Co author beadearie or crazydreamer6 on tumblr, darkonesroses on here.
I do not own Once Upon a Time or The Grinch or any of the characters.
Christmas. It was a season for giving, a time for cheer. Every resident down in the town of Storybrooke loved Christmas a lot. Every person except one: the Dark One. Rumplestiltskin was his real name and he lived just north of the town in a cave up high on the tallest of all the mountains.
Rumplestiltskin looked down upon the town from high up on the mountainside. He clutched his cloak around him as the snow floated through the air. He hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season. And he hated that everyone loved it so much. Christmas was the worst time; everyone only cared about himself or herself anymore. He hated all of this. He couldn't stand the thought of having to go through yet another 'joyful' Christmas. Well this year people would understand how terrible it was…. Time to go shopping.
Rumple headed into town with a disguise, a face mask, really. But these people were too stupid to even think twice about it, they were too busy buying things anyway. He managed to cause some trouble with some pranks, the only joy he got out of this season now.
The streets of Storybrooke were crowded that very afternoon, full of people bustling about shopping and dining, preparing for the Christmas season. It was a quaint little quiet town nestled in the midst of the mountains, but whenever Christmas approached it all seemed to change.
Belle had always loved Christmas back when her mother was alive, but ever since her passing it just had not been the same. Her mother had never seemed to care about buying presents or whose decorations were better than whose, but her father on the other hand…well that was a different story.
"Papa, do we really need to buy all these things?" Belle asked as she trailed along behind her father in the little boutique. Her hands were full of clothes, hats, gadgets, golf clubs, and other useless and expensive things one didn't necessarily need.
"Of course Belle," her father smiled. "Come on now, get into the Christmas spirit!"
Belle had always tried to get into the spirit, but she just never could. Shopping didn't seem to be what Christmas was about. Well…that's how it appeared, but that wasn't how she felt.
She sighed heavily as she watched the clerk ring up their very large total.
"Papa are you sure? Perhaps we should put some of this back?" Belle insisted. "Uncle John already has so many ties and Aunt Vicky doesn't need such an expensive watch…"
They could barely afford rent as it was. Wasting money on something so frivolous was absurd. Their family would be happy with anything and understand...maybe.
"Belle!" Maurice said, turning to her as their items were bagged. "I can't believe you're acting like this, it's like you don't even care about Christmas anymore! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were starting to sound like the Dark One! Now keep your head straight, my girl."
"Papa!" Belle was appalled. The Dark One was well known for his hatred of Christmas and anything that had to do with. Every season she would always read about incidents in the paper he caused in town, but she had never personally experienced anything her self, nor knew anyone who had. Very few people had even seen his face although there were rumors that he looked like a monster with sharp cruel fangs and horns as big as a bull. He lived up high in the mountains, but even the bravest of men would not dare go there.
"I don't hate Christmas Papa," Belle explained. "I just think there has to be more to it than buying things."
"Well what else would it be for?" Maurice shrugged. He took their bags. "Now come on, we've got to get these to the post office to send them off." They headed back into the snow and the bustling streets where everyone was in a hurry to buy gifts.
Belle sighed and felt defeated. When her mother had been alive, it had not been like this. Belle couldn't remember exactly what it had been like; her mother had died when she was young. However, she had come to dread this time of year.
Still, she obeyed and followed her father, toting the many gifts along the best she could.
They arrived at the post office, where her father worked during the winter, since his flower shop didn't do very well during the snowy seasons. They weren't able to send their mail off just yet though because there was a problem in the back. Everything was jumbled up and completely backwards and everyone was getting the wrong mail. Maurice had to help. "Belle, take some of these letters and put them in their right slots, would you?" he said, handing her a handful.
"Of course, Papa," she agreed, taking the pile of envelopes. Usually Belle would help her father when she could, not having a true job of her own. She had inquired for a long time about becoming the town librarian, but the library had been closed for a long time and the mayor didn't seem too keen on reopening it.
Belle stepped in the back room, set her purse down and took off her thick wool coat, ready to get to work, unaware that she was not alone.
Damn, someone had to come into the room, didn't they?! Rumple hid up on the ceiling, thankful his magic kept him up there. He watched this girl in the back, and he didn't realize he had dropped his mask on the floor.
Belle was mindlessly looking through the pile of mail her father had given her, organizing it in a way that would make it easier for her to place it in the right boxes.
As she walked over toward the sorting area though, she almost tripped on something on the floor. Stopping, she glanced down and squinted her eyes, trying to figure out what it was. Slowly, she reached down and picked it up, seeing that it was just a plastic Halloween mask.
"That's odd," she said out loud, but rolled her eyes. "The post master must have let his children play back here. No wonder the mail is all mixed up."
Rumple had to hold back a sigh of relief. Please don't let her look up, please don't let her look up…
Belle gently set the mask down on the table and went back to sorting the mail. She was frustrated now, thinking that the postmaster had been careless enough to let his children run amuck in the back room. It only created more work for her to do.
Once her back was turned, he dropped to the ground silently. He headed for the back door and opened it, but it creaked as it opened. Damn…
Hearing the tell tell noise of the door, Belle assumed her father had joined her, either to help or bring her more mail.
"Oh, Papa," Belle said, starting her sentence to ask him about something in particular as she turned around to face him. "Do you want me to…" Her sentence was cut short as she gasped and dropped the mail she was holding. Her Papa wasn't standing in the doorway…no…it was another…the most dreaded and feared person in the town. "Y…you….your the…the…dddd…" Belle was shaking with fear as she stepped back and pressed herself against the wall.
"The the the..." he said mockingly. "The Dark One!" He was suddenly inches from her face, a good scaring tactic.
Belle stared up at him with big wide and fearful eyes. He looked nothing like the tales people told, but he was still terrifying. He resembled a man mixed with a monster-or more like a demon. His skin was an unnatural green color with flakes of gold and it looked rough and thick. The wavy hair on his head fell down to his shoulders, and it was brown with streaks of grey. And his eyes-his eyes were the most terrifying-they were brown and yellow with slits in the middle like a reptile. She couldn't really see how he dressed because he had a large brown robe draped around him.
But this monster was standing mere centimeters from her and had her pinned against the wall. She had no idea what his intentions were, but she knew they couldn't be good so she was frightened.
She opened her mouth, ready to scream for help.
Seeing she would scream, his hand went to cover her mouth. "Don't scream," he said. "You didn't see me, understand girl?" Being this close to her, he could see how beautiful she was, how blue her eyes were, how pale her skin was, how her hair caught the dim lights…. She smelled wonderful too, like butterscotch and roses… He had to get out of here.
Belle could see the feral look in his unnatural eyes and she became even more worried. What was he going to do to her? Would he hurt her or worse would he…? Oh gods, just the thought of it made her want to cry and her eyes teared up.
Slowly she nodded her head. Feeling his hand against her mouth, his body so close to hers, made her want to faint so she had no energy to do anything else.
He looked into her eyes, making sure she was truthful, before he drew his hand away. "Good," he said. "Now just stay there." He turned to leave the room.
Belle was true to her word and did not scream when he moved his hand away. She was shocked though when she saw that he was leaving-just leaving and nothing more.
"Y…you're not going to hurt me?" she found herself asking, although she instantly regretted it. Why didn't she just keep her mouth shut and let him leave? If he wasn't going to hurt her now she had just given him the chance to change his mind.
He stopped and he looked back at her, rather confused. "Why on earth would I hurt you?" he asked, a little offended.
Belle hesitated. She had heard many stories of the Dark One-how he not only hated Christmas and tried to boycott it, but how he would steal, pillage, and even take children from their parents. She had also heard tales where he would take unwilling women to his cave a top the mountain to have his way with them. Was she doomed to be one of those women? Perhaps so now that she had been foolish enough to question him. She should have just remained silent-or screamed. She could still scream. But would her father or anyone else really be powerful enough to stop him?
"W…why else are you here?" She asked, her voice still shaking. She had backed into a corner now, trying to edge her way toward the door so she could make a quick get away if she had the chance.
"What you think I came all the way here to get caught by a pretty girl in the post office?" he said. "Don't flatter yourself. Now if you excuse me, I need to be going now." He headed to the door, taking the mask with him.
Pretty girl? Oh she knew she had seen that look in his eyes and now he had basically confirmed it.
"Then why did you come here?" she blurted out. Damn her curiosity. Why couldn't she just let him leave and ensure her safety?
Rumple looked at her and they could both hear the ruckus coming from the other room from the mail mix up. "Quite a glorious sound, isn't it? Panic and everything going wrong around Christmas? It's what I live for…" There was the sound of footsteps approaching and without another word he disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
Belle gasped loudly as he suddenly disappeared before her eyes. She had always known magic existed, but so few possessed the powers so she had never actually seen it, only read about it.
Now she had just witnessed it for the first time, performed by the Dark One of all people. The Dark One. She had just met the Dark One-something else not many others could say.
And the strangest thing was he had not hurt her-he had not even tried to hurt her-despite what all of the stories told of him.
Belle was relieved and she could finally breathe easier now. But now she couldn't stop thinking of the Dark One and what he said right before he left. How could anyone hate Christmas that much that they would want to ruin it for others?
"Belle!"
She tensed up again and her head shot up, frightened that he had returned. It was only her father though, peeking his head in the door.
"What are you doing just standing there? We have a lot of work to do! The situation is worse than we thought!" Moe said.
"I'm sorry, Papa. I was just…" Should she tell him about her encounter? Would he even believe her? Probably not. Or if he did then it could make him worry more than he should or worse, make him do something stupid. She cleared her throat and straightened, brushing off her blue lacey dress. "I was just daydreaming. I'll get back to work."
"Well get back to it!" Maurice said and brought back a large box of all the letters that had gotten mixed up.
Belle groaned loudly when her father left, leaving her the giant box of mixed up letters. This was the Dark One's entire fault. She knew that now. And if she didn't think he would harm her she would march right up to the top of that mountain and give him a piece of her mind. This was ridiculous! Why did he insist on pulling this kinds of pranks. Yes, he hated Christmas but what point did mixing up letters prove?
She continued to seethe about it as she worked the rest of the afternoon, trying to keep her mind of the mysterious man she had just met.