Not That Evil

Chapter Sixteen

 Late that night, the five of us had snuck down to the kitchen area and had decided that it was time to take desperate measures. Mal and Evie were making a batch of cookies infused with a love spell that would get Prince Ben to fall in love with Mal. That would most likely make him ask Mal to be his girlfriend, putting her in front at the coronation so that she could snatch the wand. Just in case, I had to agree to be Prince Jon's date to the coronation if he asked. That had been a hard-fought battle between all five of us.

"No!" I had cried, maybe a little too loud. "I'm not doing that! He creeps me out!"

"Hera," Mal had barked. "We need you to do this. We need backup in case my plan fails."

"We know for a fact that Jon is falling all over you. We need that," Evie had sighed.

"I don't know..." Carlos had cut in. "There's something... off... about His Royal Creepiness. I don't know if Hera will really be safe during all of this."

Jay had punched Carlos in the arm.

"Come on, man. We need backup. Our parents will literally kill us if we don't go through with this. It's either put Hera in a situation where we can easily pull her out if something happens, or basically commit suicide. Which one would you rather have?"

Carlos had sighed, thinking it over, and then caved.

"Fine, but the minute something seems suspicious, we find a way for Hera to get out of the coronation and rely on Mal, alright."

Although it had been reluctant, everyone had nodded. I had sighed and flopped down on Evie's bed, and that was the end of that.

Now, Carlos, Jay, and I were sitting on the counter, with Carlos cuddling this new dog he had met named Dude. Mal and Evie were by the stove making the cookie batter for the love potion we needed. I reached over and scratched behind Dude's ear, causing him to lick my hand in affection. I chuckled and proceeded to pet him.

"Alright," Mal spoke up suddenly, "it says we still need one tear, and I never cry."

"Let's just chop up some onions," Jay suggested.

"No," Mal sighed, annoyed. "It says we need one tear of human sadness, and this love potion gets the best reviews, so we have to follow it exactly."

"A tear's a tear," Jay shot back stubbornly. Mal rolled her eyes and focused back on the cookie batter.

"That's not true, Jay," Evie spoke up. "They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear."

"Listen to you," I smiled, astonished at Evie's new knowledge.

"Yeah, I knew that," Jay huffed.

"Did not," Carlos shot back.

"Yeah I did."

"There you are, Mal!"

All five of us shot our heads up and Evie quickly hid the spell book. Lonnie walked over to us and stood opposite of Mal.

"I was looking for you," she smiled. "You know, all the girls want you to do their hair."

I rolled my eyes. All the girls here worried about was their personal appearance and personal reputation. Where was that going to get them in life?

"Midnight snack, huh?" Lonnie took one glance at the cookie dough and dipped her finger into it, popping it into her mouth.

"No!" All of us cried at the same time, clearly all worried about the same thing. She looked at us, confused, as she slid her finger out of her mouth.

"Don't worry," she smiled, "I'm not going to double-dip."

"Do you feel anything... different?" Mal inquired.

"Like it's missing something?" I added. Lonnie rolled over what had been in her mouth, as if she were able to analyze the ingredients she had just eaten.

"It could use some chips." She walked over to the large, steel refrigerator, opening the large door.

"Chips...?" Carlos sounded as lost as I was.

"And those are?" Mal asked.

"Chocolate chips." Lonnie pulled out a pull of small, brown, strange shape pieces of this substance named 'chocolate.' I think I had remembered it from the limousine. "Just the most important food group." She looked over all of our confused faces as she sprinkled the chocolate chips into the cookie batter. "Wait, didn't your moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies."

Our faces remained blank, out minds lost.

"Like, when you're feeling sad, and they're fresh from the over with a big old glass of milk? And she makes you laugh, and puts everything into perspective, and-" She looked over us again. "Why are you all staring at me like that?"

"It's just... different where we come from," I sighed, looking at the floor.

"Yeah, I know... I just thought, you know, even villains love their kids."

We all shook our heads slightly.

"Oh... how awful..." A tear began sliding down Lonnie's cheek, and all of us took quick action. Mal reached out and wiped it from her face, then flicked it into the batter.

"Yeah, well, big bummer," Mal rambled, "but we have to get these into the oven, so thank you for coming by, really."

"Have a good night," Lonnie called back to all of us as Mal ushered her towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Evil dreams," I called.

"Good night," Mal smiled. "See you tomorrow."

As soon as Lonnie had left, Mal got right back to work.

"Okay boys, cookie sheet. Evie, oven."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Hera, start spooning these cookies out and putting them onto the sheet."

"On it!" I called, jumping down from the counter. After what seemed like an eternity, the cookies were finally done, and Mal put them into a bag.

"What are we going to do with all these extras?" I sighed.

"Not sure," Mal trailed off. "Let's just get rid of them. We can't eat them."

We tossed the cookies into a garbage bin, said our goodbyes, and walked to our rooms. I climbed into my pajamas, switched off the lights, and curled up under my covers.

I had a nightmare about my mother's wrath.