A/N: Sorry for slacking. Lots of problems with the internet and writer's block. Life is sucking hard right now. Enjoy the update!

14. Separation

"What's happening?" Belle asked as she slowly pulled away from me. I watched in horror as the tarlike tendrils of evil magic slowly began to wrap around her. It snaked up her ankles, and then up her legs towards her torso.

"I don't know!" I cried, trying to help her as best as I could. "BELLE!"

The black sinews enveloped her, dragging her slowly away from me. "GOLD!" screamed Belle as she fought her way towards me. "Help me!"

"I told you," said a cold, cruel voice. "You two will NEVER be happy together! And now, you will both live separate lives far away from one another. I'm sending you to another time and place, one where you will not meet again this time. I will make sure of it. This time, make no mistakes, you will both hate each other!"

"No!" cried Belle as she clung to me. "I will never hate him! I won't let you do this!"

Regina laughed cruelly and loudly as Belle quietly sobbed into my chest. Winds whipped around us as the black tendrils slowly began to wrap around me. "I'm just as powerful, if not more than you dearie. Call off the dark spells, and I promise, I will make it worth your while."

"I don't think so," chuckled the evil Queen. "You cannot stop me. I am UNSTOPPABLE. And I will NOT be brought down by some peasant turned magician. You may think you're strong, but you are just a weak, pathetic man!"

"Don't listen to her!" shouted Belle over the roar of the power of the darkness surrounding us. "Listen to me, I LOVE you! I will always love you, and I will find you. Don't ever give up on me, because I will never give up on you!"

"Belle, I love you!" I shouted through Regina's cackling. "I will never give up. Never!"

There was a flash of lightning that broke through my house, and I felt the earth beneath us tremble and crack. I tried to hold on to Belle, but she slipped out of my arms, and we were seperated. "NO! REGINA! I'M GOING TO GET YOU FOR THIS! YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY HAPPINESS AWAY FROM ME!"

I felt the darkness envelope my body, and I finally gave in, accepting whatever Regina had in store for the both of us. But only for now.

Before I was completely taken over by the evils of the magic surrounding my body, I reflected on everything that had happened. I was forever changed that fateful summer day when I met Belle. We swam in the ocean, built sandcastles, kissed passionately as the waves broke over us. I never wanted it to end, but she was going back to Australia, back to her native country. She had only been visiting Storybrook, but I begged her to stay, to get a green card and live here with me. But she had to return back home, her father was ailing, and it was no good to stay.

Then, by some miracle, she had come back to me. But I had been too foolish, too idiotic to keep up my façade of "tough guy." It almost cost me her love, but despite every stupid thing I said and did, she still loved me. And she swore she always would.

I began to cry as evil sliced through my body. "There will come a day when good will triumph over evil. There will be a day when you will not win Regina. I swear by my knife that I will have my revenge, and I will find my true love once again!"