If reduced to it's barest description, their was nothing particularly eerie about the scene. Just two figures, a mother and her ten year old son, walking down an aging hospital hallway in the early evening. The surreal and slightly sinister nature of the scene could only be noticed when the details were taken into account. It could be seen in the way that the pair walked, the young shaggy haired boy in the blue cardigan reluctantly leading the way with the beautiful but stern looking brunette clutching his shoulders and directing him along through the hallway with a distinct sense of purpose.
The echo of their footsteps was the only sound that could be heard from this underground hallway and it did nothing to distract the boy from his surroundings. And such a distraction would have been welcomed, for this hallway was not a pleasant place. The walls were white, thick and decaying. Paint chipped and stained around the edges to the point that made it hard for the boy to imagine that they had ever been new. Making matters worse the lighting was dim and forced the boy to strain his eyes if he wanted to see more than three feet in-front of him.
Even the air felt strange here. Lighter, probably, thought the boy, because they were so far down from the hospital ground floor through which they had entered. When they had first stopped at the hospital after his therapy session, the boy had assumed they were checking in on Kathryn Nolan (King Midas's daughter) as his mother (The Evil Queen) often did, only to be proven wrong when his mother missed her usual left at the vending machine and instead directed him toward the elevator. Things became even more strange when she pulled out her Mayoral skeleton key and revealed and then pressed a hidden button, all while ignoring his questions about where they were going.
The monotony of the off white, peeling paint was broken up only by the row of six steel doors that were situated on each side, creating what looked like a mirror image. Each door had a heavy lock on it, a small chute covered with a flap where one could peak at those in the rooms behind the doors or even pass them things like meals, and a place card with a last name, a comma and an initial printed on it in a no nonsense font.
The boy read each place card as he passed it. Bromden, D. McMurphy, R. French, B. Milne, C. Dodgson, C. Xavier, C. Barrie, J. Liddle, A. Rodriguze, B. Fry, P. Taronga, L.
When they reached the last door on the left hand side Henry, try as he might, could not read the name due to a combination of the darkness that filled this corner of the hall more harshly than it did else where and the light layer of dust that had invaded. The pair came to stop to a sudden stop in-front of this door. For the first time since they left the elevator the mother removed her hands from he sons shoulder and steadily pulled out her Mayoral Skeleton key once again.
The door opened with just the loud creek the boy had come to expect through his exposure to horror films. He glanced up at his mother. He did not want to go in there, nothing good could possibly come out of it. His legs unconsciously straightened in an attempt to cement himself to his current spot on the ground. The attempt ultimately proving futile when Regina gently tugged him into the room.
It was a small room, much smaller than Henry had expected from the outside, given the sheer enormity of the door. Only a few meters each way. The walls were padded with well worn out fabric and the only source of light was a tiny window with a diamond pattern that partially concealed the sun. In the right hand corner of the room was a single, sheet free and uncomfortable looking bed attached to the wall. Other than that the room was completely bare and brought the image of a medieval dungeon to the young boys mind.
The place was so abysmal it caused feelings of despair to rise in the child. 'What are we doing here?' was the only thought that could Henry could muster. She wasn't going to leave him here, as punishment for trying to break her curse, right? She couldn't. There was a part of her, somewhere, that felt something, even if it wasn't love, some kind of kinship or something for him that would stop her from locking him up in here forever. There had to be. Right?
Regina, noticing her sons distress, patted his arm calmingly and knelt down to the boys level. She brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face (an old habit, that re-appeared when she was trying to look serious) and made a successful attempt to establish and maintain direct eye contact with her son.
"Henry, do you know where we are?" She asked, making a point to use her clearest and most authoritative voice. Henry had to know how serious this was and that could only be done if she kept herself in check. On the inside she just wanted to take the small and obviously scared little boy in her arms and whisk him back home with her but she knew she would have to fight her maternal instincts if she wanted things to return to normal.
It was like her mother had always taught her: 'You do what you must, to get what you want.' Regina wanted Henry to stop talking about fairytales and stop meddling with the curse. She had tried deterring him with kinder alternatives but he had been unrelenting in his pursuit, forcing her to resort to fear. It wasn't pleasant for her either of them but she knew it was ultimately for the best. If Henry could give up this obsession of his, they could go back to living her happily ever after and it would be better for the both of them.
"The hospital basement." Henry replied in the bravest voice he could fake. She was bluffing. She had to be. No one in town would let her throw a child into a dungeon.
"That's right Henry. Do you know why people end up in the hospital basement?' She asked, now with both hands on his arms.
Henry didn't know what to say. He could talk back to her, tell her that people end up here because she puts them here, but that would probably only anger her and although he was sure she was bluffing he didn't really want to test her. This place really freaked him out. It was dark, cramped and lonely and he didn't want to spend any more time here than he absolutely had to. He decided the best course of action was to say nothing.
After a suitable amount of tense silence had passed Regina answered her own question.
"This is where they put the people who can't tell reality from fantasy. Henry, this is where you will end up if you don't stop with this fairytale nonsense."
It wasn't a dungeon, it was an asylum. That was how she was going to get him in here, she was going to convince everyone he was so crazy he had to be in here. B-but he wasn't crazy. The curse was real. He was sure of it... right? Mean, of course he was sure, but was he sure enough? What if he was wrong? He hadn't been able to convince anybody else. Not even Emma. What if he really was wrong and it this was just a, what had Dr. Hopper called it, a .. psychosis? What if was crazy? He could feel his heart beat rising. He knew he had say something, anything to dispel this idea his mom had planted in his head.
"N-no you're lying. Emma.. wouldn't let you do it.. you couldn't."
"Sweetheart, it wouldn't be me putting you away. You're my son, I love you and I would never want you to leave me.. but if things continue to go the way they are their is nothing I could do to stop them. Dr. Hopper, Mary Margarette and I have been fighting against this for a while but others have already expressed their concerns. They want to take you away." She said with a convincing amount of concern in her voice.
She could see she was getting to him. He was squirming around looking for a way out, a way to prove her wrong, but there was nothing. He wouldn't have believed it if she said Dr. Hopper and his beloved Mary Margarette had been working against him. He trusted them too much. But saying the were her allies, trying to keep him safe, that he would believe.
Regina could see her sons lower lip begin to tremble. She knew the signs, he was going to start crying. She never liked seeing him cry. To avoid the sight she drew the small boy into a hug, resting his head on her shoulder. She could feel her blouse being saturated with warm tears.
"If you could just get better Henry, put this fairytale nonsense behind you.." She whispered into his ear before being cut-off.
"You're.. you're just trying to make me give up. You want me to fail so you can continue with the curse." Her son said in a wobbly voice, faining far more confidence than he actually possessed.
He was on his last hope now, one final push and he would break. Knowing that, Regina took a deep breath and pulled back from the embrace. The tears in her eyes were not fake and added an authenticity to her entire act that would not have been possible if Henry's concerns of being unloved had been true.
"Oh Henry" she sighed with a tone of hopelessness "I don't want to loose you." Her eyes bore into his once again, so insistent was she, on convincing him of her worry that she would not look away until she saw him beginning to tear up for a final time.
With that she stood up and walked out of the room alone. The click-clack of her high heels echoing throughout the hall.
Henry stood there a moment longer contemplating all that she had said. The thought he pushed away so vehemently rose to the surface again. What if was actually crazy? Feelings of disappointment and crept up on the boy. He once again looked around the room. He didn't want this to be his future. He wanted to be a hero but honestly this place it scared him, more than anything had before. Doubt slowly crept into his mind. What if he was wrong? What if he really was just crazy? The room was filling with darkness now and Henry could hear his mother footsteps move further and further away. He had to make a choice, one that would have a lasting affect on the rest of his life.
He inched into the hallway, not wanting to be trapped in the room when the door slam shut. Once on the outside he looked at the door again and seeing that the dust on the name plate was constricting his view of a name, blew on it. He gulped when he saw the same strict font, confirming all his worst fears. Mills, H.
With that he let out a small yelp and ran towards his mother.
Regina, who was now standing in-front of desk looking every bit the composed mayor she usually was, let out a small smile. Things were going to be different now.