Chapter 39
*YESTERDAY*
There was a loud crash as the crowd cheered on the two men fighting in the ring. They used broken bottles, their fists, even old garbage to fight each other – after all, the establishment did say 'no rules'. Further away there were tables and chairs that rested near a bar where a man in a red shirt stood looking over that night's crowd. As he turned his head he noticed his reflection in a glass and smiled his devilishly handsome smile checking to make sure there was nothing in his teeth. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and began to hum, "Hmm-hmm Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm, no one's slick as Gaston, Hmm-hmm Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm Hmm-hmm-hmm as Gaston."
"G-Gaston?" came a timid voice as he felt a tug on his sleeve, he didn't so much as turn his head as he answered.
"What is it LeFou?"
"T-There's a customer who would like to speak with you in private. She's waiting in your office." He replied jabbing a finger toward the door behind the bar. Normally Gaston would ask who dared to waste his time but seeing as it was a woman, well, he had to answer when a lady asked for his presence. He made his way to the back room, scratched in the wood was the word 'private' and inside laid all Gaston's treasures. The wall was covered in antlers and heads of animals he'd slain, there were hunting trophies that had sadly rusted over the years, all above a large fireplace. There was a figure standing before the fire and when she turned Gaston smiled his usual dashing smile mainly to hide his surprise.
"I didn't think this was your kind of place Cruella." He said pulling up a couple of chairs, "Please, sit."
The former queen of the 'House of De Vil' fashion empire took a seat, her eyes narrowed as she took in Gaston trying to figure out his game – after all every great villain had one.
"It's a pleasure." He said with a bright cheeky grin.
"What is?" Cruella asked in a bored tone taking another drag from her cigarette blowing out the green smoke from between her red lips.
"Finally making your acquaintance. I don't spend much time on Maleficent's side of the Isle, it's always an honor to finally meet such a renowned villain."
"What a lovely thought. I wish I could say the same." Cruella replied with false sweetness. "Gaston, I have a business proposition for you." She continued as she took a seat and fixed her fur coat, "A chance to return to the hunt. I'm sure you're itching to get back in the game."
"Of course, however I've already slain every kind of creature on this rock –"
"Oh, the prey I have in mind I can assure you is unlike anything else you've trapped."
Gaston leaned forward in his chair leaning his elbows on his knees. "You've captured my attention, what prey are we talking about exactly?"
"I take it you've heard of Harry Hook?"
This time Gaston couldn't hide the surprise on his face then it turned to unbridled fury, "Harry Hook." He said slowly his hand clenching into a tight fist as his perfect teeth started grinding together, "My youngest son Gil is a part of that filth's pirate crew." He sneered, "He should be here with his brothers focusing on important things, like keeping my dueling ring in fighting shape and running smoothly, instead that scum Hook coerced him onto his crew and now Gil barely ever comes home to do his work!" he shouted slamming his fist on the arm of the chair breaking it clean off.
"Then you and I have a common enemy." Cruella replied coolly. "If you hate the boy so much why haven't you acted by now though?"
Gaston scoffed leaning back in his chair, "No one on the Isle is fool enough to go against Captain Hook, the man was a legend and with a bloodthirsty crew and a ship armed with cannons no one had the power to overthrow him. Though now with James dead the Hook children are divided, they barely speak to each other, targeting the boy will be easy."
"I want the boy alive Gaston." Cruella said tapping the ash off the end of her cigarette.
"Of course, it wouldn't be fun otherwise." He grinned.
**Present**
When Harry woke up the first thing he could tell about his new surroundings were that it was cold and damp. There was the smell of mold in the air and he could hear the squeaking of rats as they crawled across the floor looking for crumbs. When he found the strength to open his eyes he saw he was in a dark stone dungeon, he was chained to a pillar with his hands by his head, his hair in his face and his mouth gagged and try as he might he couldn't break free. Along the walls he saw several skeletons hanging from chains, there was even one that looked like he'd been trying to reach through the bars of his makeshift cell to grab a pot of water but had died before he could reach it. Harry swallowed nervously not knowing which villain now held him prisoner, he knew that Gaston had a dungeon in his cellar but it was full of caged animals – that's where he'd gotten the white tiger pelt for Camilla.
At the far end of the dungeon he saw a wide stone staircase and at the top was a faint orange glow coming from the room above. He could hear muffled voices but couldn't make out who they belonged to or what they were saying. Then he heard footsteps that sounded like heels echoing off the stone as someone entered the dungeon. Then more footsteps followed behind and the voices grew louder.
"I see you had your fun before delivering him." Came a snappy high pitched voice – definitely a woman.
"All you said when we made our bargain was that I bring him to you alive." Came a deeper voice he knew to be Gaston.
"Yes, my faith in your limited intelligence is momentarily restored." The first voice sneered. Then the three figures came into view as they reached the end of the staircase. First there was the Evil Queen Grimhilde and as Harry looked around again he realized it must be her dungeon they'd imprisoned him in at the Castle Across the Way. The Queen walked with an air of royalty holding her long blue skirts to keep from dirtying them on the floor as she held her chin high and wore an expression of superiority but Harry saw a gleam of something wicked in her eye and remembered how much every villain on the Isle missed things like torture and watching others suffer worse than them and he knew how much these infamous villains would relish in causing him pain.
Following behind the Evil Queen was Gaston – as he had guessed – and Cruella De Vil. She wore a smiled that stretched from ear to ear but had a fire burning in her eyes. Harry took a deep breath and braced himself thinking of CJ and he was glad that Cruella had never found out that his baby sister had been the one behind her destroyed furs, whatever punishment she had for him he could take it, better him than CJ.
"I've spent enough time below deck to not be afraid of the dark, so if this is your idea of torture, you're going ta have ta try harder." He said putting up a strong confident front. But it only made Cruella's grin widen exposing her perfect white teeth making her bright red lips seem redder and more menacing like she'd painted them with blood and not lipstick. Harry didn't let it show but her smile made him quiver on the inside. Better him then CJ he told himself again, better him then CJ.
- - ROTTEN TO THE CORE - -
There was an odd feeling in Hell Hall that day as Camilla kept herself locked in her room going through her old pirate clothes and longing for the day when her mother would be distracted enough that she could cause trouble with Harry, Uma, Gil and the others again. Thinking of her mother made a light bulb go off in Camilla's mind and she realized what was so odd about today – Hell Hall was far too quiet. Usually her mother would be shouting at Horace and Jasper to fetch her one thing or another making her voice echo through the halls. With her curiosity peaked Camilla left her bedroom and made her way through the mansion. There was no trace of her mother or her minions, not even Jace or Harold. Camilla grabbed her red leather coat and threw it on over her black knee length dress and Dalmatian print belt before making her way outside to the chilly winds of the Isle. She finally heard some sign of life and made her way to the front of the house where she found Horace and Jasper at their truck. They were working on the engine using assorted parts that had arrived on the barge to try and get the engine working. Beside their truck should have been her mother's sleek vehicle, Cruella refused to drive it unless it was in perfect condition which was close to never, so Camilla found it curious that the car was gone from its usual spot.
"I'm froze stiff Jasper." The rounder man , Horace, complained as Camilla watched them from the shadows.
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Jasper grumbled rubbing his glove covered hands together trying to make some heat. "At least we ain't in no dungeon."
"Hehe, yeah." Horace said as they both got into their truck, "He's probably frozen to death by now."
"Nah," Jasper said, "Madame wants to do worse than that. Don'tcha remember what she said?"
Camilla didn't hear the rest of the conversation as the pair drove away their engine making more noise than any brawl Camilla had ever heard. She felt dread in the pit of her stomach knowing her mother had been after Harry and after hearing what her two imbecilic minions had just said all but confirmed that she now had him. Camilla rushed after the truck knowing Horace and Jasper would lead her to wherever her mother stowed Harry. After all, there were several dungeons on the Isle and without this lead she'd never find him.
That feeling of dread only got worse when Camilla found the half broken truck parked in front of Castle Across the Way behind her mother's car. Worse than anything Camilla had previously imagined was her mother dragging in another big name villain into her revenge scheme and she hated to think what torture Harry was going through now.
- - ROTTEN TO THE CORE - -
The dungeon had only grown colder the longer Harry spent there, he wished Cruella would enact whatever she'd planned on doing to him because all in all this waiting was worse. Being left to imagine all the horrible things the woman might do to him was worse than just suffering something – anything and toughing it out.
"Will yeh just get bloody on with it!" Harry shouted tugging on his chains as Cruella sat across the dungeon from him flipping through an old torn fashion magazine. Gaston and Grimhilde had left long ago leaving him alone with the madwoman.
"Not yet." She replied in a bored tone not even looking up from the pages in front of her.
"Yeh have me trapped what more could yeh need?"
Cruella tossed the magazine aside and crossed her legs, "It's not just about you Hook, I have other people who need to learn a lesson too." Cruella seemed to delight when she saw the confusion take over Harry's face. "I feel you've become much too friendly with my daughter and I aim to change that."
"Yeh wouldn't hurt yer own daughter." Harry said tugging at his restraints again when he saw the wicked smile cross Cruella's face. Then he heard the door at the top of the stairs open and heard light footsteps. Cruella made her way over to him and returned the gag to his mouth before stepping behind the pillar he was chained to. Shortly after Camilla appeared at the bottom of the stone steps and Harry shook his head and tried to yell at her to run. She started to make her way over to him but stopped when Cruella stepped out from behind the pillar.
"Right on time Camilla." She drawled, "But I thought I taught you better." She said as Camilla froze, "A De Vil woman should always be fashionably late." She said her eyes scanning up and down at Camilla's outfit, the red leather jacket thrown over her black dress, her hair which had grown out was in no style whatsoever, basic, boring, Cruella thought as she tutted her tongue.
"Mother." Camilla said nervously. "What's going on?"
"Oh don't try to act innocent my dear it doesn't become you." Cruella scolded. "And it's a mockery of my own intelligence to believe you could hide something like this from me." She turned to Harry and grabbed his chin, "Associating with pirates." She sneered pushing Harry's face away loosening the gag enough that it fell away from his mouth, "And I thought you couldn't possibly sink lower than your brother."
"Mother I –"
"It's alright my dear, I'm going to give you a second chance." Cruella said before approaching Camilla and pulling out a bright red apple from her coat, just looking at it made Camilla's mouth water, though she knew that to be part of the magic spell Queen Grimhilde used on the fruit. The shiver down her spine was her own pure fear at the sight of one of the most evil creations in their world.
"Make him choke on it." Her mother told her holding out the poison apple for her to take. Camilla tried to control her shaking as she raised her hand and took the apple from her mother's grasp. Cruella walked circling her daughter.
"Be a good girl." Her mother whispered in her ear, "Do as mommy says."
Camilla looked up at Harry and he saw the pain in her eyes as her greatest fear was coming to fruition.
"Camilla, it's okay, I can take it." Harry told her looking to ease her pain, even if it meant inflicting his own. Camilla took a step toward him as Cruella stood between the two, her eyes shifting back and forth not wanting to miss a second of either one's pain. Then Camilla stopped about five paces away from Harry, he saw her eyes shimmer with tears before they turned solid and rock hard with resolve. Then she brought the apple to her lips and took a bite.
"No!" he shouted as Camilla chewed, her mother looking on with deep interest not at all concerned for her daughter. Camilla continued to chew until it looked like she was having trouble breathing, she dropped the apple to the floor and brought her hand to cover her mouth as her body began to convulse. Then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the floor her black and white hair fanning out around her. Cruella tutted as she bent to retrieve the apple rubbing it on her coat to make it shine.
"Cruella let me go!" Harry shouted, "I can help her."
"Ha!" the madwoman barked, "Help her? How? With true love?" she scoffed. "If you truly wanted to help my daughter you would have stayed far away from her!"
"Ye don't even care that yer daughter, yer kin, yer own flesh and blood is dying at yer feet!" Harry accused.
"If Camilla is so bent on disobeying me then what use is she?" Cruella said approaching him, "It's such a pity, she had so much potential to be a great villain. But villains have no room for love, that is the first mistake she made and I'd rather her die than make another one."
"I swear witch by all the seven seas –" but Harry never finished his threat, Cruella had shoved the apple to his mouth and as his teeth scraped across it's fragile skin he could feel some of its deadly juice trickle into his mouth. He only struggled against it for a second then he sank his teeth into its flesh and took a large bite. Cruella pulled the twice bitten apple away with a look of victory on her face. Harry chewed slowly looking Cruella dead in the eye as he felt the poison begin to take over making his throat and tongue feel numb. If he couldn't break free and help Camilla then the least he could do was share her fate.
"You're a fool Harry Hook." Cruella whispered, "Your scallywag flair for the overly dramatic may have won my daughter's heart but it's also spelt your own doom."
Harry could feel the poison seep into his veins as he began to feel colder, each time he blinked he felt his eyelids grow heavier and his breathing came in shallower pants.
"You must think you're so brave, as if things like bravery and courage will help you once the spell takes root inside you. Men like you always underestimate the villainess dressed in furs and fine things but the truth of the matter is I'm every bit as deadly as your father and his hook!" She laughed, "You'll succumb to the eternal slumber and have nothing but your darkest nightmares, no friends, no family, no pulse! Cruella De Vil always gets the last laugh!" She cackled as Harry passed out.