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They walked toward the direction the demons pointed, down Mean Street, past the bazaar and Frollo’s house, but the streets were empty. Jay was starting to think that the demons had deliberately sent them the wrong way.
“Mal doesn’t sleepwalk,” said Evie. “She’s been my roommate for years. I’ve never seen her do that.”
“They said she looked dead-eyed. You think maybe she was under some kind of spell?” mused Carlos.
“But if there’s no magic on the Isle of the Lost, how could that be?” asked Evie.
“Maybe someone figured out how to get past the barrier,” said Carlos, as Jay suddenly stopped and knelt to examine something on the path.
“Look,” he said, pointing past an upturned barrel to a mark on the dirt road. It was a perfect print of a boot with a serpent coiled around the heel mark. The same prints they had been following all eveni
ng. There was another one not too far away, and then the tracks picked up again. The three of them hurried to follow.
They followed the tracks all the way to Jailor’s Pier. “The demons weren’t lying after all. She was headed to the harbor,” said Jay. He glanced toward the end of the dock and then broke out into a flat-out run.
“What’s going on?” asked Evie.
“There’s MAL!” said Carlos, pointing to the edge of the dock.
ay froze in place for a moment, then bolted toward Mal, with Evie and Carlos close behind him. Mal was facing toward them, but it seemed like she was arguing with someone. Jay thought he heard her say, “Not if I come for you first.” But what did that mean? Who was she speaking to?
“MAL! What are you doing?” screamed Evie.
“MAL!” Jay yelled. He had to wake her up. She was definitely sleeping or dreaming, or something weird was going on. That wasn’t the Mal they knew. He was blaming himself for anything that might have happened; he was supposed to be here to protect his friends. Sure, they could all take care of themselves, but he was the one with the swords-and-shields expertise; he was supposed to try to keep everyone safe. Even Mal, who had never needed any help. But she sure did now.
Because it was like Mal didn’t—couldn’t—hear them. She turned on her heel and sprinted toward the end of the pier.
“MAL!” The three of them were screaming now. “MAL, STOP!”
But it was too late. Mal threw herself off the pier and plummeted all the way down into the sea.
Jay dived into the water right after her, spinning around in a complete circle, searching for any sign of his friend. The sea was a brilliant shade of blue, which was rare for Isle water. He had expected it to be almost completely murky, but it was crystal clear. He should have been able to spy her the moment he jumped in.
But Mal was nowhere to be found. It was as if she had jumped into the ocean and out of this world. Suddenly, a great swarm of fish surrounded him, dark as the night, obscuring his vision.
He could hardly see the hand he held out in front of his face. There were thousands of the little fish, each one twisting and turning, going this way and that, making it impossible to see anything at all. Jay got the feeling someone was trying to stop him from finding Mal. Most likely the same person who had compelled her to jump off the pier.
Jay held his breath and swam as deep as he could go, but the fish followed, surrounding him like fog, hindering his ability to see. Useless, he thought. Someone was determined to keep him from finding Mal. Jay swam back to shore, gasping for air when he broke the surface.
Evie and Carlos looked down at Jay from the edge of the pier, panic on their faces. “Where is she?” asked Evie.
“Couldn’t find her. Just needed to take a breath,” he said. “I’ll go back down and search again.”
“Hold on,” said Evie. “I’ve been thinking of what Carlos said. About how Mal might be under a spell.”
“Yeah, it’s like she was enchanted,” said Carlos.
“A spell?” asked Jay. “Here? On the Isle? Impossible.”
“I know, but when has the impossible ever been an obstacle for magic?” said Evie. “Someone must have found a way around the barrier and is using their magic against Mal.”
“If there’s magic here, it’s definitely working against us too,” said Jay. “A school of fish was blocking my vision down there. That’s probably not a coincidence.”
“Yeah, I don’t think you’ll be able to find her if you dive back down,” said Evie.
“So what are we going to do about it?” asked Jay, climbing the makeshift rope ladder at the end of the pier.
“Already on it,” said Evie, as Carlos reached out a hand and helped pull Jay back onto the pier. He shook the water from his long hair and wrung it from his jacket.
