Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time does not belong to me! All characters and references to the show belong to ABC and Channel 5.

Urban Legends: Fairytale Style-Chapter 11

The Vanishing Hitchhiker

The full moon was out again on the late Storybrooke night, and Mrs Lucas unconsciously rubbed the claw-like scar on her left arm while still keeping her left hand on the steering wheel of Ruby's car, which she had borrowed for visiting Mr Gold's shop (the two were currently in a heated disagreement over how much rent the diner owner owed the pawnbroker. Gold was threatening to take back the diner itself, but she was not backing down!)

Their-ahem-discussion, had gone on for a number of hours, and before either of them knew it night had fallen. Granny had left with a promise of returning tomorrow, and was still seething with rage when she got to Ruby's car.

"Damn Gold..." she muttered, her grip tight on the steering wheel, her mind filled with dark thoughts. So much so, that she didn't see the man until her headlights lit up the look of shock on his face.

"Oh my God!" Mrs Lucas cried, yanking on the steering wheel and steering to the side, almost crashing into a nearby lamp-post before she slammed on the break.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" the old woman screeched, getting out of the car and marching over to the man, who was still stood in the middle of the road and shivering.

"S-sorry!" he apologised shakily. He looked like he was in his thirties, and had dark hair that was swept of his forehead and a stubble of a beard "I-I wasn't looking where I was going"

"Are you crazy, boy?!" Mrs Lucas snapped "I could've killed you!"

"I'm sorry!" he apologised again, sounding a little desperate "I...I was just trying to catch a lift!"

"What?!" Mrs Lucas snapped, and the man repeated his request. The old woman stared at him.

"Are you serious? This town isn't that big! Where could you possibly need to go?" she asked.

"Please!" said the man, his hands held out in a begging motion "All I want is a lift, I'll even pay you, if that's what you want!"

Mrs Lucas sighed "You don't have to pay me" she said wearily, rubbing a hand underneath her glasses before looking him up and down. He was wearing a black shirt that was covered with a red, sleeveless jacket and blue jeans. The clothes appeared to be tight-fitting and she didn't see any suspicious bulges that could mean he was carrying a weapon, so she nodded to the car.

"Get in" and he did.

After she started to drive, she turned to the man, who was sitting next to her in the passenger seat and staring out of the window as they sped past the dark town.

"So, where you headed?" she asked him.

"The town exit" he answered "I've tried to find it a few times before, but I keep getting lost"

Mrs Lucas frowned. He couldn't find the town exit? "The town exits easy to find! You literally just walk straight ahead that way!" she jabbed a finger forward, but the man shook his head.

"I can't find it" he insisted, and he never looked away from the window "It's like something's keeping me here, and I need to get out of here"

Mrs Lucas frowned. The way he said it, with such...desperation, it sounded like he was a prisoner, and the old diner owner couldn't help but ask "How come?"

"My son's waiting for me" he said simply.

"Your son?" she repeated, and the man nodded.

"Yeah. Owen, his name is" he told her, his voice brightening when he said his son's name, but quickly becoming darker again as he continued "I told him to go. I told him to wait for me. He's waiting for me on the outside"

Mrs Lucas' fingers tightened on the steering wheel, and she kept her gaze firmly on the road. They were coming closer to the town line now and for that she was grateful. This guy was creeping her out!

"R-really?" she tried to keep her voice steady, the town line showing up in the headlights. But rather than recieving a response, all she heard was a strange, unintelligible whisper in her ear. Finally reaching her limit, she parked outside of the town line and turned to tell him to get the hell out of the car!

But when she looked at her passenger seat, her jaw fell slack.

"What?!" she breathed in an unnaturally high voice. Rather than facing the strange hitchhiker like she expected to, she was instead faced with nothing but a vacant seat, holding nothing but the man's non-sleeved jacket, neatly folded in the leather chair.

With shaking hands, Mrs Lucas touched the jacket. The car door was still locked, and the window was wound up tight. She even checked the two back seats, and he wasn't there.

He had vanished.

OUAT

The next morning, Mrs Lucas went to the mayors office. All night long she had been unable to get a wink of sleep, trying to figure out whether or not what had happened last night was real and eventually coming to the conclusion that she should just go ask Mayor Mills. The woman practically ruled Storybrooke, so if anyone was going to know about weird men who randomly vanished, she would.

She had brought the jacket with her, just in case it could...jog her memory or something.

"Madame Mayor?" said Mrs Lucas as she walked into her office. Regina Mills sighed wearily before looking up from her paperwork, planting a sweet (fake) smile on her face when she saw the diner owner.

"Mrs Lucas" she said delightedly "What can I do for you?

Mrs Lucas walked forward-the jacket held under one arm-until she reached the mayors desk "I...came to ask you about a Storybrooke resident. I didn't get his name, but, I know that he's white, has dark hair and is at least in his thirties. He said he had a son" the mayor just looked confused and a little irritated, and it was then when Mrs Lucas decided to bring out the jacket, putting it out in front of her on the desk.

"He was also wearing this" she told her "He left it in my granddaughters...car... Madame Mayor?"

At the sight of the jacket, the mayors face had gone completely blank, and it was clear from the look in her dark eyes that she was no longer listening to the older woman. She was looking at the garment with the most sorrowful expression Mrs Lucas had ever seen.

"Madame Mayor?" she said again, a little louder this time, and that seemed to jerk Regina back into the present. She folded her hands over the desk, and leaned towards the other woman.

"Mrs Lucas, I know who that jacket belonged to. His name was Kurt Flynn. He was a friend of mine" she explained. Mrs Lucas frowned, confused.

"Was?" she repeated, and the mayor nodded, an actual tear forming in the corner of her eye.

"Yes, Mrs Lucas. You see, he had come to town on a short visit with his son, Owen, and on the day he was meant to leave his car broke down, and Mr Tillman wouldn't be able to get it running again for another twenty-four hours. I..." Regina paused, choking back a sob as her eyes started to water "I tried to convince him to be patient, but he insisted that he had to leave immediately, and so he tried to hitch a ride, but when he leaned out into the road to hail a car he...he leaned too far and lost his balance. He fell into the road" Regina paused, and Mrs Lucas watched in pure wonder as the woman with the rumoured stone heart pressed a hand to her lips to stifle a sob "A car hit him! It threw him just short of the town line and...by the time the doctors found him he was already...already..."

Regina's shoulders were shaking by this time, trying to keep the seemingly wracking sobs contained. She took a deep, steadying breath before finally finishing her story, and unknowingly terrifying Mrs Lucas:

"He was already dead"

"Oh my God!" the horrified old woman backed away from the desk. Her hands were shaking, her eyes were wide, and her jaw flopped open and closed as she tried in vain to speak one of the thousands of thoughts running through her head.

"B-but if he's dead..." she stammered, noticing the way Regina was staring at her like she was debating whether or not to get a doctor "Then...then..."

Then what the hell did I give a lift to?!

This legend took longer to write than I thought. I'm surprised with the way it came out so please tell me what you think of it, so I know whether or not I went in the right direction.

As usual, any legends you wanna see, PM me.