Uncovered

Chapter 6: The Incident

BEN

Mal has been doing great considering her stubbornness towards water. She's currently clinging on to me like a koala and her nails are digging deep into the back of my neck. She not planning to let go.

"Mal you can let go now" I laugh, "we're in the shallow end". To my surprise, I feel her nails leaving my skin as she loosens her grip on me and stands up. "See its not that bad" I take her hands in mine,"You'll be swimming like a pro in no time".

Suddenly, Evie, Jay and Carlos come running in. They look pretty frantic and they are panting like they've just finished a marathon.

"What's going on?" Mal asks getting out of the pool. I follow her out and wrap a towel around her before grabbing my own towel.

"Everyone knows you two are here" Jay explains as Evie hands her phone to Mal. I can't see what's on the screen, but Mal's reaction tells me it's not good.

"Fairy Godmother is on her way" Carlos warns.

"We need to get out of here" Evie grabs Mal's hand pulling her towards the exit, but Mal refuses to move.

"No!" Mal yells freeing herself from Evie. "These photos were taken from up there", she drops the towel and points at the viewing balcony where people sit when there's a swim meet. Her breaths become quick and she curls her hands into fists as a green light radiates from her body.

"Mal calm down" I grab her shoulder, but she shakes me off.

"No Ben!" The green glow begins to throb around her, "I am going to find out who's doing this".

She storms off towards the balcony and I go after her . Evie, Carlos and Jay stay behind. I've never seen her so shaken up before. She runs up the stairs faster than I have ever seen her move. When I reach the balcony she stand with her back to me while she looks down at Evie's phone. The green light has deepened in color and is now radiating all around her. Fairy Godmother warned us about her powers when she started her lessons, but nothing had happened up until now. I take a few steps towards her with caution.

"Good Luck trying to find me..." she reads from Auradon Uncovered, "and a picture of us right here on the balcony".

"Mal" I say softly hoping it'll calm her down, "please come here and we'll talk about this"

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" She yells, her voice echoing. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?!"

The lights in the large room begin to flicker because of Mal's powers. Rays of green light burst out of her body causing lightbulbs to break and bricks to crumble. I keep walking towards her.

"We'll figure this out" she turns around as I speak, her eyes glowing emerald green. "Together".

"I can't control it" she takes a step away from me and I take a step forwards. Her eyes are still glowing green, but now they're full of fear.

"Yes you can" I encourage, "you just have to believe in yourself".

"Stay back Ben" the green orb that surrounds her grows bigger, "I don't want to hurt you".

It all happens in a single moment. I feel Mal scream, and before I can do anything I feel myself being launched backwards into the balcony railing as Mal's powers bursts out of her.

Smoke fills the air while the brick and stone wall crumbles above us. I hear Evie screech as all the lightbulbs burst leaving us in pitch black darkness. I sharp pain hits my right shoulder, but it doesn't stop me from getting up.

I walk through the rubble until I see her standing there looking shocked. The green orb is getting smaller and smaller every second, but it still shines just enough that I can see her face.

"I'm sorry" she whispers before her eyes close and she collapses just as the green light disappears completely. I catch her before her head hits the ground, but I can barely move my right arm.

I groan as I try to carry her, but my shoulder hurts too much.

Jay, Carlos, and Evie Rush up the stairs. Jay picks up Mal's limp body.

"Come on" Carlos urges helping me up and Evie grabs her phone from the floor.

I hold my right arm close to my chest making my way down the stairs. I grab another towel and cover Mal since she is just wearing a swimsuit. I push her hair out of her face and she feels really warm.

"What happened in hear?!" Fairy Godmother questions from the door.

"Mal couldn't control her powers" I explain. Jay puts Mal down on the bench and I kneel next to her. "It came out of nowhere, and when it was gone she passed out".

Evie joins me and puts her hand to Mal's forehead. "She's running a fever" she says.

Fairy Godmother does the same and nods. "I feared this would happen" she's mad, but too concerned to yell at us right now. "Take her to the infirmary" she tells Jay and he picks up Mal again and leaves.

"I'll go with him" Evie smiles sympathetically and leaves.

"Yeah me too" Carlos agrees and follows Evie out which just leaves me and fairy godmother.

She stares at me, anger filling her expression. She warned us this could happen.

"I warned you this could happen" she barks. "This is why I've been adding more and more hours to her training. If Mal's occupied and distracted it allows less time for things like this to occur."

"I'm sorry" I try running my right hand through my hair out of habit and groan in pain. I grab my right arm carefully as the pain slowly fades.

"We'll talk about this later" she says, "you should go get your arm checked out while I deal with this mess".

MAL

My eyes blink a couple of time before I finally open them. I'm in the infirmary. All the white around me makes that clear. A distinctive mutter comes from outside my room; however, I don't recognize the voices. I'm wearing black pajamas and Ben's letterman jacket. I try pushing myself up, but the room spins and I'm going to be sick. Before I puke my guts out, Carlos hold a bucket in front of me.

"She's awake" he informs while I throw up. Evie, Ben and Fairy Godmother rush into the room. Ben's arm hangs in a sling.

"How're you feeling?" He asks grabbing my hand and handing me a napkin.

"Horrible" I admit, "what happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Fairy Godmother steps forwards.

"Um" I think, "The post".

Everyone is silent for a few seconds. What did I do? Where's Jay? So many questions fill my head.

"You lost control of your powers" Evie speaks first, "and then you passed out".

"Your body is exhausted from all the magic it radiated" Fairy Godmother explains, "you've been asleep for a couple of days".

I stare at Ben's arm. "I did that?".

"It's fine" he smiles, "it's just a dislocated shoulder".

It's not fine I think. It's not okay that I caused this and I can't even remember it. My head begins to pound and I close my eyes tightly.

"What's wrong?" Ben worries

"My head hurts" I rub my eyes.

"That's normal" Fairy Godmother states, "you'll probably be nauseated, lightheaded and have a pretty bad headache".

"So basically she'll be hungover" Carlos jokes. I would have laughed if my head wasn't hurting so much.

"You should get some rest" Fairy Godmother walks out of the room, "I'll be back in a while to check on you".

I try getting up, but Ben pushes me back down.

"No you don't" he stands up, "you heard her. You need to rest"

"I've been sleeping for two days" I defend my decision, "what I need is to stand up?"

I try to get up, but he pushes me back again.

"I'll be here when you wake up" he whispers and I close my eyes. It doesn't take long before I drift off to sleep.