Chapter Eleven
A Hunter's Heart
'I want one.' A six year old Regina demanded, her chubby little fingers stretching out ready to grab the toffee treat.
'Well you can't have one.' He stuck his tongue out and held his hand up above his head where she couldn't reach.
'Oh please.' Regina pouted jumping up and down trying to reach. He laughed and moved effortless around her moving the candy apple lower before quickly raising it out of reach as she dived for it.
'You eat this, it will rot your teeth.' He said grinning wildly.
'No it won't. I'll brush my teeth straight after, I promise.' She gave him her best puppy dog look. Taking pity on her, he knelt down to her level and presented her the apple.
'Alright, you may have it.' He smirked before taking a bite out of the side of it. Regina squealed in disgust and snatched it from his hands.
'Ewwww that's gross.' She wrinkled her nose. He laughed again and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
'Tell you what, I'll give you a present to make up for it.' He asked. Regina looked at her already ruined treat before nodding her head eagerly. She watched as he pulled a small chain out of his pocket. Dangling the chain in front of her, she gasped at the beautiful pendant that hung from it. It was a gold detailed oak tree.
'This is a very special tree.' He said gently attaching the chain around her neck. He opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a shrill voice.
'Regina?' A woman's voice shouted from somewhere not too far away. He stiffened.
'I got to go.' He said moving away from Regina.
'Please don't go.' She cried grabbing his arm.
'I have to, I'm so sorry Regina.' He shrugged her hand off his arm.
'Please don't leave me.' She shouted after him, tears streaming down her face. 'Take me with you.'
'I can't.'
Regina was woken up abruptly by Graham, who sat up suddenly in a state of panic.
'What is it?' She asked placing her hand on his arm.
'I had the most intense dream.' He said in-between breaths. 'I was, in the woods, hunting, and I killed a deer.'
Regina had closed her eyes briefly, her own dream present in her mind. 'There was a wolf.' Her eyes flickered open. Regina sat up and studied him carefully.
'A wolf? She asked concerned.
'Its eyes, one was blood red and the other was black as night. The funny thing is, I think I've seen the wolf before.' Graham looked terrified and confused, sweat glistened on his skin. Regina planted a small kiss on his shoulder and squeezed his arm lightly.
'Go back to sleep Graham. It was only a dream.' She slowly brought her hand up to stroke his stubbly chin.
'It didn't feel like a dream, it felt like a memory.' Graham turned to look at Regina before swiftly throwing the covers off him and getting up to retrieve his clothes.
'Graham.' She said.
'I need some air, I need to think.' She watched him dress.
Regina attempted to talk him into staying but Graham practically ran from her room leaving her in bed. Her jaw tightened as she considered that maybe Graham was starting to remember things he shouldn't.
The following night Regina decided something needed to be done about Graham's declining sanity. Picking up some flowers for her father she made her way to the ceremony. Graham's little rebellious streak needed fixing. He needed steering away from his memory like dreams and while she was at it, she'd make it so he never looked in Emma's direction again.
It surprised and angered her to find both Emma and Graham snooping around her family's mausoleum. As she confronted them, Regina was unaware of another person watching eagerly from the roof of the mausoleum. Regina's face hardened as Graham dragged Emma away, her lip bleeding from the cat fight. With a determined glare she stormed into the mausoleum.
Regina stormed over to her wall of hearts and opened the drawer that held the Sheriff's heart only to find it gone. Letting out a frustrated scream she whipped around to find Peter leaning against the entrance of her secret lair. In his hand he held the beating heart.
'You know you really should be more careful where you hide things.' He smirked.
'How did you get in here?' She demanded moving quickly to him.
Peter casually moved out of her way before she could snatch the heart from him.
'It hurts to know how little you know me.' He teased. 'I mean, did you really not think I'd come here? Or that I'd recognize a hidden entrance when I see one?' He tutted. 'Oh Regina, how you underestimate me.'
'You right, I never thought you'd come to visit the grave of a man you hated.' Regina bit back.
'I never hated him.' Peter scowled. He quickly dodged her as she lunged for the heart again.
Peter casually threw the heart in the air and caught it, amused as her eyes followed the hearts movements.
'So what do you plan on doing with that?' Regina asked.
'Well my plan is to finish the plan I put in motion a few days ago.' Peter smirked. 'It's amazing what you can do with someone's heart. You just need to whisper a simple idea and the results are fascinating.'
'Graham's dreams, you did that?' Regina accused him. Peter let out a dry chuckle.
'No, no. Nothing as fancy as that. I just gave him a nudge in the right direction, Emma did the rest.' His eyes narrowed. 'You didn't think I'd forgive you for what happened with the lift did you?'
Regina hadn't been responsible for the lift breaking but she had deliberately slowed down the process of getting them out of there. It was just too good an opportunity to waste but now as he stood there with a malicious expression she wondered if maybe she'd pushed him too far.
'And what you think Graham getting his memory back will break the curse?' She asked.
'Oh no, I just wanted him to remember how much he hated you before I kill him.' Peter said as he crushed Graham's heart in one swift movement. Regina let out an involuntarily yell and took a step towards him.
'I will hurt you for this.' Regina seethed. Peter wiped his dusty hand on his shirt, a smug look on his face.
'I'd expect nothing less.' Peter raised an eyebrow. 'Goodnight Regina.'
Author's Notes
Hey guys, sorry it's not a long chapter, I've got a show I'm rehearsing for and that's pretty much taking up all my time but as soon as it's finished I'll have more time to update more often.
Thank you to everyone who is sticking with it, I hope you're still enjoying it. Let me know what you think. I appreciate everyone's comments and thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. I love hearing your theories J
