The Screams. They played throughout the night, through the minds of all who lived in town of Storybrooke. But they played through Emma Swan's mind the most, ringing in her ears as she got out of bed to splash cold water on her face. Each morning she woke to the sound of these screams, these horrific screams which made her chest feel heavy with pain, for they were the cries of people she knew, of her mother, father, baby Neal, Hook…and at times even Henry.
Once Emma realized that it wasn't just her hearing these cries of terror, she knew something was wrong. She went straight to Mr. Gold's shop to pay the Dark One a visit, which is what everyone did when a problem involving magic occurred. It was Emma's first instinct to go to him. Even though she didn't fully trust him, she knew he was probably the only one to explain these strange screams that haunted her every night. She half expected him to brush off her nightmares, to tell her that it was all in her head just so he could get back to conjuring up more plans to gain more power, but instead he gave her instructions.
"Follow the screams," he'd said. "Follow the screams."
At first Emma wasn't sure what he meant and wondered if this was some kind of game he was playing. Perhaps he was the one who allowed these screams to fill her mind, to distract her, get her out of his way so he could strike the people of Storybrooke once more. It wouldn't have been the first time Gold tried something like that, but she couldn't help but recognize the look in his brown eyes as she stared deeper into them. Terror. Shock. Pain. Fear. His brown eyes were filled with it, which worried Emma even more. There was no doubt that he had heard the screams in his sleep too. Whose voices had he heard? Belle's? His son's? Emma thought, but knew not to dwell on such wonderings. All she knew was that he wasn't lying, not one bit. All she knew was that if the Dark One was scared, then that meant that the whole town had the right to be terrified.
Emma didn't understand why she was told to follow the screams, for last she checked they could only be heard in one's mind. But she heard something as she was driving through the back roads, in the direction of the town line. It was a cry of pain, of complete agony. The sound echoed through the street, travelling through Emma's window and into her ears. Her eyes widened and she immediately slammed on the brakes, nearly giving herself whiplash in the process as she skidded over to the side of the road. She sat still for a few moments, gripping the steering wheel tightly as she breathed deeply. Once Emma regained her focus, she slowly got out of the car and walked further out onto the road, listening carefully to make sure it really was a scream she heard and not just a figment of her imagination.
Sure enough, another cry echoed throughout the woods, making her heart pound.
Follow the screams.
Emma immediately pulled her gun out from her belt, gripping it tightly as she ran towards the woods, following the cries that she could now hear more clear than ever. She quickly ducked under a low branch as she entered the deep forest, running further and further into the woods. The screams seemed to grow louder the further she moved through the woods, so loud that she eventually had to stop in a clearing and cover her ears. She bit down hard on her lip, trying her best not to join in with their cries, to not break down when she promised her father that she'd be able to handle this one on her own. Eventually, she found the strength to move onward, especially as a sudden thought struck her. Where were the screams coming from? There seemed to be no one in these woods, not one person, yet there were hundreds of scream all around her, echoing throughout the forest.
Where are they coming from?Emma thought as she scanned the woods carefully, her greenish-brown eyes sweeping over the tall trees, the bushes, and the land beyond them.
"I can tell you how to get rid of them," a female voice said. Emma jumped and whirled around, her gun pointing at the person who spoke. Emma could see the shadow of the speaker, their outline as they stood in the shadows the trees created. Emma knew she hadn't heard that voice before and, yet, for some reason she felt as if she recognized it. She shook her head, knowing how ridiculous that sounded, but there was no other way to describe that feeling. She knew this person. She knew them.
"You mean the screams?" Emma questioned, lowering her gun and then raising it against the moment the girl in the shadows stepped out of the darkness. She was young, a teenager, with beautiful blue eyes and long, blonde hair which was in a braid that rested on her shoulder. Emma studied the girl, at the dark clothing she wore and especially the weapons she was armed with. A sword was strapped to her back and two knives at her waist, along with a small leather pouch.
"Easy," the girl said, wearily staring at Emma's gun. "I'm not here to hurt you…or anyone, for that matter."
"Who are you?" Emma asked, still holding her gun up although she knew the girl wasn't lying when she claimed to be harmless. She could see only truth in the girl's pretty blue eyes, which reminded Emma of someone else's, a person's she knew well. I know her, Emma thought. I know I've seen her before.
"You recognize me?" the girl questioned, a hint of sadness colouring her tone. "Not at all?"
Emma swallowed hard. She could sense she knew this girl, that she's known her forever, but no name came to mind. She knew the girl, but at the same time Emma was clueless, unable to figure out who she really was.
"No. Yes. I mean…" Emma answered, her voice trailing off. For a moment she lowered her gun, but raised it the moment the girl took a step towards her. "I don't think so, no. I don't know you."
The girl studied Emma for a moment before giving a slow nod of her head. Somehow, Emma could sense that this girl knew she was lying, that she could tell Emma was struggling to figure out who she was. The girl's frown suddenly split into a wide smile and her eyes lit up with amusement.
"Well, of course you don't," the girl said. "Not yet, anyway."
"What do you mean 'not yet'?"
"Shhh. It's a secret."
Emma rolled her eyes. She thought the only person she had to deal with who spoke like this was Hook. Of course ever since they started seeing more of each other, that side of him seemed to slip away. He became sweet, honourable... Emma instantly buried these thoughts. Now wasn't the time to be day dreaming of her handsome pirate.
"Are you going to tell me your name, or am I going to have to force it out of you?" Emma demanded, gesturing to her Sheriff badge attached to her leather belt.
The girl sighed, her smile growing weaker as she looked up at the forest, scanning the trees in a way similar to how Emma just had. Fear seemed to settle in the girl's eyes as her eyes continued to sweep over the clearing, as they rested on the tall trees surrounding them. It was almost as if she feared that her next words would cause one of them to fall, to come crashing down upon both her and Emma.
"Well?" Emma insisted.
The girl jumped slightly before turning back to Emma, "I can't – I…"
"Are you running from something? Someone? Is that why you can't tell me?" Emma said, her voice softening. "Can you not remember it?"
"No, no it's nothing like that," the girl assured her. "It's just – I don't – It might change things."
Emma was reminded of how her and Hook travelled back in time through Zelena's Time Portal, how they had to tread so very carefully in order for them not to change the course of the future, to rewrite her parents past... her past. Emma studied the girl more closely, staring more deeply into her familiar blue eyes.
"Well then can you at least tell me where you're from?" Emma asked. "Are you from a different world? New York?"
"I was born in Storybrooke," the girl responded.
"Then why – how come – I've never seen you here before. Not in any of the years I've lived here," Emma stuttered. The hairs on her arms began to rise as fear settled into her bones. How can I know someone, but also not know them? What is happening?
Suddenly, more screams began to sound through the clearing. Emma looked around the forest, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.
"I said I was born in Storybrooke. I didn't specify when," the girl said, practically shouting over the sounds of the screams.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Emma asked. She could still hear the screams, but she seemed to be able to drown them out as she stared back at the girl, focusing on what she'd just said. "Are you telling me you're from the future?"
"Yes," the girl nodded. "And those screams you're hearing, their also from the future too."
Confusion swept over Emma as another wave of screams sounded through the forest. She stared at the girl, the girl which she knew she knew, but at the same time saw her only as a stranger. Something was wrong, something strange and unbelievable was happening. Emma wished Henry were here. There was no doubt he would've been able to explain to Emma who this girl was. Maybe she was in the book, maybe someone else in town could tell her who this girl was. Or maybe this was all a dream. Maybe she wasn't real.
"I know you're confused," the girl said, approaching Emma as one did a rogue animal. "But I can help you. I promise. Just please, put the gun away."
Emma reluctantly did as the girl said, slowly slipping the gun back in her belt. Emma still wasn't sure she trusted this girl, that she believed her. All she knew was that she feared this girl, she feared her because she didn't know her, understand her. As Emma reached behind her, she pulled out a pair of handcuffs, slipping them into the sleeve of her jacket so they were out of the girl's line of vision.
"I'm from Storybrooke, the future Storybrooke," the girl started with a sigh of relief, obviously oblivious to the fact Emma had only exchanged her gun for a pair of cuffs. "I really want to tell you everything, but I can't. If I reveal too much I risk the possibility of putting an even greater tear in time…"
"A tear in time?" Emma asked, raising her brows. "That's not possible."
"Almost a year ago, someone here, in this time, tried to make a Time Portal. But Time Portals are impossible to make," the girl replied.
"But Zelena – the Wicked Witch – she was able to do it," Emma snapped. "I went though it!"
"I know, but it didn't succeed. No one is powerful enough to cast a time spell, not even the Dark One can do it. Sure you were able to go back in time, but did you ever stop to think about the damage it might've had?" the girl said. Emma paused, considering her words. "You and Hook travelling back, it put a crack in The Glass of Time. That crack is dangerous, more dangerous than you or I could even begin to imagine. But it is because of that crack that I was able to come and find you, Emma."
"So you know who I am," Emma responded sharply, ignoring the small smile pressing at the young girl's lips. "Now am I allowed to know who you are?"
"You know the answer to that, Emma." The girl seemed to trip over her name that time, as if trying so hard not to call her by another title. Emma wondered what that might've been when she was suddenly dragged out of those thoughts by more screams. She cringed, once again feeling the fear heavy on her chest.
"It's coming from my time," the girl said. Emma stared at her, noticing the sorrow in her voice, the grief that began to cloud her eyes with tears. "There is a war, a terrible war that is coming. Many people have died, Emma. Many have suffered. There is no one in our time to stop it, no one who knows how to. I was sent here to warn you, to tell you about this war so you will one day be able to stop it."
"And how do you expect to do that without revealing too much information to me?"
"Something even worse is happening in my time as we speak," the girl insisted. "I knew coming here might mean sacrificing something special to me, that I might have to change things in order to fix the damage done in the future. But I'm going to do everything I can. All I need is for you to trust me."
Emma moved closer to the girl until she could clearly see the deep blue flecks in her eyes, the sweat trickling down her brow… The girl stared up at Emma with both knowledge and recognition gleaming within her gaze. She knew Emma, and it seemed as though she knew her well. Yet Emma couldn't even understand why she felt she'd met this girl before, why she trusted her although she didn't even know her name.
"I do trust you. That's the problem." Emma reached for the girl's arm, but she jumped back before Emma could lay even a finger on her.
"No, you can't touch me!" the girl shouted. "If you do you'll seal the crack! You'll close it and then I won't be able to…"
Emma couldn't listen to her anymore, not her, and not the screams that grew even louder the closer she got to the girl. Emma lunged at her, but she broke off into a run. Emma stumbled over, but was on her feet again in an instant, sprinting after the girl, who was headed towards the road where Emma's car was parked. Emma made a quick turn before the girl did, racing towards the street the way she'd come. She knew these woods well, much better than this girl who claimed to be from Storybrooke. That made Emma suspicious. It made her wonder if her internal lie detector was messed up because of the strange emotional connection she was feeling towards this stranger.
She shook off the feeling and burst through the bushes, running out onto the road and waiting behind a tree, gripping the handcuffs tightly. Emma poked her head out from her hiding spot, spotting the girl's blonde hair in the distance as she made her way up the slope. Emma pulled back and listened carefully until she knew for sure the girl was close enough. Then Emma lunged at the girl once more, grabbing her wrist and tackling her to the ground. The girl yelped the moment her body collided with the hard, concrete road, but the look of agony and fear in her eyes didn't seem to be caused by the fact that Emma had just startled her. No, the girl's eyes were elsewhere, on the spot where Emma's hand gripped her wrist.
Emma found it quite easy to ignore the look of shock and fear that took hold of the girl's face, for she realized how quiet the woods had become. For once within the past few weeks, Emma couldn't hear the screams. Not one.
"The screams…their…" Emma said, still pinning the girl down.
"Gone," the girl replied. "You stopped them the moment you touched my wrist."
Emma stared down at the girl, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean? How?"
"I can't go back," the girl said to no one in particular. Her eyes seemed far off, distant as she babbled. "I can't ever go back."
Emma tried to bury the guilty feeling rising in her stomach, tried to ignore the feeling that she did something very, very wrong. Instead, she focused on that one part of her that was relieved because of the absence of the screams. She knew she'd fixed another dilemma that Storybrooke faced, but, like every problem in this town, a new one always came up. And this one, this new problem, this strange girl, Emma could sense this one might not be so easily fixed.