Descendants 2 [H.S. & C.S.]

Chapter 12

Wicked new look? Check.
Up next . . . taking my old turf back from Sabrina.

Night fell over the Isle of the Lost as the limo rolled to a stop in an empty warehouse.

Michael, Justin, Calum, and Cole jumped out of the vehicle and slammed the doors. Around them were splintered wooden shipping crates, old sheets in a stinking pile, walls of corroded corrugated metal, and slimy barrels.

There was also a huge rusty metal pipe turned tunnel going into a rock wall.

"Cole," said Justin, running to the pile of sheets. "Help me with the tarp."

Cole and Justin carried the tarp to Calum and Michael, and the four of them started to cover up the limo.

After all, the car stood out like a shiny new penny in a garbage pile, and the friends didn't want to rouse any suspicious looks from possible passersby. That was the last thing they needed.

Calum looked around uneasily. "It's really weird being back," he told Michael.

"We'll get in and get out," he assured him.

"Michael," Justin got his attention and tossed half the tarp over the top of the limo to his friend.

Michael, along with Calum, took it, and they finished making sure the limo was completely hidden.

Meanwhile, Cole wondered to the giant rusty pipe tunnel. He peered inside it for a good long moment.

"Hey! What's in here?" Cole called back to the others.

Justin, Michael, and Calum rushed to Cole's side.

"You don't want to know," said Michael.

Justin pulled Cole away from the opening.

"Hey, guys." Justin turned to the whole gang. "Keep it chill. All right? Last thing we need is our parents figuring out we're here."

His friends nodded in agreement as they all took off, away from the limo and around a dark bend.

They entered a seedy alleyway where tattered sheets hung from rickshaws and covered dirty entryways.

Two unkempt children in shabby coats ran up to Calum, and one of them tried to pickpocket him.

"Hey," said Calum. "Hey! What are you doing?" He gripped an arm of each child.

They struggled against him, wriggling like eels.

"Stop!" said Calum. He released them, then reached into his pocket and held his tiny coin purse out to them. "Here. Just take it," he said, extending it to one.

The little kid grabbed it and scampered off.

Calum turned to Michael and Justin, realizing Cole was nowhere in sight. "Cole," Calum said, singing. The three marched down the alley to find him.

Cole had wandered ahead of his friends into a covered marketplace: Low Tide Lane, a remote alley where pirates sold their decrepit wares. He looked around at the clatter of barrels, lanterns, and splintered pieces of wood. Signs advertised crabgrass, grit, pond scum, and worms, and a black street sign with a double-sided white arrow pointing in opposite directions read No Way. Haggard pirates dozed behind their busted makeshift carts while others carried baskets of trash. Cole was in awe of the Isle, which until then had been a place he had only ever heard about.

It was far worse than he had expected. Yet he also found an odd beauty to it.

Cole's sights landed on a scrappy pirate, and Cole waved at him and smiled. The pirate glared back at him. Cole extended his arm and welcomed a handshake, but the pirate only lunged at Cole and growled.