I'm not dead. I've actually been working on this pretty diligently for the past few days. I have quite a few chapters made up, but I won't be posting them right away. I hope you like this one.

When I write stories, I like to have 'play-bys' that I model my characters after. It makes it a bit easier to get inside the head of my characters. As such, Lina / Lyra is modeled after my favorite Kat Dennings. I hope this helps.

CHAPTER TEN

Lyra tapped her fingers against the wood lightly as she watched Louis mutter to himself behind the bar. There were few things in the world that stressed that man out, one of them being 'Rent Day.' Though the bar made a decent amount of money, he was always worried about making the payment on time. And he always had a guy to drop the delivery off – a guy that was currently missing.

'Where is he?' she heard Louis growl to himself as he counted the money for the fifth time in ten minutes. Lyra found it amusing that he was so worked up, but really saw no point in it. So their landlord was Mr. Gold. So what? It wasn't like the guy could catch him after dropping the money off. The guy had a limp and a cane.

'Maybe he was sick of listening to your bitching,' she said with a grin and laughed at the glare her boss sent her way. 'Why not just deliver it yourself? It's not like you're late or short changin' the guy,' she added, her green eyes shining with amusement. 'What's he gonna do? Behead you for upholding your legal promises?'

Louis slammed his fist into the bar and sent her a glare. She assumed he didn't like her attitude on the matter. And she would be correct. 'Shut up, okay? You have no idea how Gold is. You're just a kid in this town compared to the rest of us. Rent something from him and maybe you'd understand the pressure on all our shoulders. Until then, shut up!'

To say she was offended would be an understatement. Standing from her stool, she grabbed the cash from Louis and marched toward the door. 'Whatever. I'll do it myself,' she said loudly, slamming the door behind her before he could say anything. He was such a wuss, Lyra was embarrassed.

With the sun down, the streets of Storybrooke were dark and quiet. Not many decided to stay out, especially with a winter storm on the horizon. It'd been snowing for a few hours by the time Lyra left the bar, but she wasn't perturbed. She dealt with shitty weather enough in her life to know that a little snow wasn't something to get so riled up about. But the citizens of the town were of the opposite belief. A little snow falls and everyone lost their minds.

Though it was only 4:45, Lyra walked a little quicker in order the meet Mr. Gold at the pawn shop. He closed his doors about 5pm in the winter and she wasn't interested in trying to chase his car into the woods. Summer? Sure, fine. Winter? She'd break a leg.

Hearing laughing, she looked up and saw that Granny's had a full house that night, being Friday and all. They must have been celebrating something. Lyra wouldn't know, she never talked to people much. She usually kept to herself, went to work, went home, bought groceries just before the pharmacy closed. She didn't understand the joy of making friends. She didn't realize she'd stopped to stare until the short haired school teacher looked out the window right at her. Ignoring the wave, she picked up the pace again, pulling her black coat around her.

Lyra barely noticed when she was in front of the pawn shop, so deep in her thoughts that the sound of the door slamming made her jump. Looking up, she saw none other than Mr. Gold himself. They'd never actually met, she stuck to her plot of land and he to his, but she knew him from the descriptions.

'Evening,' he said lightly when he saw her, though turned away to lock the door. He didn't seem so bad and confrontational to Lyra. But she was a bad judge of character.

'Mr. Gold. I'm glad I caught you. I'm here to drop off the rent for the Rabbit Hole,' she said lightly, holding out an envelope to him. It was quiet between then for a moment before he sighed, not even looking at her.

'I made it very clear to Louis that rent was due on time. And where's Peter?' he asked, walking past her without giving her any more attention.

Being brushed off pissed Lyra off to no end. She was trying to pay the guy and here he was acting like she was a pion. A beggar to ignore on the streets in Baltimore. 'He's missing, if you care. Ya gonna take the money or not?' she asked, her tone taking a 180. She wasn't going to stand there and be verbally abused by some guy that thought he owned the town.

Her anger seemed to get through to him as he stopped walking to his car. With a scoff, he held out his hand. 'Next time, make sure it's here before five,' he said. Lyra stomped to his side and shove it into his hand before passing in front of him. She got a foot away before she felt his hand latch onto her. She tried to shrug him off, but the grip was strong. 'And who the hell are you?'

Lyra's anger reached a new level as she pulled her arm away from him and took several steps back. 'No business of yours,' she muttered.

'I know everyone in this town. From the lowly school janitor to Regina Mills. And I haven't seen you here. What's your name?' he asked, making her bristle. Looking back at him, he looked suspicious but his eyes seemed a lot less cold than his attitude. 'You're not one of my tenants.'

'Because I own the land I live on, oh Mr. Great and Powerful,' Lyra replied, her attitude shining brightly in his face. It only occurred to her after that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. She started walking away again, ignoring the step-clip of him following.

'I want your name!' he yelled at her back, making a grin etch into her face. Waving over her shoulder, she passed by his pawn shop and down the back alley. He wouldn't be able to catch up, even if he got to his car. He'd still need to turn down the main road and onto a side street to get to her. By then, she'd already be down her dirt driveway into the woods.

Thankfully, she had time before the bar opened for the night to hide out and make sure Mr. Gold wouldn't follow her. The woods were just as dark as always and she enjoyed the sounds of the barren branches in the wind. Soon enough, she came up to her little house, a cottage built by her mother long before she passed away. The worn red clay roof made her feel cozy inside and the small lantern she left hanging above the door lit the way.

Lyra took out her keys and unlocked the door, shutting the cold out behind her. The home was one room, a small bed in the corner and a dresser across from it. Near to the door was a fireplace with hearth and an oven with two stovetop coils. Her mother was the type to live a minimalistic life, so Lyra picked up the same habits. The only things she really owned were a few dresses and books, the latter being passed down to her through her mother's will.

She wouldn't choose any other place to wait out the snow or to hide from the gaze of Gold.

As eight rolled around, Lyra looked up from her table and noticed that the light outside had gone out. The snow was falling again, glowing in the dark past her windows. But there was no moon… Looking out, she groaned at the sight of something she really wished wouldn't become a thing. Standing up, she pulled her coat on around her. She couldn't avoid it – she'd be late for work if she did.

Closing the door behind her and locking it up, she reached up to light the lamp again. Satisfied it wouldn't go out while she was gone, she turned to face the inevitable. The door to the dark Cadillac opened and out came the person she now actively had to avoid.

'Evening, Mr. Gold. To what do I owe the pleasure?' she said, no trace amount of happiness in her words at his presence. Shoving her hands in her pockets, she watched the man hobble closer and she caught his sneer at her home. He didn't say anything until he was directly in front of her, staring down in the headlights of his car. 'Uh… Can I help you off my property?'

'You don't own this. Margaret Therou owns this and she has no children, much less a grown one,' he said, making her roll her eyes. 'You're trespassing on a frail old woman's property. Have you no shame?'

'My mom's dead, you asshole. She died two years ago,' she growled, crossing her arms. 'And her will left it to me. So fuck off while you can before I call the cops.' She was done playing with the guy and she really did need to get to work. But she needed him to leave before she did, else he decided to burn the place down.

'How dare you talk to me that way. Your poor mother obviously never taught you manners, you little-'

Pulling a knife from her pocket, she brandished it in his face. 'Say one more word about her or me, and you better hope you sleep with one eye open,' she muttered and pointed at his car with the blade. 'Now get back into your car and get off my property. I need to go to work,' she hissed, her eyes glowing in the car's headlights. She waited for him to move, but he didn't budge.

'We aren't done talking about this,' he hissed, his eyes filled with rage. She stood up straight and looked him in the eye, neither backing down. 'You egotistical child!' he huffed before shaking his head and turning back to his car. He didn't spare her another glance before he slammed the door shut and the car retraced it's tracks down the dark hill.

Lyra watched him go, the darkness settling in once again as soon as the blinding lights disappeared. The silence was maddening, the only sound coming from the sputtering oil lamp and the tree branches clashing against each other.

Glancing at her watch, Lyra swore and started down the snowy hill. She had just barely enough time to make it to work, change her shoes, and snag a few fries out of the fryer.