Framed

Chapter 12 - Dreaming

Eventually, my friends found us and they were not happy.
"How could you do that to us Holly?" Shouted Jay and I sniggered.
"Oh come on, it was hilarious."
He gave me a look that said 'No it wasn't' and I rolled my eyes.
"Party Poopers," I got up from the little spot of carpet that I was blocked into and made my way out of the circle. I wonder if they've caught my mother yet, we split up a while ago.
"Holly!" Shouted Jay. "We're not done with you!"
I sighed and turned around.
"What?"
Evie raised an eyebrow.
I raised one back.
She sighed and threw her arms down then dragged me into the nearest room.
"What was that M?" She began to go crazy until I stopped her.
"We thought that we might not be able to bring you back-!"
"E, I'm sorry."
"When Ben's kiss failed- Wait, what?"
"It was all part of my plan."
She looked at me blankly.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, "I know who the fake me is!"
Her eyes widened.
"Really?"
"It's my mother," I hissed.
Evie fainted.

"E?" I shook her and she slowly came round.
"Holly? Wha-"
"You fainted. While we were talking about 'Mal'" I made quotation marks in the air with my fingers.
On this, she stood up hurriedly and looked at me, grabbing me and pulling my ear closer to her mouth.
"Are you absolutely sure it's her?"
I nodded. "Most definatley. But we can't do anything yet."
"Why?"
"The prank we pulled on you. One word to describe it."
"What does this have to do with your mother?"
"Just answer the question," I hissed and she was taken aback.
"Okay... Evil."
"Exactly. I managed to convince her that I was still evil enough to include in her plans."
Evie looked at me, wide eyed.
"So you-"
"Yes, I know her plans. And I need to stop them."
"What are her plans?"
"I can't tell you that, for safety reasons. But I can tell you that it's all going down in 3 days."
She nodded.
And I left the room.

I have no idea where the others went, I'm surprised they didn't come barging into that room where me and Evie spoke but when I got into the hallway, it was empty. Deserted.
So I carried on my way. Until Ben decided to corner me.
"Ben? What's up?"
He placed a kiss on my lips.
"What? I can't kiss my girlfriend?"
"I don't care if you kiss me Ben, but what's wrong?"
"What? Nothing's wrong."
"Don't play with me Ben, I can see it in your eyes."
He sighed.
"Please come back to my dorm with me, we need to talk about fake Mal."
Oh no, does he know? This can't be good.
Ah, he knows! But knows what? That I'm the real Mal? Or that the fake Mal is Maleficent?
Guess I'm finding out now.

"Holly, I know that you nearly know who the fake Mal is."
I decided to play dumb.
"... Huh?"
"Don't play dumb, Holly," he rolled his eyes. Oh No, Ben's resorted to eye rolls, Apocolypse has begun! I sniggered.
"What's funny?"
"Nothing."
"Who do you think it is?"
"What?"
"The fake Mal."
I sighed. He isn't going to give up.
"I believe that it's Maleficent."
He sighed, "That's what I think too."
"Do you know what she wants?" I asked him seriously. If he does, who knows how much danger he's in.
"Not exactly-" I breathed a sigh of relief.
"But I know that she's not here for good purposes. We need to find out what she wants."
"I think I know," I muttered to myself but he heard.
"You know?"
"You heard that?" He just stared and I sighed again.
"Yeah, I know."
"Great! Please tell me! We need to find out so that we can stop her!"
"I'm sorry Ben, but I can't tell you. I can't let you get hurt."
"What?"
But I'd already left.

Oh my Auradon, Ben knows. It's killing me, not being able to talk to him about it. Not to mention he thinks I'm dead, again.
I think it's time to visit him, but in the dream realm.
You didn't think I could enter people's dreams, did you?
Well, I can.
They still think it's a dream, but I can see, feel, hear everything they do.
Like we're in the same dream.
It's nearly dark, and I'm laying on my bed, waiting for Ben to fall asleep so I can contact him.
Finally. I felt his consciousness drift away.

Dark mist surrounded me and when it cleared, I was in Mal form and at the Lake where Ben and I had our first date.
I could see him sitting at the edge of the lake, his legs knee-deep in the water, swinging.
I walked up and sat next to him, grasping his hand in my own.
He looked up and I saw his eyes widen, making me giggle a bit.
"...Mal," he whispered and I nodded.
Then, to my surprise, he grabbed me and planted a kiss directly on my lips.
We were kissing for ages, but when we finally did pull apart, Ben wrapped me in a bear hug.
"Mal," I heard him sniff.
"Hey BennyBoo."
"How are you here?" He looked into my eyes and I smiled.
"Dream manipulation. I can tap into your dreams whenever I want, remember?"
"No, I mean... you're- You're dead, how are you here?"
"Ben..." I lifted his chin, so his eyes met mine. I could see the tears glistening in them.
"Ben, I'm not dead. My mother thinks I am, but I'm not. I survived our fight, and I promise that you'll see me again soon. Once I sort my mother out."
Then I became aware of quiet sobbing sounds. Looking up, I saw the tears freely flowing from Ben's eyes.
"Ben? Are you okay?" I asked him and he enveloped me in yet another hug.
"Do you know where she is?" He asked me and I nodded.
"She's in Auradon, so be careful, Ben. I don't know what I'll do if you or one of my friends gets hurt."
"And in 2 days, get. Out. That's when she's making her move. Promise me, Ben. That you'll get everyone out safely, including yourself. Especially yourself. Please, promise. Please."
"I promise."
He kissed me again.
"I love you so much, Mal."
"I love you too Benjamin Beast."

We spent the rest of the night together at Ben's dream-lake, hugging, stargazing, kissing. It was great. Shame I have to deal with my mother really soon.
Ben has promised to get Evie, Jay, Carlos, Jane, Audrey, Chad (Who is now a semi-nice person. Crazy right?), Doug, Lonnie, Elliot, me-as-Holly and, of course, himself, out of the building before it all goes down.
His arm was draped over my shoulders and my face was buried in his chest.
Suddenly, I felt light on my face and looked up, watching the sun appear over the horizon.
I woke the snoring Ben, telling him that I needed to leave and he nodded.
"Please come soon, I know everyone else is dying to see the real you, not the fake one."
I laughed.
"Yeah, I will. Just make sure that no-one alerts my mother as to what the plan is, or the fact that I'm alive."
He smiled and I disappeared in a puff of dark mist.

Then I woke back up, Holly again, in my bed.
"Morning Mal," said Evie who was getting ready for school.
"Hey Evie... what time it it?"
She shrugged. "How should I know, I'm not your watch." And I rolled my eyes.
Looking at the actual clock, I saw that we had... 20 minutes until first class!
"Evie! Why didn't you wake me?"
"I'm not your alarm clock either," she pointed out and I rolled my eyes again.
I was just getting dressed when everything that is planned was put into action. I managed to pull on my blood-red jacket before the alarms began to blare, alerting everyone to... whatever was going on.
I pulled on my black boots, then followed Evie down to the Tourney Pitch where almost everyone ran too when the noise noise started. Almost everyone except the people I properly cared about. They were all still in there.
I gave Evie a look, and we both went running back in to find everyone.

There was me, dashing through the maze-like corridors, a strange green smoke filled the corridors, making it laborious to breathe. I continued to dash through (without charm), looking for my friends. Until I ran into my mother.

Question of the Chapter!
Why do you think there's an alarm going off?

Comment Below!