Chapter 11: Where Darkness Lives
Hyde stirred alert at the sound of chains and metal scrapping. He rolled to his side and saw Regina being sent down in the elevator. She did not seem pleased by her current situation. Hyde slowly sat up and leaned against the cave wall. Her caged elevator landed and opened. Regina stepped out, her faced tense and eyes weary. It would appear he would now have company for his last few hours of life.
Her gaze found him and she went to him instantly. "I thought you'd be dead by now."
He chuckled darkly and then coughed. "Hello to you too, Regina."
Regina sighed and kneeled down next to him. "What has that evil bitch done to you?" She narrowed her gaze over him. "You look awful."
"Why thank you." He grumbled.
"You are usually pale, but this is… corpse pale."
He sighed. "I have grown weaker in my time here… And I did this to myself. I did not understand the full consequences of the magic I used."
He saw the concern in her eyes and was somewhat amused by the turn of events. The Evil Queen threatened and then kidnapped him, yet the former Evil Queen now worried over him.
"Dark magic has its price. That staff must have belonged to someone very evil…"Regina said.
Hyde smiled, "It did."
Regina rolled her eyes. "Let me guess—you took it without asking?"
"That would be stealing, Regina." Hyde said in mock disbelief.
She snorted. "Exactly. So you stole a dark powered staff and used it for Emma. Now you look one breath away from kicking the bucket. Why does the Evil Queen even need you?" Regina asked.
He let out a slow breath. "Only someone who has been splintered from another can do this spell."
Understanding slowly began to dawn on Regina's tense expression. "Why can't she just do it herself then? She was splintered from me."
"It weakens whoever holds the staff." He grumbled. "She's afraid it'll kill her." Such a weak, cowardly Evil Queen, he thought. If she were truly as dark as she claimed—she could possibly survive the spell. But he doubted it.
"How come the spell didn't kill you?" Regina asked.
"My power is my strength. But at the moment…" He swallowed, his throat and mouth dry, his hands trembled slightly. "I fear I will not survive another casting of this spell."
"So that's what she means by killing you."
Hyde eyed her questioningly.
"She caught me in the forest with Emma and her parents and…"
Hyde straightened at the sound of Emma's name. He needed to know she was safe. That the Evil Queen kept her wretched word to him. "Is she all right?" He interrupted abruptly.
Regina searched his face suspiciously. "Emma? Yeah—she's fine."
"The Queen didn't hurt her?"
Regina shook her head.
He nodded and lied back down, a sigh of relief filling him.
"She said that you traded yourself for Emma." Regina said. "May I ask why?"
He chuckled but it held no warmth. "I fear I don't know the answer myself."
"I don't believe you, Mr. Hyde."
He arched an eyebrow at her but said nothing. He was suddenly very tired. All this conversation felt more draining than when he attempted crawling from the lying to sitting position.
"You care for her." Regina commented then frowned down at him, "You do know she's with Hook right?"
"Yes, I am aware." He hissed out as his eyes closed, pain washing over him. The pain at times came in waves, pulling at his strength like an anchor slowly dragging him to the bottom of a very dark, very empty end.
"Okay—cause they are gross lovey dovey most of the time. And you just sort of showed up…"
He smiled. "Are you concerned I will get my hopes up, Regina?"
She suddenly chuckled and shook her head in exasperation. "Just warning you."
"If the Evil Queen holds true to her word—I shall be dead soon anyway. So you're warning is pointless."
Regina casted her eyes downward, a pity held there. He was grateful she didn't express this pity verbally.
"Shall we think of a plan out of here?" Hyde asked dully. "I am under the impression this cave is very much like dungeon and doesn't have any escape routes. I have been too weak to check for myself."
"Yeah pretty much." She sighed. "We are stuck down here until someone finds us."
Hyde closed his eyes, leaning the back of his head into the rocks. "I am not feeling confident at the moment that we will be found in time."
"I don't know about that. Emma seemed pretty determined to find and rescue you."
Hyde felt an unexpected fist close over his heart. Silence fell. Hyde had felt this horrible sense of urgency to see Emma once more before the Evil Queen killed him. He explained it away as lust. But it was more. He needed her on some basic level, and he didn't want their time together to be over yet. He admitted this weakness to himself, and it only made his heart rip under his own clenched grip.
He realized then that his worst fear was here. He would die doing this spell like he always imagined. And he would die doing it imprisoned.
The beast inside him roared and whaled against the confinement of his weak and powerless body. It was only a matter of time now. It was his turn to dance with Death today.
A cold, ugly laugh cackled the air around him as the Evil Queen appeared in the red smoke of the staff.
"Time to cast this spell now that my missing ingredient has arrived." She said victoriously.
"This won't work! Hyde's drained of his power. What makes you think he'll be able to do this spell for you?" Regina bit out.
"Oh he'll do the spell." The Evil Queen said determinedly. "All it takes is a second Regina, and you will be gone forever."
Hyde watched as Regina shuddered slightly at the threat. He was not as scared. In fact, he was bored by this angry little Queen.
"Now…" The Evil Queen flicked her fingers and Hyde was dragged across the cave to where she stood, forced to grovel at her feet. The Evil Queen smiled down at him. "Let's begin, shall we?"
He glared up at her from his back, his heart filling with a dark, murderous rage.
Emma slammed her powers into the locked doors of the library. The doors flew open with a shattering crash.
"Subtle." David commented as he stepped with his daughter, sword drawn into the library. It was empty. No sign of the Evil Queen.
Emma, David, Snow and Hook headed for the elevator that led to the caves below. The dungeon that once held a dragon. The first place where Emma started to believe she was the Savior.
She moved to the elevator and summoned it with her powers. It came, which surprised her. The Evil Queen hadn't attempted to lock it from them. Without a word, they all went inside the elevator. Hook slammed the door closed with his hooked hand.
As they began their decent, there was nothing but darkness and then there was light. But not from the torches that burned with magic down there… oh no, this was light from magic being casted. Bright red magic illuminated the cave as their elevator plummeted down and landed with a bang.
Emma threw open the metal door and let her magic glow in her hands, ready to fire. But she stilled at the sight before her.
The Evil Queen stood on the edge of the cliffs, her body being cloaked by the red smoke as she held Regina by the throat. Her eyes danced with victory as she grinned maliciously at Regina, who choked and clawed at her neck, fighting to break free. Emma saw Hyde then and she nearly gasped in relief. He was alive. He was kneeling, the staff gripped in both of his shackled hands, his face rippled with pain and body slumping as his power, whatever he had left to give, was being used to fuel the spell.
Without waiting another second, Emma ran towards them, firing her magic. Arrows streamed past her as her mom fired bow after bow at the Evil Queen.
It was no use. Her magic couldn't stop the spell—it was too far into motion.
The Evil Queen's laughter echoed around them. "Oh good! You've come just in time to watch them die!"
"Let them go!" Emma roared.
More laughter, more red smoke. Her eyes a fiery red as she absorbed Regina's soul into hers. Snow yelled in protest as she watched Regina begin to fade and the Evil Queen grow stronger.
Emma, unsure of what to do, focused on Hyde. She started to move towards him, maybe get the staff from him—anything to break the connection of this spell. But the Evil Queen slammed her hard in the stomach with her magic. Emma flew backwards and hit against a large boulder. She saw stars and almost threw up from the pain. Moaning, she felt the lump forming at the back of her head. Emma touched the wound and felt the blood.
"Emma!" Snow yelled in concern.
Emma looked towards the Evil Queen and instead she her gaze caught with Hyde's. He was alert now. His dark gaze black as Hell itself. The rage she saw on his face was the exact rage she saw when he used the spell last time.
"Hyde…" She breathed. His eyes followed the blood that now trickled down her neck.
The Evil Queen's voice suddenly rang out, strong and victorious. "I will soon be the most powerful dark sorceress of this world and the next! Nothing can stop me…!"
Before she could finish her boast, Hyde grabbed the Evil Queen by the throat. He held her fiercely, lifting her off the ground. Her dark gaze widened in alarm and she let go of Regina.
Regina fell backwards, unconscious. Snow ran to her.
The red smoke engulfed them both as Hyde crushed her throat in his hand.
"You broke your deal, Queen." Hyde said darkly.
The Evil Queen tried to scream, but it came out in a spluttering gasp, her eyes bulging.
"You think you have control and power in the darkness…?" He asked her. The Evil Queen kicked weakly as he now held her high above the cliffs. "Unlike you—I was born in the dark. Created by it. You—you are nothing to this darkness. You are an insult to what lives there."
The red smoke swirled and then turned black. Black like Hyde's gaze. Yet something else was in his expression—a sadness.
Emma's heart shattered.
"You want to taste what darkness really is?" He placed the staff into her spine. "Then you have to go to where the darkness lives."
The snake staff came to life, a black King Cobra with golden flecked scales, wrapped around the Evil Queen's body while Hyde held her. She screamed then in terror as the snake confronted the Queen's face. It slowly opened its gaping black hole of a mouth. Its teeth razor sharp and black. Red smoke appeared in the snake's mouth shaped like its tongue as it licked up her cheek. The Evil Queen pleaded at the snake with her eyes—desperate and afraid. Then, before any of them saw it coming, the black King Cobra screeched as it reared its head back and snapped furiously at her face and she vanished. Consumed by the dark power of the staff. The King Cobra too vanished, reappearing as the golden snake staff and dropping like a stone to the cave floor.
The magical torches in the cave flickered back to life and the darkness that the Evil Queen summoned had gone. Hyde wavered like a tree about to topple. Emma and David ran to him, catching him as he crumpled. David cursed in surprise at the weight of the man. Emma made sure to lower Hyde's head safely to the ground, her heart in her throat, fear gripping her.
Was he dead? Please… please… be alive, she pleaded internally. Emma placed her fingertips to his throat. A small flicker of life pulsed beneath her touch. She sighed. It was small, but it was enough.
"He's alive…" She whispered.
Snow sighed in relief and held Regina in her lap.
"We need to get them out of here Emma," Snow said.
Emma nodded and in a slight daze, left Hyde's side and to Regina and Snow. In a puff of white smoke, they vanished and reappeared in her mother's apartment. Henry jumped from where he sat with Neal in the rocking chair by her parents' bed.
Emma placed Regina on the bed, Snow by her side.
"Mom!?" Henry asked in alarm, clutching the baby close. "What's happened?"
"We'll explain soon," Emma breathed and vanished once more to the cave. Hook and David stood over Hyde.
"I'll take you both now." Emma said, stretching out her hands to her father and Hook.
Hook hesitated. "You're coming too right?"
"Yeah…" Emma lied. She transported them to her parents' house and stayed in the cave with Hyde.
She knelt by him then, touched his face gently and they disappeared. They appeared in her own home—away from her parents, and Hook. She needed to be alone with Hyde.
Her home was the perfect place for that.
There was only one bed large enough in her home for him and it was her own bed in the master bedroom. Hyde laid on her satin blue bedding, his face paler than she would've liked and his body unmoving. She suddenly missed his voice. She wanted to hear him tell her she was an idiot or chastise her for her reckless behavior in saving them. But he didn't move.
Emma felt the pain her head and decided to take care of her own injury. She walked to her personal bathroom, slipping off her red leather jacket, and pulling her blood stained shirt over her head. She ran hot water over of a hand towel then placed it gingerly over her wound and let out a pained hiss. Damn, this hurt.
She opened the medical cabinet and pulled out supplies to clean the wound and a couple aspirin for the pain. A few, painful minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom and went to her closet. She retrieved an off-white t-shirt and put it on. It was difficult to keep her head bandaged because of her hair, so instead Emma held a couple thick gauze pads and held it there with her fingers.
She glanced to Hyde, he was still asleep. She sighed and walked to the chair that sat in the corner of the room, waved her fingers and pushed it with her magic to Hyde's bedside.
Before she took a seat, her phone in her jacket pocket vibrated. Emma pulled the phone out of her jacket and saw the text message from Hook.
Hook: Where are you?
She hesitated then responded: I'll come back when Hyde's awake.
Hook: You should be here.
Emma: Later.
Hook: We need to talk.
Emma sighed and clicked her phone off. She was not going to deal with this now.
"Lovers quarrel?" Hyde's wonderfully rich, dark voice startled her.
Emma gasped and went to him, dropping her gauze on her seat and taking a seat besides him.
"You're awake!" She said, searching his expression for physical clues. "How are you feeling?"
His gaze focused on her, he looked visibly upset as he reached out and touched the blood in her hair. "You are hurt…"
"It's fine. Just a flesh wound," She said with a shrug. "I'm more concerned about you."
Hyde's eyes closed and his breath came out in a slow, measured beat.
"It appears I don't have long…" He growled, closing his eyes from the pain.
Emma inhaled sharply. "What can I do?"
He turned his roughly handsome face towards her on the pillow and his eyes fluttered open once more. It seemed to give him physical pain to open his eyes. She realized then how long his eyelashes were, dark like his hair against his pale skin.
"Stay with me." He said gruffly. "If you will…"
Her heart twisted and instinctively slipped her hand into his. He was unable to return her grasp. He was too weak to hold on. Tears sprang behind her eyelids. She pushed them down and away. She would not weep. She would hold it together. She needed to.
"You battle with yourself still," He commented as he watched her closely.
"And you're as stubborn as ever. I guess our bad habits make us quite a pair."
"A pair? Is that what we are?"
She swallowed her bitter anger. "No… we didn't get that far."The disappointment in his face felt like a brutal stab through the heart. Emma felt suddenly very angry. Angry that he was dying! Angry that she couldn't do a damned thing about it!
"Forgive me," He breathed. "I did not know the consequences of the dark magic..."
"We heroes never really know how far our actions go."
He smiled blandly. "Hero?"
She smirked, the anger retreating slightly. "Well—you did save my life. So yeah, that makes you a hero."
"Saving your life does not make me a hero."
"Oh—and you destroyed the Evil Queen. That looks good to me, Mr. Hyde." She teased lightly, though her heart swelled with enormous pain. Why did it feel like he was saying good-bye? Did he only have enough strength for this one last conversation?
"Have your tremors stopped?"He asked.
She nodded. "Yeah… they're gone and my vision."
"Then my theory was correct. The spell works."
"Sorta." Emma countered.
"You are alive." Hyde said firmly. "It worked."
"Yeah—but you're dying."
"A risk I was prepared for."
"What?"She asked stunned.
A muscle flexed in his jaw as pain washed over his pale features. "I created this spell for myself, Emma. Do you understand? I could no longer live as half a man. I needed my own story—my own life without becoming the dark and violent instrument for Dr. Jekyll's fantasies."
Her eyes cleared with sudden understanding. "Are you saying… you made this spell to merge back with Dr. Jekyll?"
"Though I gravely miscalculated how much power it would take to harness this spell." He smiled mockingly at himself.
"You made this spell to kill yourself?" Emma asked horrified.
He said nothing, his smile fading as his dark eyes locked with hers. She gritted her teeth, anger coursing through her.
"Why didn't you tell me the risk? The truth about this spell!?"
"Then you wouldn't have done it."He replied coldly.
Emma fumed, she wanted to hit his stupid big chest. "Of course not! Why…? Hyde—why risk so much for me?"
"I'll tell you… but for a price." Hyde smiled weakly, his eyes shining with sudden emotion. Her throat clenched. She had only seen anger and arrogance from this man. She'd never seen him vulnerable before.
"What's your price?" She asked her voice gruff.
"A kiss…"
She hesitated.
"One last kiss for a dying man." He said softly.
She remembered what he said the first time they shared a kiss. "Will you taste like death?" She asked, leaning forward over him, her fingers stroking his thick brown hair over his ear.
A sad smile pulled at his lips. "You tell me…"
She laughed suddenly, weakly. Her heart in her eyes as she stared down at him. "Good line."
"It appears I am much better at this wooing then I give myself credit for." His smile was genuine now. A beautiful, sad smile. He lifted a shaking hand to her, reaching her but unable to. Her heart shattered as she took that hand and led it to her face.
His thumb stroked the tears that had fallen for him.
"I would have liked to have known you better, Emma." Hyde breathed.
She studied him. He was a mystery to her as well. Yet the connection she felt to him- was undeniable. She didn't want to give him up or lose him. Not when she had just found him. "What's your first name?" She asked. Her lips hovered over his.
He gazed over her, his fingers trailing her cheekbone, holding her close. His hand felt warm and calloused against her soft skin.
"My name is Edward. Edward Hyde." He said to her. More tears slipped down her face and she kissed him.
TBC
