Chapter 8
I woke up, once again, in a place I didn't recognize. Panic surged in me for a moment, before a registered the warmth of a body next to mine, and the feeling of sheets against my bare skin. I turned my head to see the sleep soften features of the man I had left the bar with last night in a haze of kisses and wandering hands.
Right. Captain Hook.
The barest hint of light shone through the window of the cabin. I gave myself a few moments to watch the light play off his skin, mesmerized by the way his chest rose and fell with each breath. There was something almost endearing in the way he looked in that moment, asleep and peaceful.
Too bad he's in the middle of a murder plot with your grandmother and mother I hummed to myself, disappointed at the thought of this being the last time I saw him like this. Maybe if he doesn't get caught… I shook my head. No. No fraternizing with dangerous criminals. You remember how that ends. I shivered at the thought of Caelan. Even 17 years later, he lingered in my mind as an example of what not to do in relationships.
With that haunting thought stuck in my head, I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Jones. I pulled on my clothing, and, hearing movement outside on the docks, decided to shadow walk closer to home. Pausing before I could do so, I glanced back over at Jones and bit my lip indecisively, before scribbling my number on a loose piece of paper and placing it delicately on the pillow next to his.
In the next moment I was gone, reappearing a few blocks away from Regina's house, and resigning myself to getting my motorcycle in the morning.
Regina was not pleased that I'd been out so late, but she accepted my excuse of being out drinking and not wanting to drive my motorcycle drunk with more ease than I had expected, and she had helped me upstairs and into bed, her hand smoothing my flyaway hairs down as she sat perched on my bed.
When I woke up, morning had passed, and the warm afternoon sunlight just about blinded me as I sat up in bed. There was something in the air, a strange tension that had rushed in at some point when I was asleep.
I practically threw on my clothing before shadow walking to an alleyway in the middle of town. I waited for a couple to pass before calmly walking out onto the main street, adjusting my coat as I went. All seemed fine, if a little quiet. I glanced across the square, looking up at the clock tower. It was silent for a few moments, like the world was holding it's breath.
A terrible crash shattered the quiet, and a woman's body landed face down on the ground in front of the clock tower, a glittering halo of glass spread around her. I ran to her, falling to my knees next to her, and gently shaking her shoulder.
"Ma'am? Ma'am can you hear me?" I pressed my fingers to her neck and slumped in defeat at the lack of a pulse. Slowly, I glanced up at the broken clock face of the tower only to meet the horrified gazes of the couple I had met on my first day, and the guilty face of my mother. I turned away, trying to ignore the part of myself that was screaming that I should have known better than to trust someone who had called themself evil the first time we had met, and pulled out my phone, unsure of who to call.
A few moments later I was joined by the young couple, the dark haired woman, who I briefly remembered was called Mary-Margaret, sobbing deeply into the chest of the blond man. I rose to meet them as they came closer. "I wasn't-" I started, forced to stop to clear my unexpectedly hoarse throat. "I wasn't sure who to call."
The man, Sheriff David, looked at me for a long minute, his partner still crying softly into his coat. He nodded towards me. "I'll take it from here."
I took that as my cue to leave, given that I barely knew these people, let alone what this woman meant to them. I had barely taken 5 steps when I came to a stop, turning to face them again. "I know you don't know me, don't trust me, but…" I trailed off, gazing towards the woman on the floor, killed because of my family. My hands clenched involuntarily. "I've had to bury far too many friends over the years. Accepting someone else's help always made it a little easier. So I'd like to help, if you'll let me."
The blond eyed me, suspiciously before the woman muttered something into his coat, her cries dying down. He glanced down at her, and then back at me, nodding softly.
"Alright. Thank you."
A the end of the service we three stood quietly over the freshly dug grave of Johanna, friend to David and Mary-Margaret. When Mary-Margaret had mentioned that her full name was actually Snow White, as it the Snow White, I had a solid minute of freaking out internally about how I was ever going to explain this to Tanith and Skulduggery without getting mocked for a decade, before realizing that we were technically stepsisters. Not that I was going to bring that up myself, given what my mother had just done.
They were nice, I supposed, despite what Regina had said about them and they way they enabled their daughter basically stealing back Regina's son, my adopted brother.
But that wasn't important at the moment. I glanced at them, realizing that they probably would want a few moments alone together, and excused myself. I walked to the front of the grave yard, checking my messages as I went. Skulduggery had responded, finally, to my text with a single thumbs up emoji.
Yeah he's majorly pissed off, I thought to myself, dreading the eventual confrontation I was bound to have with him once he finally tracked me down. It was almost a little surprising, in fact, that he had yet to find me, but I suppose that had something to do with the otherworldly magic that had created this town in the first place.
A few minutes passed by in silent though before I was alerted to David and Mary-Margaret's footsteps coming closer. I turned towards them, watching them as intently as they watched me. They came to a stop a few steps away from me. David cleared his throat.
"Are you going to be alright?" He asked, surprising me. it must have shown on my face because he hurried to clarify. "It's just that, I mean it seemed like Regina was the reason you were in town. Seeing her do that…" he trailed off, and I had to swallow the retort that I'd seen and done much worse. Instead I smiled tightly and looked towards the horizon.
"I'll be fine." I said, forcing myself to believe that. I turned back to the couple, who were now looking at me with mild concern. "Though I have to ask, is there any sort of hotel in town that you can recommend? I've been staying at Regina's but given what's happened…" I winced, unable to finish the thought. It was disappointing to realize how much I was like my mother and grandmother. I was holding out hope that at least my father was somewhat sane. Though with a name like Rumplestiltskin...
"Who is she to you?" Mary-Margaret suddenly asked, letting go of David's arm in order to stalk towards me. "Why does she matter to you at all?"
I glanced down at the shorter woman for a moment, considering her, before deciding to just go with the truth.
"She's my mother." Mary-Margaret blanched, and behind her David looked aghast.
"What?" she sputtered out, looking more confused than ever before. I shrugged, crossing my arms defensively around my body.
"I recently found out that my parents were not who I thought they were, and, after some digging, I tracked Regina down. She's my biological mother." I muttered out, feeling guilty by association. Mary-Margaret paused, watching me intently for a few tense moments before moving towards me.
"Come stay with us tonight." She said firmly, taking my arm in hers and beginning to move us towards the exit. "We'll figure something out in the morning." I shot a confused look at David who shrugged his shoulders before following us.
"Why? Why would you invite me anywhere near you when you know who I am to her?" I sputtered out, beyond confused at this point. Mary-Margaret stopped, looking up at me.
"Because you were honest." She said, staring resolutely into my eyes. "And we are technically step sisters, and I don't feel great about leaving you to the mercy of Granny." I smiled slightly at that, waving my hand to indicate her forwards once again.
"Lead the way then, step sis."
