More dark stuff.

Jay was lucky that Jafar had tied him to one of the weakest tables in the shop. They had a large mahogany one near the back with tree trunks for legs that would have been impossible to break. But this one, a flimsy and rickety table that held their lighter bobbles and knickknacks, looked promising.

Jay, still tied closely to the table leg, wrapped his hands around the thin leg and rammed his shoulder against it. With each consecutive push at the wood, his vision blurred more as the noose grew tighter still. But he had to break free. He had to get away. Jafar was only a few feet away and was slowly getting his breath back, though it sounded labored and almost like a slow rattle.

Jafar started to push himself up, and Jay gave a frustrated cry and threw himself forward against the table leg once more. The resulting tug on the rope almost made him pass out as his throat closed. But at the same moment, there was a satisfying 'snap!' as the leg broke away from the table. Jay clutched the severed table leg to his chest as he rolled away. The table teetered for a moment and then tipped sideways. A series of crashes and shattering sounds followed as assorted small items slid down the now slanting table and fell to the floor.

Jay was on his feet and out the door in an instant. Not looking back, he sprinted down the alley outside, heading for the nearest safe place he knew.

What seemed like ages later, but had actually only been a few minutes, Jay was throwing himself against Mother Gothel's door. He called for her, pleading for her to open the door as he continuously slammed his shoulder against her door. His hands were still bound, and the table leg was in his hands so that it wouldn't drag on the ground and pull on the noose around his neck.

What if she wasn't awake? He knew Jafar would likely follow him, and then what? Would Jafar kill him? Would he drag him back to the shop and continue his advances on Jay?

Jay's face was wet from tears. Or maybe some of it was blood. He thought it was likely both because he was definitely crying. He was scared, and the all too familiar feeling of suffocation from feeling trapped in his father's clutches was making him dizzy with adrenaline. And his head hurt. He had hit it on the table when he fell, and it felt like his hair was wet and sticky. Definitely blood.

"Please," Jay called through the door.

He nearly fell down again when the door was suddenly wrenched open. He had been leaning against it, winded from his efforts to get her attention or, alternatively, break it down. He stumbled inside, and Mother Gothel shut the door.

"Jay! What...what's going on? What has he done to you?!" She was staring at him, standing there in her nightgown as she took in the sight that he must be.

"We went to Auradon," Jay explained in a hurry. He tried to pull his hands apart, hoping that being free from the table would have loosened the bonds a bit. This snapped Mother Gothel back into action, and she disappeared into her kitchen. She returned with a knife and began cutting him loose. "I met...I met my mom. But Ben, he sent us back. Said he would think about taking us back. But, Dad...he...he was waiting up. And he..." He swallowed and decided on the clean version of the story. Telling her the truth of what Jafar had been about to do to him would have just made it worse in his mind. "He attacked me."

"You-" Mother Gothel began, but she stopped abruptly when something outside slammed against her front door.

Jay shook off the rope from his hands. She had managed to finish cutting through it just before Jafar had arrived. He pulled the noose loose and slipped it from his head. He watched Mother Gothel and then the front door, nervous as he stood there rubbing his neck and wrists. They felt bruised.

"JAY!" Jafar roared. Then they heard heavy breathing, and Jay was almost sure that meant the combination of breaking his ribs and having run after him to Mother Gothel's had severely hurt his oxygen supply. "Open. This. Door." There was a pause. Then the doorknob twisted, and the door opened.

Then realization seemed to dawn on both Mother Gothel and Jay. In their rush to get Jay inside and untied, they had forgotten to lock the door.

But it was too late. Jafar was already over the threshold, staring them down like a cobra ready to strike.

He slammed the door and rounded on Mother Gothel first. "You," he snarled. "Been patching him up all this time? I should have known." He advanced on her and grabbed her hair, forcing her head back. When she tried to turn the kitchen knife on him, he grabbed her wrist and forced it away.

Jay lunged forward. "Dad, don't! Stop. It's me you want. It's me you're angry at. Leave her out of this," he pleaded.

Jafar turned an appraising gaze on him, and he slowly smiled, showing his crooked teeth. "I would, Jay. But you dragged her into this, didn't you? Only fitting that she becomes part of your punishment."

Before Jay could move. Before he could say anything, Jafar had snatched the knife from Mother Gothel's hand. In an flash, he slashed it across her throat. Blood splattered Jay, but he didn't even notice. His heart had clenched painfully as he had seen Mother Gothel's eyes go wide. Then Jafar let her body drop to the floor.

"Now, you-"

But Jay didn't let his father finish. A horrified sort of rage had swept over him the instant Mother Gothel's body had hit the floor in a pile of limbs and gushing blood. He surged forward, forgetting everything else except the fact that he wanted to wipe that hideous, revolting smirk off his father's face. In the split second that Jafar glanced back to the lifeless body at his feet, Jay grabbed the knife from his hand and plunged it into his chest. Nothing but the handle was seen, meaning six inches of metal now resided in Jafar's heart.

Jafar gaped at Jay, a glazed look immediately taking over his eyes. He didn't even draw another breath. He pitched sideways and collapsed, dead.

The adrenaline still pounding in his ears, Jay froze. What had he done? He looked at the two lifeless bodies in front of him and felt the overwhelming urge to cry blossom in his chest and push up into his throat. This wasn't how he had wanted things to go. Mother Gothel had cared for him for years, and now because Jay had involved her, she was dead. And his father...well, he had never really liked Jafar but that didn't mean he wanted him dead. He was still his father. He had just wanted to get away from him. Just wanted the abuse to stop.

He fled, unable to look at the scene any longer. So much blood. Two lives snuffed out in a matter of one single minute. Less than that really.

He didn't even watch where he was going. All he knew was that he had to get to Mal. She lived closest, and well, even if she didn't, that's who he needed to see. But what would she say? What would happen? What would-

He ran into someone, knocking them down.

"Hey!" It was Carlos. "Oh. Jay?"

Jay stared down at the boy in front of him. He took a step back, shaking his head. He was covered in blood. It was in his hair, on his hands, splattered across his face and chest from the spray, and probably on his boots.

"Jay, what's-"

"He killed her," Jay said, and fresh tears streamed down his face. "Jafar killed Mother Gothel. I killed him. I...I killed him." He whispered the last part in horror. Then he took off running, this time sprinting in the direction of Mal's loft.

Carlos didn't follow. He lay there in the street for several long minutes, processing what Jay had told him. The four of them had barely been back on the Isle for half an hour, and something like this had already happened? All he had done was walk Evie home and was now headed back to Hell Hall, and in that time Jay had killed Jafar?

Thoughts buzzed in Carlos's mind as he tried to decide what to do. In the end, he decided not to pursue Jay. That wouldn't help him. That wouldn't help anyone if in the morning the other Isle inhabitants began to wake up and took notice of Jafar's and Mother Gothel's absences. There would be questions. Maybe even an investigation. Who really knew?

No, if Carlos was certain of anything, it was that they had to leave. Again. Whatever it took. But this time, he had a different idea of how to do it. A much quicker one than building a new device to bust through the barrier. Something simple. Something...something loud.

I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I love hearing your thoughts, so please leave a review. :)

Foarrin