Chapter 10

Erica arrived at her apartment after dropping Scott off at his home. They agreed to unpack their belongings and then Scott would come over.

Erica was grateful for the time apart. She could think of a way to gently break the news. She went to her bedroom closet and pulled out Henry's fairytale book. This book had been a source of contention between her mother and Henry. Now it served as reminder of her family legacy.

Scott knocked on Erica's door wondering what was so important. "Erica, it's me."

Erica opened the door. "Hey. Please come in."

Scott took a seat on the couch. "What is so important?"

Erica bit her lip, a habit she developed as a child when she had to deliver bad news. "There's something I need to tell you about my past."

Scott nodded giving her the signal to continue.

"My family is different. My parents aren't from here." She took a deep breath. "Did you ever read fairytales as a kid?"

"Yeah. Snow White, Peter Pan, Cinderella and stuff like that. Why?" asked Scott.

"Fairytales are real. I know because my mother was the Evil Queen from the Snow White story." She walked to her kitchen table and picked up Henry's book.

She showed Scott the book.

"My brother had this old fairytale book as a child. He believed Storybrooke was under a curse and the townspeople were fairytale characters. These characters were from a land called The Enchanted Forest. Well, he was right. His biological mother was a woman named Emma Swan, the biological child of Snow White and Prince Charming. She was the savior. She didn't believe him at first about the curse. My mom adopted Henry as a baby tried to get Emma to leave town and stop the curse from breaking."

She opened the book to let him see the pictures. He stared at them for a minute. "You can't be serious," he said.

"I am. Henry was poisoned by an apple turnover meant for Emma. He wanted to finally prove the curse was real by eating it. The curse broke after Emma saved Henry with true love's kiss. My mom was lonely for a long time and tried to redeem herself for Henry."

She took the book and turned the page to where it talked about Daniel. "My father is mentioned in this book."

Scott read the part that mentioned Daniel. "Wait, this says he died. I saw him."

"He did die in the other world. My grandmother, Cora, wanted my mother to become Queen. So, she arranged it for Snow White's horse to go wild knowing my mother would be in the vicinity. My mother saved a little girl not knowing who she was. After my mother saved Snow…Snow's father, Leopold, proposed to her. Cora accepted on my mother's behalf. However, my mother wanted to be with my father and they planned to run away and get married."

"Those plans were foiled when Snow caught them in the stables one night. My mother told Snow why she couldn't marry King Leopold…"

"Because she was in love with Daniel," Scott finished.

"Yes. Snow promised to keep the secret from Cora but eventually told her. My grandmother was obsessed with power and felt my mother was going to throw her life away if she became the wife of a stable boy. Cora killed my father. She ripped out his heart and crushed it."

"What! Erica, this is crazy!" yelled Scott.

"I know but it's the truth. Please let me finish," Erica pleaded. "Snow told my mother that she told Cora about Daniel and thus began my mother's thirst for vengeance. She tried to fight it but then something happened. A man named Jefferson told my mother that a man could revive my dad and all he needed was an enchanted heart. The man was Dr. Frankenstein. He pretended to revive my father as part of a plot to get my mother to descend into darkness. The man responsible for all of this is Rumplestilskin."

"My mother was trapped in a marriage. She had her husband killed about eleven years later. She was free to exact revenge on Snow White. My mother made it her life mission to destroy Snow's happiness for her betrayal. My mother did a lot of horrible things."

Scott reached for the book again. He flipped the pages back and forth looking at all the people. They did resemble the people he saw in Storybrooke.

"If what you say about the curse is true, how did your mom do it?"

"She…she cast a curse and ripped away everyone's happy endings. She had to kill the thing she loved most, my grandpa Henry. She brought them to a new world where they would forget their true identities and time stopped. It lasted for 28 years and then Emma came and broke the curse like I said."

"So the curse is broken, how does your father come into play?"

"Dr. Frankenstein also known as Dr. Whale brought my father back to life. Basically, it was a heart transplant. Whale used an enchanted heart to bring him back. My father, you could say, was the monster. My mother was able to break his own curse with true love's kiss. Ever since then, my parents were together until my grandmother Cora came to Storybrooke with Captain Hook."

"Captain Hook? Like Peter Pan's Captain Hook?"

Erica nodded her head. "I know this is difficult but I'm almost done."

"Cora wanted my mother to be broken so she could be the number one person in my mother's life. She told my mother that love is weakness. Cora was a manipulator and my mom always wanted her love and approval. But this time, my mom had finally had a shred of happiness and she didn't want Cora to kill her family. Eventually Cora's plan was revealed that she wanted to become the Dark One herself. The Dark One is someone who can wield powerful dark magic. Cora was already corrupt but with that much power, she would have been indestructible and invincible. Cora died though due to Snow White. She tricked my mother into killing Cora and that started a whole new vendetta between the two."

"However, my father was able to get through to her. Fast forward some time later, my parents got married and had us. One more thing, I have magic."

Scott looked at her like she was crazy. "You can do magic?"

"Yes. John and Jacob can do magic too. We get it from my mother," Erica answered.

To prove her point, she willed a mug to her hand. She set the mug on table. She stood in the middle of the floor and created a fireball.

Scott sat there stunned. "You're telling me that the town you grew up in isn't real."

"Not technically. When the curse landed, my mom kind of dropped a town in the middle of nowhere."

"When were you going to tell me this?" asked Scott.

"I don't know. I wanted to tell you. Then you proposed and I knew I had to tell you the truth."

"You should have told me before I decided to propose. What kind of woman are you?" he yelled.

"I'm the same woman you proposed too. I just have a different background from everybody else."

"That's an understatement Erica. What do you expect me to make of this? What am I supposed to tell people? My fiancée comes from a freak show of a family."

Erica's voice rose in pitch. "We are not freaks Scott. We're normal people."

Scott crossed his arms over his chest. "Really? Normal? Normal is something you aren't. You come from a fairytale land and you expect me to just be okay with this information."

"I had hoped you would be," Erica said firmly.

Scott shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Erica, this is beyond ridiculous. I told everyone about you or what I thought I knew about you. I can't believe any of this."

Erica walked up to him and touched his arm. He backed away like he had been burned. Erica flinched at his reaction.

"Scott, I'm the same person."

"No, I don't who you are and I can't be with you. We aren't compatible. You're not the one for me after all," said Scott. He started walking to the door.

"Scott, wait!" She grabbed his arm but he jerked away. He slammed the door shut leaving Erica stunned.

She broke. She stretched out on the couch and cried.

Author's Note: Story will take a dark turn.