AN – Hi! Wow, I'm so pleased with the response I've gotten for my first story! Over 100 Views on the first chapter thank you so much for taking time to read this! Thank you to all the readers who added this to their alerts and their favourites. Big thank you to XxRikela-chanxX, Grace5231973, CoffeeGirl129 and mythwriter for being the first to review. You guys are now my favourite people.
Now as you can see, I am trying to update once a week, hopefully I can keep up with this. As promised, this chapter is a little longer than the prologue; still a little short but it is just the beginning. As we get more into the plot I'm sure they'll start to get longer.
As always, please enjoy and let me know what you think.
Chapter One – Our Story Begins
The Evil Queen quickly made her way up the stone staircase leading to the tower. The smirk on her face was full of gloating and self-appreciation. Stepping through the wooden door, she gestured to the guard standing nervously by a rusted cell.
"Has she said anything today?" she asked sharply.
He fearfully shook his head, stepping to the side so the woman could grasp the metal bars to stare at the body within.
"Why would I say anything to a being with less than one brain cell?" a soft voice asked from the shadows.
The Queen let out a chuckle, waving her hand towards the door again.
"Leave us, we have much to discuss," Regina ordered.
The guard bowed and hurriedly left the room, slamming the door behind him.
The Queen silently observed the pale body that sat gracefully on the stone floor. The figure was small and slim, leaning gently against the wall of the cell. A head of dark hair lifted from its position against the wall, dark eyes catching those of the Queen. Red lips fell into an easy smirk, knees were brought up and elbows rested calmly above them. The stature of pure relaxation, mocking the torture the small space should have created.
"Regina, you return so soon. Was your visit to see our Master a successful one?" the voice asked softly.
The Queen's top lip curled in a sneer.
"He has been captured by Snow White and her Charming. It seems he made one deal that he couldn't collect." She goaded the imprisoned woman.
The woman moved quickly to the bars, snarling as she came face to face with her capturer.
"You are lying!"
Regina chuckled, stroking a pale cheek with a finger.
The other woman's head snapped away from the soiled touch.
"I have no reason to lie, not when he holds the last piece of information I need to enact this curse that he has created. If anyone should know his secrets then it will be you, his most trusted apprentice," Regina explained.
The woman remained silent, choosing to glare hatefully at the Evil Queen.
Regina stepped away satisfied, continuing with her tale.
"What I require is a final ingredient. I have already tried the curse once and it did not succeed. I included everything written on the scroll so why did it not work?" she asked. She turned to meet a smirk on the woman's face, "You will tell me and I will keep that in mind when I think about what kind of life you will receive in our new world." she advised.
The woman stared at her for a moment before turning away, seating herself back by the window of her cell.
"You have already been to see him. He will have told you what you need to use," she explained softly.
Regina stepped to the bars, hitting one in anger.
"His explanation was not enough! What he asks is unthinkable! There must be another way!" Regina exclaimed.
The woman smirked, enraging the Queen even further.
"Do you want to live in a gutter in this new world?" Regina snarled. "I control every new story and I am beginning to write a horror for you my Dear. Tell me there is another way to do this!"
"And what do I get in return?" The prisoner asked. "Come now Regina, you know how we work. You know what I want. Something you've kept from me for some time now…In this new world I want to be with my Father. You arrange this for me, and I'll give you the final part of the puzzle."
"Done. I'll make sure of it." Regina answered. "Just tell me what I need to know."
"He will have told you that you need to sacrifice the heart of one you love the most, and it is true. For the curse to work at its full potential then that is the better way…However," she gave a giggle, "there is one other way…"
Regina gazed at her in anticipation, her gloved hands gripping the bars of the cell.
Dark eyes observed the beautiful Queen, as if reading her very soul.
"It is true; you need to sacrifice something that you hold very dear. If not your father's heart then what else? Perhaps your own true love?" Regina's face paled in realisation, the woman giggled again clapping her hands together gleefully, "Yes, you have your empty hearted beau don't you? Your love for him will always remain even though he cannot be with you. Although you haven't got his heart you still held passion and lust for his body, that will be good enough to enact the curse."
Regina shook her head.
"I wanted a way where I didn't have to sacrifice anything." She whispered.
The other woman scoffed.
"It is a dark curse Dearie. Sacrificing is part of the deal unfortunately." She said sharply.
Regina closed her eyes in pain, leaning her forehead against the metal bars in a moment of weakness.
"You will not forget your promise Regina." The prisoner said. "I want my Father just as much as you want to keep yours."
Regina's eyes snapped open in anger and she glared at her prisoner.
"You haven't given me any answers." Regina said. "You are as bad as him, speaking in riddles. I will win, neither you or that Imp can stop me now and you cannot dictate what I will and will not do!" Regina pulled away from the cell and turned towards the wooden door.
The woman stood and strode to the bars, pointing at the Queen.
"You promised, you made a deal…and you know what happens when you break deals Regina," she whispered, her dark eyes glinting dangerously.
Regina smirked and opened the door.
"The problem is Meenah my dear, you won't be able to remember any deals. Goodnight."
She left the room, closing the door behind her blocking the angry screeches of her prisoner.
Melanie Silver only knew very few things in her life. She worked for the Mayor, that part was quite simple. She remembered cooking and cleaning the upper class house, making sure that she was available if Regina needed her assistance. When the baby came along she could add babysitter to her resume.
Henry was a strange baby. When his new mother held him he would cry; loud screeches that echoed around the large empty rooms of the house.
Melanie had never had much experience with babies but was always willing to give anything a try.
Miraculously, when she had the small boy thrust into her arms his cries quickly quietened to small whimpers, slowly descending into silence. She stared at the small face in shock, dark eyes meeting blue and a connection was formed. It was at that moment that Regina began to resent her.
She spent most of the time at her office, away from her child and his young sitter.
Melanie was there to change every diaper, to clean up any of his mess and to calm him in the darkest of nights when all he required was warm arms and a gentle voice. She would sing him a lullaby; a song gathered from deep in her memories, and would rock him lightly soothing him back into a deep sleep.
"Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine.
From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Sweet as can be, baby of mine"
She watched as he grew, from baby into a handsome young boy.
His eyes sparkled when he was excited or happy; his smile brightened any room when he entered.
Melanie was not ashamed to say that she loved the boy with all her heart.
When he found out that he was adopted, she held him close while he cried.
"Why me Melanie? Why did my Mommy not want me?" he whispered, burying his face into her shoulder.
It was difficult to try and reassure the boy when inside she was boiling with anger. Because how could any woman not take one look at this boy and want to keep him? She resented the fact that she was not his mother, real or adopted. It haunted her that he called Regina 'Mom' when all she contributed to was paying for his upbringing.
There was no doubt in her mind that Regina loved her son.
There would be afternoons when Melanie had finished her chores and had gone to find Henry, that she would find them both lounged on the rug in front of the fire reading through one of his favourite books.
Regina was a powerful woman. Being the Mayor of a small town meant that she had the respect of the residents, but it was through fear, not out of any like, that this was possible.
Although Melanie never felt earth shattering fear when around the older woman, she knew she could never stand up to her; fear of being cast out and losing everything being her main concern. She had only ever been working for Regina; she couldn't remember doing anything else.
She'd asked her employer one day what had happened to her family. Apparently, she had been abandoned by her father. She was young and had no money so Regina had taken her in, offering her a job and a place to stay. The explanation for her memory loss had been quite simple; she had taken a nasty fall from one of the ladders in the library and had hit her head, causing permanent memory loss. The story was weak really; Melanie had never had a problem with her memory before. Still, she continued to work for the woman in perfect silence, doing as she was told and when she was told.
Soon, Henry had turned ten.
Melanie had planned a bit of a surprise gift for him upon his return from school. That had been blown out of the water however, when he came running into her room with a large book wrapped in his arms.
"Melanie look at this!" he'd exclaimed, throwing the book on her bed and pointing to the front cover.
Melanie had looked, smiling gently at his obvious excitement. When she read the title her heart thudded painfully in her chest and a tingle ran down her spine.
"Henry, who gave this to you?" she asked carefully.
"Miss Blanchard. She said that it was full of fairy tale stories," he explained, opening the cover carefully to show her the faded pages.
She watched as he flicked though the book, stopping every now and then to observe the pictures. He stopped on one particular picture of a man and a woman.
The man was not quite normal, his skin appeared to be that of a green mottled colour, almost as if he had scales stretched across his face. His eyes were dark and glinted with a hint of madness. He had short wavy hair that fell to his chin, framing his face but adding to the mystical features.
The woman had long dark curls that sat haphazardly across her shoulders. Her lips were tilted in a half smirk, the ruby red of them contrasting with her pale cheeks. Her eyes, although very similar to the man's in colour and shape, were expressive and held a mischievous flint to them.
Tilting her head she stared whimsically at the characters. If she had to put a name to the face she would almost go as far as to say the picture held a good resemblance to her!
Henry agreed.
"It's you Melanie! She's called Meenah and she has magic. I think she's a witch or something like that," he explained gazing thoughtfully at the picture.
Melanie frowned playfully and gave him a shove.
"So I'm a witch am I? Just because it's your birthday Henry doesn't mean you get free reign on calling me names!" she exclaimed, pushing him on to the bed to tickle him.
The book was soon forgotten.
That was until Henry had disappeared with it.
Henry had gone to school early that morning; it wasn't an uncommon thing to do. He liked to sit at the playground with his book and read, and then slowly make his way down to the school bus.
It wasn't uncommon for him to be slightly late either.
Mary Margaret had called on many occasions to let her know that she had found Henry at Granny's, sipping on a hot chocolate with his head in between the usual pages. He had become obsessed with his book, explaining to her that he thought that the residents of Storybrooke were actually the characters from the book. She didn't challenge his idea the first time he had told her, nor the second or the third. It had given Henry a new lease on life since finding out that he was adopted, who was she to take away that piece of happiness?
However, when Regina had found it she had been none too happy. She patiently tried to explain to her son that the characters were only fictional, that it couldn't be possible for the people of Storybrooke to be fairy tale characters. He wouldn't listen though, and Regina didn't know how to handle her son's imagination. She sent him to Doctor Hopper for counselling sessions.
Henry hadn't been too impressed. It was lucky that he enjoyed being in Archie's company, otherwise he would have had plenty to complain about.
"Why is she sending me to Archie? Why doesn't she believe me Melanie?" he'd asked her.
Melanie sighed and thread her fingers through his dark hair.
"She wants what is best for you Henry." Melanie explained. "Although the idea of us all being characters from a story is really interesting and exciting, it's difficult for someone who doesn't have the imagination you do to understand."
Henry sighed but nodded in understanding.
By the time 6pm came around, Melanie was beginning to panic. She called Mary Margaret (she hadn't seen him since school had finished), she called Archie (he said Henry had missed his appointment that afternoon). She finally called Graham and explained that Henry had gone missing.
It was when it got to 10pm and she heard Regina calling out his name as she ran down the drive. She quickly made her way down stairs and was suddenly bowled into by said boy. She gripped his shoulders and held him at arm's length, relief flooding through her system.
"Where the hell have you been!" Melanie exclaimed, shaking him slightly. She pulled him to her chest, wrapping her arms around his body. "You had me worried sick!"
"Melanie, I'm fine!" he told her impatiently, giving her a quick squeeze before pulling away. "You'll never guess who I've found!" he grinned, pure joy lighting up his blue eyes.
She frowned and looked over his shoulder, her eyes widening when she spotted a blonde haired woman step into the foyer, a slight smile set upon familiar lips and blue eyes glanced at her warily. Similar blue eyes to the boy at her side.
"This is Emma. She's my real Mom," Henry explained.