For once, things seemed to be going normally and smoothly in the Mills' family home.
That was, until, Lynn dropped an already opened letter on the kitchen counter in front of her mother.
"I'm not doing it, momma. I'm just not."
Regina stared at her daughter in surprise, setting down her filing for the morning. She startled when Lynn came over to hug her before sitting down on the other side of the counter. She was right. She doesn't hate me. I only hope she's right about the darkness not being…so consuming. To her slight comfort, at least, Regina was not the only one in the home who seemed to be lost in their thoughts. Henry, still finishing his breakfast, looked up from where he was sat at the table. His eyes wide, he looked between his mother and sister. What is Netta not going to do? Regina - Emma's voice suddenly came back into his mind - Mom doesn't seem upset. What's Netta talking about? He awkwardly continued to eat his apple and cereal, watching the two intently. He tried not to fidget with his backpack, well aware that his sister had put the storybook back in his bag for him. Only after she chewed me out, though. Is magic really back enough for Re - mom - to be able to do something like show Netta her heart? That's scary. Magic is scary. Netta wouldn't lie about that, though. So she must have done it. Does that make her good, though? Netta said it proved it, but I don't know how. I hope she's right. His mind wandering around and about, Henry waited for Regina to say something. Lynn seemed to have had little else ready to say, instead sitting down, her school bag and purse in her lap.
"You're at the top of your class," Regina finally said. "I thought you would be happy about that."
Lynn sighed. "I am. I'm happy I'm finishing high school, and I'm happy all of my exams went well, and I'm hoping my final AP exams this year will go as well as the -"
"The seven others you've either aced or almost aced?" Henry encouragingly put in. "You're super duper smart, Netta!"
Lynn glanced at her little brother with a smile.
"Thanks, Henry," She went silent for a few seconds before turning back to their mother. "I'm not going to university right away," She quietly reminded her. "I can't even drive because of my leg and my medications. My marks are pretty much the only thing about me that are interesting school wise, and I really don't want to go to something where the fact that I'm disabled is on full display. Especially because the entire damn school knows the story, and knew pretty much everyone involved."
"Has…" Regina hesitated. "Has something happened?"
Lynn chewed at the inside of her cheek. "Yeah, I guess," She said dejectedly. "Aria's family is pushing for the entire thing to be in her memory," Lynn made no attempt to hide the bitterness in her voice. "Because she's fucking comatose. And I get it, that's sad, but she tried to kill me! If we lived in another state, I don't know, like Florida, she would have been executed for it! If her family hadn't been able to get her almost made innocent, that is."
Henry stood up suddenly and ran over to his sister, tightly wrapping his arms around her.
"Netta," He said simply. "They're shit heads. They don't matter."
Regina almost laughed, but found herself almost too taken aback by how together the family seemed.
Before Henry found the book.
Before Emma came here.
Before…
Regina nearly screamed when, seemingly out of nowhere, the doorbell rang out.
"I'll get it!" Henry gave his sister one last hug before running off to the front hall. "I'll be right back!"
For a moment, there was silence, and mother and daughter simply stared at each other.
"Lynn," Regina said, leaning over the counter to hold her daughter's hands. "I know things have been absolute hell for you, and the fact you're set to graduate on time is absolutely remarkable in and of itself because of everything you've been through these past two years.."
Lynn managed a small smile. "Technically, I'm graduating a year early since I don't turn eighteen until September, and the cut off date for school entry was before then. But that's just because I skipped my first year of primary school."
"You're a brilliant girl, Lynn," Regina said gently. "I want you to be able to be recognised for that, even if this is somewhat of a silly way to do that. But, if you really don't want to, I won't make you."
Lynn nodded. "I just…" She shook her head. "I don't want to put on the same outfit as everyone else and still stand out because I limp. I don't want to have to give a speech because I know everyone will be expecting me to talk about perseverance when I'm only still alive because I got lucky. Incredibly lucky. And I never got to do some of the things I wanted," She brushed aside tears, her voice breaking. "I had wanted to be captain of the swim team, I had wanted to be able to compete, for one. And I can't do any of that. And with the Watsons probably going to get some sort of memorial/stupid fucking thing to celebrate Aria, it just seems pointless. It's all so fucking stupid."
"Alright," Regina squeezed her daughter's hands. "I won't make you decide right now, Lynn. But, even if it's the day of and you don't want to go, I won't force you to. Are you alright with that?"
"Yeah," Lynn said. "I -"
A scream rang out through the house, shortly followed by Henry running back into the room. Much to Regina's disbelief, he ran over to and latched onto her. Footsteps followed, but not heavy like the ones she almost expected. They were delicate, light, and absolutely domineering. They were footsteps she had not heard in years, and they belonged to someone she had only suspected as being in town. In her town. It was only a few seconds later that the queen felt sick, the woman who had just about let herself in entering the kitchen. Lynn dropped all of her things, and let out a brief scream herself before trying to calm herself by reaching over and grabbing the nearest of her little brother's hands. A few seconds passed, the two women staring at each other. Then, Regina gently pried Henry off of her and sat him down on the counter next to his sister. He just about latched onto Lynn, too. The seventeen year old's mind was spinning, to the point of it being almost painful. That face, that woman. She was all too familiar. It was not until she spoke, however, that Lynn felt almost helpless again.
"Do it now while you prepare what you have!"
The voice had drawn ever so closer , followed by a face. The huntsman's had long since left her field of vision. The face was one she was unsure if she recognised, and, while it remained in her field of vision , the person to whom it belonged sat down beside her. Needles pressed in and out of her skin. Everything hurt. A few more faces had started to come into view. Needles. All around her were needles, and they were almost all she could feel. She saw needles start to press in and out of her skin near her shoulders. She felt them around her chest, and her legs, too. She wasn't sure what else she felt, or, at least, wasn't sure what everything was. She had kept hearing the voices around her continue but they were too many and not entirely close enough. She could hear the voice of the woman who had been staring down at her. She heard her talk about blood, and people around her taking it. They said they were taking it, that it would be transfused. Transfused. The word – like so many – was becoming harder and harder to make sense of. What the hell did any of it – Her had mind started reeling again. The voice was closer again. She didn't know how much time was passing, if any. But, eventually, needles stopped around her shoulders and seemingly migrated to her arms. She wasn't sure what was happening to her legs anymore, but assumed they were still being pierced in and out too.
The face came back into view again. It seemed familiar, so familiar, to the point where it felt like it could be family. Aged. Red hair, that appeared to be natural and aged as the woman's face. She was not her mother. She was not Chloe, or Sherry, but then…
"Baby fight," The cold voice had said, a hint of menace to it. "Prove yourself and push through."
"Cor…" Lynn only knew she had spoken because of how gritty her throat felt. "Cor..a –"
"Thank you for your help, but we need to keep this clear –"
"Of course, I'll leave."
The face had smiled at her and then disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
"Who brought her in?"
"I did!" The huntsman's voice had drawn closer again, and he sounded like he was running. "She –"
"Hopefully, I'm not interrupting anything," Cora smiled at her daughter. "I assumed it would be early enough in the day for that. Though I hadn't expected for both of your children to be home."
Lynn grimaced and looked away.
"She's going into school late today, because I am taking her myself," Regina said, her voice sharper than it had ever been with either of her children. "And I cannot say I appreciate you both using my son to get to me as well as to scare him."
Cora scoffed. "Don't act as if you don't manipulate people too, Regina. You are not better than me, do not even play that game."
"Maybe I'm not," Regina snapped. "But I wouldn't go out of my way to scare children."
"Oh?" Cora smirked. "I presume based on what I've heard around that your son knows who we truly are, is that correct?"
Regina said nothing, but Henry nervously nodded at his grandmother.
"You may not scare children," Cora continued despite her daughter's ire. "But you did curse multiple kingdoms, including your own, because a ten year old told your little secret to me."
"Fuck you!" Lynn threw both of her hands over her mouth, almost terrified when her grandmother and mother both turned to look at her. Slowly, she lowered her hands, and protectively held onto her brother. "You killed my dad because of that," Lynn whimpered. "How can you possibly think you're better than anyone when you've done something like that?"
Cora rolled her eyes. "I saved your life, Lynn Mary Anne. Or, at least, I was partially responsible for saving your life. You ought not forget that."
Regina scowled. "Doing one good thing to your granddaughter does not change the years of abuse you inflicted on me! And on her! And whatever the hell you think you're doing to Henry now!"
"It's quite the feat, Regina," Cora coldly replied, suddenly coming over and grabbing her daughter by the neck. "And don't you dare forget it."
Replies To Reviews/Authour's Note:
authour's note: i finished my short story writing for my fiction writing class for uni, so another chapter just sort of flowed off of it. anyways, hopefully i'll be able to get at least a chapter or two a month going forward! maybe this is something of a makeup present for being gone for awhile! i don't know, anyways, i hope you guys enjoy this one as much as i did writing it! things are getting more and more intense again!
jasouatfan: she really has, and that's what's so great about writing Regina in moments like this!
barratajennifer: she and her mother really have been so much, and it's really great they're able to lean on each other
Sammii16: anytime! I'm always happy to be able to post these chapter