Space Between

Chapter 1: Return to the Isle of the Lost

Seventeen year old Evie got herself dressed into clothes she thought she'd never have to wear again. If someone had told her six months ago that she would be living in the great kingdom of Auradon and attending school at Auradon Prep, she would have thought that person was crazy. But here she was: living her dream in the royal city.

Being the daughter of the Evil Queen, Evie was raised to believe that beauty was everything, and her only goal in life was to marry a prince. Ever since moving to Auradon, she has learned that she can be way more than just a pretty face. She was able to display her intelligence to the world and even open her own fashion designing business: Evie's 4 Hearts. She also realized she didn't need a prince as she fell in love with an intelligent boy named Doug, who was the son of Dopey.

Evie had feared returning to the Isle of the Lost. She never admitted it while living there, but her life was terrible before moving to Auradon. She had never wanted to return, but the situation her and her friends were in, they had no choice. Mal, daughter of Maleficent, had ran away to the Isle. King Ben, son of Beast and Belle and boyfriend to Mal, was determined to get her back. However, there was no way Evie was letting him go on his own. He knew nothing about the Isle and how it worked. Evie decided to go with him while bringing Jay, son of Jafar, and Carlos, son of Cruella De Vil, with them.

Evie adjusted the zippers on her outfit. She seemed to be wearing a blue, long sleeve dress made of leather. Her pants were mostly black, and her shoes were black with some gold accents and a heart on top. Evie slipped on her red, fingerless gloves before grabbing her bag. She looked at herself in the mirror before leaving. She opened the door of her the dorm room she shared with Mal slowly. She didn't want to alarm anyone and get their attention of what she was doing. She ran down the hall and met up with Jay and Carlos.

"What's in the bag?" Jay asked.

"Ben's new look," she replied. "He can't show up on the Isle looking all kingly and such. He needs to blend in."

"Just hope he's able to act like he belongs on the Isle," Carlos said reminding the other two that Ben had no idea how to act while they were on the Isle.

Both Evie and Jay sighed after being reminded of that. The three VKs began to make their way over to Ben's home in the castle. The boys could tell Evie was nervous and distressed about returning to the Isle. 'Don't worry," Jay said. "We'll get Mal back."

"I know," Evie replied with a sigh. "But she's not the one I'm worried about."

Both boys looked at her in confusion. "Ben?" Carlos asked. Evie shook her head indicating Carlos' guess was wrong. "Then who?"

"Someone I should have went back for six months ago," Evie said. Tears began to fall down her face as she thought about the person that was on her mind. By now, the boys knew exactly who she was talking about.

"Hey," Carlos said with a comforting voice. "I'm sure she's doing fine."

"I don't know Carlos," Evie responded. "My mother always believed she wasn't as pretty as me. She didn't care for her the same way she did for me, and she didn't even care for me that much. I don't even want to think what mother has done to her while I was gone. I just hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she is," Jay said interrupting. "But we need to hurry if we're gonna get Mal back by tomorrow morning." Evie and Carlos nodded in response before they started booking it to the castle.

"Hey," Ben said as he saw the VKss approach his room. "My parents or any of the guards didn't see you right?"

"I don't think so," Jay replied.

Evie began pulling clothes out of her bag. "Put these on," she said handing them to Ben. Ben nodded and got changed quickly. "Okay, let's go."

The four teenagers ran outside to where a limo was parked. "Jay, keys, remote," Ben said as he handed Jay everything he needed to drive to the Isle.

"Wait!" Evie said frantically. "Something's wrong." All the boys gave her a worried looks. Though it seemed like something was wrong, Evie only adjusted Ben's beanie. "There," she said as the beanie was now where she liked it. Even when the situation was bad, Evie still took her sense of fashion with her.

"Shotgun!" a voice yelled. They all turned around to face Carlos' dog Dude. Evie, Ben, and Jay looked at the talking dog in shock. All of them wondered how the heck that even happened.

"No Dude. Stay," Carlos told the dog. "The Isle is way too dangerous." Dude sat in defeat.

Jay was the the first one to process what had happened. "Did he just-"

"Talk? Yeah I know. Tell you later."

As the teenagers entered the limo, Evie began giving directions. "Okay, once we cross the bridge, park under the pier in the old garage. Got it?

"Got it," Jay replied.

Evie stared out the window as they crossed the bridge over to the Isle. It really was a magical sight, especially at night. She prayed getting Mal was going to be easy. She and the other VKs already had an idea of where she would be. Evie just couldn't get her mind off the person she was thinking about earlier.

Evie began digging through her bag. She pulled out a necklace that was in the shape of a heart with a crown on top. She had wanted to wear it but decided it was best if she didn't. She didn't know if they were going to run into any trouble. Being that it was the Isle, it was almost inevitable that something bad was going to happen. Evie couldn't risk losing something that meant so much to her. She looked at the necklace and sighed. "I really hope you're alright," she whispered to herself before putting the necklace back in her bag.

Carlos patted Evie's knee. "You alright?" he whispered.

Evie nodded as he let out a little "Yeah."

Before they knew it, they were in the old garage under the pier. The teens exited the car quickly hoping no one would see them. "Ben," Carlos said as he spotted a tarp. "Help me with this tarp." Ben began pulling the tarp as well. "Jay," Carlos said as he motioned he was gonna throw it over the limo.

"Got it," he replied as he caught the other side of the tarp. Him and Evie began covering their side of the limo.

"It's really weird being back here," Evie told Jay.

"We'll get in and get out," Jay said reassuring her. Evie nodded with his response.

"Hey guys, keep it chill, alright?" Carlos said. "The last thing we need is our parents figuring out we're here." They all nodded as they continued their way on the Isle.

While walking, two kids surrounded Evie. A boy stopped her in her tracks while a girl reached for her wallet. "Hey! Hey! Stop!" she yelled as she grabbed the arms of both kids. Evie saw fear in their eyes. It was then something sparked inside of Evie. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt the emotional side of her build up. She looked into the little girl's eyes; it reminded her of herself and another young girl she knew. She remembered jumping threw so many hoops just to survive on the Isle.

"Just take it." Evie released her grip on the children's arms, and the little girl grabbed the wallet. She looked at it with delight before running off giggling. "Go on," she said as she directed the children to run in the opposite direction of where she was going. "Ugh, Ben," Evie groaned as she had noticed Ben had walked off. Evie, Jay, and Carlos lightly jogged to catch up with the young king.

Evie wasn't sure what happened, but something in her heart was trying to say something. The more Evie thought about those children, the more she thought about the safety and well being of the person that had been floating around in her mind. The Isle was no place for kids; Evie had experienced growing up on the Isle first hand, so she would know.