Chapter 7

In a world before the villains became villains a place like Merlin Academy seemed to lack security. There were no guards making sure students didn't leave the campus, no soldiers patrolling the streets to make sure no one was out of their rooms after curfew. Red loved it, not that it stopped her from sneaking around – which she loved to do anyway – because she didn't want to get caught and have other students asking questions. Ella might live off the grounds with her wicked step mother and step sisters but Bridget was still in the dorms along with Charming, Fae, Tiana, Naveen and everyone else.

Thankfully, Uliana and her gang were still likely out and would be all night. After dark was a villain's time to shine after all.

The only problem she was having was she still couldn't find Drac. Not that she was too worried, Drac had showcased some pretty impressive magic skills so any danger that found him she was sure he could handle. But she wanted to fill him in on what she and Chloe had seen about Uliana's plans for Bridget. And Camilla had mentioned Drac had seen something in the magic mirror, something that had struck him silent the entire walk back to the school and Red was hopeful she could pry whatever it was out of him.

"Well, well, well." A drawling voice made her pause and Red turned to see James Hook standing in the doorway to one of the dorm rooms. He wore a sly grin on his face and Red took a quick glance around and noticed one of the doors had seashells embedded into it along with spikes that looked like thorns someone had stabbed through the wood from the inside. Uliana and Maleficent's room. Which meant this hall belonged to the villains. Just her luck.

She didn't let any worry or fear show on her face though as she rested one hand on her hip and smirked at Hook.

"Out for a midnight stroll?" He asked crossing his arms and bending one leg so the toe of his boot rested on the floor.

"Are you judging?" she replied knowing he'd been out doing the same thing. She didn't need him to know that she knew that, or that she'd been hoping his crew was still out doing that so she wouldn't have to bother with them. But she kept her cool.

Hook laughed, seeming amused by her sharp tongue just like he had earlier.

Then he tapped his head like he just remembered something, "Where are my manners? We haven't been formally introduced, James Hook." he pushed off of the door frame and gave a slight bow, then he stood tall and moved into the hallway. "I'd say 'at your service love' except. . . I'm not."

Red smirked, "Right. You take your orders from Uliana."

Hook clasped his hand and his hook in front of him standing casually, "I take orders from no one. I side with Uliana willingly."

"There must be something in it for you. . . partnering with her." Red pointed out knowing how villains worked, she took a step closer, "Being a captain I'm sure having a sea witch on your side makes your voyages smoother."

Hook chuckled and grinned, "You're a clever one. . . I like clever."

"People are attracted to what they lack." she insulted him taking another step closer. Hook's eyes seemed to light up at the fact that she was not backing down.

"Is your tongue always so sharp?" he asked stepping forward once, then twice, "Not that I'm complaining love, every time I've seen you you've been cool and commanding. Chills, truly." he said placing a hand over his heart. Red wasn't impressed, but the fact that Hook was flirting with her could be used to her advantage. She just had to make sure to not get swept up in the moment. She was still in the villain's hallway, the rest of his crew could show up at any moment and she'd be outnumbered.

She glanced down at his hook, now only four or five steps away from him, "Speaking of sharp."

He followed her gaze, "Ah, aye." he lifted his golden hook and it reflected the dim light from the open door to his room, "A little souvenir from my last battle with that blasted Pan."

She closed the distance between them and ran a single finger over the curve of the hook, while the young captain watched her finger with mesmerized eyes.

"It must be such a thrilling story." she asked softly, her voice flirtatious. "I bet you're full of thrilling stories." Her eyes left the hook, as did his, and their gazes met, "Like how did you get back here all the way from Neverland?"

"That would be Pan's doing. . . " he paused and bit his lower lip contemplating. For a moment she worried he'd caught on to the game she was playing at. "Story for another time perhaps, it is a rather lengthy one."

She smirked, "Afraid to get caught with me by your friends?"

"I'm not afraid of anything love." he grinned, "But I haven't forgotten your friends."

Red took half a step back trying to quickly think up an excuse that could save her skin. She shrugged, "I'm just the new kid in town."

"Aye. But ye threatened Uliana."

Red smirked again, "I don't bend the knee or back down. . . you seemed to like that about me."

He paused but was still smirking knowing he'd been caught but didn't seem too shy about it.

"It did catch my attention love."

She stepped back smirking once again, "I shouldn't like being your center of attention."

He quirked a brow and glanced down to her shoes, "Then why do you seem keen on scurrying off?"

"Tick tock captain." She teased, "The night's short and I have rules to break."

"Perhaps we can break them together." He took another step as she continued backing away.

"Mmm, I'm not won over that easily. You'll have to try much harder to win me Hook."

"Don't challenge me darling." He warned playfully. "Things might get out of hand."

"I'll make sure to keep my eye on you then."

"I wouldn't have it any other way love." he said in a whisper standing still as she backed out of the hall, his smoldering eyes staying pinned on her until she turned the corner.

Once alone she released a deep breath and fanned herself with her hand. That could have been a close one.

She took a few more turns trying to put distance between her and that hall, taking unnecessary moves in case Hook was following her.

She crashed into someone else, almost getting knocked off her feet, "Watch where you - Drac?"

"Red, sorry, didn't see you."

"We've been looking everywhere for you. Come on." she grabbed his arm and dragged him along, "Chloe and I found out what Uliana is up to."

The Queen hummed, 'A Very Merry Unbirthday' under her breath as she walked down into the dungeons, her heels clacking on the stone steps. So many people to execute and so little time, she hardly knew where to begin. There was still Jack of Diamonds to tend to, and of course Cinderella. She just wasn't sure whether to start with her former friend or to save the best for last.

But then there was the issue of her daughter. . . after Red had vanished into thin air with Cinderella's brat the Queen had called for order. Her former friend looked more worried about her daughter then she did about losing her head. She'd been dragged away calling out for Chloe while the Queen of Hearts had maintained her composure. Red always had a knack for getting herself into trouble, something that the Queen couldn't seem to curb no matter how hard she tried. So it didn't surprise her that she'd somehow vanished as soon as she touched the Charming brat.

However, she did have a reputation to uphold and not getting her daughter back promptly would not look good for her. Some might think she was weak. She couldn't have that. And she needed Red, she had big plans for her. An entire kingdom to gift her, Red would rule Auradon while she ruled Wonderland and she would finally have her happy ever after. But, she sighed annoyed, for that she needed Red. And no magic she had used thus far had been able to locate her.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs she strutted down the hall lined with cells. Jack was there on his knees and looked up at her as she passed by with a small evil smirk in his direction. Other cells held more citizens of Auradon who had tried to stand up to her. None of them were so brave now, not even looking in her direction as she passed and chuckled.

"Sing sweet nightingale. Oh, sing sweet nightingale." a lovely voice carried through the echo-y space, "High. . . above me."

"You know." The Queen interrupted as she reached Ella's cell and folded her hands in front of her. "I could have made you a court jester, entertaining me and my guests, you could have sung all day then. . .if you hadn't decided to defy me."

Cinderella, in her beautiful but now dirt stained dress turned from where she sat on the floor and looked at her old friend sadly. She took a slow, deep breath, "Where is my daughter?"

The Queen tilted her head, "Funny. I came down here to ask you the very same thing."

Ella looked confused.

"Well it wasn't my daughter who made them vanish." The Queen went on, "Red doesn't know any magic. She's not worthy yet."

"Chloe doesn't have any magic either." Ella said standing up, "So whatever happened to them, your daughter had to be the cause of it."

She sighed, "So annoyingly stubborn. It'll be so nice to do away with you."

But Cinderella didn't back down nor did she become afraid, "You can't."

The Queen giggled, "Oh really?"

"Really. We both lost our daughters and have no idea where they are. We need to work together to bring them back from wherever they are and find out what happened to them."

The Queen rolled her eyes amused, "You think I need your help?"

Cinderella smiled, "Why else would you be down here? Instead of up there, continuing to terrorize the people of Auradon? Making yourself feel better then everyone else? Why else would you come all the way down here, to see me at all? If you didn't need help?"

Bridget paused. Then held her chin high and smirked, "To rub it in your face."

Cinderella scoffed and a small smile appeared on her lips, "I know you Bridget. It may be from years ago, but I know you better then anyone else."

"That's because after you abandoned me I refused to let anyone else in. I swore to never make that mistake again." she practically hissed through her teeth.

"What do you want Bridget?" Cinderella sighed, "Executing me and everyone else from Merlin Academy won't bring you happiness. If you've spent all these years dreaming of revenge then after you get it you'll have nothing. Your purpose in life will be fulfilled and you'll be empty. You have to leave the past in the past and move forward. Not for my sake, but for your own. You can't turn back the clock."

Something in her words struck a chord in Bridget. She remembered seeing a clock in Red's hand when she'd approached Cinderella's daughter. She didn't recognize it, and had no idea what it was or why Red had it. The concept of time travel was so outrageous that even entertaining the notion seemed ridiculous. Although. . . it would explain why Red vanished so suddenly, and why the Queen of Hearts' magic hadn't been able to locate her.

"Hm." she said with a tilt of her head before turning and heading back the way she came.

"Bridget?" Cinderella called after her, "Bridget! We need each other! Otherwise Chloe and Red may never come home! Bridget!"

The next morning Drac met the girls early while the students were at breakfast in the dining hall. He ditched his jacket in the girl's room leaving him in a white tee shirt with electric blue and lime tie dye that looked like flames with his black pants and boots. He cracked his knuckles in his fingerless indigo gloves as he magic-ed Chloe a fresh outfit for the day while Red removed her jacket to disguise that she was stuck in the same outfit from yesterday. Drac concluded she was uneasy around magic because of her mother. Camilla accepted his help for fresh clothes and he changed her spotted waist corset into a vest and her white off the shoulders shirt into a black one. Her hair he left alone, knowing from how much time Evie spent on hers to never mess with a woman's hair. Camilla had instead put it in a high ponytail that now rested over one shoulder. She still occasionally patted at her black pants muttering about the dust from the haunted mansion refusing to come off.

They headed for Bridget's room which was easy to find thanks to all the pink hearts decorating the door. Red knocked and the bubby girl answered with her usual ear to ear smile.

"Oh, hey guys! I'm just practicing my signature dance for Castlecoming!" she said in an excited sing-songy voice. She dashed to the center of her room and put her headphones back on, pulling out a deck of cards. "I call it, the shuffle of love, hehe."

She did a couple of dance moves, then spun around and with a flick of her wrist was holding a fan made of cards. She took the fan and moved it in a figure eight shape before one handedly closing it and reopening it. With both hands she shuffled the deck before doing a few tricks, like holding half the deck in each hand while balancing a card between them. Then she spun that card, kicked it and it landed neatly on top of the half pile in her left hand. Drac's brows rose impressed with her skills. Camilla's arms were crossed but one hand lifted and a finger traced her lips as she watched with sharp eyes also seeming taken by the moves. Bridget stretched her arms wide and the cards jumped from her left hand into her right. She went to drop and kick the deck but the cards instead went everywhere.

"Oh! I keep messing up that last bit." Bridget said apologetically but with her beaming smile, "But it's okay. I'll get there. Let me clean this up real quick."

She took off her headphones as Drac stepped forward, "I got it." and with a snap of his fingers the fifty two cards piled themselves back together in his hand.

"Wow." Bridget said grinning as she accepted the deck from him, "That is so amazing."

Drac didn't get complimented on his magic often, usually people just gave him stares of awe or looked uneasy. He blushed and looked down at his shoes.

"Wow your room." Chloe gawked, "It's so wonderful."

"Oh yeah, thanks. It reminds me of home."

"Where I come from, there's a rule against all of this." Red said pointing around the room.

"Who's against fun?" Bridget asked making it sound like the silliest thing she'd ever heard.

"Our Queen. A.k.a., my mom."

"Oh."

"She also, hates my style, the way I think, ya know, everything about me."

"I'm sorry Red. I can't imagine having a mom like that."

Red shrugged as her mask of indifference fell just a bit and showed her inner sadness, "She's the only one I've ever known."

"Well, if I was your mom, I'd love to have a daughter who thinks for herself." Red looked shaken, emotionally so touched she didn't know how to respond.

"Oh wow." Camilla said turning to a mirror shaped compact on the dresser. "Is that the looking glass?"

"Yeah, you've heard of it?" Bridget asked.

"It's one of the most powerful magical objects in all the kingdoms, of course I've heard about it."

"It was a gift. It's been in the Wonderland royal line for ages."

"I wish my mother had something so incredible that had been passed down."

"What's it do?" Chloe asked.

"It shows you the future."

"Have you looked?" Red asked.

"No! No, no, no. I love surprises, I mean why would I want to spoil the future? I'm sure, it'll be wonderful." she squealed happily.

"Anyway. We were hoping you might be able to help us find a cookbook." Red said changing the subject.

"Yeah, well then you've got the right girl!" Bridget said excitedly, "I have. . . every cookbook ever."

"Even the sorcerer's cookbook?"

"Hm. Let me look." she put her headphones back on and headed to her shelves. Red took the opportunity to snatch the looking glass.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked.

Red hushed her and whispered, "Checking on how things are going back home."

"Have you ever used it before?" Drac asked.

Red hesitated, "No. My mom never let me. She said I had to earn it."

She flipped open the mirror. Chloe crowded beside Red so Camilla and Drac couldn't see what it showed, but they could hear it.

"Ah Charming." the Queen's voice echoed from it as the sound of struggling could be heard. "So nice to see you again."

"Where is she? Where's Cinderella!"

"Why? Are you looking for these?"

"What have you done?" he asked and a smashing sound was his only answer.

"Not so funny now? Am I?"

"No. . . wha-. . . no. No! NO!"

The Queen's laughter echoed in the background as Red slapped shut the mirror.

"Okay, so. . . not good." she said, then noticed Chloe's sad eyes and rubbed her arm in comfort.

"That's weird." Bridget said taking her headphones off and she turned back to them, "I thought I had them all. Well, except for the banned ones."

"Where would we find the banned ones?" Red asked.

"We. . . don't. They're dangerous. That's why Principal Merlin locked them up in his office. And enchanted them so no troublemakers can get their hands on them."

Red and Chloe shared a look while Drac exchanged one with Camilla, trying to be discreet knowing Bridget was still standing right there.

"Hey Bridget." Camilla said turning to her, "No one's showed me where the dining hall is and, I'm sure the good stuff for breakfast is already gone but –"

"Oh, no worries." She said with a smile, "The trays are enchanted to restock themselves."

"Really?" Drac lit up, exaggerating his excitement for the distractions sake. "Wanna come with us?"

"Sure!" she beamed happy to have made more new friends besides Ella, "Just give me a minute to get dressed and we can all head there together!"

Breakfast with Bridget had been. . . magical, for lack of a better term. Drac had eaten wayyy too much of the French Toast, but there were just so many good options. Nutella, banana and strawberry French toast. Cookies and cream French toast. Chocolate Dreamer French toast with brownie bites, chocolate chips and chocolate drizzle. Strawberry cheesecake French toast – and those were just today's options. Bridget said they changed them daily.

"Someone overdid it." Camilla commented with a chuckle as he plopped down on Chloe's bed and she sat on the corner.

"We're in mission mode." He defended, resting his hands on his gorged stomach, "I need my strength."

Red and Chloe however, had nibbled at their food, exchanging anxious looks and bouncing their legs under the table. Red had turned her omelet into scrambled eggs with her fork and Chloe had been absentmindedly spreading cream cheese on her bagel until she had a small mountain of it she tried to hide with embarrassed blushing cheeks.

Now back at the room things hadn't improved much. The girl's anxious energy made Chloe pace the floor while Red chewed on her nails.

"Now that we know where the book is, I think the solution is clear." Chloe said.

"For sure." Red nodded. "There's only one option."

"Yeah, it's time to tell Principal Merlin. We need to come clean, he can help us."

"No." Red rejected the idea immediately, "Help us? You think he's just going to hand over a banned book because we asked him?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Yeah, we do it ourselves. We break in and steal it. That's what Uliana's gonna do. Unless we get there first." Red said with confidence and Drac nodded along. It was like with the Madam Mim situation, no one knew what was going on until Mal and the others decided to take the situation into their own hands.

But Chloe looked appalled. "You want to break in? To the principal's office? It's enchanted! And Castlecoming is tomorrow! We only have one shot to get this right, and your idea is to steal?"

"And your plan is to go tell the teacher? You're such a goody-goody."

"I'd rather be a goody-goody then a bad person."

Red scoffed. "You sound like your mom."

"Thank you."

"And how'd that work out for her?"

It went silent.

Even Drac and Camilla exchanged a glance. That was harsh. It crossed the line, way, way over the line.

"Wow." Chloe said when she found her voice. "You know you are evil, just like your mom."

Red looked like she'd been slapped, but she kept her mask of indifference on, "Maybe, but I'm going to get us out of here."

Poll: What Was Rise of Red's biggest cinema WIN?

New Music

Hades x Maleficent

Brandi back as Cinderella

Rita Ora as the Queen of Hearts