Night Terrors

A few seconds after I disappeared from Evie's dorm I fell onto the floor of mine. I quickly recollected myself and got off the floor, only to see Crystal laughing in my face. 'What's the rush?" She mocks.

I roll my eyes. "Mal's trying to kill me." I respond, dead serious.

Her smirk turns into a frown as she stops laughing. "Why?" She asks.

I avoid her glare. "I flirted with Carlos in front of her." I mumble.

She stifled a laugh. "How are you alive? When they felt threatened they pulled a knife on your brother, which no offense, was kind of hysterical. How do you think she'll react to you trying to steal De Vil from her?"

"Not by breaking into tears." I mumble. "How was I supposed to know that Mal was that fragile. She's supposed to be the leader of the gang. What could she have lost to warrant that kind of reaction. I expected her to fight. Not cry. Even in the letters it never mentioned that she had lost her will to fight. Damn it! I'm such a jerk. There goes any chances at a friendship with her and-"

"Ash, calm down." Crystal says in a gentle voice.

"I told you to never call me that again. Not after-"

"And I told you to never call me Crysie again. I guess we're even."

I felt the urge to laugh, but suppressed it by biting down on my lip, tearing some of the skin. Crystal noticed and squeezed my hand. "You had no way of knowing." She assures me.

"But they don't know that." I snap.

"You messed up, So what? I might not know them well, but I can guarantee that they won't completely hate you for this. Will she probably attack you, maybe stab you a few times, maybe skin you alive? Yes. But she'll get over it once her and De Vil get together."

"It doesn't matter if she gets over it if I'm already dead!" I complain. She wouldn't really do that, maybe threaten to do so, but she wouldn't.

"She wouldn't actually do it." Crystal assures me.

"You saw those incident reports. Those four tortured hundreds of children who pissed them off, what's different between them and me."

"You're their only friend." She answers. "Plus, you have magic. You can defend yourself."

"So does she." I answer flatly.

"You're more experienced. Doesn't she have to use a spell book?"

I shrug. "Does it matter? She doesn't need magic to kill someone. Especially someone who tried to flirt with the person she's had a crush on for six years!"

"They took their knives. She can't really skin you alive without them."

I glared at her. "You and I both know that they didn't hand over all of them. It's just a dumb choice to hand over their weapons, and there's no way in hell that they only brought one each." I snapped. "Not to mention, when I broke into Carlos' dorm he reached into his jacket, which previously, and likely still, held a knife."

"And how do you know every specific motion someone makes when they are about to pull out a weapon?" Crystal questions.

"They're not the only kids who know how to use weapons." I answered simply.

Her eyes widened. "Weapons aren't allowed in Auradon."

Shit, I forgot I never told her. "No, they aren't." I sigh.

"So why did you?" She asks.

"I never listen to my parents. Besides, it's just for protection." I lied. "At least, now it is." I mumble.

"Do you still have weapons on you for protection?" She asks.

I nod. I never got rid of it.

"Well then, there's your protection from Mal's wrath." She says with a smile

"It never was much of an issue." I admit with a smirk. I love messing with her.

She scoffs and scowls at me before walking out of the room.

I sigh and lay down on my bed, reaching gently down beneath my shirt to the small silver necklace wrapped around my neck. It had blue and red gems and a gleaming silver gem at its center. "I miss you" I mumble before letting the darkness take over and my eyes roll into the back of my head, as I fall into a deep sleep; small crystalline tears staining my cheeks. I'm sorry...

Carlos' POV

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of crying. I buried my head into my pillow, trying to fall back asleep, eager not to ruin my one peaceful night. I began to drift off, but the crying got louder. I turned to the other bed, wondering if it was Jay, but he was sound asleep. I once again threw the pillow over my head, trying to fall back asleep, but the crying grew even louder, to sobbing. Sobbing...sobbing that belonged to...Mal.

I rolled out of my bed, rushing down the hall and pulling open her door. The room was dark, the sobbing louder than before. Tripping over a few things I make my way over to Mal's bed. I can see her legs are curled up close to her chest and tears are streaming down her cheeks. I sat down next to her bed and placed my hand on her neck.

"Go away." She cried, pushing my hand off of her.

"Mal, it's me. It's Carlos." I assure her, but she just scoots away.

"Hey, dragon, what's wrong?" I ask as I pull her closer. She squirms out of my arms, gently hitting my arm as she pushes me off the bed.

I fell off her bed onto the floor, landing painfully on my arm. I quickly rose to my feet, placing my hand back on her neck, she flinched, but didn't push me off this time. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her. "Another nightmare?" I asked.

She nods slowly as her crying intensifies. "Hey, hey don't cry." I assure her. "Can you tell me what it was about?"

She shakes her head and pushes me away again. "Mal, I'm not leaving. Okay, I'm here for you. If you don't want to tell me, fine. But I am always there for you. That's not gonna change." I tell her.

She nods slowly before turning away from me.

Mal's POV

As my eyes opened I felt my heart flutter. Standing in front of me was Carlos. He had a small smile and had my face cupped in his hands. He began to lean in, but I backed away. Was he trying to do what I think he was doing? I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. I heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, causing me to look past Carlos to see Evie and Jay with their hands together. Jay motioned for us to join them, causing me to start walking towards them, but what he said next stopped me in my tracks, "Good?"

I felt my heart stop. "Did he choose good? I thought that was a lie. Wasn't it just to get Ashlyn off our trail. Why would he choose good? Has he forgotten about the reason we're doing this?" Another thought came to me. "Did I even tell them? When we left the Isle did I even tell them about him? Do they know why we're doing this?"

My thoughts were interrupted by Carlos giving them a frown and tightening his grip on my hand. "I'm sorry." He mutters.

I expected him to let go of my hand and join them, but instead he leaned in closer to me, and in that moment I made up my mind. "I have to do this. For him."

And at that moment I reached for the wand in Evie's hand. She jerks it back, but it's no match for both me and Carlos. Jay tries to stop him, but he holds him back while I rip the wand out of Evie's hold.

"Mal, please don't do this." She begs, tears in her eyes. It breaks my heart to see her like this again. Last time was when Anthony cheated on her, she begged me not to leave her too, but I did. Can I really make that mistake again? But I have to, for him. She'll understand someday, right?

I slowly shake my head and send her a frown before focusing again on the wand.

"Mal, don't do this!" Someone screams. I turn toward the voice to see Ashlyn. Her expression is indifferent, no tears, no look of terror, no shock, nothing. "Please, we'll find another way."

Could we find another way? Could we just live happily in Auradon? Without all the pain of the Isle? "No, I have to save him." I whisper.

I can see her shrug, as if what I'm about to do isn't going to ruin her life forever. What the hell is up with her? I focus all my magic on the wand and a huge beam releases from the wand. The beam fades after a few seconds, leaving me to question if it really worked, and more importantly, was it even worth it.

The cathedral remained silent for a few perfect seconds before a voice roared through the cathedral. "Guards, arrest those two villains!"

Suddenly the room turned to chaos. In the matter of a few seconds a group of guards ran up to me and Carlos, pointing their weapons at us. And they were mad we brought knives. However everything stopped at the sound of one voice. "Stop!" Ashlyn screams.

Everything came to a halt. Everybody continued to look at us in terror, even Evie and Jay. Carlos tightened his grip on my hand, wrapping his arm around my waist, causing me to blush. Ashlyn and another girl I can't recognize ran towards us. Ashlyn walked up to me and, noticing Carlos next to me, smiles. Of course she's happy about this! She tried to play with my feelings, I should make her pay for that! I should kill her, or…

"Don't." Carlos whispers in my ear, noticing my hands had begun to light up. I looked down in both awe and complete and utter joy. I didn't know I could use magic without a spell book.

She walks towards us and with a pleading look whispers in my ear, "We'll find a way to get Alex, but this isn't it."

My heart stopped at those words. How does she know about him? Mom made sure that the entire world thought he was either dead, or never even knew he existed. How the hell does she know?"

"How do you-"

But I was interrupted by a green smoke filling the room. The room went deathly silent before an all too familiar voice echoed through the room.

"I'm back!"

I turn around to see my mother, and with her, Alex. She has her arm wrapped around his neck, her scepter in her other hand. "Alex!" I scream, breaking away from Carlos to run towards him. His face brightens as I run towards him, but it's ended short when my mother tightens her grip on him, causing his face to pale.

"Give me the wand Mal! Give it to me unless you want him to die!" She screams, as Alex starts to cough, running out of breath.

"No! You can't hurt him!" I hear Carlos scream from behind me, rushing up to mom, only to be blown back by a wave of magic. I feel the urge to run towards him, but only one thing matters right now, Alex.

"Aww, look. The puppy has some fight left in him." My mother laughs. I can feel all my anger building up in me, my blood boiling as my magic starts to lose control.

"Don't hurt them!" I scream. "You can't take them from me."

My mom notices my glare and lets out a cold laugh. "Love is weak Mal! And if you ever have such a horrible thing such as love, it makes you vulnerable. Vulnerable to pain, Mal!"

The next words fly out of my mouth without a thought.

"I don't care!" I scream, tears streaming down my face. "Love is amazing. It allows you to show how much you care about someone. Love isn't weakness, it's strength."

"It makes you weak!" My mom snaps.

"No! It makes you vulnerable. Carlos, makes me vulnerable...but I like it. I don't want to destroy the world, mom! I want to live with Carlos, and my friends. I want to raise Alex like he always should have been raised, with us. I want to be happy, and being a villain doesn't make me happy!"

Why did I say that? Is that true? Do I really love Carlos that way? Do I really want to live in Auradon...with Carlos...and Alex. I could finally raise him the way I always wanted. With me.

Is that why I'm doing all of this? For that dream to become a reality.

"You foolish girl!" She shouts, causing me to shudder. She shoots a green pulse of magic out of her scepter towards Carlos, while tightening her grip on Alex's neck. The pulse hit's Carlos, freezing him in place as he begins to shudder, then shake, violently. I watch in terror as blood begins to leak from his mouth and nose, as his screams of pain and agony echo through the cathedral.

"Time to choose Mal! The boy you've been desperately in love with for the last five years, or the boy you've always wished to raise as your own."

Tears fall downy cheeks as I scream, "Why are you doing this?"

"Choose!"

My glance flickered between the two. The choice was impossible. I loved them both, and that was the point. Carlos' screams became louder as Alex went deathly pale.

Suddenly a blue beam blasted my mom in the chest, causing her to let go of Alex. I heard a loud thud as Carlos dropped to the floor, motionless. I ran up to him, tears pouring down my eyes. I tried to shake him awake, but when he didn't move I was met with the cold truth, Carlos De Vil was dead, and it was my fault…

I woke up in uncontrollable sobbing. My eyes were puffy from crying and tears stained my cheeks. I took in a deep sigh of relief, it was all just a dream. It was all just a dream. None of it was real, just a dream. But, it seemed so real. The pain, the tears, the emotions, it all seemed so real. And Alex...Not even Jay and Evie know about him. They don't know the real reason we're doing this, but…

What if us doing this...brings that dream to reality. What if…

What if I really have to choose between Alex and Carlos?

Tears continued to fall down my cheeks as I pondered over my thoughts and options, only one could possibly give me the best of both worlds, but...if what Evie said was true, then it wouldn't only break me, it'd break him. I can't do that to him.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice that the door opened a bit and someone walked in. I heard them stumble around the room, tripping over multiple things, before finally making it to my bed and resting their hand on my neck,

I expected to feel cold, scared, anything but happy or relieved, but a feeling of dread masked those feelings. Not because someone just broke into my room in the middle of the night, but because the person next to me, was the person that I just watched die in my nightmare.

As my tears began to spill faster, at a more rapid rate, I reluctantly pushed his hand off my neck, crying more as I did so. "G-Go away." I choked out.

He didn't seem alarmed, as he just scooted closer to me, saying, "Mal, it's me. It's Carlos."

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel my heart skip a beat as he wrapped his arms around me. Replaying all those moments with him, all those nights, the nightmares, the panic attacks, all those moments with him, back in my head, I began to realize that what Evie said was true. Carlos liked me, but…

In my dream...that's what led him to his death, and if there was anything I never would recover from...it would be losing him. So I did the one thing I never wanted to do, not after everything we've been through, I pushed him away. Off the bed in fact. And after hitting him, gently, but still. God, he must hate me. Wait, that's good right? Then he won't get hurt. But...I can feel my heart break every moment I think of pushing him away. He landed on the ground and a wave of guilt washed over me.

What if it was just a dream? I can't push him away over a nightmare!

While dealing with the internal battle in my head I heard Carlos ask, "Hey, what's wrong?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and buried my head into my pillow, desperately hoping for him to leave. "Another nightmare?" He guesses

I shakily nod, my crying intensifying as more tears drip down my cheeks, which I assume are now a rosy pink, judging by all the butterflies I've felt. The entire time my head's been telling me to distance myself from Carlos, but my heart says otherwise. It's like I can hear my mom telling me to leave Carlos or else he'll die like in my dream, and Evie pressuring me to tell Carlos how I feel and admit it's just a nightmare, and that even if it does happen that we can find some way around it.

"Can you tell me what it was about?" Carlos asks me, as he gently caresses my tear-stained cheek.

I shake my head slowly before gently pushing his hand away from mine. It's for the best, right?

"Mal, I'm not leaving. Okay, I'm here for you. If you don't want to tell me, fine. But I am always there for you. That's not gonna change." He assures me.

Those words warmed my heart and with a simple nod Carlos laid down next to me, wrapping his arms around me before drifting off to sleep. I won't let a nightmare ruin this. I'll find a way to save both of them, Alex and Carlos. And with that thought I slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Ashlyn's POV

I was rudely woken up by the sound of a knock on my door. I buried my head deeper into my pillow, hoping that they'd just go away, but a few seconds later they knocked again. And again. Until finally, I had enough and just shouted, "Go away!"

The knocking stopped. "Ashlyn! Get up. Mom and Dad want to see you." Ben shouts through the door.

I reluctantly got up and rolled out of bed, not even bothering to get changed as I walked over to the door. With a deep sigh of regret I pulled open the door to see my brothers million dollar smile. How can he be smiling at seven AM?

"What do you want, Benny?"

"Mom and Dad want to see you before school." He answers.

I rolled my eyes. "No. See you later bro." I said before slamming the door shut, only for him to catch it before it locked him out.

"They said that you have to see them before school."

I turned back towards him. "They can't force me to do anything." I snapped. "Bye now."

He just rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand. "They said it's something about the villain kids."

Damn it!

I pretended to think about it for a while before finally giving him the answer I knew he wanted. "Fine. I'll be there in a few minutes."

He smiled and walked off, but turned around quickly, saying, "Could you please try to change into a school appropriate outfit? You know that they don't like having your hair go below your shoulders or hair dye. Could you change it to your normal color?"

I glared at him and was tempted to throw something at him, but he stopped when he noticed my glare. "Dad told me to say that." He adds. Of course he did.

"A lot more aggressively I assume." I mumbled, but of course he heard it.

"I don't get what you have against them."

I picked up my bag before walking after Ben. "I have a lot of things against them." I tell him as we walk towards the castle. But not after long I got bored. "I have a better idea." I say as I forcefully grab Ben's hand and drag him to the window.

"What are you doing?" He asks nervously.

I smirked. "Having some fun." And with that said I forcefully pushed Ben out of the window before diving after him. Let's hope I haven't forgotten how to do this.

I felt a gust of wind and used my magic to direct the wind towards Ben who was screaming, and definitely woke up half the student body with it. I soared down towards him and grabbed his hand only moments before he hit the ground. He stopped screaming as we began to rise up higher, but...then I got an idea. I dropped him, again. I should really stop testing my luck, but it's so much fun. I began to fly peacefully forward, almost forgetting about Ben, but turned around and grabbed him again after hearing his screams.

"What the hell Ashlyn!"

I just grinned and began to fly towards the castle, with Ben screaming the entire freaking time. I forgot to mention to him how sporadic and crazy mine and Crystal's flight is. The wind pretty much guides you, so if it blows powerful you just get blown back in whatever direction it sends you. Although her dad did teach us how to use our magic to manipulate the winds direction a few years ago. It's something he learned how to do after he met Crystal's mom. Something about how she was against getting blown into buildings and all that. Maybe I should have mentioned that to Ben, because while he was terrified for his life, I was having the time of my life. I managed to create a gust of wind that shot us upwards into the clouds, flew us by the enchanted lake, and after much consideration, decided not to drop him in. Eventually I grew tired of Ben's screams and actually took us to the castle, slowing down outside of the castle and landing on the balcony.

Ben just glared at me, causing me to burst into a fit of laughter. "What? It was fun."

"What was? Almost killing me? Twice!"

"I caught you." I teased him.

He just glared at me before walking towards the door. "Please don't tell them!" I begged. "They don't like me using my magic."

He just rolls his eyes, but nods. "Only because I'm the best brother ever." He says, causing me to scoff.

"As if!" I laughed.

He narrowed his eyes, his way of telling me to shut up. I stifle my laughter and walk inside, Ben following after me.

As we walked in we were greeted by both of my parents and Fairy Godmother. "Princess Ashlyn, glad you made it." Fairy Godmother greeted me.

I just rolled my eyes, already sick of the introductions. ""What am I here for?" I ask, adding a yawn for extra effect, even thought that flight completely woke me, and likely half of the student body, up. I mean, god, Ben screams loud!

"We've been considering what you said about the villain kids that Ben brought here.

I wanted to correct him, again, about how it was both mine and Ben's decision, along with my influence, that created the proclamation, but I stayed silent. "What about it?" I muttered, already sick of this conversation.

"We would like someone to keep an eye on these villain kids." Fairy Godmother explains. "Go where they go, participate in their classes, keep them out of trouble."

"And you want that to be me." I assume.

She nods. "You and your friends."

Shit. They're gonna kill me!

"You're already friends with them, meaning they'll trust you." She explains.

Not all of them.

"I already took the liberty to change your classes, meaning that you four will be in the same classes as them. We also will allow you to use your magic on school grounds to keep them out of any kind of fights, but you may not physically harm anyone. You are to teach them how to behave in Auradon, and maybe even get them to abide by the dress code."

By the end I bursted out laughing. "Can I say no?" I joked.

She shook her head. "You actually want me, Crystal, Evan, and Rae, the, quote un quote, bad kids, to watch after the most dangerous kids in the entire school, keep them out of fights, and teach them how to behave in Auradon."

Are they idiots?

"And a few more things." Fairy Godmother adds with a nod, signalling that that was exactly what she was saying.

My laughter just grew. "You want me to convince them to abide by the dress code, when I don't? You do realize that those are their natural hair colors, right? Why would I even want them to change it? What good does it do? And have fun trying to get Mal into dresses and Carlos and Jay into suits. It won't ever work. You can't even get me to wear a dress to school more than once a month." I stopped laughing as I saw the serious look on their faces. "What?"

Fairy Godmother sighs. "We also wanted you and your friends to start abiding by those rules too."

As hard as I tried to keep my laughter in, I couldn't. "No" I said with a goofy grin, even having to bite my lip to stop me from laughing. "Never gonna happen. I will watch the VK's though, and the magic thing never stopped me." I say before an icy blue smoke surrounds me and I reappear in my dorm.

The first thing I'm greeted by is Crystal's ice cold glare.

"Where were you? You had me worried sick, for a second I thought that Mal had already killed you until I saw her snuggling Carlos in her bed." Crystal snaps.

I couldn't hold back my laugh, "They were sleeping together?"

She nods, "Now answer my question!"

I sigh and shrug my shoulders, causing her glare to harden, god, I can't help it, it's just so fun to mess with her. "My parents wanted to talk."

"And you agreed, why?"

"Because Ben wouldn't take no for an answer," I reply.

She smirks, " So that scream…" She trails off.

"It wasn't me." I say before lying down on my bed.

"Then who was the one screaming?" She asks me, the smirk not leaving her face.

"I may have pushed my brother out of the window, and then took him on a flight, and then dropped him again, and then almost dropped him in the enchanted lake, and laughed at him the entire time, and he may have screamed the entire time. Was it only you who woke up?"

She chuckles. "You woke up the entire school."

"Wow! Better than I expected." I laughed.

She joined in but it was quickly silenced as we both realized what time it was. "Shit! School starts in fifteen minutes!"

"Then what's the problem with me waking you up so early?"

She smirks. "It's not about waking up early. It's about you waking Rae up so early."

I'm screwed!

"Well, you're screwed too." I argue.

"And why is that?" She sasses.

"Because you were moved into all of her classes as well."

"What? Why?"

I roll my eyes." Fairy Godmother and my beloved parents want me to watch the villain kids 24/7, so they switched my classes, although I think the real reason they did that is that they want us to start attending Remedial Goodness, since we're not perfect princesses."

"It was an accident!" She complains.

"And six years ago." I point out.

"And what about Rae or Evan?"

"Rae beats people with frying pans, has a few problems with managing her anger, and uses her magic constantly. And Evan is a bit too violent on the tourney field."

"They hate my family!" She groans.

"Well if they hate your family then they also must hate me." I say hugging her, although only one thought is going through my head. Rae's gonna kill me. I'm going to fucking die today.

She backs away from the hug with an evil grin. "You share all your classes with Mal!" She exclaims. "She's totally gonna kill you for flirting with her boyfriend!"

"They're technically not together yet, so he's totally fair game."

"I only saw one interaction between the two and even I can tell that Mal won't hesitate to skin you alive for trying to steal her boyfriend."

"They'd stop her. Evie and Carlos were in on it."

"Something tells me that wouldn't stop her."

"I can protect myself." I argue.

She just smiles and walks into the bathroom leaving me alone with my thoughts. Hopefully I still remember what he taught me...