I don't paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.

Frida Kahlo

Chapter 8

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"The first part of making a s'more is roasting the marshmallow," Lonnie instructed Carlos and Mal in the low lighting from the campfire. The stars twinkled down at them, winking playfully, and the night air was narrated by the steady background waves. Other than the occasional pesky bug, the night was ideal for a campfire. "Both of you have your sticks, right?"

They nodded, turning to the teen who held their respective marshmallow stabbers while Lonnie explained the process to them. Ben tossed a bag of marshmallows at her that she deftly caught and opened, handing both children a marshmallow. "Take this marshmallow and put it on the end of your stick. You don't want it to fall off into the fire."

Again they nodded, though this time with the comical seriousness of a child that believes they have been assigned an important task. Evie and Jay helped them impale the white confection on the end of the stick before giving them the handle.

"Perfect. Now this next part is the hardest. Even Ben hasn't figured out how to do this part properly. He always burns his marshmallow," Lonnie added tilting her marshmallow at Ben.

"Hey," he laughed. "Maybe I like them burnt. That's a thing you know."

"Uh huh, sure," she drawled, laughing. Jay snorted and walked over to Evie, passing by Ben as he rearranged the logs in the fire. Lonnie had tasked Ben to open up a spot of coals so Mal and Carlos could roast a marshmallow without having to deal with too many flames. "Anyway," she continued, "Proper roasting technique is key to achieving that perfect golden brown s'more."

She knelt down and held the end of her stick, keeping the marshmallow near the bright red coals. "Hold it like this. You don't want is too close to the logs or you'll get dirt on it." Mal and Carlos mimicked her position and she cheered, "Good! Also make sure to turn it every once in awhile so that you get a nice even roast."

"That is a lot to remember," Jay commented, impaling his own marshmallow on a stick.

"Yeah, but I think with Lonnie's help they'll get it," Evie responded, watching the flames lick at the charred logs.

"I wasn't talking about them, I was talking about me," Jay insisted, earning a laugh from Evie.

"Somehow I think you'll be fine." Evie patted his shoulder and moved to check on their progress. Carlos and Mal had chosen spots on opposite sides of the fire and Evie knelt down by Carlos, glancing at Mal before giving her attention to the small boy. "Looks good, C." She affectionately ran her fingers through his curls, an action she couldn't get away with as much when he was older. Evie almost fell backwards when she heard Mal's shriek of fear.

"Mal!" Evie called out of reflex, standing up. Lonnie was already there, before even Jay or herself could react, taking Mal's stick complete with a blazing marshmallow and blew on it, extinguishing the small fire. Carlos looked at Evie, concern in his eyes as he clutched at her leg.

Mal's eyes watered, sparkling in the firelight, and Ben stooped to lift her up. "It's alright, love, everything's okay. You just burned a marshmallow, you're fine. You're not in trouble." Mal whimpered into his neck as he soothed her. Evie met eyes with Jay and he moved over to kneel by Carlos while she stepped near Ben. She rubbed Mal's back comfortingly.

"Hey, it's okay Mal." Evie spoke, moving her hand to Mal's hair. Mal turned her head to look at Evie, silent but tearful. "You know, I bet that marshmallow could still make an awesome s'more for Ben. He does like his marshmallows burnt after all."

"What does that say about him?" Jay sniped in the background, pretending to zip his lips shut after Evie cast him a glare. Evie heard Jay chuckle after she turned back to Mal.

"R-really?" Mal sniffed. She hadn't truly been in danger, but the shock of the marshmallow catching on fire combined with her hatred of failure was emotionally taxing.

"Really," Evie promised. "And then you can try again."

"Okay," Mal mumbled, still clutching onto Ben.

"Maybe later." Evie said, stroking Mal's hair one more time.

"Carlos! Holy smokes! I should have you roast my marshmallow too! Look at that skill!" Jay boasted to Carlos, making the boy giggle. Jay narrated Carlos's actions like a sports commentator, earning even more giggles and almost another charred marshmallow, saved at the last second by Lonnie.

After a little while, Mal calmed down enough to attempt another marshmallow, seeing how much joy the treat had given Carlos. Ben stayed by her side, coaxing her through the motions and ensuring that they didn't have another accident. Soon enough both children were sticky but sated, the sugar high having worn off.

"Bedtime," Evie announced, standing up from her chair. Carlos and Mal groaned and grumbled, but held little resistance after the long eventful day. She took their hands and led them inside, leaving the rest of the group by the fire. She ran a bath for the two in the bathroom connected to the room Jay was sharing with Mal and Carlos. The room had a bunkbed and a futon that was normally used by Lonnie and her siblings when her family visited. Evie and Lonnie were to share the master bedroom and Ben had volunteered to take the couch in the living room.

Evie prepared Mal and Carlos for bed with haste because the sooner they were asleep, the sooner she could go to bed herself. She tucked Mal in the top bunk and Carlos in the bottom when Ben walked in.

"I promised Mal a story a few days back," Ben explained. "I'm here to keep my word."

"Excellent," Evie chirped, the yawned. "Good night Ben," she spoke and left the room, ready to experience the plush bed in the master bedroom.


Jay wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but he did know that slowly but surely his blanket was disappearing. He tugged on the fabric sluggishly, surprised when he was met with resistance. Not ready to fully wake and face the blanket thief, he groaned.

"Jay?" At the sound of his name, Jay opened his eyes and accepted that he was indeed doomed to be awake. The room was still dark sans the dim glow cast by the nightlight plugged into the wall and the small bit of moonlight that filtered in through the window. Jay turned towards the sound and saw Carlos standing by the futon, gripping Jay's blanket in an attempt to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Jay croaked, then cleared his throat. When Carlos met Jay's eyes, Jay realized that there were tear tracks on his cheeks. Jay sat up and spoke softly, "What's wrong?"

Carlos climbed onto the futon, clutching Susan. "I had a bad dream."

Jay placed a tentative hand on Carlos's back. "Do you want to talk about it?" With their past, it wasn't uncommon for them to have nightmares. Jay knew that Carlos had nightmares when he was older, but they never really talked about them. Some nights Jay would wake up to Carlos's whimpering, or be woken up by Carlos because he was whimpering. They had an understanding. When the other had a nightmare, they would wake him up, but they would never mention it the next morning. As their time in Auradon lengthened, the nightmares began to decrease. Jay now realized that he hadn't had a nightmare in weeks. With everything that had happened in the past week, he was actually surprised that Carlos hadn't had a nightmare earlier.

Carlos nodded and leaned into Jay's side, wedging Susan between them. When Jay was sure that Carlos had fallen asleep again, the boy finally spoke. "My mommy tried to take me away." Carlos paused and sniffed, little finger clutching at Jay's pajamas. "She put me in a cage 'cause I was bad and then she made the mean doggies try to hurt me." Carlos's voice cracked at the end and Jay hugged the boy tight.

"It didn't happen," Jay told him. "You're safe here with me. I'll never let her take you away from me—us, from us," he rectified quickly.

"Promise?" Carlos's weak voice warbled in the dark room.

Mal rolled over in her bed and Jay waited for her to settle before whispering, "I promise."

"Do you get bad dreams too?"

"Yeah, I do." Perhaps it was the darkness of night or the knowledge that Carlos was much younger, but Jay found that this admission was easy to make. The words slid past his lips before he could even realize that he'd spoken. "We all have something that scares us, Carlos. We just have to remember that we can't let scary things win. We can't let them take over our lives." Jay wasn't normally poetic and blamed this on the stillness of the night and the sliver of moonlight shining through the window, giving the room a timeless quality.

Carlos's breathing had calmed and Jay didn't see any glinting tears on his cheeks. Jay hoped that these changes meant that he'd said something right. Carlos looked up suddenly and asked, "Can I stay with you?"

Jay sucked in a breath. He should tell Carlos that he needs to go back to his own bed, but when he looked at those brown eyes, pleading with him, he felt his resolve crumble. "Fine, but no hogging all the blanket."

Carlos nodded and laid down. Jay laid so that they were back to back. As he was drifting off to sleep, he felt Carlos roll over beside him and grab a handful of his shirt. Not pulling, just holding, reminding himself that Jay was there, that Jay would keep him safe.


Evie shuffled around the kitchen, humming while she mixed the pancake batter, and periodically referring back to the recipe book that she'd located on one of the shelves. She leaned against the counter and watched Jay braid Mal's hair while Mal and Carlos chattered lively. Ben and Lonnie were still asleep. They hadn't had a week of early morning wake ups to get them accustomed being up before the birds.

While most mornings Evie grumbled, internally of course, today she didn't mind being up early. There was a domestic quality to the morning that she enjoyed, something that she never experienced back on the isle. Also Jay had filled Evie in about Carlos having a nightmare and it reminded Evie how lucky they were to even be off the isle at all.

Evie doled out portions of the batter onto the griddle, picking up the spatula when she set the mixing bowl down. It was interesting to Evie that Carlos had a nightmare, but Mal slept peacefully, and had every night. She wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with their mother's differing parenting styles. Maleficent expected the best—well the worst—from Mal, but she wasn't really demanding until Mal was older. Maleficent may have been a terrible mother, but even she understood that its difficult to demand evil from someone who can't even tie their own shoes.

From what Evie understood, Maleficent left Mal to do her own thing until she was old enough for the 'evil lessons' to start. Mal desperately wanted her mother's approval, and followed her every lesson to the letter.

Carlos on the other hand experienced the same parenting his entire life. Cruella spun tales and twisted words, keeping Carlos in the dark about the truth on many subjects. She used fear to keep him in check, and he believed her, trusted her. Why wouldn't he? She was his mother, why would she lie to him?

Evie flipped the pancakes, pleased at the golden brown shade on one of them and annoyed at the slightly too brown shade on the other. Carlos had been raised to fear everything, and so when reverted back to a child, easily fell back into his old ways. But this time was different, Evie comforted herself. This time, Carlos had Evie and Jay to depend on, to protect him and tell him that he didn't need to fear.

She pulled the plate out of the warmed oven and flipped the pancakes onto them before returning the plate and closing the oven door.

"Mal and Carlos," Evie called out, gathering their attention as she poured more pancake mix onto the griddle. "What do you guys want to do today?"

"I want to show puppy how to find the best sea shells because he needs to decorate his sand castle." Mal was quick to respond. Mal tried to turn her head to look at Evie, but Jay gently tugged her braid, keeping her in place so he could fix a hair tie to the end without ruining the braid.

"Yes!" Carlos chirped, agreeing without adding any suggestions of his own.

"After breakfast we can go spend some time on the beach," Evie allowed. The morning was lazy, with no rush to complete anything. The four were all still in their pajamas, enjoying the serenity of the morning, in comparison to the frantic discord of school mornings. By the time Evie finished making the pancakes, Ben and Lonnie had woken up. Lonnie was lured out of the bedroom by the tantalizing smell of food, while Ben had been woken up when Mal climbed onto the couch arm and then jumped on him, body slamming him with the mustered force of a four-year-old.

Evie had just finished asking Jay to retrieve the swimsuits from where they were hanging when her phone went off. She set down the sponge and dried her hands.

"I'll finish the dishes," Ben offered as Evie dug through her purse for her phone.

"You're the best," Evie chirped, pulling out the phone and answering the call.

"Good morning, lovebug, how's the beach?" Her boyfriend's voice sang in her ear.

"Good morning. The beach is wonderful, it's really a shame you couldn't join us." She responded, patting Mal's head as she walked by on her way to the room she and Lonnie were sharing.

"Yes, but I do have good news," Doug spoke cheerily.

"Ooh!" Evie cooed, "I love good news! What is it?"

"Well," Doug started. "During band practice Mrs. Suono started playing around with different arrangements and moved us around a lot so I got to talk to people I didn't even know were in the band. One kid I talked to is in the AV club and when I mentioned that I had this big translation project to tackle, he brought up a really interesting idea."

"I'm listening," Evie encouraged him. Evie could almost feel his excitement coming in waves through the phone. "What's his idea?"

"He mentioned the possibility of creating an algorithm to help with the translating." Evie could imagine that as he spoke he was beaming. Doug continued, "He thinks that he could help me to write a program that takes the Taleth alphabet and translates it to Phoenician if we set up an 'if, then' statement that says 'if this specific rune, then type the equivalent' in a document."

"That's genius!" Evie exclaimed, understanding his excitement. "I mean we'll have to scan the pages and figure out all the runes, but this will make it go by much quicker."

"I know, during practice we started planning out how we would tackle the coding and I don't think it should be too difficult, especially with both of us on the case," Doug bragged, proud but not obnoxiously so. "My plan is to translate the first page by hand so we know what it says and we can use that page as a reference for testing the program to see if it works or work out any bugs."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Evie asked, aware that she had a inflexible schedule, but desiring to help Doug in some way.

Doug hummed thoughtfully, "Maybe. I don't know yet. Kevin, the guy from band, and I are meeting this afternoon to start on the program. I had planned on getting some books from the library and then manually translating some stuff to get something for reference before we meet. Wait!" Doug cut himself off, then let out a burble of a laugh as he came to a realization. "There's something you could do that would be really helpful, though I guess you can't do it at the beach, but you know, eventually when you get back-"

"Sweetheart, you're babbling." Evie interrupted him gently.

"Right. Anyway, what I meant is I need you to talk to Jane," he clarified.

"Why?" There was no malice in her question, just curiosity. She hoped that Doug had a good reason because Jay would not be happy with Evie talking with Jane. Jay was fiercely protective of their group, and Jane had been labeled as a threat in his mind, something that Evie thought rather ironic given Jane's non-threatening qualities.

"Jane and Audrey did this. While it may have been Audrey's idea, Jane is the one who can do magic. That means she read the spell. If she can remember any phrase from it, we can narrow down our search to passages that include those words. Obviously we'd have to translate it into Taleth and then search, but still. I think if we could get something, anything, useful from her it could help speed things up. If anyone could get her to talk, it would be you."

"If it will help Mal and Carlos, I'll talk to her." Evie agreed.

"You're the best," Doug sighed into the phone, relieved that she'd agreed. Evie smiled at his compliment. "With the program I'm hoping that we can cut an ordeal that would've taken months down to a few weeks."

Evie felt her stomach drop when he said months, reminding herself that it would be reduced significantly. She swallowed thickly and said, "Anything is better than nothing."

"True that. Alright, lovebug, I need to get to the library and check out some texts and you need to enjoy your day at the beach. Talk to you later?"

"Yes, of course. Talk to you later." They said their goodbyes and Evie hung up the phone. She quickly became lost in her thoughts as she thought about how to tell the others the good news but maybe keep Jane's name out of it. "Oof!" Evie exhaled her breath as Mal jumped on her with enough force to knock her back on the bed.

"Come on, Evie! Jay says we can't go outside until you're with us!" Mal moved to the side and bounced on the bed, excitement visible.

Evie laughed after sucking air back into her lungs. "I'm coming," she promised. "Be patient. Go wait in the living room so I can change."

"Okay, but hurry please!" Mal insisted before rushing out of the room. Evie moved towards the bathroom where her suit had been left to dry. She rushed to change, eager to get outside, to talk to Jay and to enjoy the beach before they had to return to school.

She walked outside of the room and was greeted by Mal who took Evie's hand and pulled her towards the sliding glass door. "Alright, let's go outside," Evie laughed at Mal's eagerness that had an intensity similar to Evie's. As Mal dragged Evie towards the beach, Evie caught Jay's eye and gave him a look that through years of experience Jay knew meant they had to talk. She followed this look with a wide smile, full of teeth, laughing with Mal as they stepped into the warm sand.

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Ack! I know I'm later than normal, but in my defense, I spent the weekend with some friends at a cabin on a river away from technology. It was such a nice break from the stresses of school, but at the same time it means I didn't get any homework done and my Physics final is on Friday :o But their beach trip in this chapter and the last was inspired by my trip to the river.

Question: What is your favorite place to vacation?

I really love going up to my grandparents cabin they have on a lake, basically I like water.

Thank you for all the reviews! And keep letting me know what you think, I love hearing from you guys! :)

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