AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I think I’m supposed to do some shopping,” said Carlos.
“Well, go on, then,” said Jay.
“I’m going! Give me a sec,” said Carlos.
But he didn’t move. He couldn’t.
“Come on, man, just do it. You know you can. Go!” said Jay, giving him a little push.
Finally, Carlos opened the door and looked over his shoulder. “You guys probably can’t come in, can you?” he asked hopefully. But sure enough, when Mal, Evie, and Jay tried to follow, they were barred from entering.
“We’ll wait here,” said Evie.
“Good luck,” said Mal. “You’ll need it.”
“Bring back that ring soon. I’m getting hungry,” said Jay.
Carlos swallowed his fear, squared his shoulders, and walked inside.
The House of Horrors didn’t live up to its name at all, for when Carlos stepped inside, he found it was an elegant fur shop. The room was decorated in the manner of a fabulous salon, with racks and racks of elegant fur coats everywhere. There were fox chubbies, sable throws, mink stoles, floor-length trenches, and fur-trimmed opera capes. White Mongolian vests, black goat-hair ponchos, cozy raccoon cocoon coats, cheetah-print boleros, and silver-tipped mantles.
There was an elevator at the back of the store, and he walked toward it, as if drawn there by an invisible cord. The doors opened silently and he entered, his hand pulled to the button for the topmost floor.
When Carlos stepped out of the elevator, he was no longer inside a fur shop. Instead, he was walking through a mist, a gray cloud that covered everything. In the distance, he saw a green light blinking.
He walked toward it, his heart thudding in his chest, hoping he wouldn’t chicken out. The youngest of the group, Carlos was often worried that while he was smart enough, he wasn’t as brave as the others were. It had taken a great force of will to enter the House of Horrors alone.
The mists parted and he saw the ring at last. It was indeed as large as a quail egg and as green as a spring meadow. And it was Cruella de Vil’s ring all right, because she was wearing it.
Carlos stepped back with a yelp.
“Hello, darling,” his mother said, blowing a cloud of smoke in his face. “Looking for this?”
“You found it?” he asked. “You found your talisman?”
“Well, of course I did, child! It’s mine!” she screeched.
He was too late, Carlos realized. Cruella already had her ring.
“Shoo, boy, don’t you know when to leave your mother alone?” sneered Cruella.
Carlos backed away, petrified. He had failed his friends, and he had failed Auradon. But even as he beat himself up, he remembered Yen Sid’s words. You possess a keen intellect; however, do not let your head rule your heart. Learn to see what is truly in front of you.
Everything in his brain told him to run from his mother, that she had already captured the talisman. There she stood, hitching her furs across her shoulders, glaring at him.
Cruella had always haunted his nightmares, with her crazed declarations and frenzied hysterics. What was truly in front of him? What didn’t he see? What was he missing?
His head screamed at him to run….
But his heart…His heart told him to stay and fight, that even if he was deathly afraid, he had to find a way to get the ring away from her. He had to prove to himself that he was brave enough, and that he was enough.
“Still here? Go and tell your friends to leave this place forever,” ordered Cruella.
“No,” said Carlos. “Not without that ring.”
Gathering the last of his courage, he tackled his mother and struggled for the ring, finally pulling it off her finger and placing it on his own.
