Author's Notes/Rantings/Warnings: HERE THERE BE INCEST AND SEXUAL CONTENT THOUGH IT IS GLOSSED OVER BE WARNED IT IS HERE! NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! AND PLEASE NO MINORS!
Helpless
Chapter 2:
"Regina get in here!" Cora's melodic voice echoed out from the tinny speaker of the black phone resting on Regina's desk.
She flinched at the sound of her mother's voice but rose to her feet knowing punishment would be worse if she dawdled. She was only glad that her mother's wrath only extended to her. She'd never lifted a hand to Henry. Trying to stop her trembles she pushed open the door staring around the black and white office and then at her mother who was sitting the middle of the room behind a large imposing mostly glass desk.
"Yes ma'am?" She asked keeping her eyes lowered.
"That woman she's still here. She's getting awfully close to my grandson."
Regina bit the inside of her lower lip wanting to curl up in a ball. She could hear the anger in her mother's voice and knew what it meant. She had scars to prove what happened when one disobeyed the mayor.
"Yes ma'am. I don't know what to do about her. I've told Henry not to speak to her anymore."
"You're weak Regina. You've always been spineless. I don't know why I even bothered getting a child for you in the first place. I should've just gotten you a dog something simpler to control for a stupid child like you."
Regina cringed at the insult, her body folding in on itself as her mother's harsh words were flung at her cutting into her as sharply as her mother's nails or whatever she might have chosen for a weapon that day. She didn't say a word though knowing it would anger her more if she dared to speak back to her. She waited wondering what would happen.
"Well? Get in here and shut the door. You should properly apologize to me for all your mistakes."
Regina squeezed her eyes closed knowing what was coming as she forced herself to move and shut the door behind her. The audible click made her want to run.
"Lock the door." Cora's cold voice commanded.
Regina hesitated only a moment before doing as she was told and trailing her fingers up to pull her suit jacket off and hang it on the coat rack by the door. She kicked her heeled shoes off as she slowly made her way to her mother's desk the hopeless feeling threatening to eat her alive.
"Hey kid." Emma greeted smiling at him as she approached him. He was sitting on a bench his little backpack resting beside him. He smiled at her when she approached. "It's beginning to get cold why are you sitting out here?"
"I'm waiting on my Mom. She was supposed to pick me up an hour ago but she still hasn't come." Henry frowned.
Emma cocked her head, "Do you think something may have happened to her?"
"I don't know. I guess I could just walk home but I don't want to in case she comes."
"How about I walk you there? And if we don't see her on our way we'll call her office and see if we can find her there. Maybe she's just working late or something?"
"She wouldn't have forgotten me." Henry's face was sad as he stood up slinging his backpack on his shoulder hitching up the straps.
"I'm not saying she did kid. I'm just saying she might have gotten caught up. I mean your grandmother runs this whole town and maybe she needed your Mom there to help." Emma pointed out even as they began to stroll down the street heading towards the mayor's mansion.
Little shops with plain curtains broke up the monotony of their journey. The town was quite drab Emma had noticed. It wasn't like Boston which was a colorful place full of people. Here when it hit 9 o'clock at night it looked like they rolled up the sidewalks. No one was out late people were in their houses not out partying or wandering the streets from the bars or movies or whatever it was people did when the sun went down.
They passed the old theatre and Emma noted it was boarded up but had signs saying it was being remodeled. She noticed how old the signs appeared and wondered just when it was being remodeled. There were a few people walking to and from different places heading to the general store which served as the town's all in one shopping center like Wal-Mart or K-mart. It stood in the center of town directly across from the beautiful brick building that made up town hall. To Emma it appeared as though all the money in the town's budget had been spent on the Town Hall and the Mayor's vast grand manor. It was a beautiful brick building with a large bubbling fountain and pretty grounds. Exactly what the mayor would want she supposed.
They continued past Town Hall heading past Gold's pawn shop, Emma couldn't help but snicker at the name figuring it was a play on words and not someone's actual name. They passed a man walking a spotted Dalmatian with an umbrella, his glasses giving him an intellectual sort of look.
"Hello Henry." He greeted and Henry waved giving him a small shy smile.
"Hi Doctor Hopper," He greeted in a quiet voice.
Emma arched a brow, she supposed now she understood the need for the square framed glasses. They watched as he walked by his dog sniffing away happily oblivious it appeared to others presence except for the interesting scents they left behind. They continued down the road until the shops gave way to houses beginning to become a more residential area. Finally they turned on the street that led directly up to the mayor's house. Though they'd remained quiet throughout their trip since there were people lingering near them now it was quiet and there were no people around most seemingly at work or doing other things.
"So how was school today?" Emma asked feeling lame at the question. She had no idea how to communicate with a child let alone her own that she'd given up ten years ago.
"It was fine. We had a spelling test today. Miss Blanchard said I did really well on it. We also had to do an experiment in science class involving prisms. It was really cool to look at the rainbows." Henry gave her a weak smile still obviously worried about his missing mother. They still hadn't seen a sign of the woman since they'd left the school grounds.
"I remember that, I always liked trying to shoot the light onto a white surface so you could really see all the colors. I was the best at it." Emma smiled at her son.
"I tried to do that but there wasn't as much light so it wasn't very bright." Henry shrugged shifting his backpack as they slowly made their way up the brick walkway towards the towering white house. He lifted the welcome mat and pulled out a small gold key unlocking the front door before putting the key right back where he found it.
"Do you want me to wait out here while you check for your Mom?" Emma asked sliding her hands into the back pockets of her tight blue jeans. Her red leather jacket shifted and bunched a bit at the shoulders with the movement.
"No, will you come in please?" Henry didn't elaborate but he had a feeling he knew what he was going to find.
Emma blinked and shrugged not realizing how perceptive her ten year old actually was. "Sure kid." She agreed following him into the large house. The door clicked shut behind them.
The house was as immaculate as the outside. Beautiful gilded mirrors hung on the walls, dark richly stained furniture dotted each room along with beautifully upholstered furniture.
"Wow." Emma muttered, "This place is crazy."
"Oh?" Henry looked back at her from half way up the staircase. "My Mom takes care of the house. She's a bit of a neat freak." Henry smiled cutely as he continued up the stairs leading Emma to his bedroom which was the third door on the right.
"This is my room." He said almost shyly. It was very tastefully done just like the rest of the house. Sky blue walls, and a dark blue comforter and matching rug were the biggest colored pieces in the room. The furniture was stained light unlike the dark woods of the rest of the house. "My Mom and I decorated it together." He said as he sat his backpack on his bed. She noticed the room was very well picked up even for a ten year old.
"Do you pick up your room or does you Mom?"
"Well Mom and I do it together. She helps me get the things I can't reach." He pointed to the high bookshelf that was stuffed with books. "We also like to read together a lot so we keep our books in here so they're out of my grandmother's way."
"Why not keep them in your Mom's room then?" Emma asked, she noticed Henry's shift and uncomfortable look and decided not to push though she didn't like what that could possibly mean given what little she'd already seen.
"Come on if my Mom is here she'll either be in the kitchen or out back. She has an apple tree that she tends to. Grandmother loves apples so she likes that my Mom takes care of it." Henry motioned for Emma to follow him back downstairs.
They walked through the beautiful foyer and equally beautiful living room and through a small door that led into a well maintained dining room. A large vase of fresh cut flowers set in the center in a beautifully done arrangement. The table top was glass with the same dark wood the owner of the home seemed to favor. A beautiful gold runner set in the middle of the glass top perfectly matched the handles on the large cabinet which held gold leaf dishes she was certain had real gold set in the fine china.
They continued through the room towards the kitchen. A large island with a stainless steel sink dominated the main part of the room and an eight burner stove top with a stainless steel hood took over the back wall along with a dual sink and a large stainless refrigerator stood nearby. Overall it was the nicest kitchen Emma had ever been in. She looked around as Henry made his way to the back door peering outside. "She's not there either."
"Well maybe she's still at work like I said." Emma pointed out.
"I'm going to go check upstairs for her one more time." Henry was frowning and Emma made to follow him but he shook his head. "It's okay Emma stay down here. She might not even be here and my grandmother doesn't like people snooping in her bedroom."
Emma's brow furrowed realizing what Henry was saying without saying it but she nodded, "Okay but if she's not up there we'll walk over to Town Hall and see if she's there."
Henry nodded agreeing as he made his way upstairs going back the way they'd come. He swallowed when he pushed open the door to his grandmother's bedroom. It was a good hint that something bad had happened if the tan skirt and black blouse his mother had worn that day weren't in the laundry hamper but instead scattered out across the floor. He picked up a black pump then the other before moving to put them up quickly. His Mom didn't need to get in any more trouble tonight. He grabbed her clothes as well throwing them in the laundry hamper just inside the closet and slowly made his way to the other door which was closed. He knocked tentatively and called through the white washed wood, "Mom?"
His mother didn't answer so he pushed the door open and stepped inside. He frowned at the sight that greeted him. His mother was curled up in the bathtub without anything on, the water was gone but it was clear she'd taken a bath. He knew she felt save the bathtub. He'd often find her there after one of his grandmother's punishments. Fresh bruises were scattered down her back and he could see on her right upper arm the blue marks of fingers that dug in too hard. He sighed not knowing what to do before he heard a soft voice.
"Jesus what happened to her?" He flipped around his eyes going wide. Emma was standing behind him looking in at his mother with a sympathetic look.
"You can't be here." He said softly. "If she finds you," He trailed off.
"Kid I don't think your Mom is conscious. I don't think she's going to notice besides how are you going to get her out of that bathtub without my help?"
"It's not her…it's my grandmother."
Emma frowned, "Does your grandmother hurt you?"
"No, she's never lifted a finger to me."
"But it's your Mom she goes after right?" Emma pressed looking at the unconscious woman curled up so tightly in the bathtub.
Henry frowned, "She just gets angry…" He started but Emma shook her head.
"There's no excuse for this mess kid. Go get me your Mom's nightgown and I'll help you get her to bed."
Henry didn't say anything hesitating before finally agreeing. Emma was right, he wouldn't be able to move his mother by himself and she did need to be helped out of the bathtub before she froze to death against the cold porcelain. He moved away from the doorway and back towards the closet rummaging around.
Meanwhile Emma stepped into the bathroom and knelt down. She was shocked at the sheer amount of bruising and scarring she was finding on this woman. The worst though came when she made a move to lift her very light body from her fetal position. The blaring blue and purple bruises on the insides of her thighs gave away the true extent of the abuse she suffered and Emma felt bile rise in her throat at the thought that a mother could do this to her own child. Henry returned as she carefully tucked a towel around her hiding the worst of her bruises and preserving a bit of her modesty in front of her son.
"Here it's not hers but it was all I could find." Emma felt sick when she thought of just why it would be that the beautiful dark haired woman didn't have a nightgown of her own. She slipped the silky material over her carefully pulling the towel out from underneath her when she was done and showing a surprising amount of tenderness carried the woman to the bedroom.
"Henry," Emma finally spoke to him as they shut the door to the bedroom. She knelt down so she was looking his eyes. "Let's just keep this between the two of us okay? I'm going to take off now before your grandmother gets home but I want you to call me if anything happens tonight. I don't care how big or small you think it might be just let me know okay?"
"But I don't have your phone number or anything." Henry protested so Emma got up going back to his room before writing her number on an empty school notebook. "This is my cell phone and my room number at Granny's. If you need me to come over here I will. Okay?"
Henry gave her a weak smile and nodded, "I knew I made the right decision to find you."
Emma shook her head, "I'm nobody special kid."
"But you are! You're here to save my mom and I." He protested and Emma gave him a weak smile.
"I'm not. I'm just trying to do what's right."