Hooks and Poison Apples

Let's Get This Party Started!

"This is a disaster! My mother is going to kill me! What am I gonna do?"

Evie, Mal and Jay paused outside the doors to the party hall of Hell Hall. They could hear Carlos inside, worriedly ranting away to himself, the sound of pacing footsteps echoing loudly through the double doors. They shared a cautious look with one another before pushing the doors open. The sight they were greeted with had their mouths dropping open in horror.

The room they walked into should have been all set and ready for a grand party, featuring some of the most notorious villains of all time. Everything, down to the tiniest detail, should have been perfect. Instead what they saw was a room in utter disarray. Boxes were scattered everywhere. Streamers, banners, table cloths, and other decorations lay strewn across the room, many of which looked ripped, dirtied and unusable. The floors hadn't been swept or mopped. The windows looked like they had been bombarded with mud cakes. And none of the tables or chairs had been set up, all lying topped around the room.

The place was a chaotic mess.

"What was the theme of the party again?" Mal asked, carefully stepping over a shattered vase.

"Or did we miss the party?" Jay commented, whistling at the bags of burst balloons in the corner.

"What happened Carlos?" Evie said quietly. "You look awful."

Carlos stopped his pacing, spinning around to face his friends. His clothes were dishevelled and his hair was ruffled from running his fingers through it and pulling at it. His cheeks were flushed and there were tear stains on them. Evie felt her heart break at the sight of the fretful boy.

"Oh no! Tell me it isn't time for the party! I'm not ready!" Carlos shouted, his eyes widening fearfully.

"No kidding," Mal said dryly.

"Calm down, dude. It's only ten o'clock so you have another, like, nine hours till the party," Jay said. He looked around and winced and under his breath, he added, "though with the state of this place you probably need a few more days."

"Oh, thank evil for that," Carlos sighed, dropping down to the floor. His body suddenly tensed again and he inhaled sharply. "Or not. I only have nine hours to fix all this! I'm doomed. I'm finished! My mother is going to make mittens out of me!"

"Wow," Evie said, quickly making her way over to Carlos. "You need to calm down and explain what happened."

Carlos took in several long, slow breaths, trying to take back control of his breathing.

"Everything was going fine. I had this place all cleaned up and ready to go. All the tables and chairs were set up, freshly pressed tables cloths put over them and the cutlery and table decorations laid out. The banners and streamers were hung up. The floors and windows were gleaming. The party lights were all fixed to the ceilings and walls."

Carlos stood up and began pacing again as he spoke, carelessly crushing glass and broken plastic under his shoes.

"All I had to do was collect my mother's dress from the dry cleaners and the cake and food from the bakers. But that's when everything started going wrong..." He trailed off, his eyes glossing over as he remembered the dreadful moment fate turned against him. "When I got to the bakers they said the cake and food had been stolen and that they didn't have any time to make me a new order!"

"What about your mother's dress?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow.

Carlos's face turned chalk white. He pointed a trembling finger to a pile of shredded and mucky fabrics.

"That's your mother's dress?" Evie gasped.

"Did they clean it with a shredder?" Jay asked.

"I don't know!" Carlos cried. "I picked it up, didn't bother to check it and when I got home and went to lay it out on my mother's bed I found it looking like that! I bumped into Horace and Jasper on my way out to try and get it fixed and they gave me into trouble for all the racket I caused in the party hall, but I hadn't been in the party hall yet! When I came to check it I found the place like this!"