Belle hastily made her way back inside the house the way she'd come and paused at the spot where the hallway shared a wall with the locker room, though dark she could see plainly that no one was in the vicinity; Belle breathed a sigh of relief. She felt her feet in that blood again, and blue eyes flicked down to see it had just seemed further into the flooring. Looking closer she found that blood had been spattered up the bottom of the wall by the door to Victor's office. Belle couldn't stay there, she needed to move, needed to get away from it.
Quickly she hurried away around the corner towards the base of the back stairs; each step quieter than the last. She smelt dried irony blood only a split second before Clown Mask pinned her to the wall with such force that the back of her head bled where it struck the wall. Rain continued outside the windows, it sounded loud that it should have though, like the sunroom doors and the kitchen door were all left open. Maybe the doors were open, didn't really matter. Lightning flashed which sadistically illuminated the horrid red, blue and bone white mask.
Everything happened so fast and yet to Belle each second passed as though it were an hour, ticking on into eternity as if she suddenly lived between the seconds. A harsh scream died in her throat when she caught sight of his yellowed eyes through the pinprick holes of his mask, he had Belle pinned by her neck where his hand squeezed just tight enough to keep her still and threatened with death, a horrific torment. For a time the clown just stared at her with that pathetic grin of self-satisfaction - not that she could see it - occasionally he took deep breaths to fill his lungs with her scent; coconut shampoo, adrenaline, metallic blood and something unique to Belle 'Lacey' French. She couldn't make eye contact, wouldn't, and he didn't care enough to force her, Nottingham just stared at her beautiful form as anger surged through her.
"I thought you were nice." Her attacker growled out with rancid breath that pinned her in place."You said you thought I was handsome but you lied!"
Belle froze, could it be? No! No, this couldn't be happening. Was this all her fault?
"Sheriff?" Her question was almost inaudible, heart thudding around her ribcage.
Tears tumbled down her cheeks uncontrollably as his grip tightened around her throat, the other hand slid up her smooth thigh.
"P- please... stop." She begged desperately, voice hardly audible.
Nottingham's mouth opened behind the mask but no word ever managed to slip free because without warning came a bang, louder than any Belle had ever been subjected to before – sharp and powerful – which hurt her ears. She blinked as her brain tried to catch up and Keith fell down to the ground with a dense thud. In that moment Belle's legs gave out from under her and she slipped down the wall to the floor as she shook with something she couldn't identify as shock or relief. Less than a second later the clown was gone, scurried away down the large central hall to fuck knew where. That hall had given Nottingham access to the entire house, he could have literally gone anywhere.
Elias was at her side then and Belle finally knew what the bang had been, Gold had shot him. He quickly pulled her into his arms and just held her, tight and protectively which felt more as if he was clinging to her for dear life; maybe he was.
"Belle, you have to go back to the panic room." Every bone in his body vibrated with urgency.
"Not without you." She insisted quickly, as she tried to get her breath back.
Her ears continued to ring and she was certain her neck would bruise, Belle didn't even want to think about the back of her head.
"You have to, Belle." He told her hastily. "And I need to find Ruby."
How that man believed he was a coward was completely beyond Belle, the only word she could think of to describe him in that moment was brave. Unfortunately he was right though, she had to go back to the panic room, she'd be of no use in such a state of shock. She'd only left because she'd wanted to help her friends and she'd done that, now it was time to protect her.
"Okay." She finally agreed though somewhat reluctantly.
Gold pressed his lips to her own for a moment, it wasn't passionate but needy, he had to kiss her, taste her, because if he was going to die he was going to do it while still being able to feel her soft lips against his.
Gently he pulled Belle up onto shaky feet and pushed her off towards the stairs before following the direction Nottingham had fled in. It was almost as though there were two of Mister Gold, the first was the ruthless House Of Scarlet owner that no one dared cross, while the second was Elias, a man far braver than he believed himself to be, a man who held Belle's heart in his hands. Belle didn't need a knight in shining armor, she had Gold in a perfectly tailored suit.
Each step Belle took up the back stairs was slower than her last, fear rose in her blood that the next step would be when Sheriff jumped out and all would go black. It didn't happen though. No one jumped out, no strange sounds gave her pause but anticipation tortured her; just like an old black and white horror film. She made her way passed Jefferson's office and the bedroom he shared with Victor as she headed towards Gold's room; she hugged the chocolate colored wall as she went, eyes darted back and forth along the seemingly endless hallway. In front; nothing. Behind; no one. Blue eyes darted behind her again but still the hallway remained empty. Fearing he'd creep up behind her again Belle started to walk backwards towards Elias' bedroom, her breathing continued to race which forced her chest to rise and fall erratically. Any second he would turn the corner and charge at her, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he?! No, Sheriff was nowhere in sight, and then she bumped into something. At first her desperation told her it was just the wall or bedroom door, but her mind knew the truth. A large right arm that smelt of sweat and stale beer scooped her up and Nottingham pulled her to him while the other hand threw what looked like a pile of thick fabric down on the ground for her to see. Was that kevlar?
"I came prepared, Lacey." He growled out her name. "It's amazing what you can buy online." His breath trailed over her skin sending it purified and slimy. "You smell so good."
How had he gotten to outside Gold's office before she had?
Without even thinking about it Belle slammed her head back and struck Nottingham in his clown mask coated face which freed her of his grasp, she hauled ass down the hall and out of sight, her heart in her mouth. She didn't do it to escape, to live, it was just to get his fowl hands off her. Belle didn't know where she was going, where she was running to, hopefully to Elias and safety.
She hurried blankly round the corner, down the back stairs again and through the first door she found. Everything was dark as she descended yet more stairs to a part of the house she'd never been to before. The basement, this darkness was the basement, had to have been. She ground to a halt unsure what was down there, how cluttered it might have been, as a high-pitched whirring sound rattled in her ear. In a hope to cover her panicked breaths she went towards the sound and finally found a heavy door which she pushed open; generator room. It was there for if the power ever went out to stop the site crashing, it must have kicked on at some point due to the storm.
Belle wasn't stupid, she knew the Sheriff would search the house for her and anyone else who still lived, her heart pounded in her chest. She collapsed on the floor for a moment and prayed her thoughts would return to a steady rhythm in the very near future, she breathed deeply calming her nerves.
Come on Belle! Stop being scared and do something to help, you can't just sit here panicking. Deep breaths and calm the fuck down. Thankfully her body seemed to obey, though slowly. Mulan and Aurora are in the panic room with Tink, Ashley and Ariel – they're safe. Victor and Jefferson aren't even in the house - at least that was what Belle thought - and the others... are either missing or... or dead. She couldn't let anyone else die, not when this was her fault. With her mind returned Belle forced herself to her feet and searched around for a flashlight with only the small red light on the generator and one of the camera display screens to aid her. Just when she thought her search would fail her foot kicked against a tool box by the generator, inside was her prize, a small silver flashlight. Belle clicked it on then darted out the room in search of the boiler room which turned out to be on the other side of the basement. The auburn-haired beauty rounded holiday decorations and other things which had basically been tossed out of sight and quickly hide away in the boiler room. Beside the boiler, were two screens which she hurried to, the first held temperature controls while the second had a display of the House Of Scarlet's cameras – Elias had told her about the separate circuit for his cameras months ago almost absent-mindedly – she scrolled through them quickly searching tirelessly for either the Sheriff or her friends.
"Got you." She even managed to smile slightly.
The crazed murderer continued to stalk the building in search of someone to kill no doubt. Belle continued to cycle through the mass of cameras finding almost nothing of help until finally, finally, she found Elias in the kitchen with Ruby and Kyle – when Ruby had invited him to the house he'd probably thought he'd won the lottery, now though Kyle just wanted to go home – all of them were on edge. Belle had no idea where Gold had found Ruby and the shirtless man – maybe the play room since that was soundproofed – but she was thankful they were all right.
She could see Nottingham as he headed up and down hallways on the first floor checking doors; Nottingham was angry. She reached into her back pocket to grab the walkie Elias had given her what felt like forever ago now.
"Elias? Can you hear me, please God say you can hear me." She pleaded.
"Yes, I can hear you Belle. I found Ruby and... whatever his name is." He replied quickly.
"I'm in the boiler room looking at the camera's-" He cut her off quickly.
"You're what!? I told you-" She returned the favor.
"I know, I know," she cut in, he could be mad at her later, "but I can see him. He's about to come down the main stairs, if you go through the back of the kitchen and up the back stairs he won't see you." Be brave Belle, be brave.
Reluctantly Gold agreed and started to push Ruby through the kitchen, leaving Kyle to follow. Ruby liked to believe she was a brave person but nothing had ever prepared her for the horror this one man had caused, was what Elias had said about the others true? Were Tamara, Zelena and Cruella really dead? Had Tink really been thrown over the landing? One hand clung onto Elias' as he started to pull her towards the back stairs while the other held onto Kyle... until he let go.
"I- I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I can't. The front door is safer."
Gold opened his mouth to protest and Ruby reached for him but it was no use, Kyle had already made it halfway through the living room. Then Nottingham struck. Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs seeing the knife come down once, twice, thrice and a million more times after that but Gold continued to pull her; no easy task when his leg was still screaming at him, he really needed his cane.
Each downwards strike penetrated deep into the blond man's body and each retraction sprayed blood over the walls and floor, any furniture it came into contact with and even that god forsaken clown mask. The sound echoed up through his body into his ears forcing him to listen to his own death. Knife met flesh, pudgy and soft, making a sadistic squelching sound that was music to the Sheriff's ears, he was the one to do this, he was the one to take this man's life. The blade's tip sank deep enough to slice through muscle and splinter ribs forcing Kyle to let out a scream that would have been better described as a howl. The hard steel blade twisted into soft flesh almost shredding Kyle's lean body, opening him up to see what was inside; blood staining everything. Nottingham didn't care about this man – not as much as the others – he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time; just meant his blade's thirst was eased. Nottingham stabbed and stabbed with such ferocity that he didn't even notice when the tip of his blade broke off. The light finally left Kyle's eyes and granted him some peace with his death. Keith grinned behind the clown mask before he pushed himself to his bloody feet to continued his search.
'After great pain a formal feeling comes-
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions-was it He that bore?
And yesterday-or centuries before?'
After Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes by Emily Dickenson