Chapter 83: Dead Alive

Carlos sighs as he heads back to Mr. Gold's shop again. It was almost becoming his second home in this tiny town; mostly due to the desire to see his mother… his alternate mother. He knew he should be back helping his friends find a way home, but in the meantime, it seems that all of them were actually bonding with their parents… the parents they deserved. It just didn't seem fair that all of theirs were alive while his mom was deceased. Killed by Emma apparently.

He had to ask his mother for more details. Emma Swan did not seem like the person who would kill randomly or for no reason. Sure Cruella was a villain, but so was Regina, Maleficent and Captain Hook and they have somehow been forgiven for their pasts and are living happy lives here. Why was his mother killed while all the other villains were allowed to live? He needed to know more and the only way was to make a portal and bring her here.

Jane's face enters his mind as he slips inside the shop and he gasps. The smell of furniture polish, dust and grime goes unnoticed due to his constant presence there and the thought of his girlfriend. Her beautiful eyes make him pause at the entrance and think everything over. It did kill him that he had to leave Jane again. The two were in the "honeymoon" part of their relationship, never wanting to be apart for very long and just spending as much time as they could together. She was the best thing that ever happened to him and here he was keeping all these secrets from her. She could tell that something was wrong with him, he could hear it in her voice, but he just couldn't tell her. It was his secret to bear; he wasn't even telling his best friends which was something else that he hated. They would all try to talk him out of it, but he wanted to meet his mother… have any semblance of a normal relationship with a parent. They couldn't understand, especially Jane who had always had a loving mother to support and love her. No one got it, only him.

He sounded like a broken record, repeating the same thoughts over and over to the point where he felt dizzy and his head was throbbing from the pain. It seemed as if he was searching for justification for his actions.

He finds the mirror and removes the sheet. He pricks his finger and waits as the clouded glass swirls until it reveals the red-tinted world of what was known as "Underbrooke." He waited patiently knowing that his mother was so concerned about self-image that she'd find her way to a reflective surface eventually. Sometimes, it seemed that the woman's ego was more beneficial than not.

Soon enough, his patience pays off. Cruella De Vil steps in front of a mirror and lets out a yelp of surprise. She wears the same fur coat as before and her makeup is done to her version of "flawless" perfection, but she still insists on admiring herself at every angle.

She's about to start yelling at him, but then remembers what he'd done for her. He is her ticket out of this Hell.

"Darling, how are you?" she says with a voice filled with fake sweetness and care.

"I'm okay Mo… Ms. De Vil and I have some good news for you."

"You do?"

Carlos reaches into his pocket and holds up the piece of paper.

"What is that?"

"The recipe for the portal potion."

The woman's blue eyes light up in utter delight. A spark of hope fills her entire body and her ruby red lips open up into a smile and a gasp of delight. It was a genuine smile of joy, but for a very different reason than her "son" would be expecting. She could do it! She could come back to the land of the living and get back everything that she wanted. The cars, the jewels, the furs, the booze, her attack dogs, her revenge. She wanted to finally put a stop to the blonde Saviour, make her end up here instead. Or maybe she'd kill the pirate again, cause blondie even more pain… or perhaps the sailor can replace her former sheriff boy toy. How she missed James and his sadistic hatred. That Charming deserves a bit of revenge as well.

"Oh, Carlton…"

"Carlos," he corrects. The mispronunciation stung a bit and those repeating doubts surface again, but he ignores them.

"Carlos, oh Puppy I'm sorry. Mommy has had a hectic day, and she's a little tired."

The teen forces himself to smile weakly.

"S'okay," he whispers.

"Oh Puppy, I am so proud of you. With this recipe, we can finally meet each other!"

The son swallows. "I'd like that."

"So, will I. I can be alive again and oh my darling little Cricket, we will have so much fun. I want to show you how to enjoy the finer things in life. The best things in life can only be enjoyed with another."

Lying was second nature to the villainess. She could make this gullible child believe anything as long as she said it with forced enthusiasm. It was not quite as forced as it had been before with the brat had come into her afterlife. She had hope of escaping and it filled her with actual delight… a rarity for her these past few years. Perhaps the airheaded snow princess was on to something about that hope thing. It can be a powerful and motivating thing. She'd never felt so alive!

"The thing is, how do I get it to you. I don't know if you want to write down the instructions or take a picture."

"Oh Cricket, I wish I could but sadly my phone did not follow me into the afterlife and to copy it down might take too long…" Plus it might ruin her manicure.

"There must be something we can do," Carlos says. He too is filling with hope. Even if his relationship with his other mother is going to be a bit rocky, at least they have a shot at it.

"Plus, if they discover that the page is gone, the heroes might try to poof it back. We have to find a way to get rid of the page, but still, allow me to have it."

"Could I send it to you somehow?"

The woman in the fur coat ponders this, her manicured nails tapping her chin.

"Perhaps my child, what sort of ways can one communicate with the dead?"

For a brief moment, she regrets destroying the Haunting Booths in town, allowing the dead to communicate with the living. However, that regret dissipates immediately as she'd done so under Hades' orders to destroy the hope in the Underworld, particularly the Charmings' when they were there. But perhaps she could take such a concept and reverse it for her benefit.

"An Ouija board?" Carlos suggests.

"Don't be absurd darling."

"A medium?" he suggests.

"I am sure that most of them are frauds." She knew this as she'd run such a scam in the past.

"Then I don't know."

Cruella, while impatient to get her hands on that recipe, knew that some careful thinking and planning must be done.

"I am sure there is a way… we just have to find it."

An idea enters the vain woman's mind.

"I think this is what we need to do Duckie. We need to do some… how you say it… research. Just about contacting the dead. There must be some way we can do it."

Carlos' face falls a bit, hating that he would have to do more reading and work. It was such a hassle to steal the one page in the first place, but it could be all worth it in the end.

"Okay," he nods.

"Excellent. When you do find something, please get back into contact with me."

"Bye Ms. De Vil."

"Oh Carlos, you can call me Mummy."

A spark of hope lit up in the boy's eyes and he has to stop himself from crying.

"Okay, Mom…"

…

When the glass fogs over again, the son of Cruella stands up, putting the recipe back in his pocket. He'd have to hide it somewhere that it could not easily be found or poofed back, as his mother had put it.

He starts to exit the shop when a sudden wave of energy nearly knocks him down. Everything in the shop rattles violently, in fact, the place seems to shift a few inches from this… strange earthquake. His head begins to throb but it is a different kind of pain this time. Like something is fighting to get out but he's not sure what. He steadies himself against the counter before heading towards the exit, the new mission in his head.

A/N: Another chapter for the ever-patient fans. Thank you for all your love and support, it means the absolute world to me. Please follow and review.