Trapped in The Happiest Place on Earth

Thirty-one

Thirty One

The words New York City, Transportation, and Growth appear in bright green. "A riddle?" Dastan asks challengingly, as if this will be nothing. I let out a sigh of relief, for Dastan it won't be.

"So you know what it means?" I ask him.

"Well I'm sure I do since it has to do with Disney parks or films."

I look at the timer on the corner of the screen. "Well it doesn't look like 'I'm sure I do' is going to cut it for much longer."

He nods. "What about Annie? Disney made that a couple years ago. My sister was crazy about it."

I shrug, from what I remember about the movie it sounds about right. New York City, growth, and I suppose there's a lot of transportation too. I type the girl's name. The screen goes pitch black and the lights above us turn green. "Somehow," I shout over the shrieking bird calls, "I don't think that was the right answer."

Out of the corner of my eye I see Maleficent's pet bird Diablo flying towards Dastan and I. "Duck!" I yell. The bird just misses us and hits the tunnel's wall knocking it unconscious. Behind the bird are the rest of Maleficent's Goons carrying arrows, clubs, and arches. Like the bird, they too are headed towards Dastan and myself. He grabs my hand and we turn to run away. Prince Charming's Carousal is so close, if we could just get to the top of it the other groups of heroes might be able to see us and help.

From inside the tunnel nothing would appear to be waiting for you outside of it. Little did we know they were. When I see them I run fast, but fast is not good enough when comes to a giant army of cards.

"Off with their heads!" I hear the Queen of Hearts shout. The Heart warriors grab me by the arm and bring me to her. She is infuriated, let me tell you. The Queen's eyes have turned red and steam literally fumes from her ears. "You!" she yells at me before shaking her hands and stomping her feet in fury. Dastan and I exchange looks, he, too, is amused by her outburst. At the same time we're terrified. "Off with their-"

"Calm down you hothead!" Captain H warns waving his hook in the Queen's face. For a moment I am happy to see him..., then he speaks. "I have a word to say with the young lady. As for the boy," he scratches his mustache, "how would you say it? Oh yes, off with his head! He is of no use to anymore." My jaw drops, he wouldn't really do that to Dastan would he? Hook couldn't. Could he?

"What do you want Hook?"

He's so close I can feel his cold, wretched breath press upon my neck. "The same thing I wanted when you asked me the first time." he answers. "Freedom." his words send shivers down my spine. His words are not empty like the blackness of his eyes are, but they are filled with hatred. The sort of hatred that comes only from betrayal. "I trusted you deary," he pulls his silver hook from behind his back to my chin, "and now, you're going to pay."

I watch the sharp hook come closer and closer to my skin, making contact with it, and drawling it's first drop of smooth, red blood. I watch my life flash before my eyes. Never seeing my parent's again or watching Eric fall in love. I'll never live to see graduation, or college, or marriage. I'll never be with Dastan and I'll never have a life with him. Suddenly it dawns on me that magic can find its way into almost anything, but not death. There is no magic in death.

Just before the silver curve of death sinks into the next layer of my skin something pulls it away. At first I wonder if Hook's has had a change of heart, but then I see Dastan wrestling the pirate formally known as Jame's Hook on the ground. If Austin were here, he'd have said Dastan was beating the tar out of the captain, but he isn't, so I take on his role for him.

The Queen of Hearts and her army stand still, unsure of who to grab first. I think the she secretly likes the fact that Hook will be out her hair from now on (or at least a very long time) because she doesn't say single word about "heads" the entire time. Finally, Hook is unconscious and Dastan stands up. "I'm sorry you had to see that." he says slightly disappointed in himself. "but I couldn't let him take you away from me." I smile a huge smile and it feels as if the whole world has been put on pause and in this moment it all resumes. The Queen shouts her line and the soldiers follow at her command, looping together to make a large circle around Dastan and I.

"We could fly," I whisper.

"But the goons-"

"are still guarding the door." I finish. The deck of cards continue to step closer and closer to Dastan and I. If we're going somewhere, we have to go fast or else we may give that legend some truth about the frozen heads under this park. Then, I remember the balcony I spent those first few nights looking out of. It directly leads into the Walt Disney Suite and if I were Maleficent, there would be no better place to murder Walt's creation. "Let's fly." I say. When I look down, I see a royal flush.