A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger! Life's been hectic lately, so I haven't had a chance to update. In honor of last week's Once Upon A Time, I've incorporated the Mad Hatter in here. However, he is Puerto Rican and known as the Loco Sombrero. Weird, yes, but my friend Omar wanted in, so I wrote him in as the Mad Hatter. My direction for Jefferson was a cross between the Joker (Heath Ledger's) and Phantom of the Opera (Gerard Butler). Psychotic, yet he has an emotional side which is warped because of Regina. Hope you enjoy the update! I will try to post as soon as possible. Love you all, keep the comments coming!

21. I Have To Find Her

It was late, and I paced back and forth in my house. Where was she? Belle had said she would come right back from Ashley's house. I had allowed her to visit her friend for a couple of hours, and I kept glancing at the door, wondering when she would come back.

I growled in frustration as I left the door closed and unlocked, and proceeded to get some sleep. Maybe she was sleeping over Ashley's.

I walked slowly up the stairs, leaning on my cane. My left knee throbbed, and I limped my way to my bed and sat down on the edge. I whipped out my cell phone and dialed Ashley's number. I had had enough games.

"Hello?" answered Ashley's voice.

"Miss Boyd," I said, trying not to let my anger get the best of me. "Is Belle still with you at your home?"

"She'd gone a couple of hours ago Mr. Gold," replied Ashley. "Is there something you needed from her?"

"Is her car still in your drive?" I asked, gripping my cane tightly.

"Let me check…" There was a pause, and then the sound of something falling to the floor. "Her car is still outside my house. Oh my God, do you think something happened to her?"

"Ashley, I'm going to need you to call the Sheriff, and I will meet you at your house," I replied. "We're going to find out what happened to her."

I popped some painkillers after I got off the phone, and headed towards the car, locking the door behind me. I felt my stomach churn, and I prayed that Belle was okay.

I drove up to Ashley's house, and saw a girl with red streaky hair, skin tight black leather pants, and a black jacket. "What the devil do think you are doing here?"

"She's my best friend!" cried Ruby. "And I'm going to help find her."

"A waitress can track down a kidnapper?" I asked. "Now, why don't you go back home, and I will see you at Granny's tomorrow."

"The Sheriff isn't coming," Ruby stated. "Apparently Sheriff Graham is indisposed."

I gripped my cane in anger. He wasn't indisposed. He was screwing Regina.

"Pride of the town he is, then," I gritted my teeth. He would pay for his transgressions later. "Fine then. If you can find her, do it. Where's Ashley?"

"I told her to rest and get to bed," said Ruby as she walked with me to Belle's car. "All the stress and excitement could hurt the baby."

"Good idea," I murmured. "Did Ashley remember seeing anything as Belle left?"

"Nothing," she said. "She did hear a car peeling out of her street though."

I looked at the asphalt, and saw two parallel black streaks next to Belle's car. "She was kidnapped," I said, wishing it wasn't true.

"But the question is in what car, where did they take her, and why did they do it?" said Ruby.

"Not as dumb as I thought you were," I smirked.

"I watch cop shows and Law & Order all the time," said Ruby. "It's easy to figure out when you add up all of the clues. Ok, from the size of the skids, I would say that this was a van. Possibly black to be inconspicuous. It's quick, and easy to get your prey tied up and thrown in."

"Sounds plausible," I said, leaning on my cane. "How do we find her?"

Ruby closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She listened to the stillness and quiet of the night, and then suddenly, her eyes sprung open. "Mr. Gold, you are going to have to trust me on this, but I know where she is! Come on, let's get in my Subaru and find her!"

. . .

I struggled against my bonds, the duck tape across my mouth silencing my screams and pleas for help. I was let out of the van, and this strange man with black tight pants and a black turtleneck helped me out. He forced me to walk to his house, and once the door closed, he threw me on the soft carpet.

"Senorita," he said with a Puerto Rican accent. "Bienvenidos, welcome to my casa."

I mumbled unintelligibly, and, realizing that I had duck tape across my mouth, he ripped it off mercilessly. I gasped and cried out in pain. "There, is that better?" he asked as he patted my cheek.

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked.

"Oh I've been looking for you for a long time," he said, circling around me. "I have been searching endlessly for you, and now, you are mine…"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, chills going up and down my spine.

"You know this isn't our world," he said, looking deep into my eyes. I noticed he had a buzz cut style hair and mysterious dark brown eyes. "Nothing is what it seems, my darling. We come from a different world, a better world. It was Regina who separated us. Regina who took my precious, beautiful, angelic Alice away from me…"

"I'm not Alice!" I said, getting up from the floor. "My name is Belle!"

"It may be your name here, but in our former world, it was Alice," he said, caressing my face. "Don't you remember your Jeffie? Your Jefferson?"

"I'm sorry, but you have the wrong person," I said, cringing from his touch. "I wish I could help you-"

"Come," said Jefferson as he pulled me to the telescope that was sitting by the window. "Look through there…"

I looked, and saw a beautiful ten year old girl with long flowing honey colored locks, smiling and laughing with her two parents. "That's our Grace," he said bitterly. "Here, her name is Paige. I lost our daughter because I was raising her by myself. But now that I have found you, we can get her back. We can fight Regina!"

"I would love to help you get your daughter back," I said earnestly. "Really I would, but I'm not Alice."

"Don't tell me you don't remember anything!" he said angrily. "You know that this cannot be our world. You had to have felt something, flashbacks, intense moments where you felt a connection between something or someone. Don't you remember Alice?"

"I am not Alice," I said exasperatedly.

"Don't you remember Wonderland?" he asked. "The beautiful blue sky, the magical forests-"

"And the Queen of Hearts saying, 'Off with his head!' You need a psych ward because you are living in a fantasy world."

"You think I'm making this up?" he asked, rage starting to simmer inside him. "Do you really think that books hold no truth?"

"I didn't say that," I replied.

"All books are based in reality," said Jefferson as grabbed my arms, dragging me to another room. "There are millions of different worlds to explore if you only open up your mind…"

"Please don't hurt me," I whimpered as he sat me down at a chair seated in front of a desk.

"If you're not Alice," he said slowly into my ear. He inhaled deeply, smelling my hair. "Maybe you can help me find my way back to our old world…"

"This is crazy," I whispered. "Who do you think you are?"

He turned me around to face him, and I noticed he was now sporting a huge sombrero, and a look of pure neuroticism. "Loco Sombrero," he said with an unnerving smile. "Or, as you would say, the Mad Hatter."

. . .

"Where are we going?" I asked Ruby as she drove through the town.

"No idea," she replied as she turned down a street. "Looking for a suspicious vehicle, anything that gives off a vibe…"

"We are going off of a vibe?" I growled.

"Trust me, I'm going to find her," said Ruby.

"You'd better, or I will triple your rent!" I said angrily.

Ruby grew silent, and suddenly, she slammed on the brakes. "Black van!"

The two of us got out of the car, and began to examine the van. "This doesn't mean that this is the one where Belle was kidnapped in," I said.

"I have a feeling this is the one," said Ruby. She examined the tires, and noticed that the tread was slightly worn. I tried to open the back seat, and with a whoosh, the door opened. Ruby climbed inside, looked around, and inhaled deeply. "Belle has been here. I can smell her perfume."

"She wears perfume?" I asked.

"Men," scoffed Ruby as she shook her head. "Why is it so important that you find Belle anyways?"

"I have to find her," I said, grabbing Ruby and shaking her gently. "I can't let someone or something hurt her. You wouldn't understand."

"You love her don't you?" asked Ruby as she walked up the grassy path, tracking the footprints. "You love Belle."

"I don't love," I said harshly. "She is my maid, nothing more. When someone takes something of mine, I will stop at nothing to get it back, and to make the thief pay."

. . .

"Right now, you are going to turn this sombrero into my magical portal back to fairytale land," said Jefferson as he set the hat down in front of me.

"There's no such thing as magic," I said.

"You WILL make it work!" he screamed as he grabbed my hair, pulling my head back.

"Stop, you're hurting me!" I cried, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"You will send me back to fairyland!" he said as he shook me violently. "YOU AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU SEND ME BACK!"

I heard a coin drop to the floor, and I closed my eyes, and waited for him to kill me. There was no way I could make his sombrero magic.

"I'm so sorry," I said, tears rolling down my face. "I cannot do what you want…"

He stepped close to me, our faces inches away from each other. I noticed a terrible scar around his neck. "What happened to your neck?" I asked quietly.

"Off with his head," he said in a deadly voice. Then he started to scream as he lunged at me. "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!"