Scath

"Shit," I muttered as soon as I regained consciousness. I woke up in a tree. I almost fell out of said tree, but that's besides the point. Before making my way down the tree, I remembered how I got there.

"Erela?" I called out, angrily, "What happened to not dropping me?"

No response. I looked around at the ground below me.

"Erela, this isn't funny."

Silence.

"Erela?" I climbed higher up the tree so I could see better. I saw a lot of trees, and something odd. A weird looking town wasn't far from me. I didn't remember the Enchanted Forest looking anything like this. Although, I haven't been there in a while, so who knows? "Erela?" I tried for the last time. I couldn't see her anywhere and I was starting to worry.

After climbing down the tree, I began walking towards the town. Maybe she saw it too. As I was walking, I noticed black cloth sticking out under a pile of leaves. I bent down to examine it. After pushing away the leaves, I realized it was a pile of clothes in an abandoned campsite. Whoever was here before left pretty quickly. I looked back down at the clothes. They looked nothing like what I was wearing, but I decided that, if I wanted to blend in, this was what I needed to wear. I changed quickly and checked around for anything else that could come in handy before continuing my walk towards the town. It wasn't too far, so the rest of the walk passed quickly. Once I entered the town, I felt something strange wash over me. It felt evil and suffocating, like I was trapped.

I continued walking on the strange road before I began to see other people. It seemed to be an old man angrily talking to a younger, black haired woman. The man limped away, revealing another person, Erela. I began walking over to her, but something told me to stop. So, I stayed within earshot, but remained unseen.

"Mayor?" Erela questioned before the woman placed her hand on Erela's back and walked away. I followed closely behind, but far enough away to remain unnoticed. Why was she trusting this woman? The Erela I know wasn't too easily persuaded, though maybe she used her power to decipher whether this woman was trustworthy or not. Soon, they reached a room within a large building.

"Now," the woman said, closing the door before I could slip inside. I heard an odd click, and footsteps walking away. I tried to slowly open the door, but it wouldn't budge. I tried to listen through the walls, but they weren't thin enough. I couldn't hear much, but I did hear the woman confess to Erela that she cursed the Enchanted Forest.

So this is all her fault. She brought us here.

Suddenly, I heard a crash and then a body slump to the floor. It was probably the woman. Erela can hold her own, especially when she's pissed. And if it really is the woman's fault that we're here and not with Hook, then Erela is probably livid.

"I'm just outside your office, Regina," I heard a man say from down the hallway. I slipped into a room nearby, but left the door open a bit so I could still see. A man with brown hair and extremely tight pants knocked on the door and the woman let him in, leaving the door wide open. Erela was on the floor, probably unconscious.

"Damn it," I muttered under my breath. I watched as the man picked up Erela and left the office.

"She was crazy!" The black haired woman, who I'm assuming is Regina, yelled after him, "She needs to be sent-"

"I have to take her to the hospital first," the man responded, his voice strained. He looked like he would drop Erela soon.

"What? Why?"

"I think you gave her a concussion," he chuckled, "Doctor Whale will diagnose her in the hospital before taking her down to the ward." She nodded, and he walked away. Once she closed her door, I opened mine. I ran down the hallway, but he was gone. I cursed again. I continued down the hallway until I made my way outside, hoping he was still there.

He wasn't.

"Excuse me," a woman with short black hair said, "Are you looking for something? You look lost."

"Uh, yeah," I said. The woman had caught me completely off guard. "Where is the, uh, hospital?"

"Oh it's really close, I could walk you," she smiled warmly.

"Really?" I asked. I was growing suspicious. She was acting way too nice.

"Of course! I'm Mary Margaret," she said as she began to walk again. There was a pause. "And you are...?"

"Oh, right," I said, awkwardly, "I'm Sc- Seth. Yeah, Seth."

"Are you sure? You seem uncertain," Mary Margaret laughed. I nodded. "You must be new here. Do you have a place to stay?"

"Uh w-"

"Because if you don't, there's a lovely bed and breakfast right over there," she said, pointing to a blue building, "It's connected to Granny's diner. Best diner in town." She continued talking for the rest of the walk. Honestly, I tuned her out. I didn't really care about beds or breakfasts right now, Erela was in trouble. And I was the only person that could help her.

"Anyway, here we are!" Mary Margaret said, stopping in front of another large building. We walked in and she led me to a woman in a uniform. "Hi, we're looking for a patient," Mary Margaret said.

"Name, please?" she replied. Mary Margaret looked to me. I didn't know if Erela used pseudonym as well, but I couldn't think of any other names she'd go by.

"Erela," I said.

"Last name?"

"Jones," the name came out of my mouth before I could stop myself. What else would she use? I don't think Angels have last names.

"I'm sorry, but no one by that name is checked in here," she said. Before I could respond, she piped up again, "but there was a Jane Doe brought in a few minutes ago."

"I'm not looking for a Jane," I told her, slightly confused. Did she not hear me before? Mary Margaret and the woman started laughing.

"That means they don't know the patient's name," Mary Margaret explained.

"I would let you see her, but there's an ongoing police investigation that involves her and I am under strict orders not to let anyone other than the police and Doctor Whale in there," the woman said. "Is there someway I can contact you later to ID her?"

"We'll come back in a few hours," Mary Margaret said, before pulling me out of the hospital.

"What are you doing?" I asked, angrily. Why is she taking me away from Erela?

"Now I can show you to Granny's!" she said, still walking away. I was debating just letting her go, but I decided against it. I needed someone on my side to help me understand this weird land. Especially since Erela was gone.

We entered another place, the Diner, I believe.

"Hi, Mary Margaret," an old woman smiled as we walked through the door. She took green paper from a man sitting near her before giving him a bag. He stood up and walked past us. I assumed the green paper was similar to the gold coins Hook had cared so much for. "Who's this?" the old woman asked, looking at me.

"Is he homeless? And what is he wearing?" another, much younger, woman scoffed. She had long, brown and red hair and was wearing a white shirt tied in a way that allowed me to see her stomach, as well as the shortest skirt I had ever seen.

"I could say the same for you," I retorted, referring to the amount of skin she was showing. She looked like the women the pirates would meet with when they docked. She rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Sorry about Ruby, she's…" the woman started, but couldn't find the words to end her sentence. "I'm Widow Lucas, but everyone here calls me Granny."

"I'm Sc-Seth," I replied, still getting used to being called by my real name. It's been a really long time.

"He needs a room here, he's new," Mary Margaret said.

"Oh sure, would you like forest view or square view?" she asked me.

"Uh, forest?" I said, but it came out sounding more like a question than an answer. I wasn't sure that I even needed somewhere to stay. I was able to live in the Neverland Forest, so this one would be a piece of cake.

"Okay, and how will you be paying?" she asked. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the same green paper I saw the man give her before and placed it in her hand. She walked away and returned with different green paper and a key. "You'll be staying in Room 14. You had enough for two nights, but if you want to extend your stay, it's $70 a night," she explained as she handed me my belongings. Mary Margaret and I walked to my room and I unlocked my door.

"This looks cozy," Mary Margaret said as she peered around the room. The walls were covered in images of flowers and framed paintings of boats.

"Yeah, I guess," I mumbled, walking over to the bed. I couldn't remember the last time I had a proper bed, or needed to sleep for that matter.

"Do you have any more money, Seth?" she asked after a few minutes of silence. She was careful with her words, as she didn't want to overstep her boundaries. I shook my head.

"I'll figure something out," I said, focusing my gaze on a particularly large tree outside my window.

"Do you think we could head back to the hospital?"

"Of course," she smiled before walking out the door. She was clearly trying to help me in any way possible. It was strange to me, no one has ever been this helpful without a motive. I just couldn't figure out hers. I followed her, stopping only to re-lock my door.


AUTHOR'S NOTE

...um hi guys! I'm back! Kinda...

Lol so yeah I'm in college now which is kinda crazy bc like I was a freshman in high school when I started this series. Now I'm a freshman in college and I feel like shiiiiiit haha sorry for not updating in a billion years. I don't even have a good excuse other than writer's block. Turns out that finals week is a great cure for writer's block btw I wrote like five chapters in attempt to procrastinate studying for exams. I'm trying really really hard to write this and I think I'm on a roll rn. I've written up through chapter 8! So yeah I'm trying!

So yeah I should be updating more now so favorite, follow, and leave a review :)