Chapter 2:

Sunday: 2:00pm-Ben's POV

I woke the next day, and quickly discovered that I was not in my room or anyway I recognised. This place was dark and dingy, with only touches to light it, as well as moss growing into the walls, and around the rocks. Cob webs were in every corner, of what I soon discovered to be a cell in the Auradon Dungeons. "Hello?!" I called out, waiting for a response, but I did not receive one. I looked down, to see a large amount of bruises, and scratched, especially a large bruise on my gut. That's when the memories of last night came flooding back. The bruise on my gut was from were one of the towns folk kicked me, and the multiple scratches must have been from where they have tried to pull me off of that boy. My head was pounding, obviously due to being thrown against the wall with some force.

'What on Earth am I' I thought to myself, but this was quickly interrupted when I heard my parent's voice coming towards me. "Mum?" I called out, but they didn't respond. Instead they approached my cell, with a looks of disappointment and contempt on their face.

"What happened" I asked, pleading them for a response. Finally, one of them spoke up, my Father. But all he said at first was two words "The Curse". I looked at him, with confusion on my face, before he continued.

"When your mother fell in love with, I was freed from the curse, however what we did not realise until now is that I would always carry it in my blood. When you were born, the curse was passed onto you, but in a different manner. The curse allows you to turn from man to beast whenever you want" He finished with a sigh.

"Why hasn't this happened before" I asked, intrigued by what my father had said, however, I was reluctant to show it.

"It activated on your 17th Birthday Son, which is why would attacked that boy. You saw him as an easy target, and the beast took over" Belle said, holding my hand through the cage.

"But I couldn't control it" I plead, welling up over the thought of what I had done.

"We know Son, but you are still responsible for your actions" said the King. "The boy you attacked has died, due to his extensive injuries, which makes you…"

"Guilty" I said, finishing his words. I sat back down on my bed, trying to process what has happened, placing my head in my hands.

The King continued "After extensive council meetings, and court hearings, with many witnesses involved, it has been decided that you are to be exiled to the….. Isle for the next 10 years, as punishment for what you have done."

That made me sob. Streams and Streams of tears fell from my eyes. Being banished to the Isle of the Lost was the worst fate of all, but more importantly, it meant my family saw me as a Villain. The thought made me sob harder and harder.

"When?" was the only word that I could say, demanding to know when my punishment would occur. I slowly stood up from the bed, brushed myself off, and tried to remain as royal as possible. I was responsible for what had happened to the boy, and I had to try and accept that, no matter how hard it was.

"1 Hour" was the response I got, which made me shiver slightly. But my father continued. "Until the day you return, you are stripped as your rank of Prince, and have no place in this household. You will be treated as one of the-", he sighed before he said the next word "Villains on the isle and have the same privileges as such", So None I thought to myself, reluctant to say anything.

I stood strong whilst Dad did this speech, having nothing worth contributing as that would only make my situation worse. Once he had finished, both him and mum turned, and started to walk away. Before they have completely left the dungeons, I spoke up, and said "I love you, and I'm sorry." From what I had heard, this was enough to make both the King and the Queen burst into tears, which was my last memory of them as my Parents. From then on, I would be nothing but a Villain to them, and the propaganda on the Isle certainly didn't help that feeling.

You could tell the hour was up, with the copious amount of guards that entered the dungeons, each with a torch. Before I left the cell, they restrained me by binding my hands, and finally pulled me towards the awaiting car. I tried to shield my eyes, from the sun as I finally re-entered its light, but I couldn't. I heard people screaming, and booing my name as I left the dungeons.

It was a scary thought, all these people had gathered to watch the once soon-to-be king hauled away and placed on the Isle of the Lost. I tried to remain as head strong as I possibly could, holding my head high but this didn't help, as it made people believe I was proud of what I had done. "Monster" and "Traitor" were the most common words I heard, as I finally entered the car. Once inside, all my barrier broke down, as I preceded to sob all the way to the Isle.

I finally reached the point where the magical bridge connected the Isle to the mainland, and I finally realised that this was actually happening. I, The Once Prince Ben, was being sent to the Isle of the Lost for Murder was my only thought, as the bridge started to materialise in front of us. I slowly sat up, looking out the window at this amazing force of magic, with the look of awe on my face. That all changed when I saw the barrier fall in front of us, as we finally reached the Isle. Crowds of People formed around the car, and I sat up, trying to remain as strong as possible.

What I did not realise at the time was that my trial was televised, and all the Villains knew that I was the one arriving on the Isle. The son of the ruler that banished them all to this place. And I quickly discovered that I would pay for this. The Royal Guards dragged me from the car, causing me to fall on the way out, and land face first on the pavement. I was then cut loose, and watched at the Royal guards abandoned me, by leaving the Isle once and for all. The crowds of People quickly turned and faced me, as the car left, and I knew what this meant. I kept stepping back, as they approached me, but I only seemed to reach them faster. I was grabbed from behind, before receiving a serious beating from the people around me.

People started to grab, and rip by clothes, whilst others were kicking and punching me. Blood was flowing out of my right arm as well as the back of my legs. I was kicked in the gut several times, before I finally heard a bellowing voice shout "Enough."

This caused everyone to run, whilst I remained there hunched up on the floor. I was slightly relieved, but that lasted until I found who the voice belong to, Maleficent, Mistress of Evil.

I saw her approach me, with her Dragon Eye Sceptre in one hand, and Diablo in the other. I was shocked to see the once frozen Bird had be reunited with her, but this quickly vanished when she in turn kicked me in the gut. She proceeded to spit on me, before turning and speaking to me.

"Well Well Well, what do we have here? The King's son huh, and what did you do to deserve this?" she said, cackling at the end of her sentence. She already knew what I had done, but she saw the pain it caused when I answered the question.

"I killed someone" I said, wincing at my own words. "Congratulations, you achieved something most villains on the Isle could never" She stated and I was surprised by her words. She was right. In all of history, the villains never managed to take a life, but I had, making me the worst out of the lot. She finally continued her speech "Due to this, I will offer you a gesture of good faith. For the rest of the day, you are off limits to everyone on the Isle. They are not to be touched or harmed you in any way."

Before, I could say anything, she turned and walked away. I saw the people turn to each other, and whisper, but from her entrance, I knew no one would dare defy her word. I tried to pull myself up by using the wall, and managed to walk away from the entrance of the Isle. As I made my way further into the Isle, I started to realise what Maleficent had done.

No one would make eye contact with me, and every time I asked someone for help, they either turned away, or refused. Maybe her 'protection' wasn't what I needed. I made my way to a somewhat deserted shelter, and decided to remain there for the night. I needed time to heal before I tried to venture further into the Isle, and with Maleficent's speech, I knew this was the perfect time to do so, as no further injury would be caused, until the day ended of course. I searched around the shelter to see if I could find anything of use, and my god was the place loaded.

It had an old Television, as well as a limited amount of medical supplies. I was able to patch myself up to some extent, and turned on the old TV. The TV flickered to life, but it only seemed to receive two channels, which also made me realise where I was. One of the channels was looping propaganda trying to convince the villains to change their ways, and be good, and the other was royal news. The news quickly cuts out, with a breaking news icon flash on the screen. Almost like it was timed, my father appeared on the screen, with my mother by his side. What they proceeded to say, broke my heart.

"With the recent turmoil in the Kingdom involving my Son, we have decided that it was time to reveal what has happened. As many of you saw today, the once Prince Ben was being transported to the Isle. An incident had occurred in the Queen's old town, between Ben and a young boy. This young boy was injured, and it was quickly discovered that my curse was passed down onto Ben, allowing him to shift between man and beast" Queen Belle spoke up, "After careful consideration, it was decided that Ben was to be exiled to the Isle, as any villain would be. He was stripped as his rank of Prince, and is no longer part of the royal family. During this time, an heir to the throne is still to be decided. One that is worthy of the role. Thank you all and goodnight." They said, as they receded back into the castle, avoiding answering any questions.

This news only filled me with anger, which I had very rarely experienced before. My parents had openly shamed me in front of all of Auradon, and claimed that I was 'unworthy of the crown'. With the anger building inside me, I threw the TV against the wall, causing it to smash. I received a similar feeling as I did yesterday, and with that, I felt myself shift into a wolf. I was not sure how I did it, but this time, boy did it feel good. I started off by howling, with caused the chatter on the Isle to come a silence. It was obvious that people had never heard this before, so I decided to make the most of it. I climbed onto the roof, before continuing to howl, making sure that all of the common people round could see. Many of them gasped, and some dropped what they were holding. I glared at each and every one of them, before shifting form once again, back into a human. Once again, it felt so good, almost empowering. I continued to glare at them all, before receding back into my shelter for the night.

I was all set to sleep, but then I heard someone enter the shelter. Now I was filled with fear. Although I had made a little show on the roof, I was not expecting anyone to investigate. I was hoping I had frightened them enough to at least stay away for one night. However, who I met was not someone that was ready to fight, but someone who was as startled as I was to see them. As I quickly shot up from the bed, the young intruder quickly jumped in his own skin, before trying to maintain a strong pose. "What are you doing in here" he barked, trying to be sharp with his words, but I notice a sense of fear in his voice. "This is my place", he continued. Whilst he was talking, I studied him looking for anything recognisable about him, which in all fairness was not that difficult. When I was in Auradon, I had studied all of the fairy tales, learning everything I could about the heroes and villains in the story. I thought that when I became King, it would help me rule. This boy has frost-white hair, and was wearing an assortment of black and white clothes, with splashed of red for colour. The Son of Cruella De Vil I thought to myself, preparing what I would say next. I responded just as sharply with "What are you doing here? Did you not see my little display on the roof?" That sentence alone was enough to remove all the colour in the boy's face, which quickly filled with fear.

"That was you, howling and turning into a human from a d-d-d" He began to stutter.

"Dog?" I responded, "Well it's more of a wolf, but yeah, what of it." The boy then fell to the floor, and backed up against the wall, sobbing over what I had said. "Don't hurt me, please" he said, almost begging. "I'm not going to hurt you, I was only trying to act terrifying so people would leave me alone" I said, trying to reassure the boy. I slowly approached him, and started to comfort him, as he recovered from the sob.

"What's your name?" I continued to say, trying to comfort him further. "C-C-Carlos" he finally said, recovering from his tears. "Nice to meet you Carlos, I'm prin… I'm Ben" I said, extending my hand, for a hand shake. He looked at me, with awe in his eyes, as that fear quickly turned into shock. "W-What, like Prince Ben from Auradon" he said, as I could see he was piecing everything together.

"Wait, why are you here?" he said, acting almost like it wasn't real. "Haven't you seen the news" I asked, looking almost as confused as he was. "No, I was gonna watch it tonight, and catch up on everything that has happened" He said, and my face instantly went as pale as his did a minute ago.

"I, uh, kinda broke your TV" I responded to him, whilst rubbing my hand against the back of my neck. "I got kinda mad, and threw it against the wall", gesturing over to the TV in the corner, with the screen broken.

"Oh" was the only response I got from him, as he looked disappointedly at the broken TV. "That still doesn't explain why you are here?" He questioned further.

Monday Morning-Midnight

Over the next few hours, I told Carlos what had happened over the last few days with a few minor adjustments however, I told him that the boy provoked me, by throwing rocks and stones at me when I was a wolf, and I told him that the boy was only injured but not killed. I didn't want to jeopardise my friendship with this boy, so I decided to refrain from telling him a few details. As I told him, I started to notice things about him, that I considered cute. The fact that when he smiled, he had little dimples, and when we was confused, he slightly tilted his head to the right. Not to mention the amount of freckles he had on the face. "And that's why I'm here" I stated as I finished the story, trying so hard to hold back the tears but letting a few stray ones fall. He looked at me with sadness in his eyes, as he started to speak. "Well, it's only 10 years, and then you can leave this Hell hole. I have been stuck here my entire life, which in fairness is only 16 years but still..." He started to ramble on, but it was quickly interrupted by loud banging against the door.

"Times Up Princey" I heard being shouted through the door "Its Midnight, and that means the day has officially ended" I heard another voice shout. I flinched at what was being shouted through the door, and Carlos could see this. He quickly dragged me off my feet, and pulled me towards a small tunnel underground. "Follow me" He said, as the banging on the door started to get louder and louder.

"Quickly, Run" He said, dragging me into the tunnel before covering it up. We both heard the door collapse, and people starting to search the shelter for where I was hiding. Carlos motioned for me to remain silent, by placing his finger over his lips, and continued to drag me down this small tunnel. I had no choice but to co-operate as my only alternative was to return to the place where people were waiting to beat me.

Ben's POV

Carlos continued to drag me down this tunnel, which was surprising long. Before long, I tugged back on his grip, effectively stopping us. "What the hell is going on, and where are we?" I asked. I could not see a thing down here, and the only reason I knew Carlos was still there was because I felt his hang lingering on my wrist, which I kind of liked. "I just saved you from a brutal beating, remember?" he said, with an almost sarcastic tone to his voice.

"That doesn't answer my second question", I snapped back.

"Fine" he said with a sigh. "You're in one of my tunnels, one of many. I was taking you back to my house, where you would be somewhat safe for a few days." He responded with an ounce of humiliation in his voice.

"Okay, let's go" I gestured for us to continue moving forward, but he said one more thing. "You CANNOT tell anyone about this, ok. This is an Island full of Villains, and if they found out I was helping you, then I would be as screwed as you are." In fairness, he comment was correct, but it also put me on edge slightly

"And why are you helping me?" I asked, curiously awaiting his answer. It was not pleasant.

"Fine, you obviously don't need my help" he retaliated rather defensively, releasing my wrist, before running further into the tunnels. "Carlos, Carlos Please don't leave me" I shouted, hoping he would return, but instead, I received dead silence. There was only one thing I could do, continue further into the tunnels, and hope to find a way out.

It felt like I had been walking for hours and as I continued deeper into the tunnels, I felt something brush against my shoulder, I quickly turned around, investigating what it was, until I felt someone's hand grab me. I jumped, almost smashing my head against the roof, before grabbing hold of their arm, and spinning, ready to lunge for them. That's when I heard a familiar voice scream "Don't, I'm innocent". Whilst laughing to himself.

"Carlos" I screamed, still unable to see the boy, but easily finding him due to his laughter. "What the hell were you thinking?" I screeched, as he finally stopped laughing.

"You were going the wrong way" was his only response, before quickly resuming his grasp of my wrist, and dragging me in a different direction.

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?" I asked, with slight annoyance in my voice.

"What" he responded, "I'm a villain kid after all, and I enjoy scaring people. Besides I realised I was wrong to abandon you in here. I know that it's your first day on the Isle and it's difficult to trust people, but you can rely on me" He spoke softly, almost comforting, before we finally made our way out of the tunnels.

It was similar to exiting the dungeons, with my eyes having to adjust to the new light level. However, what greeted me was even more shocking.

"Hell Hall…" I said walking towards the old Victorian House. It looked so different in the books, tall and grand, pristine yet ominous. But on the Isle, it was an old, weathered house, with tiles missing from the roof. It looks run down and abandoned, as if no work was ever done on it.

"In all its Glory" Carlos said sarcastically, bowing in front of his home. I chuckled. Carlos quickly dragged me toward the back of the house however, completely avoiding any windows or doors.

"Make sure you don't get seen" he said, as we continued towards the back of the house. Once we had arrived, Carlos led me up into a treehouse of sorts.

"This place is amazing" I said with awe, looking at all the contraptions and vials scattered amongst the place.

"It's nothing" He said, slightly blushing, before he continued. "You can stay here, but only for a couple of days whilst my mother is out of town. Once she is back, you will need to find another place to live."

"But look at this place" was my response "It's huge. I could hide here for weeks and no one would know. Half the rooms don't even look used and-." I was quickly cut off, when Carlos gave me a death stare.

"My mother would know if someone were here, trust me. And you need to learn to fend for yourself" he said. I looked down at the floor, he was right. I wasn't going to survive on the Isle if I wasn't prepared to learn how. "Don't Worry" Carlos said, pushing my face, so we made eye contact, "I'll help you learn. Plus you can come to Dragon Hall if you want, and learn what it means to be truly evil" Carlos said that last sentence with some resentment.

It was obvious to me that he wasn't evil, especially since he saved my life. "Thank you Carlos, and I will accept your offer" I said, looking deep into his eyes. They were a chocolate brown colour, and seemed to deepen when I looked into them.

"But you can't go like that" he said, snapping me out of my gaze.

"Like what?" I said, questioning what he meant.

"Dirty and bruised" he said, gesturing towards my bruises, "And you'll need some new clothes. Luckily I know just the place." He turned away and started to climb down the treehouse. I was sceptical to follow at first, but I knew he was right. If I wanted to survive, I would need to blend in and learn how. By stealing, and acting like a… villain. That last thought made me gulp slightly.