Chapter 9: Damned Doors
Regina came through the door with a vengeance. She was angry. She was pissed and she wanted the man dead. She came out the door muttered words that she hadn't said in a long time. She was seething and Roz could see it in her eyes, which had turned a very pretty shade of purple.
"Where can I go to burn off some anger?" Regina asked her when she felt like she could.
"Do you need to destroy something?"
"Yes," Regina hissed.
"Outside of the facility, about a mile to the east there is a pond, nothing lives there."
"Okay, I'll be back."
Roz just watched her as she walked away. She didn't know what happened and Regina hadn't offered anything. She just stormed out. Roz decided to give her a wide berth and wait for her to come back.
Regina waited until she was outside the building to allow her magic to flow. She pictured the pond and teleported herself there. Thankfully, she made it even though she'd never been there. She let out a deep breath and just let her fire balls fly.
She could feel her magic pulling on her energy and she didn't care. She knew that she would be worth nothing by the time she made it back to the facility and Roz. As she was letting her anger flow, she had to remind herself that she needed to save just enough energy to get back to the facility. When she felt herself getting depleted almost to empty, she started screaming until her throat was raw.
It had been a very long time since she was that angry. And, she didn't have magic then. She didn't want to think about it. She knew that if she'd had magic, she would have done more than banished her mother when she killed Daniel that night in the stable. She needed to get herself under control. For one, she didn't want to hurt Roz or any other monster in Monstropolis that she might accidentally come across. And two, she didn't need Rumple to find out that she didn't have control. He would exploit it to the max. He was a bastard of the highest order and she didn't need to give him any leverage against her.
Finally, she was calm enough to return to the old scare facility and to see Roz. She dusted herself off and cleaned up a little. As she walked away from the pond, she teleported herself to just outside the facility. Taken a few deep breaths, she went back inside.
She found Roz sitting or standing behind a desk. She couldn't really tell. It looked like she was doing paperwork.
"Better?" Roz asked without looking up.
"Yes."
"Good," Roz replied.
"Did no one ever have a violent reaction like that after seeing her?"
"No."
"How long is the average stay through a door?"
"Fifteen minutes to an hour, why?"
Regina just nodded in reply. She paced around the desk a little. Finally, she stopped and faced Roz again.
"I want to take her door with me."
"You can't."
"You say that like you have a choice in giving it to me," Regina stated.
"I do, because you don't. The doors cannot leave Monstropolis. I can't let you take it."
"I will take it."
"Regina, it won't work without the technology we have. You could have the door, but you have no way to make it work. They don't operate on magic."
Regina just glared at her.
"What happened in there?"
Regina glared harder, if it was possible. She snarled a little and the moved right to the front of the desk. She place both hands on the edge, palms down, thumbs wrapped around the edge and leaned in towards Roz.
"That girl has been through enough. No more monsters. No more visits. Her door retires. Destroy it if you must, but she is now under my protection."
"What happened?" Roz asked again, but this time the gravelly nature of voice about set Regina off.
"That girl...she's been through enough."
"Regina, you were there for almost eight hours her time, but only three here. I need to know what happened if you want me to help her. I can't do that if you won't tell me."
"Just destroy the door."
"Okay, I'll schedule it."
"NOW!"
Roz blustered a little at her demands. Regina continued to pace, but while she did, she pushed up her sleeves to her dress. Roz noticed the wound on her forearm.
"Tell me what happened to you in her room, Regina. I can't do anything about the door until I have something to put in my report. Just have a seat. Calm down and tell me what happened," Roz told her.
"I did as you instructed and entered the room. She was asleep and didn't even know I was there. I looked around the room. She had a picture of a dragon on her wall. It was big and scaly, purple and black, fierce and deadly. It was the only true personallization in the room. I took it to believe that she liked dragons. So I decided to take the form of one, so I could talk to her and not give up the facade of being a monster."
"And?"
"She seemed to take to the form."
"So what happened?"
"You aren't the monsters in her life."
"What does that mean?"
"The man that is supposed to be caring for her..."
"He's her monster?"
"Yes."
"What happened Regina? I need you to tell me specifics. I can't help her if you don't tell me."
"He comes to her room at night to have her. She told it wasn't every night, but nights that he's been drinking. She tries to hide under her bed, but he always finds her. She has no escape from. I can't leave her there..."
"Regina, you can't do anything for her. You aren't from her realm. What would it look like if you suddenly appeared to take her away? You would be no better than their story of Peter Pan. She could be a lost girl, but you aren't Pan. You can't just take her away in the night. That isn't how things are done."
"I could. I mean, I could go get her and bring her back to my castle to live. She wouldn't be afraid. I could care for her."
"No, you can't. She has to stay in her world and you have to go back to yours. I cannot allow you to use her door to bring her through," Roz told her.
"I could find another way with magic. I wouldn't need the door. I just want it. I want to be able to check on her."
"I'll tell you what I am going to do," Roz started.
Regina finally sat down. She huffed and then took another deep breath. She closed her eyes, centered herself because she felt her anger rising again, and then slowly opened her eyes to look into Roz's.
"What?"
"I am going to keep her door...here for the next few years for her. I will personally monitor her. And, I pull Randall back to go check on her periodically."
"What is Randall's talent?" Regina asked.
"He is lizard like and can mimic anything around him. She would never know he was there, but should Mr. Black try anything with her again, Randall would step in. He might be one of my smaller monsters, but he is quite effective when need be. He also owes us a lot. I would make this part of her retribution. But, that is another story. He heart is in the right place, your majesty. He will protect your charge."
"I might have over stepped my bounds," Regina added.
"How so?"
"I threatened him."
"Did you touch him?"
"Yes."
"Did he touch you?"
"Only in so much as to try to get away from me, but I had him in such a manner that I wasn't going to let go," Regina told her.
"Well, you aren't a monster, so I don't have to decontaminate you. I see nothing wrong with what you did for her. Unless there is something else?" Roz asked when she saw Regina tense up a little.
"Decon...what?"
"Human artifacts do strange things in our world so we have to destroy them. If he'd touched you and you were a monster, we would have had to scrub you down and taken you to the hospital for treatment. You aren't a monster, so that isn't a problem."
Regina just cocked her eyebrow. She wasn't sure if she should tell Roz about the scale, but decided that it might be in girl's best interest if she did. Shifting in the chair, she squared herself and fixed her posture. She knew that her mother would have said something to say if she could see her, but she didn't care. She was a queen, but she wasn't acting like it. She didn't know how she was acting. She just wanted to get June out of that situation.
"I might have done something else," Regina said as she sat there now regally.
"Define something."
"I might have promised to watch over the girl."
"And, how do you plan on doing that?" Roz asked her.
"I have my ways."
"Does that have anything to do with the abrasion on your arm?" Roz inquired.
Regina looked confused for a moment. She looked down at her arm and saw the wound. When she looked back up, her eyes were wide.
"I'll take that as a yes," Roz stated. "What happened? Don't leave anything out. I'll need it for my official report."
"I want a copy of it."
"I'll make you one before I take you back to the Forest."
"Thank you."
"Now, your arm," Roz stated as she pointed to the wound this time.
"I was in my dragon form."
"And?"
"I had already...removed Mr. Black from the situation. I informed him that if he even so much as thought about touching her again, I would know and I would come back to kill him. I believe he actually soiled himself as I threw him out the bedroom door."
"No need to be smug about it."
"He deserved worse, but once he was gone, I knew that I had to care for June. I found her under the bed and got her to come out. Why she trusted me I don't know. I am just another monster to her, but I was the monster that took the time to figure out what was wrong."
"Sometimes we miss the obvious," Roz replied.
"Yes...yes...we do. Since I was still glammored as the dragon from her picture, I pulled a scale from my arm and gave it to her. A talisman of sorts to protect. I did imbibe it with some magic. It will help her sleep and she can use it to let me know she's in trouble. I might not have her door to get to her, but I have magic and I'll find a way to help her. I don't care what it costs me."
"Did you give her a name?"
"For myself?"
"Yes."
"Yes, I did, but it wasn't my own."
"What was it?" Roz asked her.
"Scylla."
"The Sea Dragon and mother of monsters...hmm...fitting I guess."
"If you say so," Regina added.
"Go get some sleep, Regina. I will finish up my reports and file them. I'll have your copies to take back with you."
"And, when will I go home?" Regina asked her.
"In the morning," Roz replied.
"And, the door?"
"Will stay right there for now."
"And, then?"
"I will have it permanently assigned to this facility. No one will know it is here except myself, Randall, and President Sully."
"Good."
"We'll take care of it, Regina. I promise. I never leave a child unattended until they are of age," Roz told her.
"How long does she have?"
"Until her eighth birthday," Roz answered.
"So under three years..."
"She'll be fine. I promise. If there is an issue, I'll inform you via my channels," Roz said.
"Hopefully, he'll actually tell me if you do," Regina stated.
"I have information for you to give him. He'll owe me for it. He'll tell you if I call upon him again. Trust me."
"I'll try," Regina replied as she walked back into the training room simulator to try to sleep for a while.
