CHAPTER 1: FINDING RED

Emma was curled up asleep on the sheriff's station couch next to Mary Margaret's cell when there was thundering knocking on the front door that caused Emma to roll to the floor with a thud. She groaned as she pulled herself off the floor and made her way to the door as the banging continued.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!"

Emma opened the door and her frown grew when she saw Henry with August.

"Dare I even ask why either of you are here?"

"I need to see the book," Henry exclaimed and slipped under his mom's arm as he had done the first time he met her. He reached in her pocket and grabbed her keys before running into the station. Emma stepped aside to let August in and shot him a questioning look.

"He found me at the diner to talk about his book. I thought it was best to bring him here to you then face the wrath of the mayor if I took him home."

"Great, now he's sneaking out again, another thing for her to blame on me," Emma grumbled. "Thank you for bringing him here."

August took his jacket off and slipped it on the back of a chair while Emma locked the door back.

"You look like hell," August noted as he looked Emma over and noted that it looked like she had been living out of the station.

"Thanks, I think," Emma grumbled as she tried to rub the kink out of her neck.

"Don't you have a house to go to?"

"That's what I keep telling her," Mary Margaret chimed in from her cell. She'd like to say all the commotion woke her up, but she hadn't been able to do much sleeping since Emma was forced to arrest her.

"And I keep telling you that when we go home again it'll be together," Emma stated firmly.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Henry ran from the other side of the station with book in hand. He placed the book on the table and pulled August and Emma over to it.

"Okay kid, what is going on and how many motives are we going to give your mom to try and kill me?"

"My mom was watching the news and they showed a video from last week's Miners Day and I saw them," Henry exclaimed.

"Saw what? I'm running on limited sleep here so you're going to have to spell this out for me."

August looked at the book and a knowing look came over his face before he stepped back from the book and let Emma get a closer look.

"Still confused," Emma stated as she tried to figure out what Henry was trying to show her.

"At the end of the festival there were fairy lights like in the story of Nova and Dreamy," Henry informed Emma. "If the lights are back then magic is starting to return."

Emma pointed to the book. "And this couldn't wait until morning?"

Henry frowned at his mom's lack of understanding. He ran over to the window and yanked back the curtain to reveal a full moon. "If magic is coming back then you have to find Ruby and lock her up! You have to find her now because without her cape she'll become the wolf." Emma was stunned by the look of fear and worry on Henry's face.

"I'm not following you again," Emma replied as she tried to keep up with his rapid fire thinking.

To her side the look on Augusts' face had dropped and he grabbed his jacket and threw it on. "What he's trying to tell you is Red Riding Hood is the wolf and the cloak she wore stopped the transformation. If magic is returning and Ruby is left without the cloak then come morning you'll be cleaning up a blood bath."

"Wait, you believe in the book to?" Emma focused on him to see his response and hoping to be able to tell he was lying.

"I believe and you were right to wonder about why I drove into town when I did, but we don't have time to get into that now. We have to find Ruby and now."

"Red Riding Hood was the wolf," Mary Margaret exclaimed from her cell. "That book certainly does take interesting liberties with the traditional stories."

"I told you," Emma stated as she slipped on her jacket. She turned to Henry and pointed to the couch. "You sit there with Mary Margaret until I get back and then I will take you home and see how many ways your mom can find to blame me for all this."

Henry sat down and Emma made her way out the door with August.

Once outside she turned and shot him a serious look.

"Please tell me you are just humoring Henry and don't really believe in any of this."

August was in a frantic hurry and he grabbed Emma's arm and dragged her towards her car. "Drive and I'll tell you what you can handle, but if we don't get to Ruby people will die and that much is fact."

Emma could tell that August believed everything he was saying so she chose to go along with this craziness in the hopes of getting some insight into the man that was still practically a stranger to her. She got in the car and took off towards Granny's.

With the full moon high in the sky Snow rode her horse at a frantic pace until she reached the cabin she shared with Red. She jumped off her horse and ran inside.

"Red! Red! Answer me! Where are you?" Snow searched every corner of the cabin before running back outside just as James rode up.

"Is she here?" James inquired as he jumped off his horse and ran to Snow's side.

"No . Oh gods James, I shouldn't have left her alone for so long. I promised her I'd never let her be alone during Wolfstime." Snow was in a panic as she scanned the moonlit land around them hoping to see Red.

"I searched around the village she targeted and she's not there, so at least we know she got out alive. We just have to find her and find a way to stop her," James stated.

"I will kill the man who took the cape from her," Snow declared.

"We will find her before the wolf has a chance to kill anyone else," James promised. He pulled Snow into his arms and held her close. If it hadn't been for Red he'd have never gotten Snow back and for that he would go to the ends of the land for Red to show his gratitude.

"She's my best friend, James," Snow murmured into his chest.

"I know, Snow, and I swear to you we will find her and protect her from the hunting party, but panicking and losing our cool isn't going to be of any help to Red. We have to be smart about this so we don't end up victims of the wolf ourselves."

Snow pulled away from him and nodded in confirmation. "Killing Peter nearly destroyed her. We can't let her wolf hurt anyone else, especially us. I don't think she could survive hurting or killing anyone else she loves. If we can't stop her…I'd rather we be the ones to kill her," Snow stated as her voice broke with the pained emotion of just the idea of having to take the life of her friend.

On the night of Peter's death, as they ran through the dark woods, she had vowed to Red that if the moment ever came where life had to be protected from the wolf she would kill Red If no other option could be found. It was a vow Snow had hoped to never have to keep, but it seemed that the day had come. Without the cape they would have no way to stop Red until the moon fell from the sky and by then it may be too late.

James took her hand and led her back to their horses.

"Then we shall go save her and if we can't stop the wolf then I will do what is necessary," James promised her. "Given a choice we both know Red would not want that burden in your hands if there is any other choice."

James kissed her softly then helped her up on her horse. It wasn't safe to be out in the dark with a wolf on the loose, but they had to find Red and do everything they could for her.