Just like the day before, Emma met Faith around 6, they got some food, then went to Faith's room to talk.
"Don't you have a family to go home to? Aren't they wondering where you are?"
"No. I mean, Henry is at Regina's this week, and Mary Margaret and David usually take advantage of me not being home." Emma made a face, "We really need to work on some kind of signal, walking in on them all the time is not okay." Faith laughed and Emma hit her with a pillow, "Not funny!"
"It is and you know it! You could just learn to knock…"
Emma was in the middle of telling Faith more about Neverland when her phone rang. It was well past midnight, which meant that it wasn't anything good. It was David calling her, making it that much worse. "David? Is Henry okay? What about Mary Margaret? Regina?" Yes, they're fine. There is a problem though."What? What's going on?" I found a body in the cemetery.Emma jumped into gear, getting ready to leave "A body?! Whose? How did they die?" I'm not a coroner, Emma, you better get here, it's by the Mills crypt. And call Whale.Emma ended the call and immediately started dialing Dr. Whale's number, talking to Faith while she waited for him to pick up. "Listen, I'm sorry, I have to go, it looks like we've found one of the missing residents." Whale's voicemail came on, and Emma waited for the beep, "I know it's late, but we need you, a body was found in the cemetery by the Mills crypt. You remember which one that is, don't you?"
"I'm going with you." Faith cut off Emma's objection, "That's why I'm here, to help you figure out what's going on here."
"But it's late—"
"You do remember that I told you I spent more of my time than I'd like to admit in graveyards patrolling for vampires, right? I think I can handle it."
The two women made a beeline for the cruiser, making it to the cemetery in just a few minutes. Emma took the lead, heading for the Mills crypt. When they got there they found the body, but not David. Emma went looking for him, leaving Faith to look at the body. It didn't take long for Faith to figure out the cause of death; she noticed the neck wound right away. "Fuck. Do these things follow me? I don't even have a stake!" Faith was about to go in search of a tree branch when Emma yelled out.
"Faith! Come here and help me!" Faith went sprinting towards the voice, finding Emma and an unconscious David several yards away, near another crypt. David's gun was laying right next to his right hand, his cell phone next to his left. David had just been about to call Emma when he was attacked.
"Is he okay? I can't wake him up!"
Faith pulled a small package out of her pocket, held it up to David's nose, and crushed it. His eyes opened almost immediately and he started to get up, but both Faith and Emma stopped him. "Whoa there, just hold on a second, okay? You were unconscious, it looks like you were attacked. Take your time." David looked around, getting his bearings. He settled on the unfamiliar face next to him, giving him instructions.
"Who are you?"
"Name's Faith, nice to meet you." She took his hand and shook it, a normally uncharacteristic move, but from what Emma told her about David, he would appreciate it.
He turned his attention to Emma, "You called her, didn't you?"
She shrugged and gave him an apologetic look, "Sorry, she would kill me if I didn't call her first, you know that. Do you think you can sit up?" David nodded and sat up very slowly. "Did you see what happened?"
"Well, I found the body and called you. Then I took a look around, I wanted to clear the area before you got here. I heard a noise and when I walked over here I found a wolf. The next thing I remember is waking up."
"The wolf wasn't…." Emma gave him a meaningful look.
"What? Oh. No, I didn't recognize it"
Faith interrupted them, "This may seem odd, but you didn't get bit or anything did you? It would help us narrow down what happened."
"Nope, just feels like I'll have a hell of a bump on the head tomorrow."
Faith left the two alone and went to take pictures of the body. The mark on his neck was unusual, it was just two simple holes, not the mess that generally went with vampire bites. She had a theory about why that was, but she wanted to confirm it before alarming Emma and the other Storybrooke residents. She sent the pictures to the gang, hoping someone would be awake to answer.
While they were waiting for Whale, Mary Margaret showed up to take David to the hospital. David, who on any other day might argue, barely put up a fight and let her rip into him about going off on his own. Faith and Emma canvassed the area around the body and where David was found, just to see if they could find anything.
Whale appeared an hour later with his medical kit. Faith and Emma hadn't found anything in the surrounding area, not that they were really expecting to. "Apologies everyone, I was sleeping. Where is the body?"
They walked him over to the body and he stopped dead in his tracks when he got a clear look. "Oh god no."
"What? Did you know him?"
"The victim? No. But I think I know who the perpetrator is."
Faith's phone chimed and she pulled it out to look at it, while Emma gestured impatiently at Whale, "Spit it out, Whale, who is it?"
He opened his mouth to answer, but Faith beat him to it, "It's Dracula."
Emma started to laugh, but seeing the serious looks on both their faces cut her off quickly. "You're serious? He's real? How the fuck did he get here?!"
"That is a question for The Evil Queen." Emma glared at him and he didn't say another word, just processed the body and got it to the morgue.
Mary Margaret identified the body, he was one of the Art teachers at the school. As far as she knew, he was married, but didn't have any children. Emma turned down offers from both Faith and Mary Margaret to help notify his wife. As Sheriff, it was her responsibility, as much as it sucked. After the notification, Emma headed straight to the station to try to find answers, it wasn't even time for her shift yet and she had worked almost 8 hours. One of the first things Emma did when she got there was call Regina to let her know what had happened and give her more information about Faith.
Faith headed back to Granny's to get some sleep in, turning her phone down so she wouldn't be interrupted. When she woke up several hours later, she had a dozen texts and phone calls from Buffy, who had freaked out when she found out that Faith was dealing with Dracula. He was the only vampire that got the best of Buffy and lived to tell about it, so naturally, Buffy was worried. The last text she received was, "FAITH! IF YOU DO NOT CALL ME NOW AND TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON I WILL NAME OUR CHILD AFTER ANGEL!"
Faith laughed and called Buffy, reassuring her that she was okay and reminding her that naming their child after Angel wouldn't be so terrible. They discussed the Dracula situation and came up with a partial plan, but it required a conversation with Regina. After she hung up, she started getting herself ready and headed to the Mayor's office.
It was around 10 that morning when Emma received a report that another resident went missing, and this time it was a dwarf. Which meant that Snow and the other six dwarves were on Emma all day looking for answers. After the fifth phone call from her mother, she snapped. "I CANNOT DO MY JOB IF I HAVE PEOPLE CONSTANTLY INTERRUPTING ME!"
"Whoa, you okay, Emma?"
"I'm fine, Ruby. What can I help you with?"
"Well, I came with bear claws. Granny gave me the afternoon off so I can help you. I imagine with three people missing, one of them being Happy, and one person dead, you could use it. Where's David?"
"He's at home with Mary Margaret. He had a minor concussion from last night, so I told him to stay home."
"Gotcha. So how can I help?"
"I don't even know what I'm looking for. I've been reviewing the missing person's reports and the only consistency is that they went missing after the sun went down. David mentioned seeing a wolf last night, you didn't see anything did you?"
"Nope, just me. I can go sniff around the crime scene if you'd like? Where's Faith? Isn't this her thing?"
"I thought Faith was in her room, she told me she wanted to get some sleep, you didn't see her?"
"Well I did, I saw her leave right before I came here, I figured she was just heading here. What is she, by the way? She didn't tell me."
"What do you mean, what is she?"
Ruby put her hand on her hip, "Emma, I'm not stupid. She smells funny, like she's not quite human. But she doesn't smell like Archie or the other wolves I've run across when they're in human form, it's just a slight difference. Like Regina, I can sometimes smell the magic on her. So what is she?"
Emma sighed, and took her time answering, "She's a Slayer."
"A what?"
"A Slayer. A Vampire Slayer. Apparently, vampires and demons are real and she kills them."
"Oh. Well that explains it. She's cool with wolves though, right?"
"You'd have to ask her, but I'm sure you're okay, she works with a couple of vampires, they have souls."
"That's so cool!"
"You have to keep it to yourself, Ruby, people aren't really supposed to know."
"Don't tell your mom then, I love her, but she cannot keep a secret."
"Believe me, I know. I've heard enough from Regina about her secret keeping."
Ruby smiled at the mention of Regina, "Speaking of Regina, what's going on with you two? Did you sleep together and it was awful or something?"
"Ruby!" Emma halfheartedly threw a pencil at her, which Ruby dodged easily. "What makes you think something happened?"
"Because I pay more attention than you think. I know you have a thing for her." Ruby almost added, 'I know she has a thing for you.' but thought better of it. "I know that she went and got you and Henry and since you came back to Storybrooke, you and Regina have been acting weird. More so than usual. So spill, what's going on?"
"You're not going to let this go, are you?"
Ruby shook her head, "Nope."
"Do you remember that day Henry and I left to go to New York?" Ruby nodded excitedly, "Did you happen to hear what Regina said to me?"
"No, there was too much noise from the curse."
"Well, when we hugged, she told me that she loved me."
Ruby squealed, "Oh my god! What did you say?!"
"I didn't say anything. I was too shocked and there was a lot happening. The second we crossed the line, I forgot it."
"So what happened when Regina went to New York to get you?"
"She showed up at our door and gave us the potions. I think when she gave us the new memories she tried to insert herself, so that if and when you all made it back, she could get Henry and I. When we took the potions, everything came back at once, it was really overwhelming."
"Did you tell her you love her?"
Emma got a guilty look on her face, "No. I haven't brought it up."
Ruby reached over and smacked Emma, "Are you kidding me?! You've had a thing for her since
you got to this town! Why didn't you tell her?!"
"I don't know."
"You're killin' me, Swan! You have to tell her!"
"I will, when the time is right. Now can we get to work?"
"Madame Mayor? Your 2:00 is here."
"I didn't have one on the books."
"It's a Miss Lehane, she says she has an important matter to discuss?"
Regina didn't recognize the name, but had an idea as to who it was, "Very well, send her in." Regina straightened her desk and her posture, so when the door opened, Faith knew she was not to be messed with.
"How can I help you, Miss Lehane?" Regina stood up, to shake Faith's hand.
"First off, it's not Miss, I'm married. Secondly, I came by to ask about the curse."
"Which one?"
"As I understood it, you only cast one, the original that brought everyone here and created Storybrooke."
"Your question?"
"How did you decide who to bring over? And if there was someone from one of the realms who wasn't in the original curse, but was in town for Pan's, could they have been cursed back to their realm, then brought to Storybrooke?" Regina was taken aback by the question. While it wasn't the first time people had wondered about who came to Storybrooke, nobody had asked like that.
"Well I supposed it's possible. Does this have something to do with the missing residents?"
"Yeah, tryin' to figure out who took them. How many people from Whale's realm did you bring?"
"Just one. Him."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am 100% certain he was the only one from his realm who came here when I cast it."
"If someone isn't from this world, but one of the realms that were cursed, even if they weren't in any of the curses, could they still get past the barrier?"
"If they managed to find a way to this world without any problems, I don't see how much trouble the barrier would cause. But, the barrier keeps us in, so it should keep people out, even if they're from another realm. Although, the barrier was down for a few days when we were in Neverland."
Faith contemplated Regina's answers for a minute, then got up to leave. "Thank you for your help."
"Help with what? Are you working in the Sheriff's office now?"
"Nope, investigating as a private entity. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to see me."
"It's hard not to when you put yourself on my schedule."
Faith was just at the door when she turned back around to add, "Oh, and by the way... If you hurt E, I will make you wish you were imprisoned back in the Enchanted Forest. Have a nice day." After the door shut, Faith smiled at Regina's shocked expression. You still got it, Lehane.
The minute Faith got outside, she called Willow and told her what Regina said. Willow helped her figure out a few critical steps, then she hung up and headed back to her room to call Emma.
"I have some information that may help and a possible plan. Can you come meet me?" Emma was there half an hour later.
Faith told her what she was thinking and Emma hesitated, "I don't know, shouldn't you take the lead on this?"
"Normally, I would say yeah, but in a town like this? They don't trust the outsider, but they will trust the Savior." Emma glared at her, but she shrugged, "I'll be with you every step of the way, okay? It's not like I'm leaving you alone to fight your first vampire."
"Okay. If you're sure this will work."
"It won't hurt... I'm assuming you have people to gather?" Emma nodded and pulled out her phone to start dialing.
They decided to meet at the Sheriff's office, that way Emma didn't have to worry about the office being manned, and all the case resources where there. Regina was the first to arrive and she magicked a conference table for everyone to sit at.
Within half an hour everyone had arrived, with the exception of the Blue Fairy, but Emma was okay with starting without her. She had asked her parents, Regina, Ruby, Granny, Archie, Tinker Bell, and Grumpy, in addition to Blue. As expected, Grumpy was… well... grumpy to discover that Faith had been invited to the meeting.
"We don't know her. How do we know she isn't the one kidnapping people?!"
"I'm a Slayer—"
Grumpy cut Faith off, "What the hell is a Slayer?"
"It means she's the expert, she's been doing this a lot longer than you have, so shut up and listen!"
Grumpy opened up his mouth to argue more, but glares from around the table stopped him.
Faith and Emma took turns explaining the situation, with Faith trying to let Emma take the lead. "Okay, so I know that some of you know what's going on, or at least pieces of it. This will be a lot to take in, so please wait until we're done explaining to ask any questions. As you know, we've had some disappearances, and at least one murder. Faith figured out who the perpetrator was when we found the body. As crazy as it sounds, it's Dracula and he may or may not be recruiting, since we haven't found any other bodies." There were murmurs around the table, and they thought they heard David say something about "The Dark Prince," but nobody interrupted.
"Vampires can be killed in several different ways; beheading, a stake to the heart, holy water, fire, and sunlight. They're stronger and faster than the average person, with heightened senses. You can ward them off with garlic or a cross, but depending on how strong they are, it may not work. The thing about invitations is true, they can't come in your home unless you invite them. But, they aren't restricted in a public place, they can come and go as they please. They can also enter a home if the owner is dead. We know this attack was Dracula because of the bite marks. He leaves two simple puncture wounds, most other vampires leave more. Finding Dracula is going to be pretty easy, he's kind of a show off and goes for a big castle, or castle like mansion. We think he actually is able to create one, or it somehow travels with him. He can shapeshift into a bat or a wolf, and will use that to stalk his victims or enemies. Lastly, he can put people under a thrall, so be careful. It's a good idea to travel in groups."
"I know that was a lot of information, but really, if you've ever seen a Dracula movie, it should all be familiar. Are there any questions?" Emma and Faith sat down, letting everyone absorb what they had told them.
Grumpy muttered under his breath, "Where's Van Helsing when you need him?"
"Here." All eyes went to Faith, who shrugged, "Sorry, I forgot you guys take that a little more seriously. I'm not literally Van Helsing... but what is a Slayer if not a more badass, female Van Helsing? The problem isn't who slays him, the problem is that every time he gets staked, he just comes back. We could try beheading him, but I have a feeling that may have the same result."
"Alright then, Fem Helsing, what is your plan?" Grumpy asked.
"We bind him after we stake him. A friend of mine sent a binding spell, all we would need to do is find a way to contain the dust, and then we can bury him."
Grumpy scoffed, "Who's going to cast the spell? One of the fairies? I noticed that Blue wasn't invited."
Emma interrupted, "She was, she just didn't show up. Which is actually probably something we should look into. Archie, can you check on her?" He nodded. "As for who's going to cast the spell, we were actually thinking Regina could do it. We'd want her there anyway, her magic would help."
"You're going to trust the Evil Queen to take out the vampire she probably brought here?"
Several people jumped up out of their seats, but Snow was the first one to speak, "Enough! Grumpy, I know that your brother is missing and you want to find him, but fighting us isn't the way to do this. Regina has proven that she's on our side, so show her some respect."
Snow's outburst surprised Grumpy, and the rest of the table, enough where the rest of the meeting went fairly smoothly.
The last piece of business was figuring out how to protect people until they could get rid of Dracula and any vampires he could have turned. They decided a town meeting was their best bet, but it was getting late, so it had to wait until the next day. Regina teleported back to the mansion, so she could make sure Henry got home okay and understood the importance of staying inside. Emma asked David, Mary Margaret, Ruby, Tinker Bell, and Faith to patrol overnight. They still had people missing and a vampire to find. She gave them their assignments and they headed out.