The door closed with a soft click, Dawn should've been relieved but even she knew the stranger will be back soon, filled with impossible questions just to torture one of the two. The nymph swallowed as she turned to the Queen who was gasping for breath, weaving in and out of consciousness.
"A- are y- you o- okay?" Dawn asked.
Regina groaned, "Does it sound like I'm okay?"
"No" Dawn answered honestly, "But just remember… I've been tortured a couple of days more than you"
"That's all that they've been doing?" Regina asked, "You've been gone for almost a week"
Dawn paused before she had to ask, "Is anyone looking for me?"
"The whole town is" Regina answered, "Marco hasn't stopped looking for you, he's up day and night now. They all thought it was me, naturally. It kind of disappointed everyone because of the things I did. Now I'm the one kidnapped, I highly doubt anyone will be turning over stones for me"
Regina let out a dry, exhausted laugh but it was also with a hint of sadness as she stared off into space.
"Henry will be looking for you" Dawn replied back.
Regina swallowed before she said, "You think so?"
She turned and looked to the young nymph, "He hated me so much ever since he brought Emma into town. All I wanted was to be a good mother, I hope he understands that"
"It was part of a prophecy" Dawn said, "Emma was supposed to come back and Henry was supposed to lead her here… He'll grow to love you again"
"If we ever make it out of here" Regina glanced around.
"Is anyone close to finding me-" Dawn stopped, "Or us, now?"
"I don't know" Regina sighed, "I wasn't really in your search party. I was looking to get Henry back in another way… sorry"
"I would say none taken but I've been tortured ever since I've been kidnapped so I do take it personally" Dawn replied back.
From the other room, the women could hear the door slam, Dawn jumped nearly out of her skin. The man and woman were in the other room, talking amongst each other but in a different way. The last couple of days the pair would be whispering in the other room, calm and collected but now, they could hear almost every word. Dawn felt that there must be a change in their plans for them to act this way. She turned her head slightly to Regina who also had her eyes fixed on the cloudy window.
"I'm saying we should pull the plug" the woman said, "I've tried to keep them at bay but that brat just won't leave me alone. He's suspicious of me-"
"So you don't come back here" he said, "Stay away for a couple of days, I'll hold down the fort here"
"No! I want to be here" she said, "What happened to your father is just as important as getting even with August"
"But if we don't get answers then he will be-"
"I know, I know!" the man responded, "But I just got her and I need to know where my father is! I've heard of a secret asylum and I know he's in there"
"And what about August?" the woman said, "He's the only one who's had access to the coachman and we need him for the boss to be on our side and this place, Storybrooke, will be done for good"
Dawn's heart skipped a beat as she recognized the nickname of a villainous person. She actually hasn't thought about him in years but remembering the name coming off of little Pinocchio's lips brought fear into his eyes. Is that why she was being tortured for information on August? To get to the Coachman, if he even made it through the Curse… there was only one way to find out.
"Do you know of the Coachman?" Dawn asked hoarsely.
Regina shook her head but then stopped, "I've heard of him, yes, but I've never crossed paths with him. Why do they need him?"
"If they need him, it's going to be for something not good" Dawn objected.
"So you know of him but aren't telling them?" Regina asked, "For almost a week now?"
Dawn hesitated before she said, "They've been asking the wrong questions. They want to know where August is in order to get to the Coachman… but I know of him too"
The door slammed open as the couple came barging in, the women turned their attention to the pair, wondering who was going to be next in the series of tortures. Usually, they would alternate from one person to the other, since Dawn got tortured last time, Regina started to tense up for her next round. But to both of their surprise, Dawn was getting latched up once again as Dawn panicked and squirmed.
"Wait!" Regina called out, "What are you doing?!"
"Plans changed" the woman said, "We need to speed things up a little bit more and do things a little bit differently"
"Your son is a lot smarter than we thought, Regina" the man replied, "Which is probably the reason why this round will hurt more than usual. You can blame Henry for this next part"
"I heard you in the other room talking about the Coachman" Regina let out making the pair stop, "I know him, if you want information about him, ask me. You don't have to go through the mess of trying to find August to find him, I'll tell you everything I know"
The pair looked to each other as if having a private conversation before the woman said, "She's lying, we've looked everywhere in town for him"
"Nice try" the man called to her.
He cranked the machine up to the point that Dawn could hear the power whirring in the container but before she could process it, hot searing pain coursed through her. She honestly didn't know if she screamed or not and didn't even know when the mysterious man stopped the button or if the electricity still coursed through her veins.
"Dawn!" came a far away voice, "Dawn!"
She slowly turned her head to see Regina looking to her with a panicked expression, "Don't give up, they're close. You are close to being rescued, that's why they're so scared. Hang on just a little while longer"
"Or you can tell us what we want to hear and all of this pain will go away" the woman leaned over Dawn as the nymph sobbed in pain, "You've been here for too long, Dawn, just end the suffering for yourself and tell us what we want to know"
Dawn sucked in a painful breath, "I- I don't know where A- August i- is"
The woman sighed as she turned to her partner, "Hit her again, this time with the next level and a little bit longer"
Dawn shook her head, "No… please"
That's when the pain flashed through her again and she let out another bloodcurdling scream from the top of her lungs.