Chapter 21: A Little Surprise
Mandy burst through the front door of the Mills Mansion with Regina right behind her. "I can't believe you took her side!" She screamed angrily.
"Miranda, it's just for the time being. Stop acting like a child." Regina said glaring at her. Mandy ignored her and stomped up the stairs.
"You're sleeping in my room tonight, do you hear me?!" Regina yelled up to her.
"No. I'm not!" She yelled back as she passed Cora at the top of the landing.
"What is with all this screaming?" Cora asked just before Mandy's door slammed.
Regina noticed Cora was still in her nightgown. It was the middle of the afternoon. "Are you just getting up?"
"Are you avoiding my question?" Cora asked back.
"Are you avoiding mine?" Regina shot back.
"I asked you first." Cora replied.
"Seriously, Mother? 'I asked you first'? You sound like a teenager."
Cora shrugged. "Answer the question."
Regina sat at the bottom of the stairs and sighed. "She's mad at me for taking Emma's side earlier. She can't see Henry until the kidnappers have been caught." Cora sat down next to her on the step as she proceeded to explain. "They've been getting into too much trouble together. They even snuck out last night in search of the kidnappers themselves!"
"So that's where she was last night." Cora thought to herself. "Don't they know how dangerous that was?!" Cora asked Regina.
"That's what we told them." She said in a low voice.
"Give her some time. She'll come around." Cora said wrapping her arm around Regina.
"Since when are you giving motherly advice?" Regina asked looking at her mother with a smile.
"I'm getting the hang of it! Sorry it's taken me all these years." She said sincerely.
"Better late than never." Regina replied.
"I suppose." Cora said putting her head down.
Regina nudged her to look back up. "Well, I like getting advice from you. I may not agree with everything…"
Cora nudged her back playfully. "Regina, quit while you're ahead."
Mandy was in the bathroom later that night. Her period was late and she was worried she might be pregnant. She was staring at the back of the box for the pregnancy test she had bought the other day. She had been putting off taking it; she was too worried as to what the outcome would be. "I can't wait any longer." She said to herself and proceeded with the test. She was pacing back and forth in the bathroom waiting for the results. "We were careful! I can't believe this is happening right now. Maybe it's just stress; that can cause someone to have a late period, right?" She asked herself. "Ugh, I don't know." She said as she slid down the wall and sat on the floor and held her knees close her chest. The timer she set finally went off. She slowly picked herself off the ground and walked over to the sink. She took a deep breath before she picked it up and saw the little plus sign. "Oh my god. I can't believe this. I can't believe this." She said as she sat back down on the floor, leaning against the wall and began to cry. "This can't be happening. What am I going to do?" She threw the stick across the bathroom in anger. "Regina's gonna kill me and then Cora's gonna kill me. This isn't good." She was crying so much it was hard for her to catch her breath. "I can't be a mother; I don't know how to be one. I can't do this." She stayed in the bathroom for over an hour trying to figure out what to do with no luck.
When she finally came out of the bathroom she was surprised to see Regina in her room. "Oh my god. Did she know? She couldn't know, could she?" She thought to herself.
Regina noticed Mandy's red eyes. "Have you been crying?" She asked concerned.
"No. What are you doing here?" Mandy asked trying to change the subject.
"Since you won't sleep in my room with me, I'm sleeping in here with you." She said trying to sound cheerful.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Mandy whined as she rolled her eyes.
Regina crawled into bed. "Do I look like I'm kidding?"
"This is ridiculous! I'm not going to sneak out again so you don't have to worry." She informed.
"Until the kidnapper is captured, you're stuck with me whether you like it or not." Regina replied.
"This is so unfair." Mandy complained crossing her arms.
"Lights out in 5."
"Seriously?! It's only like 10pm. I'm not going to bed this early." She hissed.
"Well just be quiet." She said as she lied down, pulled the covers up and closed her eyes. Mandy put her earphones in and sat on the window seat as she watched the trees blow in the wind. Regina peaked her eyes open to see what her daughter was doing. The last thing Mandy wanted was to be around Regina right now, she just wanted to be alone. She was also tired after being up all night the night before and only getting a few hours of sleep. The hour of crying didn't help. The music and trees calmed her, causing her to fall asleep quickly. Regina got up and took the Ipod from Mandy so she could move her to the bed. She tucked her in and kissed her goodnight before shutting the lights and going to bed herself.
Regina awoke to the doorbell ringing and someone pounding on the door. She had no clue who would be at her door this early in the morning. Cora came out of her room as Regina was heading down the stairs. "It's 8 in the morning. Don't people have common courtesy in this world?" She asked following Regina to the door.
"I'm coming!" Regina yelled before she got to the door.
Before Regina could say a word, Emma began speaking. "Please tell me Henry is here!" She said in a panic.
"No. Are you telling me he's missing?" She asked angrily. Emma put her hand on her head and began pacing.
"We all slept in the living room. There is no way someone got in without us knowing." Snow said reassuring them that they took the necessary steps to protect him.
"I knew he wouldn't be safe with you!" Regina yelled pointing at Emma.
"He could've easily been taken under your watch as well." Emma shot back.
"Well he wasn't." Regina replied.
"We don't have time to argue about this. We need to stick together." Snow ordered.
"I agree with Snow Bunny." Cora said nodding in Snow's direction.
"Snow Bunny?" Regina asked as she looked at her mother confused.
"Yes. Dr. Hopper told me to try to get friendlier with people and nicknames might help so I'm trying them out." Cora said nonchalantly.
Regina couldn't believe her mother was seeing Dr. Hopper. "Since when are you seeing the cricket?"
"Tomorrow will be a week." She replied proudly.
"Well I like my nickname." Snow said cheerfully giving Cora encouragement. "What are everyone elses?"
"I thought you would!" Cora said with glee. "Well I haven't given everyone a nickname but Emma's is Emmy Bear" Emma looked at Regina like 'seriously'. "Regina's is Gene Bean, and Mandy's is candy Mandy…or do you like Dandy Mandy better?"
"Don't call me that, mother. This is not the time for this. Go get Miranda up, please." Regina instructed. Cora walked back in the house and up the stairs yelling 'Dandy Mandy, wake up!'
Regina just rolled her eyes. "Come in."
"Has she been like this ever since she got her heart back?" Snow asked as they followed Regina into the house.
"She's been getting nicer but this nickname thing is new. She's been cheerful lately and it's weird." Regina said honestly.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your little trip down Cora lane but we have these missing kids to find." Emma said as they heard Mandy and Cora coming down the steps.
"Cora, stop calling me that! It's weird and too damn early for that shi…stuff." She said stopping in the middle of the stair case when she saw Regina and company at the bottom of the stairs.
"It's a cute name." Cora mumbled to herself as she stood behind Mandy.
Mandy rubbed her eyes. "Why did you send her to wake me up? I was enjoying my dream."
"Henry's missing." Regina said quickly.
"Wait, what?" She asked, making sure she heard correctly.
"Do you know where he is?" Emma asked hoping she knew.
She shook her head. "No. You cut off all communication between us. Remember?"
"I'm just asking a question." Emma stated.
"You weren't woken up by crazy Cora screaming in your ea,r so sorry if I'm a little cranky." She shot back.
"I gave you a nice nickname, Miranda. You could at least appreciate it." Cora complained.
"Mother, not the time!" Regina warned.
"How many kids have gone missing?" Cora asked in serious tone.
"About 75 the last time I checked. There could be more by now." Emma answered.
Cora looked worried. "Mother, do you know what's going on?" Regina asked.
"I have my suspicions. Get changed. We have business to take care of." She instructed as she began walking back up the stairs.
"Why? Where are we going?" Mandy asked following Cora.
She kept walking as she answered her question. "To pay a visit to Rumplestiltskin."
They all headed down to Gold's shop as soon as they were ready. Mandy insisted she eat breakfast. She wanted to make sure she was eating well for the baby; she didn't tell them that was her reasoning though. Snow told David to meet them there. Gold was talking to Neal, they had made amends, when the group walked in with Cora leading the way.
"To what do I owe this visit from you people?" Gold asked not so thrilled.
"Henry's missing." Emma said pushing her way to the front of the group.
"He is?" Neal asked in shock.
"And you think I have him?" Gold questioned.
"No, we are here because…well I don't know why Cora made us come to you." Snow said confused looking to Cora for the answer.
"There are almost a hundred kids who have gone missing in the middle of the night. The same thing happened in the Enchanted Forest all those years ago. Remember?" Cora said repositioning herself in front of the group.
"What happened?" Mandy asked curiously.
"You think she's returned?" Gold asked Cora with a serious face.
"Who returned?" Regina asked trying to get an answer as to who they were referring to.
Cora nodded. "It was only a matter of time before she needed more children."
"What are you two talking about?" David asked.
"You don't have to be so cryptic." Emma added.
Gold began to explain. "Many years ago, before any of you were born..."
Neal interrupted. "I was born."
"You were in another land. You wouldn't know what I'm talking about." Gold informed.
"Continue." Regina said sounding a little annoyed.
"Hundreds of children were taken in the middle of the night, just like what's happening now." Cora said.
"Only many of those kids did not return." Gold added.
"What do you mean, 'didn't return'." Snow asked worried.
"What happened to them?" Neal asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
Gold and Cora were hesitant to answer. "Before we answer any more questions, we need to know if Mandy saw or heard anything while you were out exploring the other night." Cora said.
They all turned to look at Mandy. She thought for a moment. "Nothing too suspicious…I don't know if this is important but it was really early in the morning. We were about to come back when Henry heard singing. I didn't hear anything though. He wouldn't answer me until I snapped him out of it. It was like he was in some kind of trance or something."
Cora and Gold glanced at one another. "What was that?" Emma asked noticing the pairs reaction to Mandy's story.
"What was what?" Cora asked trying to play dumb.
"That glance. You two know something and you're not telling. Spit it out already!" Emma commanded.
Gold sighed. "There is a woman who lures children to her by singing a hypnotizing song. It can only be heard by children."
Cora continued. "Once she gets them into her house, she poisons them and sucks out their soul."
"Why?" David asked disgusted.
"She needs their youth to stay young and beautiful." Cora said as if he should've known that.
"Wait, why wasn't she taken? Why didn't she hear the song?" Neal asked confused pointing to Mandy who stood slightly behind Regina.
"She's a rare exception." Gold said waving the question off.
"And why is that?" David questioned.
"She's the Falling Star…it comes with its advantages." Gold said shrugging his shoulders.
"What the hell does that mean?" Emma asked just as confused as the rest of them.
"There's no time to go into detail. To make a long story short, it's like Emma being the Savior." Gold said frustrated with all the questions.
"That still doesn't explain why she's immune." David added.
"She's not immune…She's blocking the singing out somehow." Gold said realizing why Mandy hasn't been taken yet.
"So how do we find her lair?" Snow asked trying to move the conversation along.
"Miranda can lead us to it." Gold said looking straight at Mandy.
"I can?" She asked surprised. Gold nodded.
"No. I don't want her doing that." Regina declared putting a protective arm in front of Mandy.
"We won't let her go anywhere. She just needs to be hypnotized. She'll be fine." Cora said reassuring her daughter that Mandy would be okay.
"Regina, think of Henry and all the other kids." Emma added trying to convince Regina to let Mandy do it.
Mandy pulled on Regina's sleeve to get her attention. "Mom, I can do it."
Regina looked at all the faces in the room before she finally gave in. "Fine. What will this entail?"
"We should go back to your house. We can't do anything until the wee hours of the morning." Cora said.
"I'll explain everything later tonight." Gold added.
Regina sighed. She couldn't believe she agreed to this. "I guess I'll see you all tonight then." She said before she, Cora and Mandy left.
"Could you please explain what this 'Falling Star' is?" Emma asked Gold.
"Very well." He replied as he proceeded to tell them about Miranda, her abilities and her connection to Emma.
Hope you liked this chapter. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated!