"Your door is unlocked? How?" Belle asked. She stumbled over to her own cell door and tried to move the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Mine's still locked."

"You don't think it was that purple fog do you?" Felicia asked.

"Not if it didn't unlock my door too," Belle responded. Belle looked through the hole in the cell wall to see Felicia peering though her now cracked open door.

"Nobody's in the hallway," Felicia noted.

Belle took a deep breath. "Get out," she commanded. "You aren't going to have another chance at this. Go!"

Felicia looked at her. "If I go, Regina will tighten security, and I'll never be able to get you out of here."

"Please!" Belle pleaded. "This is it. This is your only chance!"

Felicia took one last look at Belle's face before slipping into the hallway and out of sight. Belle sighed and sunk to the ground. Maybe Felicia would be able to find someone to help her out of there. She regretted not mentioning Rumplestiltskin's name when she told Felicia her story. If she had she would know who to go to. That's who she would want to come for her. That's who she would go to, if she ever got out of this rotten place. She sniffed away tears. She should be happy! Her only friend had just escaped a terrible prison and all she could think about was herself. Suddenly, the door to her cell flew open. Felicia stood there with a nurse's key card in hand. Belle shot up.

Felicia grabbed Belle's hand. "No time to explain! Let's go!" They flew through the completely unfamiliar hallways. They reached a door that looked like a service entrance and pushed it open. The staircase was dark and reeked of disuse. They followed their dim path until they reached the end of the stairs where a rope descended. Belle pulled on it and a ladder folded down like an attic. She took a deep breath as sunlight poured over them. She didn't have time to enjoy it though as they remembered their purpose and scrambled up the ladder. They were in a clearing where the cleverly hidden trap door wouldn't be seen by passerby. Belle shook her head. If this was supposed to be an asylum, why go through so much effort to hide it?

The girls shivered as a cold wind gusted around them. Belle took it all in. This was the first time she had felt physically cold in the longest time. Felicia was less impressed. "We need to get out of this cold," Felicia pointed out. "Or at least find something warmer to wear."

Belle took in a shaky breath. "How do we do that without getting caught?"

"Leave it to me," Felicia replied as she moved towards the trees. They moved slowly at first. They weren't wearing shoes and the hard litter on the forest floor was uncomfortable, but soon they were weaving through the trees expertly. After what felt like hours of running, they saw a road ahead. They stayed in the tree line. Belle looked down the road and she could see houses. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.

Silently, they followed the road to the houses. Felicia beckoned to her and Belle followed as she hopped a fence. They were in a large backyard. The carefully manicured grass felt wonderful on her now aching feet. Felicia made a shushing motion with her finger to her lips and started creeping toward the house. They peered through the windows and finally Felicia tried the back door. It was open. They stepped inside the heated house and the warmth seemed to penetrate to her soul.

"Hello?" Felicia called. "Is anyone here?" Belle looked at her incredulously. They waited for a few tantalizing seconds before they accepted that no one was home. Felicia opened the nearest closet and it was full of coats. They each took a warm looking one. Obviously an older woman lived here, but luckily they fit. They looked for a bedroom and found a closet full of warm pants and shoes. They helped themselves to a pair of each. The shoes were a little big on Belle and they clapped on the floor. Belle made her way to the kitchen and left a note for the owner explaining why they had been there. Once she had finished, she saw Felicia standing behind her.

Belle turned around. "Where should we go next? We can't just parade through town. Where will you go?"

"I have to find my John," Felicia replied matter-of-factly. "And I'm sure you want to find…" She paused. "What was his name?"

"Yeah I'll try to find him," Belle replied, dodging the question. Felicia raised her eyebrows in disapproval but didn't push it. "I just don't even know where to look," Belle continued.

"Is there a church? I'm sure someone would help us there or at least give us a place to stay while we figure things out," Felicia reasoned. Belle agreed and they reluctantly made their way out of the house and back into the cold. Belle began to wonder why she ever missed the cold. They walked down the nearly deserted streets unnoticed. A younger man sat on a bench outside a restaurant. Belle walked up to him and asked, "Where is everyone?"

He looked up and laughed. "What you didn't get the memo? Lynch mob at Mayor Mill's house. Now that everyone's got their memories back, they are none too happy with her." They both smiled at his response.

"Do you know where we could find a church or something?" Felicia asked.

He scrunched his eyebrows, "There's an abbey down the main road a ways but I doubt anyone will be there." For the first time, he took a look at the way there were dressed. "Are you girls in some kind of trouble?" He asked.

"You could say that," Felicia replied eventually. "We just… uh… got away."

He gave her an inquisitive look, so Belle finished, "We've just escaped from Regina. She was holding us captive."

He laughed, "I'm not surprised she was holding people captive. Do you have a place to stay?"

They both shrugged. "We don't know yet," Felicia added.

"You guys could stay with me and my roommate, at least until you get on your feet," he offered. Belle bristled at the thought of sleeping in the same house as two guys she'd never met, but Felicia accepted the offer. "Great!" he smiled. "He'll be here to pick me up any second. I'll ask him if it's ok."

They sat there for a while talking about nonsense. Belle could tell he was trying to make them more comfortable by not prying. So Belle decided to be the one to pry first. "Who are you?" Belle asked suddenly.

He smiled, "I'm sorry. I forgot to say. I'm Blake Pfeiffer."

"Hi, Blake. So who are you?" Belle asked again.

"Belle!" Felicia exclaimed, taken aback. "Don't be rude!"

He waved a hand dismissively. "It's alright." He paused for a moment before saying. "I had a different name before I came to Storybrooke, but no one called me by that. I had a nickname." He paused again as if looking for the best way to say it. "They called me the Pied Piper."

Felicia stood up abruptly. "And you want us to follow you?" She asked indignantly.

"Whatever it is you're accusing me of, I can assure you that was not my intention," Blake responded disinterestedly.

"I think we should listen to him," Belle assured her. "If there's anything I've learned in my life, it's that you can't judge someone by the way they look…. Or seem."

Felicia huffed in disbelief, but at that moment a car pulled up to the curb. The driver stepped out to greet them. He was tall with olive skin and dark hair. His eyes were lighter than the rest of his complexion and the effect was striking. He walked casually around the car, but when he looked up at the pair of them, he froze in his steps. Confused, Belle looked to Felicia and saw that her face had gone completely pale. It was silent for a moment before Felicia gasped, "John."

A/N: Hello! I'm really into this story. It's evolving as I go on though. Hopefully you enjoyed it. A huge thanks to the people who reviewed. As always, send some reviews in so I can get an idea of what to do better! I promise there WILL be Rumbelle next chapter. I have exams and registration the rest of this week, so I probably won't get the next one done until this weekend.

Thanks for reading!