A/N; Got a few suggestions to use a character from wonderland. I have an idea for it but I don't know it'll work out. I'll do my best with it. Finally, everyone's finding the story again. Once again, I am sorry if it looked deleted as alerts never went out. Oh yeah, to the person who sent a PM about how this was too dark, please go back through the story and read the warnings.
I am a mess when I finally arrive at Mary Margaret's apartment. Half way, Ruby had seen me on the side walk and offered me a ride. I was silent the entire trip.
"Jenna, what happened?" I can feel Ruby push at my shoulder but I don't move or respond.
The movement we are in the parking lot, I bolt out of the car. I can hear Ruby shouting for me to wait, but I continue going.
"I'm coming!" I can hear Mary Margaret as I pound on the door. "Jenna! What happened!"
"I just found her like this!" I can hear Ruby behind me.
"He's a monster, he wan-wanted mmeee tto steal, he -wanted" my breath is coming out in short wheezy gasps, and I can't even understand what I am saying.
"Jenna! Ssshhh!" Mary Margaret grabs me by the shoulders. Finally, I am able to catch my breath. "Now, take a seat and calmly tell me what happened"
Sitting in the chair, I put my hands on my knees and breathe deeply for a minute. "He wanted me to deliver a baby"
"What do you mean?" Ruby is on the opposite side of me.
"Mr. Gold" I say flatly, and Mary Margaret's eyes widen, "I agreed to make a deal with him and-"
"And you didn't read the contract, did you?" Mary Margaret looked exasperated, "Jenna, no one makes deals with him. They never go well"
"No shit" I laughed callously, "His 'merchandise' was a baby. The fuck is he going to do with a baby"
"Jenna, I don't like cursing" Mary Margaret says, and again, I feel like a child.
"Yes mom" I say snidely, and Ruby snickers. Mary Margaret gives her a look and she is soon silent. "What's going to happen now. I sure as fu…heck am not doing that job! Do you think he'll let me do something else"
"I've never heard of him doing that" Ruby looks worried. "What did he say when you told him you weren't doing it?"
"I cursed him out, so nothing" the two are silent, blinking at me like owls. "What, I'm not scared of that creep" More wide eyed blinks. "Ok guys, what? Is he running the one man mob show here? The one man Mafia?"
"I think you'll be fine" Mary Margaret says quickly, much too quickly for my liking, "Now, how about we all get a cup of cocoa!"
I allow Mary Margaret to lead me out the door and pile into her car. Ruby is reluctant to leave, but she needs to get to the diner. Mary Margaret assures her that we will be in there within the next ten minutes.
"You'll be fine" Mary Margaret tries to soothe me. I stare directly ahead and don't say another word for the rest of the afternoon.
"Jenna, I went over those papers for the town's construction" Graham is telling me the next time we work together. I frown, realizing he must've gotten the papers from the mayor. "I didn't see anything in it for an asylum. There's nothing below the hospital but a basement"
"Have you ever been down to the basement?" my voice comes out gruffer than I intended it to.
"Yes, and there was nothing but some old storage and electrical wiring"
"Wrong end then" I said. He gives me a look and I can feel myself growing angry. "I know what I saw! End of story! Good-bye! The end!" Eyes narrowing at a thought, I turn back to him. "Or, I don't know, did you work out some sort of deal with Mr. Gold not to tell anybody there was a basement down there?"
"Now your being ridiculous"
"What does he have on you anyways? Why did you freak out the other night? Sheesh, someone would've thought you kidnapped a baby"
He stares at me for a few moments. "You know what, I think you need a day off. Don't worry about the paper work; I'll finish it tonight. Go home and get some rest"
Feeling my face growing hot, I drop what I'm doing, grab my bag and leave the department. I know that look! He thinks I'm crazy. I storm down the street and head right for the hospital. Not surprisingly, it' still mostly empty. I walk down the hallway and the nurse from before stops me.
"Miss Jenna! How lovely to see you again! How are you liking the new job"
"Fine!" I say flatly as I step around her. The door that leads to the asylum is right in front of me.
"Were are you going! Miss Jenna! You can't go back down there!" she jumps in front of me. I am in no mood to play this game.
"Move" I warn her.
"Mayor Mills specifically told you that it was for authorized personal only" the older woman is doing her absolute best to intimidate me.
"Mayor Mills is lying to a lot of people" I speak slowly as if to a child, "And that's including the town Sheriff. Why, I wonder?"
The woman narrows her eyes at me. Eyes slipping to her name tag, it reads Ruth. "Move, or be moved"
"I am going to tell Regina"
"You do that!" I dare her. Ruth does nothing. Stepping around her, I walk to the door. "Open!" The door opens and I walk through, never realizing that I hadn't tried swiping my ID.
Backing away, Ruth, turns and runs down the hallway, no doubt to tell Mayor Mills I threatened her. Hell, if she was really creative, she'd sling a cast on her arm to tell her I assaulted her, or some other nonsense. I am walking through the basement, and I no for a fact that it's an asylum. I don't exactly know what I am looking for this time, as the only thing that greets me is silence, and the occasional random muttering heard behind the doors.
Something compels me to stop in front of door labeled 12, at the top. Leaning down, I slide open the little door to have a look inside.
"Shit, Belle!" I jump up and begin furiously fumbling with the security code on the door. Nothing works. "Just open!"
Door magically flying open, I am soon in the room. Belle is curled in a corner, still in nothing but that old ripped gown from several weeks before. I kneel down next to her, but like before, I get no response.
"Belle!" I am in shock. How could someone pretend this isn't real. "I knew I hadn't made you up!" this gets a reaction, and Belle looks up at me. "I'm coming back here more often, and I'm bringing you a new gown! Did Ruth take care of you like she said she would? I don't know why no one believed me about this place-"
Belle puts a finger on my lips, furiously shaking her head.
"I need to be quiet? Why? The Mayor, she's lying to everyone-" another cold finger is on my lips. "What is going on?"
Leaning forward, Belle finally speaks, her voice coming out in a hoarse whisper. "The stories are true"
A few days later, still shaking off the incident at the hospital, I walk into the convenience store to get some more supplies. I am down to Ramen and I'd rather eat something real. Giving the store clerk, Mr. Clark, a brief wave, I am off to do my shopping.
"The stories are true" I can't get that voice out of my head. No one knows about that asylum. I haven't seen Graham for a couple days now, and I make a note to ask about the people who had been shipped out of this place due to mental illness. Or, I can just pay Dr. Hopper a visit. But for now, I'm just going to focus on shopping. Twirling another of Regina's apples in my hand, I had brought it along as a snack.
"Jenna, how are you" Mr. Clark says pleasantly as I bring my items up to the front.
Mr. Clarke's face suddenly crumples as he turns around and lets out a huge, body raking sneeze.
"Bless you" I can't help but smile in sympathy. Poor man, he's seemingly been suffering from allergies ever since I arrived, and that was a month and a half ago.
"Oh, thank you Jenna" He smiles back, still sniffling. He swipes my debit card through the machine. A small noise beeps from the register. Brow furrowing, he swipes it again. Nothing happens but the beep again.
"That's odd" he hands be back my card, "It's being declined"
"I cannot see why. I just put funds in there two days ago" I frown as I try to think of possibilities. "I just used it to pay rent the other day, and that might be the issue"
"That might be the reason why. I've had that happen to me before" now its his turn to smile sympathetically. "Sorry about that"
"Oh well, I'll just have to do this another day" with a small shrug, I exit the store.
It's not too bad. I still have some supplies to last me a few more days. I'll just go to the bank on Monday and make sure everything's all set correctly. I've seen it happen to my father where he would make huge transactions and all of a sudden, his bank would cut his card off for a few days, just to be on the safe side. In any sense, there's not much I can do about it now anyways. Walking down the side walk, I can't help but grin as I think how everything is still running so smoothly here. Apple in hand, I take a bite, savoring once again how sweet the fruit was. The mayor might be a bit of a hardass, but at least she could grow a wicked apple.
Passing along, I cross the street where that dreaded pawn shop is. That's the problem with walking everywhere is it seems no matter what intersection I pass by, I always end up near HIS place. I pass by his shop, and keeping my eyes averted, I quicken my pace. Shivering, I hug my arms to my body and continue with my faster walking pace. It's been nearly a week since the incident and I haven't seen him since. I think it'll just go away. Not paying attention to where I am walking, I turn a sharp corner-
-walking straight into the one man I've been trying to avoid.
My body automatically tenses as I try and put as much distance between us. Eyes raking over my defensive posture, his sharp features tighten into a smirk. My own lips form a scowl. I feel very self conscious with my old sweater and tattered jeans next to his thousand dollar suit. For a moment, everything freezes as we stare at one another, neither of us willing to back down. I am first to break eye contact.
"Well, Miss Black, this is my lucky day" to my ears it almost sounds like a hiss, "I've been meaning to pop by your apartment for a quick chat, but this is so. Much. More. Convenient"
"I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, and for that, I'm sorry"
"You broke our agreement" he says this in very matter-of-fact way.
"Look, I'm not doing a job like that" I said, "I can do another job, just not that"
"Yes, you made it quite clear you are not interested in doing the favor" Mr. Gold's shark-like sneer only grows, "And now, not only do you owe me a favor, you now owe me a debt. In backing out of our agreement, your debt to me has only grown"
"Debt?" I said incredulously, "I don't owe you money. It's a favor. That was the agreement. Money was never mentioned"
"Rules have changed now" he leans in closer to me. His face is a curious study; it would look innocent except for the smoldering anger behind them, "Because you failed to deliver my merchandise, it forced me to default on another agreement of mine. A default that had to come out of my own pocket"
"Merchandise!" I stab a pointed finger into his chest, causing him to flinch as he jerks away from my touch, "It was a fucking baby! Babies. Are. Not. Merchandise! Especially when a mother obviously wants to keep it!"
"Ms. Barton and I had an arrangement worked out beforehand" he all but snarled. It can't help but notice that the angrier he gets, the more his accent stands out, "That she wanted to default on it was none of your concern"
"You're sick!"
"Business, dear" There's a small, flamboyant twist of his body, even though he uses the cane for support. I'm getting the idea that it's just for show.
As if reading my thoughts, his eyes light up as he hobbles closer to me. Somehow refusing to move, I let him get close enough that he is nearly whispering in my ear.
"I don't think you truly understand just what I am capable of. No one breaks a deal with me"
My heart is pounding in my chest and my breathing has become erratic. For the first time, I understand the word fear. Even when Mr. Allen had knocked me to the ground, I hadn't been afraid. Eyes dropping to my neck, I wonder if he can see my pulse pounding. My body still refuses to cooperate, and I stand stark still.
"Well Ms. Black, it looks like you agreed to a deal that you didn't understand" his grin is now almost predatory, "I am confident that next time, you will not make the same mistake"
He meets my eyes one more time. The click of his heavy cane out on the sidewalk suddenly jerks my body back to life and I quickly put a few feet between us. He is staring at me with an amused grin.
"Provided that there is, indeed, a next time" his accent makes the words sound very menacing and my eyes grow wide. "I believe you know my correct office hours. Pop in once you are ready to pay what you owe me"
With that, he turns and walks away, his slow, deliberating walk. I watch him go a for moment before I turn around and take off in a run. I sprint all the way back to my apartment complex and dash up the two floors of stairs. It is not until I sink into corner of my bed that I allow myself to breathe.
'Its just an act' I try to soothe myself, 'He can't really do anything to me! He's just trying to scare me. He's just a creepy old man
I keep my eyes closed and force my breathing to slow down. My heart is racing, most likely from my Olympic runner stunt. The phone vibrates next to me, making my heart jump again. The phone is now wildly vibrating again. Deciding not to answer the phone for the rest of the day, I quickly turn it off.
'Its probably just Gold' I think to myself as I pick myself off the floor and head into the bedroom. Feeling completely drained, I allow myself to slink into bed and in no time, I am in a deep sleep. I sleep for almost twelve hours.