Chapter 2: Mallory
Emma's heart raced. She couldn't believe that Hook was actually standing in front of her. "Hook!" she called, a smile on her face. She raced to him and embraced him. Her eyes began to well up. "I can't believe you found us." She dug her head in the crook of his neck.
Hook allowed himself to sink into Emma's embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and gave a tight squeeze. He closed his eyes and caught a whiff of her hair. He sank deeper in her arms. He allowed himself to feel her touch for a few moments before he placed his right hand tenderly on Emma's cheek. With his thumb, he caressed her cheek before pressing his lips against hers.
Emma happily allowed herself to be in the moment with Hook. Her parents and Gold melted away. It was just the two of them.
Hook reluctantly broke the kiss he longed for, but he was anxious to get Emma and her family to safety. "What are you doing here?" He gently grabbed Emma's hand in his and hooked his hook carefully around her other hand. "It's not safe," he said gently.
"I don't care," Emma said. "I had to find you. We are going to share a heart like my parents do." She leaned in for a kiss but Hook pulled away.
"No, don't worry about me, Love. It's too late for me."
Emma looked Hook in the eyes. "Killian, what are you talking about? You're right here. Let's go home." Her voice dripped with desperation and fear.
"I'm trapped here," Hook explained. "I knew you were here when your—" He stopped for a second, worrying about what he was about to say might sound. "—tear landed on my tombstone."
"I don't understand. What's going on?"
"I told you, Dearie. Hook's soul is tethered to his tombstone."
"Aye," Hook responded. "I was able to get away to warn you to leave, but they will notice soon. They'll come after me." Hook was beginning to get anxious. He wanted Emma out of harm's way. "We need to get you out of here." He reached for her to escort her back home.
Emma stood back, dodging Hook's reach. "No," she said matter of factly, boring her eyes into his. "I came here to save you. Let me save you," she pleaded. "Tell me how to find you. Tell me how to save you."
Hook gave Emma an apologetic look. "I love you," he offered in a low voice. He stopped. He placed his right hand on the back of Emma's head and pulled her towards him for a deep, passionate kiss.
"What's wrong?" Emma asked, her face twisted in concern.
Hook pointed his eyes upwards and winced. "I have to go. They noticed I'm gone." He placed his hand on Emma's cheek. "I'm okay," he offered. "Please go home. I don't want you to get hurt." Then as suddenly as he appeared, he disappeared in cloud of black smoke.
Emma turned around to face her parents and Gold. She wanted to see their reaction but theirs was just as blank as her own. She gave a heavy sigh. "Give me a minute," she said. She held her hand out to stop them from following her. She turned around and disappeared around the corner of a building. She propped herself against the building with her knees in her hand and took a few deep breaths. She needed to collect herself before she figured out her next move. She focused her eyes downward until something bright caught the corner of her eye.
A ball of what looked like dark purple light slowly floated towards Emma. It was fizzing like a simmering pot of water and glowed brighter than any artificial light. It was silent and hovered at eye level with Emma.
Emma straightened herself up to get a better look at the orb, her eyes wide. She reached out to touch it but it reacted. The orb suddenly zipped backwards. Then it started to change form. The tight ball became a wispy cloud of smoke that began to stalk Emma. She stepped back in fear and quickly brought her hand up to use her magic to stop it, but her magic had no effect on it. "Mom. Dad," she called without taking her eyes off it. She stopped backing up and simply observed the cloud. It began to emanate a soft buzzing sound and stopped just inches from Emma's face. Then it appeared as if the cloud started to rest as it sank low to the ground. Emma relaxed. She began to turn around but was quickly stopped when the buzzing sound began to grow louder. The cloud collected into a tight cylinder before it zipped through the air and directly up Emma's eyes, nose, and mouth. Emma gasped as she was unable to move. Suddenly her eyes turned dark purple, a grimacing grin crept across her face.
Emma was no longer there or conscious.
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"Emma, are you okay?" David asked. He held his daughter up as she stood to her feet, concern plastered on his face.
Mary Margaret stood inches away. Her face carried the same expression as her husband's. "What happened?"
Mallory ignored the strangers in front of her. Instead she stared at her new body in excitement. It worked! Her spirit successfully took over Emma's body. She stared at her new hands with wide eyes which twinkled in delight. She moved her wrists back and forth as if it was a confirmation of her new state of existence.
"Emma!" Mary Margaret said loudly to gather her daughter's attention. "You called for us and we found you passed out. Now, what happened?" she repeated forcefully.
Mallory snapped to attention. It took her a few moments to realize that the man and woman before her was addressing her. Whoever these people are really love this Emma woman. If she wants to get what she wants, she needs to play along for now. She stared at the strangers. "Yeah," she said sweetly. "I'm fine." She stopped but realized that answer wasn't good enough because their eyes bore into hers. "I haven't eaten in awhile," she offered with a small laugh. It wasn't a lie. Mallory couldn't remember the last time she ate. In fact, she couldn't even remember how long she's been in the Underworld.
"Hook was right," David said. "We need to get you out of here. It's too dangerous."
Mallory smiled. "Let's go," she quipped, her eyebrows raised. The looks she got from the threesome in front of her made her realize that that was the wrong answer.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Mary Margaret questioned. "You're acting strange."
Mallory nodded. "Of course," she said. "Now what we were doing?"
"Finding Hook," Gold commented slowly.
Mallory had no idea who Hook was but she sensed he was important to Emma. Play it cool, she kept reminding herself. "Right, duh. Let's go," she said but she didn't move. Instead she pointed gesturing for somebody else to take the lead.
David and Mary Margaret looked back at Gold, confused.
"What happened?"
"I have no idea," Gold admitted. "I suspect it has something to do with touching the tombstone. She disrupted things even more than first anticipated."
Mallory rolled her eyes. "Nothing happened," she said, her voice full of annoyance. She flashed Gold a dirty look for opening his mouth. "I told you. I just need to take better care of myself. I mean I've just been so focused on finding Hook." She sensed whoever Hook was, he was important to Emma.
Silence filled the air until David spoke. "Look, let's go find Regina and Robin. The faster we find him, the faster we can get out of here."
Mallory perked up. She didn't know who Hook was but the sooner they find him, the sooner she can go back to the earthly world.
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Emma awoke dazed and confused. She felt different. She felt smothered like somebody heavy was on top of her, but nobody was around her. She tried to move but couldn't. Then she remembered the strange orb/cloud. What happened? she thought. She couldn't wrap her mind around anything. It wasn't until her body started to move without her conscious control that terror gripped her. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. She could see her father pick her up off the concrete with her mother by her side. She could see Gold off in the distance, staring at the scene before him with a small smile on his face. She could see what was happening around her, but couldn't feel anything. She didn't have control of her body or speech.
Emma heard her dad ask her if she was okay. She tried to shout out that she wasn't but she was stifled. She began to panic. Whatever happened to her must have had something to do with the ball of light she encountered. But what? She had trouble thinking. She felt suffocated. Her mind was in a panic and with no ability to even control her own body, the panic she felt was unbearable.
"What happened?" There was a pause. "Emma! You called for us and we found you passed out. Now, what happened?" her mother asked her.
Again Emma tried to yell, to shout, to move. But she couldn't. Then her body began to speak to her parents. "Yeah, I'm fine." She knew it was her voice from her mouth from her body, but it wasn't her. She did not say those words. Those words were a lie.
"I haven't eaten in awhile."
Emma stopped. She tried to calm herself down. She needed to regain her focus so that she would figure something out to let her parents know that she was possessed.
"Hook was right. We need to get you out of here."
No! Emma tried to shout. We can't leave.
"Let's go."
That wasn't the type of response that would come from her mouth. Surely her parents would figure out that something is wrong.
"Are you sure you're okay? You're acting strange."
Emma felt relief when she heard her mom ask the imposture in her body that. She knows something is wrong.
"Of course. Now what were we doing?"
"Finding Hook."
"Right, duh. Let's go."
Emma was trapped. She was a prisoner in her own body. She had come here to save Hook. Now it looks like she needs the saving.
"What happened?"
Emma felt helpless. There was nothing she could do. Nothing at all. And as the seconds ticked by, her hope that her parents or Gold would fully grasp the situation faded.
"I have no idea. I suspect it has something to do with touching the tombstone. She disrupted things even more than first anticipated."
Emma tried to take in a deep breath, but clearly that didn't work.
"Nothing happened. I told you. I just need to take better care of myself. I mean I've just been so focused on finding Hook."
Emma imagined being in Hook's arms with Henry by her side, safe from everything.
"Look, let's go find Regina and Robin. The faster we find him, the faster we can get out of here."
It worked. The panic was subsiding. She could finally focus her thoughts and concentrate, and when she was able to do this, she heard it. She heard somebody talking to her, but upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't somebody talking to her. It was somebody thinking…?
It dawned on her. She could hear the spirit who possessed her body. She could just barely make out her thoughts. If she could hear the spirit, can the spirit hear her?
Emma didn't exactly know how to gain the spirit's attention. It's not like she could scream or even move to gain her attention. She was just a being rattling around in her own body. The only thing she could actually do was think.
Hello! Emma thought. What's going on? Nothing so she tried again. Hello, who are you?
SHUT UP!
Emma was startled. The spirit sounded evil and almost cruel.
Nobody will ever know you're gone, Emma. Don't bother fighting it. You'll soon be gone, the spirit spat.
