Keith continued to stalk the halls of The House Of Scarlet in search of more prey, it seemed the watering hole had started to run dry and he knew soon his fun would be over; didn't matter though since Lacey and the boss were to be his finale. He paused in the dark and pulled out his cell with a bloody hand to scroll through the cameras in search of another victim but was met with only static … that wasn't right. He'd ensured had full control of the cameras, no one could shut them off. He growled deep in the back of his throat. Finally he found a working camera down in the basement and smiled. Lacey had really surprised him.

Looking directly at the camera and holding a sheet of white paper was The House of Scarlet's newest cam girl – his golden ticket – oh, how he was looked forwards to killing her. All attention focused on her as he forgot about trying to find Gold, Ashley, Red and Ariel, fortunate because otherwise he'd have seen them as they ripped down the last of the cameras. Nottingham peered closer at his phone's tiny screen to read the note.

Come and get me, Sheriff

How could he resist that? It just wasn't possible. A grin appeared under the thick rubber of his rather ridiculous mask as thoughts of ripping her open for what she'd done filled his sick mind. Oh he'd kill her and he'd make it last.

Each long step Keith took echoed off the walls and carried him closer to the beautiful creature he'd soon murder, she wouldn't be beautiful then. The others inside The House Of Scarlet didn't matter to him quite like she and Elias Gold did. Lacey – or Belle, that was her true name – had betrayed him, made fun of him and Gold had started it all, he'd never had known Lacey had it not been for that Scotsman.

His work boots continued to thud as he descended the back stairs towards the basement door, everything grew darker and more eerie as he approached; a fitting atmosphere for a murder. His bloody knife itched to get back to work, wanted to add more strands of snapped hair to its necklace. The door creaked open with a long scream, but that may have been mostly in his head, he lingered there at the top of the basement stairs almost a full minute just to listen to silence's song.

As he stepped into the basement he found it almost completely pitch black save for a few little lights over by the boiler, subdued green-blue light that only just granted enough light for him to see old boxes piled up in corners and a wall of tools furthest from the door. In the corner by the boiler across from him he even saw an old St Andrew's cross and smirked underneath his mask; most people had Christmas decorations and old sports stuff in their basements but not The House of Scarlet.

The room wasn't overly large maybe ten by ten at most, the walls were just plain white and the wooden floor was old as well as worn; just a storage room, nothing special. He'd soon coat those boring plain walls with some color though, Nottingham grinned behind his mask again. In truth the basement's appearance honestly wasn't important though, the woman stood in the centre of it was. Lacey, no Belle, he needed to remember that.

"Hello again, Lacey."

She looked him dead on with those magical blue eyes of hers and didn't flinch, the auburn haired beauty refused to be scared, to give him the satisfaction. He had killed her friends and wounded so many more; Zelena, Cruella, Will and Tamara were all dead. Mulan, Princess, Tink and Jefferson were fighting for their life with only Victor to help them. Gold's voice as he told her that they'd found the house manager and doctor still played in the back of her head. Graham and Robin were still missing; they're probably dead too. She'd felt so at home when Jefferson had first brought her to The House Of Scarlet, so at home. Ariel, Aurora and herself had splashed about in the pool laughing, Mulan had helped her with a workout in the gym that was tailored to her. Belle, Tink, Ashley and Ruby had taken shopping trips after their lectures and she'd been happy. The House Of Scarlet may have been a den of iniquity but it had become her home... and now The Sheriff had ripped it all away, even if any of them lived through this it would never be the same. The House Of Scarlet was dead.

"Hello, Sheriff." She managed to answer without faltering; Gold would have been proud of her.

"Given up the chase?" His voice was muffled ever so slightly due to his mask. "I was having fun."

"Take the mask off." It wasn't a request, Belle was done being afraid.

"I guess so, I'd like me to the the last thing you ever see."

With ease Nottingham removed the clown mask and dropped it to the scuffed floor then raked a hand through his hair so Belle could finally see his face, it was coated in a thick layer of sweat and stubble. His eyes looked manic which was a shame, what felt like forever ago when he'd sent her his picture she'd thought his eyes were rather beautiful. Not anymore, there was nothing but violence and death in them now as she stood there staring at him in the dark.

"So it is you." Said another female voice. Keith looked over to see Ashley appear from behind a stack of boxes, she continued as his eyebrow raised. "We didn't believe her at first."

"Did you bring me a present, Lacey? Another sexy young women to gut. And not just any young woman, Gold's favorite." He glanced over at the blond. "Tell me, does Gold make you call him Daddy when you creep into his room at night?" He giggled maniacally. "I'll get to you next, Baby." Ashley cringed as Nottingham turned back to what he came for. "You brought this on your self, Lacey. You bitch, you laughed at me, you did this, you killed your fuck buddies when you pinned me to that noticeboard."

"That's wasn't me!" She said with all the strength she could muster, she had to be brave and keep his attention just a little longer. "Zelena – Wick – she did that, not me."

"You expect me to believe that? No one ever believes a whore!" The knife glinted in the dull light, a sadistic reminder of all those dead. "You're a dead bitch!" He pointed at Belle with the knife, dry blood stained it.

"And you're stupid." Said Belle, her voice shook ever so slightly. "You hunted us, but we lured you into a trap without you even noticing."

"Where do you think Elias is?" Ashley asked rhetorically.

Nottingham shrugged anyway. "Pissing himself while he shivers in a box?"

"You really should have killed our boss first." Belle added.

Before the expression of confusion had even fully formed on his face there was a loud bang that bounced of the walls and made the two women flinch. Nottingham fell to the ground with a hold in his chest to reveal Elias stood behind him with his gun as the barrel still smoked. Being shot wasn't like a knife through butter, no, it twisted and turned ripping through flesh and into the muscle behind, it wasn't really the bullet Nottingham felt go through his chest, instead, he felt his skin being torn apart before all the pain merged into one and he was face down on the floor coughing up blood. He'd thrown his vest at Belle when he'd grabbed her, there hadn't been anything to protect him from Gold's gun.

Calmly Gold stepped towards Keith as a pool of wine colored blood started to surround him while he continued to cough.

"Belle, Ashley, look away." He told them without looking up. He reached down and rummaged through Keith's pockets for his cellphone and the signal jammer he'd been hauling around. "Better yet, go upstairs and call the police."

"What are you going to do, Elias?" Belle asked despite having already figured it out.

"He hurt my girls." Was the only answer they got; he still hadn't looked at them.

It was over, but none of them would ever be the same. A voice of nobility yelled at her, told her to stop him, that this vengeance was wrong no matter what. She'd always prided herself on being a good person, on doing the right thing but who knew when the storm would end, when the police would arrive. Belle silenced that voice inside her mind, it wasn't about being a good or bad person now, this had become about survival and Belle knew they could never be certain they'd survive the rest of the storm unless Nottingham died.

Silently Belle went to young Ashley and calmly guided her up and out of the basement, the last thing they heard was an ominous bang they knew they'd never speak of again.

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Fire And Ice By Robert Frost

XXXX

The poem is by Robert Frost – personally my favorite poet, along with Poe - and is about how things will end. Fire is combustion or burning while ice is a brittle and transparent crystalline solid. What Frost is saying is that either everyone will fight and kill one another burning away until there is nothing (Fire) or will humanity become cold and hateful with no one being able to turn to anyone else for aid (Ice). Frost believed fire (war/gratuitous violence) to be more likely because humanity is prone to fight and murder but also believed the world was becoming inhospitable through greed, selfishness and general entitlement. In layman's terms he thought that humanity would destroy itself because we don't have the ability to overcome our base instincts as a society/species.

Thank you for reading!