Chapter Fifteen:
Pew, Pew!

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Laila and Jane were only underwater for about ten seconds before the pink smoke dissipated, but for Laila, it was ten seconds too long. Though, as she stood there, looking around at everyone else who had passed out on the forest floor, she became immensely grateful... which quickly turned into uneasiness. That easily could've been her. If she hadn't been with Jane, that probably would have been her.

She didn't like that thought.

Soaking wet, Laila practically collapsed on the nearest chair. She couldn't bear to look away from those sleeping—she might not have been friends with them, but it had certainly hit her hard. What was Audrey doing? Laila had to force herself to look away from them, her gaze landing on Jane instead. The two girls simply looked at each other, both too shocked to say anything. Laila picked up one of the towels next to her and wrapped it around her.

"If Audrey thinks I'm staying in the cheer squad after this, she's awfully mistaken," Laila said after a bit, breaking the silence.

Laila's words seemed to kick Jane's brain back into action. She reached for her phone, and promptly held it up to her ear. "No, no, stay where you are, Ben," Jane said, putting a towel around herself, too. "Audrey stole the scepter, and everyone's asleep. I'm gonna call Mom and tell her to get her wand."

As Jane hung up on Ben and started to call her mom. Laila seized the opportunity: she picked up her own phone from where it sat on the table—thank fuck she hadn't taken it into the water with her—and she clicked on Evie's name in her contacts list.

"Come on, come on," Laila muttered nervously to herself. But Evie didn't answer, and the call went to voicemail. Laila sighed, hanging up the phone. She hoped she was OK... she really hoped she wasn't asleep...

Jane ended her call, too. She turned to Laila, and the two stared at each other for a few silent seconds.

"Okay, um..." Laila started, the reality of the situation fully hitting her. They didn't know who was asleep and who wasn't. For all they knew, everyone was asleep except for them and Ben and Fairy Godmother. "What do we do now?"

Jane thought about it for a moment, then said, "We should go to Ben—he's at the castle. Hopefully he'll know what to do..."

Laila hummed. "That's true. I mean, he is a king, so..." So hopefully he will know what to do.

And so it was decided. They would go find Ben.

Except... that was easier said than done—Audrey had obviously gone off the fucking rail. As Jane and Laila entered the main square, practically everyone was sound asleep. It was an odd sight to see, since they were all in the most awkward places: one couple had fallen asleep onto their food, and someone else was sleeping in the middle of the street. And that was just the beginning of it. The prospect of finding Ben awake and unharmed seemed even more unlikely after each second passed.

As Laila looked around, her gaze sweeping over everyone who was sleeping, she couldn't help but think: Why? Why would Audrey do this? She thought back to the last time she had seen Audrey... It was yesterday, at the celebrations for VK day! Ben had proposed to Mal, and—Oh. Ben had proposed to Mal. Audrey was upset—and that was valid. Laila couldn't imagine it would be easy to see someone you love propose to someone else. But to put the entire population of Auradon to sleep?! Now that was pushing it...

Laila and Jane continued to walk through town, trying not to trip over anyone sleeping on the ground, and that was when they saw it.

Well, not 'it'... Doug. Miraculously, like Laila and Jane, he must have dodged the sleeping curse Audrey had placed over the town. Hooray, right?! Not quite... This was much worse. His entire body had turned to stone, his face frozen in a puzzled expression as he stared at the sleeping town, presumably trying to figure out what had happened.

"Laila..." Jane said, her voice trembling a little.

She looked over to where Jane was standing, and she saw what had gotten Jane so spooked. Doug hadn't been the only one—the entire marching band had turned to stone. Fuck.

Once they reached the castle where Ben was—well, where they hoped Ben was—Laila was momentarily surprised that there was no security to ask what they were doing there. Then she remembered that they had probably been put to sleep, or turned to stone.

As the two girls cautiously walked through the castle and down the corridor—Audrey could pop out at any moment, like, "Surprise!" and they'd be screwed—Laila found herself slowing down, suddenly distracted by something on the walls. A sense of unease flooded her from head to toe.

"What's wrong?" Jane asked her quietly. She'd noticed that Laila had stopped following her.

Laila nodded in the direction of the wall. A set of claw marks defaced the wall, dragging on for at least a metre across. A decorative painting had been completely ruined, the entire bottom of it detached and on the floor. It was like a wild animal had been let loose.

"Look—claw marks."

"Claw marks?" Jane furrowed her brow. "What... like a... beast?" The uneasiness Laila had been feeling rubbed off on Jane. She turned to Laila suddenly. "You don't think Audrey... put a spell on him... do you?"

"From what we've seen, I wouldn't put it past her," Laila said. "I think... I think Audrey's desperate for revenge, and she's jealous, so it definitely seems like something she would do—curse Ben so that Mal wouldn't love him..."

Jane ran her hand along the marks on the wall. "But why would Audrey do that? Doesn't she want Ben?"

Laila shrugged. Then it hit her: "If she can't have him, no one can."

Jane gulped.

Audrey's plan had suddenly turned rather sinister. It somehow seemed worse than before, because it was personal. Audrey wasn't just on some power kick, she wanted revenge, and she was willing to do whatever she had to do to get it.

And that made her dangerous.

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It had been Jane's idea to go back to the Enchanted Lake. At first, Laila hadn't fully understood why, but she had gone along with it anyway. At this point, any idea was a good idea. On their way there, Jane had made a quick pit stop to pick up some water guns for them to use. Laila hadn't questioned it—she figured Jane would explain once they got there. And she did:

"OK, so, if we get these—" Jane picked up a water gun and placed it into the Enchanted Lake as a demonstration for Laila, "—and fill them up with water, and then spray Ben with the water, I think the spell will wear off."

"Just like how Audrey's sleeping spell didn't affect us because we were in the water!" Laila exclaimed. "Oh, my God. You're a fucking genius."

Jane modestly brushed the compliment aside. "C'mon—once we fill these up, we can find Ben."

Finding Ben was another thing that was easier said than done. They searched what felt like everywhere. Going back to Ben's castle—which Laila had started to call the 'scene of the crime' before Jane made her stop—they tried to figure out where Ben would go in a frenzy. WWBD, as Laila had started to refer to it—Jane hadn't gotten annoyed at her yet, so she hadn't stopped—or, alternatively, What Would Ben Do?

What would Ben do? Here was what they figured: Ben would never want to hurt anyone, right? So it was safe to say that he would go to a place where he couldn't hurt anyone, because there would be no one there to hurt. That was when Jane had suggested the forest. And that was where they were now: aimlessly wandering around the greenery with the hope that maybe, just maybe, Ben would suddenly appear and they could finally figure this mess out.

Just when they were almost losing hope, a voice suddenly called out from somewhere in the forest. "Ben!" Someone else was looking for Ben, too!

Laila suddenly frowned. "Wait, is that—?"

Jane's eyes widened considerably as she recognised the voice. "Carlos!"

The two girls carefully ran through the forest, not wanting to trip on any exposed roots but also wanting to get to where Carlos was immediately. They'd be stronger in numbers, and it might help them to find Ben faster. Laila was careful not to accidentally spill any of the Enchanted Lake water—she wasn't sure how much she would need once they found Ben, but the more the merrier. Just in case.

A loud growl sounded throughout the forest. Laila picked up her pace.

Carlos and Jay were there, along with two other boys Laila didn't recognise. Plus Ben, who Laila didn't recognise at all... The only thing that told her it was Ben was his face and hands; they had been spelled, as predicted, to resemble a beast.

The two girls skidded to a halt in front of them, Jane with much more grace than Laila, and started spraying Ben with the Enchanted Lake water. Laila was sure that Jane was doing a much better job at it than she was, considering every single time she shot the water, her mind was like, Pew! Pew! Pew! as if she was shooting an alien in an old sci-fi movie.

As Ben's face slowly started to return to normal, Laila grinned. "Fuck yeah!"

Carlos hurried over to Jane and the two started speaking so fast that Laila had a hard time keeping up with them. Eventually they both said: "I'm so glad you're alright!" And hugged each other.

So, if Carlos and Jay are here, Laila thought, Where are the others? Where's Evie?

"Hey—where's Evie? Is she alright?" Laila asked, a worried frown appearing on her face. All of a sudden, it felt like everyone there had turned to face her, and after a moment of still silence, she quickly added, "And Mal. And everyone else. All of them. Not just Evie. Um..."

She wished the ground could just swallow her whole.

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Authors Note!!!

hey hey!!! in honour of my birthday being today, here's a little present from me to you!!!!

hope you all liked this chapter! it was kind of small (oops) but there was HEAPS of laila and jane content which i loved; their friendship is so pure to me. ugh, i love them. don't forget to vote and comment, i love hearing what u guys thought of it!!! <3

word count: 1816
22.08.2021