Watching Emma take off after the mystery woman she'd been gawking at, Mary Margaret rolls her eyes. She walks down the boardwalk with Ruby, who is more interested in flirting with the gaggle of guys throwing smiles and raised eyebrows her way. Promising to meet up with her later, Mary Margaret enters a retro CD-DVD-Oddities shop, posters of 80's movies littering the windows. Standing at the counter is a handsome man who flashes her a bright smile.
"I don't think I've seen you around here before," he says, straightening some boxes near the register.
Mary Margaret smiles back, happy to see a friendly face. "I actually just moved here. With my friends. Just trying to find my way around."
"Well, welcome. I'm Victor, and this is my pal, Thorn," he tells her, motioning to his pure white Shepard, lying near his feet. "Something I can help you find?"
Mary Margaret bends down to pet his dog and her eyes wander to the "Help Wanted" sign posted on the front of the counter. "I'm hoping to start a teaching job in the fall, but in the meantime I wouldn't mind doing something part-time. Are you still looking for someone?"
Victor smiles warmly and retrieves an application from his manila file folder.
…
She's ordering a soda or something at a window of one of the many pizza joints that line the boardwalk. Emma stands back, feeling very stalkerish but afraid to lose sight of her again if she walks away. She suddenly feels inadequate, in her ripped jeans, red t-shirt, and worn flip-flops. Not that the woman is all dressed up, but she carries a sort of class about her, an effortless beauty that is as equally intimidating as it is intriguing.
Emma sees her walking away, and tries to build the nerve to say something, anything. But as she closes the distance between them, she sees the woman head toward a motorcycle and straddle the driver from behind. They both look over at her in that moment, and Emma knows she can't pretend that she wasn't looking at them. She manages a small smile, one that the woman returns through hooded eyes. The driver, an attractive woman with an ungodly amount of blonde curls falling down the back of her leather jacket, smiles too. It's not unfriendly, but it isn't even slightly warm. Three others slowly pull up beside them, ready to ride single file away from the boardwalk. They all look at Emma as well, but none of them even attempt the pretense of affability.
…
Ruby flips through comic books, appreciating the atmosphere of the tiny, hole-in-the-wall establishment. It's dark and a little dingy, but everything is organized perfectly. She gets the feeling that the two women running the place know their stuff, and that puts her at ease. She finds an old issue of Betty and Veronica and perks up.
"That what you're into?" a heavily accented voice asks from behind. Ruby jumps a little, but turns to see eyes peeking over her shoulder from under a heavy mop of read curls.
"Um, yeah, I like this kind of stuff," Ruby shrugs. "It's fluffy and harmless and totally unrealistic."
The owner softens. "True. If I'm being honest, I don't mind picking up an Archie every once in a while myself. You new here?"
Ruby nods. "New like, today new. My friends and I are here from Maine. Trying out the west coast for a while."
"Why did you pick Santa Carla, of all places you could have chosen?"
"My grandmother lives here. We're staying with her. I'm Ruby, by the way."
"Merida. Has your grandmother told you about the kinds of things that…go on here?"
Ruby's smile falters. "Uh, like what?"
The other woman standing nearby comes over and interrupts. "Merida, let it be. Welcome to Santa Carla. I'm sure you'll love it here," she scoffs.
"What's going on? Seriously," Ruby prods, putting the comic back in its slot on the rack.
"Tell her, Mulan. Better safe than sorry," Merida chides, straightening the comic Ruby put down.
Mulan glares at her for a moment before selecting something from the back wall. "Here, read this."
Ruby looks down to see a pale-faced man clutching at his stomach, a stake digging into his flesh. Blood drips from yellowed fangs. Above his head is the title Vampires Everywhere. "Ah, no thanks," she shrugs. "Not a fan of horror comics."
"Take this one. Think of it as more of a survival guide than a comic," Mulan says, reaching for a pen. She scrawls something on the back and tries to hand it to Ruby again.
"You're fucking with me, right?" Ruby smiles, looking back and forth between Mulan and Merida. "Funny."
Merida shakes her head in amusement. "It's fine. You can think we're crazy, we won't be insulted. Our number is on the back. Just hope you never need it."
Ruby looks at them, incredulous. "Okay, whatever." She folds the comic in half, despite the audible wincing of Merida and Mulan, and stuffs it into her purse. "I'll hope I never need it. So…do I need to actually pay for this?"
…
The tilt-a-whirl's spinning tight circles, mixed with the cloying scent of fried dough and candy apples. Emma watches the ride go back and forth, back and forth, and closes her eyes for a second to fend off dizziness. She looks for Ruby and Mary Margaret, but both of them have gone off in different directions. She doubts either of them would hear the ping of a text or the ring of a phone over the constant stream of noise. She supposes it's her own fault for leaving them in the first place to chase down an apparition.
Emma decides it's probably time to head toward the car, since they all have to meet up there at some point anyway. Toward the end of the boardwalk, she stops to watch a heavy bald man tattooing a flower on a teenager's ankle. While questioning how sanitary that is, she feels someone sidle up behind her. "I wouldn't," is whispered softly in her ear.
She turns to see the object of her fascination, having forgotten how beautiful she actually was in the time since she had seen her last. Emma's breath catches in her throat, but she manages to squeak out a few coherent words. "Oh, I wasn't going to. I was just watching."
"Good," the woman says, and turns to walk away. Emma tugs on the hem of her shirt to straighten herself out and follows.
"Hey, wait up," she calls, feeling supremely stupid. "What's your name?"
"Regina," the woman answers, not stopping, but slowing her step so that's she's in stride with Emma.
"Regina. I like that. I'm Emma."
"What are you doing out here, Emma?"
"Just checking things out. It's my first time here."
Regina nods, arching an eyebrow.
Hesitating, but not wanting her to just walk away, Emma asks urgently, "Are you hungry? Do you want to grab something to eat?"
Regina pauses, stopping mid-stride. She looks at Emma and smiles softly, searching her for something, though Emma has no idea what. "I could eat."
"Great," Emma says loudly, and then reprimands herself to reign it in. No need to look desperate. "What's good around here?"
Regina begins to speak, when the drone of motorcycles drown her out. Her face noticeably falls. Four bikes pull up, surrounding them.
"What are you doing, Regina?" the blonde asks, lighting a cigarette and dragging on it slowly.
"Nothing, Mal," she sighs. "Just talking a walk. This is Emma."
"Emma," she greets, again more of a sneer than a smile. "Let's go," she says pointedly to Regina.
Regina hesitates, looks at Emma sadly, but mounts the back of Mal's motorcycle.
Not really understanding what the hell is happening, Emma speaks up, ignoring the pounding in her chest. "We were just going to get something to eat, I don't see why-"
Mal interrupts her, crushing out the half-smoked cigarette with her black leather boot. "Let's go for a ride. Come on, Emma," she taunts, drawing out the syllables in Emma's name.
"I'm actually here with some friends, so I should-"
Mal interrupts here again. "Suit yourself," she says slowly, leaning back to trace a finger under Regina's chin. Regina looks down, a mix of guilt and disgust.
"No, I'll go," Emma says forcefully. She stares Regina down, accepting a silent challenge that Regina has not even offered. Regina meets her eyes and widens them, trying to tell her something, but Emma is too irritated to care.
"Excellent," Mal smiles, nodding to one of her friends, who walks her bike right up next to Emma. "This is Zelena, she'll take good care of you. This is Ursula, and that's Cruella," Mal introduces, while Regina looks severely uncomfortable behind her.
"Hi," Emma says, climbing onto the back of the large black Harley. Zelena nods in greeting, scooting up to allow Emma some room. She's unsure if she should put her arms around Zelena's waist or hold onto the metal bars behind her. She opts for the bars.
"Let's get wild," Mal snickers, revving her engine. They take off at warp speed, flying down a dirt road that Emma isn't sure is even meant for vehicles. She grips tightly behind her, cursing herself for even thinking about getting on the back of Zelena's bike. What the fuck I am doing? She wasn't the type to try to impress anyone, never mind someone she had literally met in the last hour. But there was something about Regina that had drawn Emma to her, and for some unknown reason the thought of never seeing her again created a panic in her chest that she couldn't tamp down. Still, what she was doing was stupid and she knew it.
The wind whipped so hard against her face Emma was sure she would have windburn if she made it out of this alive. They rode beyond the dirt road and through a copse of trees, roots and leaves crunching beneath them. On a tight turn, Emma decides to fuck politeness and grasps frantically onto Zelena's waist. Zelena doesn't react one way or another.
They finally come to a halting, screeching stop on a rocky cliff overlooking the Pacific. Emma jumps off the bike, thankful to be on solid ground, and feels her anger rise exponentially.
"What the fuck was that?" she yells, bypassing Zelena entirely and standing very close to Mal. "You thought it'd be fun to scare me? Fucking psycho." Emma turns to walk away, no idea where she is going, until Mal grabs her wrist.
"How far are you willing to go, Emma?" she asks, eyes glinting in the moonlight, that same smirk gracing her lips.
"Mal, stop it." Regina stands between them, focusing on Mal. She is burning a hole through her. Mal regains her composure and waves her hand in the air.
"Wasn't trying to scare you. I thought you might appreciate a little thrill," she shrugs, heading toward one of the larger trees behind them. The other three follow close behind, laughing and whooping it up. Regina lags behind, watching the still-shaken Emma.
"I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I tried to warn you not to come."
"You couldn't use your words?" Emma scoffs, rubbing her arm roughly.
"No," Regina clears her throat. "I couldn't. If you decide to see me again, I'll explain. But I can't right now." She heads toward the other women, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Emma stares in disbelief, not even comprehending what is happening right now. Ruby and Mary Margaret are probably bullshit at her for taking off. She pulls out her phone and shoots off a quick text to tell them to just head home, she'll get a ride, and she's sorry. The signal is weak at best, so she hopes the message makes it to them.
"Are you coming?" Mal calls, her voice echoing.
Emma breathes deeply, throws her head back to appreciate the moon for a brief second before she unwittingly follows them down the blackened path.
She looks down at a fire-lit cavern of some sort and makes her way down a crude stone ladder. The walls are covered in Aztec patterns, large wooden columns stand in the center. Tree limbs climb their way up crooked walls, stone benches and a large, plush, captain's chair provide seating. Emma looks around in awe.
"Not bad, huh?" Mal asks, watching Ursula use a tree-branch torch to light the kindling in metal barrels strategically placed around the room. "This was the hottest resort in Santa Carla about eight-five years ago. Too bad they built it on a fault. In 1906, when the Big One hit San Francisco, the ground opened up, and this place took a header right into the crack. So now it's ours," Mal explains, raising her eyebrows playfully.
Emma says nothing, but swallows uncomfortably. She feels Regina place a hand on the small of her back, only to remove it quickly.
"Now," Mal says, clapping her hands. "You two were going to eat? Then let's eat."
