Chapter 26 OUAT

*Okay, finally got a website that lets me stream live!*

I had only gotten to the end of the driveway, in fact, and stepped on to the sidewalk when I saw Mary-Margaret and David surrounded by the Dwarves, the Blue Fairy, Emma, and Henry. I made a quick look around and jumped the fenced in the outdoor dining area and hid in between the decorative bushes. Not long after I heard Ruby yelling my name. Her heels clicked behind my back in the alleyway, I tensed and held my breath.

"Ree?!" She yelled as she walked. "Ree?! Ree!" I heard her stop in her tracks. I peeked out and saw Snow make a dash for the alley.

"Ruby!" Snow yelled.

"Snow!" Ruby yelled back. I heard soft sniffles and tried not to move. There was silence before Mar-Snow…spoke.

"Ruby what's going on?" There was the sound of shuffling feet and hushed whispers as the group moved towards the alley.

"We came home from the hospital a-a-and Ree got cleaned up and showered…then the smoke came and went. Then Ree said she was going to go take a nap and so she went upstairs. I was going to check on her since I thought it was odd for her to sleep when she just woke up from a 24 hour period of sleeping. When I went to her room she was gone." I heard Ruby's voice crack multiple times and I felt a twinge of regret for leaving, but then I remembered that I needed answers as to what was going on and curiosity overruled my regret.

"Ruby she can't have gotten far…We'll find her." I heard Emma say. I gulped as I thought of the trouble I was in with not only Granny and Ruby, but now Emma and her clan…it was becoming a high price in order for me to quench my curiosity.

"You don't think she'd go to Regina's…do you?" Charming asked. There was a stunned silence before running footsteps and the distant angry jeers of people came from up the street.

"There you are. Come with me." It was Archie. "I need your help. Dr. Whale has whipped everyone into a frenzy. They're going to Regina's house…they're gunna kill her." I covered my mouth so I would not let out a yelp of protest.

"Yay, let's watch." I almost jumped out from my hiding spot as Grumpy said this.

"No. We cannot sink to her level. No matter who she is or what she's done, killing her is wrong." Archie said. I gave a mental high five to him when I heard this.

"He's right. Please, she's still my mom." I heard Henry say. Relief washed over me as I realized Henry still loved our mother at least a little bit.

"And Ree could be there with her." Ruby chimed in.

"We have to save her." Emma said, although she seemed to do it with a bit of reluctance. I heard only snippets of what Charming said, but I knew they would be going to Regina's. When I no longer heard any voices or footsteps, I looked around the area before following them to Regina's. I made my way closer to the house when I saw that the group had joined the mob on the front lawn, which was now in the form of a half circle surrounding Regina and Dr. Whale.

"No matter what Regina did, it does not justify this!" Snow scorned. I peeked around the bushes and saw Dr. Whale and Charming in a face off on the front stoop. I could only hear snippets of what they said to each other since I was still a ways away from the doorway.

"And Regina's death won't provide any answers!" Snow announced, standing beside Regina. "She needs to be locked up-" I stepped forth from my hiding spot and moved closer, hoping to blend in with the crowd. Instead Ruby found me and pushed from the crowd, a lot of them watched as she tried to usher me away.

"Ree what are you doing?!" She whispered furiously. I tried to speak but couldn't, at the same time Regina pushed through the crowd and move Ruby aside. Before I could speak, she had engulfed me in a hug…then she realized where she was and who she was with and stood in front of me defensively. Everyone's eyes widened and I heard my name erupt from granny's and Snow's mouth. I looked up at Ruby and saw her shake her head disapprovingly.

"She needs to be locked up for her safety and ours." Charming said. I looked to Regina instead as she wound an arm around me and held me close. What followed was nothing short of heartbreaking as ruby forcibly pulled me away from Regina, who was then taken to the police station.

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The storm outside was getting worse and worse by the minute. I pulled my covers up around my shoulders and walked out of my room and down the hall to granny's room. Once I opened her door I debated whether or not I was too old to sleep in my granny's bed, but then I heard another boom of thunder and saw another flash of lightning before quickly running and jumping into bed with Granny, who woke up when I curled into her side.

"Ree are you alright?" She asked lazily.

"The storms getting worse." I said. She wrapped an arm around me before petting my hair.

"It'll all be over soon…I promise."

Across town at the police station, Emma, Snow and Charming had just stopped the Raythe and Emma was now helping a weary Regina stand on her feet.

"Did I-" Snow started.

"Kill it?" Regina finished. "No, it's regenerating. It'll be back, it doesn't stop until it devours its prey." Regina held up her hand to show the mark that the amulet had made. "Me."

"So how do we kill it?" Emma asked.

"There's no way…you can't kill something that's already dead." Regina said, swaying a little.

"Then we have a problem." Emma stated, turning to Snow and Charming.

"No we don't, Regina does." Charming said.

"What?" Regina gasped.

"David." Snow warned.

"You want her dead?" Emma asked with shock on her face at her supposed father.

"That Raythe goes away and Henry's safe." Charming said easily.

"Quite the example you're setting for your daughter." Regina snapped.

"No! You don't get to judge us." Charming said, making a move towards Regina.

"Let me ask you something where do you think that thing came from? Gold!" Regina said exasperated.

"I made a promise to Henry." Emma said cautiously to David. "And I know what it's like not having your mom or dad around…I'm not going to let Clarion lose her mother. She's not dying." David and Snow both had a questioning look on their faces.

"Who's-?" Snow started to ask.

"She's my daughter." Regina said tiredly. Just thinking about her made her heartache terribly. "She was taken from me not long after she was born." Regina said, looking straight at Snow. And she got the message, Clarion was Regina's and Daniel was her father. The guilt inside Snow twinged but she did not show any recognition of it on her face. Charming looking at the floor tiredly and then at Emma.

"I won't let it happen." She said firmly.

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