She woke up with a startle. Her head throbbed, her arms ached and her legs were covered in scratches and bruises; and that was before she opened her eyes. Once that happened everything went spiralling. Sunlight flooded into her eyes, birds screeched and she didn't recognise anything about her surroundings. She was lying on dirt and was surrounded by huge trees that didn't have many leaves. Along with her whole body aching as she tried to move, her heart started racing so much she thought it was going to break through her ribs! Where was she? Sitting up tentatively , she tried to think. This definitely wasn't Colden Woods, thank goodness. She knew every single inch of that wood, primarily because it was so small but also because she had grown up so close to it, it was practically her backyard. For years it had been her safe haven, but in recent years it had become a prison. So if this wasn't Colden, where was it? She had arrived in random places before but she had always intended to go there and remembered the journey; she had to, she was no witch so had to protect the people who helped her flee. She didn't recognise anything so consoled herself with the fact that she wasn't in Messene. She vowed she would never return there the second she left and from the gossip she had heard, she was pretty sure she couldn't. But if she wasn't in Messene, where was she? How did she get there? More importantly, why didn't she remember? She had a million questions racing through her head but lying on the ground wasn't going to get any of them answered so she half walked half dragged herself to a rock nearby. She used the opportunity to drink in her surroundings. The trees were still rustling as the breeze blew and the birds sang to one another; she may have found it quite peaceful if she wasn't so confused. She slowly stood up and began to walk. She didn't know exactly where she was going but that didn't matter, she needed to do something other than sit and wallow. As she walked deeper and deeper into this forrest, she found more things that dazzled her. Trees that looked ancient but strong, acres of wild flowers that danced as a breeze flowed through them and she swore she saw fairies whirling through the air. She saw burnt ground that had been left by a campfire in the area where she landed and upon exploring more of the forrest she could understand why this place was used for camping; it really was beautiful. She was so distracted by the beauty that she didn't notice the a ridge; she tumbled down the hill, crashing into roots of trees and branches before finally stopping when she hit level ground. If she wasn't in pain before, she sure as hell was now. Her headache that had disappeared during her hours spent walking was back with a vengeance and she was pretty certain one of the things she rolled over cracked one of her ribs. Once again the world was spinning. 'What the hell?!" she thought. 'This whole world spinning thing is getting real frickin' old…" she murmured as she fumbled for something to help her get up. She slowly crawled across the floor until her hand hit what seemed like a wall. She slowly turned her head and noticed it was a well. "About frickin' time" Esme whispered as she slowly got to her knees, waiting a second until the world stopped spinning. She hadn't realised how thirsty she was until she saw the pool of water at the bottom of the well. As she began to twirl the handle, she prayed that the water was clean or at least drinkable. When the little bucket finally came within reach she grasped it feverishly, inspected the water then drank until there was no more left. Just as she was lowering the bucket back down for some more water, she began to feel funny; it was a feeling she was well used to.
She heard screaming. No. Not screaming. Laughing? Yes, laughter. But not a happy, childlike laugh. It was more like a menacing laugh. The kind of laugh that strikes fear into the hearts of the good yet is the victory song of the villain. She saw nothing though. Just colours. Green and black swirls all intertwined , continuously moving like a river of smoke.
As quickly as the vision came, it left. It could only have lasted a couple of seconds but its occurrence at all terrified Esme. She was used to her visions, and was usually able to control them, but her exhaustion seemed to have weakened her mentally, just enough for her to lose control of them slightly. She usually travelled to realms that she knew had magic, so that her visions were one thing she did have to worry about, but she was unsure of this place and so tried to act as normal as possible after. Magic wasn't present in Messene but it was feared, and had been for generations. Anyone who had been accused of sorcery was imprisoned or killed, depending on the threat they posed. Esmerelda had always been scared of being discovered and that fear remained instilled within her. She had been on the run for two years now; she was used to navigating foreign lands and although, granted, she was usually fully in control of her journey, she wasn't in Messene. This meant she was safe. But just as she was using the well to pull herself up, she felt something. The weather. It was changing. Quickly. The sky had gone from dar blue to black in seconds, the wind was gaining momentum and there was thunder that sounded like all of the souls in the sky were at war. Esme was scared; she had no shelter to protect herself from a storm of this magnitude. It was then that she heard the screams. People were yelling but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She knew it was stupid but she started running towards the voices. She ran for a few minutes, using all of the energy that she could muster but had to stop running and start walking when she came to a road. Her body hadn't recovered, she hadn't slept and she hadn't drank or eaten all day. She saw a sign that read 'Welcome to Storybrook" and a long road ahead. This little sight filled her with relief. She knew where she was! Well she didn't actually know where she was but the place she had found herself in had a name and she now knew what that was. It took the uncertainty out of her situation slightly which renewed her strength. She was still wanted to set up camp for the night but all roads lead to somewhere right? She decided she would walk until she could walk no more, which wouldn't be very far with the way she was feeling. The storm was getting stronger, and the wind almost carried her down the road which Esme was actually quite grateful for. The shouts were getting louder as she travelled down the road and it was then that she saw something in the distance. When she got closer, she saw something black enveloping a blonde woman with five other people standing around her totally helpless. It was black swirls dancing around her, much like the ones Esme had seen in her vision but there was no green anywhere. It was a horrible sight and Esme desperately wanted to help but her body was suddenly overcome by something. It wasn't a vision, nor was it anything magical, it was her body telling her she had put it through far too much and within seconds of seeing this image of a woman being attacked she fell to the floor.