Thanks guys for all the great reviews!

So I have to be honest, I made this chapter seem awesome in my author's note last chapter. But when I was actually writing it, it didn't live up to the hype. So as a concession, consider this filler chapter more of a "calm before the storm" kind of chapter. I'm sorry for the shortness and boringness. Next chapter will be better, I promise!

I do apologize ahead of time for the jumping around in the timeline. That'll stop soon.

Chapter 16: Heed the Warning

November 24, 2358
Forbidden District, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, US
Buena Vista Power Plant

2 30 P.M.

Charlene swept the hallways of the power plant, deep in thought. Ever since regaining her memories yesterday, one particular memory had stuck in her mind. The only reason she wanted to keep cleaning the power plant was so that it would keep her mind busy.

Because the last thing she wanted was to relive that memory.

Maybeck came around the corner with a goofy grin slapped across his face. He had his hands behind his back.

"You'll never guess what I found!"

Charlene leaned the broom against the wall. "What is it?"

Maybeck pulled a mirror out from behind his back. The mirror was probably one foot wide and two feet long. The borders of the mirror were elaborately decorated. Charlene couldn't help but notice the crack in the upper left hand corner, as if someone had thrown something directly at it. "Ta-da!"

"Okay, so you found a mirror? You know every hotel room here has one of those? They're not exactly ancient history."

Maybeck rolled his eyes and walked closer to her. "This one is broken."

Charlene rolled her eyes, mocking him. "I can see that! Plus, broken mirrors are seven years bad luck!"

Maybeck rolled his eyes again and continued to close the gap between them. He set the mirror down on the floor and knelt down beside it. "Do you not remember where this mirror is from?"

Charlene knelt down on the other side of the mirror. "No. Am I supposed to?"

"Yes, Charlie," Maybeck pointed to one the decorated border. "This is the Evil Queen's mirror! Remember? The one that you gave her while we were here so that she would be distracted? This is it!"

Charlene winced at the mentioning of the Evil Queen. She was the last person Charlene wanted to think about.

"You don't know the evil that's coming your way."

Charlene shook the words out of her head, trying to play it off nonchalant. "That's cool."

Maybeck eyed her suspiciously. "So you do remember this mirror?"

Charlene shot him a look. "Of course I do! It's just not a very good memory, that's all. I'd rather not talk about it."

"If you want to protect your precious betrothed, you will do as I say."

Charlene closed her eyes, trying to shake the words out of her head, but they wouldn't obey.

"You know you could never really get rid of us, right?"

The maniacal laugh echoed through her mind. Charlene didn't realize she was shaking until Maybeck placed a hand on her arm.

"You okay?"

Charlene snapped out of her thoughts, giving him a quick smile. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Maybeck took a step back and picked up the mirror. She could tell that he was debating whether or not to say something. Charlene leaned the broom against the wall and crossed her arms.

"What is it Maybeck? Spit it out!"

"I…I can't stop thinking about why you broke off our engagement." He met her eyes. "You never explained yourself."

"You cannot tell him why," the voice in her head whispered. "Bad things will happen if you do so. Heed the warning."

"Uh…" Charlene leaned her back against the wall and took a deep breath. She stared at the floor, for she knew that if she looked him in the eye she would break down and cry.

"Charlene, I think I have a right to know why I wasn't good enough for you."

Charlene snapped her gaze to his face and saw the desperation in his face. He yearned to know why she had broken off the engagement. He thought he wasn't good enough?

"You thought that you weren't good enough for me?" Charlene took a step toward Maybeck. "Oh Terry, sweetie, that's not true. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you, not the other way around."

"Then…" Maybeck set down the mirror. "Then why break off our engagement? What…what did I do?"

"He will die. Don't you want to spare yourself the pain of losing a husband? Wouldn't it be easier on both of you this way?"

Charlene held back the tears. The voice inside her head that haunted her for two months before the curse, and for all the time since she had remembered, had become relentless. She wanted nothing more than to get rid of it.

"You didn't do anything," Charlene whispered. "It was me."

"You will never be good enough to deserve him. You mean nothing to your friends. You're just a pretty face, that's all."

She couldn't make eye contact with him—it was too painful. She felt him studying her, and she wanted to look up at him, but her mind kept telling her no. For looking him in the eye would drown her in guilt all over again. Charlene wasn't sure she could handle that misery twice.

Maybeck closed the gap between them and cupped her head with his hand, making her look at him.

"Charlie, don't you ever think you're not good enough. You're perfect in my eyes. That's never going to change ever. You'll always be the most beautiful girl even when we're seventy million years old in the crazy old person's home."

"But…but…"

Maybeck kissed her on the cheek, affectively shutting her up.

"I still love you, Charlene. I always have and I always will. I just wish you would have some more confidence in yourself. You can always count on me to be there to boost you up—that I can promise."

"Terry—"

"I don't want to hear it."

"You can't do this to him. More importantly, do you want to put yourself through this again? The heartbreak nearly killed you the first time. How do you think you'll handle it in the future?"

Charlene nodded, unsure of what to do. Maybeck kissed her gently on the lips.

"Everything's going to be okay, Charlie. Don't you trust me?"

Charlene nodded again. Maybeck kissed her one more time before picking up the mirror and returning to wherever he had been before.

Charlene fell back against the wall, sliding down to the floor. She placed her head in her hands and let the tears fall. The one thing that she wished she had courage to say out loud lingered on her lips.

Yes, Terry, I trust you, but I don't trust myself.

November 24, 2358
Province 12, County 5, Argentina
Buenos Aires Apartment Sector 98

5 P.M.

Ding dong.

The sound of the doorbell echoed down the street of the 98th sector. Greg adjusted the baseball cap to sit lower on his face. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized. Being king of the 11th district was tough work.

The door opened and Spencer stepped aside to let him in. Greg noticed how he didn't bow, like all of his servants did back home. He made a mental note to remember that later.

Greg waltzed into the living room and plopped himself down on the couch. He noticed Lauren and Jeanie sitting in two chairs around the room. Spencer came in behind Greg and sat down next to him on the couch.

"Now that Greg's here, we can start." Spencer tapped his foot nervously. Greg also made a mental note to remember that. So far his mental list had a lot of things he needed to remember. Remembering the list was hard enough. I need to stop adding to the stupid list.

"Any updates?" Greg asked the two girls.

Lauren rolled her eyes and leaned forward. "You'll never guess what happened! I had that Dell Philby boy wrapped around my finger, but Hugo came in and destroyed the plan. He tried to be secretive and keep himself hidden, but I know it was him." She leaned back in her chair and started twirling her hair with her finger. "I almost got Philby out of the plan."

"Key word: almost." Spencer joked.

Lauren rolled her eyes and turned to Greg. "When can we go to the parks and really start messing with them?"

Something about the look in her green eyes sent shivers down his spine. He had never met her before he knew that shade of green—it wasn't natural, it was Maleficent.

"Soon," Greg managed to say.

"Lauren and I can go. We both have relations with some of the keepers. We can easily mess with them." Spencer added. His mischievous grin was good. They were both mad and ready for revenge.

Greg could most definitely work with that.

"Alright, you two can leave in the morning."

"Have you got any updates Greg?" Jeanie asked him.

"I've figured out a way to lure Amanda, and possibly Finn, out of the parks and back to the 1st province."

"And what's that?" Lauren actually seemed interested for once. Usually all she cares about is revenge. Other than that, she tunes the rest of the group out. Maybe this is her personality breaking through.

"I've decided to declare war on her province. That'll draw her out of hiding."

"But the people think she's dead?" Spencer said slowly, obviously confused. "How would that work?"

"Because Amanda actually cares about her people. She'll come out of hiding if I start killing them with my army."

A moment of silence lingered over the group.

"I've got some information that'll hurt all of them," Jeanie said quietly.

Greg, Lauren and Spencer all turned to face her with expecting looks. Jeanie usually never had anything worth mentioning.

"I know something about Finn's medical condition that'll change everything."

"His medical condition?" Greg asked. He hadn't heard of this. Yet again, the only reason he is alive now is because of Maleficent's curse. A lot could have happened in those five years he was dead. But if Finn had a medical condition that could keep him from defeating Maleficent…that was something Greg wanted to know about now.

"Turns out when he was in a coma, there was some tiny permanent damage." The glint in her eyes gave Greg some hope.

The unbeatable Finn Whitman isn't so unbeatable now, huh?

"And what does that mean for us?" Lauren asked, still twirling her hair.

Jeanie and Greg shared a look. He knew exactly what it meant. Jeanie let out a little laugh.

"Let's just say a hit to the head would be…hard to forget for Finn. Or should I say hard to remember?"

November 27, 2358
Province 10, County 23, Nebraska
Bryan Memorial Hospital—Lincoln

6 A.M.

Beep…beep…beep…

The sound of the heart monitor was killing Jess slowly. Each beep was driving her slowly insane. Patrick had been here for a over a day now, but he hadn't woken up since the train wreck.

To say Jess was getting anxious would be an understatement.

"Please wake up," Jess whispered to Patrick as she stroked his hand with her thumb. "I need you."

Jess let her words hang in the air for a few seconds. "And of course no response…"

Jess got up from her chair next to his hospital bed and paced around the room.

Maleficent probably knows I'm here. She probably knows that Patrick hasn't woken up yet. She's probably on her way to kill me—no, another assassin is coming. I've got to get out of here, but I can't leave Patrick.

The door opened and a nurse scurried in.

"Miss Jessica?" The nurse asked. Her tone of voice suggested she was nervous and fidgety about something.

Jess stopped pacing and looked at the nurse expectantly. "Yes?"

"This call is for you," the nurse gave a phone to Jess.

"Thanks," Jess muttered as the nurse scurried out of the room. Once the door was closed, Jess held the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Jess! Oh thank goodness you're okay!"

"Uh…who is this?"

"It's me, Finn! I mean…uh…Daniel. You know me as Daniel."

"Oh, Daniel! Hey, now's not the best time." Jess started pacing again without realizing it.

"Look Jess… I know Patrick is in a hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska."

"How do you—"

"I have my sources!"

Before Jess could retort and argue back, Daniel continued. "I need you to come back to the forbidden district…like…now."

"What?" Jess blurted out. She glanced around the room, as if her shouting would awaken Patrick. It didn't. She composed herself and lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. "What do you mean come back now?"

"We've got some…stuff that's happened. We need you to come back now and help us."

"But Patrick…he's not waking up…"

"I know, Jess, I know, but we need you now. The sooner the better." Jess heard some shouting in the background. "We need your help."

"But Patrick—"

"Jess, you'll have to leave him. I'll make sure he's okay."

"But—"

"Jess, I know this is hard—" The sound of glass breaking cut Daniel off.

"Daniel?" When she heard no answer, she spoke up. "Daniel?"

"Jess. Come quick! She—"

The line cut off.

Jess closed the phone and stood at the foot of Patrick's bed, frozen in shock. The nurse came back, took back the phone, and did a routine check up on Patrick.

After the nurse had left, Jess grabbed a piece of paper from the bedside table and started writing Patrick a note.

She didn't want to leave, but she had no choice. He would need to know why he wasn't going to be there when he woke up. He would need to know where she had gone, and that hopefully she would be safe.

She stuffed the note in his jacket pocket and slowly backed out of the room. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and started toward the hospital exit.

She had to make it to a train station and fast. Her friends needed her—whether she remembered who they are or not.

November 26, 2358
Security Room 3
Undisclosed Location

"We've got reports saying that most of the keepers are inhabiting the forbidden district, my lady."

The soldier tried his hardest not to tap his foot out of nervous habits. Maleficent made him nervous. Just bringing her a simple order freaked him out.

Right now she was sitting in a black desk chair facing several screens. On these screens were links to security cameras in the so-called forbidden district. The soldier could hear her tapping her long fingernails on the sides of the chairs.

"I see we've got a problem." She pointed to one of the screens in the top right hand corner. On that screen were six people sitting at a table outside. From what the soldier had learned from working directly with Maleficent, he knew it was somewhere in the abandoned park called "Magic Kingdom." Six people—three boys and three girls—were sitting around a white, plastic picnic table eating lunch. The screen zoomed in on the group and the soldier could tell they were eating hot dogs. The plates had the word "Casey's" written on it.

Maleficent turned around and suddenly the room got colder. Her eyes bore down on him in an evil stare. The soldier straightened up and stood at attention.

"You have new orders."

"Yes, my lady. A-a-and what are they?"

"Bring the 'Kingdom Keepers' and bring them to me at once."

The soldier bowed. "Yes, my lady." He turned to walk out of the room, but Maleficent called out.

"And make sure they are alive, but if they resist, don't think twice about injuring them."

The soldier turned around to bow once more, but Maleficent held out her hand to stop him.

"I need them here as soon as possible and I need them alive." She spun back around in her chair and stared at the same screen as before. "I will make them suffer before they die."

So what do y'all think? Please review! I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can! Enjoy the rest of your week!