A/N: Last few chapters may seem a bit vague but that is because as the story goes on I want each character to give their viewpoint of the past. Right now, all you have seen was Emma's. Things will come together in the next few chapters. If it is still not making sense and things still seem off then I will scrap the last few chapters and start over. I do not have a beta so the things I think sound good don't always translate when others read my stories. Thanks for the commits, I always appreciate constructive reviews.

Chapter 11

Emma and Regina stood outside of Regina's car stranded on the road. It had started raining in the middle of the night and Regina hit something in the road and swerved into a ditch. Her cell phone was dead and Emma could not get any reception. The nearest gas station was 5 miles back and the rain was not letting up. If her phone had been working, she would have found out Mack never came home from school.

Story Brook

Mack arrived at Story Brook alone, she had called herself in sick to school, that gave her almost 9 hours before anyone would miss her. One stolen map and three different buses later she had almost made it. She had to walk the last 2 miles through woods, but she was not going to miss the adventure of a lifetime.

As she got closer to where the map told her to go the harder it became to stay focused. A dense fog surrounded her all of sudden. She ended up lost and slightly disorientated. Emma had said something about reenacting a cloaking barrier to protect the people that remained. Mack did not listen; she was a stubborn teenager and had no doubt in her mind that she would be able to find the town.

After several hours of tramping around the forest, Mack was completely lost. It had rained the night before and her shoes were covered in mud. Her legs were killing her and she hadn't brought any water with her. It was freezing and her light sweater was useless. She collapsed beside a tree. Pulling her legs to her chest, she began to cry, cursing herself for thinking she could find a hidden town.

At least things cannot get any worse. Mack was pulled out of her thoughts by a pack of enormous, furious looking wolves circling her. The largest one stared her down until he finally pounced on top of her. His claws dug into her shoulder causing her to wince with pain. His immense white teeth hovering dangerously close to her neck. She had almost died multiple times. At one point, she even came to terms with it. Though she never pictured dying like this, she closed her eyes hoping it would at least be quick.

She felt a harsh gust of wind and the wolf was knocked off her. When she opened her eyes, a tall dark hooded figure stood protectively over her. The pack still surrounding them growling and poised to attack. The dark figure's hand started to glow, and a radiant orb formed, then the figure launched it at the pack, then anther and anther. All of the wolves scattered in different directions. The dark figure grabbed her arm

"What the hell are you doing in my forest?" His voice was deep and harsh. His eyes were dark, angry and unforgiving. She could barely make out his other features the hood obscuring the rest of his head.

'I was…" Mack was unable to speak. "I got lost… I was looking for my mom and I got lost." Mack knew how lame it sounded but he was scarier than the wolves.

"You have no business in this forest, it's dangerous."

"I am sorry." Mack could not believe she was apologizing to Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding.

"What are you," he glared down at her.

"A girl," Mack stated, obviously confused by the question.

"Red's wolves don't attack innocent people on sight."

"Red?" Mack asked even more confused. The man shook her hard and squeezed her shoulder where the wolf's claws had been. Mack grimaced, from the pain. The man relaxed his grip, but his eyes never softened.

"Don't play dumb, what are you doing here. You clearly smell like something they don't like. " He started to shake Mack.

"I told you, I was looking for my mom and got lost." Mack said pushing the man's hands off her shoulder and taking a step forward. If he going to kill me I am not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how scared I am. "Do you always manhandle girls? Or am I just special." Mack said crossing her arms over her chest, while trying to look as intimidating as possible. The man looked surprised and then enraged, he turned and started to walk away.

"You're just going to leave me here to die, after you just saved me." Mack yelled following the man. He refused to acknowledge her, just slowing his pace slightly. "Really your just going to save me, yell at me, shake me, then run away. What you can't deal with someone standing up to you." He turned to her his gaze sharp and unforgiving; he wrapped his hand around her neck. The other started to burn red and he held it above his head.

"Watch your mouth, I can kill you were you stand." His face was inches from Mack's, close enough to fill his hot breath. Mack struggled against his grip to no avail.

"I am not scared of you; and I am sure as hell not afraid of dying. You're just a bully throwing around your supposed power."

"Supposed power." He looked up at his hand and started to laugh. "Are you blind or just stupid, I created fire out of nothing. That's real power."

"Real power has nothing to do with how strong you are. Real power comes from the person you are on the inside." Mack said kicking the man in the shin, he let her go and reached down to rub his leg. He was surprised by her rash behavior. Mack took a steep back, "Besides being powerful is like being a lady." Mack pointed to herself. "If you have to …"

"Tell people you are, you aren't." The man finished "I heard that before." He almost smiled at hearing her say that. "Something my mother would tell me when I was a kid." The man said pushing back his hood revealing a much younger teenage boy. "You really have no idea what you just walked into do you? Come on I will show you how to get out of the forest, then take the main road and in a few miles. It leads to a bus stop. Then you go back to wear ever you came from. This is no place for a runaway. "

"I am not a runaway; I told you what I was doing."

"I can tell when people are lying and kid, your lying." His voice soften and his eyes lost their original fire.

"Why the sudden change of heart." Mack said trying to change the subject.

"You remind me of someone I use to know." Then her grabbed her hand with a firm grip, and started to pull her to the edge of the forest. She tried to resist but he would not loosen his hold.

"You have got to be the strangest person I have ever met, one minute you're saving me the next you're strangling me."

"Yeah well most people have enough sense not to provoke my rage."

"I wonder how anyone can prevent it; you have a pretty short fuse." The teenager refused to speak to her instead he ignored her commits and continued to pull her along.

Mack's body was starting to betray her now that the adrenaline had worn off. She was barely able to keep up with the teen's long strides and the lack of water was making her dizzy. Her shoulder still burned from the wolf's attack. Mack ended up stumbling and falling into the strangers back, he turned around in enough time to help lower to the ground. He knelled down and put his hands on her shoulders. Mack was too week to struggle against his hold. His hands started to glow a light purple color. It slightly burned when he touched her. When she looked down the scratches were completely healed. The teen snapped his fingers and a bottle of water appeared, he shoved it in to her hands and sat down beside her.

"You are defiantly the weirdest person I have ever met." Mack said threw chattering teeth.

"Well you're defiantly the most reckless person I have ever met." He said under his breath, while taking his jacket off and wrapping it around the Mack. "So are you going to tell me who you are? Because I have just used magic in front of you and you didn't seem surprised once."