Chapter 25: Ghostly Encounters

Regina had called those who knew her mother to meet at her house later that day. Maddie was sitting next to David who was arguing with Snow over what their baby's name would be as Hook sulked in the corner. Emma had yet to show up which Maddie was grateful for. She was still angry with the blonde even though Regina tried all morning to get the girl to forgive Emma. Maddie was stubborn, just like the rest of the Mills women. Regina knew she had her work cut out for her in that department.

But Maddie was a bit preoccupied. As soon as Regina mentioned the word 'séance', Maddie internally freaked out. Ever since she was a little girl she was afraid of ghosts. She didn't want to let Regina know her fear; she was embarrassed to still be scared of that stuff. She could handle fighting her mother and flying monkeys but ghosts were a different story. Her father was always there to calm her down but not anymore, she would have to face this fear alone.

She couldn't fathom why someone would willingly summon spirits into their home. She didn't think any situation was grounds for calling upon ghosts but this wasn't her house; she didn't have a say for Regina was doing this with or without her.

Maddie tried to focus on something else while they all waited for Regina. She watched from her chair as Hook threw a green apple up and down just as Emma walked through the door. "I'd watch out for the apples in this house." She heard the blonde say. Maddie rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the bickering couple sitting next to her.

Emma noticed Maddie was sitting at the table and thought this might be the only chance she would get to try to talk to the girl again but as soon as she sat down, her father wanted her to settle a dispute between him and Snow. She couldn't get a word in edge wise because her parents just kept going back and forth. By the time there was a lull in the conversation, Regina walked through the door with a tea pot in her hand. "Sorry to keep you all waiting. I was making this special tea." She began filling the small goblets. Maddie took a deep breath trying to calm herself down knowing they were about to begin.

David lifted one of the goblets to his mouth when Regina yelled, "No! Don't drink it!" Regina huffed in annoyance as David stopped just in time. "It's a deadly potion for summoning the dark forces."

"The dark what?" Emma asked confused. Maddie just shook her head. She still couldn't believe that Emma hadn't learned her craft by now.

Regina just finished filling the goblets before she began speaking. "Zelena came by this morning." Maddie looked up to her aunt with somewhat of an angry look on her face. She hated when Regina didn't mention things to her, especially those regarding her mother. Regina sat down next to Emma and Maddie with a sigh. "While the Dark One was stealing my heart, she was here gloating. She said that my weakness was that I don't know enough about her past. So, I've decided to summon someone who does." She looked around at each one of them. "We have to talk to my mother." Regina said looking right at Snow who had a guilty look on her face.

Maddie learned earlier that day that Snow was the reason why her grandmother was dead though she didn't know the whole story but she knew this wasn't the time to ask. She asked another question instead. "Do I really need to be here?" Her voice was a bit shakey as she tried to laugh off her fear. "I didn't know Cora and I hardly think she knew about me."

"Still," Regina insisted. "You're her blood which will further the connection."

Emma saw the hope drain from Maddie's face as she dropped her head. She had a feeling the girl didn't want to be here and she couldn't blame her. Summoning ghosts wasn't exactly on her agenda today either.

"It's a fairly simple ritual." Regina continued. "But not often performed."

"I would hope not." Maddie said under her breath.

"If it's easy to talk to the dead then why not do it more?" Emma asked. Maddie would normally roll her eyes at any question Emma has about magic but not this one. She was freaked out as is; being angry at Emma took a back seat in this situation.

Regina explained to them that both the murder weapon and the murderer were needed to perform this spell which instantly made Snow cringe. She still felt guilty for killing Cora and was slightly afraid about summoning her spirit. David took his wife's hand as the others sat uncomfortably in their seats watching Regina light the two sides of the candle.

Emma looked briefly at Maddie and could see the fear on her face no matter how much the girl was trying to hide it. After being surrounded by kids in the foster system for such a long time, she could always tell when a kid is scared; she could see it on their faces. "What do we need to do?" Emma asked.

She closed her eyes and held out her palms signaling everyone to join hands. "Think of Cora." She told them.

Regina could feel how scared her niece was but she didn't say anything, she only tightened her grip around Maddie's hand. All eyes remained closed and there was complete silence for a moment before Emma spoke up. "Is it-"

"Shh." Regina shushed her only to get a giggle from Maddie and a glare from Emma. "You too." Regina told her niece. Emma smirked at the girl but they both got their hands squeezed by Regina. "Focus." She said sternly. They both instantly closed their eyes.

It was quiet, eerily quiet; the kind of quiet that makes your hair stand on end which was exactly what was happening to Maddie. It suddenly got cold in the room, the wind picked up and the fire went out. She could feel something was going to happen any minute now. They heard a buzzing sound above them and looked up to see a swirling purple vortex. Both Emma and Maddie's eyes grew wide. They were not expecting this.

"We did it." Snow said somewhat thrilled and frightened.

"Mother can you hear us?" Regina yelled over the loud wind.

As scared as Maddie was, she couldn't take her eyes off the vortex. She was hoping Cora wouldn't make an appearance but at the same time, she wished she would. Her heart was racing either way.

"Don't ignore me!" Regina yelled. They could hear odd, yet bone chilling sounds coming from the hole in the ceiling. Maddie wanted to run out of the room but she couldn't move her legs or any part of her body. "Please you owe me this!" Regina screamed.

Maddie could hear the desperation in her aunt's voice and knew something must've went down between her and Cora. She knew some of their history but not all of it. She made a mental note to question Regina about it later but right now, she was frozen in fear.

The table lifted a bit, startling everyone. Maddie and Snow let out a scream and with that, the vortex was gone and the wind disappeared though they were still sitting in the dark. "Sorry." Hook said and let out a nervous laugh. "I bumped the table."

Regina sighed in disappointment and looked to the ceiling hoping the vortex would open up again but she knew that was wishful thinking. She closed her eyes briefly before leaning forward and blowing out both sides of the candle with a sad look on her face.

"Do we try it again?" Snow asked. Maddie was hoping Regina would say no because she was too scared to go through with that again. Once was enough, even without a ghost showing appearing.

"There's no point." Regina said sadly. "It worked. The portal opened but nothing came from it. She doesn't want to talk to me." They could all hear the frustration in her voice and gave her sympathetic looks. "I guess whatever secrets lie in her past she wants to keep buried there."

Maddie took a deep breath before she followed everyone else out into the hall after the discouraging séance. "Maybe Belle will have more luck. There has to be something that can help us." She heard David say, who was the first one to exit the room.

"My magic gets more powerful every day. By the time this all goes down I'll be ready." Emma replied which earned her an eye roll from the teenager though Maddie was hidden from her view.

"Make sure you are." Regina said somewhat sadly just before she let out a heavy sigh. Snow noticed the defeated look on Regina's face, as did Maddie.

"Come on. Let's go." Emma said as she and Hook made their exit. Maddie was happy Emma was leaving but she wanted to leave too and she knew Emma would try to talk to her again so she remained next to her aunt.

"I'm going to stay and talk to Regina." Snow told David.

David nodded and left, shutting the door behind me. "I'll help clean up."

"I'm not in the mood for a heart to heart." Regina replied to the pregnant woman as she began to head back into the study.

"I'm not sure that's possible." Snow said with a smile. A small grin came upon Regina's lips. "You can help with the tea cups." She saw Maddie out of the corner of her eye. "Madeleine, you're still here?"

"Yea. I thought I'd stay and help too." She said rather awkwardly. She didn't know if her aunt would let her stay or want her there for that matter. "But if you want me to go-"

"Oh no!" Regina said quickly as a smile spread across her face. "Stay as long as you want." She was happy her niece wanted to stay on her own free will. She was hoping this was a sign that Maddie wanted a relationship with her as well. "Actually, I was thinking you could go take a shower."

Maddie couldn't help but laugh. "The thing you were trying to get me to do earlier?"

Regina nodded. "I showed you how to do it so don't chicken out this time. It won't hurt you." She said as she pushed her towards the stairs. "Everything is still there from earlier."

Maddie was still unsure of this new contraption but she began to ascend the stairs anyway as Regina and Snow walked back into the study. No one was in the hall to notice that the front door was being sealed off by a magical force unbeknownst to the three currently in the house. They were trapped.

Maddie remembered where the bathroom was. She was so enraptured by it. The fact that her aunt had indoor plumbing, a bath and a shower blew her mind. She was excited to try this new thing but she was also intimidated by it.

Maddie smiled when she saw the towels and clothes from earlier. Regina was definitely different than my mom. She stripped off her clothes and got into the shower, shutting the glass door behind her. She looked at the shower puzzlingly trying to figure out which way Regina said was hot and which was cold. Maddie turned the nozzle to the right expecting hot water to come out but nothing did. Hmm. She turned it the other way but ended up with the same result, nothing. She crossed her arms and looked at it intensely trying to remember exactly what Regina showed her.

Maybe she pushed it. She pushed the nozzle but it didn't budge. Pull maybe? She pulled it and turned it to the right; cold water instantly falling upon her. She shrieked from the bone chilling water and the surprise of it actually working. She turned the nozzle to the left and she could feel the water getting much warmer. Although it took her a few minutes to figure out which temperature she liked the best, she really enjoyed the shower.

She picked up the shampoo bottle and flipped the lid open. She couldn't help but smile when she smelled the scent of the shampoo: Apples.

Twenty minutes had gone by since Snow and Regina began cleaning up her study. They were now in the kitchen where Regina was just folding a hand towel while Snow played with one of Regina's red apples which were resting on the counter.

"I'm sure you had some things you wanted to say to her." Snow spoke up from her seat unsure if Regina would be willing to talk about Cora given it was a touchy subject.

Regina snickered as she turned around and folded her arms. "Yes, well. I'm realizing that my mother walled off a lot of her life from me. She wasn't the warmest mother but at least I thought I occupied a singular spot in her heart." Regina shook her head as she walked closer to the counter where Snow was sitting. "A sister and a niece."

Snow could see she was still having a hard time coming to terms with her new family members. "Why would both Cora and Zelena turn their backs on their children?" Regina questioned though she wasn't expecting an answer but Snow always surprised her. "They were inconvenient." The pregnant woman said. Regina sighed knowing that was the truth, at least part of it. But she was sure there was more to it than that.

"Madeleine seems to be warming up to you." Snow said with a smile on her face when she saw Regina's hopeful grin. "I'm trying to welcome her into my family without overstepping." Regina said honestly.

"I think you're doing the best that you can, given the circumstances." Snow said sympathetically. "Once you have time to focus on her, I'm sure you two will be closer than ever."

Their smiles faded when they heard a loud thud come from upstairs followed by what sounded like a creaky wheel. "What the hell is that girl doing up there?" Regina said with an angry look on her face. She began heading towards the stairs with Snow following right behind her as the creaky sounds continued.

Regina rounded the corner first and spotted Maddie in the dimly lit hallway wearing the jeans she found buried in her drawer and a purple v-neck she rarely wore with her hair still wet and knotty. "Madeleine!" She yelled making the girl jump and let out a small scream. "What the hell are you doing up here? It sounded like you dropped a piano."

"I thought that was you!" Maddie said trying to catch her breath from the heart attack Regina had just given her.

They heard the creaky noise coming from further down the hall behind a closed door. "It's in there." Regina said pointing to the door at the end of the hallway.

"What's in there?" Maddie asked frightened.

"We don't know." Snow told her which made her even more scared than she was two seconds ago. They started walking closer to the door as the sounds got louder. Maddie shook her head. "I'm outta here." She said before running down the stairs and towards the front door but was met with a wall where the door used to be. Her eyes grew wide. "No!"

She tried using her magic but it wasn't working. The lights suddenly went out and she was completely terrified now. She ran into the closest room, which was Regina's study, and shut the door behind her. She blindly made her way over to the corner of the room by Regina's desk and scrunched down. She could still hear the creaking sound coming from upstairs. Maddie hoped it was just some animal that got into the house by accident but it was no such luck. The wind suddenly swept the room, wind that shouldn't be there. She knew something was happening upstairs, something magical. Whatever it was, she knew it wasn't good.

She saw the purple smoke engulf the spot in front of her as she looked up to see Snow and Regina standing there. "What happened?" She asked as she sat petrified on the floor.

Before anyone could answer, Cora's ghost flew through the opposite side wall with so much force that they were blasted with a ton of wind. Snow cringed in fear as Maddie put her head down to shield herself from the terrifying image before her. This is exactly what she was afraid of.

Regina was the only one who was able to take control. She used her magic to hold her mother's ghost as bay seeing that other-worldly creature wasn't backing down. "I can't hold her forever." Regina said through gritted teeth. "Madeleine!" She yelled with an urgency Maddie knew she should obey but couldn't find the courage.

Maddie peeked through her hands to see Regina struggling to keep Cora's ghost away from them. She knew that her magic could be useful right now but she was too scared to move. "Maddie, you have to help her." Snow yelled over the loud wind that turned the room upside down.

Snow helped the girl up who was still shaking in fear. Maddie held out her hands hesitantly as she imitated Regina's spell to keep the ghost away. It worked for a short while but they both knew Cora's ghost was stronger and their magic wouldn't do much good once she powered through.

"Cora, I'm sorry." Snow shouted as Maddie and Regina continued to struggle. "Please forgive me!"

Cora's ghost was flying back and forth trying to get around the two with magic but Maddie and Regina kept a firm hold on her. "Save your breath." Regina told her. "Your mother was nothing like my mother. She only understands power and weakness." She began to raise her voice as she started talking to her mother. "But if she wants you then she's going to have to go through me!"

Both Maddie and Snow looked to the Queen with surprised looks on their faces. Never would they have thought that Regina would protect Snow. "This isn't about you." Regina said to Snow though she kept her eyes trained on her mother who was getting stronger. "This is about her and me!" Regina said just as the magic in the room came to a crescendo then stopped all together.

Maddie stood slightly behind Regina, afraid of what Cora was going to do. "It's time for answers mother." Regina demanded. "What did you do to Zelena?"

Without warning, Cora slapped Regina across the face so hard that it sent her flying into the nearby desk then set her eyes on Madeleine. Maddie's fear was at its highest now that Cora seemed to be focused on her. The ghost headed straight for Maddie but at the last second Snow pushed the girl out of the way to face Cora on her own. The pregnant woman tried to fight her off but Cora was much stronger, she always was. Snow fell into a nearby chair and began convulsing.

Regina and Maddie got up as quickly as they could though they were in some pain. They ran to Snow's side as the wind continued to circle the room. "Snow?" Maddie questioned horrified of what she was seeing in front of her.

She saw Regina back away slightly as a serious look fell upon her aunt's face. "Hold on. I won't let you go." Regina said to Snow before looking over at her niece who seemed to know what she was thinking. Regina nodded and they both flew out their hands to try to pull Cora out of Snow's body.

It took a few moments but they managed to do so. Maddie struggled to hold Cora's ghost while Regina reopened the portal from earlier. As soon as Regina was able to get it open, Maddie pushed Cora back into the hole she crawled out of.

Emma, David, Hook and Belle ran into the study just as Regina sealed the portal. The wind instantly disappeared as the lights came back on. "What the hell was that?" Emma yelled looking at the ceiling.

Maddie sighed when she saw Emma but she was also trying to calm herself down after facing one of her biggest fears so she ignored the blonde. "Cora." Regina said as she turned her attention back to Snow who seemed to be passed out in the chair.

David ran to her side and began stroking his wife's hair. "Cora." Snow whispered as she began to come out of it. "Trying to communicate…"

"She was?" Regina asked eagerly to find out more of her mother's past.

"What she say?" Maddie questioned who was just as curious as her aunt was.

"Leopold." Snow breathed out. "My mother."

Regina was confused, as was everyone else. "Sh. Snow. Relax." David said as he continued to soothe his wife.

"We need to call a doctor." Emma said eyeing her mother worriedly.

"She might know something that can help us." Regina said wanting to wait a bit longer before they called the doctor.

"Regina, it's going to have to wait." David said firmly.

"It can't wait!" Regina yelled which startled Maddie who was still tense though everyone seemed used to Regina's temper. "If we want to stop Zelena we need to know what she's doing and why!" Regina continued to yell.

"I can help with half of that." Belle said which earned her all eyes to fall upon her. "She's planning on going back in time."

They were all confused, especially Maddie and Regina for the others heard bits and pieces of Belle's theory during the drive over. "Are you certain?" Regina questioned.

"I don't think anyone has ever been able to cast a spell to go back in time." Maddie said recalling everything she has read.

Regina shook her head. "She's right. No one has."

"Well clearly Zelena thinks she can do it." Belle told them. "Brains, Courage, a resilient heart…" They all looked like they had been punched in the gut. "Those are all ingredients in every time travel spell I found."

Regina had to take a seat; Maddie leaned against the wall while she ran her fingers through her wet hair from the shower she took earlier. This was hard to hear for both of them. "We have no idea what she's trying to accomplish." David said looking around the room.

"I do." Snow spoke up. Everyone leaned forward a bit to hear the soft spoken woman. "She didn't want to give up Zelena. She was forced to by my mother. Princess Ava told a secret, just like I did."

Maddie's jaw dropped. She wasn't expecting that. She looked over to her aunt who seemed just as surprised as she was.

"Wait, I thought our family were the good guys?" Emma questioned to which Maddie instantly thought was stupid. She didn't know if it was because she hated Emma or because things were usually more complicated than good and bad. It didn't matter though because Regina responded with an answer Maddie agreed with. "Life is too messy for it to ever be that simple."

"So you're saying that if it wasn't for Snow's mother, Cora would've kept Zelena." David said in realization.

Belle nodded in agreement as they realized they were on to something. "She would've been tutored by Rumplestilskin." Regina looked to the book worm knowing she was right and that her life would've been completely different. I could've been happy with Daniel or even Robin had I gone into that bar!

"So the problem here is this Princess Ava." Hook came to the conclusion.

"Which means that-" Emma began but was but off by Snow. "Zelena's going back to kill my mother." She said with her head tiredly still resting on the chair.

Regina gasped slightly. "You'll have never been born." She said to Snow with her jaw hanging wide open.

"I'm guessing this is where your help ends." Emma said to Regina which earned her glares from both of the Mills women currently in the room.

Regina gritted her teeth. "No. Think it through for once, Emma. It means you'll have never been born and neither will Henry." She said with a heavy sigh. Emma instantly put her head down knowing she jumped the gun too quickly.

"And on this different path, Regina, you may not be born either." Snow told her. "Or Madeleine for that matter."

Maddie and Regina made eye contact from across the room. They could both see the raw fear in each other's eyes as this whole situation became ten times more real. A lot of lives hung in the balance if Zelena actually succeeded.

"But let's remember that no one has been able to accomplish this time travel nonsense." Hook reminded them hoping to give everyone some hope.

"The baby." David said looking from Snow's stomach towards the rest of them as it seemed a light bulb just went off.

"What?" Hook asked wanting to know what made him stand so suddenly.

"The baby." He told them. "That's what's missing. That's why none have succeeded. Somehow, someone our baby is the key." He looked over to Snow.

"Of course it is." Emma said with an eye roll and a sigh.

"Zelena went through a lot of trouble to get close to our baby." David continued.

"She did?" Maddie questioned. "When was this?"

"While you were taking your precious cat nap along with the rest of your people." Hook responded sharply. The teenager rolled her eyes at the pirate. She was getting really tired of these people and she didn't know how much more she could take.

"What is she going to do with it?" Snow asked rubbing her stomach protectively.

David leaned down once again. "It doesn't matter because we are going to stop her." He put his hand over hers. "As long as our baby's unborn, she can't hurt it. And we have what we need. Time."

Snow looked down at her stomach then back to her husband. "Just not very much of it."

No one said anything for a few minutes. The news seemed to hit them hard. They knew if they didn't stop Zelena then life as they knew it would never be the same.

Okay, I know it's moving kinda slow but just bear with me. More reviews mean faster updates :)