Ghosts of a Chance
Chapter Eleven
After they left Emma and Snow behind to watch over Killian, Regina used her magic to teleport herself and David to Zelena's farmhouse so they could confront the Evil Queen about what she and Hyde did to their friend like Henry had tried to do earlier that morning. Neither of them expected Regina's doppelganger to cooperate with them, or to reveal anything about her plan. But confronting her was all they could do for now. And David promised his daughter they would try anyways. Killian's life depended on them helping him as soon as they could.
When they appeared upon the porch, David reached out to knock on the door expecting Zelena to answer. However, after he knocked twice more, it was pretty clear that the Wicked Witch wasn't home and since the Evil Queen didn't answer the door, they assumed she wasn't there either. So, Regina opened it to let herself and David inside.
While David followed her in once she walked into the kitchen, he spoke up sternly saying, "You do realize that right now, we're breaking and entering?"
Regina just smiled without turning around to face him as she answered, "If you're uncomfortable with doing so, then feel free to wait out on the porch. We didn't come here to invade my sister's privacy. We're here to help the pirate. Remember? Look around. My evil self might have left something out… for some reason…"
"It's Hook's hook," the Prince stated in concern once he swiftly noticed why Regina cut herself off and began to stare down at the middle of the kitchen table upon seeing it herself. "No way would she just leave it out like this if she has a plan for it."
"G-ah!" David painfully cried out when he reached down to try to pick up the piece of metal, only for his hand to begin to burn upon him doing so as though the hook was a hot iron until he immediately dropped it back onto the table again. "What the hell? His hook's on fire."
Regina took his arm and lifted his hand up so she could get a closer look at the burn left behind before she healed it, then she responded, "She must have put a spell on it so no one can try to take it from her."
It was then that the Evil Queen stepped out into the kitchen again from one of the house's other rooms while she replied, "I did do something like that. You didn't really think I would make it so easy for you heroes to try to take it back, did you?"
"Not really," the Mayor replied snidely when she and David both turned to face the villainess when she walked around the table to stand in front of them. "Just what the hell have you done to Hook? And why? I know that you and I have never much cared for him… although I do actually consider him one of my friends now, but… that's neither here nor there. What matters is what's happening to him. Did you curse him? What are you after?"
"The pirate isn't cursed," the doppelganger answered smugly. "At least not in the sense that a villain like me would normally curse a person as we've done many times in the past. But there is something terrible happening to him. And I am behind it too. As you know, I had a little help from Mr. Hyde."
Regina scoffed as she shook her head in frustration while David curtly retorted, "Cut the crap and tell us what you've done!"
The Evil Queen smiled cruelly, then she clasped her hands together and responded, "I suppose there's no harm in sharing what I've done. Surely you tried to help the Savior heal him and to sense what might be wrong with him. Tell me… did you sense something off? Perhaps thoughts that weren't his own, but from other entities?"
"Who… or what are they?" the Mayor asked her other self again coldly.
"Remember when Hook told us about the ghosts he and Arthur fought against after we all left him down in the Underworld?" the villainess asked again. "You know… from the River of Lost Souls? The ghosts that flew out and attacked them once Hades left his domain for good that is."
Regina glared at her as she replied, "That's why you had Hyde attack him last night. So you could get your hands on some of his blood in order to open the portal again to the Underworld. To summon a few tormented souls from that river. Why? Why are they possessing Hook? And how are they doing it? You don't have nearly the amount of power it would require to tether more than one soul…"
When she paused once she began to realize part of her other self's plan, David looked between the two Queens as he questioned his friend, "What, Regina? What is it? When Hook was the Dark One… he tethered all of the other Dark Ones to Excalibur before he died. Is Gold in on this with them too?"
"No," The Mayor answered darkly when she looked at the Evil Queen again. "At least I don't think so. No… Queenie here created a tethering spell and cast it over Hook's hook. That's why these ghosts are haunting him. Possessing him. That's why she needed both his hook and some of his blood to summon them. And today's Halloween. When all real magic is far more powerful than it is on every other day. Making her magic powerful enough to tether more than one being to an object. The question that still remains… Why?"
"That's not for you heroes to know just yet, Regina," the Evil Queen haughtily responded and then reached down to pick up the hook herself, unaffected by the spell she had cast over it to keep others from touching it. "But you will soon enough. All you need to know… is that you can't stop it. You can't help Hook by healing him, and none of you including you, Regina… can reverse the effects of what I've done. Only I can save him now. And I won't unless I get what I want."
The sheriff started towards her in anger until Regina grabbed him to hold him back, then he asked curtly, "So tell us so we can save Hook anymore pain."
The villainess laughed, then she replied, "I'm afraid not. He hasn't suffered enough just yet. If I'm going to get what I want, the Savior's going to have to be desperate to save him. I underestimated her yesterday. It won't happen again."
"He's bleeding out from claw marks, all across his chest and his stomach!" David shouted again. "He's possessed by angry ghosts that were trapped down in the Underworld and could possibly have a grudge against him. Emma's terrified! What more do you want?"
"It's like I said," the Evil Queen said with a grin. "You'll find out. Until then… I would tell Emma to try to take care of him the best she can. It's going to be awhile and he's in for world of pain."
