Chapter 24
Hook left his ship in search of Emma soon after Nolan had been appeased of the truthfulness of his actions. It had taken at least an hour to follow after her. He went straight to the castle in search of her.
"Emma! Emma!" he bellowed in the courtyard looking everywhere for her. She wasn't in any of the places they had spent time together in the past week. He couldn't quite believe that it had been so little time since he had fallen for her. She was so much of a part of him; he didn't feel as though he had ever been apart from her. "Emma!"
"Hook, Emma was going to meet you!" Snow emerged from the castle at his yelling. "What happened? Where is she?" She asked coming to his side.
"If I knew where she was your highness I wouldn't be calling for her now would I?" Hook found himself growling. None of his charm was in reserve to deal with Emma's mother. His panic rose in his throat. "Did she not come back here?"
"No. The last I saw of her she was on her way to meet you." Snow approached him her voice lowering now that she was closer. Her hand shielded her eyes from the rising sun as she looked up at him. "What happened?" she questioned again.
"Regina…" He admitted. She gasped at the mention of her name, but he wasn't finished yet. "She approached me and wanted me to make Emma fall in love with me. Then have me turn around and break her heart. I couldn't do it. I fell for her."
"You what? She what? Oh my god. She is truly evil. Is there nothing she will not do to hurt my family? What did she have on you?"
"Nothing. She wanted to make a deal with me. It was something I was willing to do, at the time. I felt it was worth it." His eyes focused on the blades of grass at his feet. Unwilling or unable to meet the Queen's eyes, he wasn't quite sure which it was.
Her eyes widened at the revelation that it was a deal that he had made. Her hand came up and covered her mouth in shock. Tears sprang to her eyes. Had she read him wrong, was he not her daughter's True Love? She couldn't have been so wrong. She had seen them together. There was no denying the connection they shared. It was why she had encouraged Emma's meetings with him.
"Oh Hook. What happened?" Snow questioned her voice sad.
"Regina appeared before Emma arrived. She held me in place with her magic and Emma walked in on us. I couldn't stop it. Then Emma ran out. That is why I am here, I need to find her and explain…" Hook glanced to the side and his hand ran through his hair in agitation. "Do you know where she would go?"
"I—Nolan, she would go to Nolan." Snow said confidently.
"She didn't. Nolan was on the ship when she ran off. He is out looking for her too."
"Let's find Charming and ask him. He might know where she would go." She motioned for him to follow her. He went with her because she was his best hope of finding his swan quickly. The more time she had to digest what she saw the harder it would become to convince her of the truth. He loved her and she loved him, he told himself, the thought didn't warm him as it usually did.
Hook trailed after Charming into the forest. Part of him wondered if Charming was leading him away from eyes that could see him beat the crap out of him. He had not reacted well to the fact that Hook had made a deal with Regina. His lip was now split on the other side and was swelling slightly. After Charming had gotten hitting him out of his system he seemed to calm down. Now he was leading him to a spot he said Emma sometimes went when she wanted to get away from being a princess. Of course some urging had come from Snow as well.
They went down a narrow trail off of the first one they had taken. "It is here." Charming told him as he gestured to a small clearing that was obviously empty of Emma. He sighed and his hand rubbed the back of his neck. She didn't want to be found it seemed. "Wait a minute, there are boot prints in the mud over here." Charming knelt down to run his hand over them. "They are too big to be Emma's."
"Do other people come here often?"
"No, the path we brought over here is an animal path. Emma is the only one that normally comes here." Charming sighed as he stood back up. "Come on something isn't right and we need to figure out what."
With new eyes he took in the clearing and noticed different sized boot prints heading towards the path they had come from. Charming started to walk back down the narrow path, his hand stopping on a few broken strands of grass. Then he stopped at a trampled area making the path larger where it almost connected to the main walking path.
"There looks like there was a struggle here." Hook commented as he knelt down at the place Charming had stopped. A new sense of urgency to find Emma joined the first.
"They went this way. Look, here you can see smaller foot prints." Charming pointed at the path leading away from the town. "Come on."
They followed the prints and came up to another area where it was apparent another struggle happened, and then the smaller prints could no longer be seen. "They must be carrying her."
If they hurt her in any way he would make them pay, he thought. They emerged from the path onto a small beach. It was apparent that a small boat had been pulled into the water at the shoreline. Hook ran to the edge of the water and scanned the horizon for the small boat. Or any ship for that matter. Someone had kidnapped the princess.
"They took my little girl!" Charming fell to his knees overcome with emotion. "I knew someone wanted to kidnap her and I didn't protect her."
"Mate, we need to get back to my ship. She is the fastest on the water, I will save Emma."
"No, we need to go see Rumpelstiltskin. He will be able to help find her."
"Rumpelstiltskin? You think that demon will save your daughter?" Hook said sarcastically. Charming looked up at him in appalled shock. Then he stood to his feet and walked back toward the path.
"Do you know Rumpelstiltskin then?"
"Aye, I know the demon." Bitterness filled his voice.
"The demon? So you know him as the Dark One?" Charming asked over his shoulder as they made there way back to town. "He hasn't been the Dark One for many years. He isn't the same man he was. If he had been a man at all."
"I am sure he is still a demon. Someone so evil could never completely change." He growled at Charming's retreating back. Bile rose in his throat, he would not go to the demon for help saving Emma. He would save her himself and make sure no harm came to her. "I do not need nor want the demon's help to find Emma."
"Hook… she is my daughter and I will be going to Rumpelstiltskin for assistance. He has kept her safe up until this point, there is no reason for him not to continue doing so." Charming told him with confidence laced into his voice. Hook held back a derisive snort at the King's words. Fool.
"Then you do what you need to do. I will prepare to sail." Another time he would have gone with the King to see the demon, if only to kill him. But right now it was the furthest thing from his mind. Saving his love came first.
Emma woke to cruel hands yanking her up and out of the hold. She groaned in pain. One of her eyes was swollen shut, at least she couldn't open it, so she was pretty sure that was the case. Her bottom lip felt split and the pounding in her head still persisted.
"Please." She begged her voice hoarse and her throat sore. "What is it that you want? I am sure my father or mother will give it to you." Harsh laughter was the only answer she received. Then the bag was over her head again. The fight had left her and she didn't resist. The man pushed her forward and she stumbled landing hard on her knees. He pulled her harshly to her feet and pushed her again with a laugh. "When my father finds me, he will kill you." She promised the man her anger rising. "I may do it myself."
Brightness filtered in through the tiny holes in the sack over her head and her one good eye closed slightly. The action sent pain through her from her swollen eye. Another soft moan of pain left her.
"On your knees." A voice commanded as she was pushed down onto her bruised knees. "A princess kneeling before me. How sweet it is." The cruel voice murmured above her. She longed for her dagger or her sword. To have her hands untied, to be able to see. She was helpless. There was a chorus of laughter around her. All sounding like men, none of them had Hook's soft laugh, at least that was something.
She stayed silent, unwilling to push her tormentor further. This day, if it was still the same day, was the worst of her life. It started with having her heart crushed as surely as if it had been ripped from her chest and turned to dust in front of her. Only to be kidnapped while in the height of her grief. Her only hope was that Nolan would try to find her and realize she had been taken. Who was she trying to fool? Nolan would give her the space he thought she needed right now. She wouldn't be missed until dinner.
"Nothing to say to me? Are you not going to beg me the way you begged my man?" The cruel man said again. She assumed it was the Captain of this ship. Her lips clamped together tightly, even though they could not see, and she let out a hiss of pain when her lip started to bleed again.
"What do you say we do with her boys? The King only said that she had to be alive, nothing more." Panic rose in her chest. She knew the stories. These sorts of men could do horrible acts to her.
"Please…" The word slipped out of her mouth as she was consumed by fear.
"Please?" he laughed. A hand touched her shoulder and she jerked away. "Tsk, tsk. Princess is that any way to treat someone that holds your fate in their hands?"
Oh god, oh god, oh god—her thoughts repeated. She was going to be sick and not from the pain in her head this time. Think Emma! Think! She could get out of this.
"My parents will reward you if you take me home." With a noose around your neck, she added silently.
More laughter and another touch of the hand this time on her neck, she stayed absolutely still, enduring the touch.
"You are a lovely thing." He said absently. "I really do doubt your parents would reward us as much as we will be when we bring you to King George. He has promised us all castles." He boasted.
"I can promise castles and gold." She said hastily. If it got her home she would promise it.
"Don't listen to her Captain, her parents don't give her that kind of power." A sarcastic voice announced, a familiar one. Justin. Oh god. Justin was part of the kidnapping plot. Her stomach dropped.
Her head turned in the direction his voice had come from as though she could see him. "What do you want with me?" Emma's voice broke as she turned her head back in the direction the Captain had been.
"I have a ship full of lonely men, princess, what do you think I want with you?"
She swallowed hard and tears started to silently fall from her eyes. None of them would touch her, she vowed.
"But for now princess we are only taking you to King George. It is a month's voyage, so I'm sure you will be kept quite busy." His harsh laugh came out of his throat and then he broke down in to a coughing spell.
Bastard. The venomous thought left her and she was lucky it hadn't also burst from her throat, she was sure it would have ended with her being hit again.
"Are you and your men afraid of a helpless princess? Is that why my hands are still tied and my face is still covered?" Her voice dripped with heavy sarcasm, the hatred and venom lacing each word.
"Oh no, not at all. We are just making sure we are far enough from land for you to jump and swim to shore."
Ah, so they were still close to land. The thought gave her hope; she couldn't have been missing too long yet. Maybe Nolan was looking for her. Please Nolan, just this once don't give me space. Come find me.
A/N - I tried to post this chapter before work, but it seems that I had 'too' many documents. So I researched the issue... Now I can post. It was truly a noob issue. ;D Thank you for reading, you guys make it all worth it.
Angelfan984 thank you for pushing me through this chapter and for beta'ing this story for me.