Hi guys, I know I originally posted this for Spooky OQ last year, but I never actually got around to posting the rest of it.
And so here is chapter 2, which includes prompt 'trapped'.
Please ignore any errors: I was very tired when I read this over.
I hope y'all like it.
...
It takes them a long time before they truly start to move around again, and all the while they're keeping a lookout for the eerie, purple glow. Robin had moved to look outside, the natural light had started to fade and so he'd pushed the sheer netting aside in an attempt to brighten the room as much as he could.
"Who do you think she is?" Robin asks from his position staring at the grey clouds and skeletal trees.
Regina doesn't even look up from where she's hitting her flashlight against the palm of her hand in an attempt to get it working again. "There are many ghosts said to haunt this place, could be any of them."
"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts."
"I didn't," Regina responds, unscrewing the bottom and blowing into where the batteries were in case there was any dust blocking the electrical circuit. "But when one decides to scream and chase you around a house, it can change your perception on things."
She looks back down at her flashlight - which still refuses to work regardless of how many times she presses the button at the base - and gives up. "Well, this is useless now."
Putting it back in her coat pocket, Regina walks over to peer out of the window with Robin.
"Is there anything outside?" She asks him.
"Not a lot: overgrown grass, a few trees, a couple of statues…" he lists.
Her eyes catch sight of an apple tree that's still standing. The fruit has long since rotted; with nobody tending to the tree it didn't have a hope. Something tells Regina that nothing living has come out of this house in many many months, and it's sad really; this could be such a beautiful home. If there was someone who lived here and took care of the place it could be magnificent. But it's just falling into a state of disrepair; the colours in the walls and floors have faded, the furniture is covered in dust, there are freaking ghosts haunting the place…
Her thoughts are interrupted by a thud and a yelp, and when she turns around she barely has time to react before Robin is tumbling into her.
She catches him - just - and after she's asked 'are you alright?' she looks behind him at what tripped him up.
There's a floorboard that's been broken, half of it has fallen underneath the other panels, but the other half has tilted upwards, creating an obstacle a few inches high that Robin must have caught his foot on. Though she's sure it wasn't like that before...
"I'm alright," he answers, and Regina straightens to look at him.
She finds herself musing on thoughts that have no business running through her mind again. He's not unattractive, she'll give him that - quite the opposite actually. His hair falls in a way that she wants to run her hand through it, his collar is creased in a way that she wants to smooth out, his smile is lopsided and adorable and she just wants to press her lips to his to see if…
No. She's been through this; this is not some fairytale romance and she is not falling for a guy she met in a haunted house. But he smells of petrichor and pinecones, and Regina fights not to lean into him further.
There's the sound of crackling behind them, and they both look to catch sight of an old gramophone in the corner next to the bookshelves. They listen to the introductory melody, and then there's the unmistakable sound of Barbra Streisand's voice floating through the air.
What are you doing the rest of your life?
North and South and East and West of your life,
I have only one request of your life:
That you spend it all with me.
They both pause, listening to a record neither of them have heard in years, before simultaneously commenting; "I used to love this song."
Their eyes meet, and something passes between them; yet another addition to their odd connection. It's then that they realise their closeness; they haven't moved since Robin had fallen into her, her hand is still gripping the front of his shirt, and from this distance Regina can count the shades of blue in his eyes.
I want to see your face in every kind of light,
In fields of gold and forests of the night,
Regina doesn't listen to the rest of the verse, she dips her gaze and steps back. But then the music stops.
"Aww," Robin pouts, before continuing to sing the lines under his breath.
Regina ducks her head and smiles. He's got a good voice on him, a raspy, accented style that somehow makes her feel comforted.
He's singing about 'those tomorrows waiting deep in your eyes' and 'a world of love you keep in your eyes', but it's the line 'I'll awaken what's asleep in your eyes, it may take a kiss or two' which makes Regina swallow and start walking to the bookcase the other side of the library. Not enjoying the way her mind is turning her into an embarrassingly lovesick teenager, Regina considers leaving and exploring the rest of the house on her own to stop these persistent, nonsensical, hopelessly romantic musings about a man she has only just met.
But any plans about her going this alone are scrapped when the lock on the door clicks. A sense of foreboding settles in Regina's stomach as she reaches out to the handle, testing it, and not being at all surprised when it doesn't budge.
"We're trapped."
Robin turns to her, frowning "What?"
In answer, she just makes a show of trying to open the door.
"Right, Okay," Robin nods his head as if to say 'of course the door is locked'. "Let's just hope that the scary ghost lady doesn't take advantage of that."
Regina's stomach drops. "You had to remind me of her?"
"Well it's good to plan for every eventuality, for instance, if she gets in here, we can just break the window and-"
"Oh, 'just break the window'?" She mocks. "We're on the second floor, Robin!"
"There's some vines up the side of the wall, should be sturdy enough for us to climb down."
"And what if they're not? Have you thought about that?" Regina asks, crossing her arms over her chest.
Robin smirks. "I have."
"And?"
"And we'll fall to the ground and probably have a few broken bones," he quips. "See? I've thought about it."
"Urgh, you're insufferable!"
A smirk tugs at the corner of Robin's lips, and he pauses before declaring. "You like me really."
"What makes you think you know me so well?"
"I'm pretty sure you would have knocked me out by now if you didn't, so…"
"True," she admits. "But there's still time."
Robin gasps, putting a hand to his chest in a melodramatic fashion. "Ouch…"
Regina pauses, before ducking her head and chuckling. To say that she's in a haunted house, trapped in a room with a stranger whilst a scary ghost runs and screams at them, she's uncharacteristically content.
When she raises her gaze again, she catches a glimpse of Robin without his bravado face on, and somehow it tugs at her, has her stepping forwards and asking: "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm just…" he shakes his head, huffing out a sigh. "This is really real, isn't it? This house is haunted."
"Unless this is all an elaborate set up, then yes…"
"Well, how about we try and find something in here that could help us to escape?" "Something has to be triggering these things; the doors could have locked at any time, so why now?"
"You said the house has never been this active before,"
"I did,"
"Could it be us?" "The house doesn't like us so it's trying to scare us away?"
"Possibly…"
There's the sound of a scream that sounds throughout the house, and both Robin and Regina stare at each other in silence as they try and work out what's happening.
"Is she-"
"No, that wasn't from outside the door," Robin says, completing her question before she'd even spoke half of it. "Though, I guess-"
"If she's a ghost she could travel through walls."
"Exactly my thoughts," Robin agreed. "So perhaps we shouldn't let our guard down too much."
It's unshakable; something about them being together feels familiar. It's as if she already knows him, as if her soul has already connected to his.
"Do you think…?" Regin starts, then trailing off as she tries to put words to this inexplicable feeling inside her.
"Frequently." At his quip, Regina glares at him until he tilts his head in apology, muttering; "I'm sorry, go on."
Though she still can't find the words, and so she shakes her head and sighs. "Forget it."
"No, go on…" Robin encourages, but Regina simply shakes her head again, and turns away to the drawer cabinet behind her.
She doesn't know what she's doing anymore, she's letting herself get caught up, be someone completely different to the cynical woman she's become. But there's something about this man that brings it out of her, makes her feel lighter, happier, and she feels as if the more time she spends with him, the stronger these emotions will become.
Her -overly sappy- thoughts are interrupted by something light tapping at her shoulder. She pauses, thinking perhaps she had just imagined it, but then she feels the tap again. This time she turns her head, trying to peer over her shoulder at whatever is hitting her. But there's nothing there.
Though now, she feels the tap on her opposite shoulder, and she huffs, coming to one conclusion. "Knock it off, Robin."
"Knock what off?" he asks, and that's not right; he sounds too far away.
Sure enough, she turns, and he's the opposite side of the room. Nowhere near close enough to reach her.
"Huh…"
She looks around, trying to find anything that could be brushing against her, but she sees nothing above her. It's when her gaze drops to the floor that she starts to understand what's just happened.
Crouching, she scoops up the small seeds on the floor, bringing them up and using the faint light from the window to inspect them.
"They're apple pips."
"What?" Robin asks, starting to walk over to her.
"Someone's throwing apple pips at me."
She expects some kind of sympathy or a 'that's not nice' from him, but instead he smiles and comments: "Oh, I love apples."
"Well you have them then."
She only means to throw them at his chest so he can fumble to catch them, but he's not as close as she thinks, and so they end up a bit higher than expected. Namely; behind his collar and down the front of his shirt.
"Not funny, Regina," he grumbles, pulling out his shirt and shaking it to try and get rid of all the seeds.
She can't help the giggle that bubbles out of her, watching as this man jumps and wiggles as pips clatter to the floor. He stops moving then, a smile appearing on his lips for a second, and Regina wonders what has him all suddenly cheery. "What?"
"It's nothing," Robin ducks his head, goes back to shaking out his shirt.
"No, go on. What?"
"It's just…" he pauses, obviously debating whether to voice his thoughts. Though he soon decides to go ahead anyway, telling her: "you have a beautiful laugh."
Regina can't help the smile that tugs on her lips, hoping there's not enough light for him to see the blush dusting her cheeks.
"I throw seeds at you and you compliment me," she comments. "This is a weird relationship."
A smirk grows on Robin's face. "'Relationship'?"
"You know what I mean," she dismisses, waving him off, not knowing herself what she means.
"Do I?"
Robin steps forward, and Regina wonders if he's going to try and kiss her again. She's half wishing that he does, but half hoping that he doesn't. His fingers brush against the back of her hand, and Regina bites her lip whilst deciding what she wants to do. Her head is a jumbled mess right now; whenever Robin's this close to her it's as if everything else doesn't even matter. It's intoxicating, the pull he has on her, and Regina wonders if he's doing this because he's feeling the same inexplicable magnetism she is.
"Can I ask you something?" He inquires with a tilt on his head.
It's a question that has always filled Regina with anxiety - her mind always assuming the worst - and it's enough to momentarily bring her out of this daze. "What?"
He shifts and brings his left hand up, holding a handheld mirror between them.
"Will you look in this?"
Regina glances at the ornate metal frame, and back to Robin. "A mirror?"
"Yeah: look in it."
Regina scoffs. "No thank you."
"Why not?"
"We're basically living in a horror movie," she explains. "Do you know what happens when people look in mirrors in horror movies, Robin?"
"Regina…"
"Something appears behind them." She folds her arms and lifts her chin in defiance: "so no, I'm not looking in the mirror."
"Shall I look in it with you?"
"Well then if anything's behind us we won't see it, will we?"
"What about with our backs against the wall?"
"Why do you want me to look in the mirror so bad?"
Robin pauses, halting their verbal sparring and admitting: "I want to know if you see what I see."
"What's that?"
If he delivers some corny line where he calls her a flower or some other soppy shit then she's leaving.
"Trust me, and look."
She knows she shouldn't, but the part of herself that wants to trust him is so overpowering she finds herself reaching out and grasping the handle of the mirror anyway. She holds it up and looks - like he'd asked - at her reflection.
It seems normal; she sees the same face she sees in every mirror. It doesn't appear to be anything special.
Only, then her reflection fades; her face breaks into tiny pieces and they swirl in the glass until the come together in the centre, forming a three-dimensional shape that Regina can only describe as something resembling a lion. When it takes completed form it prances around, then rears onto its hind legs with a roar. Regina looks up at Robin, about to ask him what the hell this is, but he's not even reacting; he seems completely oblivious to her vision.
When he notices her eyes on him he tilts his head and asks; "what did you see?"
She looks back down to find that the lion is gone: it's just her reflection again.
There are some things that will sound too crazy to believe - even in this house - and seeing a lion prancing around inside a mirror is one of them. "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"It's a mirror, I saw my reflection, what else were you expecting?" She shoves the metal frame into Robin's chest and walks away from him, muttering, "god, this house makes me feel crazy…"
"Join the club," she hears from behind her, and perhaps she shouldn't have got so snappy with him; he's in the same psychologically testing house as she is.
She turns, ready to say something slightly apologetic, when her eyes catches sight of a familiar statue on a desk against the far wall.
A sad smile appears on her lips as she walks over to it. Her and Daniel used to have a statue that looked incredibly similar to this one, a black, mounted greyhound that he bought when they went on a date to the coast and stumbled across a quaint antique store. Her fingers reach out and trail over the marble stand, much like they do with the one at her apartment, and she can't resist the urge to pick it up from its place on the window sill.
A piece of paper flutters down, swaying from side to side on its way to the floor, and Regina's eyes follow it until it lands at her feet.
After putting the statue back she bends and picks it up, straightening back up again before she reads what's written, but when her eyes trail over the two words her entire world drops from underneath her. This isn't real, it couldn't be, and Regina's mind only comes up with one other explanation - the only one she'd accept right now.
She rounds on Robin: "Is this a joke?"
He looks up from the book he's pulled from the shelf, wearing a confused frown that Regina can't allow herself to find cute. "Is what a joke?"
"This." She holds up the paper between them, searching Robin's eyes for any recognition he shows - but she sees none.
"What's that?"
"Like you don't know…" she scoffs, feeling her ire course through her veins. "Is this what you do? Go around setting homes up and tricking people? It's sick."
Robin puts the book back, slowly stepping towards her with open palms held out in front of him in surrender. "Regina, I have no idea what's going on."
"Of course you don't; you're just an innocent guy who breaks into strangers' homes..."
"Regina-"
"What's your endgame, huh?" she demands. "You got cameras rigged up ready to post it all online?"
"Put what-?"
She doesn't let him finish, refuses to even listen to him, continuing her tirade: "why don't you title it: 'Look at the naive little girl making a fool of herself'?"
"Regina, listen to me!" Robin insists, reaching out to tentatively place his hands on her shoulders. "I have no idea what's happened, but I promise you, whatever has you upset is nothing to do with me."
"Liar." She pushes his arms away, not allowing herself to get caught up in him like part of her wants to. "You're planting things."
He huffs, obviously. "Regina I'm not-"
"Yes you are!" She shouts. "You have to be."
"Why?" He shouts back, throwing his arms up in the air in exasperation.
"Because if… If you're not then…" Her words get stuck in her throat, and she deflates. The anger that had been rising within her is replaced with fear and doubt, and she has the urge to run away and try to forget this entire day ever happened.
But Robin steps closer and tentatively reaches out again, and this time she lets him place his hands on her arms. "Then what?"
Regina looks back down at the card, at Daniel's last words to her in his scrawny penmanship, and even though she doesn't want to let herself hope, she knows deep down what this means.
"Everything I thought I knew is just… wrong."
Feeling her knees become unsteady, Regina takes a few slow paces to the chair in the corner behind her and sits down, her hands gripping the wooden edges of the armrest in an attempt to ground herself.
It takes a few moments for her to feel somewhat steadier, but when she does, she brings the paper in front of her again, her fingertips travelling over the bevelling of the pen's journey.
"What is it?" Robin gently asks, and suddenly she feels bad for lashing out against him.
She was scared - still is - and she could easily accept that she had been set up; it certainly wouldn't be the first time. But he had seemed so genuinely confused and oblivious to what she had been accusing him of that she found herself believing him.
She doesn't do apologies - the most she tends to give is either a slight smile or a small gift of some sort - but Robin deserves the truth, deserves to know what has her so shellshocked.
And so Regina pauses, and takes a deep breath before starting to explain: "When I was eighteen I was madly in love with this guy, we were going to run away and start a new life together. We didn't even know where, but he always said it didn't matter as long as he had me with him."
In Regina's peripheral vision, she sees Robin kneel down in front of her. Her eyes raise to meet his. "We did it; we left and travelled to a new city. But once I had a taste of what my life could be like, of how happy I could be… He died."
"Regina…" Robin breathes. "I'm so sorry."
"There was a bar fight, these two guys were arguing over a girl. He tried to break it up, but it got out of hand; one of the guys pulled a knife and… and Daniel got stabbed." Regina closes the eyes at the memory, trying to block out the sound of his body collapsing to the floor, and the crimson puddle that stained the hardwood around him. "He made it to the hospital, but he died that evening."
"Regina…"
Her fingers tap the edge of the paper in her hand, "these are the last words he ever said to me. But I've never told anyone about them, that's why I'm so…"
"Shocked?"
"That's one word to describe it... I don't understand how these words could be here, unless-" Regina's words falter; saying it out loud would make it real. Too real. But that's what's happening isn't it? There's no other explanation for this, no other reason for those words to be on that paper near to that statue. This is real; "Daniel put them there."
Waves of emotions run through her, confusion, excitement, relief, sadness… She looks away and lets out a deep breath, but then she feels Robin place a hand on her knee
"Are you okay?"
Regina lets out a wry scoff. Of course she isn't; her whole understanding of the world has been turned upside down. "All this time, and I've always believed he was just… gone. That once someone dies that's it," she explains. "It never occurred to me that he might still be out there somewhere."
"You shouldn't feel guilty."
Regina's eyes meet Robin's, how the hell does he know her so well? The guilt has only just started to creep in and Robin has just dispelled it without qualm.
"Shouldn't I?" She asks. "I've never tried to find him, never tried to communicate with him…"
"You weren't to know, Regina," Robin assures her, and the gestures towards the paper in her hand. "And from the looks of it, he doesn't hold it against you."
"Daniel didn't hold anything against me," she admits, thinking back to their conversations about her mother and her upbringing and all the things she despised about herself, and how Daniel would simply say 'I still adore you' to try and make her happy again. "It's one of the many reasons I loved him."
Robin's lips turn upwards in a small smile, then he inclines his head and asks; "what does it say?"
Regina brings the torn paper up into her eyesight again, reading the words as she hears Daniel's voice in her head.
Love again.
She lowers the card once more, and Robin comes into focus.
Love again.
Perhaps she could love again… It was something she vowed not to do, it hadn't even been a possibility for her. And yet...
She knows it sounds crazy, bordering on insanity, but there's been too much going on, too many coincidences between her and the man in front of her for her to leave and never see him again. Perhaps they were something, perhaps they weren't, but she'd never know if she didn't try.
And so she answers his question, with a slight touch of hope in her voice. "Love again."
Robin's eyes meet hers, and she can see his adam's apple bob as he swallows. "And will you?"
Regina pauses, picturing herself in a relationship, and finally being free of the guilt she's always felt before. "I think I'm ready to."
Robin smiles. "Good."
"Daniel knew I'd hold onto him - I'm not good at dealing with loss, he'd seen that - but the only thing he wanted was for me to be happy," she told Robin, hesitating before laying her fingertips over the back of his hand. "...To have a second chance."
Robin turns his palm upwards, turns his wrist until he can hold her hand. "A second chance sounds good to me."
Regina smiles, feeling a strong pull to kiss him, something about this man and second chances feels right. She bites her lip, takes in a deep breath and prepares to lean forwards…
But Robin seems to have other ideas; his head dips and he starts talking.
"My wife loved horses, completely adored them. She'd spend all her time at the local farm volunteering doing anything to see them…"
Regina's head spins, he was married? She loved Daniel, truly she did, but they were never married, never had their bond officialised. It was tough losing him when they only talked about a future together, god knows how she would have coped if they had vowed a lifetime in each other's company.
Her fingers wrap tighter around Robin's, attempting to provide some semblance of comfort but also encouraging him to talk more. She wants to know about what kind of woman would steal his heart.
"It's how we met; I stole her horse."
Regina frowns, a confused smile appearing on her face. "You stole her horse?"
"Technically."
"How do you technically steal a horse?"
"It was Marian's favourite, she'd take him out of the stables and ride him everywhere. But one day I had decided to go riding and had borrowed him for a time. She was livid." He chuckles, his eyes having that faraway look of someone reminiscing. "She said - and I quote - 'if you take Rocinante out of his stable again I will cover you in horse shit'..."
Regina pauses, blinking. "Wait. Rocinante?"
"Yeah. All the animals were named after literary versions of themselves, Rocinante's from-"
"Don Quixote."
Regina can't help but smile at Robin's confused frown, and it seems he needs a moment to form words. "Yeah… How did you…?"
"Do you want to have a guess at what I called my horse?"
"You had a horse?" Robin asks, his eyes growing wide as his voice raises incredulously.
"Yes," Regina nods. "It's how Daniel and I met."
"A real horse?"
"I come from a rich background," she dismisses. "But you're missing my point."
"You named your horse Rocinante," Robin summarises. "Was he grey?"
"No, he was brown, with a white stripe," Regina answers, bringing a hand in front of her face and gesturing to her nose.
"Not the same horse then…" Robin muses.
"I think that would be a coincidence too far, wouldn't you say?"
"Quite."
There's a pause where they both focus on their fingers drawing patterns on the other's hand. "She's why I do this, y'know?" Robin continues.
"The ghost hunting?"
"Yeah; it's not because of science, not because of pride," he explains. "It's because of hope. Because one day, I hope to know if she's alright, or if she's even out there."
Regina holds his hand tighter, getting and holding his attention. "Robin, if my Daniel is still out there, watching over me, then I'm sure your Marian is too."
His eyes raise to her, and there's a spark of vulnerability in his voice when he tentatively asks: "You think?"
"Have you not seen anything from her here?" Regina asks, recalling things that reminded her of Daniel being scattered around the house. "Is there nothing that reminds you of her?"
"Well yes, but…"
When Robin stops, Regina prompts: "But what?"
He presses his lips together and asks: "You know that mirror I showed you?"
Regina eyes him warily, wondering if perhaps he saw a lion too. It would certainly make her feel less insane. "Yeah…"
"I saw…" He pauses again, but before Regina can ask him to continue he carries on, "it sounds crazy, but I saw a horse."
"A horse?"
That wasn't a Lion.
"I know." He holds his hands up as if to say 'I know it's insane'. "At the time I thought it was a sign from Marian, I thought she was reaching out to me. But now, after our whole connection with horses and loved ones and Rocinantes, perhaps it could just be a sign, y'know? Telling me that I'm where I need to be."
Regina looks back down at the paper in her hand, wondering why of all the messages Daniel could have chosen, he had told her to love again. "Why couldn't it be both?"
"Perhaps." Robin nods, his eyes momentarily becoming unfocused as he thinks things over. "But it didn't work for you?"
Regina pauses and shifts in her seat, diverting her eyes and mumbling: "I lied…"
"What?"
"I said I didn't see anything, but I lied," she confesses. When she sees Robin's judgemental gaze she tries to defend herself: "How was I supposed to know that you saw weird crap too? I thought I was going insane."
"Well… what did you see?"
She hesitates when responding; "does a lion mean anything to you?"
Robin laughs; "a lion?"
Regina takes it to mean 'no', that the stupid mirror has made a fool out of her, but then he stands and shrugs off his coat.
"Robin, it's freezing in this house, what are you doing?"
When he starts unbuttoning the cuff on his sleeve, Regina's mind starts taking her elsewhere. Now isn't the best time for them to act on whatever connection they have but if he wants to make a move on her, she's not going to stop him. Not anymore.
"You could say lions mean something to me," Robin says, drawing Regina out of her internal rambling.
She looks at where he's pulled his sleeve up, showing her his right forearm, and there's actually a lion tattooed onto his skin in a coat of arms. Okay, so the lion in the mirror was definitely a connection to Robin then.
"Why do you have that?" Regina asks, resisting the urge to trace her fingers over the black ink.
"Ah, that's a story for another time, I'm afraid," he responds, fastening his cuff and picking up his coat. Regina's almost disappointed.
Though any disappointment dissipates at the sound of a click, the same click which signified the door locking earlier.
"Was that..?"
She watches as Robin paces to the door, pushing the handle and grinning when it depresses. Though now this means they have the rest of the house to explore, and as Regina purses her lips, she decides what they should do now.
"So…Where are we heading to next then?" Robin asks, wondering the same thing. Though before Regina can open her mouth to even offer a suggestion, Robin's continuing: "I was thinking the attic."
"The attic?" Regina repeated. "Didn't you say that's where all the ghosts would be?"
"Well I'm missing the Little Miss Ray-of-Sunshine that seems to be chasing us, so I thought I might try and find her," he quips. "Plus I have a feeling it may be the best place to find out what's going on here. Don't you feel that too?"
With a wry twist of her lips, Regina has to admit she feels a pull to the attic too - though the thought of having more encounters with the beings intent on giving her a heart attack isn't something she wants to pursue.
"Are you coming?" Robin asks, holding out a hand to her, and when her eyes meet his, there's something so incredibly inviting in them.
And so she places her palm in his and lets him pull her to her feet. He alters their hold, lacing her fingers with his, and somehow she feels comforted, knowing that whatever they may bump into, they'll deal with it together.
