HOOKED ↝ DESCENDANTS

[11]

"Is everybody ready?" Ben whispered to the group, looking back to see Rosalie and the others crouched and in position.

Jay nodded to signal to Ben to go ahead, the king of Auradon kicking the door open with a loud crack, and Rosalie tensed up, preparing for the worst. She wasn't sure what horrors Audrey would inflict on them as they raided Fairy Cottage, however when they stormed inside, they instead found it empty, devoid of any evidence of Audrey ever having been there, nor that of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather.

Jay darted up the stairs to search the top floor as the rest of them began to spread out through the empty cottage, only for the son of Jafar to return a moment later, shaking his head. "She's not upstairs." he announced, breaking the eerie silence that had befallen the group.

All of a sudden, a loud banging noise sounded from behind Ben, the door to the Fairy Godmothers' broom closet only moving a centimeter, though a magical lock of some sort prevented it from opening any further to reveal whoever, or whatever, waited inside. Ben peered intently through the small square of glass on the door as the others stepped up hesitantly behind him, before a look of recognition crossed his features and he threw the door open to reveal Chad sitting on the stone floor, his knees pulled up to his chest as he slowly rocked back and forth, his body shaking in fear.

Of all the sights Rosalie had anticipated seeing when they arrived at Fairy Cottage, Chad being locked up hadn't been one of them.

"Chad?" Ben asked cautiously.

Chad continued to sit on the ground, shaking softly. "I want my mommy." he mumbled, and Ben leaned forward to help the boy up, only to have the prince of Cinderellasburg flinch back defensively.

"It's okay," Ben said softly, reassuringly, grabbing hold of Chad's arm and hoisting him to his feet, Ansel stepping forward to help and grabbing his other arm.

"We've got you." Ansel added, calmly.

"What happened, buddy?" Ben asked, and only then did Chad look around the room, his gaze falling on the others before turning back to his friends.

"Ben," Chad spoke up, recognition finally softening his features. "Ansel. What- Ben, what happened to your face?" he asked, taking in Ben's Beast beard, which still had yet to fade away from Audrey's spell.

"She's gone, huh?" Chad continued, his gaze falling on the front door, which lay propped up on its hinges, relief crossing his features as he realized that Audrey was nowhere to be found. "The door's open." he said. "I'm free. Freedom!" he bellowed, running out into the night, no doubt back in the direction of Auradon City and putting as much distance between himself and Fairy Cottage as possible.

"I'll go after him." Ansel offered. "With everything happening with Audrey right now, he shouldn't be alone in case she decides to go after him again."

Without another word, Ansel ran off after Chad, leaving the rest of the group in the cottage as Harry began to laugh at Chad's expense.

"Oh, come on," Harry said to Rosalie, who stood just to his right as the others began to file back out into the night, coming to the conclusion that they wouldn't find any other clues to Audrey's whereabouts inside the cottage. "You have to admit it was a little funny."

Rosalie couldn't help the smirk that crossed her features as she chuckled softly. After all they'd been through that day, anyways, it did wonders in lifting her spirits even a little bit, and she couldn't say she'd never thought about the day Chad Charming met a problem his ego and royal status couldn't solve.

"Alright," Rosalie admitted. "It was kind of funny. Now come on," she said, leading him outside where the others were waiting. "We don't want them to leave without us."