Chapter Two

Vex Meets Goldilocks

It was early afternoon and the sun was high in the sky. It was a crisp, chilly day with a clear blue sky and bright sun. The leaves were scattered and drifting in piles around the little town. Granny's Bed and Breakfast was in need of a new coat of paint. It loomed against the blue sky, grey and drab. Most of the occupants were out and about, having risen early, but one was still inside. He kept such late hours, and slept into late mornings or early afternoons. Goldilocks was cold and bored, watching the doorway from above. The golden-haired girl was seated on the roof of Granny's B&B, her knees drawn up to her chest. The wind was whipping at her hair and tugging at her clothes. She wore a dark green flannel shirt under a denim jacket, and dark grey jeans paired with soft-soled tennis shoes. Her face was flushed from the cold, her cheeks pink, as she watched the front door, waiting for her target to appear. She stretched out one leg, and then the other, trying to keep from cramping up. This was not the most comfortable vantage point, but it had a great view of the rest of the town. She herself was a resident at Granny's B&B, so she wasn't too worried about anyone spotting her. Anyone except the new stranger in black.

Vex knew that he should switch to a reasonable sleeping schedule. Back as a nightclub owner, Vex had good reason for staying up late. He would spend long nights drinking and partying while he "oversaw his clubs", crawling into bed in the wee hours of the morning and getting up after noon. That's how he had lived for a while, and his sleeping schedule had yet to adjust to life without nightclubs. Vex ended up at the Rabbit Hole most nights, just people-watching and drinking. The previous night had been another late one, and this morning was equally late. He dragged himself out of bed, showered, dressed in black jeans, a ripped black t-shirt, and a studded leather jacket with black combat boots. He applied some basic eye makeup and styled his hair. His first stop would be Granny's Diner for some mediocre coffee, and that's what he was thinking about as he made his way outside, pulling the edges of his jacket around himself to ward off the chill and he strode across the sidewalk.

Goldilocks rested her head on her right upraised knee, watching the wind stir up leaves. She watched them land on one of the weird puddles and promptly get sucked beneath the surface. Her large golden hazel eyes seemed to narrow. Rumplestiltskin said the realms were collapsing, and the worlds were coming to an end. She wasn't sure she believed him, she didn't know who he was anymore. He wasn't the Dark One, and if he wasn't the Dark One, who was he? And if he wasn't who he was, then who was she? Overall, she was feeling a bit lost. Why was she even out here? Doing his bidding, just like before? Just as she had all her life–the front door opened.

Goldi sat up, her eyes bright with interest. There he was. Tall, lanky, sleek and slender, stalking down the street. Goldilocks climbed to the edge of the roof, jumping to the limb of an oak tree. Her gloved hands caught it and swung down to land on the grass. She landed from a considerable drop, but rolled with it, leaping to her feet with dried leaves sticking to her back. Silently and swiftly, she kept behind the tall pines, all the branches still bright and green despite autumn being in full swing. She ducked down through branches, watching the retreating figure of the black-clad man. When he rounded the corner, Goldi stepped out and started across the street after him. She walked slowly, and casually, looking up at the sky and the buildings around her. Her shoes scuffed the pavement a bit, as she rounded a puddle and kicked at some gravel. She kept up the nonchalant manner, as she rounded the brick corner, heading down main street, her eyes searching for the strange man's figure.

Vex didn't understand why the "Breakfast" part of the Bed and Breakfast had to be separate from the "Bed" portion of the place, nor why she ended the free breakfast at noon. He definitely didn't appreciate it, not now that it was starting to get chilly. It was a wonder Vex survived living in Canada with how easily he got cold. He strode quickly up until the path became heavily spotted with puddles. Normally he'd walk straight through them, but Vex had overheard some pretty nasty things about them, so he thought it prudent to step around them. It was this increased attention to his surroundings that allowed him to notice a figure behind him. The young woman moved casually along, as if she was just out for a stroll, but now that he thought about it, he remembered seeing her on several occasions on the street, far too many for simple change to explain. Could she be following him? Bad decision on her part. He decided to make sure. Vex would be turning on to Main Street soon, and he didn't fancy that as a place to get his answers. When he turned the corner, he picked up his pace to duck into an alley before she had the chance to turn the corner after him. Vex waited there, leaning against the alley wall, for her to approach. When she did, it was clear she was looking for him, all bright, darting eyes and distinctive blonde locks. With a wave of his hand, he had the girl stumbling haphazardly into his alley tripping a little ways past him so that when he straightened up from the wall, he was between her and Main Street. Vex released control of her body for the time being but kept his left hand raised and ready. He had yet to succeed in using his right for mesmer, which greatly concerned him and caused him to favor his left considerably. "You though' I wouldn' notice you followin?" he asked, almost incredulously. "Piss-poor job of it too." Vex's next line of questioning would be why she did it, but he would get to that in a moment.

Goldilocks frowned, her eyes narrowing a bit. However it was that she had lost him, she had to admit it was a slick move. He had spotted her and known he was being followed. He was used to the city and streets, but Goldi wished they were in the forest which she was more accustomed to and thus would serve more to her advantage. Why he had suspected her of following him, she had no idea. She hadn't given herself away had she? Until now, she had always kept a good distance between them. Her eyes skimmed the streets, a number of shops he might have ducked into. The cars parked alongside the curb, the rooftops? The alley–! Her realization came to slow, as she suddenly stumbled forward, running to keep from falling to the pavement. She tripped and nearly ran into the wall of the alley, spinning around. Her eyes blinked rapidly, had he dragged her in? She never felt him touch her, yet he tripped her. He must have tripped her. Goldilocks raised her hands in the air in a gesture of surrender and alarm. "Whoa... whoa... whoa...", she said with a stunned look on her face. "What are you doing, pulling young girls into a dark alley, mister?", she said, a look of accusation on her young and innocent face. She was short, just a few inches over five feet, with brilliant golden curls that fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were large, a golden hazel color, her skin smooth like cream. She looked fresh and young, her cheeks flushed with the cold. She was girlish in figure, with rounded shoulders, and light, slender gloved hands. "Following?", she repeated, looking at him with a slightly shocked expression.

Vex didn't buy her shock and confusion for a moment. It wasn't that she was a bad actress, nor even that she was bad at inconspicuous trailing, but after centuries dealing with this stuff, always having to look over his shoulder, Vex was good at this kind of thing. He had almost a sixth sense when it came to survival and evading people who were after him, so he was very confident that he was right when he mesmered the girl into the alley and leveled this accusation at her. He supposed she was the perfect candidate for the job, too. With her young, innocent appearance, who would ever think she was up to something nefarious, or that out of the two of them she was the one stalking him. "Gett'ing answers, ideally." He replied with a shrug, clearly not affected by her act. She was trying to make him second-guess himself, to think he might have made a mistake in accusing her, but he knew better. As a member of the Fae, Vex knew well not to judge character or power by appearance. "Yes, followin', and I'm a fair bit experienced in the field so can we skip the act?" he requested. "Who put you up to this?"

Goldilocks looked puzzled, as if she didn't understand him for a long moment. There was a look in his eyes, the confidence in his smile, it wasn't going to work. He knew, he just did. How he knew, she couldn't figure out, he just did. She let her hands drop to her sides, and her eyes narrowed, "Nobody... put me up to it...", she said flatly. "You're a stranger, you're new." Her eyes roamed over him, glistening with curiosity and suspicion. "You're like nothing I've ever seen...", she said, her voice trailing off, her tone vague. "Where are you from? What are you doing here? You and the blonde? She your girlfriend?", she asked, tilting her head to the side, and peering at him as if trying to see the answers through a fog. "This is my town... and nothing goes on, that I don't know. I know everything, I see everything from the shadows... and nobody pays attention to me...", she said, almost as if trying to sound intimidating, "I'm just one of the shadows... A lot goes on in the shadows...", she said, tilting her head the other way, "...things people don't know.", she said stepping nimbly to the side. "Things people wanna know... things people...", she lowered her voice, "...don't want to know.", she said, raising an eyebrow.

Vex hadn't been totally sure that his earnest request to be serious and straightforward would work, but he was quite glad when he began to see her realize that she wasn't fooling anyone and finally drop the whole innocent little girl act. Now, they could discuss her actions and motivations for them like rational adults. His major concern was that this girl was working under someone that wished him ill like the Una Mens or the Dark Fae. She responded fairly quickly to that question, though he wasn't quite sure he could believe that. Besides, following that, her response was little short of manic. She looked him over like he was some sort of exotic animal in a zoo and proceeded to fire off questions at an unreasonable rate. Her head tilted from side to side as she looked at him, like she was some kind of bird or confused dog. Then she went off on a tangent about her omnipotence and shadows and Vex could do nothing but watch with incredulity. Was she serious about all that. "All those questions, seems to me like there's a lot you don' know." he pointed out reasonably. Her quick step to the side caught his attention, and he supposed that if she was planning to make a break for it, now was a better time than ever to see if she knew anything more than she was letting on. Vex flexed the fingers of his left hand, taking control of her body and making her step backwards, pressing her back against the wall behind her roughly. He kept his hand raised, keeping her still as he strolled around to stand in front of her. "So you expec' me to believe you were following me just because I'm new?" he questioned, as if it was ridiculous.

Goldi's jean clad legs crossed one another as she stepped lightly to the side. She never took her eyes off of the man, her gaze something almost feral. Then it happened, something hit her. No, not hit her, something came over her. For the briefest instant, it was like a thousand sparks on her legs swarming up her body, and the next thing she knew she was against the alley wall. Her back against the bricks, being held by some unseen force. Not magic, she had been thrown around by magic enough to recognize it when it happened. This was something different, something so very very different. She was flattened against the wall by her own body, as if she were possessed by some spirit or demon. Goldilocks gasped and her eyes widened, as she tried to lunge forward against the power. Nothing. It was no good, not at all. Her own legs and arms betrayed her, keeping her pinned to the wall. Her boots scuffed a bit on the dirty pavement, her fingers twitching as she contorted like a rag doll in the wind. It took her some time to even notice that he was holding her with the faintest flex of his fingers. Her eyes rested on his hand, her chest rising and falling with exertion. "What magic is this?", she asked, her voice low, without the mocking quality it held before. "I follow everybody. Ask anyone. I'm always prowling about...", she told him in response to his question, lifting her chin stubbornly. She betrayed very little fear, more shock and bewilderment than fear. Her eyes were still filled with wonder, as she turned her gaze to her limbs and body, trying to move them, and finding they no longer obeyed her commands but another's.

Vex hadn't been sure that her step to the side had been the beginning of a bid for escape or not, but he believed in the better safe than sorry saying. Now, pinned to the wall, under his control, she wasn't going anywhere until he was done with her–until he was satisfied that she was working alone and that she would think twice about following him in the future. Not to mention, it was always fun to mesmer someone like this, to see the fear and confusion on their face as they struggled against his control, trying in vain to move muscles that he had in a vice. For a moment he worried that she would only be demanding to know more about his mesmer instead of answering the question at hand, but it seemed that this woman knew what was good for her after he made it clear he was serious. "Something else you don't know about.", was all he gave in explanation as far as his mesmer went, still waiting for her to address his question. As this went on, he felt the steady stream of her energy as he fed off her, just as she'd feel herself growing weaker. "Well, if that's the case, I'd kindly sugges' not followin' me or the blonde," he told her, thrusting his hand forward a bit so her head jerked back against the wall, though he was careful not to bash her too hard. "And if that's not the case, feel free to tell whoever you're workin' with that I don' like being followed. And I am not above shootin' the messenger." he finished. Vex stepped back, waving his hand toward the ground so she'd throw herself there as he paced off, intent on some disappointing coffee with some privacy for once.

The magic in the girl was far more powerful than one would assume. It was a rush of strong magical power, and Goldi's eyes closed for a moment, feeling the power draining from her. No sooner had he fed off her life source, than it was replenished by a powerful golden wave of magic. The source of her life was intense and dark, far more imposing than her slight girlish figure. It was dark, powerful, dense, and surging, flowing out of her and into Vex. The man's eyes were dark and held a look beyond his years. His hair tumbled over his face, as he threatened her, warning her to never follow him or the blonde woman again. Goldi started to open her mouth to retort something back, but he gave her head a sharp rap against the bricks. She let out a groan, and shook her head, her eyes glaring at him painfully. With a simple wave of his hand, he cast her to her knees in the alley, releasing his control. Goldi started to rise, but fell again, rubbing her arms and legs, trying to recover. What was that? What was he? She raised a hand to her head, rubbing the sore spot, and getting to her feet.

With a short stumble, she was on her feet, and creeping to the corner of the alleyway. He was walking down the street, long legs taking brisk strides. Goldi's face scrunched up into a scowl, before she slipped out of the alley following after him, but at a good distance. After the pain and initial shock of the event had passed, her expression grew vacant and reflective. After a moment, her lips curved up into a smile. At least now, she had found something to distract herself from her personal crumbling reality. Something to sort out, a puzzle, a mystery–and it would please Rumplestiltskin too. She had some news to relay to him about this mysterious stranger's powers.