Fair warning, I'm not loving this chapter, but I wanted to get something out since it's been a while since this story has seen an update. Better things to come, I promise.
Chap 13
A few days after he'd discovered the Dark Net Carlos ran across campus as fast as he could almost like he was running from a pack of dogs – if he was still afraid of them that is. His teammates on the field watched him run and cheered him on thinking he was practicing for the big game on Saturday. He sprinted to the girl's dorm and ran for Evie and Mal's room.
"I found something!" he exclaimed when he made it inside and caught his breath, "It's not good."
He ran in and set his laptop down on the table where Evie did her sewing, "I was digging around and I found this forum about something called the Anti-Heroes movement."
"Anti-Heroes?" Mal asked.
Evie gasped as she looked at the screen, "It's us!"
Taking up most of the window was a colorful picture of Evie, Mal, Carlos and Jay, it was from the newspaper article after Maleficent was defeated only now there were red X's on all of their faces along with writing that said: Join the Anti-Heroes Club Today!
"My best guess is that club was founded on the Isle to eradicate Auradon's heroes." Carlos explained his theory, "They're using the Dark Net to draw members. To the villains on the Isle we're basically traitors so they're using our pictures to fire up any other hostile villains. And after what happened at the coronation it looks like it's working. When they're ready they'll come for Auradon. But. . . uh. . it's just a guess."
"What's all that?" Mal asked pointing to the hashtags under the photo. #AntiHeroesUnite #IRL #CAW #Yadrutas #2359 #BeThere
"That took me some time but I think I cracked the code. IRL is In Real Life so the meeting isn't online. CAW I worked out stands for the meeting's location: Castle Across the Way."
"What's Yadrutas?" Evie asked leaning closer to the screen to make sure she was reading it correctly.
"That one is pretty brilliant actually." Carlos said, "It's Saturday spelled backwards. And 2-3-5-9 is 23:59 knight time or 11:59 in royal time. So just before midnight this Saturday there will be an Anti-Heroes meeting at the Castle Across the Way."
"At least it's not at Bargain Castle." Mal said and they all knew what she was thinking. Bargain Castle would be solid evidence that Drac was behind this group that seemed to hate them. And Mal, along with the rest of them, didn't want to fight with Drac.
"But Mal." Evie began softly, "It's still connected to the moon calendar. All our notes mentioned the moon. The end of the old moon is Friday night and the new moon rises Saturday at 11:59."
Carlos looked away from the screen and over his shoulder at the girls, "I don't get it, what's the connection between the moon and Drac?"
Mal sighed, "My mom followed the moon calendar. Fairy thing." She shrugged.
"You think he might be behind it instead of our parents?" Carlos questioned hating the theory but couldn't deny the possibility, "I don't see it. Drac wouldn't hate us –"
"Unless he's upset that we left him on the Isle and haven't tried to get him back." Mal interrupted. It was possible, they supposed, they could have talked to Ben about it but it was more than just his call. His parents, his counsel and the people of Auradon wouldn't be too happy about opening up the barrier just for Drac to come back. Especially after Maleficent's attack, it reignited a fear in the people of Auradon.
"You really think he'd try to lure us back to the Isle just to humiliate us?" Evie questioned.
Mal sighed again, "I really don't know anymore. And it might not be him. The meeting is at the Castle Across the Way, it could be the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella. . . maybe even my mother." She muttered at the end.
"True." Carlos agreed, "Evil Queen and Maleficent did fight over who would get to lead the Isle of the Lost when they were first banished there."
"And that's why we were exiled to the Castle Across the Way." Evie added.
"Actually, you didn't invite me and Drac to your birthday party." Mal corrected. "And that's why you guys had to move. I was only six, Drac was almost five."
"That wasn't my fault." Evie protested, "And you almost let me fall asleep for a thousand years!"
"The past is past, forgive forget." Carlos reminded them.
"Whoever is behind it we need to be at that meeting so we can find out what they're planning and stop it." Mal said bringing the conversation back to the situation at hand.
Now Carlos sighed, "Fine, I'll start packing."
- - LONG LIVE EVIL - -
A few days after his visit to the Sanderson Sisters Drac woke up from a wonderful nightmare in his lair. He turned and looked over his shoulder to the purple tattered curtain that covered the tunnel that led to his father's cave deeper in the mines. Drac liked having it, it meant Hades always had his back and Drac liked the reminder that even though he was trapped on the Isle he'd been able to form a better relationship with his father now that mother was gone.
He heard the goblins above his cave moving around as they served the early bird customers of the Slop Shop, what a lot of people wouldn't expect was how early villains got up in the morning. Everyone wanted to be the first one to start wreaking havoc, to start stealing and terrorizing or be the first to the barges to plunder. Though that last one wasn't too popular these days. While he'd been in hiding and practicing his magic with his dad Auradon had instilled a new Embargo law. It meant fewer supply ships were allowed in through the barrier - a bandaid for the fear running through Auradon. Since this mother's surprise visit at the coronation the people wanted to feel more secure, so less ships going in and out of the barrier was the lame solution.
Drac stretched his arms over his head, got up and decided to get some breakfast and take a walk around the Isle to see if there was any mayhem he could cause. He patted Diaval on the head as the bird buried his face under his wing more, not quite ready to wake up and Drac made a mental note to try and bring him back some stale crackers. He climbed the stone steps out of his lair and opened the wooden door at the top and walked right into the shop. He grabbed a green apple from a bowl – no goblin charged him for it – and he took a bite as he walked outside. He looked at the apple in his hand and remembered the Evil Queen and her poison apples.
"Wicked ways beneath the skin, let all who taste it now join in." he muttered thinking about how much fun he could have if that spell actually would work on the Isle. As he walked through the streets he passed several other villain kids stealing and causing trouble, the sight made him smile to himself as he bit into the apple again as the thieves and havoc wreakers sang.
"We've got all the ways to be W-I-C-K-E-D. We've got all the ways to be W-I-C-K-E-D."
"Crashing the party? Guess they lost my invitation." He sang with the others as he kicked over a bucket of some half rotten food someone was trying to sell and rested his foot on their table placing his arm on his knee.
"Friendly reminder, got my own kind of persuasion." He looked at the vendor and his eyes turned green making them scurry away in fright.
"Looks like this place could use a bit of misbehavior." Mad Maddy sang as she knocked over another table selling old magic trinkets. "Happily ever after with a little flavor!"
"Bad to the bone, with even worse intentions. We're gonna steal the show and leave them all defenseless." Diego De Vil added as he walked by making more lesser villains cower and hide.
"A fairy tale life can be oh so over rated. So raise your voices and let's get it activated!" Freddie Facilier sang getting up on her sister's table where she told fortunes and threw her cards in the air stretching her arms wide as she enjoyed herself. Then the others around them all joined in.
"Long! Live! Having some fun! We take what we want! There's so many ways to be wicked. With us, evil lives on! The right side of wrong! There's so many ways to be wicked!"
"This time the dark is finally getting your attention." He heard Ginny Gothel's voice as he turned the corner to the next alley and saw her trampling a few already wilting flowers, the hatred for the pretty plants probably coming from her mother.
"We're wicked by the book and class is back in session." Anthony Tremaine said as he stole books off a cart and started tearing pages out of them.
"You like it steal it. Gotta beat 'em to the treasure." CJ Hook sang as she followed her sister to Dragon Hall where they literally ruled the school – mainly because Drac never went – CJ waved at him as they passed each other and he gave her a wink.
"A right of passage. Bad just doesn't get much badder!" Harriet Hook sang as she reunited with her crew who were already scaring some smaller villain kid into handing over their loot.
"Long! Live! Having some fun! We take what we want! There's so many ways to be wicked. With us, evil lives on! The right side of wrong! There's so many ways to be wicked!"
"Mother always knows best." Zevon son of Yzma sang.
"Show her, pass every test." His sister Yzla joined in.
"Hear her voice in my head." Drac sang knowing he'd tried to shut up that voice more than once.
"Evil is the only, real way to win." Claudine Frollo sang as he passed her at her father's shop.
"We've got all the ways to be W-I-C-K-E-D. Let's go! We've got all the ways to be W-I-C-K-E-D. Yeah! Long! Live! Having some fun! We take what we want! There's so many ways to be wicked. With us, evil lives on! The right side of wrong! There's so many ways to be wicked! We've got all the ways to be W-I-C-K-E-D. We've got all the ways to be W-I-C-K-E-D. We've got all the ways to be W-I-C-K-E-D. WE'VE GOT ALL THE WAYS TO BE W-I-C-K-E-D!"
"So many ways to be wicked!" he finished as he threw his apple core over his shoulder.
All the villain kids carried on with their mischief as Drac walked on. He had to make his daily rounds to his allies who were closest to the territory line. He was pleasantly surprised that most of them reported chasing pirates away on the daily, keeping Drac's side free of Uma's riff raff. He also knew the interference was probably driving Shirmpy crazy. Uma's gang of pirates couldn't tag his land, steal or brake anything that technically belonged to him. It was glorious. He was blocking her efforts at every turn. With so much going smoothly for him h'ed had more time to hang out with not only CJ and the others but he'd even spent some time with Harriet at the inlet. He knew Harriet frequented his side of the Isle, he was cool with her, she'd even joined him and CJ to steal a piano which he brought back to his new lair under the Slop Shop. He was happy to have an instrument of his own he could now enjoy. It wasn't as nice as the one in Auradon which he missed dearly along with the DJ equipment he'd just been adjusting to and getting a feel for but it was still nice in his eyes.
Suddenly the ground began to shake and he and everyone around him stopped what they were doing to try and stay upright as balance became difficult to maintain. Some held onto the concrete alley walls while others grabbed for pipes and wooden beams. Some of which were so rotted or rusted that they fell apart at one touch and the person still went tumbling to the ground. Normally this would make Drac point and laugh but as the rumbling started to slow he only had one thing on his mind. When would this stop? The first time the shaking started a handful of days ago everyone had been shocked. Now, everyone was concerned. He had heard a few theories about the newest natural disaster to shake the Isle – literally – and if it was what people were saying it was then life was about to get even more topsey turvey.
"Hey Drac!" he heard someone call him once the alley was back to normal and people went about their lives again. He turned to see Freddie and Diego approaching him. Freddie threw her arm across his shoulders as Diego stuffed his hands in his pockets as they walked, "Are you coming to the meeting tonight?"
"We'll see." He answered as honestly as he could, "I wanted to get down to the wharf and make sure things are still on good terms since the embargo."
Ever since his mother got off the Isle and terrorized the coronation Auradon's guard had been keeping a very close eye on the Isle. They patrolled more often from patrol boats they could see circling by the edge of the dome every few hours. Drac knew they probably had guards on the Auradon side now too after his own escape. Without the daily barges coming in there had been more rioting at Goblin's Wharf as people fought over what scraps they did have. Things that had been seen as too moldy to use were now fought over like gold and Drac worried about a food shortage. It was one of the reasons Uma had been gaining so much popularity on the Isle, her mother's restaurant was one of the few places that still served half decent food. Given that the barges were on his portion of the Isle he wanted to make sure things had calmed down or else he risked losing his allies to Uma. The goblins had also been working for his mother for so long that if they started dealing with too many looters they could leave him too and all his and his father's hard work would have been for nothing and Drac would be left going into hiding like he used to fear. Only a select few supply boats had been let in and they were monitored very closely. Needless to say it was adding even more tension to the Isle and its inhabitants.
"If I can make it, I'll be there." He promised Freddie and Diego before fist bumping them both and parting ways. He hoped he was able to be there, it would be a night to remember.
He sped up his steps, wanting to finish his business before another quake could interrupt. The disheveled storefront that was his target came into view, surrounded by cats waiting to be fed.
"Mangy felines!" Winifred sneered from outside her front door, "The other witches of the Isle - and how darest they call themselves such - feed thee too much! Now they expect scraps from every sorceress." She rambled as she smacked the cats away with her broom. One meowed patiently at her and she bopped it on the nose. When it didn't flinch she glared at it. "I hate this Isle."
Drac got the slightest of grins on his face at her struggle. He gave the redhead a nod as he passed and went inside. Winifred tolerated his presence and went back to her sweeping. Inside Mary and Sarah greeted him as they dusted jars of ingredients for their potions. Drac hoisted himself onto a long bar height table and sitting crossed legged pulled a worn leather book from his jacket. He had one knee bent in front of him careful of the half melted candles and iron pots and dusty glass jars around him. Resting his elbow on his kneecap he tapped the book. As usual it's eye refused to open so he set it aside, sure it would wake once it heard Winifred call to it. Sighing Drac wiggled his fingers in front of his face as a small green flame danced along his skin and nails without burning him. As he stared at the tendrils his eyes would occasionally flash green, then go back to normal, then flash green again as he drowned in his thoughts, the most pressing being about these strange earthquakes.
It was Mary and Sarah's voices in the background that eventually pulled him from his reprieve. His eyes returned to normal as he looked up to see what the witches were doing. It looked like they were having fun, tossing the toes of dead men at each other and snickering. Drac felt an ache in his chest remembering how he and Mal would act similarly back in the day. He looked back down at his fingers, now flameless and his gaze turned sad.
Mary was the first to notice.
"You know child." She said as she approached him, "This whole endeavor of yours mixed with such strange stirrings seems to be most stressful. Perhaps a calming circle for thee?"
He gave her a grateful smile, "Thank you Mary. Let's."
He hopped off the table as Mary clapped her hands together.
"Sarah!"
The blonde hustled over with her purple and faded pink skirt clutched in her hands. She completed their circle as their hands rested on each other's shoulders.
"Think soothing thoughts." Mary said with her crooked grin, "Like rabid bats."
"Mummy's scorpion pie."
Drac thought off somewhat dreamily, "Music."
"MUSIC!" both the sisters shouted.
"Oh music!" Sarah gushed, "I do loveth thee! Come sister! Shall we sing! Come little children. . . "
"Ichita capita magica mystica. . ." Mary hummed.
Drac hummed with her as they moved in their circle, just as he'd been thinking before, music seemed to be universal. He hummed along with their melody, for witches they both had wonderful singing voices. When their tune faded to a close Drac took over "It is such an ancient pitch, but one that I would never switch. 'Cause there's no nicer witch then you."
Their faces lit up in recognition and he knew expectly where they'd heard the song before. Simultaneously they both joined in singing "I put a spell on you! And now you're mine!"
A/N: the last line is from Hocus Pocus, it's the Sinatra song 'Witchcraft' that the skeleton man is singing before he begins 'I Put a Spell on You'.
Also I wasn't really feeling this chapter but I didn't want to make you all wait longer for an update, and there's exciting stuff I really want to get to. So if you found anything cringe or sub-par please excuse me, better things are coming. I just hit a rough patch.