The rain beat steadily against the roof of the car, drowning out the sappy ballad playing on the radio. The thick drops of water had been falling for hours, causing streams and rivers to rise. The thick, dark clouds obscured the bright moonlight, cloaking the world in a mantle of darkness.
"Where am I?" Natalia wondered, leaning forward over the steering wheel. The young woman squinted, but could barely make out silhouettes through the rain.
"Is there a sign coming?" She took her foot off the gas pedal and let the car roll. The light from the headlights was swallowed by the blackness of the night.
"What does it say? Storybook? Great, now I'm in a fairy tale?" Shaking her head, Natalia cautiously stepped on the gas again, crossing the town line.
The hairs on her forearms stood up, goose bumps covered her body and she felt a slight tingling sensation in her chest. Heat spread through her stomach and the tiniest spark of hope was lit.
A quick shake of her head, and her focus was back on the road ahead. "It's the lack of sleep. I need to find a place to stay around here. Hopefully this crap town has a hotel or something." Planning. Natalia was good at that. Structured, precise and ambitious. Almost every job reference described her that way. Three qualities that have helped her grow outside of work. This was the case here as well. A good plan would help her and get her through this disastrous evening and the night that had just begun.
All this for a lousy job interview with a rejection as the end result. Natalia wanted to go straight home after this disappointment, but due to a road closure caused by an accident, traffic was diverted to side streets. In the heavy rain that followed, she lost her way and took a wrong turn somewhere.
She tapped her cheeks lightly with her fingertips. She concentrated on finding a place to stay for the night. The world would look different in the morning, her mother had always told her.
At least the rain was easing and she could see more of her surroundings. A light on today's dark horizon, even if it was small.
The small town, whose name Natalia had long forgotten, lay in darkness. Not a soul was to be seen on the streets. Who would dare to go out at this time of the night and in this kind of weather? With one eye on the road and the other on the houses left and right, she drove along the main street. At least she hoped it was the main road.
"Is there a light back there?" Hope grew in the young brunette. There, indeed. Someone was probably still awake, hidden behind green plants that needed to be trimmed. She quickly maneuvered her vehicle safely in front of the lighted building, parked in front of a thick hedge and got out. Holding her trench coat over her head for some protection from the rain, the girl stumbled up the few steps to the door.
The doorbell announced her loudly, but Natalia stood alone. Surely someone would come soon. After all, the door was open and the room was brightly lit. The waiter or the owner was probably in the back or in the kitchen.
Natalia used the time to look around. In the middle of the room were tables and chairs. On the right were some seating arrangements and on the left a long counter. The interior had something typically American. A real diner, in fact.
"Who are you?"
Scared, Natalia jerked back and resisted an impulse to jump up.
"Sorry..." she stammered, "I was just passing through and got lost."
"And you are?" The older woman looked at her grimly over the horn-rimmed glasses that sat far forward on her nose and leaned over the counter.
"My name is Natalia. Do you know if there's a hotel around here? I can't possibly continue my journey in this weather." The young woman had regained her courage. Natalia was familiar with such stern personalities and was not intimidated by any of them. Behind every fierce person there was often a warmer person.
"Hotel? Here in Storybrooke? The mayor would probably like that." The woman replied. "But if you need a place to sleep, I can offer you a room."
"Here?" So Storybrooke was the name of this sleepy little town. Well, she wasn't going to stay here long enough to get to know it. That much was already for sure.
"The lady is critical. You're welcome to drive on."
Natalia shook her head quickly. "No, no. I'll gladly take the room. I really need to sleep."
"Come with me." The older lady, who was still quite quick on her feet, marched to the front from behind the counter and led Natalia to the back. At the end of a winding corridor stood a small table, behind it a tall cabinet, from which the older woman took out a large key with an even larger chain.
Natalia, who was only used to room cards and electronic locks, had her eyes wide open. But after a look of warning from the other woman, she cleared her throat and gratefully accepted the room key.
"This is Granny's Bed & Breakfast, and I'm Granny," the owner introduced herself. "You pay in advance."
"Granny? Is that a short form?" Natalia looked at her questioningly.
"No, just Granny. That's what everyone calls me. The room is upstairs, a cup of coffee in the morning is included. How long are you staying?"
"Just one night, thank you," Natalia said quickly, putting the amount the owner told her on the table.
"Welcome to Storybrooke, then," the older woman grumbled.
"Uh, yes, thank you," still confused by the name, Natalia turned away and went back to her car to get her suitcase. It was fortunate that she had had the presence of mind to pack a few things in the morning. She had hoped that she would be able to stay at her new place of work and look for an apartment, but as so often, things always turn out differently than you think. Unfortunately.
Pulling her trench coat over her head, she ran back, grabbed her suitcase and ran into the dry.
Granny, whose name Natalia still hadn't gotten used to, had kindly held the door open for her. "I'll lock up now, you can use the back door with the room key if you want to get out before the diner opens."
"Thank you very much. See you tomorrow," Natalia said goodbye and pulled the suitcase behind her.
Once she got upstairs, the young woman put the suitcase down and let herself fall onto the bed, sighing deeply. Where had she ended up?
Her head slowly fell to one side and she looked around the room. The interior could use some work. The sheets had probably seen a lot of people and the TV wasn't even from this decade. She preferred not to include the bathroom in that assessment. At least it looked clean. Exhausted, she exhaled. It was not up to her usual standards, but it would do for one night.
With the last of her energy, she rose from the rather comfortable bed, grabbed her suitcase and took out a nightgown and her makeup bag. Quickly and without another glance at the furniture, she removed her make-up, slipped into her comfortable clothes and snuggled under the covers after turning off the light.
The empty streets and the feeling of being watched were her last thoughts. But she was soon lost in the world of her dreams.
-Change View *Emma*-
"Emma!" her father shouted.
"David? We're here!" she replied. Emma and her husband met her parents under umbrellas in the middle of the crossroads in Storybrooke.
"What happened?" Snow asked, glancing around.
"We don't know," Emma replied. "We fell asleep on the couch. Hope was upstairs in her crib. When we woke up, we immediately looked for her."
"She wasn't there," Killian interrupted. "We had these cameras installed." He looked to his wife for help.
The Charmings nod slowly, already in fear of the worst.
"We saw a dark figure in the pictures. It broke into Hope's room and took her from her bed and carried her away." Anxiety and concern were written all over her and Killian's faces.
"What, a figure? But who? And where did he take her?" Snow had many questions and wanted to do everything she could to help Emma and Killian.
"I don't know, Mom," Emma sobbed, wiping tears from her cheeks. Emma was aware of Killian's tightening grip on her hand. She was glad her husband was by her side at this time. They needed to find their daughter.
"We will separate," David decided, but that was all he could say. A drenched Granny came running toward them.
"What happened? And who is the stranger in my bed and breakfast?"
"A stranger? Here in Storybrooke?" Snow and everyone else knew that was always a recipe for disaster. Was she the dark figure?
Before Emma or any of the men could say anything, Snow pointed past them to the clock tower.
"Is that Belle?" she asked, gently turning her daughter toward the library. Now Emma also saw that Belle was standing in the doorway of the library, signaling for the Charmings to come to her.
"Maybe she knows more," Granny murmured, and was already on her way in the direction of the waving woman. The others were at her heels, and they entered the dry library.
"Is Hope here?" Emma asked right away.
Belle closed the door behind her and walked over to her laptop, which was on the counter
"No. Hope isn't here. Maybe that was for the best."
"What do you mean?" Hook asked.
"Another curse has fallen upon us," Belle summarized. "According to my research, we've been asleep for 28 years."
"Twenty-eight years? Asleep? If I had proof, all my food would be moldy in the kitchen." Granny shook her head unbelievingly.
"We just had a little nap, we dozed off," Emma supported her. Her thoughts were still on Hope.
"No, the town must have frozen with us, like it was asleep. At least that's how Rumple explained it."
"Another curse? But by whom? And why is it broken now?" David looked around.
"I don't care about the curse. Where is Hope? She was in her crib earlier." Killian was pacing back and forth.
"Hope's gone?" Now Belle understood the concern on the faces of the Charmings. "Before the curse?"
"We don't know. We fell asleep and when we woke up, she was gone. The only thing we could see in the footage was a dark figure," Emma summed it up. Her voice trembled as she ran a hand through her curly blonde hair.
"Fitting that this stranger should appear now," Granny wondered. "I'm sure she knows more."
"Do you know her?" Snow asked.
"No, and I know everyone here by now. Since people have landed here with their unfinished stories and many have occupied a room, I've been able to fill books with faces. She's new, for sure."
"But it doesn't fit," Emma looked down at the floor.
Killian came over and hugged her. "What doesn't fit?"
"A stranger? A woman?" Emma looked questioningly at Granny, who nodded. "The figure in the video was tall and broad-shouldered. It was wearing a hooded cloak, but you could clearly see its large hiking boots. The build fits a man."
"Not the description I'd choose for my guest," Granny admitted. "She's tall, but has a petite figure, would need something on her ribs. Looked very good, like a career woman from the big cities. High heels, stockings, tight skirt and white blouse."
"It's not her," Emma realized. "We are back at the beginning." Her eyes filled with tears again.
"We'll find her," Snow whispered reassuringly, stroking her arm.
"A curse hit us? Are you sure?" David changed the subject and looked at Belle questioningly.
"Rumple is sure, and didn't you feel that impulse earlier?"
"Yes, I've been through too many curses not to recognize it," Granny interjected.
"The only question is who cast it and, more importantly, who broke it." David wanted answers as soon as possible. Most of all, he wanted his granddaughter back.
Where was Hope?