"Stay quiet," the Huntsman whispered. "Stay very very quiet."

Rose's eyes were wide, her hands were shaking, her breath cut short. The bear was huge, breathing deeply, sniffing the air. Rose was terrified. The Huntsman's wolf was growling quietly, but it didn't attack. The bear looked straight at Rose. Its eyes were black like the night and they scared the living daylights out of the girl. She couldn't help herself. She turned and ran.

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Danielle was silent again. Mr. Gold poked his head out of the office. She wasn't day dreaming this time, she was asleep. Her head rested on her folded arms on the display case, sleeping peacefully. Gold smiled and shook his head as he went over to her.

"Danielle, it's time to wake up," He said. She didn't stir. He tapped on her head. "Danielle, come on, wake up."

She groaned and turned her head away from him.

"Danielle," he chuckled and shook his head. He shook her shoulder gently. "Come on, wake up…. Rose, sweetheart, wake up."

Slowly, slowly, Danielle picked up her head and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"I'll have that cleaned up for you, boss," she said, still half in dreams and she started to stand up. Gold chuckled and he sat her down on the stool again.

"It's fine, Danielle," he said. "I just wanted to make sure you were still alive."

"Mmh, barely," Danielle groaned. "I didn't get any sleep at all last night."

"Ah, more of those dreams?" he nodded.

"No…" she shook her head. "Henry's book that he lent me. It made my head spin and… kind of freaked me out…"

"…How so?" he asked.

"I… I saw a picture in there," she said. "It… It was me."

He looked at her for a moment. "…And who were you?"

"Rum… Rumplestiltskin's daughter, Rose," she said. "Just… Just ridiculous. There's-There's no way I could be in a book. No way I could be a fairytale character."

"…Isn't Rose the name that the couple in your dreams called you?" he asked.

Danielle's eyes widened. She had totally forgotten about that. She looked at Mr. Gold. "You… You don't think that it's real, do you?" she asked.

Mr. Gold looked at her for a minute before he stood up. "…It's a possibility."

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Run. Just run. Rose ran as long and as fast as she could. The bear had scared her that much and she didn't want to stop. Everything became a blur. The trees, the ground flew past her. She could just keep running forever. Never look back. Just run.

Suddenly the ground disappeared beneath her feet and instinct caused her hands to reach out and grab. She clung to some strong roots sticking out of the earth. She finally looked around. She was hanging on the edge of a cliff, and below her was a river. Rose couldn't swim.

The top of the cliff was out of her reach. She couldn't believe this. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a dream, a bad dream. But the pain in her arms from holding tightly onto the roots told her otherwise.

"Help!" she called. "Help! Huntsman help me! Somebody help me!"

There was no response except the raging river beneath her. How far away from the Huntsman has she run? Suddenly the roots began to become loose.

"HUNTSMAN!" she screamed. Then she remembered the wooden pipe, it was still in her hand. She put it in her mouth and blew hard. The squeal of the pipe rose high into the air. The more the roots became loose, the more urgent the pipe became.

Finally the Huntsman and the wolf appeared over the edge of the cliff.

"Huntsman help!" Rose sobbed, still holding the pipe between her teeth.

"It's going to be alright," he said. He took off his bow and the bag he carried his bows in, and he reached over the ledge down to her. Half of his body was hanging over the edge of the cliff before he could reach her. He grabbed her arms and hauled her up. Huntsman was thrown back by the unbalance and her weight, and he landed on his back while she landed next to him on the ground. For a moment they just laid there, catching their breath. Then she looked at him.

"Thank you Huntsman," she smiled, and she reached over and hugged him. He just laid there for a minute, shocked, and then he patted her head.

"Come on," he said. "We should get going."

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Danielle was very reluctant to knock on the door. Archibald Hopper was a good guy, but didn't he usually deal with crazy people? Danielle wasn't crazy, was she? She sighed and rubbed her forehead. She had a feeling she was going to regret this… She knocked on the door. Within a few seconds, he opened the door.

Archie Hopper was a tall man with tufts of red hair sticking from his head, and boxy thick glasses, and he wore clothes of yellow, green and brown. There was only one word that formed in her head when Danielle saw him: Nerd.

"Can I help you?" he asked. His voice was very soft and raspy.

"Umm…Hi," she said. "My name is Danielle Mills, I'm Henry's sister."

"Ah yes, Henry's mentioned you several times," he said. "A-A-And what brings you here?"

"Umm…" she didn't know how to say it. He looked at her for a moment and then put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"Why don't you come inside and we can talk," he suggested. Danielle nodded and led her inside his office. He sat on a leather chair and gestured to a couch next to him. She hesitated before she sat down. She wasn't crazy. She wasn't…

"So… What would you like to talk about?" he asked.

She sighed and hung her head in her hands. "It… It's about Henry's fairytale book," she said.

"He let you read it?" the doctor asked. She nodded.

"Yeah and… I don't know, what I read, it… it's given me nightmares and I can't sleep, it just… it really weirded me out," she said.

"Well, what did you read?" he asked. "Perhaps if you confront it, maybe we can work past it."

"In… In the book, there was a story of-of a young girl," she stammered. "And when I saw the picture of the girl, it… it looked so much like me. The story was about the girl and she got separated from her parents because of the evil queen… But the parents… I've been seeing them in my dreams, and they call me by the name in the book, Rose. I had those dreams before I even read the book. I don't know what to do. I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence or real or if I'm losing it. But I don't know what's true or not…"

"A-And these dreams, the couple, are they familiar, besides the book?" Hopper asked. "Perhaps you saw other people in your life and put their faces to your dreams."

"Well the… The woman looks almost like me," she said. "And the man… He… He's Mr. Gold."

Hopper looked at her for a long while, trying to determine how to handle this. He wasn't looking at her like she was crazy, so that was good… Unless he was crazy too.

"Have you told anyone else about these dreams?" he asked.

"Just Mr. Gold," she said.

"And how did he react to this?"

"He… He didn't seem to be bothered by it. He said that… That dreams are sometimes memories from another life but…" Danielle stopped and thought.

"But?" he asked.

"…Wait, the book said that the curse made everyone forget who they were in another life, right?" she said. "But if I am Rose then my dreams would be my memories from that life, right?"

Hopper was concerned and confused. "Uh… I guess," he said.

"And then there was that time that Mr. Gold called me Rose," Danielle continued. She was thinking outloud, she forgot about Hopper. "I just ignored that but if he's supposed to be Rumplestiltskin and Rose is his daughter then—"

Danielle stopped abruptly. Hopper looked at her, eyebrows raised, waiting for her to continue.

"I have to go," she said and headed for the door in a hurry. Hopper stood up.

"Wait wait!" he called. "You don't actually believe that it's real do you?"

Danielle stopped and turned to him. "It's a possibility," she smiled. "Only one way to find out. Thanks for the help." And she hurried out.

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"So what happened to the bear?" Rose asked.

"When you turned and ran, it was startled by your sudden movement, and it turned and ran," the Huntsman smiled at her. Rose smiled and giggled.

The little adventure with the bear had slowed them down a bit, but they were almost to the castle. Rose was so happy and excited she could barely contain herself. She was finally going to see her father again, after four years. She began skipping around. The wolf bounced along with her and Huntsman smiled.

Then there, in the distance, looking both eerie and elegant, stood the Dark One's caslte. It was made of almost black stone and red roofing, surrounded by rose gardens and hedges. It was so welcoming to Rose that she broke into a run. And then she realized something.

It was empty.

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DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNN

Oh no. Looks like Rumplestiltskin isn't at the castle. Oops. *insert evil laugh here*

Yes, I am a big meanie and I am not sorry for this. Only a few more chapters until the end!

Hugs and Loves!

darkonesroses