Serious trigger warning: contemplation of suicide here. Please if you are depressed and feel suicidal, please seek help or talk to someone. it's never too late and the world needs you here.
Emma woke in the morning feeling as she always did now. Angry and sick. After taking the pregnancy test that confirmed her worst fears, she began to hide more and more in the room of this prison. She knew she couldn't have a child. Not here. What would become of this helpless baby and more importantly her? She was fulfilling Arthur's purpose for her, what would happen when the baby was born? Would he take it away and kill her or force her to raise it as their own, in some twisted family fantasy.
Emma stares out the barred window as the sun rises over the trees. Several birds on a nearby oak tree begin singing. The happiness and cheer in their voices made Emma very mad to the point that she picks up a nearby stone and chucks it at the window. The glass shatters instantly, leaving large shards everywhere and falling to the ground. The noise causes the birds to fly off in fear and the sound of shattered glass echo through the miles of forest. Emma then begins to beat the bars angrily, looking for a loose screw or something.
She accidentally slices her hand a bit on a shard. She pulls back and watches how the blood flows, dripping from her hand to the floor. She slowly pries a rather large piece still attached to the window frame. She holds the filthy glass in her hands, seeing her tired and frightened face in the reflection. She turns the piece over and holds it close to her wrist.
If I do it… she thinks. He won't be able to get the baby. A baby should not be born like this… and I'll be free of him for good.
Her hands begin to shake and tears flood her eyes. Several drops of blood from her cut drip onto the glass.
Facing death is terrifying in the most obvious way. To fall asleep never to wake up again, to be free of the horrors, stresses, and misfortunes of life, to be in eternal and peaceful sleep… She squeezes the tears from her eyes.
The thought of Henry… her son. The light of her world, the reason she got out of bed every day. What would he think when he found out his mother had killed herself to be free? He just might copy her actions. She can barely imagine the devastation on his face when she's brought in on a metal slab. He'd have nothing left…
It would spare him some of this pain, though… to at least know where I am now.
Then there was Killian, their relationship had barely begun when she was snatched from the streets, never to see his beautiful blue, hear his Irish accent, feel his soft lips on hers. Merely thinking about him sends her heart into a frenzy.
She thinks about Mary Margret and David, and their new baby, who would likely be born by now… How much they would miss her… be as devastated as her son and boyfriend over her death. Her friends, standing at her coffin, wondering why in the world she didn't try to escape and hold out for hope. Lastly, she thought of her unborn child. Trapped in eternal darkness, never even having the chance to live. That was much worse than what Arthur had done to her.
Emma swallows her pain and looks at the piece of glass once more.
This baby might be a product of evil, but it still deserves to live… she thinks to herself. But he doesn't…
She holds the glass the way one might hold a knife, the sharp edges would be good for her escape. She could hide behind the door and surprise him, or better yet, the closet! Emma shuffles to the closet as heavy boot sounds slowly begin to ascend the stairs. She holds her breath, putting on a brave face, letting her training kick in again. She would force him to let her go or in the end just kill him… she had to escape.
The door's lock bangs and clunks as Arthur unlocks Emma's room.
"What the hell is going on in here?" he barks angrily. He storms into the room and looks at the broken window.
"You bitch!" he hisses angrily, getting closer to the window to examine the damage. "You think this is a good idea, especially with winter coming?" he says. He then scans the room and realizes that Emma's missing.
That's impossible, he thinks. His heart begins to race in great anxiety. With bars on the windows, she can't go anywhere.
He goes over to the bed and even throws the blanket off the bed in a futile attempt to find her. He kicks over her nightstand in anger and begins to prowl around the room, waiting.
Emma held her breath in tightly, her hand beginning to sweat, or maybe it was the blood running down her hand. She grasped the shard, ready to attack. Just as he came within distance, she sprung from the closet without a sound.
She leaps onto his back and does her best to put the glass shard near his neck, enough to get him into a suitable hostage pose. However, Arthur, although taken by surprise, began to thrash with Emma, turning in circles and scratching at any part of Emma that was in contact with his body. His wound that Gwen gave him was still very sensitive to touch and it made the weight of Emma unbearable. Emma does her best to try and hold him still, until Arthur backs up against a wall, causing Emma to whack her head to the point where she can see stars and lets go of the glass shard. She falls against the frame of the closet, stunned and in pain. With his full body regained, Arthur turns and to look at Emma. He spots the glass shard and stomps on it several times to ensure it could not be used as a weapon again. While Emma is trying to gather her bearings, Arthur pulls out his hunting knife, kneels and puts the blade at Emma's throat. His hostage is still dizzy from the attack and in pain, that she can't focus on the face in front of her.
"I should've known that you would try to escape like this," Arthur hisses. Emma can feel the cold blade against her throat. She can't see his face and her whole body becomes still in fear. "Girls, like you don't give up that easy, do they?" He slowly dances the knife gently along her throat, causing Emma to gasp out in pain and fear. Arthur smiles as she squirms, pinned against the wall with no place to go.
"Poor little Emma," he taunts. "Tough on the outside, but weak on the inside. I'd love to carve you up like a turkey, but in your condition, I'd rather not risk it... Let's try not to fight like this again"
Emma can feel hot tears coming. She gasps for breath against the cold blade, trying to sound brave.
"Y-You know?" she whispers.
"Of course I know, I had children of my own, didn't I? I know when a woman is getting sick and I know when there is a used positive test in the backyard."
Emma gasps. After the test concluded that she was pregnant, she managed to open the window and toss it into the forest. She wanted to hide this horrible reality from this evil man for as long as was humanly possible. Obviously, it wasn't enough.
Emma is shaking slightly from the cold piece of metal against her throat. Arthur slowly brings the knife down and uses the dull end to trace her stomach. So many chills go down Emma's spine and her entire body seems to fail her. She's numb to the point where her limbs won't move anymore, not to try and attack Arthur or anything. Plus, with her throbbing head, she's completely helpless.
Arthur laughs as he traces her abdomen and then looks up at her. He grabs her chin roughly and presses her head against the wall.
"Let's try not to have another disagreement like this, okay? I want this baby to alive and well for the next few months. Now I have to go into town and get a new pane of glass. I may as well go for dinner there too. A night away from each other might be just what I need."
He then finally releases her, stands up and locks the door as he goes.
Emma is left like a limp rag doll until the sounds of the car engine starting up to begin and pull over the fallen leaves.
Emma pulls herself up into a ball and begins to cry. She cries over everything that's happened.
Please just end it all right now! She pleads in her mind.
…
Once she's calm again, Emma crawls weakly over to where the tiny pieces of glass are. She slowly sweeps them into her hand and then tosses them out the now open window. A very cold breeze swirls into her room, causing more goosebumps to form over her frail body. A few birds have taken their place on a nearby branch and begin to sing again.
If only these birds could carry a message for me, Emma sighs. But that's only in fairy tales.
Emma then begins to scream as loud as she can.
"HELP! CAN ANYONE HELP ME?!" she yells out, hoping and praying that some hiker will hear her and want to investigate. Her frightened, but determined voice echoes out into the forest, causing the birds to fly off in fear. She shouts for someone, anyone to help her.
She continues to yell for the good part of an hour until her voice is hoarse and her throat is dry. Emma moves back from the window and then remembers the cut from the window frame. Since she's locked in the bedroom, she can't get any medical supplies. The cut is not bleeding that much anymore, but Emma knows she'll have to wrap it. She rips a scrap of cloth from the blanket on the ground to wrap it when she hears plastic against the hardwood floor. Emma pulls the blanket up and her heart nearly stops.
On the floor is a cell phone. The cheap type from a dollar store, a burner phone. It was red and a flip phone. Emma's heart begins racing. It's as if someone was finally giving her some good luck. Arthur must've dropped the phone when he was looking for her or during their scuffle.
Emma fumbles with the burner phone. Her hands shaking in relief and excitement that she will be able to call for help. She wraps her hand and then turns the phone on.
She then dials 911 and holds it up to her ear. She begins rehearsing what she is going to say when someone answers. Her chance at freedom has finally come. She's crying happy tears. She wasn't going to be a prisoner for much longer. She can barely contain her excitement as she waits to hear a ring.
However, the phone beeps and Emma sees that there is not service in the area. Desperate, Emma rushes to the window, holds the phone outside through the bars to try and get a signal and dials the number again. The phone continues to beep with absolutely nothing.
Emma spends the rest of the day trying to get the phone to work. Her hopes of escape slowly dwindling with each passing minute. Arthur would be home soon and realize the phone is missing… then he might do something to her… and her baby. Emma even tries to take apart old coat hangers and use them to strengthen the signal, but nothing.
As night falls in the forest, Emma is hungry, tired, alone and very scared. Her hope is fading and she knows her chance to escape was gone if it was a chance at all. She can feel tears welling up again. She sits by the broken window and instinctively dials Henry's cell phone number. Even though it was unlikely that the call would go through, she wanted to hear her son's voice again.
She puts the phone to her ear, wanting some form of hallucination where she could actually talk to Henry, be so happy to hear his laugh and his awkward changing voice. Maybe talk to Killian too, hearing his gentle accent against her ear. Mary Margret's enthusiastic and loud voice, David's sighs of relief at knowing that she was alive…
Emma gives a weak smile when suddenly there is a noise at the other end.
"Hello?" a voice that Emma had not heard in so long asks. Emma nearly drops the phone out the window in shock and amazement. Fresh tears flow from her eyes in joy and hope. Her heart races and her throat tightens as if she might not speak at all. Realizing that she'll have to say something;
"H-Henry?" she says in a raspy voice.
"M-Mom?!"
Here's how Emma got the phone. Next chapter is her plea for help.