Chapter 40
Despite the exhaustion Odette still had a dream. There's a girl with short black hair running through a forest. She screams in terror, the woods are so frightening to her. Soon a huntsman in front of her, he helps her. The scene fades out but the dream isn't over. The elegant queen is drinking a potion, her transformation into an old witchy woman is horrifying and causes Odette to wake up, sitting up in her bed scaring Grim.
"I was just about to wake you up. Let's go to the kitchen." Grim said as he scrambled off the hardwood floor.
"Shh, Grim there are others in the house now." She said as she gets out of bed.
"Another nightmare?" Grim whispered as he opened the door.
"Yeah, I think I need to get some water." Odette said as she threw on her robe.
"I want more the water." Grim whines only to get shushed again.
"Then you can have a glass of milk." She yawned.
Once in the kitchen they find two others already there, Ace and Deuce.
"What are you doing up?" She asked as she eyed the food on the counter.
"I'm still hungry, that dinner wasn't filling enough and it would be a shame to let Trey's desserts go to waste." Ace said as he cuts himself a slice of the chocolate cake.
"I want some!" Grim cheers as he hovers near the apple tart.
"Just a small piece." Odette said cutting him a small piece and giving it to him. "I don't want to hear you whine all night."
"I'm just here for some water." Deuce said holding up his glass.
"Same." Odette said as she dug out a glass for herself.
"Oh come on you must still be hungry too." Ace said waving a piece of cake on his fork.
"No I'm…" Deuce began to protest but Ace shoved the fork in his mouth.
"Hey!" He coughed after he swallowed the bite.
"Ace that's rude." She reprimanded him.
"Fine, now where's that soda?" He asked as he opened the fridge.
"Soda with cake? Gross, that's too much sugar." She said as she made a face.
"What's this? Rats scurrying under the cover of night?" Vil asked as he flipped on the rest of the lights in the kitchen. Ace and Deuce had only turned on the small light above the sink. "Disobedient children require discipline."
"We're growing boys, of course we're going to get hungry at night." Ace argued.
"Trey's sweets are just so tempting." Deuce says looking sheepish.
"Any moment now." Vil mutters as he eyes narrow.
"What do you mean?" Odette asked when suddenly Ace, Deuce and Grim drop to the floor.
"I feel like I can't move." Grim whined as not even his tail twitched.
"Did you poison the food?" Ace asked narrowing his eyes at Vil.
"It's not a poison food, it's a curse. It's my signature spell, fairest of them all. I can curse anything I touch. The curse is so potent even I can't reverse it until the conditions are met. I curse Trey's desserts, anyone who eats them will be immobilized until the next sunrise." Vil explained.
"You can do that?" Deuce asked.
"That's even worse than poison since it doesn't effect the taste of the food." Grim whined.
"I told you to avoid food loaded with sugar and additives until after the SDC. You're clearly not taking your roles seriously. You can stay on the floor as punishment." Vil said crossing his arms over his chest.
"Deuce was tricked." Odette snapped.
"It's a collective responsibility. I see you didn't partake but don't don't slacking off just because you're not on stage with us. Now get back to your room unless you want to take root with these spuds." Vil said his purple eyes narrowing at her.
"Oh what? You'll curse me too? She countered as she dumped the whole cake and tart in the trash can looking furious as she did so. "There the food can't be eaten anymore, I'll go to bed but not until I get blankets for these idiots." She informed him as she turned to him the furious look still on her face.
"It kinda defeats the purpose of the punishment doesn't it?" Vil stated.
"A little but it is winter and this dorm doesn't have the best heating especially here in this basement kitchen. What good is a punishment if it takes them out for a week with a cold?" She explained as went pass him.
To her surprise he was still there when she returned with the blankets from there beds.
"Thanks." Deuce and Ace said in unison as they got covered.
Vil just glared at her as they retreated to their room.
Once back in her room the mirror began to glow. "Could it be?" She whispered as she took a step closer. "Mickey?"
"It's me, I can hear you so clearly today. I can almost see you. My friends thought you were a ghost. Are you a ghost?" Mickey asked.
"Not to my knowledge." She chuckled. "My friends thought the same thing, can we take you picture so we can show them?" She asks as she look around for the camera.
"Sure no problem." Mickey smiles but a loud phone begins to ring on his end and he begins to fade out.
"Ah, I didn't get the picture." She complained as she went back to her bed.
'Didn't Crowley saying something when I first got here about mirrors being portals? I mean all the portals here look like mirrors. Maybe some of the portals are to other dimensions.' She thought as as she laid down.
The next morning there was a knocking on the door. Odette answered it to see a sparkly Rook standing there.
"Good morning Beaute, I see you're already ready to go. I was sent to tell you we're going to the Pomefiore ballroom to practice and to join us." He said with a small bow.
"Let's go then." Odette said quickly stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind her.
"Tres Bien." Rook cheered as he looped his arm through hers and escorted her out of the dorm and to the ballroom.
"Man that was rough." Deuce sighed
"I'm so sore." Ace said as he tried to stretch out his neck.
"I'm not even in the group. It's not fair." Grim whined.
"Are you guys okay?" Epel asked as he came over to the group.
"I heard some noise during the night and I went to go investigate. I want to make sure it wasn't a burglar and I found you guys asleep on the kitchen floor."
"It wasn't by choice. Vil used his signature spell on us." Ace sighed.
"He did?" Jamil asked raising an eyebrow.
"He cursed the sweets from Trey. Isn't that scary?" Grim asked.
"He cursed the food in the fridge?" Kalim asked looking surprised.
Now I'm paranoid, I keep thinking is all the food in the fridge until the end of SDC going to be poisoned." Grim explained.
"I'm always careful about poison. I'll have to extra careful if curses are involved." Kalim said.
"Wait what?!" Ace, Deuce and Epel exclaimed.
"You've been poisoned before?" Ace asked.
"Yeah I was his poison tester during the holidays." Grim explained.
"Yeah I have been. I got paranoid about every meal. It was exhausting and ruins the meal." Kalim said losing his smile for a moment.
"I can see that." Deuce said.
"So if I know the meal isn't poisoned I can enjoy it more." Kalim said his smile coming back.
"Bonjour!" R ook greeted as he and Odette entered the room.
"Are all my spudlings present and accounted for?" Vil asked following in behind them. "Have you memorized the song?" He asked turning towards Jamil and Epel.
"Yes sir." They said in unison.
"Alright let's start with the song." Vil said then turned to Odette. "Manager start the song."
Odette walked over to the stereo and hit play and the song began to fill the room.
The main three began to sing and soon the chorus joined in. When the song ended almost everyone seemed happy with the results.
"That was great! You guys knocked me over. I almost forgot to sing my part." Kalim cheered.
"Tres bein, it was splendid." Rook agreed.
"It was a mess. Some of the main was off key and the chorus was too loud. It nearly overpowered the main." Vil griped.
"I was singing my heart out. I am not suppose to? This part is harder than I thought it would be. I wish I was main." Ace explained.
"If you can't understand the purpose of the chorus then main is way out of your reach. Any disruption between us will make the song sound worse. You need to remember this." Vil explained looking annoyed.
"Yes sir." Ace sighed.
"We'll be dancing and singing. It's only going to get harder from here. Let's practice the dance again." Vil said turning to Odette to signal to start the song again.
Thanks for reading and sticking around. I hope you enjoyed it. Odette might not be able to hold her tongue much longer around Vil. Especially after he orders more lessons for Epel. There just might be an accident in the next chapter and a visit to the nurse's office and a visit from a silver haired gentleman. I hope you stick around to find out.