Survive

                "We all did what we had to do... to survive," Evie spoke soothingly as the four VKs sat in the grass together on the lawn. No matter how hard they had tried to fit in, none of them would ever be like any of the kids from Auradon. Their pasts were a part of them and they couldn't forget it or fake it for that matter. Evie made it clear for all of them that day. All they could do was adapt to the new Auradonian lifestyle instead of trying to change who they were or change their past.

"We are never going to be like anyone else here," Evie continued. "And that's okay. That's okay."

Mal knew that for sure. The practical torture the four of them had been through on the Isle would never be experienced by any of the privileged Auradon kids. They didn't have criminals and murderers for parents. Auradon kids would never know what it was like to pray that they would see the sun rise the next morning. The living conditions of the Isle were never addressed in Auradon, let alone known by anyone accept guards who would occasionally visit it. The only people who understood the pain the four VKs had experienced was themselves. They had each other through thick and thin, most often thick. The abuse they all faced from their parents in various ways impacted them all differently. For some it was torturous, but infrequent. For others, it was mild but never-ending. Their only way of survival all those years, had been each other.

***

Shouting rang out through the echoing corridor as the troubled girl sprinted at full speed. Her purple hair wrapped around her neck like a noose as she ran out into the streets of the Isle. She dashed past dirt covered inhabitants of the prison island and made her way through to the marketplace. She could hear more yells coming from behind her and the sounds of chaos as people ran to seek shelter. She slipped through the crowd of people in front of her, those who had yet to see the horrid beast chasing her. Had the marketplace been any less crowded, it would've snatched her with its claws, dull that afternoon but sharp every other day.

She reached the edge of the stores and grabbed a rock the size of a baseball, hurling it at a yellow, diamond shaped sign covered in dents from years of abuse. The girl, now beginning to cry, ran up four flights of stairs to the only place she felt safe. She passed a mosaic glass wall and walked through the first doorway, immediately comforted by the sight of another girl sitting on a bed across the room. The second girl had flowing blue hair, much nicer looking than the purpled haired girl. The girl's name was Evie. She wore a white and blue t-shirt with a red apple painted on the front. A skirt, matching the deep blue shade of her hair covered the top half of her legs, crossed over the edge of the bed. She sat peacefully painting her nails, undisturbed by the loudness coming from the marketplace outside. The girl was used to it. Every day the same chaos came and went, for her it had just become a way of living. She was the kind of person to try and stand out but remain silent at the same time. Rather soft spoken, the girl expressed herself with fashion rather than with words.

The purple haired girl, tears marking her cheeks and leaving behind clear paths on her dirt stricken face, quickly walked over to the girl she spotted when she first came in.

The second girl gasped at the sudden appearance of her friend.

"Mal, you startled me!" Evie spoke. Her tone quickly changed to concern after seeing the expression on Mal's face. "It happened again?"

The crying girl nodded and sat down next to the taller girl, her arms hugging herself.

"M, what happened?" the blue haired girl asked, her voice calm and quiet. Mal shook her head rapidly, not wanting to relive what she had just experienced. Her arms dropped to her lap in defeat. Evie reached for Mal's left hand, quickly noticing the cuts and bruises scattered along the girl's arms, chest, and neck. It was quiet clearly one of the worst times this had happened to Mal. Evie hadn't seen her beat up this badly in months. She slowly put her arm around the damaged girl and was careful not to hurt her any more than she already had been.