Perfection~ MAL* BOOK 3

gone is the girl with sunshine hair

Sorry for the typos.

Mal and her group quietly ducked behind the trees as they drew near the old cottage of Aurora. There was no light  coming from inside but no one was going to take a chance of just walking in. Ben led the group carefully to the floral covered gates. Ben ran to the door of the cottage and busted it up.

Nothing.

It was just an empty cottage. Jay ran upstairs to check as the rest of the group covered downstairs. Once he returns and informed them that Audrey wasn't upstairs, they all concluded that Audrey got away before they got there. Mal walked around until she stumbled upon a cot. In frustration and tiredness she sit down on it, unbeknownst to her that her fiancée had laid there in her sleep only just an hour ago.

Suddenly the urging banging on the door was heard. Ben and Mal looked over at the closet door that was blocked shut. Everyone looked cautious at the door and prepared for the worst, but when Ben did remove the pile wood and opened it, it was just Chad on the other side.

"Chad?" Ben tried to get his attention. Chad slowly looked up at Ben with terror in his eyes.

"I want my mommy."

"What happened--" Chad flinched and tried to get away, but Ben assured him of his safety. "It's okay. What happened, buddy? Hmm."

Ben helped Chad stand as Chad looked over his face.

"Ben. Ben! Oh! Your face." He pulled Ben closer to examine his now hairy face. Ben tried to pull away from his frantic friend. Chad finally noticed the others and the lack of evil Audrey. He lets out an unhinged laughter. "She's gone, huh? We're safe now, right? Right? We can go home!"

"Who's "we", Chad?" Ben asked. Chad only smiles.

"Me and—" Chad points over to the cot that Cori was placed in. When he realized the cot was empty, his face fell. He released Ben from his grip and stumbled over to the cot slowly.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..." Chad started running around the cottage, even going upstairs. The group heard things being dropped onto the floor and make thumping noises. Chad rushed back down with red eyes.

"Where is she?" Chad asks frantically.

"Audrey's gone, Chad." Evie answers, believe that is who he was asking for but Chad shook his head.

"No, not Audrey. Cori! She has cori. Cori's in a sleeping curse!" Chad yells, pulling at his hair in stress. This news has Mal stumble back.

A sleeping curse, how poetic. To put Mal's true love in her mother's most infamous curse. It was just so... funny. If Mal wasn't so angry and feeling murderous, she would laugh.

"I tried to take care of her. I tried to protect her the best that I could. You have to believe me, please. I would never hurt my sister." Chad pleads. Ben did his best to try and calm him down. Mal rushed outside to get away from everyone.

She had her own tears leaving her eyes. Anger turning into rage. Audrey had Cori. This whole time, Audrey had Cori. And under a sleeping curse. Of course she would keep Cori at her side, to prevent her from waking up. Mal felt like a failure. She's failing Auradon, the Isle, her friends now old and new, and Cori.

She wiped away her tears when hearing the others exiting the cottage too.

"Alright, let's get this Audrey chick taken care of already. What do you say, girl? Time to wrap things up?" Uma says, grabbing onto Mal's shoulders and shaking her gently. Mal looked at her and nodded.

"You know, someday, you're gonna have to tell me how you guys all got teamed up." Ben mentions as he walked beside Chad who was weary of the new batch of VKs.

"Actually, Mal promised to let all the kids off the Isle once this is over." Evie informed him happily.

"Mal?" Mal stops and takes a deep breath.

"I have to tell you guys something." Mal says, she turns around and looks at her friends. "Um... I lied to you. The kids won't be coming off the Isle."

This stunned everyone.

"What do you mean?"

"The program is shut down. And the barrier will be closed for good."

"For Auradon's safety." Ben concluded to himself.

"Hold up. So we're saving your precious people, and your behinds, for a lie?" Uma asks bitterly. She, herself felt her own anger kick in. She looked at Mal in disgust. "I knew it was a mistake to trust you. You're always out for yourself."

"You're probably just gonna throw us all back inside, eh?" Harry asked, feeling the hope he had about living a better life destroyed into nothing.

"You know what? I actually thought you were brave, but you're nothing but a chicken. Too scared to tell me I was never gonna see my dad again." Celia snaps at her, with tears in her eyes.

"Celia—" Mal tries to reason with her, but Celia snatched the ember from her hand and dumped it into a bird bath. "Celia, Celia! No!"

The ember immediately reacted to the water and sparked. Mal hurried and fished it out. "Regain your might and ignite!"

Nothing.

"No. Regain your might and ignite!" Mal shouted at it. Mal looked at Uma for help, but nothing came.

"Bummer." Uma, without looking away from Uma, directs for words to Harry. "Let's go find Gil and leave 'em all to rot."

They walked away towards, on there own mission.

"No. Uma!" Mal calls out, but Uma and Harry were long gone, or didn't care to stop. Mal turned around to look at her friends and Chad. Evie was slowly walking over to her that Mal couldn't contain her words and let it all out.

"Evie. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I just... I thought that... I was afraid to tell you, I thought that I was gonna lose my best friend. But I had to do something, I had to... protect Auradon." Mal says, but in Evie's ears they were all excuses.

"Closing the barrier was your idea?" Evie asks, her eyes burning with emotions.

"I did it for us! I did it for... our life that we have here now—"

"For our life?! What about the kids that we left behind on that island?! The kids that we promised. We were their only hope. I thought you were gonna stand up for the VKs. But instead you lied to them. And you lied to Jay. And you lied to Carlos. And Anthony. You lied to me. We're your family." Evie chokes out, tears running down her beautiful face. Mal cried too, feeling her heart break at the thought of hurting her best friend.

"Evie..." Evie turned her back on Mal and walked over to Carlos. "Evie, come on! I had no choice!"

Just as Evie was gonna motion for Jay and Carlos to come and leave her for, lightning struck.

Everyone there, but Mal, were turned to stone. Mal cried out again and clutching at her chest. She was now completely and utterly alone. Just how Audrey wants her...