.

Tessa sat on the hospital bed, listening as Dr. Whale spoke to Regina just outside the room.

"I honestly have no idea what happened. I've never seen anything like this." He was saying. Well, that's comforting, Tessa thought sarcastically.

"Fine. Just… Can she leave?" Regina asked, both sounding and looking flustered.

"Yes. You can take her home." Dr. Whale agreed. Regina looked into the room. Tessa was now preoccupied studying her back in the mirror. A long, pale scar that had not been there before last night ran at an angle from her left hip to her right shoulder.

"Problems in paradise?" Regina turned towards Mr. Gold as he walked over to her. She shot him a look before walking over to him and whispering to him.

"Tessa got that scar in the Enchanted Forest, before the curse! Why did it suddenly appear now?!" She was struggling to keep her voice low, so no one else could hear her.

"You know why." He said simply. Regina gritted her teeth together in anger. Emma…

"Mom?" Regina turned towards Tessa as she stuck her head out of the room.

"Can we go home now?" She asked hopefully. She was tired, confused and the pain had taken a toll on her.

"Um… Yes… Let's go." Tessa hurried over to her and Regina brushed past Mr. Gold, pulling Tessa along behind her. Tess glanced at Mr. Gold in confusion right before Regina pulled her around the corner. Mr. Gold waved at her before she was out of sight.

Tessa was lying in bed, absentmindedly stroking Chess's fur as he lied next to her. Then she got up and went to her mirror to examine her new mysterious scar again. Chess meowed from the bed. She looked back at him.

"Yeah, I know, weird, huh?" Downstairs she heard the door open and shut, then someone running up the stairs. She went to her bedroom door and opened it to see Henry racing Sebastian and Romania up the stairs with only one shoe on. She rolled her eyes and shut the door again. She heard the door open and shut again.

"Henry? Henry! What did I tell you? Do not leave your shoes lying around on the stairs! Someone could get hurt!" Regina yelled up. Henry yelled back some response and then knocked on Tessa's door. She opened it and motioned for him to come in. Romania and Sebastian hurried in after him, successful crowding her bedroom.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked, flopping down on her bed next to Chess. She nodded, rubbing the back of her shoulder.

"Yeah, it's just weird. I don't know what happened." She told him. He sat up with a jerk.

"I know where you got it!" He said.

"Do tell." She told him, raising an eyebrow questioningly. She seriously doubted he knew anything, but she was willing to give him a shot.

"In the book you…. Wait! I can show you." He looked around and then got up and ran out the door. She watched him from her doorway as he ran downstairs, then back up, into his bedroom and then came back out a minute later.

"I'm not sure if that's how I got my scar." Tessa teased halfheartedly.

"No… My book… Come here!" He dragged her back into her bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

"I left my book at the edge of town today!" He whispered urgently. She stared at him.

"What were you doing on the edge of town; I thought you weren't even supposed to leave the house?" She asked.

"Doesn't matter. I need to get it! It's in my backpack and-." He started to explain.

"Okay, okay, I'll go and get it for you, Henry." She promised, reaching to grab her jacket from the table at the foot of her bed.

"Really?" He asked, surprised. It wasn't often that she offered to do anything for him. She nodded.

"Yeah, I need a run to clear my head about all of this anyway. I'll go get and be back by dinner. Tell mom I went to walk to the dogs, okay?" She asked. He nodded in agreement.

"You are the best sister I have ever had!" He told her. She rolled her eyes, slipping into her jacket.

"I'm the only sister that you've ever had, you little moron. Sebastian, Romania, come on, boys."

It was a mile and a half to the edge of town. Romania was enjoying the run, his tongue sticking out and what could only be a dog's version of a smile. Sebastian wasn't as thrilled, but he was keeping up. Tessa had long since given up actually jogging; now she was just walking at a steady walk. She saw Henry's backpack sitting on a rock, across the road from the WELCOME TO STORYBROOKE sign. She walked over to it and grabbed it. She sat down on the rock to rest for a minute before starting the trek back home. She dug through Henry's backpack and pulled out the book. She balanced it on her knees and started flipping through it. She stopped when she saw her name. The name jumped up at her from the page.

Contessa

She snapped out of it when Romania and Sebastian started pulling on their leashes. She got up and started pacing at the town limit while she read the story about her.

Contessa was the daughter of the Evil Queen who lived in hiding for most of her life.

Below that opening line, Henry had written something in his small, slanted handwriting. Tessa struggled to make it out.

Tessa is the real life version of Contessa!

Tessa looked up from the book. She looked down at the road in front of her. One more step and she would be out of town. Suddenly the irresistible urge to take that one simple step overwhelmed her. She closed the book and stepped forward. At once, a barrage of images filled her brain. One scene hit her like a brick and stuck.

She was running. Fear overwhelmed her, made her want to run faster. She sprinted past trees, jumped over logs and scrambled down a hill. She didn't dare glance over her shoulder; she could already hear the footsteps behind her. As she got to the bottom of the hill, she heard someone yelling behind her. She stopped and turned, out of breath. A man dressed in armor threw a spear at her. She whirled around and threw herself to the ground. The spear grazed her, cutting into her skin from her left hip to her right shoulder. Blood quickly covered her shirt, pain making her vision blurry. The last thing she felt was someone dragging her away before everything went dark…

Tessa's eyes opened as the scene faded. All she could do was fall to the pavement and close her eyes. In some distance part of her mind, she heard a car stopping. She heard Romania and Sebastian barking like mad. A familiar voice cut through the darkness like a knife.

"TESSA! Contessa! No, no, what happened? Stay with me." Regina pleaded. There was silence for a minute and then Tessa heard her saying something else.

"I need an ambulance! At the edge of town! Yes, yes, hurry, please!" Every sound, everything Tessa could feel, faded away into utter darkness…