Then suddenly there was Gil, leaning against a wall, eating a rotten apple. “Oh, hey, Mal, keep going.”

This was Mal’s territory. What was a pirate doing here? It was like he appeared out of nowhere.

“Going where?”

Gil rolled his eyes. “Jailor’s Pier. Where else?”

“What are you doing in my dream?” she asked.

“It’s not a dream,” said Gil. “It’s real.” Then he giggled maniacally. Mal thought he didn’t sound like himself.…He sounded like…

But she couldn’t finish the thought, so instead she kept walking toward the pier. When she was a little girl, she liked to play tricks on people there. She would throw a bucket of slime on the wood slats, making them slippery and sending unsuspecting villains sliding down the length of the pier and into the water. Mal hoped no one played a prank on her tonight. Seagulls lined the deck, picking at leftover trash. She walked to the end of the pier, where she came upon Harry Hook fishing, his line dangling out into the water. “Harry?” she asked hesitantly.

“Oi! Mal, there you are.”

“Why am I here?” she asked, still not sure if this was really happening or even if that was truly Harry in front of her. Like Dizzy and Gil, there seemed to be something glowing around his neck.

“You should never have left,” he said solemnly. “You should never have left the Isle of the Lost.”

“What? And stay here with you?” Mal smirked.

“What’s so terrible about that?” asked Harry, attempting to look wounded.

“Everything,” Mal growled.

“Ouch.” Harry disappeared in a blink. Mal stepped back. What just happened? Where did Harry go? And Gil? And Dizzy?

She ventured to the outskirts of town, right to the middle of a forest, in the deep dark heart of the woods, where a glowing blue orb floated in the middle of the darkness. And it spoke with a familiar voice.

Mal…

She turned away from the orb and kept walking through to the other side, and now she found herself at the opposite edge of the forest, close to the pier, and there was Dizzy again.

“Mal! What are you doing out here?” asked Dizzy.

Mal was confused. Didn’t she just see Dizzy earlier? How did she get here so fast? She told Dizzy about walking out into the woods and seeing this blue orb.

“It spoke with a voice…and it sounded crazily like my…” Dad? Mal shook her head. “No, that’s impossible,” said Mal. “But what are you doing out here?”

“We were supposed to meet up at Curl Up and Dye hours ago, remember?” said Dizzy.

“We were?” Mal didn’t remember making this plan.

“It’s okay, I was just excited to…” Dizzy said, and then she stopped and looked disoriented for a moment, as if unsure of where she was and what was happening.

“Dizzy? Are you okay?” asked Mal.

Dizzy jumped. “Of course I’m okay!” she said with a too-cheerful smile. “There’s just so much glam to add in so little time!” She picked up Mal’s hands. “Just because they’re cuticles does not mean they’re cute!” she said, and then stopped as if something was choking her.

Mal leaned over and gasped. “Dizzy! Why are you glowing?”

“Glowing?” asked Dizzy, and then she held her chest in pain.

There was something glowing around Dizzy’s neck. Mal reached over and lifted the source of the light. It was a seashell necklace.

“Dizzy! Why are you wearing Uma’s necklace?” she asked.

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Tags: Melissa de la Cruz Descendants Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net