Might still change some of the names, but at least so far I haven't received any objections. As there are already quite a few chapters written you will be bombarded with them for a little while. I'll try not to upload everyone at once, but there'll still be quite a lot posted during the upcoming days.
Enjoy!
Present Time
Storybrooke, Maine
The small town they had landed in was, according to their rescuers, called Storybrooke, located in Maine in the northeast corner of the US. It also seemed to be inhabited by fairytale characters brought away from their realm by a curse – the second one they had experienced. To be honest it was a very confusing scenario made even more confusing by them all experiencing throbbing, spinning heads. Their female rescuer, Emma Swan, had driven them to a place called Granny's Bed and Breakfast (run by the grandmother from Little Red Riding Hood) where she ordered them to stay until she had time to talk to them; apparently she was the town's unofficial sheriff (the official post was held by one of the men they had previously met, David Nolan).
To their surprise the trio were surprised to find familiar faces waiting for them at the B&B.
"You guys are here too?" Jade said, jumping up from the chair she had been sitting in.
"It would seem so", Toby responded, "though I'm still not sure if this is actually happening or if it's caused by a severe trauma that one of us is experiencing."
"We need to find somewhere to talk this out", Miranda said. "Maybe we can find an explanation to all of this."
Steps sounded on the staircase and when they looked up they spotted Chris and Tessa.
"God, it's good to see you all!" Tessa exclaimed and embraced the newcomers.
"How many of us are actually here?" Rachel asked, looking around at the now assembled group of seven.
"Tessa and I landed not far from this place, so Granny took us in and gave us a room upstairs", Chris answered. "Wolf and Indira are also here."
"So that's nine", Filipi said. "Five are missing if only those that met up in Orlando were somehow brought here."
"Hopefully, if they're in this town as well, someone will bring them here", Miranda said.
"Meanwhile we need to go through what we know of what is going on", Rachel said. "Let's head up to your room."
She nodded at Chris and Tessa, who quickly led them up the stairs and inside a small room containing a bed, a desk with a chair and a chest of drawers. They were then greeted by Wolfgang and Indira. After a number of hugs they lay or sat down wherever they could, just like they had done at the hostel back in Orlando, leaning onto one another for support.
"Alright, so what do we know?" Tessa asked.
"We're in a town called Storybrooke and it is inhabited by fairytale characters brought here through a curse", Filipi answered.
"Were we as well?" Jade asked.
"I don't think so", Wolfgang answered. "I mean, we're not fairytale characters. We're regular people."
"Who just happened to run into a very real Mr Ollivander", Miranda said.
"With working wands", Chris filled in. "Does anyone still have theirs?"
They all checked their pockets but found them empty.
"I guess we dropped them when we fell through the vortex", Toby said. "It would make sense; I don't remember having time to put it away anywhere before we fell into it."
"I think we ought to take this into consideration as well", Rachel said and pulled down a calendar from the wall. She placed it on the bed and pointed at the four digits representing the current year.
"2014?" Indira said with a frown. "That's not possible."
"Just like a swirling green vortex was not possible", Chris said. "Along with real fairytale characters."
"The vortex must have brought us back in time", Wolfgang said.
"That still does not explain why we're in this town, or why this is happening at all", Toby pointed out. "I feel as if we are missing something."
"Something like this?" Jade asked and pulled up her left sleeve. Trailing down her bicep was a jagged, red scar.
"When did you get that?" Miranda asked.
"I don't know; I just felt super-stiff and thought it was because of the vortex, but then I went into the bathroom and checked and, well, there it was."
"It's not old", Indira said. "The injury was probably sustained not more than three months ago."
"But I don't remember getting it", Jade argued. "I have never had a scar there before, especially not one looking like this."
"Has anyone else got anything?" Rachel asked. "Stiffness, strange injuries, pain?"
They helped each other check and soon found that they all had new scars to display. Among the more serious ones was a burn-mark stretching along the side of Tessa's left leg, which Indira and Toby suspected could not be more than a month old, a bruise not older than a couple of days covering most of Wolfgang's lower right arm, and a cut-like scar running diagonally across Rachel's back.
"I'm starting to think that maybe we were affected by the curse", Miranda said, her voice low. The others only nodded in agreement.
"Judging by these injuries we've had our minds wiped, but how much have we forgotten?" Filipi asked. "Jade's injury is about three months old, Rachel's scar might be older..."
Chris responded by opening the door to the room and walking out into the corridor.
"Emma Swan told us to stay here", Rachel protested.
"No, she told you three to stay here", Chris answered. "The rest of us were not ordered to do anything and I'm going to try figuring out what is going on."
"But the others are already on the case", Miranda said.
"And there's the flying monsters to be aware of", Filipi said. "They've already kidnapped some of the real residents."
"Hey, I agree with Chris", Wolfgang said and walked after the other boy. "We are not fairytale characters but have somehow been affected by whatever this curse has done; we have to figure out who's responsible and how to get back."
"Is it just going to be us or are you all coming along as well?" Chris filled in. The other seven looked around at one another and, eventually, Jade groaned.
"Fine, I'm coming as well."
"Knew I could count on you, Jade", Wolfgang said with a grin. "Anyone else?"
"If we're going we should split up, try to find clues wherever we can", Rachel said. "There's nine of us, after all, so we should be able to cover things quite quickly. The town did not seem too big."
"Who said we were all coming?" Toby asked.
"Come on, Toby", Filipi sighed. "Aren't you dying to find out what is actually going on?"
"Actually this reminds me of Rachel's story when we all ventured out into the Forbidden Forest", Toby pointed out.
"That was a story", Rachel responded.
"Yes, and this town is inhabited by fairytale characters!"
"I'm not sure I'm up for it, either", Miranda said. "I would rather stay here, in case the Emma comes back."
"Me too", Tessa agreed.
"Indira, are you coming?" Chris asked. The Indian girl hesitated.
"Fine", she eventually sighed. "What's the plan?"
"We split up in two groups", Wolfgang responded. "One heads in one direction down on the street and one in the other. We'll meet up here again in three hours and go through what we have."
"Sounds good", Rachel said. "I think Indira and I should be in separate groups; we're the oldest ones."
"So you're baby-sitting us?" Jade asked as they headed down the stairs.
"No, not like that", Rachel quickly responded. "It's just that... well, it seemed like a good idea."
"Well, then we should have one guy in each group as well", Chris said. "Just to be on the safe side."
"So who's with who?" Filipi asked.
"Wolf's with me", Indira answered.
"Alright, may I ask why?" Wolfgang questioned.
"Gut feeling. That leaves Chris with Rachel."
They exited through the front door and walked down the stone-covered path leading from the patio to the road itself. The sun had begun to sink behind the trees and no one doubted that it would be dark within an hour.
"Want to play rock-paper-scissors to decide who's going with who out of the two of us?" Jade asked, looking at Filipi.
"Sure. Which group should the winner belong to?"
"Indira and Wolf", Jade answered. "Best of three?"
Filipi nodded and the two stopped to face one another. Jade won the first round by using a scissor to defeat Filipi's paper. However, after that Filipi managed to win two in a row by first sticking to paper to capture Jade's stone and then switching to scissors, cutting Jade's paper.
"You're with us, Jade", Chris said with a grin.
"Three hours from now, then", Rachel said, looking at Wolfgang. The boy nodded.
"Three hours. Good luck!"