Dedicated To Disney

24: Death Is An Adventure

Light trickles of blood spilled over my eyes but I wiped them away to glare up at the founders. "I knew this was all your doing! You opened the portal."

Stermin grabbed me and yanked me to my feet, shoving me into the room before shutting the door behind him. I looked around me. The room resembled that of the founders office at the top of the castle. Ykell prowled around me with a dangerous gleam in her eyes as Stermin stared silently. I didn't allow them to see my fear. I stared straight back with narrowed eyes.

"I told you she's trouble," Ykell finally told Stermin.

"Only when it's necessary," I spat back at her.

Stermin crossed his arms over his chest. "You're right about us being the cause of all of this. I won't deny that."

"I knew it." A heated anger was mixing with my fear, making my fists tremble. "So the mystery is unveiled."

Stermin chuckled darkly, casually pulling a knife out from the desk drawer. My eyes immediately moved to it. Its sharp tip glinted menacingly in dim lighting from the lanterns. "That's where you're wrong, Miss Yumia. You have yet to figure out something else. But that is expected from a naive child whose nose is too long not to be stuck around in other peoples business."

I swallowed, standing frozen in the center of the room. "What do you mean?"

"He means you don't know how to keep to yourself," Ykell drawled.

"I know that!" I snapped, glaring at her. "I mean about me not knowing something else. What else do I possibly need to know? You two are responsible! I don't know how you did it, but you're bringing Disney characters to this world. You should be in jail. That's all I need to know." I paused, inhaling deeply. "But why? Why must you do this?"

Stermin stepped forward, grazing my arm with the tip of his knife. I shuddered at the cold touch. Is he going to kill me? "I'm afraid we are not as naive as you. Why would we reveal something so confidential? You could go telling others."

"So you're going to let me go?" I asked, dumbfounded.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course not. You know too much. We will, of course, have to dispose of you - something Ykell has been looking forward to since our first encounter in the castle."

I swallowed, my bravery slowly depleting. Panic began setting in. "You...You can't kill me."

"Oh, we can," Ykell hissed, stepping forward."

Stermin smiled at Ykell, handing her the knife. "You can have the honor."

Ykell accepted it only to set it back down on the desktop. "Thank you, but I have something else in mind."

Stermin nodded, sitting back down at his desk and rummaging through more papers. "Go ahead."

I immediately backed away toward the door as Ykell nodded. Before I could turn to sprint for it, she lunged, slamming me harshly against the wall. I cried out as an intense sear of pain swelled in my head.

"Of course," she breathed in my ear, "we'll have to wait until the park is closed. So it looks like you'll be here a little longer."

"You won't get away with this!" I hissed. "You'll be caught. The both of you! Zeke-"

"Is going to be disposed of, as well," Stermin interrupted from his desk, not even bothering to look up. "Do not underestimate what I know. He knows as much as you and so he will receive the same fate."

Hot tears burned at my eyes. I'm going to die. I can't say goodbye to Mom or Mary-Ann. When the tears spilled over, Ykell clucked mockingly, dragging me away from the wall by my hair and shoving me into a chair. I barely registered as she tied my hands tightly together and said something to Stermin.