Another addition to this story that I hope you like! Thanks again for my beta, thejollyroger-writer, aka Megan, for the amazing beta work! Also, check out the beautiful art she made for chapters 3 and 4 on Tumblr!

Chapter 4: It Was Awfully Dark

"So, what was that all about last night?" Mary Margaret watched disapprovingly as David grabbed five sandwiches off the tray and thoroughly drizzled the tablecloth with mayonnaise.

"Some patrolling Mages reported that a small group of Vampires were fighting next to a club. They called us in to check it out," David shrugged. "But the Vampires left as soon as we arrived. Some humans, on the other hand, couldn't behave and started shooting."

"They didn't realize we were just trying to protect them," Leo rolled his eyes.

"That's it?" Emma raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," David nodded. "By the way, the guys are coming over for a little party. Now that Leo's out of the hospital, we need to celebrate."

"Great," Emma sighed, mentally canceling her plans to read her favorite book in peace tonight. "Who's coming?"

"Well, Leo obviously, Robin, Ruby, August…"

"August?" her eyes lit up because August was the only person besides Mary Margaret with whom she could talk relatively freely.

"Oh, yeah," David nodded enthusiastically, and Emma could see the tiny little smile hiding at the corner of his mouth.

He was convinced that she had a crush on August and he would be the one to replace Neal. Then she would be her old self again as if nothing had happened. But there was nothing between them at all, she wasn't attracted to the man. He was just a good friend that she really needed now. Nothing more.

"Eloise, Will, and Killian will be coming too…" David listed, but Emma was no longer listening.

She spent most of her day, as usual, huddled up in her room. The whole situation with the creatures got weirder and weirder. The open attacks almost completely ceased after Neal's death, but still, no one could live in complete peace. They all felt that something was very wrong, and they were also sure that the creatures had not quenched their bloodthirst. They were preparing for something, and Emma and the others had no idea what they should do.

She just lay motionless on the bed, staring at the ceiling as her thoughts chased each other in her head. Her eyelids slowly grew heavy as lead, and the monotonous ticking of the wall clock soon lulled her into a deep sleep.

She woke up in a musty basement, her face resting on dirty stones. It was difficult to bring herself to a sitting position. Moss grew on the walls of the basement and water stood in puddles on the damp floor. To make matters worse, it was freakishly cold. Her breath wafted white in the semi-darkness.

The bumpy, cobblestone corridor was lit pale silver by the waning crescent moon. Above her head, instead of a proper ceiling, there were only grids dripping with rainwater between the walls.

She was shocked to realize she was wearing nothing but her favorite red satin shorts and a black tank top. Confused, she scrambled to her feet, her legs covered in dirt. She seemed to be standing at the end of a long corridor. The double-iron door that loomed behind her was locked with a chain and padlock, so there was no turning back...

The hallway opened into a single cell. The room was lit by torches, and in the dancing light of the flames, she spotted rusty chains attached to the wall.

A figure crouched in the middle of the tiny dungeon, tremors running through their body.

Her breath caught in her throat as she realized it was Killian. His black shirt hung on him in tatters, he was bleeding profusely from multiple wounds. Standing next to him was none other than David and Neal.

Eyes widening, she stared at Neal. Was he alive after all? How was that possible? Her heart flooded with warmth, but as she got closer to the two of them, she stopped, horrified and confused. Killian's wounds were visibly severe and he was shaking like a leaf. David and Neal, on the other hand, didn't even lift a finger to help him. They watched Killian with deep disgust and hatred on their faces.

"And how long have you been doing this? Since the beginning, huh? Is that right?" David roared as loud as he could, he was shaking with rage and the veins on his neck, as well as his temples, were visibly swollen.

Without any warning, they both attacked Killian. They punched and kicked where they could, not even sparing his head.

"How do you like that, you bastard? How could you?"

Emma had perhaps never seen David so rave with fury before. But with Neal, she was even more shocked. Her feet were rooted to the floor, and not a single voice came out of her compressed lips.

What the hell had gotten into him?

He'd never been so cruel before.

As the soles of Neal's shoes stung Killian's stomach again, life returned to her feet. "Neal, stop it! Don't hurt him!" She was about to grab his arm to pull him away, but her fingers slid over Neal's body as if he were nothing but air.

Stunned, she stared at her hand, which shone translucently with pearly light. Apparently, she had no physical body, nor was her voice audible. She was completely invisible to them, an idle observer of events.

Killian fell onto his side, half-consciously, blood dripping from his ears, nose, and mouth as well. The ground around him was completely black, and she slowly realized that it was Killian's blood as well. Dried blood. She turned her head to the side and pressed her hand to her eyes.

What the hell was going on?

Suddenly she heard a loud, sickening crack, then Killian's gut-wrenching scream. When she looked back at him, she already knew what had happened. Open fracture of the femur. Killian's eyes widened in horror, gasping for air as his spine writhed in agony.

She shuddered in shock and fear.

"Emma! Come on, wake up!"

The air grew much warmer and her brother called her name. Suddenly she slipped into darkness and then her head cleared. She was lying on her bed, and David was shaking her not-so-gently by the shoulders.

"Let go of me!" she growled, trying to push his hands away from her. The image of Killian in the dungeon still floated before her eyes.

He didn't need to be told twice. David backed away from the bed and scanned her face anxiously. But he wasn't the only one in the room. Mary Margaret, Leo, and Robin also witnessed the whole show.

"Are you okay?" Mary Margaret settled on the edge of the bed. "You were screaming…"

"I'm not really surprised," Emma muttered, then sat up and buried her face in her hands. "It's okay, I just...had a bad dream, I think," she glanced up at the boys.

They took the hint immediately. As the door closed behind them, Mary Margaret looked at her with a frown.

"Are you sure it was just a dream? We thought you were awake and...having a seizure. Your eyes were open, Emma."

"It was so real. But it couldn't be a vision. It didn't make sense," she shook her head.

Besides, she had never had such a protracted vision before.

"Are you going to tell me what you saw?"

"Of course."

Emma tried to brace herself and collect her thoughts. She did her best not to miss a single moment of the dreamlike vision.

"Are you sure it was Neal? And David?" Mary Margaret asked.

Emma answered with a firm nod.

"And Killian... Did they seriously torture him together?"

"Yes, but I already told you that," Emma moaned in exasperation. She didn't want to think about that part of her nightmare.

She hopped off the bed and started pacing in front of Mary Margaret.

"I'm sorry to say this, Emma, but it was definitely a vision," her friend explained. "I don't know what else it could be."

"Anything else! Neal… he's dead."

"Yes," Mary Margaret nodded sternly and grabbed her by the arm. She stopped her nervous pacing and turned Emma to face her. "I'm not so sure whether you actually saw him in your vision. You said yourself that it was awfully dark. I'd bet anything it wasn't him. Because if it's the past…" Mary Margaret bit her lower lip thoughtfully and a frown appeared on her forehead.

"Is it possible that I saw part of the past?" She repeated Mary Margaret's thought in astonishment. "We would've known about it." Emma shook her head.

"Yeah, that's why it doesn't make sense," Mary Margaret agreed. "If all this had happened, Killian wouldn't be here with us now…"

"So, what do you think?"

"I think you should get yourself together and freshen up, it's almost seven. The others will be here soon. I don't think you want to show up in front of everyone in this condition."

"Why not?" she shrugged, but obediently headed towards the bathroom anyway. This had been a long day, and it wasn't over yet.

People were already gathered in the living room when she came down the stairs. They were sitting around the coffee table playing cards. August, Eloise, and Killian were chatting a few feet away from the designated playing area.

She directed her steps straight to the talking squad.

Eloise noticed her first, and her pretty face immediately contorted into a grimace. Emma didn't like her, and the feeling was obviously mutual. Her shiny red air fell in huge waves to her shoulder, and as always, she was dressed head to toe in blue. She had even painted her nails a beautiful shade of aquamarine.

"Hey, guys!" Her mood was already a bit depressed when she spotted Eloise, but one glance at August brought a smile to her lips.

"Hello, stranger. It's been quite a while since we last saw each other," August took a step forward, right between Killian and Eloise.

He hugged her tightly and pressed his cheeks against hers.

He was a full-blooded Elf, he had turned one hundred and seventy years old last week, but he was still a novice, a mere adolescent of his kind. His slightly wavy, short brown hair hid most of his pointed ears, at least that didn't make him stand out on the streets. He wasn't noticeably tall; he was only four inches taller than her. His figure, however, was anything but frail. His muscular body was quite unusual among his kind. They didn't need the visual display though, they could easily throw vehicles across a road if they needed to.

"Yeah, I missed you, too," Emma remarked, a little annoyed as he let go of her and stepped back a bit.

"I'm really sorry. Please forgive me, I've been traveling a lot." He tilted his head cautiously, but she could see in his dark blue eyes that he didn't feel any guilt; in fact, he was quite amused by her annoyance.

Time passed quite differently for him.

"You all know each other already?" Emma looked at the three of them, but her eyes involuntarily lingered on Killian, even though she had prepared herself upstairs not to stare at him at this party.

It was silly, but she was looking for wounds on his body. Or traces of them. In the end, her gaze fell on his thigh. That, of course, seemed to be completely intact, as did all of Killian's other body parts.

Killian, on the other hand, noticed her gaze, and he failed to mask the surprise on his face in time. Emma felt her cheeks redden and looked back up at August again.

"Actually, we just met," the Elf replied, clasping his hands politely behind his back.

"I thought you wouldn't be here," Eloise remarked, fixing her eyes on the opposite wall as if she found the deep green, serpentine-patterned wallpaper extremely interesting.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see August's face twitch slightly. He always found it difficult to tolerate unwarranted hostility.

"Why wouldn't I be here? I thought you knew I lived here, in this apartment. Does my presence bother you that much?"

She was tired of being polite, tired of being kind to her. Her gaze glowed with anger as she raised it to Eloise. The woman had tried to seduce Neal more than once, in increasingly insidious ways over the years, but to her utter disappointment, she had never succeeded. And that irked her to no end.

Now she seemed to be trying to ensnare one of the boys as well.

"I think a bit of fresh air would do us good. Emma, would you like to go for a walk?" August asked.

"That would be great, actually," she forced out through her clenched teeth and headed toward the hallway with August on her heels.

On the way out, Emma's gaze floated to David's face, and she almost let out a laugh. His expression was overwhelmed with hope that she would soon throw herself into August's arms.

"Where did that red-haired bitch come from?" August asked with an unflinching expression as they walked to the edge of the woods behind the house.

Her heart leapt in her chest, for Emma had never heard him use the word "bitch," though he was already unfortunate enough to know a few.

"I heard her thoughts, saw her memories… it was simply stomach-churning," he explained at the sight of her stunned expression.

The fact that he could see into Eloise's head so easily meant that she was truly as blunt-witted as she seemed. He was still very young for an Elf, and at the moment, he could only peer into the minds of individuals with more modest intellectual abilities. Emma kept asking him if he could hear her thoughts and see her memories, but he replied in the negative every time. She didn't know if he was telling the truth, but she hoped he wasn't lying to her out of pity.

"And where have you been for so long? I really missed you."

"The Guild sent me to France. The situation there is pretty depressing, too. The open street clashes stopped there just as suddenly as they have here. I don't understand it either," he shook his head. "But there's little we can do about it anyway. I'd be more interested in how you survived this month without me."

"I did nothing, as usual," Emma shrugged.

"Nothing worth mentioning again?" he raised an eyebrow in mock disapproval.

"You know I would tell you otherwise. It was unnecessary to even ask."

"I didn't know that man you were dating, but I have to admit, you're making me more and more curious. What was it about him that left such a deep impression on you?" he asked, the question directed more at himself than her.

She wouldn't have had the strength to answer him anyway. Instead, she told him about her dream-slash-vision. She was genuinely curious about his opinion.

"Strange," he muttered, staring thoughtfully ahead for a few minutes. "It can't be a vision since the man you were seeing is already dead. It can't be from the past, either, because then you'd surely know about it and this Killian guy wouldn't be here now. It's rather annoying, but I have to admit; I have no idea what it could be."

"I see."

Of course, she was disappointed; she was very confident that August would shed some light on what was going on.

"But I would appreciate it if you could tell me more about this Killian. When did he join the Hunters?" His eyes twinkled with eagerness and curiously, obviously excited about what he knew so little about.

"About two or three months ago," she answered, tossing a branch from the path.

"He is rather strange," August remarked.

Emma understood, he wanted to know more about Killian. "To be honest, I know very little about him. His magic is pretty strong, and apparently, there were Elves among his ancestors."

"Elves?" he frowned and shook his head imperceptibly. "Strange. I didn't sense that in his aura, though I should have…"

"I don't know from which side of his parents and how many generations back," she added hastily. "Maybe it's just a distant relative, that's why you couldn't sense it."

"It's possible," he nodded, but she could see he wasn't entirely convinced. "He's also quite taciturn," August continued, and Emma realized with a weary sigh that he wasn't going to give up on the subject of Killian.

He was as stubborn as a mule.

"Why do you worry so much about him?"

"His aura…" he shuddered as he thought back to their encounter. "It's even darker than yours."

"Darker? What's that supposed to mean? You never said mine was…" she paused.

August reluctantly came to a stop beside her and turned to face her. "Usually, the aura of people with a dark past, an evil personality, or dying individuals turns black. But it also happens when someone has gone through a terrible trauma or grief and can't get over it. General malaise, depression. Such people are usually very lonely, in some cases even antisocial," August replied.

Emma knew exactly what best described her of the things listed, but she had no idea about Killian. She couldn't really decide. Apparently, neither could August, and she could see that it bothered him.

"But… since when can you see the aura of Mages so clearly? Until now, I thought you could only do that with humans."

"My abilities are getting stronger," he smiled, visibly proud of himself. "Anyway, I feel sorry for the boy. I'm not sure why, but when I'm around him, the feeling just floods over me."

"I get it. I mean, I really don't, but that's probably my problem. Anyway, I think we should get back soon, I don't want David to get the wrong idea…"

"Yes, let's," August smiled and they both turned towards the house.

Meanwhile, in the living room, people at the coffee table got bored with playing cards and were discussing where to continue the party. The Hunters, of course, weren't bound by the curfew, they could go wherever they wanted.

Emma cut across the hall and marched straight to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. But unfortunately, David was already leaning against the refrigerator.

"Well? What's up with August, Ems?" It probably wouldn't have been possible to scrape the taunting grin off his face.

"Thank you, he's fine," Emma replied measuredly.

She was beginning to get rather annoyed at his behavior. She had decided long ago never to let anyone get close to her heart again, certainly not another Hunter she could easily lose.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, and so does August. But we both just laugh at your attempts. We're friends, that's all. We've even talked about it a few times, if I remember correctly," she stared fixedly at David's face, whose good mood was disappearing like a gray donkey in a fog, and his bleak expression didn't make her feel better.

"And how long do you plan on doing this, huh?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not doing anything you could object to!"

"But you do! You drive everyone crazy with this world-weary widow behavior! You act as if nothing matters to you anymore!"

"Maybe it doesn't!" she began to lose her patience and she, too, raised her voice.

"You're even trying to get over him. You're just… you're just a… selfish, stupid girl! You only think about yourself!"

The hot tea she was pouring into her mug flew straight into David's face. She didn't think he had any idea how much his words hurt her.

David let out a yell, and as if on cue, August stepped into the kitchen. He was astonishingly angry; Emma had probably never seen him in such a state before. If he could have killed with a single look, David would have collapsed dead on the floor.

"The others are getting ready to go to the Witchland Club. You better hurry up and change into something dry before they leave." August's voice was low, but his temper sounded undisguised.

He was one of the few people David never argued with. Without a single word, he left the kitchen.

She shivered all over and turned away from August bitterly. That was when she noticed the figure leaning against the counter at the other end of the kitchen. Killian. He could have seen the whole thing. He had a mug of something in his hand and was watching August and her with a stunned expression. He muttered something under his breath that Emma couldn't make out and shuffled out of the kitchen, leaving them alone.

"Are you okay?" August put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him, concern written all over his face.

"No… David is right. I'm selfish."

"You're not. If anyone's selfish, it's David. He has no idea what you're going through. He doesn't understand that the wounds of the human soul heal over time, not through violence and feigned negligence. Your pain will pass, I promise you. I'm not saying it will happen tomorrow, but it will take effect soon. David is also trying to protect his own soul, it's hard for him to see you like this. We can't blame him either."

She couldn't think of a reply, just watched the tiny drops of the tea on the floor. And then August did what he never usually did apart during greetings. He hugged her. Emma blinked in surprise for a while, then returned the gesture uncertainly.

"I don't understand you. Why do you care about me?" she asked, lips pulled into a smile.

"I have a few special quirks. You count as one of them," he winked at her.

"I need a serious answer, though," she insisted.

"I like you. You're a good friend of mine. I knew you before Neal died, and I wish you were like that again…"

"August…" she turned her head and broke away from his embrace.

"You asked, I answered," he shrugged.

"We're leaving now! Hurry up, guys!" Leo stuck his head into the kitchen.

"I'd rather stay home tonight, if that's all right," Emma replied.

"Me too," August nodded.

"Too bad," Leo said and walked back out of the kitchen.

Emma walked into the living room, August behind her.

"Come on, Killian! You better come with us!" Eloise urged him relentlessly.

"I'd rather go home," Killian shook his head.

"Let him! Once he makes up his mind, there's no changing it," Robin waved it off and followed David and Will out of the apartment.

Ruby shrugged and made her way to the exit as well. She was still limping a little, but otherwise, she seemed fine.

"You could stay here, too," Emma only saw a blur of gray as August slid next to Killian.

He smiled charmingly at Killian, and Emma knew immediately what he wanted. He was curious about Killian, there were too many secrets around him, and August endured it terribly hard when he didn't understand something.

Eloise expelled an angry breath, then left the house behind Mary Margaret and Leo, but the door remained open.

"I really should be going," Killian shook his head.

His face was calm, his gaze indecipherable.

"Are you sure you can't stay?" August frowned and put a hand on Killian's shoulder.

He used all his compelling skills, of which he had plenty as a full-blooded Elf.

"Aye, I'm sorry. Maybe next time," Killian nodded and his icy magic flared up again.

She was more than a foot away from the two of them, but she shivered at the feeling. August's face, on the other hand, didn't even twitch. At that moment, Emma found Killian more terrifying than ever.

"Good night," he turned on his heel and stepped out into the night.

August stared after him for long seconds, then whirled around and settled on the couch.

"What was that?"

"That's what I'd like to know. I'm going to suggest David keep an eye on him," he stated firmly, his gaze hardening instantly. "I tried to read his mind, and he noticed. I've hit a wall I wasn't expecting. And it's not the same wall I bumped into with you. It's a line of defense, and his magic… well, that's the most disturbing thing. He's not a simple warlock, that much is clear. But even if there was Elven blood in him, I couldn't sense it. However, there is something else that I cannot identify in any way. And I must admit, that worries me greatly."

"Not knowing exactly what and how much power resides in him doesn't necessarily make him evil," she explained, slightly surprised at August's sudden hostility.

"I didn't say that either," he nodded. "But it can't hurt to be careful."