The Scars We Bare
Welcome to my newest story! It's been awhile in the making but I've been having a blast writing it so far so I hope you enjoy!
Prologue
The moon was full and the stars were bright that night. A shadowy figure stood in an otherwise empty forest clearing, holding a basket in each hand, as a portal swirled brightly in front of him.
Cora hadn't wanted their blood on her hands. That's why she'd passed them off to him. She wanted them dead and he was to kill them, but he couldn't harm a child. Even the Dark One had lines he dare not cross.
They would be safe in the Land of Untold Stories.
He placed one basket into the portal and then the other and watched them disappear. He remained in the clearing until the portal was safely closed before vanishing in a swirl of dark red smoke. The Twins were safe. Cora would never find them. Or so he thought.
o0o
2 years later
It had been purely by chance that Cora had stumbled upon the twins and the woman who was caring for them during her little trip to the Land of Untold Stories. Of course, she had killed the woman on the spot and then taken the two babies and promptly left.
She would have killed them. Taken their little hearts and crushed them like she'd done with their father.
But no.
They were too powerful to waste like that. She realized that now. They might have been tiny and helpless now, but she'd make monsters out of them. All that magic, that power, would be hers to control. Perhaps it was a good thing that Rumple had spared them.
o0o
She screamed. She cried. Begged for mercy and promised to be better, but still the angry magic raced through her system. Every nerve ending felt as if it were on fire and she felt although she was being burnt from the inside out.
"Stop your crying you useless girl!" Grandmother barked. "It's weakness!"
But Leah couldn't hear. The only thing she was aware of was the agony of the curse. Even as the effects faded, she lay curled in a ball with her eyes tightly shut. She could still feel it. Like hot embers, the remnants of a forest fire still smouldering as the flames died away.
"I said stop your crying!"
Like a sudden flame among the embers, pain shot through her arm. Leah scrambled to get up. Dry her tears. They were a sign of weakness.
An angry looking cut had appeared on her arm, another scar for the collection. Ruby red blood ran down her arm in sticky rivulets.
"Don't slouch!"
Leah immediately straightened up. She automatically waved a small hand over the cut, healing it. And it did leave a scar, one that criss-crossed over another two. She didn't flinch when it sealed. She daren't show any emotion. Not now.
o0o
He had offered to help them. He couldn't bare the idea of seeing them like that again. So broken, scarred and not just physically. Afraid. Perhaps it was because they reminded him of his own daughter. Grace, who was back in the Enchanted Forest. He knew that if anyone could get them out, it was him. Him and his hat. His trade. He was going to take them back to the Enchanted Forest as he knew that their mother was there. But those girls were smart. They knew that wouldn't cut it, not when it was Cora Mills they were running from. No, they needed something better. He knew a place. A place she would never expect them to go, that was, if she even knew of it herself. He was going to send them far away, to a land without magic. Somewhere Cora would never dream of going. Magic was that woman's lifeblood.
It was nearly midnight when Eva and Leah Mills burst into the small, cluttered cottage.
"We have to hurry, we don't have much time. She'll soon realize we're gone!" Eva exclaimed by way of greeting.
Leah was behind her, trembling slightly and obviously afraid, worrying away, thinking the plan would never work. Grandmother would catch them red-handed and then what? She'd punish them, make them sorry they'd tried to flee. If she didn't, she'd never stop searching. She'd find them eventually. She always did.
Jefferson wasted no time. He picked up the case that held his hat, his portal talisman. "This way. Quickly!"
He ushered them out the back door, to a garden bathed in silver moonlight. They watched him carefully as he opened the case and pulled out the hat and set it on the ground. He pulled a gold pendant out of it and held it up.
"This stopwatch will ensure you bypass the room of doors and go straight to your destination." He flipped open the pendant to reveal a strange looking clock inside and started turning the dial on the back to adjust the hands.
"Why do we need to bypass the room of doors?" Leah asked nervously.
Jefferson sighed. "Because there is no door for the land you intend to travel to." He was worried. In truth he didn't no if this would even work. The hat was said only to reach places with magic.
"There is something you're not telling us. Spit it out!" Eva demanded. There was no time for silly games.
"I am not sure if the hat will actually be able reach this land, as there is no magic there. If it does not work, you will simply appear in the room of doors. From there you can go wherever -" He was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming and heeled shoes clicking across the floor of the cottage.
Leah looked at Eva in horror. Their time was up.
Jefferson passed Eva the pendant and reached down to spin the hat. Within seconds a swirling portal opened in the centre of the garden, and not a moment to soon. Cora stormed out the back door, looking furious.
"Go!" Jefferson shouted at the twins. "And don't let go of each other!"
The girls, however, were frozen in fear and didn't move as their Grandmother advanced across the garden. Jefferson did the only thing he could and pushed them both into the portal before flinging himself in after them.
Eva and Leah hugged each other as they fell into the void of the portal. The last thing they saw was Grandmother's face, twisted in fury.
Well? What did you think? Let me know in the review section and stay tuned for more!
Thanks for reading!