third person p.o.v

"understood." ben and carlos replied in union, they didn't like the idea of keeping this a secret from evie but it wasn't their place to tell her. bella would tell her when she was ready. as much as ben loved and cared about his sister, evie loved and cared about bella 100 times more than ben. which seemed impossible of course, but evie would actually kill adrian. ben would maybe fight him, but then again he's never fought anyone nor has he killed anyone so... not saying evie has killed anyone, but she has a good right hook so yeah.

"what are you three whispering about?" evie asked as she came out of the closet. they all turned to look at her and acted cool. "nothing." "plans for the day." "breakfast plans." evie didn't believe them but didn't feel like pushing for an answer. she walked over to the bed and placed bella's outfit for the day. they weren't doing anything fancy today so she picked the most casual clothes bella had, most of her clothes were dresses and basically fancy attire.

"i ran into your mom on my way, and so now we're helping her with the final touches for tomorrow night." bella furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she had forgotten what tomorrow night was. "our birthday." ben whispered to her. woah bella forgot her own birthday. "time does pass by so quickly, we're turning 18. woah." carlos crossed his arms in annoyance. he didn't like that he was a year younger than them, while his birthday was a month before ben's, they were a year apart still so.

"okay you two leave so i can get ready for the day, and maybe go and talk to adrian." bella got up and began to do her bed. she made sure to emphasize the talk part, she didn't want them to hurt adrian yet. or at least not without her. the two got up and excused themselves from the room and went back to ben's room. hopefully to get ready.

"adrian?" evie asked as she helped bella with the bed. "carlos' brother, he arrived yesterday." bella didn't want to think about what happened yesterday so she blocked it out. she had to find out if he was a serious threat before punishing him for trying to molest her. "he did? what's he like?" evie asked as they finished making the bed. "you'll see when you get a chance to meet him." bella wasn't going to even try to talk nice about adrian. maybe she had to dial it back with the whole being nice thing. 

"well why don't you go freshen up, i'll occupy myself while you do." bella agreed and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. as evie waited for bella, she began to look around the room. bella had redecorated, she added new books to her bookcase, got new plants, and even added more pictures to her wall. evie studied the new pictures, they were adorable.

one that caught her eye was one of bella as a little kid surrounded by, who seemed to be, jane, audrey and lonnie. bella must've put them up after the group reunited and made up for lost time. the picture was of them having a tea party, they had little tiaras on and cute little gowns. evie looked closer at what bella was wearing, the necklace caught her eye. it resembled the one she had, a gold chain with a ruby red heart that had a little crown at the top. she still remembered how she got it. evie had snuck out of her castle prison when she was little and went to see what she could find in the garbage, as some auradon garbage always found its way to the isle. she usually found broken toys, torn fabrics and of course just plain garbage.

when she found the necklace she thought she had struck gold. when she first touched it, the heart was glowing bright red before it died down. she always wondered why it was glowing, she thoughts it was magical, and that once it reached the isle the magic ran out. she didn't care though, she kept it and made sure no one ever found it. was it bella's? did she somehow end up with bella's heart before they had even met? evie shook her head, she was probably wrong. maybe some toy shop sold it and every girl in auradon had one, and maybe one of them threw it away.

"whatcha doing?" bella asked snapping evie back to reality. "oh nothing, just admiring how cute you were as a little girl." bella walked over to evie and looked at the picture of her and the girls. "eh still don't see it." she joked adjusting the towel wrapped around her. evie thought about asking her about the necklace, maybe it meant something. what if it was magic? she should ask or else she won't stop thinking about it.

"that's a pretty necklace, where'd you get it?" evie asked. "the one in the picture? some old lady gave it to me." evie sighed in relief, see she was overthinking it. "yeah, she actually gave me two." shit. "she did? why?" bella walked over to the bed and began to change as she explained the story of the necklaces to evie.

"well one day, ben, my parents and i were having a picnic out in the woods you know. well ben and i were chasing each other and i ran farther away than i should've. i stumbled upon this cave that looked like a house. the door opened and it called my name. now i know what you're thinking, bella you're smarter than this don't go into a strangers home, well i was an idiot back then. so i walk in, and there's this old lady who i'm pretty sure was a witch. she grabbed my arm and looked into my eyes before letting go of me. she went to get something as she talked to me. i wanted to leave as i was kind of scared, but something told me to stay."

evie watched as bella dried her hair with the towel, this whole witch thing sounded like princess merida's fairytale. was the necklace cursed? no of course not, right?

"she told me how i had a good future ahead of me. something big was going to happen when i turned sixteen, two things in fact. i didn't believe her but i just went along with it. she told me that there would be obstacles to face but i would get thought them, i'd be the hero of my take which sounds nice but why am i the only hero like that's too much pressure. when she turned to me she had two necklaces, a gold chain with a ruby red heart and little crown on it. she told me to put it on, and that the other one was for my soulmate. i of course believed her, again i was an idiot child. she said that once i met my soulmate the heart would shine, and that once my soulmate and i both had them on something magical would happen but we'd have to be together for it to happen. i kept it because it was beautiful, i lost the other one though. i think ben stole it or hid it from me. i don't know, and frankly i don't care. i stopped wearing mine after i turned 13. i have it stored away somewhere though if you want it. it is very pretty."

this was a lot for for evie to take in. soulmates? a witch in the forest? soulmates? something magical happening? soulmates??

"wait so you don't believe in soulmates? why not?" evie asked, how she wished she was wearing the necklace right about now. curse her and her need to always be perfectly accessorized.

"no not really, i mean i know what you're thinking? how could i not believe in soulmates when true loves kiss exists? well to me they're two different things. soulmates and true love. with soulmates, it's the universe telling you that you belong with this person. that you could only be with them and only them. you don't choose who you fall in love with, so why should the universe or fate choose who we are destined to be with. like for example, let's say the universe said you and carlos were soulmates. you love him, but not like how the universe wants it to be. you're both gay, but if the universe says you're soulmates well then you're stuck with him. you get what i'm saying?"

"yeah i get what you're saying, and i totally agree. however, it's a beautiful necklace and i think you should wear it more often. it goes with everything you own." bella gave evie an odd stare but shrugged it off. "sure, i'll look for it later. have you had breakfast yet?"

with that they both headed toward ben's room to see if the couple was ready to head down for breakfast. as they walked they held hands, their arms swinging back and forth. evie thought about what bella had said, she never really gave soulmates a second thought. part of her did believe in them, a girl had to hold on to some type of hope whilst being on the isle. when she touched it the heart was glowing, it had to mean something right? was bella wearing hers when she touched it? did it stop glowing as bella took it off? did that mean they were soulmates?

"yeah, should we get adrian?" ben's voice snapped evie out of her thoughts. she had to bring that necklace over and force bella to wear hers, it was the only way to see if they were soulmates. evie was sucked back into her thoughts as she didn't notice she was walking with the group to pick up their guest. 'maybe i should ask fairy godmother about soulmates'. evie thought as they continued along the castles halls.

once they had picked up adrian, they headed down to the dining room. evie didn't notice bella's discomfort as adrian walked next to her, or ben and carlos' anger as they watched adrian. bella tried to act like nothing happened last night, ben and carlos tried not to jump him and beat him to a pulp.

adrian didn't suspect anything, he stayed up all night waiting for a guard to come get him and send him back to the isle. when they didn't, he thought bella must've enjoyed what he did. as much as he wanted her, he couldn't trust her. she would be harder to win over, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try. what really bothered him was how evie held bella, adrian was a possessive weirdo. bella wasn't even his, or interested in him.

"so adrian, you must be excited to be here with carlos huh? after not being able to see him for so many years, i mean i know that if i had a long lost sibling i would want to spend every moment with them. get to know them, and make up for lost time." evie tried to make small talk as no one had been saying anything as they walked.

"totally, but i want to get to know auradon first. really see everything it has to offer, after all i've been on the isle for too long." adrian wanted to get to know the castle too, if his little brother was going to marry into the family then the castle was like basically his too. carlos shot daggers into the side of adrian's head, family or not no one hurts his friends. if he really wanted to see what auradon offered he wouldn't still be in the castle.

during breakfast the air in the room was nothing but full of awkwardness. the four teens discussed what they were doing today, bella and evie were going to help belle finish the final touches for the ball tomorrow. ben and carlos were going to the be in the castles library as the castle was donating books to auradon's public library. adrian asked if he could walk around the castle and see if what he's heard about the castle was true. as neither ben, carlos and especially bella, wanted to spend time with him they allowed him to do so.

'make sure to lock your rooms.' ben, bella and carlos thought as they looked at each other. as well as any other room that might have any valuable things. adrian made himself untrustworthy, so they had to be careful. bella knew where she had stuff hidden across the castle, but she hid them and only she had access to those places. you can never be too careful though.

"so anything you have in mind for carlos and you?" evie asked as she sneaked some fruit off of bella's plate. "oh just tie up loose ends." carlos gripped onto his fork and knife as he chewed his waffles, what did he mean by that? was that a threat? adrian loved how carlos looked like cruella, he wore the same color scheme and everything. it made hurting him even easier, and exciting to do. it's like he's hurting both carlos and cruella.

"well it seems like evie and i are done here, we'll be heading out now. enjoy your walk around the castle or whatever." bella mumbled the last part as she grabbed her's and evie's plates. she went towards the kitchen doors and evie followed after her as she finished saying her goodbyes.

"he seems like a nice guy." evie said as she helped bella with their dishes. bella faked a smile and agreed. "totally, nice dude." ugh as if. they dried their hands off and went off to find belle, not before bella made a quick stop at her room and made sure a certain book was well secured.

"was that mal's spell book?" evie asked as bella closed the door and locked it. "pardon?" bella asked, she was hoping evie would look the other way and not pay attention to what she was doing. well too bad so sad. "mal's spell book, you took it out of a giant book and then hid it behind a brink... why do you have mal's spell book? does mal know? do your parents know?" bella knew she was caught and she couldn't lie her way out of this pickle. 'first she doesn't believe in soulmates, and then she keeps a spell book hidden from me? what happened to trust?' evie asked herself as bella dragged her away from the scene.

"look, whatever i tell you right now you can't tell anyone else. not ben, not mal, or my mother." evie was scared now, was bella involved in some dangerous situation. why can't life in auradon be normal? why? "okay, well go on then. wait, i won't be in danger if you tell me right?"

"of course not sweetheart, but others might be in danger if you tell them. now, why i have mal's spell book you ask? well her spell book belonged to maleficent right? so it contains powerful spells, and we were going to put it in the museum. however with past events, we couldn't just leave it there with other dangerous artifacts. maleficent's scepter, the spell book, even fairy godmothers wand are all in the castle. hidden. my father, fairy godmother and i hid them, and only i have the keys to open the entry ways to get them. the museum has the replicas, but no one knows they're replicas. and we have to keep it that way."

"others might be in danger? it's not like there's someone in auradon who was willing to hurt anyone, at least not hurt anyone again. jane isn't a threat since she was stripped of any magical ability. audrey isn't one either, i mean we've both seen her progress. who can be a threat to us? maleficent? i doubt it. unless... unless you think that with the barrier down another threat can come this way... do you really think so little of the isle kids?" evie looked hurt at the thought of bella even being able to think that. the kids are kids, not dangerous creatures that will hurt anyone and everyone.

"evie it's not like that, but we have to be strategical here. if anything were to happen, if a new villain, a new type of evil comes our way we need everything we can to protect everyone. including the isle. mal has hades scepter, uma has ursula's shell, we have the scepter and the wand. i have men looking for the golden cobra, the fruit of venom, and the ring of envy. with those artifacts out there, auradon is vulnerable. once we have them and destroy them, we'll be safer. you have to trust me. please evie, see it from my perspective."

evie thought about it, was there more evil out there that they would have to face? when will it all be over? the evil, having to get some type of revenge. revenge that doesn't even make much sense.

"i guess you're right, but as a lady of the court i should be included more in these decisions. i am going to be auradon's queen one day, my king." bella let out a sigh of relief as evie didn't seem to be mad or upset. "me king? i don't believe it."

what evie didn't know was that more evil was breeding in the shadows of auradon. everyone wanted revenge, and this was just the tip of the iceberg.

**

adrian walked around the castle and studied everything it had to offer. the tapestry's, the paintings and the sculptures. how much was each one worth? maybe a couple thousand? if he took one how much could he sell it for? no these were too big, someone would notice they were missing and he would get caught.

he stopped at a portrait that caught his attention, it was either a picture or a painting but adrian couldn't tell. it was former king adam with former queen belle, each wore their crown while two children stood between them. a young ben and bella, big grins on their faces as they posed. bella wore a light blue dress with white sleeves, a cute little tiara on her head. ben wore his signature look, a blue suit with a yellow handkerchief. a small replica of the king's crown rested on his head, back then when he was to be crowned king.

adrian looked at the wall on his other side, more portraits of course. these were of former kings, ben and bella's grandfathers, who knows how many greats you'd have to add. under king adam's portrait it read, 'king adam of the united states of auradon.' the others had the name of their former kingdom, before they were all grouped together. next to his portrait was one of ben, he had his father's crown on and a smile. not a great one at that.

"adrian hey! what are you doing here?" evie's voice caught adrian off guard that he jumped backwards. how long had she been standing there? adrian re adjusted himself and stood up straight, no girl scares him.

"just admiring the art, what are you doing here?" he asked, didn't she say she was going to be with bella the whole day? "oh i ran off to use the bathroom, so anything that's caught your interest?" evie asked as she looked at the family portrait to her right. 'your girlfriend.' adrian thought to himself.

"well yes actually, this right here. ben's not a king, so why is he here and not his sister?" evie turned and looked at what adrian was talking about. "hmm i've never seen this... maybe they put it up before bella was crowned? i don't know really, you'd have to ask her." the only reason evie, and heck even bella, might've never seen this is because she's usually in bella's room, and her room has a bathroom so...

"well yes i think i'll ask her. do you know where she is?" evie smiled, it was nice to see that they all got along. "she's downstairs in the kitchen helping with the baking. gotta run, see you around." evie excused herself and ran to find the bathroom, why'd bella
have to look her room door and not give evie a key?

adrian watched as the blue haired girl ran off, once she was out of sight he made his way to the kitchen. as he reached the stairs he saw ben on the phone, he was talking to someone about some type of event coming up. adrian didn't care much to stay and listen, but ben standing near the top of the stairs with his back to adrian was very tempting. 'well who says revenge can't start now?' with ben down he could go after carlos much easier.

adrian tip toed towards ben, making sure not to make too much noise as to reveal himself. he hid behind the wide curtain near the stairs and waited for ben to finish his call. once he heard the words 'thank you, goodbye.' adrian wasted no time to push ben down the stairs. it was quite easy to do as he didn't give ben enough time to turn around and see him.

ben let out what sounded like a loud growl as he fell, and once he stopped rolling down the stairs as his body hit the ground, he let out a blood curling scream as he landed in a very unfortunate position. oh his poor leg. adrian waited to see who would come by, if the coast was clear he would run away and act like he was never there.

"ben? ben?" carlos ran out of the room he was in and looked around to see why his benny boo was yelling. "carlos!" ben yelled back, the pain could be heard from his scream. ouch. carlos ran down the stairs once he spotted him, as he ran he yelled for help. this caught the attention of everyone in the castle as carlos' call out for help echoed throughout the room. as the servants began to rush to the aid of the prince, adrian left his hiding spot and acted like he had just arrived to the scene.

"what happened?" evie asked adrian as she came running to see why carlos was yelling. adrian did nothing but point down at the scene. he felt that if he said anything he'd just burst out laughing. "how?!" evie grabbed adrian's hand and dragged him down the stairs with her. they had to help. adrian didn't like the feeling of evie's hand on his skin, it didn't feel the same as when bella's hands were on his skin.

"i'll go get bella." adrian said as he got his hand away from evie's. she nodded and told him to go, not giving it a second thought as she began to comfort the crying carlos as ben was being carried away. who knows what could've happened, he might've broken a bone or caused damage to his brain or spine, or even caused internal bleeding. whatever it was knocked him out unconscious, after screaming carlos' name he blacked out. he might've gotten a concussion.

when adrian reached the kitchen, it appeared to be empty. everyone had rushed out to see what happened and to help of course. adrian was about to leave when he decided to see if the kitchen was really empty. he didn't see bella out there so she must still be in there. "anyone here?" he asked as he grabbed a knife from the countertop. 'to hell with it, i'm taking what's mine.' he was ready to fight anyone to would get in the way of him getting bella.

"drop the knife." bella stepped out from behind her hiding spot. adrian turned to face her and his frown turned into a sinister smile. "my love." he showed no sign of dropping the knife, he stepped forward but bella spoke again. "drop the knife and don't come any closer." adrian let out a maniacal laugh that would haunt anyone's dream if they heard it.

"my love please, i am not going to hurt you. i would never hurt you. let's get out of here, start out own kingdom. you'll be my queen and i'll be your king." this man was delusional wasn't he? didn't he understand that bella was gay? or did he just not care?

"oh my- news flash fuckwad i'm gay! you're a 27 year old man that's going after a 17 year old! now drop the knife!" bella yelled, she never thought that she would end up in a situation as crazy as this one. where did things go wrong?

"no you're not, you're just confused." adrian's thirst for revenge became a mix of revenge, crazy and jealousy. he wanted carlos' life now, a royal love interest and a happy life. he wanted that and he was stopping at nothing to get it.

"i said drop the knife, and that's an order!" bella yelled, she should've grabbed something to protect herself. when everyone rushed out and told her to hide, she did so not even thinking about grabbing a knife. and she's in a kitchen! the nearest knife to her was a butter knife, like that was gonna do anything.

adrian didn't like that bella yelled at him, no one should speak to him like that. on the isle he was able to scare everyone, why can't he scare her now? well bella was terrified but she wouldn't show it. the kids aren't their parents, bella always preached that but adrian was going to change her mind.

he lunged towards her, one hand went to her neck and the other held the knife close to her stomach. well this was unexpected. adrian began to choke her and threaten to fucking kill her if she didn't go with him. bella reached out for whatever she could grab from the counter, which was kind of stupid as they were next to the stove and she could've easily burned her hand.

bella felt the handle of a pan, she didn't hesitate to grab it and use what little strength she had left to whack adrian with it. he let go and fell to the ground, he made an effort to stab bella which didn't work. instead he cut her, which still hurt obviously but not as much as being fucking stabbed. adrian fell to the ground with a burn mark on his face. bella picked up the knife and ran out of the kitchen, she didn't bother checking to see if adrian was still conscious or not.

no one should ever run with any sharp object but bella ignored those rules as she ran. she held the knife pointing down as she used her other hand to try to stop the wound from bleeding too much. it was a pretty big cut, it would certainly leave a scar. blood was dripping down her upper arm down to her wrist. she had to find someone that could help her stop from bleeding out.

"bella?" evie was at the end of the hallways when she spotted bella. she was looking for her to tell her what happened to ben, and so that they could go join carlos in the hospital as they waited to hear news about ben. evie saw the red on bella and ran towards her scared. two accidents in one day? who's next? her or carlos?

as evie reached bella she let out a bloodcurling scream. okay calm down evie it's not like she's dying. again. however her screaming was justified, how would you react if you saw the women you love holding a knife as she bleed out from her arm?

"it's fine, i'm okay. just call the guards." evie shook her head and went to help bella as she seemed to be close to falling. evie looked around, there where no guards and she didn't know where to take bella. she couldn't take her upstairs, by the time they were at the top she would've probably passed out from blood loss.

"down the hall, the bathroom with all the best first aid kits." bella tried to hold herself up but the cut burned. if her hair was blonde and she was wearing a white dress she would've looked kinda like carrie, though this wasn't the time for halloween costume ideas. evie helped bella down the hall so she could patch her up. she hasn't lost too much blood, right?

once inside evie made bella sit on the toilet as she got the supplies. it's been a while since she had to patch someone up like this, oh those good old isle days. she took out the alcohol, some wipes, antibiotic ointment, and everything else she needed. oh and she found some dental floss! perfect. (i saw this on supernatural so i'm using it here.)

bella didn't loose too much blood as she had applied pressure on the wound, but that didn't mean she didn't make a mess with the blood. bella was scared to move her hand from the wound in case more blood would come out. she did it anyways as she knew she had to cooperate with evie to her stitched up.

after evie had cleaned the blood around the cut she reached for the floss. bella was confused as she's never seen anyone use floss to heal a cut. evie, being the fashionista she was, obviously had a needle with her. 'you never know when you're going to do some last minute modifications.' as she always said.

"do you need anything to bite down on or are you jay with handling pain?" evie asked as she got ready to stitch bella up. "just do it." bella said looking away, she didn't want to see this part. well suit yourself then bella. evie inserted the first suture by sticking the needle through bella's skin, then out the wound, and back through the wound on the other side and out the skin. she made a is a loop of thread, pulled the skin together, and tied it off with a basic double knot. she made sure not to tie it too right though. she repeated the steps until the wound was completely sealed.

"done!" bella finally looked at her arm and was impressed at evie's work. evie grabbed a clean towel and ran some warm water on it to clean the rest of the blood on bella's arm. "thank you eves, i definitely owe you one." she stared in amazement at evie, a girl with many talents.

"who did this to you?" evie asked as she finished cleaning off the blood. bella stood up quickly and rushed out the door, leaving evie more confused than ever. evie threw down the towel and ran after bella. 'why was she running if she just got hurt?' evie asked herself as she ran into the kitchen.

"bella?!" evie's throat must be hurting from screaming so much. as she entered the kitchen she was met with bella laying on the floor unconscious with a big pan next to her. so not only was she practically stabbed today, but she was knocked unconscious too? man this girl can't seem to catch a break.

(this is literally 5k i- my longest chapter yet aha. the necklace plot will probably come later in the story, but i wanted to introduce it now just cause. as well as the magical stuff being hidden in the castle and bella having mal's spell book, it's all going to be explained later!)