I don't own OUAT. For anyone reading my other stories : I know I still have to edit some things and I am really sorry I didn't yet but I just keep forgetting. And I had very little time to write until now :( [ I still won't have much time btw, sorry]
Thanks for the follows/favorites/ reviews. I really appreciate them :) I will react to them later, I am far too tired right now.
Warnings: [ this is sort of a spoiler] there is a description of death, the drinking of blood, brief mention of suicidal thoughts.
Regina is quite certain that the sound just got burned into her mind, stuck on replay, glued to her subconscious -ready to surface in feverish dreams.
Emma moans. Regina recalls a mix of revulsion and desire, but there is none of the first and plenty of the latter showing on Emma's face. Her skin is burning against Regina's own, she is close enough that Regina can smell everything – sweat, deodorant, just her and – by the Unnamed Gods, Regina thought she was done resisting darkness. The first few seconds, it is like Ambrosia on her tongue. Regina's own eyes nearly roll back, then nearly flutter close. She forces them open.
She might have made a mistake: now she can see those long eye lashes against pale skin, that mouth opened, head thrown back in-
Regina yanks her head back, then freezes. She is used to dark impulses, constant whispers in her head , images, the nearly drowning desire to just use Hook's own hook to rip his stomach open and laugh as he sinks to his knees with a pain-stricken face. She is not used to this.
Fighting the darkness was frightening thoughts that snuck up on her- more and more and more until she could hardly detangle the ones that had any goodness from the ones that screamed for murder. Fighting the darkness was wondering whether it was just another hallucination or Snow's corpse would really be somewhere. Fighting the darkness was feelings of unimaginable anger that had her hands tremble, crushing sadness that soon hide itself behind that same anger.
One taste of Emma Swan's blood and the darkness feels like child play.
There are no thoughts or images. There is just Emma, with a happy smile and her neck offered to Regina like a fine wine. There's the blood on her tongue, that taste like a hundred of the best meals and feels like the best things- feels like Daniel's smile against her lips, the first smile Henry gave her or Emma Swan turning around at a welcome's party.
That is deceiving- those moments are good, light and filled with types of love. What she feels now isn't anything like that. It's .. greed- so strong she automatically reaches for Emma- and lust- she wants to sink her teeth in again…. Again… and again- and something she best describes as ownership-
She is trembling with all that , nearly losing, cupping Emma's chin when her mouth is filled with an awful taste. She spits. She wipes at her mouth, grimacing. Seconds ago, the warm blood in her mouth had tasted better than her cider. Now, it suddenly tastes and feels like she has been licking the rust of a pole.
She splutters. Emma looks like she is waking from a very deep slumber. " Did you just-" her hand starts to come up, fingers pressing to where there is some blood sliding down before she hisses and removes her fingers.
Regina thinks of that moment she is quite certain she would not even be able to forget if she cast the dark curse again. She is not certain it is the memory or the fact she just drank Emma's blood, who is now staring at her that has heat shoot towards her cheeks. She licks her lips nervously, grimaces at the iron she tastes, stares at Emma's eyes that are fixated on Regina's lips ( is it the blood that is drawing her eyes or is it- )
" You just drank my blood" Emma exclaims.
She narrows her eyes until Regina can either completely embarrass herself or fall into defensive mode and make Emma embarrass herself. " And then you spit it out!" She sounds strangely upset about it too.
Regina reacts without thinking. " I was not the person pretending to be an actress in a pornographic film!"
Regina's eyes flit down for the smallest moment, following the flush that starts at Emma's neck and end at her cheeks. She is only briefly distracted by it: she can practically feel Emma receding into herself, too many emotionally strained things happening all at once and touches her wrist briefly.
" I might not have reacted much better" she whispers, mentally rolling her eyes at herself because they have apparently really sunk low enough to participate in sleepover activities like sharing secrets. Or at least, that is what it feels like with a young and vulnerable- looking Emma in front of her.
The blush becomes a little more pronounced. " You were being pretty X-rated yes" Emma manages a little smirk, then quickly gentles. " You also sounded pained and – " she swallows, her eyes hardening. Regina almost thinks she has to protect Emma from darkness once again as she faces a look that is – well.
" I wanted to destroy that thing for doing that you" Emma admits. She would have laughed at the idea of Emma ever being terrifying – dangerous, sure but actually terrifying? – but the look in her eyes is exactly that. Not to her, not when this is Emma whose eyes tear up as she tells her 'you have worked too hard to have your happy ending destroyed- seconds before sacrificing herself , but she does not know what strangers (or even friends& family) would make of her when she looks like this.
Sometimes, she finds herself thinking Snow and Charming have darkened their hearts all for nought – there is darkness in Emma still. Then Emma says things like 'we are no sacrificing you' or 'I don't believe that. I believe in you' and she laughs at herself for ever thinking about Emma as 'dark'. Emma isn't dark, isn't all pure/blank either, she is – yellow perhaps. Like the sun, whose rays can warm you when you are cold but also scorch you and stay with you in the form of burns.
And …. Now she has actually sunk to the point where she is likening Emma Swan to the a star that is tens of thousands kilometres away from the earth. Great. She is officially pathetic.
" what are you thinking about?" it is Emma's voice that has her aware of her surroundings again. She feels the scowl lessen, nearly become a smile (will you desist constantly smiling like you have been possessed by Snow already? ) until she forces her face into a semi-neutral expression. She leans forward and squints her eyes at Emma's neck. " I was wondering whether the bite will have any impact"
Emma freezes. "You think I " she laughs tensely. " Regina, if I have to give up grilled cheese because of your sudden thing with blood- " .
" Evil queen, dear. It is not exactly sudden".
She leans in a little more- the dark of the room won't allow her to see the bite well. She glances at Emma again, which is when she sees an odd look cross her eyes for a moment, those same eyes flitting to Regina's mouth before blinking a lot and crossing her arms in an obviously defensive mode. Regina ignores it in favour of checking on the tense woman.
" ouch, Regina" Emma complains when Regina hardly touches the bite mark. Honestly, her fingers were more hovering than touching it. She informs Emma of this fact, who rolls her eyes and throws her the usual smiling-exasperation look. She ignores it and slowly draws her hand back.
" You seem fine to me".
" Fi- I felt your teeth sink in, no way I look 'fine' ".
Regina sighs, summons a mirror. " Look for yourself".
Emma hesitates, then takes it. She squints her eyes. " I can't see, it is just re-".
Regina summons Emma's glasses, already reaches for Emma's hand before changing her tactic and ordering Emma to " turn your head my way". Emma frowns a little and protests , but obeys anyways. Regina cannot hold back the smile this time, secretly loving ( and being awed by) the trust Emma has in her.
She places the glasses on Emma's face, then brushes unruly blonde hair back. " There".
There is a frozen moment in time where she has her fingers pressed against Emma's temples, hair as disobedient as their owner falling into Emma's face again and brushing against Regina's skin, eyes flitting to pink lips that are wetted-
It is a frozen moment in time where anything would have been possible- where Regina actually can feel that Hope Snow is always blabbering about , where the saviour could be the queen's happy e-
" Mom!" she yanks her hands back and gasps as a third body crawls on the bed and throws its arms around her. The irritation and sense of loss is immediately vanished as she sees Henry's bright, wobbly smile. She brushes his hair back, kisses his forehead. " Mi principito" she whispers.
She can feel his arms tighten around her- " Mamá" he whispers back, eyes clenched shut. Then he pulls back a little, a stricken expression that makes her tense – who hurt her little boy? " Your inj- did I hurt you?".
She smiles. "Not at all, cariño".
He hugs her again, less tightly this time. She wants to tell him that she doesn't care if it ever hurts her, he can always hug her tightly. She pulls an arm around him. After a few minutes of this, he pulls back and looks at her. "How are you feeling?".
She touches his chin gently, wipes the few tears that escaped away. " I am fine, cariño".
He hesitates, then seemingly steels himself and asks " Are you a vampire now".
" I am not certain Henry". Her eyes flick to Emma, who suddenly has an expression that is a little panicked and gestures at her neck. Then mouths " Do I hide it?".
She sighs. " I – " she looks away, then forces the words out. " I may have made a mistake".
" A mistake?".
" I have accidentally bitten Miss Swan".
His head whips to Emma at the exact time that she exclaims " you can't accidentally bite someone. You pretty much – uh Henry?" she says the last words hesitantly as Henry has very slowly let go of Regina to scoot towards Emma and stare at the bite.
" Okay, do you have any sudden urges to drink my blood?"
Emma yanks her head back. " No!".
" Okay, so perhaps whatever is in mom's saliva needs some time to work, we just need- ".
"I cannot believe Regina Mill's drool is on my neck" Emma mutters at the exact moment Regina says " I doubt that I am already a fully-fledged vampire, Henry- " then glares at Emma. " And I do not 'drool' ".
" Yeah, keep telling that while I examine this bite mark. You made. On my freaking neck"
Before Regina can react to that, Emma adds " To drink my blood. That you spit out. Which makes the pain I am feeling now completely useless".
Regina arches her eyebrow. " And it would not have been if I had actually swallowed?".
" Okay, seriously, you suck at being a vampire Regina. Really, it is fairly easy. Bite and swallow. How can you mess that up?".
" My apologies, I had no idea I was speaking with the resident's vampire expert. Please do educate us on the perfect way to bite people".
" I am pretty sure you are more knowledgeable, with your not-sudden blood thing" Emma shoots back.
" Well- ".
"Moms! " Henry exclaims. He sighs, shakes his head. " Can the bickering stop for long enough that we can discover whether mom is still human or whether we have to set aside money for the monthly blood payment".
Before Emma or Regina can react to that, Henry frowns and looks at both of them. " Do either of you have any idea how many times vampires need to eat?".
Emma just shrugs while Regina thinks for a moment. " I suspect it depends on the amount of blood they ingest each time they drink from a victim" she offers
" I thought so too, but that still leaves questions. Like, if they drain the maximum amount of blood- which would be approximately 30% I think- will they be sated for a day or a week or.. ?".
" It might also have something to do with body mass, metabolism, - ".
"Obviously, but that means we still don't know. If we could look at a group of vampires, and take the average of that group, then we would at least know something".
" Okay, you bunch of dorks. It all good to speculate and think about stuff like body mass- "Emma interrupts herself. " which, by the way, means that if that is a big factor, that we really won't need that much blood. Your mother is not exactly Tiny's size".
Both Regina and Henry look at her. " You know, the gi- that is kind of confusing actually. Let's move on. Henry, have you already found something in your literally nauseating book? ".
" Do you think I would be asking all these questions if I had?".
Emma sighs. " I meant, did you find any information at all on vampires. Not just how much they need to drink- considering Lucy over here spit out my blood, I think we have some time- but on things like what they can do, their origins, what happens when a person gets bitten, the change..".
" No, just a lot of information on all the ways people can drink blood. There are a lot more ways than I expected".
Oh great, our kid is going to know things that is usually reserved to like psychopaths or just creeps in general. She turns to Regina. " Should we even allow a teenager to read shit like that?".
" Emma! Language".
"Our kid is reading about the many ways to suck someone's blood, I suspect that might be a tad more important than what language I use".
" I- " Regina looks almost soft and vulnerable for a moment and Emma is suddenly struck with the thought that the scolding was more habit than anything else. She doesn't know what to make of that thought so she just looks at Regina and how she bit-
I am never going to be able to glance at her teeth without feeling seriously… weird. Yeah, let's go with weird. Weird is safe, weird is fine. Weird is exactly the right word for wanting to ground her fingers in Regina's hair and pull her closer – to have those teeth buried in her lips and-
She coughs repeatedly. Stop this. Don't make a mess of this. You can't lose this. She finally looks at Regina again, who is looking her usual self by now. Emma looks at her and tries to not get caught on how Regina looks in the middle of the light that is slowly filling the-
' Emma!" Regina exclaims, voice somewhere between scolding and questioning, when Emma more or less throws herself at Regina. She is hovering above her now, making sure to keep Regina in her shadow. Beneath her , the surprise on Regina's face is slowly being taken over by annoyance.
" Regina, don't move" Emma stresses, pressing her body into Regina's when she starts to wriggle. Before Regina can miss-Swan her, she quickly says " the sun is out".
" Yes, so wh- ".
"Will you burn?"
Regina's face seems stuck between 'miss Swan ' and 'Emma', which is a weird thing to see. " I do not think so"
Emma moves slightly, glances outside where the sun is coming up. That is why she misses Regina glancing at her arms, with an expression she would definitely recognize. By the time she looks at Regina again, Regina has managed to hide that expression and tear her eyes away. " If we can't know for sure-".
" Ma. I think she is okay".
" I am not moving until I am absolutely sure that Regina is not going to like explode or turn to ash or just catch fire and vanish".
Regina pushes herself up a little. "I will be fine Emma. Now remove your body from mine".
Emma narrows her eyes. " No. I am not taking the chance".
" That was not a request, my dear, that was an order".
Regina pushes herself up a little more, glaring at Emma half-heartedly. " Get off me".
" No".
" Get- ".
" Regina I am not- ".
Regina stares. Emma stares more. Right between what little space is left between their bodies, there is a hand with a garlic clove on it. They glance up; Henry is a carbon copy of his mother, the same I-am-surrounded-by-idiots expression with the same eyebrow arch.
Regina slowly takes the garlic, not breaking eye contact with Emma when she takes a small bite and very carefully chews. She swallows and arches her eyebrow. "Satisfied?".
" Uh what?".
" The garlic has not harmed me Swan, so either the usual vampire clichés are wrong or I am safe from bursting into fire as soon as the sun rays touch me".
Emma stares at her. " You don't feel we- ".
" Emma! " suddenly comes from behind her. She groans a little when she realizes it is, in fact, her mother. Snow and Charming had decided to stay at the house (despite Emma's insistence that it was 'kind of rude, considering this is Regina's house, mom and not yours') after Regina started showing signs of life again. Snow had tried to hide it pretty valiantly- trying so very hard to be there for her grandson and daughter- but she had been shaken really badly by what had happened to Regina. Emma had been lost in her own anger and worry and pain, but it had been nearly impossible to miss Snow's eyes tearing up whenever she sat next to Regina's bed and held her hand.
She had looked small and young and terrified, no matter how much she tried to hide it for her family's sake.
" Emma, perhaps you could move off Regina? ". Emma is struck with how not surprised she sounds, about to ask why that is when she half pushed aside as Snow approaches Regina. She can't see anything but the side of her mom's face, but her voice sounds like she is crying.
" Regina " her mom says, the way she says it making Emma nearly as uncomfortable (she is not going to break down or anything, is she? Please don't) as Regina looks for a moment with Snow's arms around her. Very slowly, that expression changes and she almost looks content being hugged by Snow. Almost, because there remains a trace of something stiff and uncomfortable on her face.
Snow does not seem to notice, shaking slightly in Regina's arms. After what seems like one of those slow-motion scenes in a movie, Regina's hand strokes Snow's hair. It looks oddly familiar, like it is a small habit, something she – She must have held Snow like this a million times. Regina has given her small pieces of what being Leopold's queen was like (but only after Emma had said " It's not like I am attached to him, I never even knew him. And honestly? He married someone only a bit older than his daughter, that already tells me he was a fucking creep). Emma knows Regina pretended to love Snow until after her father's death.
Emma also suspects that it was not all pretending, that a part of Regina still loved Snow even if it sickened her a little.
"How are you" Snow gasps when she finally pulls back, but remains in Regina's personal space.
Regina forces a smile. " I am fine".
Snow frowns. " Are you lying to me? ".
" I am not".
" Regina- " Snow sighs and grabs Regina's hand. " You can tell me" she insists.
" Several decades and the darkest curse of all times tell me differently , dear"
" Regina, we are your family. We will help you".
No matter how much Snow cares for Regina and how far they have come, how they have gotten so much better at talking to each other- there are some things Snow will never understand. Snow will never understand feeling like a burden (her dad put her on the highest pedestal he could find; Cora would have talked down every single one of Regina's achievements and Emma- she was sent away like she was an impulsive purchase) , can never understand loneliness that is especially sharp in the middle of a crowd, can never imagine pulling away from people because you are terrified of what they might do to you if you let them in- how they might wreck your insides and your heart, how all they might leave is the bitter sadness inside you and fresh scorch marks on your heart.
All of this is why she does not recognize the look in Regina's eyes, the same look that Emma translates so easily in " I am better off alone. It is safer. Neither of us will get hurt". She just smiles at Regina, who looks at her with a grimace of a smile. Emma loves her mom, she does, but sometimes she wishes Snow understood more about how not everyone has dwarves and werewolves and fairies ready to die and kill for you.
"I appreciate that, Snow, but I am fine. Honestly".
Snow squeezes Regina's hand one more , then let's go. " Okay. But if you are done feeling 'fine' , you can always come talk to me".
" I – . . will keep that in mind. Although I am certain it will be unnecessary, because – "
Snow is standing next to Regina now, the same expression on her face that Emma recognizes from when Neal tries to clumsily walk (and promptly falls, which often leads to tears and a stubborn second attempt). " You are fine. Absolutely fine. We heard you"
Regina stares at Snow as she gives Regina one last gentle smile before kissing David on the lips briefly and walking towards the kitchen. Regina looks at David. " Did you wife just mock me?".
He laughs. " I would not call it mocking you. She is just trying to make sure you don't hurt yourself".
" I am not a child, David".
" No, but you scared her" David's expression becomes a lot less easy-going. Emma has not seen her dad cry , but during all the moments he allowed Snow to lean into him, he still looked very sad. And she knows it is not just because of shared hearts or other magic bullshittery; it is because he has accepted Regina into their odd family as well. " You scared all of us " he says.
"It was not my intention".
" I know. But- " David shrugs a little. "Snow would be heartbroken if anything happened, Regina. You have always been family to her, and we are not going to ever lose any members of our family again".
Regina rolls her eyes slightly. " As long as being part of the Charming cavalry does not make one obliged to repeat their motto constantly".
David laughs again, the gravity slowly fading from his eyes. " It does fit you though. You have always managed to find us".
" Leave, before there is very little of you left to find " Regina says, but there is no bite in her voice. David just smiles at her, then briefly squeezes her arm. He ruffles Henry's hair, one arm around his shoulders. Emma catches Regina looking at them with fond exasperation. After her dad lets Henry go, he kisses her on the cheek. Before he walks away, he lowers his voice to tell her "You might want to cover up that bite mark or ask Regina to heal it , kiddo" there is no judgement, just amusement and mischief.
Emma blushes anyways, shrugging away her dad's arm and pretending very hard like she is not wishing for the ground to – shit magic, don't think that. She takes a small step back, disappearing into a hole in the ground sounding a whole lot less appealing when it can actually happen and she would probably get stuck.
Her dad laughs again, stops when she scowls. " I am going to check on Snow. You want some pancakes?" Her scowl disappears as she realizes she is pretty hungry. " Please. Waffles would be great too" . She is really hungry. "And bacon, possibly. And eggs".
" I used to believe there was only one teenager in this home" Regina sighs.
" I need to eat well if I am going to act as both blood bank and Van Helsing".
" I am not certain you are suitable for either, my dear, considering your blood tastes horrid and all I had to do to break your resistance was whisper 'come closer'"
" You are going to regret saying that as soon as you are an actual vampire, that really wants my blood. And I have battled dragons, ogres- ".
" Falling and needing to be saved by your mother does not count as battling ogres".
" Who even told you tha- and that was just because no one bothered to tell me ogre skin is apparently a bulletproof vest! That is important information, why does no one tell you stuff like that?".
" Ogre skin is notoriously tough, even infants know that"
" Regina. I. Was. Not. Raised. There. No one taught me you are not supposed to shoot ogres- how would you guys even know? I haven't seen any guns when I was stuck in ogre land".
" It is not so much that guns do not work then that it is vital where you attempt to hit them. Some pieces of their skin are more vulnerable than others".
" It is not like they are going to just stand there while you try to figure out where to take aim".
" No. But that is the quality of great warriors, Emma, to see the war like a chess piece and make your winning move in the middle of deflecting an attack".
" I guess so".
" You are not a bad warrior" Regina says, not liking Emma's expression and how it makes her stomach revolt. "Naturally, you are ungracious, without finesse, impulsive, disobedient, too impulsive- " She pauses, then admits in a tone that hopefully conveys indifference( unlikely) " but you are not a bad warrior".
" That's a start" Emma says, looking at Regina with this expression that makes her heart beat faster, her head rush , her palms start to sweat- she attempts to trample down on the feelings and – when that doesn't work- find a distraction. "Where is David?".
" Grandpa said he was going to go to the kitchen and the food would probably be ready when you guys stopped bickering. Most likely even before it" Henry cuts in. He is sitting cross-legged on his own bed, the gargantuan book on his lap. Emma finally realizes that the dizziness is not in fact caused by blood loss, but by that book . Apparently, logic can never win in Storybrooke.
Without even looking at her, Regina touches Emma's bare arm for three seconds. There is the smell of mowed grass, the feeling of rain sliding on her cheeks and neck and the feeling of a warm body pressed around her. If it had been anyone but Regina , she would have been seriously freaked out. Now, she is just relieved that she no longer feels like she is going to puke her guts out.
" Your grandfather is a nuisance" Regina informs Henry, sitting down next to him. Emma scans the room- the three beds, the pieces of clothing and stakes on the usually pristine floor, the pieces of garlic secured to the walls and arranged around the beds- then slowly walks towards where Regina is looking at whatever 'interesting' passage Henry is pointing at. She crawls on the bed and peeks over their shoulders.
" What are we looking at?".
" We are reading an enlightening passage on the process of transformation".
" Why are there no illustrations of bats or wolves then?".
" Firstly, we remain unaware whether 'our' Dracula is capable of becoming an animal or something incorporeal like fog. Secondly, the subject is not the vampire transformation, but the transformation from human to vampire".
" What does it say?".
Henry sighs. " A lot. That's the problem. There are apparently a lot of different blood-sucking creatures and it is not very clear whether any of them are vampires – or just magical folk that use blood as fuel for their magic or rituals or something else entirely- ".
Regina lays her hand on his for a moment. " Calm down , hijito".
" We need to know, at the very least, what we can expect. We need a strategy. And we can only have one if we know his flaws and his strengths. If we go in there with garlic and it has no effect on him, it would be like marching towards a fortress without shields and with spears made of paper".
" Nice analogy kid, but I wouldn't worry if I were you". Emma nudges Regina slightly. " Me and your mom, we can beat anything together. Right?".
" It is true that two witches from our magical calibre being alive at the same time is unprecedented but it is no cause for arrogance".
Emma shrugs. " I don't think we are being arrogant. We have beaten a lot of 'unbeatable' forces these past years. The diamond alone was – ".
" Food!" it is Snow's voice that stops the impromptu meeting. Emma and Henry smile at each other, grin and immediately lose interest in the book. As Henry jumps to his feet and runs towards the kitchen, Emma is right behind him. She can hear their laughs and shouts as they wrestle and push and run. She wants to feel incensed that Henry breaks important rules like no running in her house thanks to Emma, but there is a stubborn smile again.
It only disappears when she reaches for the book and is hit with a bout of nausea. Peculiar. I remember the sensation being stronger than this- She stares at the book, reaches for it slowly. The first time she saw it , her stomach had lurched and if she had not been sitting, she would likely have fallen over. Now it is unpleasant yes- her stomach still feels like she has eaten something it does not completely agree with and her head is uncomfortably light , but it is alleviated somewhat. She suspects it has something to do with whatever had been wreaking havoc on her body, whatever magic or bacteria is in her blood thanks to that blasted vampi- the memory makes her feel unbalanced. There is that same awful mixture of revolt and desire.
She is roused from her thoughts by the voices of her family calling for her. She walks towards them and yes, maybe she is a burden and perhaps she should solve this issue on her own but for now, she is with her family.
And it is all good. -
The scenery is familiar. The fog feels pleasantly cool on her skin, the skeletons that rise from beneath their headstones are like old friends welcoming her home, the flapping of bat wings around her make her shoulder blades ache with the desire to be closer to them.
She stops when she is perhaps fifty metres away from the vault, ignoring the tombstones around her in favour of those who obscure her sight. One immediately walks towards her and even though her face is perfectly visible, all that Regina's sees is red lips as the woman approaches her. This time, she sinks into the embrace. There is nothing around them, just the thrills of cold skin against her own, the way her eyes roll back when sharp teeth touch her slow pulse and the hum that disrupts the quiet for a moment.
This time, there is no revulsion. There is sharp pain as those teeth sink into her arm, which is seconds later replaced by euphoria that has her wilfully sinking into the body at her back. She only realizes there is a second pair of teeth buried in her skin when her knees buckle and she gasps. Her heartbeat slows even more, the feeling of fingers brushing against sensitive skin and rougher touches continue until her limbs are lethargic enough that she can hardly support herself.
She can see the tombstones around them, the vault in the back of everything, the man dressed in black that hides him- apart from the glinting fangs - perfectly. She just does not feel anything- not the wind that rustles the leaves, or the cold that goosebumps her skin or even the terror that should have her heart race. She is calm, languid.
The man opens his arms, she is gently pushed towards him. Her hands are pressed to his chest, but she does not feel his heartbeat. There is no warm breath when his lips almost press against her cheek. Her head falls back obediently, a little sensation returning. She can feel him lick the blood away from her injuries.
There is a slight pressure on the back of her head, leading it down to where he has rolled his sleeves up and offers her his arm. There is already a long deep cut. She latches her mouth to it, grabs the arm with two hands, pulls it closer, sucks. She is vaguely aware of moist earth beneath knees, but all that truly matters is this.
She fades and colours all at once. The slightest hint of fear, the anger that buried itself beneath unnatural calm, such feelings are all muted. For now? The sensations burst with colour however. She can smell the earth, the subtle rotting of the corpses around them, the sweat of the living. She can hear the wind as it meets leaves, the insects crawling beneath the earth, an erratic heartbeat.
She is pulled up again.
Then the man holds her shoulders to turn her around, throws an arm around her. He sweeps his other hand out in a grand gesture, like a ringmaster presenting the new act. She licks the remnants of blood from her lips as she is led towards the final act.
It is Emma Swan, bound and helpless against the doors of her vault.
The man steps back, lets her go. She smiles: Emma's eyes light up. She approaches: Emma relaxes. She cups her cheek : Emma presses it into her hand. It is only when she presses against her; her body against a far warmer one and her open mouth against the veins in her neck that Emma tenses.
She pulls back, grabs that red jacket and easily tears it off her. Emma is struggling now, the gag in her mouth making her garbled noises incomprehensible. They would not have helped anyways. Her nails dig into that arm, drawing a line of blood. She drinks. Other arm, another line of blood. Emma is still struggling but less.
Regina pulls back a moment : tears are slipping between Emma's squeezed eyes. She draws her teeth over veins, laps at the blood. She ignores the fainter and fainter struggling , the warmth that is leaving the body rapidly. She drags her teeth up again, until they rest where she can feel faint heartbeats. Her teeth are already sinking in , ready to snap the bone protection when she drags them down again without knowing why.
She bits one last time, Emma's head hits against the stone, her body sags, there is one slow heartbeat. Her eyes are closed, the last tears clinging to her lashes. Her bounds are removed, revealing bruising skin. As soon as nothing is holding her anymore, her body crumbles on the floor.
Regina steps into the fog and becomes part of it.
When Regina snaps awake, there are about a thousand sensations flitting through her. She actually gags once, the nausea so overwhelming. It actually hurts, her heart charging into her ribs. She pushes herself up, glances around desperately. She nearly falls from the bed, nearly hits the floor because of trembling legs. She sobs once , her hand pressed against the chest of a curled-up Emma Swan.
She keeps it there as she crumbles, knees hitting the floor painfully. Emma mutters something, but fortunately does not wake to be privy to Regina quietly sobbing desperately.
Every time she thinks she can stop, she remembers the look in Emma's eyes, the way she felt her heartbeat fade, the struggles that became weaker and weaker and- she gags several times and the shaking increases. She tries to be quiet about the breaths she inhales and exhales slowly.
Finally, she pushes herself up. She looks down at Emma – her mouth that is a little open, her eyes that roll slightly, the way she is curled up- and she has to bite her lip hard to keep from crawling on that bed and just curling around Emma. She is cold and terrified and nauseated.
Worse, her teeth feel like she has submerged them into too-cold ice-cream and then tingle with that sensation that is in your frozen hands when you walk into a warm building. She knows what it means, can feel the sharpness digging into her tongue. It is another reason to not approach Emma: what if the dream becomes a prophecy?
There is an insane moment where she thinks of taking one of the stakes and piercing her own heart, her trembling hands already reaching for one, the angle awkward as she figures out how to do this- then she remembers her death would mean Emma and Henry would have to battle a vampire alone and the stake slips from her hands
She walks back to Emma. She doubts and hesitates and paces- as quietly as possible. She walks towards the kitchen, or thinks about leaving for the graveyard ( make a deal, save them) endlessly but her feet always lead her back to Emma and Henry.
Finally, she caves and stumbles towards the bed. She tries to talk herself away from that bed , but instead sinks into it. The last thing she feels is Emma's arms around her.