I know I said another update won't be far away but I've just been swamped with real life. I can not express how sorry I am that I've kept you waiting (so long that I didn't even remember the story and had to reread). I can't promise regular updates because I'm heading into my final months of school. Thanks so much for your follows/favourites/reviews, they mean the world to me, and thank you all for bearing with me!
Charming smiled to himself as he straightened up Emma's desk at the station. She was as disorganized as he was and he was sure he was only making the mess worse, but he hoped Emma would appreciate the effort.
He was about to give up and head back to the apartment, where he was sure Emma would have recovered from her earlier embarrassment, when the phone rang.
"Hello, sheriff's station, David Nolan speaking."
"Hello?" A voice on the other end whispered shakily. Charming tensed – it was a child talking.
"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.
There was a long pause before the child whispered, "Yes."
Charming could hear that it was a girl, and she was clearly distressed.
"What's wrong?" He questioned gently.
"Please… you have to help. I think… he'll hear us."
"Where are you?" He asked as calmly as he could manage.
"We're –" There was a clatter, and Charming was left listening to the dial tone.
He quickly hung up and rung Emma.
"I need your help," he said without preamble, "I got a call from a young girl who sounded scared. She said she couldn't talk because 'he' would hear. I think there were other people with her, she kept saying 'us' and 'we', but the phone cut out. I need you to help me find her – she could be anywhere."
"David," he heard Emma start to say, and he instantly heard the fear in her tone. Maybe he shouldn't make her leave the house so soon after the encounter with Reece. What if it was him, terrorizing this little girl, and it brought back memories?
"If you don't feel up to it, don't worry," he said quickly.
"No, David it's –" Emma began urgently.
"Seriously, I understand," he interrupted.
"David, listen to me!" Charming was shocked at the sheer desperation in her voice. "Where would a little girl be in the middle of the day on a Tuesday? A place with other people. People like Henry and Mary Margaret?"
Charming's stomach dropped, and he very nearly let the phone slip from his hand. "The school," he whispered in horror.
"We'll meet you there."
x
"Emma you can't go charging in there by yourself, what if there's nothing wrong?"
Emma glared at Nicko, who was holding her arm and preventing her from storming into the school.
"What if there is something wrong? My son is in there! Not to mention my m – uh, Mary Margaret!"
"Yeah and a great deal of help you'll be to them if you're hurt! Just wait for David, alright?"
"Alright!" she said, wrenching her arm away. She tapped her foot impatiently and began pacing until she saw David pull up in the cruiser.
He ran over to meet them, and together they entered the school.
It was eerily quiet. Instinctively Emma and David drew their guns. Nicko shifted uncomfortably at the thought of being unarmed and David noticed.
"There's a spare shotgun in the car," he said in a whisper.
Nicko nodded gratefully. "I'll check out the carparks and make sure there's no one hanging around."
"Be careful!" Emma hissed as he slipped away.
With a nod to David she began to creep forward. All the doors where closed, and all lights off. Cautiously David opened one of the classroom doors and they stepped inside. It was deserted, the curtains were closed so that it was almost completely dark. They slipped back into the corridor and checked the next room, which was the same. After discovering the third room in an identical state David let out an exasperated sigh. He turned to Emma, who was by the door, but she held a finger to her lips. She pointed to one of the curtains, which had moved slightly.
Raising their weapons they advanced silently and flanked the curtains. As they drew closer Emma heard a sharp intake of breath and ripped the curtain back, gun raised, to reveal two small boys huddled together.
"Don't hurt us!" One of them cried immediately, shielding his face.
"Whoa, there," David said calmly, striding forward. "No one's going to hurt you, we're the police. We're here to help."
"Oh, thank goodness," said a woman's voice behind them. They swung around to see a worried young teacher hovering near the desk. "Can you tell us what's going on please, your majesty? We heard gunshots…"
Emma started as she realised the whole classroom was coming to life. Children were climbing out from under desks, inside cupboards, behind a box of dress-up clothes. Everywhere small enough to hold a child, it seemed. How had she not noticed them? Even in the dark...
"It's procedure," the young teacher explained at their perplexed looks. "We go into 'lockdown'; the lights are turned off, curtains shut, and everyone finds a place they can't be seen."
"Right… You said you heard gunshots?" Emma asked.
"Yes, about ten minutes ago."
"Ten minutes?!" David said sharply. He shared a look with Emma. Ten minutes was a dangerously short amount of time. The gunman could still be in the school.
"Okay everybody," David said in a whisper, "I need you to go back to your hiding spots and be perfectly quiet again."
Without hesitation the children obeyed.
"We'll let you know when it's all clear," he informed the teacher, who was sliding back behind her desk with three of the children.
They left without another word, closing the door behind them. Instead of walking into each classroom now they simply checked the windows to see if there was any movement. They both grew increasingly anxious as they drew nearer to Mary Margaret's classroom, but neither of them spoke.
Footsteps clattered along the corridor behind them and they both turned with weapons raised.
"Hey!" Nicko put his hands up. "It's just me."
"What did you find?"
He looked at them grimly. "Reece. Driving away from the school. I tried to follow but I lost sight of him after a minute."
"Go into all the classrooms behind you and announce you're with the police. Find the teachers and let them know that it's safe to come out, everyone will be hidden. Get the kids to evacuate to the front of the school and call their parents."
Nicko gave a curt nod and headed into the nearest class while David and Emma immediately sprinted to Mary Margaret and Henry's room. Opening the door David called, "Everything's okay, you can all come out."
For a few tense moments nothing happened, but then children started pouring out towards them as they recognized Emma and David.
"Alright kids, stay calm," David said, having to raise his voice as the children began talking to each other, some of them, Emma noticed, in tears. Where was Henry? Emma was sure he would've kept his head and would be comforting the other students by now. So why couldn't she see him?
"Where's Miss Blanchard?"
At David's question the class instantly turned silent. Emma's stomach dropped to the floor, and she shared a horrified look with David.
"Is there… is anyone else missing?" He asked carefully, but Emma could see he already knew. Knew it the moment he begin speaking and there was no cry of 'gramps!' to greet him.
One girl stepped forward and bit her lip nervously. "Just –just Henry Mills, sir."
Emma closed her eyes and leant back against the wall. How could she have been so stupid? Of course he would take them.
She heard David struggle to take a breath before responding, "Can someone tell me what happened?"
The same little girl shuffled her feet and mumbled, "The Lockdown bell went off and we all hid like Miss Blanchard told us to. A man came in and called out, asking for Henry. Everyone was really quiet and nobody moved from their spots, but Miss Blanchard got up and asked him to leave. He said he wasn't leaving without Henry and he fired the gun twice."
"At Miss Blanchard?" David asked urgently.
"I…" the girl faltered, "I couldn't see…"
"No he didn't!" A boy piped up from the back of the group. He pushed his way forward and announced, "I was hiding under my desk, and Henry was the next one over from me. We could see everything. The guy shot up. It hit the roof. I think it was a warning or something. Then he asked for Henry again and Henry went over to him. Miss Blanchard said that she was coming with them but he said if she did he'd – he'd kill her." The boy gulped. "As soon as he left with Henry Miss Blanchard told us all to stay where we were until someone came and got us, and that she was sure he wasn't coming back but we had to stay where we were just in case. Then she followed them."
David sighed. "Alright, let's get you lot home."
After the last kid had left the room to join the throng of students and teachers heading to the front of the school Emma looked up at David.
"What are we going to do?" She asked quietly.
He looked at her with haunted eyes.
"I don't know."
Okay not one of my best chapters, I admit. And I'm sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger, especially as I don't know when the next update is. Please tell me what you thought! Good or bad, feedback is appreciated :)