Jaden and Ken were standing out on Mickey's front lawn five minutes after leaving his house. Ken was currently waiting on Jaden to finish her cigarette. The mage had insisted that she needed a smoke break after what he had put her through. Ken looked like he wanted to argue, but chose to keep silent on the matter for now. The last thing he needed right now was her bitching and whining all the way to Goofy's house about needing a break.
Once Jaden had stubbed out her cigarette, the pair headed to the meadow, stopping outside of Goofy's house. Jaden took a big gulp of air as she looked around the house, looking through the windows to make sure that the lights were off, a sign that he wasn't home. Out of all the people she had planned to steal from tonight, Goofy was the last person she wanted to piss off. Knowing from first-hand experience just how dangerous he could be, Jaden knew she had to tread carefully here. Goofy would cut her up for sure if he found out what she had been doing, even if it was over just a bit of paper.
Jaden turned to Ken and levelling him with a hard stare, instructed him to wait outside. As much as she wanted to send him inside and have her wait outside instead, she knew he'd never agree to that. He of course didn't know about Goofy's violent behaviour, but that still wouldn't stop him from trying to stay out of trouble. If anything, the entire reason why Jaden made him wait outside was so they wouldn't end up having sex again, and she certainly didn't want to get caught by Goofy.
The job itself took no more than five minutes and within ten seconds of exiting the house, the pair were off to their next victim's house; Merlin's.
When the pair had arrived at the elderly wizard's house, Jaden once again told Ken to stand guard outside, just in case Merlin did decide to return home. She tactically changed the wording from 'wait outside' to 'standing guard' on purpose, thinking that if maybe she'd give him an 'important' job to do, then he'd stop scowling at her with undisguised hatred. Play on his ego, Jaden. Make him feel like he gets to play a part in all this and he might even get off your back. She was still repeating that phrase as she sneaked inside of the house and grabbed the paper on Merlin's desk, stalking silently as she crept outside and shut the front door behind her.
That's when she saw Ken and Merlin were talking out on the front lawn. Her heart lurched straight up into her throat. Shit, how she was supposed to explain this? What reasonable explanation could she pull out of her arse that would help her get away with this? Oh, Merlin is definitely going to flip his lid, no matter what I say to him. Jaden thought with a growing tension.
Merlin frowned when he saw Jaden step out of his house. He originally thought that it was a bit weird that Ken was just randomly stood outside of his house, but now that he saw Jaden, everything was starting to make sense. The blonde man was just a distraction so Jaden could go snooping. Shaking his head in disappointment, Merlin held out his hand. "I'll take back that poison, Jaden. We can't have the leader of the valley kill herself." He said sympathetically.
Jaden stood in confused silence for a moment before she realised Merlin must have assumed that the reason why she was at his house was because she had wanted to steal a poison to kill herself. Logically, what else would she have been stealing? Considering this wasn't the first time she had pulled this particular stunt; she couldn't really blame him for thinking that. What made the situation even more bizarre was the fact that Jaden had actually gone into his study to grab the paper and on the way out, spied the vial of poison on his desk and swiped it on her way out. She didn't think she would actually get caught, but hey, it was worth a shot, she supposed.
She pulled out the small vile and handed it to Merlin. "You can't blame me for trying, but honestly, you really should lock your door when you're not home. That's on you." She scolded him lightly.
Merlin shook his head. "And you should know better than to sneak into someone else's house and go around stealing their stuff." Merlin counted back, his eyes narrowing.
Jaden shrugged. "What can I say? It's fun."
The wizard gave her a look and sighed heavily. "Oh, what am I going to do with you, Jaden?" Merlin asked wearily, though directing the question more to himself than to the mage.
Ignoring the fact that the comment wasn't really intended for her, Jaden said cheerily, "You can punish me later, old man. Right now, I'm currently busy, right Ken?" Jaden winked at the blonde man, one of the only times she'd ever show any sort of affection towards him.
Completely caught off guard, Ken felt uncomfortable as he answered. "Uh, yeah. That's right…" He trailed off, unsure on how he should respond to that.
Grabbing Ken by the arm, Jaden turned away from Merlin in a hurry. "So, with that all cleared up, we better get going. I'll see you later, Merlin!" Jaden waved behind her as she started to drag Ken away from the scene of the crime. They didn't get very far as Merlin's voice made Jaden stop in her tracks.
"You know, if all you wanted was paper, all you had to do was ask!" Merlin shouted from behind them, his voice tinged with slight amusement.
How in the living hell did he- No, you know what? I'm not even going to question it. Jaden thought uneasily, wondering just what other secrets Merlin knew about. Not wanting to give it much more thought, Jaden let go of Ken's arm and started the short trek towards the beach. If there was one thing that Jaden had learned from this crazy mission, it was the slightly scary notion that if she wanted to keep up her deal with Goofy, she would have to be extra careful from now on.
If Merlin was that observant about the other villagers in the valley, who knew what other tidbits of knowledge he had stored away in his brain?
Jaden and Ken had reached Ursula's house half an hour after leaving Merlin's house. When they reached the front door, Jaden instructed Ken to wait outside. When he argued that she made him wait outside last time, Jaden felt the need to explain. "Ursula isn't exactly welcome to strangers. To be perfectly honest, I'm surprised she even tolerates me. So, if you don't want to get held underwater by one of her tentacles and drown, I'd suggest you stay outside." Jaden warned. As much as she wanted that to be a possibility, she didn't want to upset Malibu by giving her the news that her childhood friend was dead.
Taking his silence as his confirmation that he had understood her warning, Jaden stepped inside of Ursula's house, immediately feeling the damp chillness seep into her bones. "Hey, Ursula, I've got that paper you wanted!" Jaden called out into the surrounding pool.
The sea witch burst her front half up from the water, a nasty, evil grin plastered upon her face. "Well done, angelfish!" Ursula praised before following it up with an order. "Now, be a dear and make me a magical scroll and ink kit. I always like to have some handy for making quick deals. Oh, and they need to have a touch of magic from the valley." She added, continuing on, "Use the paper you found, get some dream shards, and extract purple ink from flowers. After all, for the perfect ingredients you might have to crush some pretty things." Ursula chuckled at her.
This caused Jaden to sigh. "Very well. I shall have that done by morning." Jaden informed her before leaving the house.
Stepping out onto the beach, Jaden didn't even give Ken the time of day as she walked past him and headed back towards her house, with the blonde man following closely behind. Once Jaden opened her front door, Ken shoved her inside the house, hastily locking the door. He slammed her hard against the wall, kissing her hard.
Not having any further choice in the matter, Jaden kissed him back, pushing back her hatred of this man she was forced to surrender too. They hadn't even been in the house for more than thirty seconds and he wanted to have sex already? For her sake, she was hoping this ordeal wasn't going to last very long.
When Ken picked her up and carried her to the bedroom her instincts were telling her to put up a fight. Kick, scream, bite, anything that would get her away from here. But before she could do anything, she was tossed onto the bed, quickly stripped and before she knew it, her hands and feet were tied to the bed. She was left completely defenceless.
Any hopes and dreams of this ordeal not lasting long were quickly thrown out the window. She had been in this exact same position before. She was going to be stuck here for a very, very, long time.
It was the middle of the night when Jaden woke from a nightmare. She shot up in bed, breathing heavily. Ken was still fast asleep beside her, his gentle snores the only sound within the quietness of the room. She was glad that her sudden fright hadn't woken him up. The mage had been dreaming of her two daughters again, but it wasn't out of fondness. She was trapped in an endless black void, chasing after her two girls but never seeming to catch up. When she finally did and rested her hand on their shoulders, the two girls had turned to face their mother, covered in blood, their eyes gouged out and their throats slit, the sight so gruesome it caused Jaden to scream, startling her awake.
What could this possibly mean? The mage mulled it over in her head. Has this got something to do with my deal with Goofy? That's the only thing that makes sense. She shook her head. No, it's just a coincidence. You're just tired, Jay. The mage tried to reason with herself, feeling desolate and lonely. When was she ever going to wake up from this nightmare? Right now, all she wanted to do was run to her daughter's bedrooms and hug them tightly, whispering that everything was going to be okay. But here, in Dreamlight Valley, she was denied that luxury. She hoped fretfully that her girls were currently having good dreams. She wouldn't subject her worst enemies to this nightmare.
Once she calmed herself down with some breathing exercises, Jaden got out of bed and quickly got dressed. She needed to get out of the house for some fresh air. Before walking out, the mage pulled up her hood, not wanting to be immediately recognised and then left the house as silently as she could.
She walked aimlessly through the valley, not really having a plan in mind. She wasn't really sure where she wanted to go, she just needed to clear her head and shake herself from that horrible nightmare without Ken's looming presence. Before she knew it, she had reached the steps to the beach without realising she had come here. Figuring this was as good a place as any, she sat down on the top step, pulling out her flask and began to drink her whiskey as she gazed at the star-speckled sky.
She had been sat there for about thirty minutes when she heard footsteps coming from behind her. Before she could turn her head to see who it was, a black haired, slender woman had sat down beside her. Raquelle. Jaden thought with slight annoyance. This was one of the last people Jaden would rather see right now. What the hell is she doing out at this hour, anyway?
Upon seeing the slight confusion on Jaden's face, Raquelle didn't give her anytime to bring forth any questions. She cut right to the chase. "So, you and Ken?" It was more of a statement than an outright question, said with such bitterness and jealously it almost sounded poisonous.
Jaden narrowed her eyes. Where was she going with this? "What about us? Look, if you have a problem with me dating Ken, then say it. It's obvious that you're jealous about something." Jaden said irritably. She came here to calm down, not get into a fight about her relationship.
"You can't date him because he's mine." Raquelle said like a crazy possessive person. Her tone brooked no argument, she was after Ken and by the looks of it, she didn't currently care that he was already taken.
Jaden fought the urge not to laugh. "Oh? He never told me he was dating anyone else." Jaden said with amusement. Maybe Raquelle had done her a favour in coming here, maybe this was just what she needed in order to calm down. Laughing at this crazy bitch who was convinced Ken was all hers.
Raquelle seemed taken aback by that. She stumbled over her words, trying to save herself. "Uh, well, we aren't, but I do love him." She said more confidently, as she grasped a hold of the only explanation that would get her out of this.
Jaden chuckled. Maybe she could work with this, if she played her cards right, this could be her only way out of this relationship. "Look, if you can convince him to date you, then he's all yours." She informed her in a friendly manner, hoping the black haired woman would take the chance.
Raquelle's eyes shone with a hopeful glee, looking as if she was barely containing herself together. When the rush of excitement had passed, her usual cold-hearted, complaining self was back as she launched herself into another rant. "I never understood his obsession with Barbie. He can clearly see she's not into him and yet he keeps chasing her. But it didn't take long for him to start dating you, which from my understanding, is so strange, given what you did for Barbie. Building her house and all that."
Jaden sighed. "Yeah, even I find it strange. I wasn't joking when I said he can be yours, if you can convince him that is. Hmm, perhaps I can help you. Maybe set you up on a few dates." Jaden reasoned, willing Raquelle to take the bait. Come on! Just take it! She willed the black haired woman on.
Raquelle's eyes widened. "Really? You'd do that for me?" She asked with shock.
Jaden nodded. "Of course. It's my job to help everyone with their problems."
"And yet you're taking your time building my house." Raquelle said with undisguised annoyance.
Shrugging her shoulders, Jaden threw her head back as she took a large swig of her whiskey. "I've been rather busy." She said easily.
Raquelle scoffed. "Yeah, busy getting fucked by Ken." She said, her jealously obvious.
Jaden looked away, as if the words had just stung her. Oh, you don't know the half of it. She bit the words back, choosing to keep them to herself. There was no way that Raquelle could possibly know about all the horrors she had to face on a daily basis with Ken. It wasn't fair. She took another large sip of her whiskey. "Sure…" She then sighed and stood up. "Anyway, I should head home. It's getting late and I have plans for tomorrow."
Raquelle nodded. "Goodnight, then." She dipped her head in farewell, staying seated on the step as she gazed out to the ocean beyond her.
Leaving her where she was, Jaden made the trek back to her house. However, when she stepped inside of her front room, she saw Ken standing by the entrance to their bedroom, leaning against the door frame. Judging by the scowl on his face, he didn't look happy. Jaden's eyes were drawn to the knife that he held in his hand, all freshly cleaned and gleaming silver. Jaden took a deep sigh. Great, it's time for another 'suicide attempt'. She thought uneasily, her body tensing up in trepidation. Could she survive another round of this?
Maybe this time, he'll actually kill me. The idea was oddly calming to Jaden. She just wished he could make it a reality.