Malefison Page 2

  “No, we have to get you in somewhere close by, your wife could have the baby any second now,” the cast member said.

  “There!” The cast member pointed at the castle.

  Rose began screaming even louder.

  “Okay!” William shouted, as he picked up Rose and carried her into the castle.

  The cast member closed the curtains they used for shows and called a nurse from the first aid center to come help deliver the baby. With the curtains closed, more fireworks burst into brilliant, beautiful colors in the sky. A few minutes later, the nurse rushed to the back of the castle and into the corridor where the cast member, Rose and William were.

  The nurse, her hair tied up in a ponytail, was wearing a white medical jacket and baby blue scrubs. She kept her white jacket open so that guests could see the Disneyland cast member name tag that read: “Betty.”

  Betty ran into the gift shop and grabbed a few shirts. She also grabbed a bag to put the shirts into to make a pillow for Rose’s head. Betty then grabbed a Disneyland blanket for Rose to lay on.

  There were pallets against the wall that held various props. Betty and a cast member cleared one and pulled it onto the floor. William sat Rose on it as she began to scream again.

  The nurse began to count down.

  “3, 2, 1, push!”

  A few minutes later, right as the baby was born, the nurse announced, “It’s a boy!”

  As soon as she said that, he began to cry. At that moment, all the power on Main Street went out. The crowd of people enjoying the fireworks show gasped, and a handful screamed. As the baby let out another cry, a shooting star shot over the castle that glowed blue and left a glittery yellow trail resembling pixie dust. But the shooting star was not just another firework that Disney used for the shows. It was … the WISHING STAR.

  Chapter 3

  As the nurse handed Rose the baby, Rose began to tear up. William kneeled down to get a better look at the baby. The baby had bright green eyes and dark brown hair with chubby cheeks.

  “What should we name the little fella?” William asked, thinking of a name.

  “Exton, his name is Exton,” Rose said smiling.

  William looked at Rose and nodded with a smile.

  “OH!” Rose shouted in pain as the nurse took the baby from her. “Something … something’s not right …” Rose said, grabbing her stomach again.

  A group of paramedics rushed into the castle with a stretcher, and picked up Rose and laid her on it. They also took the baby from the nurse and wrapped him in a blanket, and then handed him to Rose.

  As the paramedics began leaving the castle, William grabbed one by the shoulder and asked, “Where are you taking my wife?”

  “To the hospital. Disney notified us that a baby was being born on the premises, so we were dispatched right way to help as fast as we could,” the paramedic said, as William let go of the man’s shoulder.

  They rushed Rose down the path leading out of the castle, with William following. Once they got Rose and Exton down the darkened Main Street, the paramedics cleared the street.

  People in the street made their way into the shops or onto the sidewalk. As the baby opened his eyes and looked up at Rose, the lights came back on Main Street, lighting the way out of the park. It brought a huge smile to everyone in the crowd. Not too much longer, the paramedics, Rose, Exton, and William made their way to the ambulance.

  As the paramedics picked up the stretcher and moved it into the back of the ambulance, William jumped into the back as well. Rose let out another cry of pain, trying to keep it low, so that she wouldn’t scare Exton. The paramedics closed the back doors after a woman paramedic jumped in to hook Rose up to the IV bag. She also strapped the stretcher down to the ambulance, so that it wouldn’t move around as they drove away.

  The female paramedic opened the window to the driver and gave him a thumbs up, so that he knew it was safe to start driving. A few minutes later, they made it to the hospital that was closest to Disneyland.

  They wheeled the stretcher Rose and Exton were on out of the ambulance and into the hospital. The nurse unraveled all the wires that Rose was connected to, and hung them on the IV pole that was rolled along with the patient.

  William jumped out of the ambulance after the nurse and ran up to Rose, as a policeman pushed him back.

  “Sorry, you can’t go down this hallway without a pass, or unless we’re instructed by a nurse or doctor that you can go with your wife,” said the bulky police officer with a gold badge that read: “Officer Mike.”

  William pushed the man against the wall and ran up to Rose. The policeman followed after William, grabbed him, and started to say, “Sir …”

  The nurse cut him off.

  “He’s okay. Let him in.”

  The policeman let William go, as William shrugged his shoulders and straightened his shirt. They made their way up to the 13th floor of the building and transferred Rose from the stretcher to a bed in the room. Rose let out another scream from the pain. A nurse began to take Exton, but Rose stopped her.

  “I will always love you …” Rose kissed sleeping Exton’s forehead as tears fell down her face.

  Rose grabbed the back of her necklace, pulled it over her head, and gently put it over the baby’s head and onto his neck. She gave Exton one last kiss, as the nurse took the baby out of her arms and placed him in a smaller version of the stretcher, except it had no belts to buckle the baby down. It also had a glass case surrounding the sides of it, and no top so that it was easy to take the baby out of it.

  “Where are you taking our child?” William asked.

  “To the nursery,” the nurse said.

  As Rose let out another scream, the baby began to cry once more. When Exton cried, the glass on the edges began to crack up the sides and into the corners. He let out another cry, as the nurse rolled him to the nursery, and the lights began to flicker in the hallway. The nurse looked up at the lights and heard Rose let out another scream, as she continued to roll Exton down the blue painted hallways and into the nursery.

  Back in the hospital room, Rose’s body was drenched in sweat. As William held Rose’s hand, she began to speak.

  “Will … Thank you for taking me to Disneyland. It was already the happiest place on earth, but this trip has made it even happier. I love you.”

  William began to cry as he gave her a kiss on the hand. Hearing loud footsteps, William turned around. Several doctors burst through the door. He only remembered one doctor that turned toward him and his name tag read: “Dr. Munden.”

  “Everything will be fine, sir,” the doctor said.

  The same policeman followed in after them and grabbed William, pulling him towards the door. William tried to break free from the man, but he was too strong for William to handle.

  “ROSE!” William shouted, still trying to break free from the man.

  Rose let out one more shout as her heart rate began to drop, and the doctors began rushing around even more than they already were.

  The policeman finally managed to get William out of the room. William tried multiple times to open the door again and again, but it just wouldn’t budge because the door locked from the inside. He decided to give up on this futile act, and just sat on the bench across from the room, hoping beyond hope that Rose would be fine.

  All of a sudden, he heard the heart rate completely drop as it began to emit a long beep. William ran up to the door and began to bang on it with his fist over and over, as he cried perilously. His fist desperately banging on the door began to have longer beats between each strike. He collapsed onto the floor not long after.

  When the doctors came out to tell William the devastating news, he was gone. He had already started walking down the blue painted hallways, with the lights still flickering, to get his son.

  As he knocked on the nursery door for the nurse to let him in, she was holding Exton, feeding him. The look on William’s face said it all. The nurse turned around and grabbed a baby car
t, moving it toward William. She then laid the baby down in it and rolled the baby cart to William. William carefully picked Exton up and cradled him in his arms. William walked down the glossy floors with the lights still flickering. He stopped at Rose’s room, placed his hand on the door, and with tears falling down his face, William said, “Goodbye, my love.”

  12 Years Later

  Beep, Beep, Beep. Exton looked at his alarm clock. It read 7:30 a.m. Exton sat up on the side of his bed in his Superman sleeping pants, and rubbed his eyes. With the clock still beeping, he reached over to hit the alarm clock, but he missed and hit his phone.

  As it lit up, the calendar flashed March 16. Exton’s eyes opened wide, as he rushed into his closet and threw his clothes on. With the clock still beeping, he barely opened up the closet door and threw his navy blue Vans at the clock.

  Exton had now grown into a very handsome young man, with dark brown hair, bright green eyes, and a very strong jawline like his father. As Exton made his way down the stairs, the smell of coffee and pancakes began to grow stronger with every step he took toward the kitchen.

  “Hey, Dad!” said Exton, as he grabbed a pancake from the stack and set it down on a plate that was already laid out for him.

  “So, are you excited for tomorrow?

  It’s your birthday!”

  “Yeah, but it reminds me of mom. I miss her even though I barely knew her for three minutes.” Exton laughed a little, but he was crying on the inside.

  William tried to keep a straight face to teach his son to be strong, so he held it in.

  “Well, off to school we go!” William said happily, trying to change the subject.

  As they both got into the car, William said, “Forgot the keys!” and went back inside to find them.

  “This is like the seventh time, Dad, geez,” Exton said, yelling at the half-open window.

  As Exton sat in the car waiting for his father to return, a picture of his mother fell from the car’s sun visor and landed in his lap. It was the Polaroid picture taken of his mother in front of the castle. As he began to cry a bit, a tear fell from his chin and hit the top left corner of the picture. To Exton, it resembled a firework bursting over the castle. As he began to cry even more, he heard the doorknob shake. Exton wiped his tears with his shirtsleeve. It was a plain blue shirt, and he was wearing blue jeans and black Converse, with his dark brown hair combed to the side.

  Exton did not have enough time to put the picture back in the sun visor before William returned to the car. He quickly placed it in the side of his backpack, where he usually kept a water bottle. As William got into the car and started it up, Exton hoped that his father wouldn’t notice the picture was missing. A few minutes later, they reached the final stoplight before Exton’s school.

  “Don’t be afraid of the bullies,” William told Exton, looking at him then back to the stoplight, waiting for it to turn green.

  “Stand up for yourself. Don’t let them push you around anymore,” William said.

  “But what if I get in trouble?” asked Exton.

  “Trust me. I’ll get you out of it. But that doesn’t mean fight them, you know. Well, unless you have to,” William said, as he laughed and lightly punched Exton in the shoulder.

  Finally, they were at the front of the line of cars letting their children out. “Hey, remember what I said!” William said pointing at Exton.

  “Okay, Dad, I’ll be fine,” Exton said, closing the car door as William drove away.

  Exton walked into school not very confident in himself, as usual. He walked into the main part of the building with the grand staircase to the second story classes, the entrance hall to all the electives, and finally, a massive stage for school plays and musicals.

  The school day was going well until third period. Exton was walking to science class, but he was a few minutes late due to issues in math class. As he walked down the hall, he noticed three bullies skipping class. He tried to pass them by holding his binder up to his head, but that wasn’t enough. The three eighth graders noticed him and decided to give him a little talk.

  The main one knocked the binder out of his hands and pushed him against the lockers on the left side of the hallway. The main bully was named Luke; he was also the captain of the football team. He always wore sporty clothes with tall socks, and his hair was a bit darker than Exton’s. It was also very short with just a little height in the front.

  The other two were both blond. One had long hair, and the other’s was a bit shorter hair with brunet roots. They also both wore sporty clothes.

  “I’m not afraid of you,” Exton said with just a bit of pride in himself.

  “Well, you should be!” Luke said laughing, as he gave his friend with the long blond hair a fist bump.

  Luke punched Exton on the left side of his jaw, and he collapsed to the floor. He then picked up Exton’s backpack and started looking through it. Exton tried to stand up. The shorter blond-haired kid, kicked Exton in the stomach and he fell back down.

  Luke pulled out the picture of his mother and said, “Aw, look, the little baby still needs his mommy.”

  The whole group laughed as Exton pulled himself up, still coughing.

  “But wait, I thought your mom was Maleficent?” Luke said laughing.

  “What?” Exton asked confused.

  “Well, you look a lot like her. You have her jawline and cheekbones. But just not her powers. What a shame,” Luke said, faking a sad face.

  Luke ripped the picture of Exton’s mother in half right in front of him.

  “NO!” Exton shouted.

  “What are you gonna do?” Luke asked, laughing dramatically.

  This has gone on way too long, Exton thought to himself.

  He also remembered what his father said, “I said, what are you gonna do?”

  Exton kicked Luke in the chest into the middle of the hallway, he began to lean over and cough. The other two backed up a little, because they could see the hate in Exton’s eyes.

  Luke picked himself back up and said, “You little …”

  Exton shot out a green bolt of lightning like energy, and it pushed Luke into the lockers, leaving his shape in the locker as he slid onto the floor. Exton looked at his hands in fear, then looked back up at Luke.

  “You truly are the son of Maleficent,” Luke said, as he coughed one more time before saying, “Malefison!”

  Exton ran out of the hallway in complete fear. Every step he took left a crack in the ground that got bigger and bigger, until it reached the wall and onto the ceiling. Big, thorny roots began to grow out of the walls and floor, as the ground began to crack even more. The ceiling began to fall as well. It almost caught up to Exton, but he got out just in time.

  He made his way into the main room. The thorns had beat him there, and the stage was completely destroyed with the curtain ripped to shreds. The cracks in the ground rumbled behind and under him, leading to one of the many pillars holding up the room. The crack finally reached it, and the entire ceiling came crashing down with even more pillars crumbling with it.

  Exton ran faster than ever to the entrance of the building. He ran out on to a patch of grass in front of the school that was a good distance from the destruction. The building soon became swallowed in thorns, as the cracks reached the front of the building. Exton ran away and didn’t turn back to see the final destruction of the school.

  Chapter 4

  Exton ran to the sidewalk on the side of the street near the school entrance. When he began to run in the opposite direction of the school, he heard the tumultuous sound of stone smashing on the concrete. As he turned around to witness the damage, the smoke and dust from all the broken bricks and stone began to clear. The front of the school building was completely destroyed.

  Thorns were still growing from the broken windows and cracked walls. He noticed his classmates and other students, who he only recognized from the hallways, running out of the part of the building where his powers had not yet reached.
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br />   As everyone ran to the fence a good distance away from the school, the cracks and thorns made their way to the only part of the building that was left. A few moments later, all that was left was debris and rubble from the broken bricks and stone on the outside of the building. People began driving into the school’s parking lot to see what had happened. Exton ran in fear into the woods across from the school, hoping no one had seen what he was capable of.

  As he made his way into the woods, Exton’s hands started to twitch as the ground began to shake. He ran to the closest tree and backed up against it. Even more thorns began to grow in front of Exton’s eyes. They got closer and closer to Exton as he backed up, hoping they would stop soon. As he was backing up, he didn’t notice the stone in the dirt, and tripped on a branch, knocking himself out.

  Meanwhile, his father was at work and received a call that the school had been completely destroyed. William instantly panicked and rushed to the school. When he got there, all the smoke had dissipated. Now, all the damage was visible.

  William parked his car in a parking space close to the edge of the woods. He got out and walked up to a group of kids and a number of teachers. A nurse was on the side helping anyone who had been severely hurt. The only kid who seemed majorly hurt was Luke. He had a bandage around his left arm and right leg. Luke didn’t tell anyone about Exton because he was too terrified that it would backfire somehow.

  William walked up to a teacher who was in her fifties, with salt and pepper hair, wearing a red vest and a dark gray skirt. The teacher was counting.

  “Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty …”

  “Do you know where my son, Exton, is?” William asked, cutting off the teacher.

  “No, sorry! Go talk to the principal. He’s over there talking to all the parents.”

  As William walked up to the crowd of parents, he started to hear their questions get louder and louder about what happened at the school. William knew that he would never get the chance to ask where his son was.

  He walked up to the crowd of kids and yelled out, “Exton!”