Warnings;
. Angst.
. Swearing.
. Teen Pregnancy/Motherhood.
. Implied Matricide.
. Mentions of self-harm.
. Mentions of child abuse.
. Chloroform use? I don't know people, this chapter's pretty erratic is all I can say.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
No more than an hour after her transformation back into a human, Cassie reluctantly wandered through the dark alleyways of the inner Isle. She stayed close to her usual safe-routes, her heartbeat raising at every noise that sounded even remotely close to someone approaching. She was on high alert tonight, her normal human senses much more sensitive tonight than they'd ever been.
A loud clink echoed through the usually silent street, and Cassie flinched, her footsteps slowing significantly as she kept moving. She couldn't stop: Not for anyone or anything. She just couldn't take that risk.
It had been a very, very long time since she'd felt so terrified when travelling around the Isle at night. Usually she was level-headed, her light feet barely making a sound as she snuck around each corner and over miscellaneous, and stupidly placed, objects. She longed to travel back in time, only to a mere week ago, before she'd truly put her life in danger. But that wouldn't, and couldn't, happen. For the first time in four years, the Isle was no longer her playground, and she couldn't seem to reclaim the confidence she usually held when traipsing through the streets. Now, everything was different. And it was all her fault.
Cassie tried hard to keep her breaths calm. The air passed through her lips in a thick mist, and her poor excuse of a cloak was barely keeping her warm. She swiftly reached up with her hands and readjusted the hood hanging over her head, making sure the thin fabric covered her ears. She couldn't risk anyone seeing her and running off to tell the pirates. All she had to do was make it to her destination quietly and safely, and hope to whoever was listening that no one saw her.
The little cat turned out of the alleyway, a small sigh of relief escaping her when she saw the slightly familiar sign, faintly illuminated by the numerous and colourful tea-lights connected by the rooftops.
'Queen of Heart's Salon'.
The lights on the sign weren't switched on, but Cassie could clearly see a glow behind the blood-red curtains covering the 'windows'. Someone was inside. But would it be the right one?
With an overwhelming amount of inner strength, Cassie pulled down on the door handle, taking careful steps as she peeked around the edge of the door. She couldn't see anyone inside, but if the lights were on then surely someone was home.
"Hello?" she called out, her dark eyes darting about the oddly clean salon. She waited a moment or two for a reply, but when there was none, she made the decision to walk further into the large room, and softly closed the door behind her.
Cassie had never been a huge fan of taking good care of her looks. Her hair had never been cut or dyed, and she loathed the idea of someone coming anywhere near her with a make-up brush, so she really had no idea what a salon should look like. But if she had to venture a guess, then the very room she now stood in would be a perfect example.
The walls were striped with colours of red and black, the freshly mopped floor designed to look like a chessboard. Along the right wall, three large mirrors were lined, small wooden shelves filled with something or other placed neatly below. The chairs in front of the mirrors were also black, though Cassie could see the noticeable rips and white marks damaging the fabric. The wall on her left had long and yellow tinted shelves, all packed with disturbingly crafted mannequin heads, each holding a different wig of a different kind, though each one had been made and brushed to absolute perfection and style. The outside of the salon was just like any other building on the Isle, with it's chipped paint and usual vandalism sprayed across the wall. But the inside was well and truly beautiful.
Despite the freezing weather outside, the salon was an absolute furnace, and Cassie couldn't help but pull down her hood. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as a displeasing odour filling her nostrils. She didn't know what it was, but it burned, and with each breath she took Cassie could practically taste it on her tongue.
"We're closed."
Cassie flinched and turned away from the décor, her dark eyes widening as she suddenly noticed the presence of another.
"Uh," The little cat dragged out her sentence, somewhat thrown to be facing down the daughter of her fathers 'enemy'. "Hi," she muttered dumbly.
"O.M.G," the unknown girl gasped, her red-painted lips stretching into a large and surprised smile. "I've heard about you," she said with a light giggle, one of her perfectly-shaped brows lifting as she slowly scrutinized Cassie from head to toe.
Cassie grimaced. "You and everyone else."
It had been two days since her 'challenge' with Harry, and two days since she'd foolishly decided to take his beloved hook home for her collection. But somehow, in that very short span of time, the once-hooked pirate had spread the word about Cassie, threatening, beating and forcing any information he could out of the Isle residents in the hope that someone would know where to find her. He hadn't yet, and now more than ever she felt eternally grateful for the fact she hadn't decided to go and 'make friends' after her father left. But Harry was relentless in his search, and he was taking no prisoners to secure the location of his hook. It was only a matter of time before he eventually managed to catch her, and Cassie had to stretch her time as far as possible.
Which brought her to this current predicament. Coming to the Queen of Heart's salon had never been on her 'to-do' list. However, during her feline state Cassie had caught on to a few whispers here and there, homeless men and women in the streets gossiping about the price on her head if they delivered her to Harry. It was during this time Cassie had been astonished to find out that someone in this salon had information on the little cat, and they were willing to share... for the right amount.
"So," the girl sang loudly, her thick-heeled boots making a faint thud on the floor as she moved in closer. "What can I do for you, daughter of the Cheshire Cat?"
"Word on the street is that someone in this salon has info' on me, something they're willing to give to Harry," she explained, her clammy hands clasped together in front of her.
"And you wanna know who it is?" the girl wondered, leaning the left side of her body against one of the chairs, her fingernails drumming against the fabric in a rhythmic motion.
"No," objected Cassie, and the other girl's brows raised in slight surprise. "I wanna know what they know." She didn't care who knew anything about her. All she wanted to know was what information they had, and how useful it would be to Harry.
The Queen of Heart's daughter came forward, a devilish grin on her pretty face. "How important is it to you?" she inquired, her heels making her a lot taller than Cassie, and thus even more threatening than before.
Cassie had heard of the Queen of Hearts, typically from her father. From what she'd been told, the woman was old and rather large in size, and had the temper and immaturity of a ten year-old. She had a fondness for chess, croquet, and cutting off people's heads when she didn't get her way. All in all, the queen herself didn't sound truly frightening, but Cassie had done her best to steer clear of the woman, her father warning her that he'd pulled a few little tricks on the queen and that any reminder of him would set her off.
So, when Cassie heard the Queen of Hearts had produced a daughter during her time on the Isle, this girl was most certainly not what she'd expected. Clear and unblemished ivory skin, thick dark-brown curls piled into a messy ponytail atop her head, lashes long and make-up done oh so perfectly. Instead of an extravagant dress, as Cassie had assumed she'd wear, the Heart girl donned a thin, red bralette, her breasts barely held in by the material. Her skin-tight black jeans were ripped at the knees, though Cassie guessed it was intentional, and highlighted every curve her body made. Black, thick-heeled boot-heels covered her feet, and to top off the look she wore a red choker around her neck, a heart-shaped red stone with a tiny golden crown the centrepiece of her jewellery.
Truthfully, it was like seeing a female version of Harry Hook himself. Beautiful and alluring in appearance, but surrounded by a glow of dangerous energy.
"Does it matter?" the little cat finally muttered in reply. "What are you charging for it?"
The Heart girl hummed, her eyes rolling skyward as she thought. "What are you offering?"
Cassie wasted no time in untying the small pouch from around her waist, her movements done with utter haste. "This." She pulled the small pouch open and withdrew the item she'd spent the previous night digging through her 'collection' for, a small smirk of satisfaction weaving its way onto her face as the Heart girl's eyes lit up in obvious wonder.
"Where did you..." her words trailed off into a small sigh, her fingers coming forward to touch the gorgeous charm bracelet.
"Ah, ah, ah." Cassie tutted, pointedly placing the bracelet back into her pouch. "You tell me what I wanna know, I give it to you. Deal?" At Cassie's offer, the Heart girl's eyes narrowed, a twinge of pink dusting her cheeks as she inhaled deeply through her nostrils. Her brown eyes flickered wildly between the little cat's face and the small pouch she had in her hands.
"I guess that's fair," the Heart girl replied, a forced smile tugging at her lips. "Why don't we take this out back?" She quickly waved her hand toward the shimmering, red-coloured curtain hanging down from the doorway near the back of the salon.
"Why can't we just stay in here?" the little cat asked quickly, her dark eyes eyeing the doorway with great suspicion. She'd only just met the Heart girl, and from what her father had told her the Hearts weren't good people, nor could they be trusted. Cassie had no clue what could be behind the curtain, and she'd much rather stay in the main area of the salon, and closer to her only exit.
"You're not the only weirdo who likes running around at night," the Heart girl remarked, strolling toward the front door. "I can't risk anyone breaking in." She quickly pulled open the door and leaned out for a moment or two, and Cassie could only assume she was inspecting the outside to make sure the street was empty.
The Heart girl soon came back in, and she fiddled with the lock on the door. "You can see in the dark, right?" Before Cassie could even come up with a snarky reply, the room fell into darkness, the only source of light coming from the back room.
Cassie chewed at her bottom lip, still rooted in her spot until the Heart girl walked by, her hips swaying as she pushed back the curtain and entered the back room. With no other option, the little cat reluctantly followed.
When Cassie pushed aside the curtain, and walked into the room, she was pleasantly surprised to see no threat of any kind. Just a medium-sized and rickety wooden table near the right wall with two questionable chairs pushed up against it. It differed greatly from the well-decorated salon she'd only just stepped out of, the bricks in the walls clear, and creaking floorboards beneath her feet.
"The name's Helena, by the way," the Heart girl informed Cassie, her form soon disappearing behind yet another curtain.
Cassie sighed and took a seat near the table, patiently waiting for Helena to return. She rested her hands on top of the table, taking a quick and half-hearted glance about the room. Apart from the curtain Helena had just gone through, Cassie could see no other rooms. Though there was a darkened and spiralling staircase near the left side, leading up to somewhere or other.
A faint, melodic humming travelled from behind the curtain, and Cassie ceased her current investigation on the small room she was sat in. She frowned as she stared at the curtain, her brows furrowed as the tune continued. She couldn't see anything from where she was sat, and she resisted the urge to take a peek at the risk of being caught and thrown out.
The audible sound of Helena's boots against the hard floor became clear, and Cassie pushed herself back in her chair as the Heart girl came back into the room, a small attempt at making it seem as though she didn't care what was behind that curtain.
"You know," began Helena, settling herself in the chair opposite of Cassie's, her back straight as she crossed one leg over the other in perfect form. "I wasn't sure what to believe when people said the Cheshire Cat had a daughter." She gave a small giggle and raised her right hand, twirling one of her dark curls around her index finger. "I didn't think he had it in him."
"What? To have a kid?" the little cat grumbled, mentally wondering just how long Helena was about to drag out the simplicities. She just wanted to find out what the Heart girl knew, and then get home. But snapping right off the bat wouldn't do her any favours so - for now - she had to indulge the other girl in this boring topic of conversation.
"To raise one," the other girl corrected. "From what momma told me, he was kind'a selfish. Always looking out for number one, so to speak. Makes one wonder what kind of daddy he is."
"Was," the little cat corrected thoughtlessly, a small frown of displeasure sliding onto her face as she realised her mistake.
"Oh," the Heart girl said with a drawn out breath, a flicker of understanding crossing her features. "Daddy bailed, huh?" Cassie pouted and turned her head away, not quite in the mood to deal with someone else taunting her about her 'daddy issues', as Harry had once put it. "Hey, I get it," assured Helena. "My mom bailed on us too, not too long ago." The word 'us' sent a small shiver of uncertainty down Cassie's spine, and her dark eyes glanced towards the red curtain in the blink of an eye, much too quick for Helena to even notice.
"This place is yours then?" inquired Cassie. "I thought it belonged to the Queen."
"Oh pussycat." Helena laughed, apparently amused by Cassie's obvious confusion. "My momma's dead. The stupid bitch kicked the bucket about a year ago. I'm the Queen of Hearts now." From the dark glint in Helena's eyes, Cassie knew with utter certainty that there was more to this story than she was being told, but for now she had to push it to the back of her mind.
"I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say your dad's not around either?" she assumed, trying her best to steer the conversation away from the uncomfortable, and sinister, chat about Helena's mothers demise.
The Heart girl rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, he's still here." At the little cat's worrying glance, Helena spoke up once again. "He's not a threat, believe me." The groan she gave as she muttered those two last words gave Cassie the impression the King was a lot less villainous than the now-deceased Queen, so she let her worries slide.
"So," muttered Cassie. "About this information?"
"Oh, right," the dark-haired girl exclaimed, apparently having forgotten about the entire reason Cassie had come to the salon in the first place. "I don't have any."
"You wanna say that again?"
Helena pursed her lips and leaned forward. "I. Don't. Have. Any." She gave a small shrug and moved back in her chair. "I lied. I do that sometimes, by the way."
The Cheshire Cat's daughter paused, her brows raised with utter disbelief as she stared at the Heart girl. "Uh...y-you." She fought hard to find a comprehendible reply, but her head was somewhat fucked. She'd put her life on the line coming to this salon, even carrying on with her suicidal plan knowing full well how much bad blood there was between her dad and the Queen of Hearts. So to now find out that she'd done it for absolutely no reason... well, it certainly didn't sit well with the little cat.
Cassie could have been at home right now, curled up in her blankets nice and warm, and attempting to relax herself enough to sleep. But she wasn't. Instead, she'd dragged her ass out of her only safe-place and walked out into the dangerous Isle streets just to make sure Harry didn't find out anything about her.
And it was all for nothing.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" she yelled incredulously, too annoyed to care about anyone in the building overhearing her and coming to investigate.
Helena's eyes widened, and she looked back over her shoulder at the red curtain. "Would you shut up?" she whispered, her calm demeanour slipping away as soon as Cassie's voice raised.
"N-no," the little cat stammered. "Do you have any idea what'll happen if Harry finds me?! I only came here to see what you knew about me, but you don't know anything!"
"Pussycat, I'm gonna need you to shut up," seethed Helena, her voice hushed as she - once again - looked back at the curtain.
When Cassie opened her mouth to yell another obscenity of some form, she found her voice muffled and inaudible, the Heart girl's hand held firmly against her mouth. Cassie's hands immediately grasped at Helena's wrist with every intention of ripping the girl's hand away, but she halted her actions when she felt an uncomfortable sting against the side of her neck.
"Okay pussycat, time to listen," the Queen whispered dangerously, lowering her face until they were a hair's breadth away. In response, and without the use of her words, Cassie could only nod, now unnervingly aware of the knife held to her skin. "You talk to me like that again, and I'll take your fucking head off. Got it?" Cassie nodded once more. "Good." With that said, Helena smoothly slid back into her chair, her knife retracting from Cassie's throat.
There was a pause, the awkwardness of the moment still hanging over Cassie like a cloud, but then she spoke. "A little drastic, don't you think?" she said quietly, her fingertips feeling at her neck.
"Well I didn't get my good looks from my mom, now did I?" snarked Helena.
Cassie replied with a deadpan expression and a small eyebrow raise. 'No shit.' She winced and pulled back her fingers, her lips twitching downward into a frown as she saw the specks of blood.
"It's just a nick," the Queen grumbled, pulling a dirty-white handkerchief from her pocket. "Here." Cassie rolled her eyes and took the cloth, dabbing her small wound.
"So why did you say you have information if you don't?" she inquired.
"When the Core Four left, Uma tagged the Isle. Maleficent used to keep the stores safe as long as we payed up, but now she's gone too. And after the riot the other night..." Helena gave a small, saddened sigh. "I don't know. I can't just wait for the pirates to come around and start asking for money. I have to speed the process up a little, and I thought mentioning you would do the trick."
Cassie could only partly understand the girl's reasoning. The little cat didn't have to protect her home from anyone, since no one knew about her 'crawl-space'. She just had to take care of herself. She had no idea how business ran on the Isle, or how difficult it was to keep their buildings safe and untouched. Helena obviously had a very good excuse for doing what she did, but it didn't lessen Cassie's annoyance.
"Can I have the bracelet now?" asked Helena, nodding toward the pouch in Cassie's right hand.
Cassie's eyes travelled to the object in question. "You didn't give me anything worth this," she pointed out, and the Heart girl glared in response. "But, I'll give it to you if you tell me one thing."
"What's that?" the Queen wondered sceptically.
"I'll give you the bracelet, if you tell me what you're hiding behind that curtain."
"Why?"
Cassie shrugged. "I'm curious, I guess. Now, do we have a deal?" Before meeting the pirates, deals hadn't been a big part of her life, but now it felt like she was doing this more than she was happy with.
Helena didn't reply right away. She wordlessly got to her feet and moved to stand directly in front of Cassie, her brown eyes slowly travelling over the little cat's form, while she twirled her dark her with a much faster speed than before. It was obvious she was thinking about Cassie's offer, but her scrutinizing gaze was looking for something on the little cat. What it was, Cassie wasn't sure.
"You even think about hurting him, I'll gouge your eyes out." With that terrifying threat said, Helena carefully travelled toward the curtain. "You coming or what?" Cassie stood, her unwavering curiosity demanding that she follow the Heart girl into the little room. So she did.
The room was quite dark, bathed in faint candle light, and Cassie struggled to adjust to the sudden change. Apparently, Helena was used to it, since she moved through the room with great ease, her feet taking her toward something near the furthest wall.
"Come see, but be very quiet," the Queen warned, her whispered voice barely clear to Cassie's human ears.
The little cat nodded and did as asked, the task of keeping her footsteps light an all too familiar thing for her. She silently crept towards the divider screen, keeping whatever was behind it hidden from her curious eyes. But when she eventually stood beside Helena, and looked down at what the Queen gazed at so fondly, she couldn't withhold a small gasp.
"Holy shit."
Cassie always assumed the worst of the Isle and it's residents. It made doing what she did much easier when she just thought bad of everyone. So it was no surprise that her mind immediately thought of some vicious brute of a being sleeping in the room behind the curtain. However, the truth of it was far from terrifying.
"His name is Gilzean," whispered Helena, her hands gently placed on top of the edge of the wooden crib. "I named him after his Uncle."
Cassie could hear Helena, but she couldn't quite hear her. She hadn't ever seen a baby before, and her head was still reeling from the startling sight. It certainly explained why Helena had been so violently adamant on her keeping her voice down earlier. The Heart girl hadn't been trying to shut her up because she was annoyed with Cassie's attitude, though that could have been part of the reason. No, she'd shut Cassie up so the little cat didn't wake the tot trying to get some sleep.
"How old is he?" the little cat asked, her gaze turning to Helena.
"Just over a year."
"And how old are you?"
Helena smiled. "I'm eighteen."
Cassie's jaw dropped, her dark eyes looking down at the black-haired baby. Helena was only two years older than her, and she was a mother. It wasn't too hard a thing to digest, since the Heart girl was absolutely beautiful, and the idea of one of the many villain children running around the Isle choosing her as their 'partner' was easily believable. But they were all still teenagers. Teenagers living in a prison they weren't even supposed to be in.
"And his dad?" the little cat inquired hesitantly.
"He swings by every now and again," the Queen replied simply, somehow unbothered by the fact her child's father wasn't a constant in their lives. "His uncle comes 'round every day though. He's so good with him, and he always makes sure we're doing okay." The overwhelming adoration in Helena's eyes when she looked at her son, paired with the gentleness and - dare Cassie say it - love, when she spoke of her son's uncle was so different to the indifference and danger she'd seen in the Heart girl only moments ago. And it completely bewildered her.
"That bracelet you've got, it's his." Helena gestured down to the baby. "I had it made 'bout a year ago, before he popped out. Some guy took it from me."
"And I took it from him," the little cat mumbled thoughtfully. She reached down into the pouch and withdrew the small, golden bracelet. From the gleaming and red heart-shaped gems decorating the tiny piece of jewellery, she'd guessed it somehow belonged to the Hearts. But she hadn't even thought about how much significance it held.
Special things with personal meaning did tempt her more than others, but Cassie couldn't keep this now. It was a gift from a mother to her little son. Parents on the Isle hardly ever gave two shits about their offspring, their twisted and dark minds forbid them to do so. So when someone did go through all the trouble to have something made for their child, it wasn't something to be taken lightly. No matter how small the bracelet was, it was so much more than a simple piece of jewellery. When baby-Gilzean got older, it would probably mean just as much to him as Cassie's cat-ears meant to her.
'And what Harry's hook means to him,' her inner voice pointed out, causing a large pang of guilt to flood Cassie's body.
"Is it hard?" the little cat wondered, swallowing down the lump of emotion in her throat.
"What? Being a mom?" the Queen questioned, and Cassie nodded. "Sometimes. I mean, I'm running a fricking salon out there, and I get tired. But he comes first. Family always comes first."
"You get help though, right? With his uncle?"
Helena smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah, Uncle Gil always takes care of us." With her mind somewhat clouded, it took Cassie more than a minute for her to catch on to what Helena had said, but when she did, an unsettling tightness tugged at her stomach.
"Wait-" Cassie's sentence was instantly put to a stop when she felt a hard force against her right side, her body quickly meeting the hard floor with a painful bang. Her mind raced and she tried to right herself, a wave of utter panic settling in when she felt her arms being pinned to the floor.
"Sorry pussycat," the Queen of Hearts muttered with strained breaths, her knees digging into Cassie's inner elbows. She pulled out a thick cloth and doused it with something Cassie couldn't recognize, and she had no time at all to question what it was, since the cloth was soon held firmly over her nose and mouth.
Cassie didn't know what the substance was, nor did she care to know at the moment. Whatever it was, it smelt sharp and tasted bitter, and the little cat fought to close her mouth and hold her breath in the hopes it wouldn't have the desired affect. If she didn't take it in, she didn't lose herself, and maybe she could live to fight a little while longer.
"Stop fighting it, kitty," the Heart girl told her. "This'll all be over soon." Helena said it as if it would be a welcomed reassurance to the little cat, when in reality it pushed Cassie to fight harder.
It could have been seconds, or it could have been minutes, but eventually Cassie couldn't hold her breath any longer. Her mouth flew open as she sucked in a large breath, the air only reaching her lungs in small doses. The Heart girl's hold was tight and unyielding, and instead of clean air, Cassie inhaled the sickening chemicals pouring from the rag.
The little cat's vision began to blur, her eyes blinking in and out of focus as her movements halted. A small teardrop slid down the side of her face, a silent sob breaking through the rag as an overwhelming fatigue wrapped around her small body. She was so, so tired.
"There you go, pussycat," the Queen said calmly. "I didn't wanna do this, but we have to get off this Isle. And like I said, family comes first."
~...~...~
The very second Cassie went into a state of deep slumber, Helena quickly removed the rag from her face and shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans. With a small huff, she leaned back and stood at her full height, holding her breath for a moment as she looked back over her shoulder to take a small peek into Gilzean's crib.
Even though the slight scuffle she'd had with the little pussycat had been done with haste, she couldn't help but worry that - at the loud noise she made when her body hit the ground - Cassie had somehow woken up the sleeping baby. But Helena's worries were soon put to rest when her son gave a small snort, nuzzling his head into the thick, red blanket he had wrapped around him. He hadn't woken up, and he was safe.
'He's fine,' the Queen of Hearts reassured herself in her mind, her eyes closing for a moment as she released a large breath of relief.
With the welcome assurance that her son was still sleeping, Helena could now fully focus on the task at hand. She hadn't been forced to use her knock-out drug in a good while, but she still remembered the effects as clear as she did back then. Cassie would only be asleep for twenty minutes at the most, which meant Helena had to tie her down now.
The Queen slid around to stand behind the little pussycat's head, and she bent down, her fingers wrapping around the little cat's wrists. With a small groan, she dragged Cassie out of the back room, through the dinner room, and back into the salon, thanking Hades that the little pussycat didn't weigh an absolute ton like the last one.
Getting Cassie up onto one of her salon chairs wasn't that hard either. It appeared that tossing her son into the air during their playtime, and carrying around the heavy boxes of supplies for her salon when Gil wasn't available, had strengthened her arms. One quick hoist and the little cat was up on the chair, her head lulling back against the headrest.
Helena took a quick look at Cassie and sighed, the hidden and motherly urges only reserved for her son and Gil nagging away at the back of her mind. The little cat was barely a teenager, and from the looks of things she wasn't as well-fed as a girl her age should be. She was all alone, too, with no one but herself to rely on in this horrible place.
"Nope," the Queen muttered in objection, forcing herself to grab the length of thick rope Gil had given to her the night before. She knelt down and tied both of the little cat's ankles to the legs of the chair, then doing the same with Cassie's wrists on the armrests.
The plan between herself and the pirates had been simple. They'd obviously had no luck in finding the Cheshire Cat's daughter on their own, and so - at the request of Gil - they'd come to her. After all, she'd been born and raised in the centre of the Isle, and as another Wonderlandian herself the pirates had naturally assumed she'd be a great help in their search for the little cat. But Helena hadn't even known the Cheshire Cat was on the Isle, and she'd been utterly astounded to find out he'd gone and had a daughter.
When she'd blatantly informed the pirates she had no idea who the girl was, and that she hadn't ever seen her during her years on the Isle, they'd been... disheartened, to say the least. But the moment Gil told her about the curse, and that someone on the Isle had spelled Cassie somehow, she'd been rather open to negotiations. If she succeeded in helping them, they had to protect her and Gilzean and - if the moment ever came - she'd be the first to get off the Isle with them.
Truth be told, she'd had no way of knowing if Cassie would take the bait or not. Helena had had no sure way of knowing exactly what would draw the little thing out of hiding, and she was honestly surprised at how fast the little cat had come to her.
Working in a salon was one of the best ways to find the truth on the Isle. After all, doing someone's hair or nails was a rather boring task, and they never questioned the idea of her throwing small questions their way as she worked. The very moment one of her usual's had come through discussing the sudden appearance of pirates in the centre of the Isle, Helena had set her 'little' plan in motion. She'd been very obvious and unusually loud when telling the woman she had information on the Cheshire Cat's daughter, knowing full well the women waiting, along with any loiterers outside the salon, would hear every single word.
Getting Cassie to the salon had been the hard part, but getting her into the dinner room and drugging her had been way too easy. For whatever reason, the little cat must have been pretty desperate to find out what Helena knew, especially since she'd been so quick to come to the home of her father's old 'enemy'.
Helena lightly rubbed at her eyes and moved away from the tied up pussycat, quickly staring at herself in one of the mirrors to ensure her mascara hadn't smudged. Once she was done, she stepped back and slouched down into the seat beside the sleeping cat, her eyelids blinking slowly as she fought away an oncoming fatigue.
Life on the Isle for the villain children was hardly glamorous. Most were disowned by their parents as soon as they reached double-digits, the young offspring apparently too much of a nuisance for the notorious parents to handle. Although, those children were - more often than not - the kids of the side-kicks of the well-known villains: The ones whose lives meant absolutely nothing on the Isle. It was a sad fact to handle, but there were more homeless children than adults running around on the Isle streets, usually bundling up together in numbers of five or more in an effort to stay safe.
Then there was the other half. The villain children whose parents were somewhat infamous for all the cruelty, attempted murders, and other violent acts of revenge they'd carried out over in Auradon. These children were raised by whichever villain their parent was, sent away to one of the three schools on the Isle and taught everything it meant to be a true villain. They were also dubbed the 'privileged' of the Isle.
Helena had always been somewhat proud of her name. If anyone ever gave her trouble on the streets, all she had to do was tell them who her mother was, and even the strongest ruffians would go running with their tails between their legs. But her name would always remind her of her mother, and that in itself was a curse of some kind.
The former Queen of Hearts had been a ruthless woman, even to her own daughter. As a baby, Helena's father had been the one to tend to her needs, since her mother was almost always out doing something or other. Until the age of nine, she'd been taught everything by her father. How to read, how to speak, how to walk, and how everything on the Isle worked. He was a kind man, and Helena always wondered how he'd wound up with someone as insane and unappealing as the Queen of Hearts. But her dad was also a bit of a pushover, and it took Helena a good few years to come to the startling realisation that he was absolutely terrified of upsetting her mother.
When Helena got a little older, her mother had started to take notice. The hour before bed, usually spent by practicing her reading, was replaced with her being forced to repeat the rules of being a princess. If she got them right, she was allowed to read with her father, but if she got them wrong she was forbidden from seeing her dad for two nights, and she had to start from the beginning until she - eventually - did recount the rules without error. Hours were spent re-learning how to speak, how to sit, how to walk, and even how to eat. Every single thing her father had proudly taught her how to do was ripped to pieces and stitched back together with her mother's way, with the psychotic woman constantly screaming that if Helena didn't get it right then she'd 'take her head'.
By her sixteenth birthday, Helena was - in her mothers eyes at least - every bit the perfect princess. She wore lovely dresses, the most elegant jewellery, and her skin and hair had always been pinched and primped to her mother's satisfaction. She and her mother took slow walks around the block, the Queen of Hearts delighted to show off her wonderful daughter to the Isle residents. But keeping up appearances was much harder than it looked. Helena always had to stay silent and do as her mother asked, and when the rare moment came where she did something her mother didn't approve of, a harsh beating with the broomstick was a painful reminder of exactly why she obediently followed her mom around. That was also around the same time she discovered the wonderful power of make-up.
Every day she spent with her mother, Helena had been a mere shell of a person. Physically, she was fine. After all, a smile could hide a thousand secrets. But underneath all those layers of dress and thick foundation she was utterly broken. Her mind had been warped and twisted, the parts of her body that were hidden beneath her dress littered with bruises and cuts, the latter of which had been mostly self inflicted. Her mind and soul had been dying, and it'd been slowly taking her body with it.
It was only a few months after her sixteenth that Helena snapped. After yet another long and draining day of playing chess with her mom, and going through the usual routines, she'd stayed up a little later than usual. That night she'd gone down into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and her mother's bellowing voice from the dinner room had echoed through the entire building.
"There's something wrong with her!" her mother had screamed. "Something she's doing is wrong!"
"She's done everything you taught her, dear," her father had replied. "What could she be doing wrong?"
"I don't know! Maybe...she needs to read the rules again. Or she needs to be taught another lesson. I am the only Queen on this dreaded Isle, and I'd rather take my own head than see my daughter lose to that blue-haired brat!"
The 'blue-haired-brat', as her mother had so kindly put it, had been Queen Grimhilde's fourteen year-old daughter, Evie. Helena had only ever seen her in passing, their mothers sharing pleasantries but glaring daggers as soon as the other had turned. The two bitter Queen's had been in constant competition since their arrival on the Isle, and when Maleficent herself had chosen to associate with Queen Grimhilde instead of the Queen of Hearts, the woman had been absolutely outraged. It seemed that, to her mother at least, their abilities at ruling and their royal appearances meant everything, and the wretched Queen had absolutely no idea that it was their dark thoughts and actions that mattered on the Isle.
When Helena heard her mother's words that night, everything had somehow come to light in a dark and brutal way. Everything she'd been put through by her mother, and every single hardship she'd ever endured, had been for the sake of a simple and ongoing competition with another Queen. Nothing she'd ever done had been good enough, and in that single second every moment she'd received a surprise 'lesson' made sense, since the harsh punishments always seemed to make an appearance on the day they'd run into Queen Grimhilde and little Evie.
Whether it was the thought that she was about to receive another punishment, or the painful realisation that she'd been nothing more than a 'show-cat' for a good portion of her life, Helena hadn't been sure. Something had struck her that night, and she'd made the stupid decision of leaving her home.
A repetitive thud rang loud in the salon, and Helena jumped, her eyes flying open as she looked toward the door. She'd been on the verge of falling asleep, it seemed, since her limbs swiftly protested any movement she made as she dragged herself to the door. The only slim relief she had was knowing that once the pirates were done, and they were gone from her salon, she could take Gilzean upstairs and finally get a few hours of sleep.
Helena tugged down on the door handle, her mood brightening as she saw Gil stood on the other side of the door.
"Hey!" he greeted joyfully, scooping her up from the floor and into a tight hug.
"Gil," the Queen of Hearts muttered with audible relief, her arms firmly latching around his neck as he carried her further into the salon.
Gil lowered her feet to the floor, and Helena pulled back, her arms unwinding though her hands still held his shoulders. "Is he up?" the son of Gaston inquired, a small twinge of excitement wound into his voice.
"He's sleeping," she informed him, her brow raised pointedly. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't wake him up, again." The blonde-haired teenager gave a small sigh of disappointment, his facial features then twisting into a small grimace of knowing.
"Teeth?"
Helena nodded with an amused smile. "Teeth." If her beautiful little boy had been sleeping well through the night, she'd have been more than happy for Gil to wake him up for a bit of 'play-time'. But Gilzean's baby teeth were still coming through, and he often woke numerous times through the night, the pain in his gums causing him great distress. With nothing to take his pain away, Helena had to simply cuddle her little one and let him gnaw away at her knuckle, a task that could take either an hour or more, and left them both exhausted by the time it had passed.
"As adorable as this is," a deep and obnoxious voice said from behind Gil. "Can we jus' get ta tha good bit?" Helena rolled her eyes and took a step back from Gil, her eyes manoeuvring around the blonde boy to see his 'friend'.
"Take it easy, Hook." Her brown eyes hardened, her lips tugged downward into a frown as she stared at the large pirate boy before her. She'd never say it to Gil, but the son of Hook unnerved her, and she didn't trust him one bit.
"Aww, don' need ta be like that, love," he said teasingly, his blue eyes roaming her form appreciatively. "I'm jus' playin'."
Helena wrinkled her nose, her own eyes giving him a quick scan. "That's nice," she spat, quickly turning on her heels, her long and dark tresses smacking across the red pirates cheek as she moved.
The Queen of Hearts took hold of the headrest and slowly twirled the chair, exposing the little cat to the two pirates. "This the girl?"
Oddly enough, their reactions were on opposite sides of the spectrum. Harry was blatantly pleased, his constant smirk growing into a large, and possible pain inflicting, grin. He gave a small chuckle as he took a step forward, his eyes lit up in sadistic excitement as he leaned over to further inspect the sleeping cat. However, Gil didn't look happy... far from it, in fact. Usually he followed his Captain and Harry, showing happiness or joy at the same time they did. But now he seemed - to Helena anyway - devastated.
"Aye, ya did well, princess," said Harry, standing to his full height.
"Queen, actually," she corrected him tersely, a small flush of anger rising to her cheeks as the pirate gave nothing but another laugh in response to her scold.
"My apologies, yar highness," he mocked, ignoring her harsh glare in favour of looking at the little pussycat. "How long's she gonna be sleepin'?" he inquired, using his right hand to turn her face from side to side.
"Not sure," the Queen said with a small shrug, resting her back against the wall. "I could try and wake her up bu-" Helena paused abruptly as Harry quickly pulled back his left arm, the back of his hand delivering a hard smack to the little cat's face.
Within seconds, Helena retracted a sharp and small knife from the hem of her jeans and pressed it against Harry's throat. She kept the pressure with her right hand, using her left to push him back a few paces.
"Hel'," called Gil, warily shuffling from foot to foot as his wide eyes bounced from first mate to Queen.
"Try that again and I'll take your fucking head off. Understood?" she seethed, her brown eyes staring deep into Harry's.
"What do ya care, eh?" he wondered, his hands raised on either side of his head. He swallowed and took a quick glance down, knowing full well that without the use of his hook, he wouldn't be able to get her before she got him. "Ya don' even know 'er."
Helena was many things, and she had her faults, but she couldn't stand to see someone vulnerable and unable to fight back being subjected to such brutality. She didn't know Cassie, that much was true, but without a valid reason there was no way in hell she was about to stand and watch someone hurt her. It wasn't fair, and it wasn't right; And it certainly wasn't happening in her fucking salon.
"Understood?" she repeated, louder this time. She put more force in her grip, the knife cutting into the pirates skin.
"Aye," snapped Harry.
Their tense moment was cut short when a faint groan came from behind Helena. All three turned their heads, and Helena pulled her knife away from Harry to instead squat down in front of the waking cat.
"Pussycat," the Queen whispered gently, delicately smoothing away the loose strands of mousey-brown hair that'd fallen into Cassie's face. "C'mon kitty." The little cat could only moan in reply, and Helena quickly looked over her shoulder. "Gil, get the bucket." The blonde-haired boy moved without question, and he quickly brought over the small bucket used for remnants of cut hair.
Helena took the bucket from Gil with a small 'thanks', and she moved to stand beside the little cat instead of directly in front. She lowered the bucket onto the floor, between the little one's tied legs, knowing full well a large spray of vomit would release itself from Cassie's mouth the moment she came to her senses.
The Cheshire Cat's daughter wasn't entirely sure what to think. There seemed to be so many different things going on with her that it was hard to focus on just one. The most obvious of all, though, was the unbearable ache in her head, like someone had gripped the sides of her brain and slowly started to squeeze. Her eyelids felt heavy, and a large dose of saliva filled up her mouth, her tingling tongue moving it to the back of her throat as she pressed her lips together. She couldn't feel her legs or arms, and for a small moment she had to wonder if she'd undergone the transformation while asleep.
Cassie blinked owlishly, her eyes itching terribly as she forced her head upright. Her line of sight was blurred, and with a large groan of pain she let her head fall back as her eyes clamped shut again.
"C'mon pussycat, it's time to wake up."
Cassie could hear someone calling her, and the voice was oddly familiar, but she couldn't find the will to listen to them.
"No," she grumbled, her words jumbled and incoherent as they passed through her dry lips. She quickly moistened them with her tongue, repeating the same word again.
The voice didn't say anything again, but Cassie could clearly hear footsteps and hushed tones. They were talking about her, but she couldn't really find any fucks to give at the moment. She just wanted to sleep.
"Wakey, wakey little kitty."
That voice she knew.
Cassie raised her head again, though with a much faster speed, and her dark eyes flew open. Thankfully, her eyesight had cleared, and the blurry shapes she'd seen before were now three and very distinctive people.
The little cat's mind filled with thoughts and occurrences, each memory replaying itself one by one until she finally realised exactly where she was, and what had happened.
She remembered coming to the Queen of Heart's salon with the intention of finding out who had information about her. She remembered meeting the Queen's daughter, Helena, who was somehow now the current Queen of Hearts. There had definitely been a baby. Her mind was foggy and her memories choppy, but the unwavering fear she'd gone through when pinned down by Helena stood out the most, along with the bitter taste of whatever was in that bottle tainting her taste buds.
Cassie paled. She'd been so worried and in such a rush to find out who knew something about her that she hadn't even stopped to think that this might have been some kind of plan. Although, her head had been somewhat frazzled since the night she'd left the pirate ship, and her lack of sleep also made an irritating contribution to her idiotic actions. But she still should have thought it over instead of running straight into the net.
"You," she breathed, staring directly at the Heart girl stood next to her.
"Sorry pussycat," the Queen said with a small wince, though she seemed far from apologetic. "I have to get my son off this Isle."
For a moment, Cassie was utterly confused as to what the Heart girl was implying. The only way off the Isle was to break through the barrier, and to do so one would need an infinite amount of magic. Cassie didn't have magic. The only thing she had that could even be classed as such was her curse. There was no such thing as true magic on the Isle, and the very fact that Helena was trying to rationalise her actions by assuming Cassie knew of someone with so much power was simply moronic.
However, though Cassie's mind was tampered and slowed from the chemicals she'd inhaled how ever long ago, it still managed to put the pieces together. And when it did, the little cat's gaze fearfully turned to Harry.
"You told her about my curse?" she whispered.
"Aye," he replied, taking slow steps forward. "I told 'er someone on the Isle spelled ya, an' that someone on the Isle 'ad magic. We came ta a...deal, of sorts." His movements were halted when - much to Cassie's bewilderment - Helena moved away from her side, the knife she'd once held to Cassie's throat now aimed at the son of Hook.
Cassie averted her eyes, her mind racing as an uncomfortable churning sensation started in her stomach. She'd almost forgotten that she hadn't told the pirates exactly who spelled her father, and now it was coming back to bite her in the ass. If Harry had told Helena about her curse, and that someone on the Isle had magic, then who else had he told?
"Did you tell anyone else?" she wondered, a thick lump of bile slowly growing in the back of her throat.
"Not yet," he answered, and she gave an audible sigh of relief. "But I will if ya don' tell me yarself," he threatened, a dangerous smirk growing on his face. "Think about it, little kitty. Everyone on the Isle would be lookin' for ya." A great tremor of panic slid along her skin and Cassie jolted, her panic turning into alarm as she finally took note of the rope around her wrists.
"Just tell us, pussycat," implored Helena, lowering herself to crouch down to Cassie's height. "Spare yourself the pain."
In truth, a large part of Cassie's mind begged her to just tell them. If they knew no one from the Isle spelled her dad, and that it was someone from Auradon, they'd no longer see the need to keep her tied up. However, it also meant Cassie would lose the only thing keeping her alive at the moment. For the time being, the only reason Harry hadn't killed her yet was because he thought she knew someone who could break down the barrier, and until he thought otherwise she wasn't going anywhere. Besides, even if the red pirate did lose his temper and decide he'd rather see her dead than get off the Isle, he'd told Helena, which meant the little cat was now much more useful to someone else. After all, Helena, for whatever reason, loved her little baby, and she wouldn't have knocked Cassie out if she doubted Harry's words. There was no way in Hades the Heart girl was going to let her only chance at giving her son a way off the dreaded Isle die.
Despite the current notion that she held more power than any of them, Cassie still felt the nausea, and she barely had enough time to move before everything she'd eaten that day came out of her mouth in spurts.
"Oh, that's grim." Harry's remark flew straight over her head, since the little cat was much too busy puking into a well-placed bucket between her legs.
Cassie felt her hair being loosely held behind her head, and though a small fraction of her was confused, she couldn't ignore how grateful she was. Vomiting into a bucket, while securely tied to a salon chair, as the three people who'd put her in that unfortunate situation watched, was embarrassing, to say the least. At least now she could keep whatever was left of her dignity and not have to smell the sick in her hair for however long they decided to keep her here.
"It's just the drugs wearing off," the Queen of Hearts quietly informed her, and Cassie turned her head, her brows furrowed as she surveyed the girls face.
"You're being nice," she noted with bewilderment, showing just how confused Helena was making her. After all, Helena had held a knife to her throat, knocked her down on the floor, drugged her, and then tied her up to a chair. All in all, Cassie felt her puzzlement was justified.
"Well," the Heart girl sighed. "You're not making it hard." She pulled another handkerchief from the counter, one that hadn't been drenched in chemicals, and wiped the traces of vomit from Cassie's chin and mouth.
"So, kitty," drawled Harry, tugging the little cat's attention away from the mind-boggling Heart girl. "Are ya gonna tell us?" He made it seem like a question, though Cassie knew full well he was actually expecting an answer from her. It didn't surprise her that he'd given her an ultimatum, of sorts. If she told him who on the Isle had magic, he wouldn't tell everyone else on the Isle about her. But if she didn't, he'd go yelling it from the rooftops until even the lowest of the low were seeking out the little cat. And even though the thought of people coming after her was rather unsettling, Cassie now had another safe route.
The little cat giggled and sat straight, stretching out her bound hands as she eyed the three people in front of her. If she told Harry who really spelled her dad, the chances of him losing his shit and killing her were high, and she had no doubts Helena would allow it to happen. It was obvious the Queen wouldn't fight against him if Cassie had nothing of value: The Heart girl wouldn't willingly risk her life for someone she didn't know and leave her son without his mother. And Gil... well, as lovely and kind as he was, his loyalty was to the pirates. He wouldn't like it, but he'd turn away and let it happen. The only way for Cassie to survive the night was to hold onto to the secret they thought she knew, and maybe play it up a little.
"Hmm." Cassie held onto the armrests, a small grin tugging at her lips as she saw Harry frown. "No."
AN;
Hello readers!
Okay, so there was a bit more going on in this chapter. I just wanted to show another side of the Isle maybe, and just how twisted things were over there. My new OC - Helena, had a very different upbringing to Cassie, and I honestly love diving into different thoughts and places on the Isle, and how each villain kid was raised in a different way.
Review Acknowledgement Time;
Sasha2702; I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter! And honestly - in my mind anyway, the Isle is really dark and twisted, so even something like a kids game could be turned into something evil. And I kind of wanted to Harry to win too, since it would of been interesting for me to write what could have happened if he did, but the majority of this story is based around a 'catch-and-release' kind of thing, so there will be a lot of close-calls and stuff like that. Also, Harry will be getting his hook back soon, but that will be in the next chapter, so I hope you stick around to read it. And thank you so much for the long review! I love it when people give me their thoughts on the story. :)
LolaVegas; :D
StrawberryNeko7; Thank you for the lovely review! As you can see in this chapter, Cassie's starting to realise just how horrible what she did was. In the heat of the moment, taking Harry's hook didn't seem like such a big thing, but obviously she now knows how much it probably means to him. And honestly, the idea for Cassie's curse taking place at night came from one of my favourite princess movies (not Disney), The Swan Princess. I don't know if you've seen it, but it gave me a lot of inspiration for Cassie's curse. I'm so happy you liked the chapter, and I really hope you enjoy this one too!
Deansgirl9742; I'm so glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you like this one! Thank you for the review!
Guest; Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like the story. And truthfully, I love writing about the Isle, I find it so much more interesting to write about than Auradon, especially since we don't see much of it in the movies, it's a great way to get creative. :)
Anyway, please leave a review or PM to let me know what you think of this chapter. And much love to everyone who've favourited and followed!
Thanks!
(Any typos or misspells will be removed once I've had a proper read-through)