A/N: redid this chapter.
Flashback:
It was a warm day, and the children were having a break from they're lessons and were enjoying the afternoon. Sun in her golden hair, the little princess played on her swing set, her little legs pumping propelling her body higher and higher into the air. He frowned when he saw another child, a small boy run up behind her, knocking the child to the ground.
"Little baby has no mommy!" he heard the boy taunt her cruelly.
Face full of dirt, the little princess tried to pull herself to her feet, but was knocked down by another a child. Pointing and laughing, a small group had circled around the fallen child. A bell rings in the distance and the rest of the children scamper of towards their respectable classes. He watched the princess pull herself up and dust herself off as a group of adults approach the girl, encircling her again. A woman by the name of Mrs. Delano takes the hand of the child. Following them from a safe distance, the child has finally recovered her school bag and is in such a hurry to keep up with the woman tugging on her hand that the child doesn't notice when something large falls out of her bag.
"Grown-ups shouldn't lie!" he hears the girl scream at the woman. The older woman's face turns an interesting shade of red.
Pushing the child towards the back of a black car, Mrs. Delano opens the door and instructs the child to stay inside as she walks away from the car for a brief moment. Approaching the car, he can hear the girl crying inside.
"Excuse me, little miss" he says as he taps the car door with his cane. Looking into the car, he sees big blue eyes peering up at him curiously as he produces a large book from behind his back, "But I couldn't help but notice you dropped this"
The little princess gingerly takes the large book labeled Once Upon A Time from him, her eyes never leaving him. "Thank you mister"
"You're quite welcome ma dear" he says warmly. Hearing the clattering of heels behind him, he gives a final wave to the princess before making a hasty exit.
"Wait!" the child calls after him, climbing out of the car. Gasping, she looks all around. He had disappeared, like a ghost.
"Emma!" Mrs. Delano is back, coming up behind her, "You were to stay in the car!"
"Did you see the man?" Emma asks her.
Mrs. Delano peered around the corner before giving the girl a furious glare. "I don't see any man here. You've been reading too much fantasy crap again!" Mrs. Delano takes a swipe at the book, but Emma hugged it to herself and dashed back into the car.
"Emma" a voice whispered all around her.
Car speeding off, Emma turned around to stare out the back window. Eyes widening, she saw the distant figure of the man, his form growing smaller and smaller as the car drove away.
My alarm clock chirps wildly, startling me out of my dream. My eyes fly open, squinting as the sunlight creeps through my blinds. Headache pounding behind my eyeballs, I groan, my mouth dry as a desert. I can't believe I'd had so much to drink last night. Freezing slightly, my eyes rake down my body, and I breath a sigh of relief to see I am dressed in my large night shirt. I am alone in the apartment. I let out a relived laugh. For a split second, I had actually believed I had allowed Mr. Gold in here. Pulling myself to a sitting position, I wince slightly, registering a dull pain between my legs.
"Oh no" I moan faintly. Turning my head, my heart drops as I see a glass of water and couple of aspirin waiting for me on the dresser. I close my eyes, and I remember myself clinging onto him like a desperate woman.
I refuse to cry. Grabbing the aspirin, I take a quick swig of the water, allowing the liquid to cool my aching throat. Pulling myself out of bed, I take a few tentative steps toward the bathroom. The pain has begun to ease and I do my best to block out last night memories. There is no doubt about it now. Last night happened! I am hoping Ashley hasn't told anyone that I allowed Mr. Gold to take me home while completely intoxicated. I have never been that drunk before. I frown as I remember the dream I had been having. Or was it a memory?
I decide to walk to work, which I instantly regret doing. The pain between my legs hasn't gone away and I walk with my legs slightly apart. I can't believe I had been drunk enough to let that smug bastard touch me. There are a group of girls behind me and I can't help but feel that they're laughing at me. With the way word travels around here, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire town new what happened.
'Are you sure this is what you want?' I hear him whispering in my ear as his finger enters me.
"Shit!" I exclaim, moving away from the crowd.
Sitting on a bench, I force myself to take deep breaths. A memory of me pleading for more comes to my mind and I could cry from the shame of it. I instantly try to shove it away.
"Well there you are, Jenna!" I look up to see Leroy swaggering towards me, "I heard you had a good time last night"
"And what of it!" I snap at him.
"Jesus sister, when I heard you could pound whiskey as good as me, I had thought I had found a new drinking buddy" he gives me disapproving once over, "But with that attitude, see I buy you anymore drinks!"
He leaves me staring after him. I can't shake the feeling of last night. And I can't get that dream out of my head. I know Mr. Gold from somewhere other than here. I just know it! Luckily for me, I was suppose to have today off, but I picked up an extra shift at the last moment, so there's no way he'll be here today. If fate allows me to have my way, I'll avoid that man until my dying day. On top of that, he hardly ever comes to the Diner. Heading to work early to deal with the aftermath of last night, the first thing I see is the very disapproving look on Granny's face. I shudder slightly.
"Well, I am surprised someone managed to come to work today" she says coldly, her arms full of menus.
"Yeah" is all I can manage to say. I wonder if anyone saw what happened or if Ashley had mentioned something.
"You are not allowed to drink here anymore!" Granny glares at me, "You don't know what could've happened to you!"
'So Ashley didn't tell her' I think to myself. All I can do is press my lips into a thin smile. My headache is starting to return and I wish Granny would drop it.
"Since you're here early, you can get started with sorting out the torn menus" Granny stuffs the pile in my arms.
I can't say anything. I really wanted a coffee, but I'm afraid that this'll provoke another reaction from Granny. There is a soft chuckle behind me. Eyes narrowing in anger, I ignore my pounding headache as I spin around.
"You" I spit the word venomously as I approach Mr. Gold.
He is sitting at a table with another cup of tea in front of him. Arms still full of Granny's menus, I stomp over towards him. Luckily, the cafe is pretty dead.
"Jenna" he says with a smug grin as I come up next to his table, "To what do I owe the…pleasure…of your company"
I ignore the sarcastic comment. "Who are you?" I demand bluntly.
"Who am I?" he seems to be enjoying this, "Why, I am Mr. Gold. Certainly you remember that much"
"Enough games! I know you from somewhere, don't I?"
He says nothing, but looks away from me, a sly look in his eyes.
"I do, don't I!" I am now almost certain that dream had been a memory, "I saw you once as I child, didn't I? You returned my book!"
"Did I?" he asks me another of his famous rhetorical questions.
'Are you sure this is what you want?' I hear that whisper and I can feel his hands on my skin again.
"You seem awfully distracted" Mr. Gold says knowingly.
"Fuck you" I sneer at him.
"Again? Well, if you insist"
I feel myself turning bright red and I go to say something but all I end up doing is stuttering for a few minutes. "You came here to see me, so what do you want?" I am very blunt, and his eyes widen in mock surprise.
"Are you certain of this? If I did, what would be my motive?"
"I don't know!" I feel myself beginning to grow flustered, "Like, uh, for example, today! Yes, today! I never told you when I came into work today, and here you are!"
"Ma dear, you were murmuring a great many of things last night. Whose to say you didn't ask me to meet you here before your shift started?"
I feel myself becoming very heated, "Was 'last night' planned?"
"No" he says, sitting up straight to fold his hands on the table, "But I did warn you that you would regret it"
I open my mouth to say something, but no words comes out. He's not lying about this am I am surprised.
"And, I came here to see you, you are correct" his eyes narrow at me, "Or rather, to warn you. That man you caught a few weeks ago, he's escaped, along with another of his men. Killed the officer on duty. You, well, 'caught' him. He may come after you"
"Chess escaped?" I say incredulously, "How?"
"No one knows" he offered with a slight shrug, "It happened sometime during the night. I would've informed you of it sooner, but you seemed very preoccupied-"
"I'm not talking about that" I wave him off, feeling myself blush. I attempt to turn the conversation back to it's original topic "What do you want from me? You know something, don't you?"
"I know a great many things about this place. For example, last night, I couldn't help but notice you kept an old newspaper clip from The Daily Mirror. That thing had a date on it that was almost eighteen years old. Tell me, what are you doing here now?"
I am silent for a moment before something clicks in my head. "You know my parents, don't you? Its no secret that I came here hoping to find them. You've been watching ever since I got here, haven't you?"
"Jenna, Jenna, Jenna" he says my name again as he looks away from me.
"Tell me who they are!" I have gone from angry to pleading, "I want to find them. Please!"
"Well, if I do that…" he trails off knowingly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll owe you a favor" I mutter sardonically, "Everything comes at a price with you-"
My mouth falls open and I stare at him in mute horror. I have just realized what I've said.
'You're weird mister' I hear my six year old self saying this, as well as my drunken self last night. His grin has now grown predatory as he eyes me, his entering body tensing.
"It's you, isn't it" I let out a chocked gasp.
"You look like you've seen a ghost" he says oh so quietly as he cocks his head to the side, "Little dearie"
I drop the menus onto the floor as I stare at him.
"Jenna?" I hear someone faintly call me.
I don't respond. Mr. Gold and I lock eyes. For a brief moment, I see Rumpelstiltskin's large eyes peering back at me. He grins at me, and before I know what I'm doing, I turn and sprint out of the Diner.
"Jenna!" I hear Granny call after me. Or was it Ruby?
I run and I run and I run. I run until I am back in my apartment. My head is spinning wildly. Rumpelstiltskin is Mr. Gold. Mr. Gold is Rumpelstiltskin! How did I not make the connection before? Slamming my front door shut, I sink down into the deepest, darkest corner I can find.
"The stories are true" I hear Belle's words echoing inside my head over and over with her thick, haunting voice. Soon, Chess's voice begins to chime in with her.
"Stop it, stop it!" I cry as I clutch my hands to my ears in attempts to drown out the voices.
"A conscious is that still small voice" Dr. Hopper's voice has now begun echoing. Jiminy Cricket?
"Oh my God!" I scream as I clutch my ears.
"When they came out of the mines, they each displayed signs of post traumatic stress disorder. They thought they were story book characters" my conversation with Dr. Hopper keeps replaying over and over in my mind.
This place is filled with fairy tale creatures! If Rumpelstiltskin is real than it has to be true. Nothing else would make sense! He wanted me to find this place. Why? Why would he do this to me? Allowe me to sign a contract he knew I would default on and left me nearly homeless. Why are these characters here? They don't even seem to realize it themselves.
"Regina" I whisper, "That's why she wanted to people from the mines shipped out of here. That's why Belle's locked in a secret ward. They know the truth! And she doesn't want anyone else to know"
"The stories are true" I hear Chess's voice crooning.
Gasping wildly for air, my body is gripped by tremors. That voice didn't come from inside my head. There is a slight squeak coming from my room. I refuse to move towards it. There is a rustle behind me and a large hand grabs my shoulder. I move instantly to face the intruder behind me.
In a roundhouse kick, I send the man sailing across the room. With a loud oomph! he hits the wall. I am still shaking. It's the man Graham chased down. He drags himself to his feet and comes at me again. Body reacting instinctively, I raise my arms, and the man collides straight with my elbow. With another hook, I knock him to the ground. The man just won't give up and soon he is back at me again. Taking a swing at me, I easily sidestep him, and another well placed kick in the ribs send him stumbling back. This time, he doesn't get back up. Laughter stills echoes from my room.
"Come out!" I shriek.
There is nothing but soft laughter all around me.
"Enough! You want me? Here I am!"
A solid object collides with my head and a terrific jolt of pain reverberates through my body. I land in a heap on the carpet. A thin trail of blood seeps down my forehead in between my eyes. Shoes squeaking behind me, I see a sparkly blue jacket drape over me. I open my mouth to say something, but my muscles refuse to respond.
"Come on, screeeeeaaaaam!" Chess is now kneeling down in front of me, eyeliner and purple bangs back in place. He had been in the corner watching me. "Scream for your pet imp! He won't save you!"
The other man is now back on his feet and is advancing towards me.
"Don't worry, little dearie" I feel Chess's breath on the nape of my neck, "I'm going to take good care of you"
My world goes dark as I feel myself being lifted off the ground.
There was an angry pounding on his door. With an agitated yank, Mr. Gold opened his door to find Sheriff Graham standing on his doorstep.
"What can I do for you, Sheriff?"
"Jenna's gone" Graham states loudly.
"Is that so?" Mr. Gold positioned his cane in front of him.
"She's been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. The last time she was seen, she was quarreling with you in the Diner" Graham was looking at him accusingly.
"People quarrel all the time Sheriff" Mr. Gold said snidely, "You're not implying that I had something to do with the young lady's disappearance, are you?"
Graham weighed his options as he stared at Mr. Gold. "Do you have any idea where she could've gone"
"No idea" Mr. Gold stared down the younger man, "Didn't some men escape from your holding cell the other night? Why don't you go check those sources out before coming to me"
For a moment, the two men stare at each other, and Mr. Gold can tell the Sheriff has a lot more he wants to say to him. With obvious reluctance, the Sheriff turns and walks away as Mr. Gold closed the door. With a sigh, he sank into a chair. It has finally begun. The beginning of the end. That was too bad. The girl had fire, but not enough to save her now. Something gold caught the corner of his eye and he makes his way over to the nearby dresser where he keeps several of his most cherished items.
Sitting next to his chipped teacup is a little gold locket. Grasping it in his hand, he closed his eyes as he remembered the day the child had stolen it from his castle.
"Did I ever tell you what was in that amulet?" he asked her when the child had attempted to return it to him.
"No" she said softly, "But if you need it back, here. I'm sorry I took it without asking"
"That's quite alright, little dearie. In the amulet is a little thing I like to call Twu Luv. I've got an entire bottle at home. You can keep this one" he pushed her back hand and watched her face light up. He opted not to tell her that he gotten it by making deals with her parents.
"You're not mad at me?" the girl had asked him.
"I suppose not!" he said with a sweep of his arm.
"Thank you" she said, flashing another precious smile at him. Her face suddenly became serious, much to serious for that of a six year old. "Promise me you'll never leave me"
He was silent for a minute, his power of sight giving him a vision of the woman she was to become. A spark of what could only be called humanity coursed through his veins. For one brief moment, he saw the pain and loneliness that this innocent child would go through. For one single, solitude minute, he allowed himself to regret the course her life would lead. In that minute, he actually felt tears well up in his eyes. Quickly snapping back to himself, the moment was soon gone.
"You have my word" he said with a dramatic bow.
Opening his eyes, he felt a pang of emotion in his chest. His gaze turned back to the chipped cup. Gone, gone forever. Nothing could bring the girl who chipped the cup back. Nor the son whose clothing he still kept. But the girl who had stolen his amulet from so long ago was another story.
"Emma" he whispered her name.
Yanking open the bottom drawer of his dresser, he found the small handgun inside it. Later that night, he smirked when he found a man limping on the street. He was wheezing, a sign of injured ribs, face and body riddled with bruises. This was one of the escape convicts. What was he doing on the side of the street, alone? The other citizen's must be to afraid to intervene. No matter.
"Need a ride?" he pulled up next to the man.
"I'm fine" the man grunted. Turning to see who was next to him, his eyes widened when he realized he was face to face with a gun.
"I insist" Mr. Gold said sarcastically, grin becoming shark-like as the man began to tremble.