What Hides in the Shadows (Spooky OQ Week)
Prologue: Monster
It's the quiet moments that deceive you, where the world stands still and all is calm. The peace that comes as the sun sets, as friends bid each other happy goodbyes with the promise of future hellos. The soft murmurings of small town life that fool you into feeling safe. But monsters lurk in the shadows, masked by the rustling of leaves disturbed by the gentle breeze of dusk. Evil. Evil that stalks you in the night, waiting to clutch and claw, and turn your world upside down.
Storybrooke is a town filled with familiar faces, where children run and play and residents sleep with ease without locking their homes. It's a place where very little seems to happen aside from the occasional mischief stirred up by restless teenagers looking to cure their boredom. So when 12 year old Roland Locksley goes missing, no one knows quite what to do. Everyone has a theory, but no one has a clue, and the days drag on without answer.
They drag on to the sounds of the mad ramblings of his father. He swears he sees Roland in the lights – calling to him, begging to be saved – but really, everyone knows Robin Locksley has been one fall away from lunacy since he lost his wife to childbirth. He's been barely holding it together for years; he may never recover.
They drag on weighed down by the cloud of guilt that surrounds Will Scarlet. The Locksleys took in Will two years ago when his parents died in that fire. They've been good to him. He should have been there. He was supposed to be there, to make sure Roland went to bed on time while Robin worked the night shift. But, what 16 year old sticks to curfew? It's a funny thing isn't it? How people seem to get hurt around Will. And maybe, just maybe, he got tired of the kid following him around. And maybe that fire that killed his parents and spared him wasn't an accident. But that's just the latest town gossip.
Everyone gives the children space. How can they be expected to understand loss, to bear grief? Their world has been shattered so suddenly by the loss of their friend. So when they speak of other dimensions and demons of the night, no one corrects them. Perhaps it will lessen the pain if they think Roland is simply lost in another world, looking for a way home, running from monsters. No one has the heart to tell them, he's probably dead.
The mayor gathers the town, assigns search parties and rescue efforts. With every passing day, the nights grow colder and the residents surer that this will be a body recovery effort. No child can survive so long on their own. But Roland is strong. He's resourceful. They must keep searching. Mayor Mills won't watch another family be destroyed. She'll walk into the belly of the beast to bring that boy home if she has to. Little does she know, she's chasing two boys.
AN: Just a short little thing to start, hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next parts. Stranger Things meets OQ! Much love, Danelle