Beginning's End
10:00 pm
Mal, Evie and Audrey are restless. They are waiting for the guys to arrive at their dorm room, like what they decided earlier that afternoon.
Evie is standing in front of the full length mirror but is not looking at her reflection as she is deep in thought. Audrey is at her bed, tapping her fingers restlessly on the sheets. Mal, on the other hand, is muttering something to her self as she walked back and forth from one side of the room to another.
"At last!..What took you guys so long?!" Evie and Mal immediately snapped back to reality
when they heard Audrey shout under her breath as she sprung up of her bed seemingly irritated.
They saw Jay entering the room with the new roommate, Chad. Followed by Ben, who somehow managed to snuck out from his room at the castle, after clumsily breaking some things in the process (he tried his best though). The boys slowly entered and gently closed the door behind them, trying to be as quiet as possible.
"So what's the plan?" Mal's voice was barely above a whisper. She didn't waste any second to ask the boys, who suggested that they start to do some detective work and solve things themselves. They are really getting impatient and uncertain about the situation, and they badly wanted to uncover the truth as soon as possible.
"Wait, where's Carlos?" Evie spoke softly but her words got everyone's attention. They started glancing at each other, waiting for someone to say something.
"I thought he'd be here already. He said he'll go straight to your room after playing with Dude." Jay tried to explain.
"Well, he's clearly not here. What do we do now?" Audrey blurted with her furrowed brows, not clear if she's pissed or worried.
"Maybe he's still playing with the crazy mutt." Chad whispered under his breath, referring to the relentless barking the mutt just did earlier, but his snarky remark made it to everyone's ears. They glared at him, well except Ben who is trying to suppress something from showing in his face. "Ok sorry, just saying." Chad immediately added.
Mal instantly grabbed her bag and dashed to the door. "Hey Mal, where are you going?" Ben gently grabbed her arms in an attempt to stop her.
"I'm going to find Carlos." Mal shook off Ben's hand and went out the room. She doesn't intend to be rude to Ben or something, but she can't help herself whenever her friends are involved, more so with those three that she practically grew up with in the dark side.
She felt the need to be responsible for all of them, including Audrey, Chad and Ben, especially after that night of wrath. They still don't know the details, but being alone certainly spells trouble for all of them.
Everyone is starting to get stressed out but they are trying their best to maintain the bit of composure they have. They let Mal leave and flopped themselves in the beds with a heavy breath, except Evie who immediately went after her.
"What now? We can't really plan with just us four." Chad used the chance to be an ass that he is and stated the obvious which just made them more uncomfortable.
Audrey glared at him. "What choice do we have? Of course, we wait." She folded her arms and continued to tap her fingers at her elbow while letting out a big sigh as silence echoed the room.
Evie, on the other hand, chased Mal in the hallway. She grabbed her hand and was a bit dragged by Mal's fast-paced walk, but she stopped for a bit, letting Evie catch her breath and talk. "I know you're worried, but let's not be rash about this."
"Rash? Who's being rash?! I'm just doing what needs to be done and noone can st- " Mal's word was cutt off as Evie pulled her into a hug. There were no words but Mal understood what Evie is trying to say.
Evie gently wrapped her arms around her as Mal finally started to relax and rested her head on Evie's shoulder, Mal's tears started to flow..it's silent, noone could've guessed that she is crying right now except Evie.
A lot has been happening lately and they never really had the chance to relax and let it all out.
It's just like when they were children..they made it a point to never show their tears to others except one another..they believed back then that tears are dangerous, it's a sign of weakness and an invitation to be manipulated or be taken advantage of. Mal never let others see her soft side except Evie, and Evie does just the same.
"Sorry." Mal wanted to stay in Evie's arms for a while, but she wiped her tears as she noticed that Evie's shoulder has become damp with her tears.
"No worries, M. I can even cuddle with you later tonight if you want." Evie held Mal's cheek and wiped the remaining wetness as she gave him a sweet smile as if saying that everything will be fine.
"No way. We're not kids anymore, and besides, Audrey's in our room now." Mal fixed her self, hiding any clue that she just cried. "No one is too old for cuddles, M. And don't mind her, she's been a good sport lately." Evie quipped as they heard footsteps approaching.
The footsteps were loud and fast like in a hurry. They turned towards the end of the hallway and saw a figure, running wildly. Their eyes widened as they saw it becoming more visible, revealing Carlos dripping blood on the floor making their hearts beat like crazy as adrenaline seems to overflow their bodies.
"C-Carlos?!" Mal's voice was shaking as she dashed towards him, she's seeing what she was hoping not to see, bloody Carlos, literally.
"Dude was-...I finally found Dude-...But then-.." Carlos was about to stumble as he catches his breath. The two girls caught him and helped him. Their eyes widen as Carlos revealed a still Dude cradled in the lower loose part of his shirt. It was the canine's blood dripping on the floor, not of Carlos.
They somehow felt some relief, but not enough to be actually relieved. A lot of blood has been dripping and they clearly understood that the mutt's life is at risk. They hurriedly assissted Carlos and went straight back to their room.
Evie opened the door which caught everyone's attention as it contrasted with the silence looming the room. Audrey's eyes widened at the sight, and all of them basically had the same reaction as Mal and Evie at first.
"Oh my God, we need to take that mutt to the hospital!" Audrey winced at the gory sight. All of them are in panic, but Carlos is trying to keep his head on his shoulders. "No, he won't make it if we do that. I'll handle this." His eyes are burning with determination.
Seeing Carlos like that is strange for them. He usually looks jumpy, but now he doesn't look fazed at all. However, they think it doesn't really help with the situation...at least that's what they thought.
"No first-aid can possibly save that thing." Chad is as insensitive with his choice of words as always, but they let it slide as his voice obviously hinted a genuine concern. Maybe he's just not that good at being good despite being born to goodness.
"No, not first-aid. Mal, give me a knife or anything sharp..Evie, lend me one of your sewing needles...someone, get me some warm water and any clean piece of cloth that you don't mind getting dirty...also some antibiotics and disinfectants...also a tweezer or something"
All of them immediately acted on Carlos' words even though they are still quite confused with the situation and doesn't have any idea what Carlos is planning to do.
He carefully handled the mutt. With its life resting on each stroke of his hands.
They're eyes widened except Audrey who can't help but grimace when Carlos meticulously handled its protruding innards and expertly shoved it back inside its belly while applying forces on different pressure points...he did it while looking for foreign objects that might have made it's way and carefully removing those with the tweezer.
They now understood what Carlos is trying to do...even though they doubted for a second that he can actually make it happen, they simply found themselves in awe with how Carlos is handling the dog.
He trimmed the fur to be able to operate and sew its belly. Dude was probably in great pain but lacked any energy to express it. Carlos brought out an injection that contained something that could numb the pain. He said that he always secretly carry it around by habit.
It started back in the Isle, where he'll sometimes inject it to animals that her mom was skinning alive, hoping that it lessens the pain, as to where he got it from or how, they don't have a clue.
His hands are so steady. It's like watching a different person..a doctor in an operating room, except that it's Carlos in the dorm room. He started to clean and treat its other injuries...sewing the mutt's open wounds and applying antibiotics and disinfectants. Aside from the big deep cuts and some minor cuts, it only has some minor bruises, which Carlos also took care of.
The mutt started to look like a mutt and less like a character from a gory horror movie. The gang can't believe what they just saw, it's like it all happened in a flash. Even the three villain kids that knew him the most are in awe. They all knew that Carlos is exceptionally good in their Biology class and is a Tech prodigy who know his ways with machine and electronic parts.
They knew that he knows a thing or two about butchering animals and skinning them (they assumed that maybe Cruella just forced him and taught him at some point)...But they certainly did not expect him to use those knowledge to save an animal's life instead, or to know so much as to be able to perform an expert surgical operation like a professional surgeon.
Carlos sat back on the floor, breathless, as he wiped his sweat. It's as if he never breathed the whole time while working on Dude. But, he has this satisfied smile on his face which looks a bit creepy as blood is all over him.
Dude started to have a stable breathing. He looked just like before except for some bald patches on its belly that Carlos made to be able to perform an operation. It's not that obvious though, it was meticulously done, and no one can possibly notice it unless they look close enough.
They all sighed in relief. They sat back and looked at the dog with smiles on their faces, except Ben who's been sweating profusely the whole time.
"What? Too much for a prince?" Jay teased Ben as he noticed him sweating hard, totally not looking good. But Ben just ignored the question and corrected him instead. "You mean a King, not a prince." Jay understood that it means Ben is going to be fine, he won't answer that way otherwise, so he just shrugged it off.
It's already 11:45 pm. Lights out is 12 midnight, and they knew that they won't be able to do much planning for that night anymore, so they just decided to give it up for now...
But they suddenly felt their heart clench as they noticed that Chad is missing in the room this time. "W-Where's Chad?!" Audrey's breathing escalated as she looks around the room.
They scrambled while trying to get up and went to the door. Audrey stepped outside first, and they saw her drop her shoulders with a deep sigh. It made them feel a bit of relief knowing that she probably saw Chad outside..so they simply peeked outside the door with their heads, with which they saw a strange view.
Chad was there on the floor, on fours, scrubbing hard the bloodstains from the blood that dripped. He somehow managed to get his hands on some pail of water and stain removers, as if he exactly knew where to find those.
Chad immediately noticed them, with their eyes widened and jaws dropped a bit. It's been a strange night. "What?!" He snapped at them. He is definitely not comfortable with them watching. No one answered, it's as if they didn't hear him, even though they did.
"Seriously people? That's not funny at all. We don't want students freaking out with some blood on the floor, do we?" He furrowed his brows as his cheeks turns a bit rosy. He's embarrassed but he can't stop what he's doing. "Yeah, he's so right. Come on, let's help him." Carlos talked with a really wide smile, he's happy with how Chad seems to care, especially that it's Dude's blood. He certainly appreciated it.
Chad embarassedly stared at him..or them, as how it appeared. Chad was somehow expecting them to ridicule him or make fun of him, which always happens when he is seen intently doing something like household chores especially when he's focused and concentrating while doing it. People thought it's just dumb...which is not really.
They all went over to Chad, trying to get rid of those stains as fast as possible with the remaining time. It's a good thing that the blood only started to drip not far away from the room, so they managed to finish without going too far.
They were all still dumbfounded, but heck, he's Cinderella's son. So it shouldn't be that surprising. Maybe he can see her mom still doing some housework after all this time, and maybe he's just became drawn to it somehow or something like that. They just didn't understood why would Chad hide it from them..they just don't have any idea.
They finished with the scrubbing and even though they haven't done any planning, they just wanted to just rest for now. It was a strange night, and they decided to bid their goodbyes as lights out will be in less than 3 minutes. The boys started to run, but in tiptoe, as the girls waved from behind. It's truly a strange night.
Audrey was the last go back inside. She gently closed the door. Dude was sleeping soundly on its makeshift bed on the floor. Evie was collecting the bloodied trash on the floor, putting it in a sealed plastic bag before tossing it to their garbage can. Mal was washing off the blood from the things that Carlos used. Audrey decided to also help, scrubbing the blood that dripped on their room's floor.
"Carlos is amazing." The two can hear Audrey whisper under her breath.
"He certainly is." Mal added with her eyes beaming proudly.
"Totally amazing." Evie added further, as the three of them exchanged genuine smiles for the very first time. They heard footsteps, probably lights out. They hurriedly turned off the light and went to their beds....sleeping soundly with their minds temporarily at rest...or not.
Mal felt her bed dipped, she was actually still awake. She turned to her side and saw Evie smiling at her.
"I told you we'll cuddle tonight, remember?" Mal was caught off guard, she wanted to just push Evie over the bed's edge, but Mal just gave in and snuggled to her closely, letting Evie's arm wrap her tightly and hugging her back. The past days are messing up their heads and it's been a strange night, they both just wanted to feel some comfort, the kind they felt whenever they are around each other, relishing each other's warmth as they fall to slumber peacefully...for now.
They didn't notice that Audrey's still awake. Of course, she can't still go to bed without popping those pills she hid. She saw Mal and Evie under the sheets, remembering how Lonnie used to cuddle with her whenever her sleeping pills are not enough to make her sleep, but now she's nowhere near and she just can't help but let out a big sigh, alerting the two girls.
They pretended to be asleep until Audrey went to the bathroom and a loud sound of someone collapsing is heard throughout the room, along with the sound of pills scattering on the floor. The two immediately sprung up the bed and went over, trying their best to open the locked bathroom door as their marks started to feel like it's burning.
They don't really remember feeling their marks burn before...well maybe except that night of wrath, when they didn't actually felt it that much since they could feel their injuries more, when that night's Ben gave them broken bones.
Mal looked at her thighs, where her marks are, while Evie looked at her hips. They can feel it burn, and it strangely felt like the sloth symbol is the one burning in particular. They writhed in pain as they desperately tried opening the bathroom door.