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Sorry for the shortness of it all, but I hope you like it nonetheless.
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Previously: Everyone in Storybrooke vanished mysteriously one by one, until Emma was left alone. There is now an indomitable barrier surrounding the town, and despite all the research, Emma has no idea where her friends and family are.
Chapter 2
Killian opened his eyes blearily, his pupils slowly adjusting to the sudden sunlight. He couldn't remember how he had gotten here...the last sensation he had felt was a cool tingling as if he had been bathed in ice water...and then darkness. Bleak, sudden darkness.
His first thought was a rather ludicrous one: how was he not warm in the slightest with all his leather and the sun beating down upon his face? He noticed the trees around him rustling merrily, but felt no hint of wind...odd. He sighed softly and clumsily clambered to his feet, swaying marginally before regaining his footing.
His head hurt like hell.
He leaned against a nearby tree trunk, resting his suddenly aching joints. He appeared to be in a sort of forest. As to in which land the wood was in, he had absolutely no idea. Could he have somehow been transported back to the Enchanted Forest? It seemed like a possibility, although Killian wasn't quite sure the atmosphere was right.
The events of the past few days abruptly hit him.
He remembered the strange disappearances in Storybrooke...and Emma! Emma and Henry were still back in the desolate town—he needed to get back to them. Perhaps the others—Snow, David, Regina, and the rest of Storybrooke—had been taken to this strange place as well. If he found them, then there could possibly be a way to get back to the hidden town. On the other hand, he could simply wait here for Emma and her son. After all, according to his logic, they would appear in this spot eventually as well.
Killian decided he would be better off waiting rather than going on a most-likely fruitless search for the others. Emma or Henry could appear any moment now and a familiar face would ease their panic.
So he waited.
He sat himself down on the mossy surface and waited.
Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours, yet the forest was devoid of sound. Killian stood up and took a deep breath. He found it odd how he could still not feel the wind hitting his face, yet the leaves above him were now swaying with a renewed fervour.
His ears pricked up momentarily as he heard the sound of footsteps coming nearer. He rushed toward the source, hoping for it to be Henry or Emma. Killian stopped short when he saw who had come and let a small smile enter his face.
"Hook," greeted the woman.
He nodded at her. "Regina."
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Two days passed before Henry appeared. They had discovered the lad in the same grassy clearing Killian himself had materialized in a little while back. By then, they had deduced that Henry and Emma were the only two left in Storybrooke and were anxiously awaiting their arrival.
Regina had brought her son back to the 'new' Storybrooke—a makeshift camp—only a few short moments ago. The boy greeted Killian warmly before leaving to speak to his grandparents, Regina following suit.
It was a few minutes before it hit him.
Emma was in Storybrooke...alone. How long would it be before she joined the rest of them? A frightening thought niggled at the corner of his mind but he pushed it away, instead going to join Snow White, Charming, the Evil Queen, and Henry at the main tent.
The four were talking animatedly—almost yelling at one another. The small, open room went quiet as Killian walked in and he cocked an eyebrow at David in question. The king shrugged uncomfortably, attempting to look anywhere but at the pirate. There was a pregnant silence before Henry stood from his seat and stormed out of the tent, brushing past Killian in a way that was not at all gentle.
"What's wrong with Henry?" he asked quietly.
"Nothing," replied Regina, her tone clipped and tense.
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Another week and Emma still hadn't come. Killian was becoming irritable and would snap if anyone crossed him, although he tolerated Henry and those few close to him. He soon realized, thanks to Regina's acute observations, that they were in some sort of new world. Hunger wasn't an issue here (not once in the time that he had been there had he felt a hunger pang), though he did miss the taste of food on his tongue. Killian ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. His hair hadn't grown in the slightest during the days he had been here, so he assumed aging in this land wasn't existent either.
He knew Regina had been working hard with Belle to figure out a way to return to the small Maine town. The librarian was still downcast about the recent banishment of her husband, and was putting all of her efforts into her work. As far as he knew, the two women hadn't found anything yet, and all of their hopes were dwindling by the day. Would they be stuck here forever?
There was also the fact that whenever he spoke to the former Evil Queen about the Saviour, her eyes darkened and her face wore an expression he couldn't quite identify. It unnerved Killian slightly—he could tell Regina knew something about why Emma's arrival was delayed. As to why she wasn't sharing the information with him, he didn't know.
"Killian?"
He glanced over to his right to see Henry standing rather uncomfortably beside him. The boy sat down next to him on the felled tree trunk and sighed. Henry didn't need to speak for Killian to know what was going on in his mind. He laid a hand on the lad's shoulder in support and the two sat together in silence, wondering and waiting for what was yet to come.
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Emma was losing hope. Fast.
She had read nearly three-quarters of the library by now, and had still found nothing. She growled in frustration after throwing down the millionth spell book. As usual, it was nothing but crap.
She missed them, but at the same time knew that she had to think logically. She was evidently immune to whatever magic had taken the citizens of Storybrooke away—could it perhaps have something to do with her Saviour status? After all, she had escaped Pan's curse with Henry only a little while back. The only difference was that this time, she didn't want to escape this new curse. Henry had disappeared along with the rest of them. Emma had nothing left for her here.
It was that thought that broke her. Burrowed into the depths of her very soul, surpassing all defences and hitting her right where it hurt.
There was nothing left for her here.
Even if she did somehow manage to get past the impenetrable barrier surrounding the small town, Emma didn't know what she would do next. Go back to being a bail bonds person? Go back to living in her small, dingy apartment, barely earning enough to make a living? Go back to being alone?
No.
She would never abandon her family. She had already made a silent pact with herself—Emma would never stop looking, no matter how long it took. She knew they would do the same. It was their family 'motto', if that's what you could call it—they would always find each other. She knew they would find each other again.
So why did she feel so hopeless? Why was the dread settled at the bottom of her stomach only growing?
Emma stood from her seat abruptly and stumbled to the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach in an instant. She regained herself quickly, swallowing the bile already rising in her throat, and spared a glance in the faded mirror.
Gods, she looked terrible. The bags under her eyes were deep and pronounced and her skin was pale and tired. When was the last time she had slept or even eaten? Saturday? Monday? Right now, she really didn't care. Emma couldn't afford to waste any time taking care of herself when the people she cared about were gone who-knows-where. Her first priority was to find them. Then she could get some sleep.
Emma shakily waked back to her worn chair and collapsed on the cushioned seat, moving to pick up the next mass of text bound in leather. In the few days she had been staying at the library, she had grown to abhor books with a fiery passion—it only increased her frustration with them each time she finished one and found nothing useful whatsoever. Once all of this was over, she swore she would never willingly read another spell book. She supposed it didn't matter anyway—she had already read all of the ones in this library.
Once all of this was over...
Would it ever be over? Would she ever find her family…Killian…?
Emma brushed the thought aside and continued perusing through her new find. She had taken a short trip to Regina's vault a few hours ago and came back bearing an armload of thick, heavy books. They had been lying forgotten in a corner and it was evident the former Evil Queen had never even given them a second glance. They seemed promising from the outside, but from what she had already read in the other hardcovers, there was nothing much to find. That didn't stop her from looking.
Another ten minutes passed. Emma felt her stomach growl in protest at the lack of food she was giving it, but she ignored the hunger and focused on the small print in front of her. When the next chapter yielded no results, she nearly destroyed the book in frustration, her hands sparking with dangerous white energy.
"Damn it!" she hissed, wearily closing her eye. She snapped them open within the next few seconds, a newfound determination driving her every move.
It was exactly 2:46 in the morning when Emma found what she was looking for.
She let a small smile grace her face and began to read.