Junior Descendants

10

Chapter 10

Cruella was still inside her house when the girls got there. They had already changed into their maid dresses so Cruella would think that they were just cleaning her house. "Okay, everyone ready?" Ella said, drawing a fake mole on Lory and Franny's faces. The girls nodded and Ella rang the doorbell.

Cruella answered the door. She had a cigar in her fingertips. "Who are you?" she asked, blowing some smoke out of her mouth.

Ella gulped before answering. "We're cleaning people. We, uh, go around the Isle to uh, make people's houses look better."

Cruella cocked an eyebrow.

"You should believe them," Gabby said. "They cleaned Mother Gothel's place and made everyone jealous."

Ella, Franny, and Lory nodded. Cruella put her cigar in her mouth. "Eh, why the Hell Hall not?"

She let the four come in. Ella gathered Franny and Lory. "Okay, Franny, you look in the kitchen, Lory, you look in the living room, and I'll look upstairs. Go!"

Cruella sat back down on her couch and switched the channel on her TV. She continued to smoke her cigar. Franny went into the kitchen, searching in each cabinet, even the fridge. "MJ?" she called, but there was no answer. Lory was dusting some of Cruella's book cases, pulling on each one to see if they opened a secret passageway. Gabby distracted Cruella while Ella snuck upstairs.

"So, Cruella, I'm supposed to write a paper about who I think is the evilest villain in the land. And, I wanted to write about you, since you're the best of the worst," Gabby lied.

Cruella smoked more of her cigar. "Well, I am the best of the worst."

Gabby smiled. "Great. Now, question one-"

Ella searched through every room upstairs. She didn't find MJ. Suddenly, she saw a door at the very end. Ella opened it and locked herself inside. She was in Cruella's bedroom. The bed was covered in a giant fur blanket. The pillows were printed with black and white fabric, and her lamp was still on. Ella kept the lamp on so she could look around. "MJ?" she whispered. "Are you here?"

Ella searched in the closet. Cruella's giant fur coats surprised her with their beautiful fullness. "MJ?" Ella whispered, pushing passed the furs.

She went through Cruella's desk-drawer next. Cruella had random stuff in there, like a black pacifier and tweezers. Suddenly, something caught her eye. It was a picture of CJ and Jayden on the first day of eighth grade. The two looked happy, especially with Mal and Evie sort of photobombing in the back. Ella smiled. She hoped the boys were okay. Since MJ was obviously not upstairs, Ella came back downstairs. Gabby was still "interviewing" Cruella, Franny was still in the kitchen, and Lory was pulling on books.

"What are you doing?" Ella whispered to Lory.

"I'm trying to find a secret passageway," Lory answered, then pulled on another book and sighed. "But I haven't found one yet."

Ella began helping Lory pull out the books. After a little while, none of them worked. "It's not like MJ's bookshelf," Ella mumbled, remembering her past adventure.

"What?" Lory asked.

"Nothing. Let's get Franny."

Suddenly, Franny came out of the kitchen. "MJ wasn't in there. But I saw this cheesecake and I couldn't resist."

Lory smiled and Ella giggled. "Fran, you do know that the food here is leftover and spoiled, right?" Ella asked.

Franny started spitting on the floor. "Yuck!"

"What is that noise?" Cruella asked.

Ella covered Franny's mouth. "Shh," she whispered.

"Okay Cruella," Gabby said. "We're all done. Terrible to see you."

Gabby gestured for the girls to follow her. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. De Vil," Lory said, then covered her mouth with her hands. Cruella stood up and looked at the girls.

"What did you just say?" she hissed. "Nice?"

"Uh oh," Lory said. "Sorry guys."

"Don't worry Lory. You were just being yourself," Franny added.

"What do we do?" Gabby asked.

Ella sighed. "Well, there's only one thing we can do: RUN!"

Franny and Lory screamed and followed Ella as her and Gabby ran out of Cruella's house. Cruella barked behind them as they ran out. "I'll get you little varmints!" she yelled. "You'll see more Cruella!"

The four girls ran into town. They stopped behind a building to breathe. "You know," Lory huffed. "I don't have to pee anymore."

"That wasn't scary at all," Franny said sarcastically. "How did your parents survive this place?"

Ella and Gabby shrugged. "I don't know," Ella said. "Mom said she spent her whole life in castle."

"Wait, you guys are from Auradon too?" Gabby asked. The three nodded. "You're so lucky."

"What?" Franny mumbled.

"I've always wanted to live in Auradon," Gabby said. "Everyone's so nice and kind to each other. Plus, I've heard lots about Auradon Prep and it sounds SO much better than Dragon Hall."

Ella grinned. "Well, if you'd like, we'd be happy to take you back to Auradon. As long as you're not planning to steal Fairy Godmother's wand."

Gabby put her hand over her heart. "I promise."

"So guys, where are Jayden and CJ?" Lory asked.

Ella shrugged. She really hoped they were okay. After being in Cruella's house, Ella wondered what Jafar might do.