Once we crossed into Maine, neither of us said much. Part of me wanted everything Lily said to be true, but another part of me didn't. I was no one's hero. I couldn't even save myself from an employee at a grocery store. If anyone should have been a savior, it was Lily.
At last, we saw it, a sign for Storybrooke. There had been no warning along the sleepy, dark road, no mile sign or even another car coming from the opposite direction, but there it was in all its glory.
"It's real," Lily spoke the words like a prayer. We'd both started to worry when we hadn't been able to find it on the map we'd bought at the gas station in Maine. All we'd had to go on were the directions the Apprentice had given her, and magical compass pointing in my direction or not, he sounded creepy.
We lurched forward, and I nearly hit my head on the dashboard. "Why did you stop," I asked her.
"I didn't." I heard Lily's panic over the roar of the engine.
Looking down, I saw her foot was still on the gas pedal, but no matter how much the car strained, it was as if we were caught in an invisible net.
"Maybe you have to drive us," Lily said.
"But I don't know how to drive," I stammered.
"You have to try." My friend put the car into park.
"Okay," I gave in and got out of the car.
Lily hugged me before walking to the passenger side. "You can do this, Emma. Our parents are waiting for us on the other side of the barrier."
I nodded, wanting to believe it was true. I put on my seatbelt and waited for Lily to do the same. I put both hands on the wheel and startled when her warm hand covered my wrist.
"You've got this," she said.
I put my foot on the gas, but just like with Lily, the car wouldn't move past the barrier.
"You have to put the car into drive, silly," she said, and I laughed with nervous energy as I changed gears.
Miraculously, the car went forward, and I began to wonder if Lily had tricked me into driving for the fun of it.
"You did it," she said. "You crossed the town line."
"Yeah," I said and saw lights up ahead. The closer we got, the more nervous I became. The empty road formed into small town shops. "Maybe you could take it from here?"
"Sure." She released my wrist to take off her seatbelt, but when I got out of the car, she didn't. I opened her door, and she was staring blankly at the road in front of us.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Lily startled and looked at me with a confused expression. "Where am I?" she asked.
"Don't be stupid," I said. "We're in Storybrooke."
"What?" she asked, still looking dazed.
"Storybrooke, Maine," I said, wondering what kind of game she was playing at.
"Oh," she said, "and who are you?"
"This isn't funny, Lily. You know who I am."
She shook her head. "No, I don't." Fear crept onto her face. "I don't think I know who I am either."
"Don't be ridiculous," I told her, wishing I could actually believe she was lying. "I'm Emma. We travelled here together."
"Was I in some kind of accident?"
"Lily, please, what's wrong with you?"
She rubbed her eyes as if trying to wake up from a dream. "I can't remember anything including how I got here."
I leaned up against the car and stared up into the night sky uncertain of what to do. The old town clock read 8:15, which was wrong. Only one person was out walking his dalmatian. He smiled and waved. I hardly had the energy to wave back, but I didn't want to draw attention to two runaway teenagers. Especially when the one who was good at lying was acting as if she'd had a lobotomy.
The man certainly didn't look like he was frozen in a curse, and he certainly was dressed like he was straight out of a fairy tale. Then again, neither did I or Lily.
I hadn't really believed in magic or curses until that moment, and the only answer was to go back the way we came.
I got back into the driver's seat and turned the car around. "Don't worry, Lily. I'm going to fix this."
"Where are we going now?" she asked.
"We're getting away from this place," I told her. "I think being here has done something to your memory."
"That doesn't make any sense," she said.
"Believe me," I told her, "I realize that, but people don't get amnesia for no reason."
"And you think the town has made me sick?"
"It's the only explanation that I have. We at least have to try," I told her.
"Watch out!" she shouted, pointing at the road I'd taken my eyes away from. There was a wolf in the middle of the road, and I swerved to the left, barely missing it. Instead of hitting the wolf, we smashed into the town sign.
The last thing I remembered before the darkness was the howl of a wolf.
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