I know some of you have questions about Killian – but I promise they will all be explained eventually. I don't want to say anything to ruin the surprises coming for those who have never seen the show. But there were a few clues about him in the last chapter for those of you asking.

Emma tossed and turned again that evening. Her dreams were full of dark moving shadows, and fangs snapping at her neck. There were haunting blue eyes, and terrifying yellow ones, that all seemed to blur together.

And that one word that leapt out of the darkness at her once more.

Vampyr.

When she woke the next morning, drenched in sweat, it was with a new determination to find out what the hell was going on in town.

"Okay… what do you know?" she yelled out, pushing her way into the library.

"Excuse me?" Gold called back, popping his head out from one of the stacks at the back of the room.

"Your friend. He saved my life last night and then started banging on about vampires, and slayers, and watchers. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you're the watcher here?"

"Friend?" he asked, pushing the book he'd been examining back into its place, to make his way down to where Emma was standing. "What friend?"

"Tall. Dark. Handsome - in a really annoying way. British accent. Ringing any bells?"

"None at all," he admitted honestly, and the concern that flooded his face was starting to worry Emma. "What happened exactly?"

"This…" She waved her hands around animatedly for a moment, searching for a word less ridiculous than vampire. But nothing came to her."This… vampire attacked me last night, on my way to The Rabbit Hole. He saved my life. Then he took me to the cemetery… a strange guy took me to the freaking cemetery, and he told me to fight this new vampire that was crawling out of her own grave. He gave me this spiel about slayers and watchers…"

"And he sent you to me?" Gold asked.

"Not exactly. He said that watchers were stuffy and British. You're the only person I know in this town who fits that description," she replied with false cheer. "So... What do you know?"

Gold looked at Emma, and then out of the windows in the doors to the library. The halls were starting to get busy, a sure sign that the day was about to begin. But he knew that this was probably his best chance to speak with the young woman in front of him.

"I don't know who he is, but he's right. You, Emma Swan, are the chosen one."

Emma rolled her eyes a little at the reference to her destiny and fate once more. But Gold either didn't see her, or had chosen to ignore her.

"Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer."

"So, if only one of these slayers is born into every generation, how do you know it's me?" she asked, dropping her bag down to the table, as she pulled herself up to sit on top of it.

Gold wished she'd keep her feet off the furniture. But at least she wasn't running again. He could only hope that this mystery man she'd ran into would prove to be an ally of theirs, and not someone who wanted to turn her for their own cause.

"The Council have their ways. I'm not privy to them."

"The Council?" She raised a brow in question and Gold sighed, as he pulled off his glasses to rub at his eyes. This was proving to be more difficult than he had initially expected.

"The Watchers Council. They have worked with each and every slayer since the creation of the very first. They know who will be chosen, and when."

"So… let me get this right?" Emma asked. "Some stuffy British folk, who have never met me before, have just decided that I'm the one to fight their war on darkness?"

"No," he replied patiently. "They don't choose the next Slayer. Fate chooses her. They are simply placed close to her in order to help. To guide her in her quest."

"But how do you know it's me?" she pressed. "An awful lot of girls were born into my generation. It could be any one of us."

"The Council is certain, Emma. They've never been wrong before. Your being here is no coincidence. Something big is about to happen in Storybrooke. This town needs a slayer."

"I don't know how to be that person," she threw back at him. It was the first time since they had met that Gold had seen her not as a slayer, but as a scared young woman. "Killian tried last night. It didn't end well. He had to kill that second vamp before she killed me. How the hell do you expect me to stop the spread of evil if I can't even take care of myself?"

"Killian? That's the name of your mystery man?" Gold was certain he'd heard that name before. He just wasn't sure where.

"He's not my mystery man," she protested, "But, yeah. That's what he said. Why can't he do this? You two could team up. I'm sure that would work."

"I'm a watcher, Emma. I'm not a slayer. I don't have the strength or the skills that you have. It can only be you."

Emma didn't get a chance to reply. The next sound she heard was that of the bell ringing, signaling the start of her school day.

"I've gotta go," she told him, picking up her bag to swing over her shoulder, as she practically ran for the door.

Gold wasn't sure if she'd ever be back.

"Emma, where were you last night?" Regina asked, as she watched the blonde enter their homeroom a little later than expected.

"Oh, I um… I got lost," she lied, hoping the potential embarrassment at admitting such a thing would cover up the slight stutter in her voice.

"Well, I'd say you missed an epic night, but things don't really get epic in this town. You can always join us tonight instead?"

"Yeah, sure," Emma agreed. "I think my dad's working late again, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Excellent news. The Merry Men are going to be playing there this evening, and they're probably one of the best bands we get. I'm sure you'll love them."

Emma nodded her agreement, but was saved from coming up with some reply that wasn't how ridiculous is that name for a band? by the arrival of their tutor.

Thankfully her second period of the day was chemistry, and Regina didn't seem to be a part of the class Emma had been placed into. So when she made her way into the room, she decided to take the seat next to the only familiar face she recognized.

"Hey, Zelena. I hope you don't mind me joining you?"

"Oh of course not," she stuttered out. "Will Regina mind?"

"Will Regina mind what?"

"You sitting with us? We're not really part of her group," Zelena explained quietly.

"Fuck her," came a mumbled response from the redhead's other side, and Emma peered around her to see who had spoken it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Zelena interrupted. "Emma Swan, this is my best friend, August Booth. August, this is Emma Swan."

August held his hand out to take Emma's into his own, but instead of shaking it as she had expected, he brought it up to his lips, to place a delicate kiss to the back of it.

"Enchanté," he whispered, winking in her direction.

Emma pulled her hand back with a slight chuckle. She'd never been greeted that way before in her entire life. And she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it. But before she could say anything, August asked, "So, you're the new girl, right?"

"I am indeed. I wonder… how long does someone have to be in town for, before they stop being referred to as the new girl?"

"Oh, there aren't many people who come to town," Zelena snorted. "You'll probably be known as the new girl until we graduate."

"Good to know."

Emma found chemistry to be an interesting experience. While the lesson itself was just as boring as she remembered it being back in Boston, working with Zelena and August was actually a fun way to pass the time. They had an easy friendship, that Zelena happily explained dated back to when they were babies. And it clearly showed.

While they might not have been the coolest kids in school, they were definitely more fun to be around than Regina and her friends had been.

When the bell rang signaling the end of the period, Emma was happy to note that Zelena and August seemed to be headed in the same direction as she was. The three of them shared all of their classes that morning, with no sign of Regina, or any of her other friends, in sight. Which made Emma's decision to spend her lunchbreak with the two new people in her life much easier than she had expected.

"So, long story short," Zelena chuckled, "August got so drunk, he ended up peeing in my mom's favorite purse. He was banned from the house for three months as a result of it."

August looked suitably embarrassed by his best friend's traitorous tale, but Emma suspected the glint in his eyes meant that he had an equally embarrassing one about Zelena. And he was just waiting for the perfect moment to drop it.

Until someone interrupted the three of them.

"Are they bothering you?" Regina asked, staring down at Zelena and August from the lofty heights of her sky-high heels.

"No, not at all," Emma replied honestly. "They were just telling me some stories about how they met."

"I'm sure that's thrilling," Regina interrupted, in a tone that clearly stated she thought it was the most boring subject in the entire world. "But we're sitting over there." She inclined her head in the direction of the table Emma could already see full of guys from the football team, and all of Regina's friends.

"I'm fine here, thanks."

Regina's face dropped. Like someone had just informed her that her dog had been hit by a car. And Emma got the distinct feeling that she'd never had someone reuse her demands before. "Well…" she finally huffed out, "Don't come crying to me when your social status drops because you've spent so long with these bottom-dwellers." With those parting words she turned on her heels, and stormed away.

The others watched her go in silence.

Regina thundered across the cafeteria, drawing the attention of everyone in the room, before she took a seat at her own table. She gave a slight huff of frustration, and then began waving her arms animatedly. Everyone knew that she was busy filling her friends in on Emma's fall from grace. It wouldn't take long for the entire school to hear about the incident.

"I'm sorry," Zelena apologized. The last thing she had wanted to do was hurt Emma in any way. "You can join them, if you want? We won't mind. Will we August?"

August looked like he clearly would, but he shook his head in agreement anyway.

"It's okay," Emma assured them. "I really did mean what I said. I'm happy here. With you guys."

August and Zelena exchanged a small look, before he launched into his own embarrassing tale. This one was about the first time Zelena had stolen a bottle of wine from her mother's cupboard, and all of the places she had ended up puking, as a result of that.

By the time the final bell had rung that afternoon, Emma was starting to feel like she had made her first true friends in Storybrooke.

Zelena and August had both promised they would be at The Rabbit Hole that evening, and that Emma was welcome to join the two of them, now that her invitation from Regina looked like it no longer stood. Emma found herself more excited for the night ahead of her than she had been when Regina had first mentioned the club.

She had even managed to push all thoughts of creepy librarians, attractive mystery men, and vampires from her mind. Instead, she chose to focus on mentally building a killer outfit to wear that night.

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