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Have you ever heard of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom? It’s an interactive video game at Walt Disney World where you have to go around the Magic Kingdom Park to various screens, or ‘portals’, hidden around and cast spells on different Disney villains with special cards and stop them from taking over. In the game, Hades from the movie Hercules is trying to take over the Magic Kingdom and he recruits a bunch of other villains from various animated Disney movies to help him and it’s up to the players to stop them.
Sounds like fun, right? Well for one individual, it was nothing short of terrifying. Her name was Jade Gray.
Jade was just an ordinary college sophomore living in Orlando Florida; she was studying to get a degree in art with a minor in entrepreneurship. She was an average student; she made good grades, but she wasn’t top of the class. She was cute, but not gorgeous; but she was okay with that. Even though she worked very hard to get her degree, she also had a great interest in photography. When she wasn’t at school, Jade would go out and take pictures of everything; buildings, houses, parks, gardens, anything.
Ever since the pandemic started, Disney World has been closed for several weeks. Lots of people were angry and sad and disappointed about it… but not Jade. Not only did she love photography, she was also into exploring abandoned places at night, and with Disney World closed like this? She thought it would be the perfect opportunity to explore the parks after sundown and take as many pictures as she desired.
It was the middle of May. That night while everyone at her college was asleep, Jade crept out of bed, grabbed her camera and phone, snuck out of her dorm past her roommate, and rode her bike towards Disney World. When she arrived, it looked like a total ghost town; lights were off, no music was playing… it just looked dead.
Even though it was about seventy-three degrees that night, a chill went up Jade’s spine. But she ignored it and hid her bike in a patch of bushes near the park gates. Lacing up her favorite sneakers, she made her way to the front gate and looked around, making sure she was completely alone. Although she knew the park was empty, her gut wrenched at the thought of being caught by cameras, park security, or even the police. She tried to open the gate, but it was locked tight. She let out a sigh before she noticed the nearby ticket booth, which gave her an idea.
“I am gonna get in so much trouble for this.” She muttered before climbing over the desk and into the booth.
Finally, after prying the doors open, she was in. As Jade wandered around the dark, empty park with her camera in hand, she couldn’t help but feel a little excitement rising up inside her; in all of the years she’s been alive, she never thought she could have such a massive theme park all to herself, even if it was just for one night.
For the next while, Jade was having the time of her life, going around the park and taking so many pictures she immediately lost count… until she reached the Magic Kingdom.
After what felt like hours of wandering around, she finally approached Cinderella’s castle and the moment she stepped into the Magic Kingdom Park, Jade was shocked and devastated by what she saw. A large number of buildings had fallen and caught on fire, different structures were knocked over, windows and doors were broken and stained with unknown substances, and filthy water was flooding the streets; it reached up past Jade’s ankles. And even worse, Cinderella’s castle looked to be in the worst shape of all. A fractured roof, fallen walls, shattered windows; it just looked so awful.
“…What happened here?” Jade asked herself as she continued to walk. She took slow and steady steps, wincing in disgust at the gross feeling of her wet socks.
As she snapped a picture here and there, Jade couldn’t help but feel uneasy. She knew the park was empty except for her, but she still couldn’t help but feel as though… she was being watched. By who or what? She didn’t know, and at the same time, she didn’t really want to know. She took in a shaky breath, suddenly feeling very cold.
“I must be dreaming.” Jade said to herself before something moved in the corner of her eye.
She turned and saw nothing there. She gulped, taking out her phone and turning on its flashlight.
“Maybe coming out here was a bad idea. I should just—”
Jade was cut off abruptly as the sound of a loud, animalistic howl pierced the night. It sounded like a dog… or even a wolf. Her heart fell into her stomach; she was terrified of dogs and that one howl was enough for her to immediately break out in a cold sweat. She quickly turned off the flashlight, but she jumped at the sound of glass shattering, nearly dropping her phone. It sounded close by.
“H-h-hello? Who’s there? I-I-I’ll call the police.” Jade said before she heard what sounded like laughing somewhere in the distance.
“Call the police, eh?” A new voice asked; it was unfamiliar to Jade and she couldn’t make out its exact location.
“Oh, you don’t want to do that.” Another voice chimed in.
“Yes. If you do, then you would be in trouble, too.” A third voice added.
Jade tried to swallow, but her throat had gone bone dry. A sudden chorus of howls could be heard in the distance, growing louder by the moment. Her mind reeling and her heart racing, Jade sprinted away from the howls as fast as she possibly could, and towards one of the few structures that was still standing. She ducked into one of the shops, hid behind a set of shelves filled with untouched Disney merchandise, and covered her head with her arms for protection. The howls and laughter slowly faded into silence and after a few minutes, the park was quiet again. Jade relaxed and breathed slowly and deeply; she hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath. She leaned up against the nearby wall and ran her fingers through her short, chocolate brown hair, wondering what was going on.
‘What the hell was that?’ She thought before she heard something above her.
“Stay away from me, I’m warning you!” An unfamiliar male voice cried.
“Come on, you old bastard! I’ve just been told that someone is in the park! With a camera!” Another male voice shouted.
Jade listened to the conversation intently; were these people talking about her? Was it park security or the owners of the park? Or was it someone else entirely? She sat and continued to listen.
“But that’s impossible! No one should be here, especially not now!”
“Well, someone IS here, and I am going to find her!”
Jade’s eyes widened; they were talking about her.
“You will never get away with this!”
“Oh, here we go! The whole ‘you’ll never get away with this’ speech! Seriously, that line has really gotten old. When are you heroes gonna get a new bit? I mean, come on! Are there any other fuckin’ clichés you’d like me to point out for you?”
“Enough! When the girl finds and uses the Spell Cards against you, you can’t win!”
‘Spell cards?’
“I have not come this far to be beaten by some precocious, overly curious, bitchy little trespasser! You and your sorcerers have beaten me and my fellow villains too many times already, Merlin! And I say it’s about time I deal with you once and for all.”
“Wait, what are you doing? Stop, get that away from me!”
“Oh put a cork in it, will ya? Pain, Panic! Restrain him!”
“Yes, Lord Hades!” Two new voices said.
“What are you doing with that? No, let me go!”
“Not on your life, old man.”
‘Merlin? Lord Hades? What the—?’
Jade’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a scream and a wet, squelching sound… almost like someone being stabbed with something razor sharp. Jade heard the sound over and over again for a good thirty seconds until the room fell silent again.
“Well, that takes care of that.” The voice chuckled. “Now to find the intruder.”
“But where could she be?” A new voice asked; this one sounded female with an English accent.
“I don’t know, but we don’t rest until we find her. We’ll turn all of Disney World upside down to find her if we have to! We need to catch her before she gets out and tells people about this.”
“Come on. If she does tell anyone, who would believe her?” Another female voice asked.
“Ursula’s right. Everyone she knows will think she’s lost her mind if she says anything about any of this.” A deep male voice chimed in.
“Indeed. Besides, she’s only a child. She can’t possibly be taken that seriously.” Another male voice added.
“Well, better safe than sorry. Find her! Search everywhere!” The first voice demanded.
“Yes, my lord!” The other voices said.
Jade froze; she had to find a better hiding place to avoid being caught by the owners of those voices. But with her curiosity kicking in, she felt she had to see what just happened above her. Swallowing the lump in her throat and taking a deep breath, and slowly stood up. What she saw in the screen in front of her shook her to her very core; she saw an elderly cartoon man in a blood stained blue tunic with multiple stab wounds all over his torso. But the most terrifying thing about this image was that the man’s severed head was sitting in his lap. Jade was so shaken up and repulsed that she started to gag; she turned around and covered her mouth with her hand. Suddenly, she remembered the names she just heard.
“Merlin… That was Merlin, the wizard from The Sword in the Stone. Oh my god, I think I’m gonna throw up…” She muttered wrapping an arm around her abdomen.
“Ewww, don’t you dare! We don’t want you making MORE of a mess! The last thing we want is to clean up human vomit.” The three voices from before said in unison.
She tensed up and hid herself again.
“I gotta get outta here.” She whispered before she heard someone speak.
“What’s the matter? Leaving so soon?” A voice from behind her said.
Jade didn’t want to turn around, but her curiosity overpowered her fear. She slowly turned around, only to be me with the face of Hades from Hercules. She jumped back and screamed in surprise, but she mildly calmed down; it was just a cartoon on a screen, but it still terrified her. She clutched her chest, afraid that her thumping heart would fly out of her at any given moment.
“Tell me you’re not thinking of leaving.” Hades said with a big, shit eating grin.
“I-I-I-I-I, w-w-w-w-wha-what do…?” Jade stuttered, unable to form the right words.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart? Cat got your tongue?”
“Uh…”
He let out a wicked chuckle. “Now… would you care to tell me why you’re in the Magic Kingdom at this hour, huh? Don’t you know there’s a terrible virus going around?”
‘Wait, why am I afraid? He’s just a moving picture on a screen, he can’t hurt me. This can’t be real. I’m probably just having a nightmare and I’ll wake up in my dorm at any moment.’ Jade said to herself in her head, trying to calm her racing mind. Then a thought popped into her head.
“…You’re not real.” She said out loud, sounding confident.
Hades’ calm expression slowly twisted into one of anger. “…Pardon me?”
“I said you’re not real. You’re just a cartoon, a made up character voiced by a seventy year old actor meant to entertain others. This is all just one big joke, isn’t it? If it is, you really got me. Come on, who’s behind this, really? Pull my other leg, why don’t you? It plays ‘Shake it Off’ by Taylor Swift.”
“Made up? You call this made up?”
Hades snapped his fingers and a loud siren suddenly went off outside, but Jade scoffed.
“Oh, is Sirenhead here too?” She asked.
“No… that’s just a little something to signal my villainous friends.” Hades replied with a mischievous smile.
“Excuse me?”
At that moment, all of the other Disney Villains appeared next to Hades. There was Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil, Captain Hook, Jafar, Scar, Ursula, the Big Bad Wolf, and so many more and they were all glaring at Jade.
“So… what shall we do with this perpetrator?” Governor Ratcliffe asked.
“I say we slice her up and feed her to crocodiles!” Captain Hook shouted.
“No, no, no! We should toss the girl to a giant squid!” Ursula chimed in.
“I say we bury her alive in quicksand!” Scar cried.
“How about we skin her alive and use her skin to make a pair of shoes?” Cruella suggested.
“Strangle her with snakes!” Jafar cried.
“Tie her up with vines of thorns!” Maleficent exclaimed.
“Poisoning always works!” The Evil Queen added.
“How about we lock her up in the Park’s catacombs?” Lady Tremaine commented.
“Transform her into a flea and squash her under our feet!” Yzma yelled.
“Peck out her eyes and cut out her tongue!” Iago squawked.
“Off with her head!” The Queen of Hearts screamed.
Then all of the other villains started yelling, screaming, and shouting over one another as they tried to decide what to do with Jade, the young woman becoming increasingly scared and confused as she listened.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, hey! One at a time, people! One at a time!” Hades said.
Her breathing quickening, Jade took a few steps back away from the screen full of villains, only to bump into a shelf of merchandise behind her and cause it to fall to the floor with a loud, heavy thud. The laughing and howling from before was now much closer, as if it was right at the door of the shop. The villains turned to face Jade again.
“I’d run if I were you, babe. Those wolves and hyenas haven’t had dinner yet and they’re all pretty hungry.” Hades taunted before getting an idea. “I know. How about we play a game… of Cat and Mouse? We’re the cats, you’re the mouse. If you manage to escape the Park completely unharmed by the next morning, you’re free to go. But if any of us catches you, then… well, let’s just say you don’t wanna get caught. Bada-bing.”
“Uh… okay, guys! This has gone on long enough!” Jade shouted to no one in particular; she grinned nervously. “Your attempt at a prank is pretty weird and morbid, I do admit. Now why don’t we just leave the Park peacefully and quietly, go back home, and pretend this whole thing never happened, huh?”
“I’m giving you a head start, sugar. Twenty seconds and we’re hot. I hope you enjoy our game.” Hades said. “Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen…”
As Hades counted backwards from twenty, Jades groaned in frustration and sprinted out of the shop as fast as she could back into the Park. She couldn’t take this place anymore; she had to go somewhere quiet so she could think. She quickly ducked into a nearly demolished restaurant and hid near the pedestal the maitre d would stand to greet guests. Breathing heavily, she held her legs close to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Gotta be dreaming.” She muttered before she noticed a deck of cards sitting on a nearby table.
She picked them up and leafed through them, realizing that they’re spell cards for the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game. It was then that she finally had a tiny flicker of hope; maybe she could use the cards to beat the villains in this game.
“It’s worth a try.” She said to herself.
“Not so fast!” snarled the deep voice of Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.
Jade screamed and ran out of the restaurant, nearly forgetting about the cards. She mentally facepalmed, telling herself she could’ve used one on that deranged tiger. As she ran through the drenched streets of the Magic Kingdom, the unfriendly faces of Disney’s most fearsome villains appeared on various screens in shop windows and in projections on walls as Jade ran past them, trying to get away. She had to leave; she had to get out, whatever it took. She looked through the cards again, trying to find a good spell to use.
“Pardon me, but those don’t belong to you.” It was the voice of Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog.
“Thief! Get her!” Yzma from the Emperor’s New Groove cried.
Jade screamed and ran again.
“After her!” Maleficent’s voice shouted as her raven, Diablo, cawed into the night.
“I can’t believe this! All of this for some stupid pictures?! What was I thinking?!” Jade asked herself.
“What, indeed.” Hades’ voice taunted.
As Jade ran, she could hear the combined menacing laughter of every Disney villain she’s ever heard of. She covered her ears, trying to block out the terrifying sound. But then she tripped over her own feet and landed face first into the water flooding the streets. She shakily got up and coughed before wiping her face; she noticed blood trickling from her nose. Then she realized that she dropped the spell cards; she frantically searched the water for any sign of the cards, but they had completely disappeared. With tears in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, Jade looked up and saw that she was in front of Cinderella’s castle again, only this time the faces of the villains she saw before were all staring down at her with their eyes blacked out. Hades was front and center and he was the most frightening of them all; his eyes were blacked out like the others, but two pinprick pupils were glowing bright blue, just like the bright blue flames erupting from the top of his head. His fingertips looked dangerously sharp like claws and the smile on his face was so threatening and horrifying, it was a smile of pure evil. Jade started to hyperventilate and back away as she noticed his sharp teeth in that huge grin.
“You wanted to know, you wanted to see, you wanted to learn, but is this where you wanted to be?” Hades chanted before he started to laugh; the other villains followed suit.
Then everything inside of Jade suddenly snapped and she did the only thing she could do. She screamed. She screamed and screamed as loud as she possibly could; she squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling to face the monsters before her anymore.
**************************
Early the next morning, Jade was found by the police at the entrance of the Walt Disney World Park, passed out and drenched in her own sweat, blood, and vomit. She was taken to the Orlando Police Department for questioning, but all Jade could say was,
“He’s everywhere, they all are. They’re all around, can’t escape.”
Thinking that she was high on something, they put Jade into a cell until they figured out what to do with her. She stayed there for two weeks before she was sent to a psychiatric ward; she was classified as certifiably insane. She was locked up away from the other prisoners so she couldn’t do anything to harm them or the guards on duty. Everything Jade had worked for was ruined; her status, her career, her future… it all went down the drain faster than you can say ‘fire and brimstone’. Ever since that night at the Magic Kingdom, Jade believed in true evil.
But when a few brave workers and nurses went to her cell to give her food one night, they were shocked and devastated to find that she was dead… and the sight was very gruesome. There was blood on the walls and floor, her body was in the middle of the floor lacerated and stabbed multiple times, and even her eyes and tongue were cut out. But the strangest thing there was the phrase written on the wall; it was written in Jade’s blood.
“Villains rule, Sorcerers drool”
That was when one nurse noticed what looked like a playing card near Jade’s body. She carefully picked it up and saw that it was a card for the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game… with an image of Jade’s body in the center.
I must say, this is probably some of my finest work. Another fucked up soul to add to my collection. Better luck next time, Sorcerers.
Hades, signing out.