De Vil-Radcliffe

Chapter 22- I Lied

We followed Ben and Mal as they hid behind trees, stealthily making their way to the front door. Ben opened the door quietly and motioned for everyone to come inside. Jay saw a staircase and climbed it, coming down a few minutes later.

"She's not upstairs," Jay announced.

We suddenly heard tapping coming from a small closet. Ben approached it cautiously and looked through the window, lifting the beam and opening the door. Chad was sitting there on the floor near the door, quavering.

"Chad?" Ben asked incredulously.

"I want my mommy," Chad replied, shuddering violently. Ben tried to grab Chad's arm, but he scooted away in fear. Ben grabbed his arm and helped him stand up.

"Wait... She's gone. That means... Freedom!" he yelled, running out the front door as if he hadn't seen sunlight in days.

"She's not here," Mal said, frustrated.

"Obviously," Uma commented.

We walked out of the cottage with Ben's arm over Mal.

"You know, someday you guys will have to tell me how you all teamed up," Ben said.

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

"I have to tell you all something," Mal said, stopping everyone in their tracks.

She stood in front of us as I crossed my arms. "I lied to you. The kids won't be coming off the Isle," Mal said, her breath shaking.

"What do you mean?" Jay asked.

"The program's shut down. And the barrier will be closed for good," Mal explained slowly.

My eyes widened in disbelief. None of those kids are going to come off the Isle now? But Mal promised!

"Hold up. So we're saving your people and your precious behinds for a lie?" Uma asked. Mal stayed silent, her lip slightly quivering. Uma looked at the ground. "I knew it was a mistake to trust you."

Celia walked up to Mal with tears in her eyes. "You know what? I actually thought you were brave, but you're nothing but a chicken. When were you going to tell me I was never going to see my dad again?" Celia said, her voice hitching. She took the ember out of Mal's hand and walked away with it, tossing it into the birdbath. Mal screamed, rushing over to the water and picking it up, trying to dry the jewel off.

"Regain your might and ignite!" Mal yelled. The ember was dead. "Regain your might and ignite!" she yelled again out of desperation. She looked towards Uma, hoping for her to help. Uma put the shell between her fingers and held it up. The shell did nothing.

"Bummer," Uma said, walking away from her. "Let's get Gil and leave them all to rot."

"Evie, Sophie. I'm sorry, I just... I thought that... I was afraid to tell you! I thought I was going to lose my best friends! But, I had to do something, I had to protect Auradon!" Mal ranted.

"Closing the barrier was your idea?" I questioned.

"I did it for us," Mal said. "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 going to stand up for the VKs. But instead you lied to them. And you lied to Jay. And you lied to Carlos. And you lied to Sophia. You lied to me! We're your family," Evie said sadly.

Carlos hugged me randomly. Tears pricked my eyes as Pluto and Dude laid on the ground together. I wiped them away and hugged Carlos back, kissing his cheek quietly before laying my head on his shoulder.

That was the last thing we did before we were frozen.