The Watchmaker's Gift Read online

  As the first day of school progressed, the dark-spirited teenager wasted no time in plotting her revenge against those who had repeatedly ridiculed her throughout the past decade of school. She started with number one atop her list of those she despised the most. The most popular girl in school; blond hair, tan skinned, blue-eyed Vicky Anne Brighten. A true real life Barbie, as far as Lila was concerned. The two girls shared first hour English together. Vicky grabbed a seat right next to Lila, eagerly wanting to strike up a conversation.

  “Uh. Hi there. You’re like, Lila, right?” Vicky asked in her best fake valley girl accent, half heartedly attempting to befriend the swanlike girl she had shamed into submission over the past ten years—mainly due because of the way she had looked. “My name is Vicky, and I guess you could say I kind of, like, run things around here, as far as the popular girls go. So, if you need anything. Like, anything at all. Don’t hesitate to ask. Especially when it comes to boys. I think we’re going to be, like, really good friends. I mean, I so have a special feeling about you.”

  Lila turned and stared emotionlessly with her marble green eyes at Vicky, giving her a lukewarm smile—not wanting to appear overly anxious to hear what Vicky had to say.

  “We’re having a movie night this Friday at my house if you’re interested?” Vicky said.

  “Really, me? Why, I don’t know what to say,” Lila replied.

  “Oh, it’s pretty simple. You say yes of course. It’s going to be so much fun. You’ll get to know all the other girls, eat bad food, and watch some really good movies.”

  “Well, that does sound like a lot of fun. Sure. I’ll come. I mean, if you really want me to?”

  “Don’t be silly, of course we want you to come. I mean, like, I wouldn’t be asking if we didn’t want you to hang out with us. I can’t wait to tell the other girls. They’ll be so excited. We’re going to have such a great time, and that’s like, just the beginning. This is going to be the greatest year ever. I promise,” Vicky said, as she gave Lila a great big smile, before turning to face Mrs. Woddle, the English teacher at the front of the classroom.

  Lila flashed a fake smile back to the golden girl, then turned to face the teacher as well—looking sternly out the corner of her eyes at Vicky and thinking, yes, maybe Miss bright and shiny is on to something. Perhaps it will be the greatest year ever.

  The first two months of the school year had been a blur of girl get-togethers, football games, dances, movie nights, day trips to Disney World, shopping sprees, and a little homework in between all the social activities. The days had grown shorter, the nights cooler, and the theme parks, spookier. And one of their biggest nights of the year was only a day away. An after hours trip to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

  To get ready for their big night, Vicky and her girlfriends—including Lila, decided it would be really cool to watch a few of Disney’s key villains in action before the big party. So the night before they went, the girls all gathered at Vicky’s house for movies, popcorn balls, caramel apples, pumpkin pie, and many other traditional Halloween favorites. Only the best villain movies were chosen to honor such a spooky occasion. Included in the lineup were; The Little Mermaid, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Sleeping Beauty. All of which featured iconic Disney villains such as Ursula the sea witch, the Evil Queen, and Maleficent. More importantly, all the starring villains in each movie chosen were female. Perfect for such an occasion as this.

  “OK ladies,” Vicky said, “now that we’re all here, I say we, like, put in a movie and enjoy some of the tasty treats over there on the table.”

  “Yeah, I mean, like, your mom must have worked so hard to prepare all this stuff for us,” one of the girls replied.

  “Totally. This is going to be so awesome. Like, way better than any Halloween, like, ever before in the history of Halloween,” another girl added.

  Lila sat quietly. Patiently waiting for the movie to start.

  “What do you think Lila?” Vicky asked—which caught the newcomer off guard.

  “Oh, sure. Yeah. Like, totally. This is going to be the most awesome Halloween ever. For sure,” Lila replied in her fake happy voice. All the other girls bought into it and responded with a barrage of “woo-hoos.”

  Vicky had selected Sleeping Beauty to begin their Halloween movie marathon. The girls admired and cheered on the dark fairy as she dominated every scene of the movie she was in. It was at that moment, later in the movie, during the final battle scene between Maleficent and Prince Phillip, that an evil idea struck Lila’s thoughts like a thunderous bolt of lightning. The words Maleficent recited as she cast a spell across the land to prevent Prince Phillip from reaching King Stefan’s castle struck a chord in Lila’s heart:

  “A forest of thorns shall be his tomb. Borne through the skies on a fog of doom! Now go with the curse, and serve me well! ‘Round Stefan’s castle, CAST MY SPELL!”

  Those words, she thought to herself. So wicked, so powerful, so perfect for the purpose I seek to carry out. Lila continued on in her own head, while the other girls spat out mindless babble about their upcoming night of events at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

  “A forest of thorns.” Yes, that’s it. My great-uncle’s legacy of the Dark Order shall once again rise up from its past to take on new life, and it will have a new name. A name that will strike fear in the hearts of ALL who believe in Disney’s goodwill, pixie dust, and happily ever afters. It shall be known as…the Forest of Thorns Order. Having reached a deep, dark conclusion within her mind, Lila calmly sat back on the sofa and enjoyed the rest of the movies Vicky had selected for them to watch.

  While the other girls continued with their half witted discussions about what they were going to wear, if they should dress in costume, or whatever; the girl who had once been an outcast among the group began secretly planning her own agenda for the Halloween party. A plan much different than the other girls could ever imagine.

  “Hey, what do you think we should do?” one of the other girls asked Lila. Who at the moment, appeared to be happily staring off in thought. “Should we like, dress in costumes or not? And what are we going to do? Like, there’s so many options during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.”

  “I think we should let Vicky decide for us. After all, she is the leader,” Lila calmly replied.

  “Oh Lila, sometimes you have such brilliant ideas,” the red headed girl named Trixie said, as Lila rolled her eyes in response. “That’s perfect. So does everyone else agree that we should let Vicky decide?”

  The other girls raised their hands to vote yes for Vicky.

  “Great, it’s settled then. Vicky our night of spooky fun and tasty treats is in your hands. So, fearless leader. What is our plan?”

  Your “plan” will be to flee for your pathetic little lives in terror and turmoil, all wrapped inside a shell of fear, Lila thought to herself as she giggled inside while staring at Vicky.

  “Like, we could crash the Kingdom at four,” Vicky said, “cause I heard from this podcast guy that like, they will let you into the park at four if you have a ticket for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. And then we could like, hit the rides and grab a snack or two before the party actually begins.”

  “That sounds totally awesome, Vicky”, Katie, another blond haired, blue eyed Barbie girl type, replied.

  Trixie chimed in as well. “Yeah, that’s like, the best plan ever.”

  Vicky continued on, “Then, when the Halloween party officially begins at seven, we can like, check out some of the cool shows, see the parade, do a little trick or treating, watch the fireworks, and like, ride more rides until the park closes.”

  “And what about the costume thing? Like, are we doing it or not?” Bunny, a long haired brunette with big brown eyes and a model-like figure, asked.

  “That’s the best part of all,” Vicky replied. “I’ve been thinking about it as we were watching the movies tonight. Since it’s like, Halloween—and the villains get to steal
the show this time of year, we could all dress up as our favorite, like, bad girls of Disney.”

  The girls all looked at each other, then back at Vicky, and in one unanimous vote, agreed that this was the greatest idea ever. Even Lila was happy with Vicky’s decision, as she put on a big smile, a deceitful smile, a smile for something much darker than what Vicky had in mind.

  “So now that everyone agrees, that like, Disney female villains will be the theme for our costumes, we need to decide who’s going to be who,” Vicky proclaimed. “And since Katie and I have been friends the longest, I’m going to let her have the first pick. That is, after me of course. And then we’ll go Bunny, Trixie, and our newest friend, Lila will have the final pick. Oh, and everyone has to pick a different villain. No, like, copy catting or anything.”

  As it turned out, all the girls had a preference for a different female villain, so the selection process went smoothly. Vicky chose Maleficent, Katie picked Ursula, Bunny went with her favorite, Cruella Deville, Trixie selected Madame Mim, and Lila was genuinely excited to have the Evil Queen as her villain—with whom she shared a personal bond. The Queen was one of several characters her great-uncle had secretly admired during the development of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This was a personal connection she did not share with the other girls. It was a secret she kept deep down inside—buried in a dark place within her thoughts. Within her heart. Only her mother was aware of the true powers her daughter now possessed—powers she had been trained to use by one of the last remaining members of the Dark Order during last summer’s vacation. Indeed, Lila was ready, and well-trained, should the occasion arise, to showcase her wickedly-dark powers. An occasion such as Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party—now only a day away.

  It was mid afternoon, Halloween day—the Florida sun, still warm and full of radiant light, highlighted the palm trees flanking the road where Lila resided. The house in which she lived was quite small, with only two bedrooms and one bath. But it was plenty large enough for her and her mother. Lila’s bedroom, unusually decorated, was void of color. Her walls were mostly empty, except for one small eight by ten photo in a black frame, which dangled awkwardly on a crooked nail. It was a photo of her mother as a young girl being held by her great-uncle in front of the Disney Studios in California. It was the only photo she had of him—her only memory of the man who’s legacy she wished to carry on.

  Lila was sitting on her bed, already dressed as the Evil Queen—going over in her mind how the night was to play out, as she stared at the photo of her mother and great-uncle on the wall.

  “Hello Lila,” her mother said calmly, as she walked into the bedroom. “Thinking about your special night?”

  “Yes, mother,” Lila said in an eerily calm tone.

  “I’m sure you’ve been trained well for what needs to be done this evening.”

  “I have no doubt that my powers will be quite sufficient.”

  “Nor do I dear.” Her mother giggled quietly under her breath, as she turned to look at the photo on the wall. “Nor do I.”

  The fifteen minute ride over to the Magic Kingdom from where Lila lived was nothing short of annoying to a young lady who had serious thoughts running through her mind. Since she lived the furthest from the other four girls, and was the newest member of the group, she was the last to be picked up. Vicky’s parents were quite well off and had offered to rent the girls a limo service to and from the park. So by the time they pulled up into Lila’s driveway, the vehicle was filled with the sound of non-stop teenage girls chattering like chickens in a hen house. To the point that Lila had to cover her ears when she opened the passenger side rear door to get in.

  “Well come on Lila, like, jump in,” Vicky said. “It’s time to get this villain party started. Woo-hoo!” The other girls followed suite, with a barrage of “woo-hoos” and “yeahs”.

  Before stepping into the limo, Lila turned and looked back at her mother, who was standing in the window, gazing out. She nodded to her mother, who nodded back. After climbing into the limo, Lila managed to tolerate the other girls who were chattering about whatever popped into their empty heads for the entire ride over to the park. It was as if they all had had nothing to eat for the entire day except caffeine and sugar. When they reached the park, Lila eagerly opened the door of the limo and quickly exited—trying to clear her mind and re-focus on what was really important. But of course, the other girls jumped out quickly as well— all were excited for their big night out at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

  “Okay girls, this is it,” Vicky said, “put on your best villain attitudes and lets go have a ball.”

  “Yeah, like a monster ball or something,” Trixie replied.

  All the girls laughed, though one of course, was fake.

  The energetic girls turned and headed for the front gate, all striding and playing up their roles as villainous characters. As they entered through the check points and showed their party passes, cast members happily played along with the girls and their wicked attitudes. They were truly enjoying every minute of the situation and the attention they were getting. Bursting onto Main Street in villainous style, the girls began discussing where they should head first.

  “So, we’ve got like, three hours before the party officially begins,” Bunny said. “Where do we start?”

  “Well I say we head to the Haunted Mansion, so we can like, set the mood for the night. What do you girls think?”

  Perfect, Lila thought to herself.

  “That’s a fab idea, Katie,” Vicky replied, “and then maybe a little Pirates of the Caribbean?”

  “Yeah, like, and then we can get a dole whip or something,” Trixie chimed in.

  “Ha-ha-ha. And now you know why we’re all friends,” Vicky said. “It’s like, we’re all on the same wavelength.”

  “You are so totally right, Vicky,” Bunny said. “It’s like, you read my mind. You are so awesome girlfriend.”

  The girls broke out in laughter after hearing Bunny’s reply—agreeing that what she had said was true.

  While Lila pretended to like the other girl’s jokes, using a fake laugh, the true motivation for her laughter—which only she knew, came from knowing that everything was falling into place for her big Halloween surprise later that evening.

  Seven o’ clock creeped in, as the hot, sticky air began to cool. The park lights were fully illuminated in hues of green, purple, blue and orange. Haunting tunes merrily danced through the fog-filled air, setting the mood for a frightfully jolly night of spooktacular fun for guests of all ages.

  Vicky and her villainous girlfriends were enjoying their early evening, which was filled with attractions, snacks, laughs, and even a few unexpected screams. But for one of the girls, it would be much more than that.

  Before riding the Haunted Mansion, Lila had managed to set up a secret meeting with an old friend of her great-uncles. That meeting was to take place in a hidden room of Gracey Manor, where they would plan out the most diabolical of endings for that night.

  When it came time for Lila and the other girls to ride the Haunted Mansion attraction, the clever young witch told the others she would ride in her own Doom Buggy, and that this would allow them to pair up and leave room for a hitchhiking ghost at the end of the ride. The other four girls—thoughtless as they were, all jumped at Lila’s suggestion, proclaiming it a “brilliant idea”.

  When it came time to enter the buggies, Lila cleverly lagged behind—letting the other girls board first, making it difficult to see what she was doing in the buggy behind them.

  When her turn came to board a Doom Buggy, the wickedly clever teenager faked as if she weren’t feeling well. Naturally, a cast member directed her towards the nearest exit door. But as she was walking away, Lila veered right instead of left; back towards the stretching room—then right again, passing up the stretching room doors, as she made her way down a secret, dimly lit corridor which was mostly used by cast members to move around behind the scenes of the Man
sion. It was there, in the hallway, that she grabbed her cape with one hand and pulled it over and across her head and body, while spinning in a circle. As she completed her turn, the cape disappeared, and her head rose up from behind her arm. She had transformed from the Evil Queen into a cast member with blond hair, blue eyes, and shiny white teeth. No cast member working the attraction that evening would know her true identity.

  Continuing down the dark corridor, the crafty teenager witch recited the words, “illuminate the way,” while holding her right hand in a half cupped position. Instantly, light shot out from the palm of her hand—making it easy to see six feet in any direction from where she stood. Quickly, Lila worked her way down the crooked corridor—the haunting sounds of the attraction echoed in the background. She went left six paces, then right four—left eight more paces, then right seven. The young witch scoured the hallway walls for signs of a doorway, yet still she had no luck. As she rounded the next corner, two cast members (both college age) came from the opposite direction, nearly colliding with Lila. Thinking quickly, she extinguished her hand.

  “Whoah! That was close. It’s really tight quarters back here isn’t it? My name is John, by the way,” the young man said, as he extended his hand out to shake.

  “Hi, I’m Kathy,” Lila replied—playing off the name on her tag.

  “Hi there, I’m Shelley. So good to meet you,” the young lady said. “Welcome to the house of happy haunts.”

  “Nice to meet you too, Shelley,” Lila said, while shaking her hand.

  “So where did your flashlight go?” John asked.

  “Flashlight?” The young witch replied in a dumbfounded manner.

  “Yeah, it looked like you were carrying a flashlight just before we bumped into you,” Shelley said curiously.

  “Oh, right, my flashlight. It’s very small. I just put it in my pocket,” Lila replied.