Wicked Dawn | 'Till The Night Falls Book 1 (Disney Descendants)

Epilogue: The End Is the Beginning

"Carlos! Come on! You're going to be late to your own birthday party!" Dude howled as he raced across the meadow toward the castle, his master in hot pursuit.

"I'm...coming...!" Carlos gasped.

The two reached the doors and threw them open a moment later. There, they found Jane waiting for them impatiently, her trusty clipboard in hand. "Hi..." she stammered, wide-eyed, clearly terrified.

Her appearance took Carlos' breath away. "Hiiiii," he answered, unable to tear his eyes off of her.

Dude, who had plopped down between them, wagged his tail and panted. "Awkward!"

Carlos turned toward him with a deadly glare. "Dude! Cool it!"

Jane laughed nervously and Carlos' gaze snapped back toward her. "Well, shall we go meet the others?" the fairy questioned. Carlos nodded, still stunned, and held out his arm.

Jane took it and, together with Dude, the three of them set off.

                                                                                                      ***
Evie glanced out from the party and the laughter, spotting him standing alone on the ridge just beyond the outskirts of the celebration. Again. She sighed. "Mal!" she called. She handed off her tray of fruit punch to the purple-haired girl. "Thanks," she told her, not taking her eyes off of Doug. "I won't be long."

Mal frowned and nodded but said nothing as Evie opened the back door and headed out into the cool autumn breeze.

"Hey," Evie whispered as she reached his side and followed his gaze toward the distant mountains. "What's going on? What are you thinking about?"

Doug exhaled carefully before answering. "My mother," he replied, skipping right past the pleasantries without looking at her. "I...lied...before...when I said that I didn't care. I do. I really want to know everything. I need to know. It's...it's part of me. Part of who I am."

"Yeah," Evie hummed, not knowing what else to say. She'd never seen Doug like this before.

"I'm going to find her." Doug turned toward her now, the determination hard in his eyes. "Evie, I'm going to leave for a while. Ben's already gotten permission for me to miss school." He smiled wryly at the thought. Him. Skipping school. "I don't expect you to understand, but, this is something that I just have to do." It was obvious he'd been rehearsing this, which made Evie wonder how long he'd been planning it. Ever since they got back, she guessed. "I understand if you're mad, but--"

"Doug," Evie cut him off there, stepping forward to take his hand. "It's okay. I understand."

He stopped. "You do?"

She nodded. "Of course. She's a part of you and you need to know the truth. Which is why I am coming with you."

"Evie, you don't --"

"I know. But I want to. I told you before, Doug, we're in this together."

He hesitated, a nervous expression flashing behind his glasses. And then, he turned fully to face her. "Thank you." She started to speak. "No. Really. Thank you. Evie, you did so much more than become a hero when you came to Auradon. You changed me. And I'm better because of it. And...and...I love you."

She looked down at him and smiled. "I love you too. Now, come on." She turned and began dragging him back toward the festivities. "We have a party to crash."

                                                                                      ***
Beyond seven hills and seven rivers, she stood. Her flowing red hair, her merciless dark eyes. She gazed into a cloud of gray smoke, watching the dwarf as he celebrated with his friends. A small smile crept onto her face. A smile of evil and wickedness. For he may have fooled her once, but, soon, it would be her turn. And then they would all pay.

Suddenly, she glanced up and her hair flickered from red to black and back again. Her smirk continued to grow as she turned away from the smoke and faced the distant lights of Auradon, far away, yet shining brighter than a beacon. And soon, it would all be hers.

"What? You didn't think this was the end of the story...did you?"