HELLFIRE

⚓️ EXTRA ~ FIRST TRIP TO THE ISLE ⚓️

Nails dug half-crescent shapes into the soft palm of her hand as the time passed. Sat alone in the empty cottage, Maddy watched as the hand ticked along. Each hour felt like a lifetime and each second felt like a year. For the first time since she had arrived at Auradon, the VKs were going back to the Isle of the Lost. Except this time they had permission to go, they would take resources with them and they were being attempting to fix up the Isle.

As a child from Auradon and the Isle, Mal would fulfil her duties by striving to mend the relationship between the two places. It would be the first step to repairing the damage that had been caused when King Adam condemned the children of the villain's to a life of evil and abuse. It would be the first step in a monumental moment from history.

And Maddy wasn't a part of it.

Hurt from Uma leaving her behind on the Isle and torn between whether she enjoyed life in Auradon, Maddy had opted to stay home so she could sort through her feelings and clear her head.

Whilst she would give anything to be back in Harry's arms, she wasn't entirely sure she was prepared to go back to the wretched place she had once called home. Unpleasant feelings resurfaced every time the Isle was mentioned, or she recalled how it looked. They were hidden beneath the pleasant emotions of love for her friends and family, but she could not ignore the bubbling feeling of panic and anxiety.

Jay, Carlos, Evie and Mal (accompanied by some guards) had left in the early hours of the morning so they could make the most of the day. They had promised to return before dinner but the sun was beginning to set and the worry was increasing.

What if they had bumped into their manipulative parents?
And were now receiving verbal abuse? What if they were stuck on the Isle and the barrier had magically closed forever? With no way of ever getting back to her?

Chewing at her lip, she began pacing back and forth as the last of the daylight vanished from Auradon and the streetlights outside flickered on.

Wandering throughout each room of the house, Maddy closed all the curtains and flicked on the lamps of the rooms that would hopefully soon be occupied. Just as she was about to grab her jacket and rush up to the castle to bother Ben about whether they were safe, or coming back, or trapped forever, Maddy heard voices coming up the path.

Rushing to the door, she opened and beamed at her family. Maddy was eager to hear news of the Isle and dreading if Harry or Gil came up. However, her face fell upon seeing the state of Jay.

A gasp slipped past her pink lips as he came closer to the light and she saw the full extent of the damage done to his face. One eye was black and his nose was bloody and swollen and looking crooked. Bruises were blooming across his cheeks and jaw, and there was a cut on his lip and forehead.

"Jay, what the hell happened to you?! Are you alright?!" Maddy asked frantically, pulling him under the light to inspect his wounds. "Evie, get the first aid kit."

"It's fine." Jay grumbled, pulling out of Maddy's hold. "Nothing happened."

"That's not nothing, Jay." Maddy scolded, reaching for him once more.

Hurt flickered across her features when the tall, tan boy shuffled away from her, refusing to meet her purple eyes. Never before had Jay brushed her off like that, he was always willing to lean into her embrace. Always ready for her affection and attention, especially when he was hurt (she pampered him like a little baby).

"I said it was fine. Leave it alone," he said through gritted teeth before storming off to his room.

Tears filled her purple eyes, but she refused to let them fall. No longer wishing to hear about the tales of the Isle, Maddy turned on her heel and marched into her own bedroom, leaving the other three VKs to stand awkwardly in the living room.