As soon as I had rounded the corner and left their sight I ran, silently thanking the gods for extraordinary balance, allowing me to sprint in three inch heeled boots. The cold air filtered his scent out and helped cool me down. Screw bloody modesty, I am never wearing pants and a jacket again, unless its subzero weather. After about five minutes of racing against god knows what I ducked into an alleyway on my right. Pressing my back against the cold brick I let myself catch my breath before stripping off the brown leather jacket that entrapped the heat of torso, sighing with relief as the cold air filled my skin. I turned my head, resting the left side of my face against the wall and looking out into the street. I could blend in and no one would know I was here. The thought delighted me and I sighed wistfully. You can't hide from your problems, they'll either grow or accumulate or become a nasty combination of the two. Reluctantly, I pushed off the wall jacket still in hand. Honestly, at this point, I don't care if people see me and question as to why I'm in close to 40 degree weather without a coat on, half of them already think I'm crazy. I trudged towards the entrance of the alley and froze when I saw Regina's car rush past. Where are you going in such a hurry? I peeked around the corner and watched the car make a right turn. There's really only two things that are mildly significant on that street, a flower shop and… the library, Belle's library, shit Rumpel what did you tell that girl? I once again picked up my rigorous pace, ducking behind buildings and cutting through back ways so that I ended up behind the library. I pressed my ear against the back door. I know she's in there, I can't hear shit. I twisted the doorknob and stuck. Sighing I pulled one of the pins out of my hair, half of the loose, white-gold curls it restrained fell to my waist. Chucking my jacket to the side, it fell against the outer wall in a small heap I crouched so that I was eye level with the knob. I eased the bobby pin into the key hole and angled it so that the end matched up with the notch in the metal mechanism attached to the lock. I twisted it until it was vertical and the satisfying click reached my ears. Once a thief always a thief, an appeased grin reached my lips as I slowly, silently twisted the doorknob and eased it open. The door now open enough I slipped through sideways, on this occasion happy that my chest was on the small side. I shut the door behind me with the same measured ease as my ears strained to distinguish the voices drafting in from the main part of the library. I slid up against the adjacent wall and hid in the shadowy areas as I made my way to the edge of the open doorway leading into the room. My back was pressed against the wall and I kept my breathing slow and quiet as I listened.
"My guess is she hid it in one of her beloved books." I heard Regina's voice coming from the other side of one of the nearby bookshelves.
Ugh, Belle, Rumpel why did you entrust it to her, she's only book smart.
"Impressive Regina." Came a soft purring voice I had only heard in two other places, the first being the time Rumpel had me hide in the cupboard when a woman demanded entrance into his manor, the second being my nightmares, that nefarious murmur belonged to Cora.
I wanted to dart in and strangle her, plunge my dagger into her throat and rip out her voice box or better yet form and use every twisted, horrific spell I knew to kill the bitch. The same Witch who sent threatened Rumpel when he wouldn't tell her the truth about his new apprentice, the same pernicious Sorceress that sent Blackbeard after us.
"Thank you, mother." I cringed at the sweetness that exuded itself from Regina's words as realization hit me.
Cora is Regina's mother? Obviously, everyone else was okay with leaving me out of the loop on that detail. Shook my head and focused on the conversation again as a deep, magnetic, malevolent mutter filtered through the room.
"I'll be impressed when I'm holding the dagger in my hand."
It felt as if I were sinking. Hook, what are you doing here, so much for separating yourself from her. Neither of the women acknowledged his statement.
"No, it should be here." Regina's voice trailed off.
"Well it's not, is it, may we go now?" Hook's tone showing his impatience.
"Hold on." Cora's voice met the sound of rustling paper.
I pressed myself harder against the wall in anticipation.
"What's this?" Her question sounded genuine.
"Ah yes, crude. To the untrained eye a child's scribbles, but to a pirate it's a map." I heard the shuffled steps of Hook limping across the path of the doorway.
My breath caught and I slunk away as he passed the two women following close behind.
"The girl may not have hidden the dagger here but I believe he's left us the next best thing, its location." He sounded dark and sure.
"Can you read it?" Cora sounded dimwitted.
I almost smacked my head against the wall at her stupid question.
"Well lucky for you ladies, I'm quite adept at finding buried treasure." He hummed smoothly.
That's an understatement my thoughts rang sourly through my mind. I struggled to hear the soft mutterings he emitted as he examined the map. If edged myself just inside the doorway I was able to see them but that was too risky given that they simply had to turn sideways and would discover me immediately. So I stayed farther back, my neck stretched in the most uncomfortable of positions in order to catch a few words here and there. I pulled back again and rolled my neck, deciding it was useless until he finished his musings.
Finally he spoke in his usual rich pitch. "I give you the location of the dagger."
I snapped to attention and inched dangerously close to the opening.
"Well done Hook." Cora's voice drawled out in praise. "We'll take it from here." She clipped snatching the map marked with the dagger's hiding place and striding in a quick gait behind and away from Hook, Regina close behind.
"No, you promised me!" He yelled after them.
Cora's magic slammed him back into the shelves I heard a sickening thud as his body landed. Rage boiled inside me.
"The dagger is much too powerful to be wasted on you." Cora reproached.
Hook didn't respond, the blow must have knocked him unconscious.
"So this is what it was all about, getting Rumpel's dagger so you could obtain his dark powers?" Regina sounded hurt.
"If we possess the dagger, we control the 'Dark One' and when he returns to Storybrooke we can command him to kill Snow White, Prince Charming and Emma. Our enemies will be vanquished and you will be blameless in the eyes of the only person who matters." Cora reassured her as their plot slipped into my ears.
"Henry." Affection floated through Regina's voice.
All of this to get back Henry, I almost pitied Regina for the lengths in which she went to get back her adopted son, well adopted son who also happened to be her step great-grandson. I quickly lost all empathy towards her though when their plan resonated through my head Snow, Emma, David! I couldn't let that happen. My mind established that at the same time my reckless-self established that now would be a good time to attack, clearly I didn't think that one through, hence, reckless-self. I rushed through the entryway to see them almost reach the front doors. One of my knives had been pulled from its sheath in the process and the thin, cool hilt barely had a chance to rest in my hand before I hurled it at Cora's back. She must have sensed my arrival and had turned slightly causing the blade to bury itself in her shoulder. She gave out a distressed as well as surprised outcry as Regina faced me. I was sliding my other knife out as she cast a brutal gust of magic towards me. I didn't have time to react, it hit me as I recognized it where I had seen it before, Rumpel used it to kill the man chasing me, this, is meant to kill me. I was thrust back into the corner of a bookshelf, pain pulsing through me, my head snapped back with the force and hit the sharp edge, I felt myself fall and her magic reverberate through me while my own dark power struggled to fight it back and keep it from killing me. That's when everything went black.
"Regina, dear, help me." Cora urged her daughter.
Regina turned away from the unmoving form of the Ella girl and faced her mother. The girl's knife stuck out of Cora's shoulder, blood slowly forming around it.
"Mother, we need to get you to the hospital."
"No, that won't be necessary. Just, help me remove it, I know a spell."
Regina nodded hesitantly and braced one hand on the unaffected area of her mother's shoulder before wrapping her fingers around the slim hilt. She looked back up at her mother for the reassuring nod and then tugged. The blade resisted afore it slid out. Cora hissed angrily before waving her hand over the affected area, purple rays flexed over it and then disappeared altogether leaving nothing but a tear in the suit jacket and a slender scar with a bruise surrounding it. She straightened her jacket.
"Who was that?"
"Ella, Rumpel's adopted daughter."
"Rumpelstilskin, adopt a daughter? Hmm, the man's grown soft." Cora glanced over at the girl lying face down on the floor her blond hair had fallen out of some hairstyle it had been in and hid the sides of her face from view. "Did you kill her?"
Regina nodded, regret showing on her face before she hid it.
"Good job dear, we can't have anyone knowing. Hook will take the blame for her death." Cora placed a hand on her daughter's cheek affectionately. "Let's go, sweetheart."
Both women turned and successfully exited through the front doors this time.
...
I tried to move onto my side and it seemed like every bone, muscle and nerve in my being was protesting. My eyelids fluttered as I tried to open them but the light caused the dull ache of pain to enflame itself once again in my head. I groaned as I lifted a hand to block out the light and even doing that hurt. It felt like I had been drained and then burned alive from the inside out. I heard the clink of glass on wood and flinched as the sound reached my ears and rippled through my head. This has to be what a hangover feels like. I tried to shift again, this time the pain wasn't quite as searing. I froze. Why does the library floor feel like silk? My torso shot upwards and I immediately buried my head in my hands emitting another stifled groan that turned into a pained hiss. I spread one hands fingers apart and lifted my lid, blinking rapidly before I could actually focus. I could make out a small room, a cabin I'd say, a few feet from the foot of the bed was a corner shrouded in a black curtain suggesting that the area behind was a privy of sorts. I spread the fingers on my other hand and repeated the process with that eye as I slowly turned my gaze to sweep over the quarters. My eyes abruptly stopped as it dawned on me. I've seen this room before. My head turned the rest of the way and I winced as the sudden movement as the migraine blazed up again. In the path of my eyesight stood a dark wood desk and chair, charts with extra notes and scribbles littered its surface. Leaning against the front of it waited Hook, arms crossed with an expression I thought was concern before his face formed back into the indifferent mask he was so good at maintaining. I had no idea what to say.