Flashback
Warnings: Cursing/Underage/abuse/attempted rape.
"Rumpelstiltskin!" I scream into the woods. I know he's here! Stupid imp! I can hear him giggle, that insane giggle all around me. "I know you're here!"
Why am I still here. I am still in these woods almost every night. Still in this ridiculous dress! World spinning around me, I catch a shadow moving in the distance. Taking chase, I run and run, only to find myself back at the mirror each time.
He watched her struggle. In the first month with that cop, he had tried to force himself on her. Foot planted firmly in the oaf's face, she had thrown him off her. She truly was her mother's daughter. The battle isn't over yet; He can see the oaf watching her out of the corner of his eye. And she knows it too. It had been some months since he had visited her. Oh, after the death of her friend, she had cried for him. He giggled at the thought. He had been tempted several times to reach out for her, but she wasn't ready yet. She had to be broken first. He sometimes wondered if all the pain she was going through was necessary. Then he remembered that all of the incidents in her life happened for a better cause. She was so alone right now, she would welcome him back. She was so desperate not to be alone, he could practically taste it. Maybe, he could even bottle her desperation and make some more potions. He waved that thought off. Now was not the right time.
'Yes' he mused to himself as she watched the girl in her bedroom, 'It wouldn't be long now. She had progressed so much faster than he had expected. Just one more last push'
I am completely alone. The cop, Mr. Allen, has tried to hurt me, like I knew he would. I can't tell anyone. I'll end up back in that 'home'. I can't runaway. I have just turned seventeen and they'll put me in jail at this point. Besides, how can I tell anyone that a cop of over fifteen years, with a long record of saving children, tried to hurt me. No one would believe me. This isn't the first home where someone hurt me, so this isn't anything I can't handle. I just wish I wasn't so alone. With Miss Jenna gone, I don't have a friend to talk to. I don't even have my dreams anymore. Some nights, I am still in that dark place, but not in the castle. I am all alone in the woods.
There are some benefits to my situation, however. I have a job, a real job, at the police station. I enter personal data files, so I have access to public records. My foster father, or whatever he's called, is regarded as an upbeat citizen, a true hero by his past deeds. No one knows that every night he drinks almost a fifth of vodka by himself, turning him into a completely different person.
'Emma, I'm so sorry' I can still hear him whimper from that night. Body pressed against the door, I had pulled up my torn sleeve and locked him out. Still, he pleaded for forgiveness. 'I don't know what came over me. I am so sorry!'
Lip curling at the memory, I really ought to thank him. I have been able to earn my G.E.D while living with him. With the job he gave me at the station, as an apology, I now have some cash saved up. Soon, I can leave this place and finally be on my own. Once I get out of here, no one will hurt me again. I have found my personal files. Slowly, to avoid alarm, I have been deleting information. When I leave here, I have to be careful not to leave a trail. I want to disappear completely. I have looked for Miss Jenna's a few times when no one was around. The only thing I found was that she was murdered, and listed as an 'unidentified woman'. It's like she just disappeared.
"Emma!" there is a loud shout, which shakes me out of my trance "Come out here now"
Tensing, I come out to the living room. There is an empty liquor bottle on the counter. He had been trying to quit after he tried to hurt me, and mostly sticks to verbal insults from across the room. But tonight, tonight is different. He has put on an additional twenty pounds in the last few months, making him even larger than ever.
"Yes?" I say as I stand in the living room, arms folded across my body.
'Don't say 'yes', in that tone" he sneers at me while waving a glass of alcohol, "I didn't have to take you in, you know. If I hadn't, they'd have thrown you in jail for all your fights"
"Ok" I look him squarely in the eye.
"Little bitch" spittle is flying everywhere, and I roll my eyes. I have grown used to his little outbursts by now. They no longer intimidate me. "You are so ungrateful! No wonder your parents dumped you off"
The flinch inwards, but my face remains neutral. "Did you have something you needed me to do?"
"You know what, yeah"
Before I can react, he has my arm and is yanking me towards the ground. Adrenaline singing through me, with my free hand I punch him as hard as I can in the side of the head. His grip on my arm is so tight that I can't help but scream. This seems to knock Mr. Allen more off balance than my fist. For a minute, he just blinks at me.
"Emma!" he gasps.
"What the hell is going on in there?" a neighbor has been alerted by my screams and is now pounding on the door.
Mr. Allen's face goes pale for a second and looks down at my red, tear stained face. Meaty hand raised in the air, he strikes my cheek with a sudden force and the door is broken down.
I hang on for a few seconds. A man and woman have burst through the door. Mr. Allen is huddling in a corner, his face shiny with tears and sweat.
"She attacked me!" Mr. Allen is shaking so hard, "She just-" my world fades again.
When I drift back, I now see a woman. "Oh my gosh!" a she gasps as she picks up a broken bottle, covered in blood.
"I don't know why" Mr. Allen is sobbing, and in the fading light, I can see more blood.
A man is now kneeling down, peering into my eyes. "I can't believe she would do that-" is the last thing I hear before my world goes black.
I'm back in the dark place, my head screaming in pain. I find the mirror and gasp. The white dress which was once so beautiful is torn. Blood stain and burn marks are still there from the previous incidents. My arm is throbbing and there is an ugly black bruise in the shape of fingers. Black streaks are running down my face, blonde hair tumbling everywhere. Running in the forest, I stumble over roots of overgrown trees. There is a howling all around me and I am bitterly cold.
"Rumpelstiltskin!" I scream, "Where are you! Fucking coward!"
I run. I run until I can run no more. I have been running in circles, lungs hurting from the combination of screaming and the cold. I am back at the mirror. I can't leave this time. I am trapped. Sitting by the mirror, I let myself slump to the ground. I have no strength in me to fight.
'Poor little princess' he giggled slightly to himself. When she came through the mirror, she was bruised, defeated, broken. She no longer had the will to wake up. She was perfect.
And she had done everything he had wanted her to do.
I don't know how long I have been sitting here. I don't care anymore if I live or die. Curled up, I allow myself to openly cry.
"Now, now" a familiar voice is over me, "Didn't I tell you that princesses' don't cry?"
Gasping, I look up. "It's you?" He is standing a few feet from me.
"Indeed it is" he grins with a slight giggle.
I try to pull myself up to my feet, but I am so weak that I stumble back down.
"Oh dear. Oh little dearie, what have you gotten yourself into now?" he breaks into one of his theatrical dances as he comes and kneels down next to me.
I don't care if he's making fun of me. I am not alone anymore. With the last of my strength, I rocket myself into him and fiercely wrap my arms around him.
"Miss me?" he scoffs, but nevertheless, he wraps his arms around me.
"I'm never leaving again" it feels so good to have another body close to mine.
He pulls me off him to look me in the eyes. "You've been unconscious for two days now. You need to wake up"
"No! That man said I attacked him! He hurt me, he hurt me!" I can't stop crying, "They're going to put me in jail! I'll never be free! I was so close, so close…" I trail off in another fit of tears.
"Not going to happen" he waves a finger in my face. "There isn't a challenge you can't win. No odds you can't overcome. No riddle you can't solve!"
My mind is too hazy to even register what he's saying.
"I do not want to wake up" I plead with him, and he grins again.
"Well, I don't want you here, little dearie" he says snidely with a shrug.
"You're mean!" I revert back to my six year old self.
He giggles his infuriating giggle and with all the strength I can muster I go to shove him away, but he catches my wrist. Eyes wide, he pulls me in for a gentle kiss. I freeze, unsure of what to do. He pulls away, giving me a strange look.
"Now, that's a bit of a disappointment…Emma"
Eyes narrowing at the challenge, I lurch forward and attach my lips to his. There is a deep groan in his throat and I am roughly shoved back. Hands are roving all over my body through the torn dress, sending electric jolts through my body. I gasp into his mouth as I feel my dress being pulled up and his hands explore my inner thighs. I can't stop squirming. I feel my body tense up and I squeeze my eyes shut. Suddenly he stops. Eyes flying open, I let out a startled gasp as he is still staring down at me with a look I've never seen before.
"Why did you stop?"
For once, he doesn't respond. With a half smile, he leans over me, this time trailing kisses from my collarbone all the way up my neck. Skin on fire, I can't help but groan beneath him.
Nuzzling my ear, he stops again. What is in reality a few seconds feels like an eternity.
"Wake up, Emma" is the last thing I hear before my world goes dark again.
"Oh!" with a groan, I sit straight up. I am covered in sweat, head hurting by the sudden rush of light.
Wincing in pain, I look around the place, frowning when I see an IV in my arm. I am in a hospital. There is a hospital report on the IV tray. Yanking it over, I read over it briefly, frown deepening when it reads I had a mild concussion. On one of the chairs is a box with some of my things in it. I could recognize my baby blanket anywhere. Miss Jenna's book is there too. Mr. Allen's jacket is next to it. Feeling myself growing angry, I yank out the IV tube in my arm, not even flinching from the pain. Hands fumbling in his jacket, he doesn't have his car keys, but instead I find a wallet with two credit cards and some cash. My clothes from when I was taken to the hospital are still here and I yank them on.
I don't know if it's sheer luck, but my hospital room is on the first floor. I scan the room for cameras. I am not in the ICU, so there are none. Careful not to draw attention to myself, I open the window and throw my baby blanket and book out. Pocketing the wallet, I feel a sudden leap of joy when I see no pedestrians around. I can even see Mr. Allen's car from where I am standing. Without a glance backwards, I step out the window. Grabbing my items, I calmly walk towards Mr. Allen's car. It's locked, but the windows are open so I slide in easily. Another thing I am fortunate of; I had learned to hot wire cars while under Mr. Allen's care. Tears streaming down my face, I am off.
He watched her go. She never once saw him. Chuckling to himself, he watched her run across to the car and drive off. There was a minor 'accident' in the parking lot behind the hospital, so all of the authorities and onlookers were over there when she left. He had heard that bumbling idiot of a cop scream when he entered the hospital room in search of her.
"I've got to find her" he heard the man mutter to himself, "I've got to make things rights. I'll do anything"
Ears perking to the 'anything', Mr. Gold turned around and walked back inside the hospital, a smile spreading over his face.
I couldn't keep Mr. Allen's car of course. Too easy to track. I dumped it off the side of the road and snuck into his house through the back door to collect some items of mine, and my savings from the last few months. Slinging some clothes in a torn suitcase, I kept my other stuff in a small box. Among the items are the newspaper clippings that Miss Jenna left me. It was almost night time by now, so it was easy to sneak around. Getting into a neighbor's car, I hot wired it and was soon gone. Knowing I couldn't stay anywhere for too long, I bribed a child to go into a convenience store and purchase some black hair dye and a pair of scissors with some cash, telling her to keep the rest.
I spent that night in a shelter. It wasn't much, but at least no one cares who you are and there was a shower. Brushing my now short black hair out of my face, I hardly even recognize myself. Using a public library, I am able to gain access to files needed to obtain a new ID. My year working at the police station have served me well. By now, I have hot wired a third car. This car is from a junk yard, so no one even noticed it was gone. The other two had been, and I was in a tight spot a few times.
I am soon in a town I don't know. After missing a crucial turn, I realize I am now headed towards Maine. That was not my intention, but at least it'll help me put some distance between myself and that corrupt cop who said I tried to beat him. There is a warrant for my arrest now, but news reports claim Mr. Allen is not pursuing them. Walking into the DMV a week after my escape with a fake school ID and a fake rental agreement, I approach the counter top. The lady with silver brown hair is fortunately too busy to really be paying attention to me as she furiously begins typing away on her computer.
"And your name, hun?"
I look her dead in the eye. "Jenna. Jenna Black"