Author's note: HAHAHAHAHA REALLY GOT U THERE W MY AMAZINGLY CLEVER APRIL FOOLS JOKE DIDNT I? Anyway, thanks for all the reviews!
Just keep this in mind-y'all know that i never end stories with an unhappy ending :P
Chapter 13
Bang bang bang! A series of frantic knocks on the heavy wooden door woke Graham up with a start. He jumped horribly, spilling a cup of lukewarm coffee all over his already dirty shirt. He sighed and then threw the half empty cup over his shoulder, where it shattered into a million pieces on the wood floor. The once comfortably apartment had turned into a complete pigsty. Once upon a time, Graham had made somewhat of an effort to keep things neat, but now all he focused on was finding Scarlett. Piles of Missing posters littered the floor, while lists of suspects and maps of Storybrooke were pinned to the wall. There was a clear inch of dust over most of the shelves, and stacks of unwashed dishes sat in random places. He wore the same dirty clothes from last week and hadn't bothered to shave since Emma left. What was the point, anyway?
Graham closed his eyes, willing whoever it was to go away. It was 7 in the morning and was in no mood to see people. All he did nowadays was hide out in the apartment, poring over his work. He may have been fired, but he still had 28 years of sheriff skills.
The knocking grew increasingly louder. It reverberated throughout the apartment, making Graham's head throb. It sounded like someone was banging a loud drum.
"Go away!" He called. "I'm not buying!" Who sold cookies on a Sunday anyway?
"It's me." Came a familiar voice. Henry. Graham immediately shot up. Ever since Emma left, he hadn't seen Henry, probably because he knew Emma wouldn't allow it. Other than a few quick phone calls, he and Henry hadn't had any contact. So if Henry was coming by now, something was wrong.
He crossed the room to the door, imagining all sorts of horrible scenarios: Emma dead, Scarlett dead…he shook his head to clear his mind from those awful images. "Henry?" He opened the door.
Henry immediately pushed past him and stepped into the apartment. "Something's wrong…oh wow. What happened here?" He looked around, momentarily distracted. "Just wait till Mom sees this." He started down the hall, peeking into the rooms.
"Never mind that." Graham impatiently. "Is everything ok? Emma and all?"
Henry stopped short. "Wait, so Mom's not here?"
"No…" Graham scratched his head in confusion. "Isn't she at Granny's with you?"
Henry's widened his eyes in horror as he realized that in fact Emma wasn't there. Without another word, he dashed out the open door and downstairs to his grandparents' apartment.
"Henry! Wait!" Graham chased after him.
But Henry didn't stop; he sprinted to his grandparents' door and started banging frantically, not unlike the way he'd banged on Graham's door, until it was opened by a sleepy looking Mary Margaret.
"Henry?" Her confusion was apparent on her face. "Is everything ok?"
"No!" Henry pushed past her into the apartment. Graham shrugged apologetically at Mary Margaret and followed suit.
"Mom's missing." Henry announced. Immediately, Graham felt as if he the wind had been knocked out of him, like someone had taken a baseball bat to his gut. Missing? Emma? No. There was no way that was possible.
"Missing?" David echoed, instantly going into protective father mode. "What do you mean?"
"We got into a fight last night and she walked out. I thought she'd be back this morning but she's not." Henry explained. "Her stuff is still there and everything. And she didn't answer her phone."
"She came here last night." Mary Margaret said. "At around…1 am?" She looked at her husband for confirmation, who nodded.
"But she left soon after." David added. He looked as sick and exhausted as Graham felt. "We…had a fight too."
"Let me guess. About Regina?" Henry asked. His grandparents nodded, ducking their heads guiltily.
"So she left." Mary Margaret said, trying to work everything out. "She left Granny's, came here, and then left again." She tilted her head, thinking. "How do we know she's not just taking a walk?"
"For six hours?" Graham said skeptically. "Look, I know Emma. She wouldn't just pick up and leave like that."
"She's done it before though." David pointed out. "Though she came back. Maybe she got a lead on Scarlett's whereabouts?"
"I know her." Graham argued. "This isn't like her." He started pacing around the room. "She may hate me, but she wouldn't just leave Henry."
"Graham's right." Henry piped in. "Mom wouldn't do that. Something's wrong, I can feel it."
"Well, we shouldn't panic." Mary Margaret said. "You know, maybe we're all wrong." She said hopefully. "Let's split up to look for her."
"I'll take Granny's and the station." David volunteered. "Henry, you stay here. Keep trying her cell."
"I'll check the toll bridge and hospital." Mary Margaret added.
Graham nodded. "And I'll check the forest." He didn't know why, but he had a strong feeling that the forest had something to do with Emma's whereabouts.
"Ok. Everyone, keep your phones on and meet back here in two hours." David commanded. "Call immediately if you find anything."
~Long Gone~
Graham set off for the forest, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Luckily, he knew the forest like the back of his hand, so it was no trouble at all. As he walked on autopilot, letting his feet direct him, his mind wandered around, imagining all sorts of horrible scenarios.
It was bad enough that Scarlett had disappeared, but now Emma? He missed her so bad he could barely breathe. Ever since she'd left, he'd slept on the couch, unable to face that empty bedroom. He didn't even know how he'd managed to survive so long without Emma. Life without her was empty and meaningless.
He missed everything about her. The cute way she wrinkled her nose, how amazing she was with Scarlett; her Emma scent, a sweet mixture of coconut and something that could only be described as Emma, the way she'd shove him when he told one of his lame jokes, her fiery determination with everything, the way she made everything feel better. The list went on and on. Most of all, he missed her laugh. It lit up his entire world. She lit up his entire world.
Oh, Emma. He thought to himself as he walked on. I don't care if you hate me. I just want you safe.
Suddenly, he found himself staring straight at a tree. Their tree. He just stared at it, tracing his fingers over their initials, mentally reliving the events of that fateful day. It had taken so much planning; he'd secretly asked Henry and her parents what her favorite foods and things were. When they'd reached the top of the mountain, his hands were trembling so much he could barely hold the ring steady. And when she said yes, well that was the happiest day of his life. The day he knew for sure that he was never alone, that life would forever and always be perfect.
As he stared at the tree, he wondered if Emma was in fact telling the truth. Yes, it did seem a little farfetched that the evil queen could be back, but he knew Emma. Knew that she wouldn't lie about something like that, especially when it came to their daughter. And coupled with the fact that she was currently missing, he had a strong inkling that something was terribly wrong here.
Graham reluctantly broke away from the tree, knowing full well that just sitting there staring at it wouldn't help. He walked on, carefully observing his surroundings. He noticed that a nearby tree root was scuffed. He carefully examined it, noting that the ground around it was marked up as well with what appeared to be boot prints. Concluding that Emma had been there, he followed the boot prints.
Just then, he spotted something silver. It glinted in the morning sun, peeking up from the dirt path. He bent over and picked it up. It was an earring. On closer inspection, Graham realized that it was one of Emma's earrings, for he recognized the familiar silver stud. It was a pair that she wore every day, earrings that he'd actually given her not long ago. This proved that these had been Emma's footprints.
They led back to their tree and then towards the forest's entrance. He continued to follow the prints out of the forest and onto the main road. Luckily, it had been rainy, so the prints were muddy and fairly easy to track. They led into a random neighborhood. According to the boot prints, Emma had walked up and down this street several times, before veering off onto a random house. Then the prints grew farther and farther apart, probably a result of her running. He followed her boot print path, which abruptly stopped at the entrance to the graveyard.
Graveyard? Why would Emma go there? But he knew his (hopefully not soon to be ex) wife well enough to know that she had a knack for following her instincts, which were almost always right. So he cautiously walked around the freshly mown grass, keeping his eye out for anything suspicious. But there was nothing. His eyes landed on the mausoleum where he knew Regina had kept his heart. If Emma had followed her hunch about Regina to the graveyard, then it would make sense for her to go inside the imposing stone building.
He walked inside, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs. He easily navigated the mausoleum's interior, having been there before. Not long later, he reached a strange looking mirror door looking thing. Cautiously, he pushed it open, preparing himself for what was inside.
Nothing. There was nobody there. Another silver stud glinted up at him from the doorway, and he picked it up. Emma had definitely been here. He stepped inside the room, noting the toppled furniture, inevitably signs of a struggle. He tiptoed around, down a dark hallway.
And then he saw it. It made him gasp aloud. There, lying in the middle of a floor in a dark room, was Emma's leather jacket, stained a dark red. He bent over and picked it up, catching a huge whiff of rose perfume, gasping aloud when he realized that it was covered in blood. On the floor where the jacket lay was a huge puddle of even more dried blood.
No. It couldn't be. But all the signs were there.
Emma was dead. By Regina's hand.
Author's note: Cliffhanger again! Y'all know what that means...REVIEW ASAP FOR THE NEXT CH! 10 reviews and i will update by monday!