Jailbreak: A Disney Fan Fiction

Chapter 16

The room was barely bigger than Red's bedroom, and had no light source aside from the door. She found herself glad that McQueen couldn't get through the door. He wouldn't have fit in the room at all.

There was a sudden burst of light as Marty used his phone's flashlight to brighten the room. Everyone took a moment to let their eyes adjust, then looked around. With the added light from the door, they could see everything.

It was a perfectly round room, with nothing inside it but a little table. It was a fairly normal table, only it looked more like a little table one would find sitting outside of the local coffee shop and less like something you'd find in a secret room. On the table was a plain, ancient-looking leather-bound book. Next to the book was a glass case.

The case bore a striking resemblance to the one that held the enchanted rose from Beauty and the Beast. Only, this one didn't have a red, levitating rose. Minus a little stand, it didn't hold anything...at..all...Wait.

"Marty," she whispered, "I think this case is supposed to be holding something."

"What, though?" He whispered, his voice nervous. She knew how he felt; they were quickly getting in way over their heads.

She didn't have an answer for him. Her eyes fell on the book, and she found herself picking it up. Maybe there was something in there that could help...

The door to the room quickly shut. Everyone froze, instantly recognizing McQueen's silent warning. Someone was coming.

Woody and Buzz instantly went lifeless, but the others had nowhere to hide. Jack, who had just finished reassembling himself, picked up several old tarps off the floor. Red realized that they were old dust covers, most likely tossed in here and forgotten about. At that moment, however, they were the perfect hiding spot.

Marty put out his phone's flashlight and hid under one, quickly being joined by Nala and Moana. Red and Jack took another. She hoped that no one would notice that the dust covers were unusually lumpy, and hugged the book to her chest as though it were her lifeline...

Wait, what are we even hiding for? She realized that no one knew that they had gone into the secret room at all. Hiding was silly. She heard the door to the room reopen, and began to relax. There was McQueen telling them the coast was...

She tried not to gasp as she heard someone coming under the door. It was NOT McQueen. Whoever this was, they knew about the door.

"Where is the Charm?" A voice asked. It was a male voice, and fairly deep. Said voice had, thankfully, been asking the question aloud, and hadn't been directed at any of them. This person, whoever they were, didn't know that they were here.

"Where's the journal?" The voice asked, seemingly realizing that the book was missing as well. Red was growing too nervous to ask what the Charm was, although she had a feeling that she was holding the aforementioned journal. She was so frozen in fear that she didn't notice Jack slowly coming out from under the tarp.

The man had turned, slightly, as though he was prepared to run out of the room. But then stopped, as though he'd seen something. Through the silhouette she saw behind the tarp, she watched the man bend over and pick something up off of the floor. From the way the limbs dangled, she could tell that it was Woody.

"Why would someone break into the castle, steal the journal, steal the Charm, and leave their park merchandise behind?" He wondered aloud.

It was at this moment that Red realized three things. One, that this man was a park employee who knew what had been under the glass case. Two, that whatever had been under the case was most likely what Daniels had. Three, Jack Skellington was not under the tarp anymore.

Panicked, she peeked out a little bit from the side of the tarp, trying to see where the skeleton had gone. It took a moment, but she was able to spot him. The room was dark, with the only light coming from the still open door. Jack had taken advantage of the shadows, and positioned himself against the wall in such a way that you could only see him if you were looking for him. He was staring right at the man.

Before Red could signal him to stop, the skeleton leapt out of his hiding place, a horrifying expression on his face, arms raised, a terrifying noise emitting from his mouth. She covered her mouth to keep from yelping. She knew that Jack was the king of Halloweentown, but she'd never truly seen his scary side. In her opinion, he'd earned his title.

The man only turned, as though he'd been expecting it. Now she could see his expression, and could tell that he was neither amused nor scared. He had the expression one wears when they knew that something was going to happen but still didn't want it to happen.

Once Jack finished his scare, he seemed confused. Clearly he wasn't used to people doing nothing when he frightened them. "Why aren't you scared?"

"Do you have any idea how long I worked at the Haunted Mansion? Jump scares have no affect on me, Mr. Skellington."

He finally looked around the room, noticing the lumpy tarps. He finally spotted Red, who had poked her head out from under the tarp to better see what was happening. The man rolled his eyes, as though he'd expected this.

"Alright," he said aloud, "everybody out. I know you're here; I saw Lightning McQueen trying to hide in the sitting room."

"Sorry!" They heard McQueen call from the Suite. Red didn't blame the race car, but found herself frustrated regardless. They'd been caught.

She was finally able to see the man clearly. He was dressed in a cast member's uniform, much like Daniels. Only his was adorned with multiple pins, designating him as a high-ranking cast member. He was also older that Daniels by at least thirty years. He had long silver hair that was kept clipped back in a neat low ponytail. He had a silver goatee to match, and brown eyes that, she imagined, were incredibly friendly-looking when the man smiled.

Only, the man wasn't smiling at that moment. He seemed incredibly displeased when Moana and Nala showed themselves. He even looked a little embarrassed when Woody and Buzz came to life (likely because he'd been holding Woody). When he saw the book in Red's hands, those supposedly friendly eyes burned with anger. Red had spent most of the day with a skeleton, lioness, living toys, and a living race car, but she was more afraid of the man at that moment than she was any of the characters.

"You did this! Give me that journal! What have you done with the Charm?"

"What are you talking about?" Red defended herself. "We didn't bring these guys here...well, we brought them into the castle, but we didn't bring them to our world! I don't even know what the Charm is!"

All of the characters began talking at once. It was hard to keep track of who was saying what, because McQueen (who had parked himself right outside the room) was yelling into the room. Still, all of the characters were blaming Daniels and telling the man not to blame the kids.

Finally, the man raised his hands and shouted. "Alright, that's enough!"

Everyone stopped talking at once, though somehow the silence was louder than the clamor had been. The man took a breath, and rubbed his temples. He was muttering, saying something through his teeth about Daniels.

After a moment or two, he raised his head and spoke to the group. "I was a little quick to judge. Kids," he said to Red and Marty, "I'm sorry for accusing you. I can tell you're just trying to help these characters. While I can't condone your breaking into the castle, I won't report this. But don't do it again." He stared at them both very hard, and they quickly nodded.

"Sir," Marty asked the man, "what is the Charm, anyway?"

"That is...what's your name?"

"Marty Kasango, sir."

"Well, Marty, that's a long story."