With the last bit of her strength, she pushed herself to her knees and coughed into her hand, not at all surprised to see it come away crimson. The bloody hand curled into a fist and she shuddered as another spasm of pain gripped her body. Her friends had been lost a long time ago and she had no way of knowing where they were. She wasn't even sure if they were al
"HEL!" A rough but deep voice echoed through the house and the bedroom was suddenly a flurry of quiet action.
A sixteen year old girl with black hair hurriedly slammed the notebook closed and the old fashioned roll-top followed before she dived onto her bed and pulled a book out from under the pillow. She had just enough time to make it look like she had been in that position for awhile when the door slammed open to reveal the Horned King in all his imposing glory.
Hel was the one of the Lost, the daughter of the Horned King. She had thick hair that looked like glowing coals, her skin was pale - though thankfully not the sickly green her father's skin was - and it made her eerie gold eyes pop even more. She was currently wearing a pair of tight black leather pants tucked into black leather boots decorated with tarnishing silver buckles and a skintight leather tank top in a pale olive green with a dull purple long sleeve top over it that showed both shoulders and didn't completely cover her midriff and so showed the green tank.
She nonchalantly looked up from the book - an old tome of spells - and rose her eyebrows at her father. "Yeah Dad?"
"Learn any good spells?" He demanded and she shrugged.
"It's not like any of them actually work here."
"Not here they don't. But they do in Auradon. And that's where you're headed."
"Auradon? As in Auradon Preparatory?" Hel kept her face completely expressionless by virtue of years of practice. "That school for goodie-goodies?"
"That's the one." The King confirmed. "But it won't be so goodie-goodie soon."
"And how are you going to manage that?" Hel had a sinking feeling and she ran her hands along the cover of the book to keep them from fidgeting.
"YOU are going to steal-"
"No offence Dad," she interrupted, "but hasn't stealing the Godmother's Wand been a little overdone?"
He snarled at her and she narrowed her eyes. "DON'T INTERRUPT ME! I don't care about that stupid pixie's wand, though if you can get your hands on it and snap it, that would be helpful. You are going to get what rightfully belongs to me…" Hel stifled a groan and mouthed the next words with her father, "...the Black Cauldron."
"That's a little harder to walk away with than a stick of wood." She commented and snapped the book closed. "What are you going to do with the Cauldron once you get it?"
"I am going to summon an army of Undead and storm Auradon Palace, with magic being obsolete there it will be easy to take over."
This time Hel really did roll her eyes. Her father needed to be more creative. "Sure Dad. Do you want me to bring you the psychic Pig too?" She barely stifled her gasp when the skeletal hand smacked her, leaving a thin trail of blood to trickle down her right cheek.
"I WILL NOT have you talking back to me young lady. You will go to that school and get me what I want."
"Yes sir." She answered softly. "When do I leave?"
"Tomorrow night. Make sure you are packed." With those words, the Horned King swept out of the bedroom and his daughter's hand rose slowly to the cut on her cheekbone.
Sighing, Hel tossed the spell-book aside and returned to her desk, opening her purple notebook to the page she had been on and wote:
alive. But she was sure of one thing: some things really were… Rotten to the Core.
