Carlos walked around the room, his hands going over the smooth rock walls, he wasn't sure what he was hoping to find, as of yet every inch of space he had covered was solid. He walked over to the window to look out, he could just make out the back roof of the kitchen of Hell Hall. The slit of the window was no more than 6 inches wide, just barely enough to let some sun light in. He knew the royal guards had left the isle already, he heard them heading back to the bridge. They didn't look very hard thought Carlos. There was no way the guards could cover the whole isle in less than a day. They didn't even bother checking all the rooms of the houses. They probably hadn't even looked in all the rooms in Hell Hall. The boy put his arm out the window and felt the warm rock on his arm, if only the little space were a tiny bit bigger he could squeeze through. He tried to sit on the edge of the window but the shackle on his ankle reminded him that his leash wasn't very long. He pulled his arm back in and felt a sharp pain. He looked down at his forearm and saw a long scratch on it, not too deep, but enough to feel. Carlos glanced out the window and looked closer, there was a small nail in the side of the rock, he tried to pull it out but it was stuck tight.

Carlos pulled off his sneaker and tied the laces to the small nail hanging outside his window. Then lay down on the floor where the tiny ray of sun in the room was warming the stones, hoping it would give him a little warmth.

/

The boat ride over was long and uncomfortable, handcuffs make it hard to steady yourself when the barge rocked and the smell of the hold was nauseating, filled with all the Auradon leftovers in one cramped space. It took the goblins two hours to unload all the cargo, and then waited another 20 minutes for any stragglers from the isle to leave the area before opening up the brig and bringing Mal, Evie, and Jay to the main deck. They took off the handcuffs and pushed them towards the gangplank.

Mal rubbed her wrists and looked about the grey, dingy isle; she had not expected to be back here again. She looked at Evie and Jay, they both seemed nervous and worried. They quickly headed towards Hell Hall. A few people looked at them suspiciously but most ignored them, when the three neared Hell Hall they found a place to hide before approaching, just to make sure Cruella wasn't home. Her car was gone, so that was a good sign. Carefully they jumped the fence and headed over to the back of the house.

Mal peeked in the window. "I don't think he's been here for a couple days."

"How can you tell?" Jay asked.

"The kitchen is a mess. Cruella would never let him get away with that if he was there. Even if she locked him in the closet it was never more than several hours, she always let him out and made him clean." The purple haired girl explained as she crouched back down to not be seen.

Jay hit her arm with his hand to get her attention, he pointed up at Evil Queens castle, there hanging out of a window in one of the tallest towers was Carlos' sneaker.

Evie gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, "no" she said faintly. She'd been locked in that tower room more times than she cared to remember. Evie led the way into the castle and through the maze of halls, rooms, staircases, and passage ways that led up to the tower that they assumed Carlos was in. As they approached there was a soft whimpering sound that told them they were in the right direction. At the top of a tall staircase was a big wooden door, Mal looked through the keyhole, she could just barely make out Carlos' form on the other side of the room. She tried the door but wasn't surprised to find it locked. She gave Jay a nod and he had the door open in a moment. They pushed the door open and entered the room.

"Carlos!" Mal said and froze the boy was standing up with Cruella behind him pulling his hair with one hand and a knife to his throat with the other. It was pressed against his neck so hard that the sharp blade had drawn a drop of blood, tears streamed down his face as he tried to stand as still as possible.

"Well don't just stand there, come in." Cruella ordered, the kids walked in.

The door behind them slammed shut and Mal, Evie, and Jay spun around.

"It's so nice of you children to join us." Maleficent said and laughed wickedly.

Mal, Evie, and Jay took a step back as they found themselves face to face with their parents.