Dark Descendants-Isle of the Lost

Apple Thief

CARLOS'S BACK HURT LIKE THE DEVIL- pun intended. After 'fun time' or whatever it was called was finally over, Carlos was thrown into the freezing cold closet where he had to guard the precious fur coats that Cruella had collected over the years. He hadn't been able to sleep the whole entire night, due to the throbbing pain of his back and the blood leaking out of his wounds. He was shivery and woozy from all the pain and lack of sleep and food.

The throbbing had turned into numbness by the time the door creaked open, revealing Cruella's beaming face through the tiny ray of dim light that poured in. Though she was smiling, it didn't reach her ice-colored eyes. Carlos shivered even harder. "Rise and shine, boy!"

He internally groaned and forced his aching limbs to move as he stood up. "Good morning, Master."

Her cold eyes brightened slightly and her grin widened. "That's a good boy."

He sighed silently through his nose. The only time she was proud of him was when he was submissive and expressionless and hardworking. "What shall I do for you today, O Great One?"

She obviously liked the title he'd made up, because she straightened and lifted her nose into the air like a haughty queen. "Today you will have to brush every one of my fur coats perfectly, shine my black boots with the squid ink, dust my collection of butterfly wings, bedazzle the three purses I stole from Jafar's Stolen Goods, and get food from The Dump. Start with The Dump- I need some breakfast. Feel free to take the worst foods out of the pile- my treat."

Carlos almost scoffed. He normally took the best that he could find out of the pile anyways, and it wasn't going to change. At least then he could be a little bit rebellious. Nodding instead, he bowed and said, "Yes, Master."

She looked pleased with his actions. So pleased, apparently, that she stroked Carlos's hair when he walked past her. He tried not to shiver at her ice-cold touch. "That's my good boy. Now go get the chores done, my pet."

He nodded again. "Yes, Master."

He tried not to run out of the house.

The outside was beautiful, the dark clouds overhead and the vultures and crows and ravens everywhere. The smell of sulfur, however awful it was, was much more preferable than the scent of blood, in Carlos's opinion.

He felt like dancing in joy- finally, even if it was just for a little bit, he was free. Free from the overpowering fear that suffocated his every waking (and sleeping) thought. Fear that he would mess up and get more punishments.

He shrugged off the gloomy feelings and almost skipped as he hurried to The Dump. The Dump is where the citizens of the Isle of the Lost got their food. Yep, they got leftovers and cast-asides for their meals. But they didn't mind, really- they hadn't really had good food before, so they were used to it. Sure, they had to fight and had an occasional mini-war over it once in a while, and, you know, people got diseases and such from it and died, but that was just life. If you couldn't survive, then you didn't deserve to- simple as that.

He looked up at the towering pile, picking out the ones that looked the most edible. Flies were everywhere, buzzing in, out, and around the trash. He wrinkled his nose at the smell, but it adjusted to the rank scent fairly quickly, for it didn't smell much different from the sulfur. First he took a pepperoni pizza slice, then a soggy muffin, then a shiny red apple-

It was knocked out of his hands as soon as he picked it up. "Hey!" he protested, grabbing at air where it had been snatched away from him. "Give it back!"

"No!" a voice snarled at him. "It's mine! I saw it first!"

He looked at the apple thief. It was a girl with startlingly dark blue hair in curls, her lips rosy pink and her eye lashes long as his thumbnail. She was wearing a fancy hoodie with cuffed sleeves that had the word FAIREST imprinted on it, and he could tell she was wearing foundation because his mother wore it too. "I thought you'd hate apples, considering your bad history with them."

"It's not my bad history," she pointed out, putting her hands on her hips. "Besides, your mom is still obsessed with dog fur despite her deep hatred for dogs. You'd think she'd learn her lesson."

"Well, my mom didn't try to kill the same girl four times," Carlos retorted.

The girl glowered at him. Then she smirked and took a big bite out of the apple. The juice from it dribbled down her chin unattractively. "Want it now?" she said with her mouth full.

Carlos wrinkled his nose. "No thanks." He sniffed disappointedly. He'd really wanted that apple. "Jeez, I thought you were supposed to be drop-dead gorgeous, but I guess you're just a brat."

Evil Queen's daughter slumped her shoulders, hurt flashing in her eyes. Carlos suddenly felt awful, and scuffed the tip of his shoe in the pile sheepishly. "Look, I'm sorry. Th-that was mean. Maybe... we can... start over?"

She looked up at him, somewhat surprised by his sudden kindness. Then she gave him a toothy smile that warmed him from his head to his toes. He hadn't had someone give him a genuine smile in... well, ever. "Sure!"

He smiled. "Cool." He tucked the pizza and the muffin under his arm and held out his other hand for her to shake.

She accepted it with a bright smile. "My name's Evie. I know you already knew who my mom is, but I didn't know if you knew my name."

He blushed. "I didn't." He felt ashamed that he'd never actually asked or seen what it was. "I'm Carlos De Vil."

"Carlos." She smile grew. "I like it."

He smiled back at her. "Thanks. I like your's too."

They stood looking at each other for a moment, each having different thoughts going through their minds. Carlos wondered how her mother treated her. Was she punished like him, or did she just do make-up all day? He opened his mouth to ask her, when someone interrupted him before he got the chance.

"Oh, look!" a voice sneered from behind them. "The two losers are having a meeting!"

"Oh, great!" a mocking voice sneered in reply.

It was Jay and Mal, the son of Jafar and the daughter of Maleficent.

The four descendants were all together. Carlos winced. This was going to be either really good or horrible.