The first thing Emma was aware of was the sharp throbbing headache pulsating through her skull. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes. The room gradually came into focus; it looked like a motel room, where the hell was she? The door handle began to turn and she instantly recognised the man who entered as the one who was just at her hotel room. Everything came flooding back.
"I see you're awake, Mrs. Nolan" his voice was calm, low, and sinister.
"Where are my children?!" Fear formed a pit in her stomach, last she knew they were sleeping soundly. The thought of them being in danger made her feel physically sick.
"They're right where you left them, I didn't have time or means to take you all."
Relief washed over her, Killian was on his way to see her! She desperately hoped they'd be safe until he found them. She knew he'd protect them and call the police.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?"
"My name is Gold, and as for my intentions, all in due time, Emma!"
-
(10 hours earlier)
Killian stared at the test. Two lines...did that mean she was or wasn't pregnant? He tried to remember from when Milah was expecting, he hurried to the bathroom, glancing at Henry and Kathryn again to check they were still sleeping. Once in the room he turned on the light, squinting as his eyes got used to the brightness, he turned the waste paper basket upside down, spilling its contents over the tiled floor. He found the box the test came in and quickly read the instructions. The box dropped to the floor; he had his answer, Emma was pregnant! He ran his fingers through his hair trying to process the scene he'd walked in on. Where was Emma?
"Killian? What's going on?" Regina was standing in the bathroom doorway. "Where's Emma?"
Killian sat there stunned, unable to speak. It was too much; Milah, then Emma, and now finding out Emma was expecting...they were expecting. Regina looked from the toppled furniture to the pregnancy test box, and back at Killian.
"Killian, did you and Emma have a fight?"
That got his attention. His head snapped up to look at her.
"No, no of course not! I just got here and found the furniture knocked over, the kids sleeping, and a pregnancy test on the balcony table!"
"Why were you here?" Regina didn't like having to ask these questions but she had to figure out what was going on before she could help her friend.
Killian sighed, "I called her, asked if I could come see her"
Regina looked unsure, "with everything going on with Milah?"
Killian stood up, frustration building, "That's exactly why! She's my girlfriend, why wouldn't I turn to her, my anchor, when my life is suddenly this shit storm?!"
Regina nodded, and then asked.
"Did you know she thought she might be pregnant?" She nodded towards the empty box on the floor.
Killian dropped his head sadly, "no, I had no I idea"
He shook his head angrily, growing determined, "Regina, you need to help me find her, she could be in trouble! I can't lose her too!"
Regina held her hand out, Killian took it and she helped him up.
"I'm going to do everything I can to help Emma. The state the room is in suggests she was taken by force, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt her?"
Killian sighed, scratching his head. "No...I can't think of anyone! The only people she knows here are us, she literally just moved her family over today!"
"Could someone have taken her to get at you?"
"Who?"
"I don't know Killian! I'm just trying to figure out what's going on! I'll call the station and have a forensic team sent here to look for anything that could help us figure out who did this."
Regina went out on the balcony to make her call. Killian walked back into the bedroom, he looked at the kids then something caught his attention, he leaned down to look at Henry, his eyes were tightly squeezed shut and his breathing heavy.
"Henry? Lad, are you awake?" Killian whispered.
Henry shook his head, keeping his eyes tightly shut.
Killian sat on the bed beside him.
"Henry it's ok, you're safe. How long have you been pretending to be asleep?"
Henry opened one eye to look at Killian.
"I didn't want the man to take me!"
Killian's eyes widened.
"No one is going to take you, I'm here now and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you or your sister! There is a police officer here, I need you to tell her everything you saw, can you do that buddy?"
Henry nodded.
Gold had been busying himself packing up his bags. Emma watched him frantically trying to figure out what was going on.
"What are you going to do to me?"
She asked him, her voice shaking more than she wanted it to!
"You'll find out soon enough!" He grunted.
Emma looked around the room and then she saw it, poking out from his open briefcase lying on the floor. A photograph of someone she recognised, she squinted to make sure.
"How do you know Milah?"
Gold froze.
"Very clever Ms Nolan...this is about Milah."
"Is she alive?"
Gold walked over to Emma, picked her up and dragged her into the motel bathroom. He pushed her into the bathtub; hands and feet still bound.
"Don't worry, you'll meet her soon enough! I'm sure you'll both have lots to discuss! But for now that's enough chat from you!"
He pulled out some duct tape, ripped a piece off and stuck it over her mouth. Emma struggled against her restraint with muffled screams. Gold chuckled. "That's better!"
He reached over and turned on the cold water tap then put the plug in the plug hole. Emma's eyes widened, the icy cold water sent a shock right through her body. Realisation set in, Gold was going to let her drown!
He sat causally on the edge of the tub with a wicked look on his face.
"And now, Emma, would you like to know why you have to die? Milah was my fiancé...that is until she met him! He took her away from me, ruined my life! Then everything just kept going right for him, he married her, his acting career kicked off, they had a child! I changed my name and moved to Vancouver to be close to her, used my journalism degree to have my own tabloid and it didn't matter how many stories I made up about them, nothing pulled them apart!"
Emma watched the water level slowly creep up. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was going to die, her children orphaned just because this bastard was jealous! Her head was spinning trying to think of a way to escape, to fight back but nothing was coming to her. Her body began to shake in reaction to the ice cold water slowly surrounding her. She tried to push herself above the edge of the bath with her feet but the old style stand alone bath was too deep. Gold wasn't even paying attention to her, he continued his rant.
"...Milah found out I was there, she confronted me and threatened to call the police, I had to do something. She walked home, determined to tell Killian so I got in my car and I ran her down. I didn't have my Milah but at least Killian didn't have her either, I found comfort in his pain...that is until he met you! So Ms Nolan, I'm afraid you're a victim of your circumstances, nothing personal! I just can't let him be happy, you understand?"
The water was up to her shoulders now. Gold stood up and left the room.
Emma's heart was pounding, tears streamed from her eyes as the water level rose. She couldn't believe this was it, she sobbed for her children, for Killian, their future, and the child she was carrying. She prayed they'd be ok.
The water came up to her nose, she held her breath as long as she could, then she exhaled, followed by cold water burning her nose and lungs. She felt her body relax as slowly everything went dark. Was that voices she heard? They sounded so distant yet so close.
"Emma! Emma!"
