*WARNING: Mention of abuse and sexual assault; if this is triggering or disturbing to you please do not read*
A/N: Sorry for such an extended wait compared to my previous updates. If you could, please read my end notes. And enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Eleven: A Shift

In the early evening, Carlos was disturbed by Jasper propping open his door and rapping on the doorframe to get his attention. It was unusual to say the slightest, because normally no one, except maybe his mother, came to bother him in his room.
"Someone at the door for you."

As he headed down the stairs, he expected to see Jay at his doorstep. Or maybe even Evie, but that was a quiet hope in his head. One of the last persons he expected to see at his door was Gil. He paused at the base of the staircase, somewhat surprised, before making his way towards the door, where Gil was standing just on the inside.
"Uh, hey, Gil."
"Hey, Carlos. Do you mind if I come in for a bit?"

Carlos glanced over his shoulder back towards the dining room where he could hear the drunken laughter of his mother and her cronies. He was sure that none of them would notice or bother to question him if they saw Gil coming in.
"Sure, come on in." He led Gil up the stairs back to his room and shut the door, making sure to lock so they were not disturbed. He took as seat on his bed as Gil took a seat at his desk chair.

"So why are you here, exactly?" he asked. The question came out rather awkwardly. He hoped it didn't sound rude; Carlos and Gil weren't close by any means, but they were on friendly terms.
The story that Gil told him was, well it was interesting and somewhat explicit to say the least. The information that he gave Carlos, about the sighting of the person taking these obscene pictures, along with this creep going as far to steal a used shirt, was even more interesting.
"That's not all though. I thought that maybe you should know about what happened with Evie and Lonnie today."

He was never really well versed in school gossip, normally he was among the last to hear about the news. So to hear that something had happened to Evie and Lonnie was definitely intriguing.
"Should I know what happened?"
"You're not much an extracurricular man, are you Carlos?"
Carlos chuckled. "No, not even chess club."

"Well, Evie has cheerleading and Lonnie has soccer, and both share the field the same time the track team runs. Anyways, I over heard some of the other cheerleaders talking after practice and apparently Evie and Lonnie saw some guy wandering around the girls locker room when they were changing. Lonnie said that he was carrying a camera."
"Are you sure it's the same person you saw in the locker room?" he asked.
Gil nodded. "Pretty sure," he replied. He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes downcast. "I mean, how many creeps can there be in the same school, in the same town? Auradon isn't that big."

Carlos had to admit that Gil did have a point. But it still didn't make any sense to him as why this man- at least Carlos assumed it was a man-would suddenly switch to harassing girls when he had originally been harassing boys.
"I see your point. But...why start targeting girls now?" There was a small silence between the two of them as they each thought of reasons to explain this strange shift of events.

"Well, I don't know if porn sites do this, but sometimes when people submit photos, they get paid for the quality. This person could be doing it for money. Or...maybe he's just going after what's-who's- easiest. The more exposed the better in this case." Again, Carlos had to admit that Gil had a point. And he could understand why someone would do things for money, or go after the easiest pray. But the thought of the culprit took a backseat to the thought of whether he should turn this information over the police or not.

Because he was still itching to get his nose into the police's business. He wanted to know if they were anywhere close in having a suspect, or if they were going to give up with a week or so. There was no homicide or suicide involved in the case, so Carlos assumed that it took the back burner, and if they couldn't find a suspect soon, or if any suspect they found fell through the cracks, then the case would be forgotten. And Carlos really didn't want that this left unsolved, it would drive him crazy.

Uma had begun to feel the hairs on the back of her neck raise whenever she came, sensing that something was not right. The man she had encountered on Sunday evenings had been showing up at the house for the past two days and it was beginning to make Uma paranoid. She wasn't sure what to think of this man, other than the fact that he was a drunk, and he didn't seem to shower regularly. She honestly didn't know what her mother saw in him, or why Ursula kept allowing the man back inside. And for the past two days, whenever Uma came home, there he was, seated in the kitchen as though he was waiting for her personally. The smile that he gave her unsettled her all the more. His teeth were crooked and yellow, and Uma noticed the way he licked his bottom lip when she walked by; it was predatory and every time it sent a chill up her spine. She was sure that sooner or later, he'd try something with her, but Uma couldn't be sure what.

The surprise came three days later, at the end of the week, about an hour after Uma had retired to bed. She was just on the cusp of asleep and awake, so at first, she was sure that what she felt had been the beginnings of a hypnogogic dream. But when she rolled over and found the face of that man staring down at her, her eyes flew open wide, as her brain jumped into alertness as her heart jumped into her throat.
"What the fuck?" she muttered, her words muffled by the hand that was clapped over her mouth. She ripped his hand away from her mouth and threw the covers off of her and slid as far away from the man as possible.

He followed her every move, and moved to stand in front of her. Uma stood and pushed him a step back, trying to gain back some sense of a space bubble. He was still uncomfortably close, and his hands rested on her shoulders and started to roam freely over her body, taking advantage as Uma tried to decide how she should take action. He pushed Uma back onto the bed, forcing her to lay down as he moved to slide over her. His hands interlocked with hers and that stupid yellow grin crawled onto his face. All the while, Uma was internally screaming at herself to do something!

"I really tried to resist," he whispered huskily. "But you are ... much more delicate and pretty to look at than the boys." His lips dusted lightly over her skin before he licked her from neck to ear. Uma shivered, partially in disgust, partially out of fear. She struggled to get her thoughts in order, as many thought trains rushed about, all of them offering her positions on what do about the frightening situation at hand.

Fighting the shock that her brain was in, Uma kneed the man in the groin and used her knees to push him off of her onto the floor. She was on her feet first, and she kicked him in the head for good measure to keep him down longer. She stepped over his body and stumbled her way blindly through the dark towards her door. The only light was from the starlight sky, which was saying, there was next to no light at all. Before she could make it through the threshold of the door, a hand wrapped tightly around her ankle, pulling her to the floor.

Uma grabbed whatever was closest, which happened to be a combat boot and whacked him across the face as hard as she possibly could. She rolled him off of her and got to her feet. He was quick to get to his feet and he ran out her, pinning her to the struggled back and forth for a bit as they each fought to gain power of the situation. She managed to get him into a position where she was able to push him straight out of her room and into the hall. But as she went to slam the door, he jammed his foot in the door and tried to shove his way back in.

"Come on Uma, " he chuckled. "I'll be gentle." He gripped onto the door and tried to force it open. Even though Uma was relatively strong for someone who had such a small stature, she was still no match for this guy. He had a good eighty pounds on her, maybe more. He came barging back into the room, and Uma stumbled back at the sheer force of the door flying back open.

Before she could move out of the way, he was upon her like a lion on it's prey. He grabbed at her hands and pushed her back, forcing her onto the bed. He climbed onto the bed, his knees coming to rest near her ribcage as he sat on her thighs to keep her still. He pulled her wrists together and gripped them with one hand and brought it up above her head.

His free hand roamed lower and lower, while the grip that held her wrists become tighter and tighter. All the other times she had run into this man, he had stunk of alcohol and had been a clumsy buffoon. But tonight, she couldn't smell liquor on him at all, and she thought that that was what made him stronger. And despite her mouth being free, Uma knew that screaming for help would not do her any good. The only other person home was her mother; and she knew that her mother wouldn't give a damn.

Since disappearing that one night to sleep over at Gil's, Harry's father had been rather strict about him leaving the house without his knowing and permission. He was sure that Emma had been the one to encourage his father to place such restrictions since Harry knew that his father wouldn't have had placed said restrictions had he still been single. Along with being restricted to the home, his father had taken his phone away after school hours, which left him unable to contact any of his friends.

So instead of keeping to himself in his room, and the lack of personal electronic items left him trapped in the living room, where his sisters were fighting over the television remote. Henry was reading a book, in Harry's favorite spot of course, while his father and Emma had barricaded themselves in the master bedroom for "alone" time. It was bothersome to know that his father and his new wife were locked away in their bedroom, getting more intimate by the minute. And yet, despite being back nearly a week from his honeymoon, Harry felt like his father was ignoring not only him, but also CJ and Harriet. He knew that love changed a person, and that the first few weeks were spent in a tunnel of just the two, but Emma and his father had been dating for nearly two years before they decided to put a ring on it.

All four of their heads perked up as the sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the house. Harriet slapped him on the arm. "Get the door," she demanded, waving her hand in direction of the foyer. Harry groaned in annoyance but got his feet. He stepped over CJ, who was sprawled out on the floor, and made his way to the front door.
Through the frosted glass he could see a lone figure standing outside on the porch, shifting from foot to foot. As he opened the door, the woman on the doorstep struck a memory chord deep within his mind. Her hair was beginning to gray at the roots but her hair was chestnut in color, similar to CJ's. Her smile seemed the most familiar, it was friendly in nature, but lacked warmth from the sadness that lingered in her eyes. She looked at him from head to toe, her smile becoming warmer at seeing him.

"Oh, Harry, you look so much like your father." She embraced him tightly, as though they had known each other for ever. Normally, he was the one to invade people's space bubbles without permission. And even though he thought that hugging this stranger should be awkward, it felt reassuring.
"Can I come in," she asked. She sounded so casual, as though she visited the house often, but Harry was still having difficulty placing this person in his head. There was only one person that came to thought as he tried to identify the woman standing before him. And although a small voice in his head was shouting that his senses were deceiving him, a louder voice was cheering, confirming that it was who he thought it was. His hand dropped off the door handle as awe and shock began to take over all his thoughts; this simply couldn't be true. Why would she have come back after all these years?
"Mum?"

A/N: Oh my gosh! I was so stumped when writing this chapter! I rewrote this at least three times. I realized that a change was necessary in this, although it was a rather dark change. You can probably guess who's POV that was. I'm hoping to have the next chapter out sooner than this one was. But I do have another story idea in mind for the Descendants, and I would like some feedback on the idea, so PM me if you want to hear more about it.
And thanks for reading as always! Comments are always welcome, as is any constructive criticism. It is always much appreciated! Hope you enjoyed!