The blaze roared around him as he walked through the village with his blood covered bare chest to the chilled night with bodies of villager's laid around him as he sought out his next meal, men, women and children slain in the wake of the monster's awakening. He needed more. Craved more. The pit in his stomach still wasn't full as he tried to seek out whatever heartbeat he could hear underneath the fire that tore through each building.
"Elijah!" he faintly heard someone call out his name in the distance.
The monster was out and needed to feed until he could feed no more, even if he had to go through the entire Enchanted Forest to do that. No hero or villain could stop him as he drained every drop of blood.
"Elijah" Lestat's voice cut through his hunger as he came to a stop to see his sire stood before him as the older hybrid looked upon the carnage his apprentice had brought upon the innocent village. There were at least a dozen drain bodies alone around them as the heat of the blaze cut through cold night and more as the stetch of blood hung in the air as it stained the grass and mud on the ground they were stood upon.
"What have you done brother?" fear laced his voice as he looked upon the emotionless vampire stood in the middle of the terror that he had inflicted, narrowing his gaze upon the man that had 'saved' his life, his head tilted to the side like he was trying to work something out, his beastly features on display for all to see the monster that had ripped through the village that now lay in ruin.
"L'jah you okay?" a muffled voiced called out to him "L'jah!".
The touch on his arm made him jump in his seat making his look up at the source of the touch that brought him out of the repressed bloody memory of his past, the sudden jolt making mug of warmed blood in his right hand slop up and over the lip and onto his fingers wrapped around the object and onto the surface of the counter he was sat at.
Ruby didn't know how long Elijah hand been staring at the mug of blood she had supplied for him as she droned on about the early morning rush, but as she walked up and down behind the counter serving others she wasn't sure how much the vampire had actually heard her from wherever he went.
"Forgive me, I didn't hear you" he gulped forcing the images of the hearts he had ripped from peoples chest, the village was just the newest memory of a torrid of memories he had inadvertently put behind the 'Red Door'.
Reaching up to take out his handkerchief to clean up the mess himself he stopped short as he saw the red liquid covered his fingers, coating the surface of his daylight ring on his middle finger as he felt the heat it once held quickly ebb away, turning cold. His finger's once again shook as he yet again found the images of the blazing villages he would leave in his Ripper wake flash across the front of him.
Blood on his hands.
So much blood.
"It's fine. It's my fault anyway" the young woman quickly tells him armed with a wet cloth as her gaze was drawn to what he was staring at.
"Here take that" the she-wolf says offering the cloth for the vampire to take to clean the drop of blood that landed on the cuff of his white shirt. Taking it from the woman, the vampire get's to work to quickly scrub the stain from his clothes.
"Elijah" the young woman called out to the man as he continued to clean the stain from his shirt as she turns to pick up a clean towel behind her only to turn back to see the vampires furiously scrubbing at his sleeve making her pause and watch him in the spiralling trance "Elijah? Are you okay?" she calls out to him trying to get his attention which only seems to make him scrub harder "Hey Elijah" she tries once more reaching out to touch his hand, only for Elijah to quickly grab her by the wrist to stop her. Her eye's widen in alarm as his darkened gaze met her's.
"I'm not as fragile as other's might suggest" he sternly tell the woman, gently setting her arm back down.
"Okay" she almost whisper's placing the clean towel in his bloodied hand, letting him clean up the mess on his hand, being careful around his daylight finger the rag become dirtier with each wipe.
"Where'd you go there?" she asks the man opposite her.
"Nowhere good" he tells her returning the rag to her "Excuse me" he states clearing his throat "I have an appointment with Dr. Hopper to attend" at that the vampire up and left her and his breakfast to walk out of the diner, leaving Ruby yet again with more questions than answers to what his mother did to him.
He however didn't get far when his shoulder met another at the end of the breakfast bar, making him stop and see who he had run into only to see a man he didn't know with a hand on an aching shoulder where he had hit accidently.
"Forgive me. I didn't see you there" the vampire quickly tell the stranger.
"All good. No harm" the stranger strains out, between laughs, rotating his shoulder having felt like he run into a wall "Although you might have to tell me your routine. You're built like a tree".
"I run" he tells man reaching into his breast pocket to find something to compensate the man for his clumsiness "Here" Elijah says taking out a bill he had there "Allow me to buy you a cup of coffee".
With the money in between his fingers, the vampire handed the stranger the money to compensate him for the pain only to notice how he stared at his daylight ring sat on his middle finger.
Unbeknownst to Elijah, the image of his ring on his finger brought back the last memory Owen Flynn had of his father before he forced out of his truck and he was forced to run.
"There's a reason I gave you that" Kurt tells his son pointing to the keyring held tightly in his smaller hand "Because as long as you have it, I'll always be with you. You can do this. So do it. Run! Go! Go! Run!".
The driver's door suddenly open's for a hand wearing a silver ring on it's middle finger with a small blue gem in the middle to reach in to grip the top Kurt's shoulder to drag him out of the door making Owen jump into action and open his door to start running towards the town line to escape.
Coming out of the memory the man blinked looking at the man in the suit that offered him the money for the coffee made him forget all about the dull ache in shoulder.
It was him. Elijah. Regina's brother. The one that always wore a suit. He hadn't changed one bit since the last time he was in Storybrooke. The hair had changed, but he hadn't changed one bit.
"Nice ring" he tells Elijah taking the money from the man in the suit "What stone is that?".
"Lapis Lazuli. Family heirloom" Elijah answers him, narrowing his gaze as he tries to place where he had seen this man before "Forgive me. You look vaguely familiar. Have we met before?".
"I don't see how that's possible, unless you've been to Carlisle, Pennsylvania" he replied.
"I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure. I'm Elijah. Elijah Mill's" holding out his hand towards the stranger, he took note how the man hesitated for a beat or two before taking hold of his and shaking it.
"Greg Mendel" Greg introduces himself noting the man's strong grip.
"Nice to meet you Greg. Please excuse me, I was on my way for an appointment".
"Sure" he says stepping aside to allow Elijah to leave though the front door only for Owen to watch the man leave before looking back at the counter to see the blood the waitress was hastily cleaning from the surface.
When Elijah Mill's came to Dr. Hopper for help after his recent incarnation and mental torture, he never imagined the man to use such an unorthodox method to test his mental capabilities as he sat in the armchair with Archie throwing trivia question after trivia question at him as the vampire drank straight bourbon that the good doctor had supplied to him.
This had been going on for the last week since he had woken up from his coma as the vampire hardly left the solace of his Inn room, surrounding himself in his books that had kept his mind occupied as he gaining control of his cravings, only venturing out into the woods at night to hunt the game that lived in forest while he was slowing increasing his take of human blood from the re-heated blood bags Ruby was still supplying him.
That morning was the first morning he felt strong enough to sit in the diner only to be overtaken by memories of his past...indiscretions.
"Who was the first female justice appointed to the U.S Supreme Court in 1981?" the doctor read out the question from the card in his hands.
"Sandra Day O'Connor" he dryly replied to the man opposite him.
"Correct" the man smiled going to the next card "Name three European Countries beginning with the letter A?".
"Albania, Austria. Andorra" the vampire quickly listed. The card switched.
"Quasimodo is a fictional character from what novel?".
"The Hunchback of Notre-Dam".
"A Shakespearean sonnet consist of how many lines?".
"Fourteen".
"With the exceptions of.-".
"This is absurd" Archie heard the vampire grumble to himself interrupting his line of trivia questions, taking Dr. Hooper slightly aback.
"How's Emma, you too seemed close before everything happened?" the therapist retorted wanting to see the man reaction to what everyone else had seen over the course of months since Emma arrived in town.
"Sonnet ninety-nine, one twenty-six, one forty-five and twenty-nine" he answers the question sitting forward to pour himself another drink "Those are the exceptions".
"Good" the man supplied putting the cards to one side seeing no problem with the man's memory.
"Then we can end this absurd game once and for all" he said taking a sip of the strong alcohol. Even though he says through the man's attempt to get him comfortable with a bottle of bourbon.
"Our goal here is to confront you subconscious. Suppression of past trauma and how it can manifest a baring and often violent behaviour".
"You know, I believe a man, lets just say the Godfather of modern psychanalysis mentioned something similar in a book I read over a decade ago".
"Feud aside" Archie grinned "Let's start with what you refer to as the red door".
"That's an image from my past. My youth. Before I turned. It was a door in a theatre I frequented with some dear friends of mine.. It was the door to a dressing room of the leading actress. Sometimes it appears to me in flashes. It's a memory but it's also a metaphor. It's a place where unspeakable deeds dwell in darkness".
"And have there been many?".
Jumping from the armchair the venture over to the window that looked out on the the street as the psychiatrist watched as the man in the suit used a finger to pull down a slat on the blinds that hung in front of them to peer outside.
"You know I'm no stranger to violence Dr. Hopper. However I am possessed at a certain control. However now and then I can be consumed with the chaos and untethered from that control. This is where the deeds are concealed. Behind that door".
"Why that particular door?".
"This is where the first woman I thought I first loved, told me she loved me in return. It's also where I took her life. No one knows this. Not even my all knowing sister. She still believes she killed herself after I called off our engagement. It was kept a secret by the vampire that sired me, who threw her into a river known to as a place for heartbroken people to take their lives in".
"The woman you thought you loved?" the man questioned him.
"Sibyl Vane" just saying her name made his throat go dry "I was compelled to love her after my sire found out an affair between myself and his wife. She was the only woman I've ever truly loved, before he ripped her heart out in front of me. I only recovered my memories when they came back to me during my transition".
"This isn't the first time this red door has appeared has it Elijah?".
"No" the vampire admits to the man "It appeared when Henry was first adopted".
It came in flashes in his sleep. When he would sleep the whole night and wake up like he hadn't, leaving him struggling to concentrate in his work that put him at odds with his sister turned her hand at motherhood.
"Sometimes not dwelling on the problem is more productive that examining it through therapy" Archie tells the man joining him as he joined the vampire at the window with a newspaper in his hand "Staying mentally busy instead of physically. It worked before as you became more involved in Henry's care and to fixing things around the house. I believe it can work again".
"What do you suggest?".
"A project. A plan for a promise of the future" the therapist goes on handing the vampire his copy of the Storybrooke Daily Mirror on the property pages "I believe I remember you saying you were between homes at the moment".
Taking the paper from the therapist the vampire saw a listing of several houses for sale and rent only for his eye's to be drawn to the listing that had been circled by Archie himself entitled 'Nantucket Style House'.
Meeting the physiatrist's' gaze, the corner of the vampire's lips unturned into a smirk as he caught on the man's train of thought.
"So this is your solution. Mend the home and the man".
"Or we we could stay here and we could continue with the questions".
"I'll mend the home" he quickly tells the man "I suppose I ought to purchase it first".
Brunch with her ex and his current fiancée was going exactly as Emma Swan thought it would go. Long periods of awkward silence as they ate bagels and drank coffee as Neal avoiding eye contact with her as he concentrated on the bagel he was eating, knowing he would have to tell Tamara everything about his fairy-tale past.
"So how'd you guys meet?" the blonde asked the pair breaking the silence looking to Neal for the answer, forcing Tamara to speak up instead .
"Um... well, I was super late to work, rushing like crazy, guzzling my giant coffee, when this guy crashed into me" she chuckles out seeing the funny side to the story as he laughed along all the while Henry listened closely to the story "My coffee soaked my blouse. There was no time to change, so Neal gave me his scarf to hide the stains. And he said I could keep it or call him if I wanted to return it. I decided to call, and, well, we've been together ever since".
"Sounds like fate" the blonde couldn't help but to comment making Neal look at her.
A silence fell on the group once again as Tamara simply laughed it off before the door to the Inn suddenly open and in walked in a familiar man in a suit and tie ensemble, paying no mind to what was going on in the living room with his cell held against his ear
"See you there soon Mr. Gilbert" Elijah says into the receiver before hanging up, as he headed for the stairs to find his room only to be stopped when his nephew's voices called out to him.
"Elijah!" Henry happily exclaimed from his chair seeing his uncle for the first time since Archie's 'funeral'. The name made the other's look up and around to see the short brown-haired man snap his head towards the sound of his nephew's voice.
"Oh, Hello" he greets the people in the Inn's living room as Henry jumped from his seat, dropping the bagel half onto the table, the eleven year old rounded the couch his father and Tamara were sat.
"Oh thank god" the saviour whispered to herself as she followed her son to greet the newly awakened vampire back on his feet after being captured by his mother and sister.
The blonde watched as her son threw himself into his uncle's body, throwing his arms around his form as he buried his head and face into his stomach as a warm hand cupped the back of his head, before he pulled away to look up at his uncle with his chin resting on his stomach.
"Are you feeling better now Elijah?" the young boy asked him. The question made the man smile down at the boy below him.
"Yes Henry. Much better" he assured him before Emma made her presence known to the man.
"Hi" Emma quietly greeted the man she had last seen completely consumed in a never-ending nightmare with her hands stuffed deeply in her jean pockets.
"Hello" he softly greets the blonde with a smile that seemed to pull on the edge of his lips on their own accord. Despite his catatonic state he still remembered the one of her 'rescuing' him in the vault. The kiss. The blood. It was everything he imagined it would be like as he found himself staring at the woman until Henry's voice cut through right through it.
Looking between his ex and the vampire, Neal couldn't help but to see the way he looked at her. Like she was the only one in the room. And the way she looked at him. It stirred something uncomfortably in the pit in his stomach at the way she obsessed she had been to finding him, and how quiet she was when he was 'sick'.
He just couldn't believe she could be friends with someone like Elijah, the 'just friend's' excuse wasn't cutting it for him knowing how volatile his kind truly were.
"'Lijah! Meet my Dad" Henry suddenly said making him blink out of the memory to remind himself it wasn't real as he looked towards the dark brown haired stranger that was stood awkwardly behind his son waiting to meet the famous Elijah Mill's his son had told him all about in New York.
"Uh, hey man" Neal greeted the man in the suit, offer a friendly hand to greet him "It's good to meet you. I've heard a lot about you".
"I wish I could say the same" Elijah retorts taking hold of Rumpelstiltskin's son's hand to shake as Emma meekly smiles at the moment before his gaze goes over to the woman that came to stand next to him "And this is..".
"Oh..this is Tamara. My fiancée" Neal supplies.
"Hello, I'm Elijah" the vampire tells the woman, holding out his hand towards her "Henry's Uncle".
"Nice to meet you Elijah" the woman replies taking his hand in a quick shake.
"Sorry to disturb your brunch, I was on my way to grab something from my room before heading back out".
"Oh you're staying here too" Tamara asks the man.
"I was convalescing here after a short illness after I moved out of the home I shared with my sister, Henry's adopted mother".
"So you helped raise him?" the woman continues.
"I wouldn't say that, his mother raised him, but I was there to help every so often in between my career".
"Right. I remember you're Henry's Principle as well" Tamara went on trying to fit in the pieces of information she got from her fiancé.
"Didn't you get fired?" Neal interjected taking the room by surprise as the two woman looked at him in disbelief.
"Right" Elijah stated through the sudden tension of the room "Would you excuse Emma and I for a moment".
"Of course" Tamara tells the man making her fiancé turn and walk back into the living room after his sudden outburst as Henry follow's them.
"What's up?" Emma say's turning her attention towards the vampire the suit, crossing her arms across her chest.
"I was wondering if you could spare some of your time today, there's something I wish to show you".
"Uh sure" she replies a little taken aback by his request "But I've gotta drop Henry off with his grandpa".
"Bring him. It concerns him as well actually. It won't take long" he tries to reassure her as she takes note at the way he's looking at her.
"You're not...trying to compel me are you?" she whispers to the man teasingly.
"Do you..feel like you're being compelled to come with me?" he slowly responds.
"No" she trails off.
"Then I give you my word I'm not" he coolly replies "Trust me, you'd know if you were being compelled".
"I do" she confidently replies.
"Good, then I'll text you the address. Twenty minutes sound okay?" with a nod from the blonde the vampire turns towards the stairs to climb up two at a time to his room as the latter find her son back in the living room with his father and Tamara.
"Come on kid. We've got to get going" she tells her son "Thanks for the bagel".
"It was nice meeting you, Tamara" Henry told the dark skinned woman stood next to Neal.
"You, too" she replies as Neal reached behind him to find Henry's Storybook hidden behind the cushion "Tell your Uncle it was nice to meet him as well".
"Will do" he chirps as Neal offers his book back to him.
"Here you go, man" Neal says holding the book up to Henry.
"Why don't you hold on to that?" Henry tells his father knowing he needed it to explain everything to his fiancée.
"Okay. See you" Neal responds as he see's his son leave.
"See you later" the boy replied making his way towards his mother to leave his Dad to explain everything to his fiancée.
'One of Storybrooke's finest heritage homes', the two-story, two bedroom with an open floor, and southern facing terrace with a third floor addition for use as a den, bathroom, office or combo was the perfect project for the vampire to work on through his troubles as he and the realtor, Mr. Jeremy Gilbert, walked through the sparsely furnished home during his showing that morning after he left Archie's office and found the appeal straight away as his mind spun with ideas on how to make it a home for him and when the time was right, for Henry to spend time the occasional night.
With some negotiation, the pair came to an agreement on a fair price of the recently renovated home that still needed some work and furnishing. He could see himself living there. It finally felt like a step in the right direction.
As Emma pulled up to the two story house in her yellow bug with her son in the back her brow's furrowed in confusion as she found a moving van parked outside with men in overall's carrying heavy boxes into the home at a steady pace.
"Is this the right address?" Henry asks from the back seat eyeing the house his Uncle had asked them to meet them at.
"Seems so kid" she replies as she parks in front of the moving van before cutting the engine to step out to let out Henry out.
"Who's house is this?" Henry asks his mother as they stand side by side looking up at the house
"Let's find out" the blonde says as they go towards the house only to be cut off by a pair burly mover's carrying a large, rather heavy looking wooden picture frame into the house that the eleven year old recognised straight away as belonging to his Uncle.
"Sorry Ma'am" one of the mover's tells her apologetically "Didn't see your there".
"No, you're good" she tells the pair letting them go first into the home first, before following them in.
"Emma" Henry whisper's up to his mother "That's Elijah's".
"How do you know that?" she asks him looking down at him.
"It's what his portrait was held in...and I might have snuck into his room to see it".
"You did?" he meekly nods to her "I guess we know who's moving in now" she blinks as they enter the home to find the man in question in the open plan living room speaking to the mover's that carried in the portrait frame, handing the both a generous tip each for their work.
"Take that round back into the shed if you will, the door's open" the vampire instructed the men.
"Sure" the agreed before working together to lift the frame up to take back out to the place the vampire wanted it to be stored.
"Hey" Emma made her and Henry's presence known to the vampire as the men carry the frame away "Someone moving in?".
"Something like that" Elijah replied with a grin before looking back at the realtor behind him "Mr. Gilbert, I'm not sure if you've met Sheriff Swan".
"I haven't had the pleasure" he tells the man stepping forward "Nice to finally meet you Miss Swan".
"You too" she replies before looking up to the man in the suit "Is this the named owner you were speaking about Mr. Mill's".
"The what?" Emma stuttered looking at the vampire in confusion.
"Would you excuse us for a minute Mr. Gilbert. Perhaps you can you show my young nephew here the second floor".
"Of course" he says stepping towards the staircase to wait.
"Follow Mr. Gilbert Henry" Elijah tells his nephew "He'll show you the guest bedroom and start thinking about how you'd like to decorate it".
"Really?" the young bow questions his uncle.
"Yes really" the man replies crouching down to his nephew's height to speak to him "Henry, if I've learned anything from these last few weeks, it's that I want you to know you have a home wherever you are, whether it's with your grandparent's and Emma, or with Regina, and in time, with me from time to time. Does that sound like something you would like?".
The idea of living with his Uncle made the young boy grin at his Uncle before eagerly nodding in excitement of having another home that was mirrored by the man opposite him.
"Good, now go have a look around with Mr. Gilbert and let me know what you would like" the vampire suggested.
"Follow me young man" the realtor tells the eleven year old as Elijah rises from the ground to speak to the blonde.
"Shall we take a seat?" Elijah invites the blonde to the red couch that came with the house. Stepping forward the blonde takes a seat on the dusty red sofa.
"I must apologise, I was hoping to explain everything before Mr. Gilbert said anything".
"Before what? You give me a house?".
"On paper" he correct her "I merely wanted to put your name deed, now that I've purchased it now that I'm no longer welcome back home with my sister".
"Why do you need to put my name on the deed?".
"As you are now aware, my kind are not welcome inside a human's home without invitation. However, whenever a vampire own's a property, the same rule does not apply. So as a precaution some have been known to live with the human in their home so that they have a safe house so to speak were no other vampires may come in".
"Then how do I come into this?".
"If there are any other vampire's in Storybrooke, here now or in the future, this house cannot be a place where they can come in and out of, especially if anyone I care about are in it. By putting it your name, you can control who comes in, including me".
"What happened between you and Regina?" she asked him. She had no idea what went on between the pair of siblings since she last saw the younger brother, but it was bad enough for him to be kicked out of the only home he's known.
"During my brief capture" the vampire started "Our mother revealed a secret that I've kept from my sister long before you were born. I believe she did it in a bid to further push my siter onto her darker side and pull us apart. A lie that not even my sister could forgive me for or forget about. One that I've have been trying to forgive myself for decades".
"That bad?".
"Indeed. I had a hand that put her on the path I've been trying and failed to take her off for the last thirty years".
"Was it a mistake?" she asks the man.
"No" he admits to the woman knowing it was useless to lie to her.
"Have you spoken to Mary Margaret?".
"No" he gulped. In truth he didn't know that what to say to the woman that took all the blame for Daniel's death now how to tell her it wasn't all her fault "I'm more interested in to know more about Henry's father".
"He's a good guy" she insists to the man "He just wants to spend some time with his son before going back to his life in New York".
"And what's to stop Henry from getting onto a bus to New York to find him like he did with you?".
"Believe me that's something I've already thought about" she exasperated to herself "I told Henry that his father was a firefighter that died a hero, I lied to him and he hates me for it".
"If there's something I know about my nephew is that he isn't the type to hold a grudge. An apology is all he needs to hear from you".
"You really think so?".
"I do. Even grown ups have to ask for forgiveness every so often from those we care about the most, especially our children" he assures her "We aren't perfect Miss Swan, we lie to protect ourselves from the truth that something has hurt us more than we care to admit. Your mother told me something once, something that stayed with me since she told me".
"Yeah?".
"That when you love someone and that person loves you in return, you're uniquely vulnerable. They have a power to hurt you that's like nothing else. More than a blade ripping open your skin or a broken bone. So, you put on armour to protect yourself, but you must be careful that the armour does not rust and set so that you might never be able to take it off".
"You speaking from experience?".
"Perhaps" was all he could tell her as a smirk played on his lips "Now, will you help me keep this is a safe house for my family?".
"I will" she answers him just as Mr. Gilbert and Henry return from the second floor.
"Just in time Mr. Gilbert" Elijah call out to the man "Do you have the paperwork?".
"Here we go" the realtor say handing the clipboard to the Sheriff.
"Hey kid, how was the room?" she asks her son taking the clipboard from the man.
"It's good" he shrugs "I've got a few ideas" he tells her as the realtor hands Emma a pen to sign the house over to her as he told her all his ideas.
Taking the pen from the realtor, the blonde lets the man guide her through the paperwork as Henry watches on while Elijah takes his leave to step outside of the house as he waited for the last signatures and initials to be made. He's seen how violently a vampire can be thrown out of a house. He didn't want to add a broken window to the list of things that needed to be fixed.
With a scratch of the last signature the invisible wall over the threshold took it's place over the open doorway of Elijah's new home stopping any attempt made by the man in the suit to enter the premises as he watched the way his nephew spoke how he wanted his room to look like, the vampire couldn't wait to bring his idea's in reality as he listed closely to the colour's and items he wanted.
He couldn't wait to make this place a home for him.
"Congratulations Sheriff Swan" the realtor tells the Sheriff taking the paperwork from the woman "I'll have this all filed away".
"Thanks I guess" the blonde responds as the man makes his way towards the front door to find Elijah stood on the porch.
"Thank you for your swift work today Mr. Gilbert" the vampire tells the man in passing as Emma and Henry appear in the open door way with a smug grin on her face as Henry beamed up at his Uncle stuck on the other side of the threshold as the vampire awaited the invitation.
"How old are we, Miss Swan?" the man teases her before the blonde relents.
"Elijah, Would you like to come into my house?".
Feeling the threshold fall, the vampire took an exaggerated step into the house as the blonde Saviour let the man back into his own house as the man looked around to take note of what needed to be repaired and replaced in order for the house to become a home once again.
"So what now?" Henry asked his Uncle.
"Now" the vampire said to his nephew "I get to work".
Across town, as her little brother set up his new home the Mayor of Storybrooke getting to work another way as she set her sights on the man that had called her, alerting her to Henry's wayward adventure into the woods by himself in a bid to destroy the magic that was tearing his family apart.
Finding Greg Mendel sat in a maroon booth eating the former Queen made her way over to the stranger that was making his welcome in town last as long as he could after his accident that saw him wake up in the hospital.
"I hope you enjoy your pie" she greets the man with a friendly grin "It's on me, I'm Regina Mills, mayor of Storybrooke. I'm also Henry's mother" she informs the man, taking a seat across from him.
"Oh, he... he's the cute little kid that was wandering through the woods. Right?".
"Yes. I just wanted to thank you for calling me about him".
"Yeah, no. No sweat. I... I have a spot spot for little kids in trouble" he replies as the former Queen's tries to place him, knowing she recognised him from...somewhere.
"I'm... I'm fairly certain we haven't met before, but... you do seem oddly familiar"
"I don't see how that's possible, unless... h... have you spent a lot of time in Carlisle, Pennsylvania?" he asks her as he continues to eat his pie.
"I can't say that I have" she laughed off "Well, if there's anything you need during your stay here...Please don't hesitate to ask" she says leaving him to enjoy the rest of his pie the former Queen makes her way over to the exit only to come face to face to a skittish Mary Margaret who was coming in "If I were you, I'd try the fish special. It's right up your alley. Blackened sole".
She remembered now. The boy that had ended up in Storybrooke by accident with his father twenty-eight years ago. Waiting for him to return to his room at the Inn with the keychain he gifted her all those years ago, she couldn't help but to glance over to the room her brother was in, to it empty of him and any sign of the belongings she had packed herself were ever there as she made her way towards Greg Mendel's room.
She couldn't help but wonder where he had gone to while his room sat empty except from the bed pieces of furniture that made up his bedroom. His closet was empty of his clothes, even the space in which he hid his portrait in was now empty.
The key's turning in the lock brought her out of her thoughts as she stared out of the window
"You know, I'm all set on towels... if that's why you're here. I air dry" Greg tells her.
"I'm here because I realized why you look so familiar to me" Regina replies turning to face the man the boy had turned into "It's because we have met before, haven't we? Owen".
At the sound of this real name the corner of Owen's lips quirked up as Regina held out the keyring he gave to her twenty-eight years ago.
"I kept this all these years as a reminder of our time together" she goes on "You were just a boy when you gave this to me. Now look at you, all grown up" she muses stalking towards him reaching up to stroke his face only for the man to pull out of her reach "No wonder I didn't recognize you".
"Yeah, but I... I recognized you, because you look exactly the same, Regina" he tells her "You and Elijah. It's as if no time has passed for you both".
"Monthly juice cleanse. Does wonders for the skin" she retorts with a smirk "You could've come to me, Owen. You could've told me who you were and why you're here".
"Well, I... I think you know why I'm here" he retorts.
"I honestly don't" the mayor tells him.
"I'm looking for my father".
"Your father? He left shortly after you did. I never saw him again".
"I don't believe you" Owen calls her bluff.
"Be that as it may, it's the truth" she
"People don't just disappear, Regina"
"Scared little boys tend to have overactive imaginations" she argues.
"Well, I'm not a scared little boy anymore, Madame Mayor. It's taken me a long time to get back here. I'm not leaving without my father".
"I'm afraid you are, because he's not here" she tells him straight moving around him to head towards the door "I'll let Granny know that you'll be checking out tomorrow".
"Or what?".
"Contrary to what you might think, people can just disappear".
With the movers long gone, Elijah Mill's got to work unpacking the boxes that had been taken from his room at the Inn to the house, starting off first with the assembly of a temporary clothing rack that would house the number of suits that came with him from lightest to darkest on hangers in his bedroom.
Venturing out to the shed, the vampire found the heavy frame his portrait was once framed resting on the work table in the middle with a small axe in his right hand ready to take apart the thing that once framed his bane of his existence ever since he first laid his eye's upon the piece on Basil's studio.
In one swift motion the vampire brought the axe down onto the gold painted white oak, splintering the wood apart as the vampire brought it down, again and again until only chunks of white oak laid out on the ground, until it was unrecognisable to anyone but those who have once seen it whole.
Pant's of breath left his mouth as he felt the satisfaction of the bane of existence lay in pieces at his feet as a sense of victory washed over him only for the moment to be short lived as his phone in his pocket to ring out.
Picking up his phone straight away the vampire brought the devise to his ear unaware who was calling him.
"Hello?" he says into the receiver.
"Hello brother" her voice made the vampire stiffen in apprehension.
"Regina. What do I owe the pleasure" he drawled out to her placing the axe down on the work bench as he turned his attention to his estranged sister.
"Owen Flynn" she states to him "He's here".
The stranger this morning, he saw the way he looked at his daylight ring, like he had seen a ghost. It was in the last memory he had of his father before he dragged him out of his car in his cursed daze, following his sister's order to stop him from leaving Storybrooke.
"I know" he tells his sister.
"You do?".
"I met him this morning. He recognised my ring. I didn't realise it then, but I made the connection just now".
"Do you know why he's here?".
"I don't. But I assume you are about to enlighten me".
"He's here looking for his father".
"And we both know that's impossible unless you know how to bring back the dead" he mused to his sister making his way back towards his home.
"He's a problem".
"For you perhaps" he retorts climbing up the step up to the house to let himself back into the home.
"Excuse me?".
"Call it karma if you wish, but once you turned your back on me in the vault after you found out the truth about my involvement in Daniel's death, and left me to mother's torture. You also turned your back on coming to me to clean up your messes".
"You killed that poor boy's father because of your recklessness, now face the consequences of the man out for revenge. And as someone who has spent her life looking for vengeance herself. I can only imagine you are the only one that knows how far he would be willing to go to get it".
"Elijah-" she starts again.
"Goodbye sister" at that the vampire hung up the call and shut the door behind him ready to turn over a new leaf that didn't involve cleaning up his older sister's antics.
'Her'
The word stuck in Emma's mind since August whispered it out the previous day as he lie dying outside the Sheriff's Station before the Blue Fairy turned him back into the real boy that had no memory of the man he became after his actions showed the fairy that he acted as he should have in his last moments of life. Selfless, Brave and True.
However instead of trying to find the person that had tried to kill August to keep their identity hidden from others, Emma Swan had been dragged into her father's red Ford pickup to be taken somewhere with her mother and taken into the middle of nowhere, Storybrooke instead of starting her investigation.
Finally coming to a stop on the road the former Prince pulled over to the side, allowing Emma to step out to see that in fact they were in the middle of nowhere, with no word from either parent of what they were doing there.
"Why are we in the middle of nowhere?" the Sheriff asks her parents as she closes the door behind her before rounding the front to join her parents on the other side "Why aren't you guys telling me what's going on? Why the secrecy?" she throws the questions at them.
"Because you need to see it" her mother simply replies
"Great. That always goes well for me" she dryly retorts "Listen, whatever it is, it can wait. August was trying to warn me about something-someone dangerous".
"Doesn't matter" David brushes her concerns off.
"Why not?" she replies in confusion.
"Because of this" the former princess states taking her daughter's hand into her's, the family of three walked across the road into a seemingly empty field only to walk through a cloaking spell that hide the field of magic beans that were being grown.
The Sheriff could only gawp at the image before her as rows and rows of bean stalks in front of her as she takes the lead to walk across the wooden board to step into the field only to break her gaze from what was being grown when a familiar voice calls out her name
"Emma!" Anton called out to the blonde as he ran towards the woman that spared his life in the Enchanted Forest.
"Hey" Emma blinks in bewilderment to see Anton the giant she, Elijah and Hook had encountered at the top of the giant bean stalk now human size and huggable.
"Are you here to help? It's not quite harvest time yet".
"Beans" she realized outload before looking over to her parents "You're growing magic beans. That's what you were up to when I was in New York? Why didn't you tell me?".
"We are telling you" David tells her "We kept it a secret to protect the crop. Mother Superior, she cloaked the area. That way Anton can do what he does best".
"Actually, you haven't seen me play darts" Anton boasts "But, yeah, I do this pretty good".
"Um, Anton" Emma started in disbelief "Don't take this the wrong way, but w-why-why are you so...".
"Small? Cora" he simply answered "She and Regina brought some magic to make me human-sized. Kind of like it" he tells her only for Leroy to appear from nowhere to scold the shrunk giant.
"Enough lollygagging!" the dwarf yells at Anton "Back to it" he berates the former giant before leaving to carry on working.
"Wow. Dwarves really like to work. It's great to see you, Emma" at that the former giant turns to continue tending to the crop of magic beans.
"You too" she tells Anton before turning on her parents as she realized what he parents wanted to do with the beans they were growing "You want to use the beans to make a portal, to go back to the Enchanted Forest. That's the real reason you didn't tell me. What about Ogres and destruction. And danger?".
"We can fix all that. We did it before, we can do it again" David tries to reassure her.
"We can start over, Emma" Mary Margaret chimes in much to her daughter's surprise.
Only a few weeks ago, the pixie hared teacher wanted to give Storybrooke and chance for a fresh start they needed after the curse had broken and they had buried Archie, after some of the other's expressed their wish to go back to the Enchanted Forest.
"So, you've changed your mind? You wanna go now, too" she voiced to the woman.
"Not my mind. My heart" she correct her "After what I did to Cora, I think restoring our land is the best way to mend it".
"It'll be good for all of us, the whole family" David adds "Henry. And you".
"We're from there. You're from there".
"Well, this world is.. my home" Emma reminds them.
"And it's been nothing but cruel to you" her father points out to her "If we go back, I think you might be able to have your happy ending".
For the first time in weeks Elijah Mill's felt like had something to worth waking up to as he got to work making his new home into something that would keep him mind off from the memories that had resurfaced from behind the 'Red Door'.
With dustsheet's covering the pieces of old furniture that came with the home, the vampire used his supernatural strength to pull up broken and loose floorboards from the floor with little little resistance before replacing them with freshly sawed, sanded and nailed fresh boards since he woke up that morning and he hadn't stopped once
He had Marco to thank for teaching him how to do this when he wanted to make something special for Henry's first birthday. The mahogany toy chest still sat in his room to this day since the day it was presented to him and his mother ten years ago.
He had even managed to even astonish the former Evil Queen herself with the piece that had her son's name carved into the front panel as he had kept the project and lessons a secret from her, saying that he had to stay at the office a little longer, or having to go in, on the weekend to catch up on paperwork.
Keeping his hands busy was doing the trick of distracting himself from his troubles the man overed in sawdust was taken from his task when he heard his phone ringing from where he left it in the kitchen.
Driving the last nail into the floorboard he had replaced the vampire dusted his hands on the rag he kept close as he made his way to the furnished kitchen to see who was calling him.
"Emma" he smiled into the phone. It was something he was doing more of lately.
"Hey" her voice came through the receiver "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I know you're busy fixing my house" he could picture the look on her face from he stood.
"Well if that's the case I'll have to start charging for my time here" he casually teased "Does thirty an hour plus supplies sound like a good rate?".
"Okay" she sighed out in defeat "It's your house" she relents.
"Good to hear" he grinned down the phone "Was there anything you needed?".
"Yeah...I was wondering if you could meet me somewhere. I'll even get something for you to eat from Granny's on me".
The sound of food did sound enticing, he hadn't fed since yesterday and the cold bags of blood in his fridge didn't sound as appealing as the blood that had been reheated from Granny's.
"Sure. Just let me clean up first. Where shall I meet you?".
"The docks sound good?" she suggested.
"I'll find you".
"Ugh, you sound like my parents" she grumbled at the vampire "Let me guess which suit you'll wear, dark suit on the left side of your closet or the identical dark suit on the right".
"I prefer the one in the middle thank you so much" he retorts with a smirk "See you in half an hour".
With the reassurance of Elijah on his way to meet her, Emma sat on a bench at the docks with Henry's storybook in her lap going over her parents lives in the Enchanted Forest. Would it really be as good as they were making it out to be? Was there even something like a happy ending possible for her?.
She needed to speak to someone about this, even if she kept it a secret from them. Elijah seemed to be the first name to come to mind with something like this.
With a to-go cup sat on the ground at her feet from Granny's, the Saviour tried not to think about the 'B' that had been written on the lid to easily identify it's contents. There was literal human blood, heated up like a cup of coffee.
A pair of footsteps on the boardwalk made the Saviour look behind her thinking it was Elijah finally arriving, only to see his older sister instead make herself comfortable on the bench next over to her's as the former Queen saw what the Saviour had in her lap.
"Reading up on Henry's father? Or maybe his grandfather?" the former Queen questioned the Saviour having discovered who the man she saw Henry playing with earlier that day was in fact Rumpelstiltskin's son "How long did you think you can keep that from me?".
"Well, I was going to tell you, but I was kind of busy trying to stop you and your mother from killing me and my entire family" the blonde argued.
"What is he doing here?" Regina bluntly asked the woman.
"Neal? Relax. He just wants to spend a little time with his son".
"Funny, he didn't seem to want to spend time with him the first ten years of his life. But then again, neither did you".
"You know what, Regina? How about instead of worrying about everyone else, you start focusing on trying to be the person Henry wants you to be before you lose him for good?".
"For good?" she questions the blonde "What does that mean?".
"Nothing" she brushes the woman off "Unlike you, the rest of the world isn't always scheming to get what they want".
No. She wasn't convinced. The Saviour was hiding something.
"No. You're hiding something" she tells the woman straight "Well, whatever it is, I can assure you of one thing. I'm going to find out" climbing to her feet the former Queen went to leave only to see something at the Saviours feet.
"Mmmh" the former Queen hummed to herself not able help but smile at the contents of take out cup, seeing the bold 'B' that had been written on the plastic lid. Blood. She was meeting her brother here.
"What?" Emma snaps at the older woman who lingered.
"Nothing. I see you're expecting my brother's company. Even buying him food" she observes outload "Just a word of warning, he's not as trustworthy as he likes to make himself out to be".
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" the saviour drawled at the older woman "I seem to remember you being the one leaving him to be literally tortured by your mother" the statement made the woman go still "Do you even know how much of a mess he's been since waking up from his coma?".
"He brought it onto himself" Regina argued.
"No-one deserves to have that done to them" the blonde went on. She knew she would eventually come at loggerheads with the woman over her treatment of her brother, but she had to remember it wasn't her fight.
"Miss Swan, as much I would like to tell you the truth, I think I'd like it more watching when he tells you the truth of what happened between us all those years ago" she tells the woman.
"And by the way, for future reference. His favourite" she says pointing at the take out cup "Puppies" she smirked down at the saviour. The smirk that grew on the woman's face made the blonde look away and scoff at the woman's attempts to scare her before the older woman turned and stormed away, determined to find out what the Saviour was talking about.
"Another good talk with my sister?" Elijah made his presence known the Sheriff as he made his way over to her watching his sister walking away with his hand buried deep in his wool knee length overcoat.
"As good as it can get" she retorts picking up the to-go cup from the ground to hand over to the vampire in the suit "Please tell me the puppy thing isn't true".
"It isn't" he tells her straight "I've come to find deer more appetising" he tells her taking a seat on the bench where his sister had just vacated carefully cradling the cup in his hands feeling the warmth the blood still held.
"So...Bambi blood?" she grimaced at the man.
"Full grown bucks make a better meal" he corrects her "However I don't think my eating habits were up for discussion when you called me here. So what did you need to talk about?".
"You can really tell? Is that like another weird vampire superpower?".
"It's not" he blankly stated to the woman "I'm just good at reading people. That and I don't think I've seen you hold Henry's storybook as tight as your holding it now" he tells her.
"You ever thought about going back?" she asks the man the question that's been on her mind all morning.
"Back where?" he asks her.
"Home. Where we're from".
"Personally, the Enchanted Forest holds more bad memories than good. It's a place where my kind are hunted day and night. Not even those who are able to walk in the daylight aren't able to evade the hunter's for too long without being discovered".
"Isn't there a safe place for you?".
"There was. In my sister's palace I was safe from anyone who dared face the Evil Queen's wrath to protect her baby brother. The only other safe place is..far from what you've seen of the Enchanted Forest or what you've read about in the book. Where dreams of heroism and love go to die".
The vampire's vivid picture made the saviour frown at the thought of a place like he described existing in the Enchanted Forest.
"However on the other side of the Enchanted Forest, the one you come from" he says pointing to the picture of her parents in her nursery "Anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Your parents are testament to that. Why do you ask?".
"No reason" she shrugged peered down at the book, only for the man in the suit to see something else she wasn't saying.
"Then something else is disturbing you" he observed outload.
"You know that's kind of creepy don't you?".
"What is?".
"The...listening to my heart thing".
"I don't need to hear your heart to see when something is clearly bothering you" he pointed out to her "Tell me" urged her to speak.
"You heard what happened to August?".
"I have. I saw him and Marco this morning" he informs her.
"Before August was...he told me that Storybrooke was is danger and about a 'She'".
He could easily tell how worried she was about this foreboding warning from the writer. Any threat that presented itself to his sister or father in the past was quickly snuffed out after he turned. His over-protectiveness had been amplified ten-fold that had deadly consequences for all those involved. No stone went unturned. No-one harmed his family and got to live.
No-one.
"Miss Swan, if there's one thing I've learned about you since meeting you, is that you don't stop until you find what you're looking for. It's one of your greatest qualities, if you think you need to look further into it then do it. However I should warn you of consequences of what you're about to discover, it might harm some people you don't intend to hurt".
"I know" she understood "Thank you. For coming. For listening".
"Always Miss Swan" he replies with a gentle smile before he heard his phone chime, making his brows furrow in confusion as he fished his phone out of the inside of his jacket to see a missed call from someone he thought would never call him.
"That Bambi? Or have all the woodland creatures banded together to fight you?" the blonde teased the man.
"Nothing" he brushed off her question "Unless there's anything else I can help you there's a matter I need to deal with" the vampire said climbing to his feet to leave.
"Oh sure. I'll see you around I guess" she says watching him stand tall before her.
"Thank you for the drink. Goodbye" in a blink of an eye the vampire flashed away from the docks to deal with whatever had come up.
"Your Welcome" she says to space Elijah used to occupy "Weird" she whispers before refocusing back to the book in her lap.
The bell above the door rung out making Rumplestiltskin look up from his place behind the glass counter at the other end of the room to see Elijah Mill's imposing figure in the open doorway. The musty scent of the Pawn Shop engulfed the vampires senses as he stepping into the shop, closing the door behind him all the while keeping his gaze on the older man across from him.
"Thank you for coming" Gold greets the vampire across the room.
"Well, you were polite enough to ask" the vampire replies making his way towards the man "Now, what do you want?".
"I need your assistance on a...sensitive matter".
"If you think you're getting a drop of blood from me-" the younger man started thinking the sorcerer was after.
"I don't require your blood" the older man instantly reassures him "I need your assistance making Belle remember who she is".
Ah, yes, he recalled now. Belle had unfortunately fallen over the Storybrooke border after being shot by Captain Hook.
"How exactly?".
"Compel her to remember who she is, the real her, not the scantily clad barfly named Lacey. You do this for me, for the first time ever. I'm gonna owe you a favour".
"What is it you say to everyone? All magic come's with a price" he quotes imitates the man, by flicking his hands in the manner the sorcerer did back home.
"As with all magic, so does compulsion. I may be able to force her to remember who she is, but it's never been tested against something as powerful like the Dark Curse. And as the man that made the curse, wouldn't let something like a vampire's mind compulsion to interfere with it, would you?".
"You'd be correct Master Mills. I wouldn't let any simple vampire's compulsion to interfere with something as complex as the curse. However your sister made it so you were made human again in this new world, and it was her that made the way Belle is right now. So instead of making you do as I ask, I'm simply asking. As someone who knows how it feel to have one's love taken away from them".
The statements made the vampire still as he tried to gauge what he meant before it dawned what he was trying to tell him. He knew about Hayley.
"You know" he trailed off.
"I do" Gold confirms "Certainty wasn't a smart move to have an affair with your sire's wife, even if he did marry the poor girl to keep up appearances, with the humans around him".
"For a man asking for my assistance, I have to tell you, you're going about it the wrong way" at that the vampire turned to leave, long stride making they're way back towards the door only for Gold's voice to stop him.
"Wait, wait" the older man pleaded with the man not to leave, making the vampire stop with his hand on the door handle "I was merely trying to sympathise with you. I know you were compelled to forget about her only to remember everything once you turned, as someone who's had their true memories taken from them and had them altered, I beseech you to do this not for me, but for someone who has only seen the good in you since she found herself in one of your sister's cells. You owe her to try".
Gold's word rang true as the vampire made his decision to help. Belle had only been his friend since he retuned.
"I assume any vervain you've been slipping in her tea at the hospital is well out of her system by now". Belle would've told him that he had compelled her to stay in the library until he had reached her, and done what he could to make sure he couldn't do it again.
"You'd be correct" Gold confirmed.
"Give me an hour" at that the vampire wrenched the door open and let himself out of the Pawn Shop to find Lacey.
The Rabbit Hole seemed smaller than the last time he sat at the bar nursing a drink as he watched the unfamiliar figure dance and sing along with the jukebox as she played at the pool table as he spotted Nottingham out of the corner of his eye keeping his distance from the vampire after their last encounter.
Buttoning his jacket and taking one last sip of his drink, the vampire straightened his back and shoulders before leaving the comfort of the bar stool to make his way over to the young woman that was taking a shot from a glass, before resuming her solo game.
"May I join you?" his voice caught her attention making her pause to take in the man in the tailored grey suit that fitted smug against his broad figure with a charming smile on his lips and short brown hair.
His mere presence seemed to darken the room as he seemed to soak up the dimly lit bar that rang alarm bells in her head. He was dangerous.
"Sure" she agreed.
"I'm Elijah".
"Lacey" she replies with a smile.
"Lacey" he purred out her name as taking a confident step towards her, the young woman had to crane her head up to meet his gaze as her eye's fixed on his as she watched his eye's dilate "I want you to keep calm and do everything I ask you to do" he compels her in a calm voice.
"I'll do everything you ask me to" she monotony replies to the vampire.
"Follow me outside". Placing the cue onto the table the vampire turned on his heel holding his arm out for Lacey to take before allowing him to lead them outside of the bar, back into the daylight, where he lead her around the back of the building to ensure their privacy while he attempted to try and break through her cursed memories as they found Gold patiently waiting for them to emerge from the bar.
"What-" the woman started to question the older man's presence only for the vampire to quickly turn her around by her shoulders, locking her in once again with his gaze.
"Lacey" Elijah starts taking hold of her face to keep her still "I need you to remember who you are".
"I'm Lacey" she responds in a straight voice.
"No. The real you from the Enchanted Forest" he presses "You were a maid for the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin".
"I don't remember" she responds. Not good enough.
Breaking her gaze, the vampire let out a frustrated sigh before looking towards the watchful Dark One "I need to go in deeper. She won't feel a thing" with a small nod the vampire refocussed on the young woman in front of him placing his finger's either side of her head before closing his eye's as he concentrated on delving deeper into her mind.
Moving past the false memories the Dark Curse put in place, as he found the memories that still remained of her previous life as he found what he was looking for. Moments of her life in the Enchanted Forest played out, from her memories with Rumplestiltskin, to the days she spent in a cell by the Evil Queen with visits from her younger brother. But every time he dared go near them a cloud of purple smoke engulfed the image as lighting and thunder rumbled and flashed around him.
He had to push harder, break through the glass that separated him from her true memories as his fingers dug into her temple unknowingly making her yell out in pain making Gold intervene as he took hold of the vampire to pull him off his love making Elijah break the connection between him and Lacey, blinking in bewilderment to what was happening as Gold's voice reached his ears.
"Stop! Stop!" Gold exclaimed as he pulled the vampire off his true love, as Elijah looked upon the petrified Lacey with tears leaking from her eye's "She's screaming" he tells the vampire.
Pushing past the failure, the vampire took hold of the young woman once again making her squeak in fear as she tried to fight him off only for her eyes to meet his once again to erase their failed attempt from her memory.
"Forget we were ever here and everything that's happened" Elijah compelled the frightened woman "You came out here to get some fresh air before returning. Now go".
Releasing her from his hold Lacey blinked blankly at him before her feet took her back into the bar leaving Gold and the youngest Mill's sibling to digest what had happened as the vampire panted from exertion, he hadn't felt resistance to his compulsion like that in years.
"I'm sorry" he tells the older man "The curse is too strong".
Biting back the disappointment that the vampire was unable to find a way through the curse that clouded Belle's true memories, he had to stop whatever was making her scream like that. He should've known his curse was impenetrable, and yet he needed to see it done for himself.
"Never mind Master Mill's" the older man gulped "The idea was ambitious. Thank you anyway" without much of a goodbye the older man left the vampire to try another way to break her curse. True Love's kiss was the only way now. He needed a Prince, not a vampire.
The sun had long since set on the sleepy town of Storybrooke as Owen Flynn sat in his car in a familiar position he was in twenty-eight years ago at the town line waiting for his colleague/ girlfriend, Tamara, to return from New York with the package they needed to put their plans into motion.
Only, his plan to find his father became slightly waylaid when he confirmed what Elijah was.
Vampire.
The Home Office warned them of him for he wasn't just any vampire. He was...special. They would have to be careful and take the necessary precautions to make sure he wouldn't be a problem. They knew his weakness that he didn't know about. And they would be more than happy to test out their theory about him if he got in their way of what they needed to do.
The sight of headlight's coming towards him brought him out of his thoughts of the vampire in the suit as he watched Tamara cross the town line back into town with a rental trailer behind her.
Stepping out of his parked car, the man flashing his torch down the road as Tamara leaves her car to greet him.
"Hey, beautiful" he greets his girlfriend "We all good?".
"Better than good" she replies before he steps forward to lovingly kiss her "Now should we unwrap the package?" she asks him before they head towards the back of the mover's trailer.
"You think he'll cooperate?" Owen asks her.
"Wouldn't worry about that" she tells him "From what I know of him, I don't think he'll need much convincing to help us".
"What makes you say that?" Owen asks as they reached the back of the trailer, letting Tamara open the door as he turned his flashlight on, aiming it towards the trailer.
"Because if there's one person you can always count on to do your dirty work..." she says pulling the door down to reveal Captain Hook tied and gagged on a chair squinting away from the bright light shone in his face "It's a pirate".
AN: HAPPY HOLIDAY'S!
Hope you enjoy your gift! This cover's Selfless, Brave and True and Lacey.
Coming to the end of Season 2! Aaahh!. Can't wait to get the next couple of chapters written and published.
And to answer the question; Yes it is Emma's house in Season 5 that Elijah has purchased in this chapter, that is technically her's, in name only for the time being...
If I don't get a chance to update either one of my stories I wanted wish everyone one of you a Happy and healthy 2025.
Until next time..
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