He closes his eyes against the smell as it rolls out of the darkness.

Every single instinct was yelling for him to run when he hears Harry gasp.

T!

Right.

He grits his teeth as he steps forward, his chest bumping against Harry's back.

"No." Harry whispers as his head slowly begins to shake from side to side.

Fuck.

He grabs Harry's shoulders and squeezes.

He wanted to tell the other boy to breathe-

But he wasn't sure what good that would do with the fetid stench assaulting them.

He bites his lip, takes a deep breath through his mouth, and carefully maneuvers a stiff and resistant Harry to the side.

Against all better judgment, he hesitantly looks into the room, prepared for the worst.

But as he looks around the darkness, his brow furrows in confusion.

He couldn't make what he was seeing make sense.

What little light was seeping in past Harry's hand over the flashlight seemed to be glinting off something small and metallic at varying strange angles.

He blinks before he turns to Harry, "light?" He whispers as he gently pries it from the other boy's hands.

"They, they be-" Harry shakes his head in denial, "ghosts?"

His brow furrows as he turns back to the room.

His heart sinks with every dull beat as the room starts to make sense.

No.

Metal bars.

No.

Dull eyes.

No!

Not ghosts.

His eyes narrow.

The room-

Carlos's old bedroom-

It was full of cages..

And stuck in the cages-

"Dreamer?" He steps into the room in horror.

"Sh-Sh-Sha-dow?" A raspy voice croaks at him as sunken eyes stare up at him from under limp strands of white hair.

White hair?

But-

He grimaces as a pit falls in his stomach.

-Dreamer's hair was dirt brown.

His throat goes dry as his eyes move to another cage, "Froggy?" His eyes take a quick inventory as they drift over each child huddled in balls.

Until his eyes land on a cage with-

What he saw there-

No!

He'd never thought to be violent with his sister before.

Never tried so hard to grab what he now knew wasn't there.

But he felt her.

Felt her staring around the room in horror.

He could feel her breath hitching.

Could taste the fear.

The building scream of denial.

And for the first time ever he claps his hand over her eyes as if she really were in front of him.

No!

He yells in her ear as he yanks her back, her stupid skirt nearly tripping them both as it snapped with the force.

Get the fuck out!

He snaps the order before he shoves her away, ignoring her wounded gasp and painful mewling.

Don't you fucking dare watch this!

He glares at her retreating back.

No. This was not for her eyes.

She was too-

Anything.

Everything.

This wasn't something she needed to see.

Fuck, he didn't want to see this, but someone had to protect her.

She couldn't see this.

He shakes his head as he pulls his eyes away from the cage where a child wasn't moving.

Where the eyes weren't turned towards the light in desperation.

Where the thin material over his chest wasn't shifting with labored breaths.

No.

Nonononono.

Heat sears his face as it trails down his cheeks unchecked.

Who-

He slams that closed and immediately opens the cage above it.

This one was moving.

This one needed him.

He scoops the emaciated boy away from the horror below him.

"I got'cha-" He looks down with frown, stopping himself before he could lie.

He couldn't tell him it was going to be okay.

"Hook," He turns.

Harry gulps as he steps into the room, "What the fuck kin' o' hell the crazy bitch be runnin' here?"

"Stop." He orders before Harry could continue into the room, "Don't think, just-" He sighs, "here. Hold him. I'll bring ya the rest. Just, keep 'em fuckin' still."

Harry gasps at the small white haired boy that barely weighed anything.

"Aye." He nods before he silently backs out of the room.

He sighs in relief at the lack of argument. ←- right way to put this?

He wipes his nose on his sleeve before he turns to another cage.

He blinks when it also opens easily.

What the fuck had that crazy cunt-

No.

Later thoughts.

Later plans.

It didn't matter that there were no locks.

Gift shark, don't fucking hunt for teeth.

No locks made it easier to free the boys trapped inside.

Boys.

Twelve of them.

That fucking psycho had twelve boys in this tiny ass fucking room of nightmares.

Twelve.

He grimaces-

But they were only saving eleven today.

He glances over the sickly boy in his arms before he passes him off to Harry.

Hopefully saving eleven.

He grits his teeth as he pulls one after another out of the cages.

Silently passing them to Harry before he moves to retrieve the next..

Ignoring the stabbing pang in his chest with each glance at the one that would never move again.

At least he wasn't suffering anymore.

He couldn't stand the cage being closed anymore though. Even in death, Grimer deserved to be free. He opens the door with a whispered promise to return.

Freedom and a proper burial.

It was the least he could do.

"I got'cha Dreamer," He whispers as he reaches the last cage, "Sorry."

"Yer here." Dreamer whispers as his thin arms wrap around his neck.

"I am." He pulls the boy to him carefully. "Let's get you guys outta here." He whispers, refusing to look back to the twelfth cage.

He closes his eyes.

He loses track of everything as he falls in step with Harry, trusting the other to get them to safety.

Cruella.

That fucking bitch.

She'd taken these kids.

Dyed their hair.

Starved them.

Made them her slaves.

Caged them.

Left them.

How long had she had them?

Since the barrier?

Before?

His stomach twists.

When had he last swung by to dick with her?

How had he missed this?

He swallows a hard lump in his throat, his stomach aching.

Could he have helped them sooner?

Fuck, if Deez hadn't mentioned needing-

"Here." Harry's tight voice calls him out of his dark thoughts.

"Right," He nods as he shakes his head and herds the boys into Yensid's.

"I-" Harry looks around before he walks over to the closest bag and tips it over, "They-" He shakes his head, looking around the mess of bags and boxes as if he were lost.

"Here," He walks over and passes Dreamer to him, "I got it." He starts sorting through bags to look for food.

"We- we be needin' ta write ta Uma." He whispers as he holds the small boy like he could break him if he breathed wrong.

"After we feed an' get water in 'em."

"Aye. Careful like though-" Harry sighs.

"I don't wanna get 'em sick either."

He couldn't remember the number of times he'd had to stop Faustina from overeating after her father had made her fast.

He sighs in relief when he finally finds a bag with dried apples and bananas. He plucks them up and hands them out to the silent boys who were sitting on the floor listlessly.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

He shakes his head before he walks over to Harry, and hands the last apple to Dreamer. "We're gonna have to keep a couple of us here from now on." He whispers afraid to speak above a certain volume lest he startle any of the kids. "There need to be watches."

"Aye?" Harry quirks an eyebrow.

He nods absently, his eyes on Dreamer.

Dreamer and Mare were like him and Faustina.

"We gotta find his sister."

And he had a sinking feeling he knew exactly where she was.

"If yer serious about takin' on me an the others, yeah, I'd join up." Big Murph narrows his eyes as he looks down at her, "S'long as ya don't fuckin' abbandon us like yer first mate's da at the first sign o' trouble."

She raises a brow as she puts a hand on her hip, "I ain't no drunken yellow-bellied codfish. I protect me an' mine."

Big Murph snorts with a crooked grin, "Aye, I suppose I ain't never heard otherwise. An' 'sdies, it sounds like ya already found Squeek and Squirm, might as well make yer ship ah full on family a'fair, eh?"

Amusement washes over her despite herself, "Aye, might as well." She nods.

This had taken longer than she'd thought it would.

To convince Big Murph and the others to join her.

Nonetheless, it would be helpful to have some kids on the ship that knew how to run the rigs already. The only reason they hadn't joined her already was because of the slight rivalry when Captain Hook lost his ship to her.

None of them had been happy about losing their home to an 'outsider'.

She holds her hand out to him.

He wasn't exactly the smartest, but she knew he could be loyal.

She just hoped Captain Hook's betrayal hadn't done anything to upheave that trait.

The last thing they needed was another mutiny.

"So we have an-"

"Cap'n." James rushes over, "Sorry mate." He sends a tight apologetic smile to Big Murph. "We gotta update, an' I think ya need ta be seein' it."

She frowns as she looks between James and Big Murphy, "Understood," She nods. "Big Murph-"

"James," Big Murph nods with a frown as he looks over the older boy, "Been a long min'ite since I be seein' your ugly mug."

James laughs tightly, "Aye, it as. Ya be lookin' a mite bit bigger."

She shakes her head, "We gotta deal?" She asks as she holds her hand higher to the stocky boy.

"Aye, ya be providin' us a home, we be providin' ya willin' hands."

She nods as the two shake on it. "I'll leave you two, to it then." She states before she walks off to the alcove James had previously stood and pulls out her own notebook.

Found eleven boys at Hell Hall.

At Yensid's now.

Not doing well.

Have to check on something urgent.

Please come get them.

They'll need as much help as you can bring.

Check back in soon.

-H

Fuck.

Fuck!

She races back over, "How long til' ya can gather the rest o' yer mates?"

Big Murph cocks his head to the side with a grin, "Eager now? It won'nah take but a sec."

"We've gotta make a pit stop before we can get ta the ship, an' I need more hands then jus' the two o' us."

The other boy's smugness vanished at her tone, "Got'cha." He nods before he puts two fingers to his lips and blows.

She lifts a brow as several dirty, paint-covered teens congregate quickly.

Her eyes glance around the group now surrounding her.

Nine.

Plus her and James, perfect.

She sighs in relief.

They'd been outnumbered the entire engagement.

And yet nothing.

Thank the Sea Gods.

She'd been wary at first when she'd stumbled upon her brick house of a rival without Gil but this…

"James, charms."

"Aye," He nods as he digs into his bag and pulls a fistful of charms out before he starts passing them around.

"They'll help shield from lesser spells and shit, things have gotten weird."

"No shit Cap'n." Big Murph frowns as he holds the tiny charm between two fingers before he struggles to pull the rope over his thick head, "Ya have the ship, we be livin' the weird."

"Well now we be livin' on a ship an be dealin' with the weird together, aye?" She grins tightly.

Big Murphy looks her over, "S'whats wrong."

"Some o' mine be findin' lil' ones that ain't doin' well," She explains with a frown.

A flash of whispers echo around her before everyone's faces turn grim.

"The fuck we still doin' here for then?" Destiny juts her hip. "Lead the way, Cap."

She nods as she and James fall in together and start running for Yensid'd house.

What the fuck had T and Harry stumbled across?

And why hadn't they said where they were going next?

So it begins...

But seriously, dark much?

Perhaps even a little twisted?

Ehh… Ehh…?

Not sure what ya'll were expecting with this chapter, but bet it wasn't this.

I know it might not be as impactful to kill off characters we've never written about before, or given you the names of.

But we have written ad nauseam about how Deez has written about every kid on the Isle, and the fact T protects each of them.

Both of them have intricate histories with those two, and this was an impactful hit for T.

Failure has never been something T has handled well. And finding these boys-

Who have clearly been horrifically traumatized by whatever the fuck Cruella did to them, is a heavy burden to bear.

Like seriously yo.

T was literally born to be a protector, a job he takes painfully seriously.

The only thing he takes seriously.

It's not going to be pretty.

But having to look at a child's lifeless eyes?

That's going to haunt him far worse than Frollo ever did.

Think he's going to inform anyone of Grimer?

Yeah, me neither.

Big Murph is from the books I think, don't remember. That's Dark's bag.

Anyway, introducing several other characters to the cast.

Why?

Because we fucking hate ourselves that's why.

Never learning a damned lesson.

And seriously the burden on everyone's shoulders just got a lot heavier.

Dread is in the air.

The concern is palpable.

Wtf is happening?

On a different note, what did you guys think of this chapter?

We put a lot of work into making it appropriately impactful.

Was it?

If anyone is confused about what happened when T threw Faustina?

It was pure force of willpower.

The level of desperation allowed him to throw Faustina into their subconscious.

Which let's be honest-

Has to be a room where all the memories are tucked away someplace outside of their safe space.

And they have a safe place.

It's the only reason they're able to function after all their trauma.

And why they're so obsessed with being constantly active or obsessive over a project.

T just never consciously remembers it- because he can't clear his mind. But, he is doing shit in the room.

Faustina's aware of it, and utilizes it to the best of their abilities.

Hope you enjoyed that half assed explanation

Much love and appreciation

-Twisted