. She then slipped into her Franco Nero black and gold pumps quickly transferred her cell phone, wallet, lip gloss and pocket brush to her gold Coach wristlet. She then made her way downstairs and met her parents in the living room. She greeted her father and the three left for the graduation, praying for light traffic.
Authors Note: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! No one reviewed chapter 7, so I would really appreaciate it if someone reviewed this chapter. I have a game plan for chapters nine and ten, lets all pray that four days is enough to write them because after that I go back to college. However, I may post some Les Miserables stuff during college if I have time. No facts this time but there will be a few next chapter. Thanks for all of the faves and follows!
