{The Realm of Ever After, 20 years ago}

It was the happiest day of Raven's life.

She was dressed in a pure white dress with tints of purple to it. The bouquet she held was a variety of lavender, dark magenta, and black flowers. Her black hair flowed down her back, her face concealed by the veil, yet she smiled. She did not listen to the priest, instead she was focused on the man standing inches away from her. Her soon to be husband, the goodhearted prince Dexter Charming. She recalled his awestruck gaze when she first entered the room with her father, the Good King, by her side. He looked at her as if she was an angel or a goddess, someone to be worshiped and adored everyday. No one else mattered, not their friends, family, or the kingdoms that had come to celebrate the couple's day. It was all for Raven Queen and Dexter Charming.

"Do you, Lady Raven Queen of the Good Kingdom, take Dexter Charming as your husband and to love eternally?" The priest's words finally made it to her mind.

"I do."

"Do you, Prince Dexter Charming of the Charming Kingdom, take Raven Queen as your wife and to love eternally?"

"I do."

"You may kiss the bride." The veil was lifted off of her face, revealing the smile that graced her face. The cheers and applause echoed as the newly wedded kissed the first time as husband and wife.

BANG! The doors to the large cathedral slammed open, creating a hushed silence in the room. A woman entered, wearing a white dress with golden jewelry. She was smirking, mocking the bride with her attire.

"Well, what a happy day." The woman's dark blue gaze looked coldly upon the assembled guests. Her eyes slowly made their way to Raven and Dexter. Two guards tried to apprehend her, but a flick of her wrists, the armored men went flying into a wall, stuck to it.

"Apple." Raven stood strong, "Why are you here?"

"I came to give my congratulations to the happy couple, I was the bride's roommate, after all."

"No one wants you here." Dexter stated, "You weren't invited."

"Invited? Of course, I was invited." Apple's smile became strained, "This is my castle, my throne, my crown." She gestured to the white tiara that graced Raven's head. "I used to have all of this."

"Not anymore." Dexter pulled out his sword, 'Leave now or you will be forced out."

Apple shook her head, "But I haven't given you my gift."

"We don't want your gift." Raven knew better than to trust her former roommate. She could hardly recognize the girl she once knew behind the woman she was now.

She giggled, "Oh, but you will have it. My gift is this special day. You will celebrate, dance, and mark this day down in history, but this happiness will not last." Her smile faded to a frown, "You have made your vows, now I make mine."

Her eyes shifted from a sky blue to a blood red "Everything you love, everyone you love will be taken from you. You took my happily ever after from me, so I will take yours. Out of your suffering, I will rise. I will destroy your happiness, your love, if it's the last thing I do." Apple White curtied, keeping her gaze on the horrified Raven, then began walking away, her dress trailing behind her.

"Stop!" Dexter swung his sword at Apple, only for her to vanish in a puff of red smoke. The sword embedded into the ground where the woman stood.

Murmurs and whispers grew among the Corvinds as Raven and Dexter held each other, looking at each other with worried looks, both thinking the same thing.

What was the former future Snow White planning?


{Boston, Maine Present}

"Good book?" A blonde haired girl turned her focus away from the page of the book. The illustration that was displayed showed the newly married prince and princess with frightened and nervous looks on their faces. The girl didn't have much space to read, stuck in the window seat of a bus with an older woman sitting next to her.

"It's…more than a book." She mumbled, placing a red sequined bookmark into the page before closing it. The book was a light brown, old and worn, with golden thread over the cover and back. The words Ever After were scribed into the cover in gold.

The older woman chuckled, "Of course it is."

"Boston, downtown. Thank you for riding White Stallion." The bus driver's voice came over the intercom. The blonde girl put the book back into her dark maroon satchel and squeezed her way off of the bus. The blonde thanked the bus driver before exiting the vehicle. After stepping out onto the sidewalk, she looked up at the various tall buildings and towers. She became nervous, she had never been outside of Grimmsbrooke before, things looked so much simpler on the map.

"You can do this." She muttered to herself, "He is the only one who can save us."

She pulled out a piece of paper, it had an address on it, and a look of hope lit her face. She knocks on the window of a nearby taxi. The driver rolled down the window for her.

"Excuse me, do you take credit cards?" She held up a slim blue card in her hand.

"Where to, kid?"


"This shrimp was cold! I demand a refund!" The woman spitted into his face. Her voice was loud enough that the other restaurant goers went silent. Even the man across from her went quiet, his face a mixture of distress and embarrassment.

Cole did not get paid enough for this. Today was supposed to be his day off, but the manager said otherwise. Even though he cleared it in advance and made sure to contact his coworkers to have them cover his shift, that smug bitch of a manager put him on the schedule as off the clock work. So he was not getting paid to deal with crap like some pissed off woman who was complaining about her empty plate of shrimp fettuccine.

"Ma'am." He gritted his teeth, doing his best to keep calm, "I can not refund the meal you have already eaten. Either you pay for the food or not."

"Are you even listening?! I want a refund, so get me one!"

"Read my lips, lady. I can…not…give…you…a…refund." He said slowly then he turned and spoke to the man in a more normal tone, "Would you like me to separate your bills, sir? I'm sure you'll want to pay and get away from this crazy lady as soon as possible."

The man quickly nodded.

"Are you being sarcastic with me!? Didn't your mother teach you any manners?!" Her face was growing redder by the second.

Oh, she wanted to go there, did she?

"I'm afraid she didn't." Cole's tone turned deadly serious, "See I'm what people call a foster kid, My parents didn't want me. So, no, she did not teach me any manners, but even I know you shouldn't yell and scream at someone who's just trying to get through a crappy part time job that's spent being yelled at by inconsiderate, rude, and scummy pieces of shit like you."

He turned away from the shrieking woman who hurled insult after insult at him. He continued walking until he made it to the inner kitchen area. He pulled his stuff from his designated locker, which garnered the attention of half of the cooking staff who knew him.

"Hey, Ruth!" He threw off his apron as soon as the manager turned her head towards the sound of her name, "I quit and your pretentious cheating wife attitude can suck it."

His statement was met with a round of applause and cheering from most of the kitchen staff. It was no secret that almost every chef and waiter hated her guts, it was a matter of time before someone had the guts to say it to her face. He walked out, feeling a sense of victory for once in a while. He didn't need that shitty job, he didn't need to deal with that bitch of a manager.

His rent was stable, he didn't have a roommate, and he lived on his own. The apartment he lived in was small but had just enough space for him. As soon as he got there, He decided to change into more comfortable clothes, a simple t-shirt and sweatpants. Cole slumped into the couch, exhaustion finally taking its toll on his body.

"It's almost ten." He muttered, browsing boredly on his phone, "I should probably get it out soon, not like it matters."

After a while of lounging on the couch, he stood up and went to the fridge. Cole pulled out a small box and placed it on the table. The teenager opened it to reveal a small cupcake inside. It was a chocolate cupcake with purple frosting as well as little silver and black confections sprinkled on top of it. He took out onto the small foldable table he had, then put a candle on top of it. He used a lighter to lit it, watching the flame dance on top of the little candle.

"Here's to another crummy birthday." Cole sighed, closed his eyes, then blew it out.

Tap, tap, tap. The front door to his apartment had been lightly knocked. He stared at it, wondering if they had made a mistake.

Tap, tap, tap. Again they knocked. Cole stood up and went to the door.

"Can I help you…" His voice stopped when he opened the door and saw a blonde haired girl standing in the hallway. She looked as if she couldn't be any older than 13 or 14. She had blonde ringlets that cascaded down her skinny figure with a little red hairband that had an apple symbol on it. She wore a cutesy red shirt under a white jacket with a golden zipper, along with nice looking jeans and red flats. Her blue eyes were filled with uncertainty and nervousness. Around her shoulder was a satchel with various different pins on it.

"Are you Cole Corvin?" She asked, her voice was light and airy.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"I'm Darlene, I'm… I'm your cousin." She smiled.

Cole's brain stopped working for a moment. He had a cousin?! This girl couldn't be his cousin or even related to him. He didn't have any time to process before the girl ducked under his arm and slipped into his apartment.

"This is a nice place you've got here" She looked around the place, glancing at the cupcake that was still on the table. "Are you going to finish that? It looks good."

"Look, blondie, there must be some mistake."

She shook her head, "Nope, no mistakes. Do you have any drinks? Like water or juice? I'm thirsty."

"H-how did you even find me?"

"Internet. I found some." She began rummaging around in his fridge, pulling out a fizzy soda, "Oh good, orange soda. I'm tired of apples."

"I'm sorry but I think you have the wrong guy. I don't have parents, nor do I have any cousins."

"You do. We should probably get going. We can't waste anymore time." She said as she sipped the soda.

"Go where?"

"I want you to come home with me."

"I could call the cops on you, you know?"

"I'll scream and say you kidnapped me." She smiled mischievously.

"And they'll believe you because you're cute and I'm trash." He gestured to his attire of black clothing with skull patterns and bones on it. He had small silver hoop earrings as well as a piercing over his eyebrow. There was no way the police would believe him over some innocent looking angel.

"Why should I come with you?" He asked.

"Because you have to."

"Look, you seem nice." He leaned down to her level. "But if you don't start telling me the truth, I will call the police and send you back to wherever you came from alone."

"Grimmsbrooke, Maine." She stated.

"Grimmsbrooke? Seriously?" He had never heard of such a town and he had traveled a lot. One of the perks of being a foster kid that no one wanted, you end up in a lot of different states, but it's the same shitty family everytime. The town sounded fake, like a made up setting in a fantasy tv show.

She nods.

"Alright, we'll take my car. " He waved for her to follow him out. "Come on, Darla."

"It's Darlene."

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible. There was no way this girl was really his cousin. It had to be some kind of mistake…right?


They had been driving for hours, the road seemed to go on forever and it being dark didn't help things either. Darlene sat in the passenger seat, she had either slept or read a book she had pulled out of her satchel. He had changed into a hoodie and wore run down tennis shoes that he probably should've gotten replaced years ago, but didn't have the money or time to go through with it.

"I'm hungry." Darlene spoke for the first time in hours.

"This isn't some vacation road trip BS." Cole kept his eyes on the road, "Be grateful I didn't just stick you onto the next bus out of Boston."

"I have a name." She huffed.

"I know and I don't care." The 19 year old boy glanced at the book situated on her lap, "Whatcha reading?"

"You're not ready for it."

He chuckled, "I'm not ready for some stupid fairy tales?"

"They're not stupid!" She snapped, catching Cole by surprise, "And they're not fairy tales either, they're true. Everything that happened in this book really happened."

After that, they sat in silence for what felt like forever. In the darkness, the lights shined on a wooden sign with the words Grimmsbrooke carved into it. Cole smiled while Darlene frowned, he was glad it didn't take too long to find this little place. It was a quaint little town, shops and stores lined the empty streets.

"So got an address?"

"Sure, None of your business avenue."

He suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing the car to stop to a halt and for Darlene to jerk in her seat.

"Look, either you work with me here or I'm opening up that door and making you walk the rest of the way." He said with a stern tone, "I'm sure your parents wouldn't want you walking at…is that clock tower not working?"

He glanced at the tall clock tower with arrows that were stuck at 8:15.

"It's been like that my whole life. It's a part of the curse."

"Curse?" He raised an eyebrow.

"The dark curse, everything is frozen here. It's how they got everyone here from Ever After."

"Ever After? Seriously?" She couldn't have come up with a better name than that?

"You don't believe me." She mumbled.

"Hold on, I-

"Darlene?" A voice made Darlene duck her head from the car window. A woman with dark chestnut hair and brown eyes walked up to the car. "Is that you, dear? Are you alright?"

The blonde haired girl leaned back up, smiling at the woman, "Hi, . I'm fine."

She sighed in relief, "You missed our session today. Where were you?"

"I went on a field trip."

The woman wasn't convinced, "Now, what have I told you about lying?" She gently scolded her, "Nothing good comes out of it."

"I know, I'm sorry." She muttered.

"Who's this?" She turned her attention to Cole.

"Cole Corvin. I'm just trying to get him back home, that's all." He reassured her.

"You'll take a right, a left, then take a second left until you make it to the neighborhoods. You can't miss it, it's the biggest house in the block, it's the mayor's after all."

Of course, he had to get stuck with the mayor's kid.

"Thanks, ms…"

"Cedar Woodworth."

"Thank you, Ms. Woodworth." He drove off, following her instructions. Darlene looked more and more miserable as they drove.

"Not a word."

Cole shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't say anything, it's fine if you didn't want to tell me you have a shrink."

"She's cursed just like the rest of them." She said, "She's Cedar Wood, descendant of Pinocchio."

"Really? Because she didn't look like a puppet or wooden to me."

"She doesn't remember who they were, none of them do."

"Right." He wondered what kind of thoughts were running around inside of Darlene's mind. They soon reached their destination; the biggest house in the neighborhood."Well, here we are."

Cedar wasn't kidding, it was massive. The house looked more like a mansion than a small town house. Why in the world would Darlene run away from this place?

"Time to go, kid." He helped her out of the car and walked up the front porch with her.

"Please don't do this." She begged, "My-my parents are divorced, I live with my mom, and she is evil."

"Evil? How is she evil?"

"Darlene!" Cole looked up to see a panicked woman with blonde hair similar to Darlene's standing at the door. She hugged Darlene tightly, as soon as she saw her. It was like looking into an older reflection. Her clothes even looked similar, though the woman wore more professional attire. She wore a white blouse, a red slim skirt, and red pumps. "Where have you been? Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you!?"

"I found my cousin!" She pushed the woman off of her, "I found him and he's real!"

Before either of them could react, Darlene stormed into the house, leaving both Cole and her mother shocked. The woman watched as the girl marched off, then turned her attention to the boy standing in the doorway.

"She thinks you're her…cousin?" The woman looked up and down at him from his shaggy black hair to his worn out shoes. He didn't mind the confused stare, he was used to getting a few glances his way.

"Apparently." He shrugged. "She found me in Boston."

"Boston? But that's…far away." She mumbled.

"Weird, right?"

"You must be exhausted after such a long trip, mr…."

"Cole, Cole Corvin."

"I'm Abigail Blanc, please come in." She smiled and gestured to him inside. "How do you feel about apple cider? It's homemade."

"Got anything stronger?" He stepped inside, unaware of Darlene watching them from her bedroom window. She frowned, glancing back at her satchel that sat on her bed.

"This has to work." She whispered, "He'll save me, he'll save us."


A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter of Welcome to Grimmsbrooke. If you haven't caught on to it, I've taken the plot of Once Upon a Time and fused it with characters from Ever After High. I plan on updating twice a week, but that may change if I end up with a lot of work outside of my online life and can't update right away. Let me know what you think of the first chapter, reviews, favorites, and follows are encouraged!

Until next time, FallenFairy20.