[𝟕] 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄 ( descendants ) [✔️]

Thirty One

Ceci searched a quarter of an hour after that, going through the perimeter of the forest. Eventually, the sun began to set, and the blonde had to resign herself to go back to her room, but perked up at the possibility that Rae might've been there. Unfortunately, the room was empty, and Ceci sat dejected on her bed.

A knock echoed on the door.

"Ceci? Can I come in?" came Mal's voice from the other side. Ceci nodded before realising the purple-haired girl wasn't able to see her.

"Yea sure" she said, and Mal walked in.

"Any luck?" she asked going over to Ceci, who shook her head.

Suddenly the door burst open the two girls turned to see Grey running in

"Grey...." Mal started, but Grey didn't seem to notice her, instead going over to Ceci and opening his hand. There lay a golden necklace, the clasp slightly broken. But what made Ceci gasp was the charm, a sun, with wavy rays: Corona's ensignia. Rae's necklace.  "What?" Mal questioned.

"This.. this is Rae's necklace..." Grey said shakily.

"She never ever takes it off." the shocked blonde added. "Which means..." she started but was unable to finish.

"Something is horribly wrong..." Grey finished.

**

"So you're telling me, this is Rae's necklace and she never takes it off?" Mal questioned the pair of them. "Then there's definitely something wrong here."

"You're telling me. Something definitely happened." Said Grey.

"Then we've gotta go figure this out." Mal said, now truly determined. "But there's no way we can do it alone."

"Where are the others?" asked Ceci.

"Ben will most likely be in his office. Evie will be in our room working on dresses. Jay and Carlos will be in their room with Maddie." Mal said. "We're gonna need them all."

"Let's go." Grey nodded.

**

After rounding everyone up, the group found themselves standing in the forest, around the place Grey had found the necklace.

"So what do we do?" Maddie asked the rest of them.

"It would probably be better if we all split up." her boyfriend suggested.

"Jay take Carlos, Evie and Ben with you. Ceci, Maddie and Mal with me." Grey ordered.

"Oi, why'd you split me and Jay?" Maddie complained, looking at Grey.

"Because I don't need you two sneaking off and making out instead of finding Rae." he replied

"Oh come on." Maddie groaned, rolling her eyes. "Really, you're just jealous because I interfere with your bromance."

"Maddie it's fine, he's not wrong..." Jay muttered.

"Shut up you're both against me." She said, crossing her arms.

"I need her found Maddie." Grey turned to her. "Do you understand?" he said, his voice cracking, tugging at Ceci's heartstrings.

"And we will." she tried to reassure him. Maddie's face softened and she dropped her arms beside her.

"Well we're not making any progress just stood here, are we?"

Suddenly, an idea came to Ceci's head.  Maybe Cyrus had seen her...

"I... I'm going to see if... if she's in.. in the forest quickly. There's a place where we like to hang out..." She stammered running off before anyone could stop her.

Ceci rushed to their tree. "Cyrus!" She called Cyrus appeared in a tree above her head.

"Darling? What are you doing out here so late?" he asked, quite confused.

"I'm looking for Rae. Have you seen her?" She asked desperately

"You're still looking for her?" He frowned. "No... I haven't. I'm sorry." he shook his head.

"Bonkers." She shook her head and sped off again.

"What?" Cyrus stared in confusion before disappearing.

Cecilia ran back out of the forest, meeting back up with the others.

"I hope so." she heard Grey say as she approached them "Let's go." He added.

They searched through the forest for half an hour, calling out her name, checking trees with flashlights, but there was no sign of Rae

"It's getting late Grey... maybe we'd be better off coming back out in the morning when it's lighter..." Mal told him softly.

"Maybe we should go find the rest of 'em and see if they found anything." Maddie said right as there was a rustling coming from a nearby bush.

"What the hell was that?" Mal asked as the quarted spun around. Grey sprinted to the bush and  parted the leaves, grabbing a man and pulling  him out and throwing him to the ground, pressing a foot on his chest.

"Cecilia, light please." he said. Ceci compiled, though she was in shock, and shone the light on the man's face, revealing a strange with red hair and sideburns. Grey paled, clearly recognizing the man. "Stabbington."