The forest seems to breathe out in horror. Leaves twitch on their branches trying to escape the scene. In a clearing in the forest, the powerful sorcerer stands above the mutilated corpse of a poor farm girl. Rumpelstiltskin wipes the blood from his dagger. He had to kill the girl, he had no choice. She was a liability to him. She was deaf and mute, but lately he had his suspicions about her. He saw her look at the dagger on the rare occasion it was out in the open.
The way he deals with these things is to simply get rid of the problem. In this case, of her. He looks down on the corpse and sneers evilly. He then waves in the air and she disappears in a cloud of purple smoke. All that's left is a mushroom patch. Smiling to himself he makes the blood spatter on his leather vest disappear and he heads for home. Baelfire will be waiting for him.
Lost in thought he doesn't notice the two eyes looking at him from underneath a bush.
-
Rumpelstiltskin runs after his son but soon gives up the chase. That didn't go according to plan at all. How could he be that stupid! Forgetting to clean his boots, such a basic mistake. He looks at himself in the mirror, he's disgusted with the man looking back at him. The scaly skin isn't human anymore, he doesn't recognize the man looking back. He wants to find the man inside him again, but its no use. The monster just keeps staring back. The monster with the golden eyes.
Sighing he drops his gaze. He turns to his desk, hoping to continue to study the peculiar magic item he stole from the king's private study. Anything to forget the way Bae looked at him.
Knock knock knock.
Distracted he looks up from his bureau. Nobody ever knocks on his door. He doesn't receive social calls, so what is this. Slowly he pulls his chair from underneath him and walks towards the door. He takes a moment to arrange his features to look positively terrifying and opens the door.
It's just an ordinary girl. She scared and she's trembling slightly. She doesn't run away. No, she just stands her ground.
"What are you doing on the property of the Dark One dearie?" he asks her as he steps forward. She quickly steps backwards, anything to stay out of his way.
"I..., I wa..., I want to work for you Dark One." she manages to say, her voice trembling.
Rumpelstiltskin stops his threatening stare for a second. He pauses and looks at her, hunched slightly in fear but still looking at him. He does admire her guts to come to him like this. Most people would have run away by now. He decides to mess with her mind a little.
He laughs out loud and says "I don't need any help dearie, certainly not from people like you."
He observes her closely. She bites her lip and seems to gather her courage. "I think you may need a new housekeeper."
Rumpelstiltskin freezes for a second. A thousand thoughts fly through his head at the same time, but one seems to be the loudest. She knew. She saw. She is dead. A cold wave goes through his heart. Faster than the human eye can follow he stretches his arm and grabs the girl by the throat. Before she knows what is happening, he pulls her so close to him that their noses are nearly touching.
He sends waves of cold energy through her throat. The first ice crystals are already forming beneath his fingers. "You have 5 seconds to explain yourself before I turn you an ice sculpture." he grumbles threateningly.
She squeals in his grip but the cold saps at her strength. "I can sh... show y...ou." she manages to whisper as her eyelids slowly drop down. Rumpelstiltskin opens his hand and lets her fall down at his feet. He glares at the girl on the ground and puts up 5 fingers. Slowly he counts down. Four fingers. Three fingers.
Suddenly the girl disappears. In the blink of an eye she shrinks down from a scared girl lying on the ground to a furry rabbit shaking visibly. The rabbit looks up with big frightened eyes but doesn't run away. It just sits there, looking up at Rumpelstiltskin. He bends down, grabs the rabbit by the scruff of the neck and holds it up in front of his face.
"Change back." he orders.
The rabbit blinks and expands into a human girl once again. Rumpelstiltskin is now holding the girl by her hair. He lets go.
"That's quite the talent you have." he says.
She's still not convinced he won't kill her immediately, but she breathes slightly slower now. She also doesn't clutch her skirt so frantically anymore.
"I saw you and your, euh, former housekeeper." she starts. "I would like to offer my services."
Rumpelstiltskin laughs out loud. "And tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now?"
"I can be very useful to you." the girl begins. "I can turn into any animal I kill myself. Imagine having your very own dragon, sir."
That thought gave Rumple some pause. "You're saying you can turn into a dragon?"
"Not yet, sir, not yet." she explains hastily "But I'll get there one day, you'll see."
Rumple stares at her for a long time. "Why do you want to be my housekeeper anyway?Particularly because you've seen what happened to my last one." he adds threateningly.
She swallows quickly and takes a breath. She's gathering up her courage, he can see it. "I want to learn magic from you sir. You're the most powerful wizard around."
Rumple lets the magic come out from his inner well and hits her straight in the chest with it. A force moves from him, unseen by the eye but very real nonetheless. It pushes the girl backwards and she falls to the ground. He pins her down so none of her limbs can move.
"Flattery will get you nowhere dearie." he sneers.
She shudders in fear. "Killing me won't get you anywhere either. I can be bound and I can show you how."
Confused, Rumple lets his magic go. The girl on the ground catches her breath.
"Bound, you say."
She looks up at him. "Yes sir."
"Like a dog."
She winces when he says that. Somebody must have called her a dog once. Rumple files that thought away for further use.
"Like a dog, sir."
He thinks on it for a moment, but decides to take a leap of faith. He's sure he can kill her if it becomes necessary and he does need a housekeeper. Someone to look after Bae when he's gone. And if that happens to be a shapeshifter, that's only a plus.
"Show me the binding." he orders her sharply.
The girl scrambles to her feet. "A long time ago I got cursed by a faerie. It wasn't meant to be a curse, but she messed it up and it didn't turn out as planned." the girl explains.
Rumple doesn't need a history lesson and nearly interrupts her. She stops him quickly, and holds up both hands. "It's relevant, I promise!"
Feeling more annoyed by the second, Rumple motions for her to continue. "She was supposed to make it so that nobody could steal my heart ever again." Here the girl blushes as she stares at her feet. "I had some trouble with a boy, and... doesn't matter. The point is that now, my heart is protected. I'm the only one who can take it out. She messed up the literal and figurative phrasing of the wish and now I'm cursed."
"What are you talking about?" asks Rumple. "Take the heart out, what sort of nonsense is that!"
"Like this." the girl replies. She reaches in her chest. Her fingers seem to hit a barrier for a second but then go right through her clothes. She doesn't look at all comfortable with her hand buried in her chest. Then she frowns deeply and pulls out her hand.
Rumple looks flabbergasted. He didn't think magic could do this. She holds out her heart in her hand and yet she's still alive. It's her heart, her still beating heart! It looks like it's coated in a dark red resin and it's glowing slightly. He looks at it attentively. He raises his eyes and looks the girl in the eye again. She stands there, looking slightly scared. She holds her heart in her hand as if she's giving it to him.
Rumple takes the heart in his hand. As he does this, he can see her flinch slightly. "Did you feel that?" he asks her. He can feel the power in the heart pulsating beneath his fingers.
"Yes sir." she says. "You can use magic to pull out someone's heart. But because of that damn faerie, nobody can use magic to pull out mine."
Rumple looks at her again. "I'd say that's a good thing, won't you agree?" and he lightly squeezes the heart. The effect it has on the girl is immediate. She groans and falls to the ground.
"Please don't sir. Please." she whispers.
Rumple smiles and reduces the pressure. "So squeezing a heart hurts. Fascinating."
The girl looks up at him and says "Whisper something at the heart sir."
"What?" says Rumple.
"Order it to do something." she explains.
Rumpelstiltskin thinks for a moment and says "Run headfirst into that tree over there."
The heart glows up slightly and the girl immediately runs at a tree. To see if it isn't a trick of some sort, Rumple lets her go on. She smashes head first into the bark of the tree and falls down unconscious. He sniggers to himself. So it isn't a trick. She really just gave him a way to control her. This could work out very nicely for him. He walks next to the fallen girl and weaves some magic above her head. She opens her eyes, looking very confused.
"What's your name, girl." Rumple asks.
"Melody... sir." she says.
He smiles at her and says "You're hired, Melody. And I'll keep this." he says, looking at the heart in his hand. "We'll get along just fine."