Once We are Descendants

Chapter 75: Tension

Carlos decides to try and appear helpful, hopefully giving him enough time to get what he wants.

He takes a book from the pile.

"Do you mind if I read over by the door?" he asks. "The lighting is better."

"Okay..." Belle says.

"You sure you don't want to be here, there is lots of room," Regina says, sensing the tension.

"It's okay..." Carlos says, swallowing hard. "I want to enjoy the sunshine."

Regina shrugs but her eyes follow the kid until he vanishes near the entrance.

Something is up... the queen says.

Carlos's heart is pounding as he sits with the book in his lap. He opens it and tries to stare at the first page, but his mind is elsewhere. He just wants to get this over with...

He turns the page to make it sound like he's reading. The stack of books on the desk is just waiting to be touched...

Should I just rip out the one page? he wonders.

Just then the doors of the library open and in comes Jane, Doug, Robbie, and Dizzy. Carlos' heart drops, now the situation has become even worse. It's bad enough he's going to have to steal their only way home, but now his girlfriend is here too.

"Hey guys," he says standing up, trying to act as casually as possible. He goes over and hugs Jane. She can feel the stiffness in his stance. "What are you doing here?"

"Ben texted us," Doug says. "He said that you could use the extra help with researching and since Uma isn't here, we figured it was safe."

"Anything to get out of the convent for a little while, Tallia and Freddie have made it their personal mission to drive the fairies insane," Jane says. "It was funny at first, but now it's just annoying."

"Well... I'm glad you came," Carlos says. He clings to Jane so tightly that she's having trouble breathing.

With some effort, she finally breaks free and looks at her boyfriend. He looks spooked beyond belief.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Y-Yeah," he lies.

"You sure? you seem a little tense."

The teen bites his lip. "I... I didn't sleep well last night. Being in a new place was weird and Jay was watching movies late into the night."

"Doesn't sound much different from being at Auradon Prep," the daughter of the Fairy Godmother shrugs.

"Usually I have my laptop to distract me, but with that back in our dorm..."

"Carlos, who's here?" Belle says, coming around the corner. Ben and Regina are behind her. "Oh hello."

"Hi there, you're Belle, Ben's mother correct?" Robbie asks.

"That would be me."

"Ben texted us saying that you might need some help with researching portals," Doug says. He adjusts his glasses.

"Yes, we do, there are a lot of books and only so many of us."

"It doesn't help that half the group is babysitting," Regina mutters.

"Well we'd be glad to help you out," Doug says. He can barely contain his excitement. He cannot wait to see the kind of library the town has, especially if they use magic so casually, there will likely be fascinating volumes of the history of the dark arts and such, something he would love to take a closer look at.