I love hearing back from you all, it motivates me to write more. I'm so glad you're still interested despite my terrible time lapses in between updates. xoxo
ps lemme know how much you all hate me for this chapter
pss sorry for the first posting of this chapter, my edits hadn't saved. It should be fixed now :|
Regina woke up to a crushing pain in her abdomen, her eyes opening slowly as a groan escaped her lips. It was cold and damp wherever she was, feeling the air cool on her sweaty skin as her eyes adjusted.
She didn't know how long she'd been out for but she did know the labor pains hadn't stopped, nor had the bleeding. She felt her night dress sticky with blood as she took in her surroundings, realizing she was in a basement.
Her breath caught in her throat and dread filled her when she tried to lift her hands, feeling cuffs on her wrist that restrained her to the crude wooden table she was laying on. It was all too familiar, bringing back memories of the last time she was held captive and tortured.
Her mind raced with possibilities of who would have her here and why. She had hundreds, hell, thousands of enemies. Her heart beat faster as she considered just how many parents and children she'd torn apart back in the Enchanted Forest, how many lives she'd ruined.
This was what she had been dreading most since finding out she was pregnant; the payback. She was a fool to think that she could ever live without looking over her shoulder for former enemies. Another contraction wracked her body and she let out a loud cry as her back arched from the table, taut with pain. Tears began to well in her eyes at the hopelessness she felt, hearing what sounded like the basement door opening and boots clicking on wooden steps, nearing her.
"Now now, sis," Zelena's voice sounded from across the room, "You knew this day was coming, there's no need to fuss."
"Why are you doing this?" Regina asked breathlessly, struggling against the restraints to her wrists, "My child is innocent." She should've known that her sister would not let their feud go. Regina knew what she herself was capable of when she was evil, wrapped up in revenge and jealousy. And Zelena? She wasn't just evil, she was wicked.
"As is mine. You know, the one you stole from me," Zelena hissed as she made her way towards her sister, "Did you think I was going to forget about that? That you stole my baby? That just because breaking you and Robin up wasn't enough to ruin you that I'd let you and Prince Charming live happily ever after?" She laughed bitterly, peering down at her with Snow White's big eyes before going over to the work bench nearby.
Regina's blood ran cold as she heard the sound of meta instruments clinking and a blade being unsheathed. She tried in vain to summon magic in her palms while Zelena had her back to her. Nothing came out, she was too weak having lost so much blood in her condition. Another contraction came over her as she stiffened and bit her lip, drawing blood as she attempted to stifle the scream, not wanting to give her sister the satisfaction.
"I have to say, this is what I've been waiting for since that day in Oz," Zelena marveled as she turned and made her way towards the table, watching her sister writhing in pain, "All of those nights I stayed up plotting a way to get back here, conjuring that spell to use Snow as a vessel," She sighed as she inspected the blade in her hand with a hint of a smile, "Knowing that this day would come motivated me. It almost made looking like Snow White worth it," She motioned towards Snow's body with an evil cackle.
"What about your daughter?" Regina gritted, looking up at her with bated breath as she fought the urge to cry out, "Shouldn't you of put that energy towards getting her back instead of getting back at me?"
"My daughter? Oh, she is quite lovely but to be honest she's better off with Robin, she's no use to me," Zelena set the blade down beside Regina's head, "Poor little thing wasn't born with magic, she's a commoner. But this baby..." Her eyes lit up as she brought her hand over Regina's bump, "I can feel the magic vibrating through this one already. Nicely done, sis. Mum would be so proud."
Regina's mouth opened to scream as another pain hit her, the intensity so high that no sound came out as she rode out the contraction, "Zelena, the baby's coming," She choked out, having no time to continue the conversation with her.
Zelena grinned manically as she rounded the table, pulling the sleeves up on her dress, "Who knew becoming an auntie could be so exciting?" She sneered, pushing Regina's blood stained dress up her legs.
Regina swallowed hard at the despair welling inside of her, "I don't care what you do to me Zelena, but if something is wrong with the baby you have to save it."
"Oh don't worry, nothing is wrong with this precious little angel," She smiled wickedly, pulling Regina's underwear down her legs, "I put a protection spell on it hours ago, you're the one losing blood. All right now Sis, push while you're still alive, this will be much messier if you're dead."
"Dad you have to calm down and think," Emma put a hand on David's shoulder as he paced his and Regina's bedroom, near hysterics after calling Emma and Killian when he'd gotten home to find the scene.
Blood stained the wooden floor at the foot of their bed but no footprints surrounded it, as if Regina had disappeared in thin air. He'd only been gone about twenty minutes picking up Henry and Neal, and upon return had come upstairs to see if she was ready for their day at the park.
It took all he had to fight the bile that rose in his throat at the thought of what might have happened to Regina and the baby when he walked in to see the mess. He'd yelled out her name, bursting through every room upstairs for any sign of her. Henry came bounding up the stairs with Neal in tow, coming upon the sight in Regina and David's room before his grandpa could stop him.
David had barely been able to vocalize to Emma over the phone that Regina was gone, his voice becoming choked up in panic. Emma and Killian had come over immediately, as Henry took Neal downstairs to keep him occupied. Henry was shaken and rightly so, but felt a sense of duty to keep Neal away from the emotional situation at hand.
"Dad think, did anything strange happen this morning? Was she acting funny?" Emma swallowed hard in an attempt to keep her voice steady, trying to be strong for the both of them, though she was just as upset as he was. Killian inspected the room for clues silently, looking for anything that may help them.
"She was fine, just tired," David says bewildered, stopping his pacing to look at Emma as he ran a restless hand through his hair, "I suggested she have a bath while I got the boys and we were going to go to the park. Nothing was wrong with her!"
"There's no tracks from the blood, she had to of poofed herself out of here," Emma shifted her eyes to Killian to see if he agreed, trying to approach this rationally without letting her emotions cloud her judgement.
"If something was wrong why would she disappear then?" Killian raised an eyebrow, straightening up from inspecting the drying blood on the floor, "Has anyone called the hospital? Maybe she's there."
"Maybe," Emma nodded biting her lip as she pulled her cellphone from her pocket and tossed it to Killian.
"I'll do that now," He replied as he caught it, excusing himself from the room to make the call.
"Let's hope she's there but if she isn't, do you have any idea why she'd disappear? Who would she go to for help?" Emma nudged David towards the bed for him to sit down.
"I don't think she would've just left," David frowned, struggling to make sense of it, "She knew I was coming right back." He let out a breath, leaning his elbows on his knees as he held his head in his hands, "We need to get search parties together immediately. Someone else did this, Emma."
"Someone with the power to make them both vanish without tracks," Emma swallowed hard as the realization sank in her chest, "Do you think this is what Zelena was waiting for?"
David looked up, mirroring the panic in her expression with his own, "Call Granny and everyone else, get search parties to start looking while we go out to Zelena's old house." He said, jumping up with authority as he grabbed gun from the drawer of the nightstand. It was time he did what he should have months ago.
"That's it Regina, push," Zelena's voice encouraged as Regina screamed out when another wave of pain gripped her, causing her body to arch from the rough table. She was trying so hard to keep from pushing. Anything to keep from delivering the baby into her sisters arms. Despite her efforts, her body betrayed her, contraction after contraction bringing her closer, moving the baby further down.
Pressure and pain made her feel light headed as she bit down on her lip, feeling the urge to push again. Zelena pressed her knees apart, keeping a firm hold on them to allow Regina to bare down into the push, screaming when the baby's head surfaced.
"It's almost here," Zelena's eyes sparkled with evil delight, reaching down to grip the baby's shoulders.
"If you hurt my baby, I'll kill you," Regina ground out through clenched teeth as firmly as her voice would allow her before gasping for breath and pushing again.
"Yes, yes!" The wicked witch's eyes grew wide as Regina cried out at the sense of release, feeling the baby slide the rest of the way out after pushing past the shoulders, "Oh Regina, she's beautiful," Zelena's voice sing songed as she cradled the crying child, wrapping her up in her shawl, "And so powerful..." She murmured.
A girl, Regina was a mother to a baby girl. Her head swam as she tried to fight the desire to pass out, knowing this very well might be the only moments she'd get to spend with her sweet baby.
"Let me see her," Regina demanded, trying to sound strong despite her legs falling back down to the table weakly and being unable to lift her head. Her heart felt like it was being torn apart, physically hurting at the sound of her child crying and not being able to hold her, "Please, Zelena, at least let me see her," She pleaded desperately. A glance at her baby meant more than her pride ever would. She didn't care if she had to beg her enemy for the chance.
"She's magnificent," Zelena mumbled as if she'd just won a prize, rounding the table as she cradled the baby, moving her arms gently to try to comfort her. As she neared Regina, the baby's crying quieted, the newborn moving around as if she could sense her mother's presence.
"Oh my god," Regina choked out, emotion and love overwhelming her as Zelena turned the baby in her arms so she could see her. The baby girl squirmed at the sound of her voice, making Regina half laugh, half cry in awe of her. She was the perfect mixture of she and David, a full head of black hair, straight button nose and full pouty lips. "Hello darling," Regina whispered, reaching her hand up to take her small one in her fingers, "I love you," She managed with tears rolling freely now, feeling it was important to say given it might be the only moment she could.
Zelena's presence faded away for a moment as Regina took her in, memorizing every single detail. She was small but healthy, curious little eyes under long lashes peering around the room. David's eyes. Regina had never felt more in love in her life than when looking at her. The feeling was unimaginable, almost as much as the reality of their situation. Her sister brought her back to the present as she began impatiently tapping her foot.
"Well I do say, this is almost as much time as I had with my baby before she was taken from me. I think I've been fair," Zelena pulled the child back tightly against her, taking steps back as Regina's hand fell weakly back to the table.
"No Zelena, please," Regina began to cry, her breaths coming harder and shorter as her head grew lighter, "Please," She cried, staring at her baby in another's arms. Her body felt like lead, refusing to move when she tried to reach for her in vain.
"Say goodbye to mummy," She heard Zelena snicker to the child before seeing nothing but green smoke envelope them both. Her body immediately shook with sobs, head falling back against the table as her heart shattered and her will to live crumbled. Her sister had plotted this months, this was her ultimate revenge and it had been immaculately planned. Regina could no longer fight the sickening feeling that Zelena had indeed won.
Her baby was gone; her reason to keep fighting. The weakness continued to spread throughout her body until she was numb, feeling cold and nothing else. Her head fell to the side, vision going black as she welcomed unconsciousness.
"Regina!" David burst through the front door of Zelena's old farm house, pointing his gun ahead of him as he scanned the room, Emma right behind him. His heart pounded in his ears in fear of what he might've found, half relieved that he didn't find her and half scared that he hadn't.
"I'll check the upstairs," Emma nodded pulling her gun from her belt as she crept up the creaky excuse of a stairwell. David nodded, making his way around the downstairs. Nothing seemed out of place or like anyone had even been there in months.
He rounded the corner from the kitchen to the living room, peering around the doorway to find it as empty as the last room. His anxiety grew with each passing moment that he didn't know where his fiancé and baby were. If something had happened to them, he'd never forgive himself and he'd never recover, that much he was sure of.
David made his way down the hallway dividing the living room, kitchen and bathroom, his heart stopping when he approached the basement door, finding it wide open. He bound down the stairs, taking them two at a time as he made his way into the musty, dimly lit room.
"Regina!" His knees buckled when his eyes found her, threatening to collapse underneath him. He took in her pale form lying motionless on the rough cut table, arms and legs strapped down. Blood soaked her entire night shirt and legs, pooling at the floor. He sobbed aloud when he noticed her once fully protruded stomach noticeably smaller, closing the distance between them.
Her face was ghostly white, bite marks and dried blood on her bottom lip where she'd tried not to cry out. He began to shake as he imagined the pain she must've endured to not notice she was hurting herself in such a way. He'd never seen her look so frail, a shadow of who she was just this morning. Until he wasn't there to protect her...
"Regina, baby wake up," He cried, cupping her head in his hands trying to get her to come to. "You can't leave me, wake up," He sobbed, leaning his head down to her chest frantically to listen for a heart beat. He heard nothing but the sound of his own throbbing violently in his ears. Grabbing one of the sharp scalpels that had been discarded on the table beside her, he began cutting her loose from the ties in his hysterics.
"Dad what is-" Emma's voice rang out as she ran down the stairs after hearing his cries, "Oh my god!"
"I can't hear her heartbeat, check her pulse," David replied desperately when he noticed Emma's presence, hastily pulling the straps from Regina's ankles.
Emma swallowed hard at the sight of Regina, quickly pressing two fingers against the artery in her neck, "I found it!" Her eyes widened looking up at David who rounded the table quickly, "It's weak, we have to get her to the hospital now!"
David nodded, scooping Regina's lifeless frame off of the table in his arms, trying to keep his tears at bay. He had to get her help, he had to regain some composure if he was going to get her to the hospital before it was too late.
"Dad, the baby? Where is it?" Emma questioned uncertainly, watching David's eyes shift from Regina to her slowly, meeting her with the same look.
"I don't know," He choked out following Emma towards the basement steps, holding onto Regina tightly while trying not to jar her too much, "But if we don't get her to the hospital we lose them both."