The List

Chapter 7

"The last thing I want to show you is.." I didn't really know how to put it. "It's something not a lot of towns have. I need to trust you and you need to trust me before I take you here."

I'd spent the entire morning guiding Regina through the town. After our visit to the wishing well, I took her to Storybrooke's one and only pawnshop. She'd met Mr. Gold for the first time and as the introduction was happening, I realized I should've prepared her more for that.

Mr. Gold was the strangest man I'd ever met. I barely noticed how odd he was, now that I'd lived here for a while, but Regina had needed some time to recover from his piercing gaze. We'd taken a break from all the walking and had gotten ourselves a hot chocolate at Granny's.

Ruby hadn't been able to serve us normally, but I could tell she'd been trying her best. I knew she was as much of a fan of Regina as I was, if not more, but she was even worse at hiding it than I was.

Now, it was about three o'clock, so I had about two hours left before my shift started. Regina had been eager to discover what the last spot on my planning was, because she "hadn't been convinced this town was cursed", so far.

"You're asking me if I trust you?" Regina asked. She sounded uncertain, which I understood. It was quite something to ask of a stranger.

"Maybe it's more important that I trust you," I corrected myself. "I need you to promise me not to show this to anyone else. If your location-finding-people-crew need something similar to this, I want you to keep your mouth shut. People can't find out about this, because I don't want Storybrooke to become an attraction for tourists."

Regina nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

I continued walking down the street with Regina by my side and I stopped when we'd reached the old library. It was closed and nobody, aside from me and my friends, had set foot in it for years.

"The clock tower?" Regina asked confused.

I grabbed two pins from my pocket and looked around. Storybrooke was a quaint town, so it wasn't very surprising that there weren't any people on the streets apart from us. I looked at Regina, unlocked the door and grabbed her hand, before I quickly pulled her inside.

"Breaking and entering? Really, Emma? Where have you learned how to do that?" Regina asked, after I'd subtly closed the door behind my back.

The old library smelled dusty and it was dark. Its windows were covered with newspapers and books were scattered across the floor. Everywhere I looked were cobwebs. But what caught the attention most, were the big, brown doors in the wall. They had chains on them and looked mechanical and complex.

"What is this place?" Regina asked, with a slight quaver in her voice.

"If you want to return, we can," I tried to calm her. "I'm just showing it, because I think it can give you some inspiration. I don't know what kind of character you're going to portray, but if it's got anything to do with the movie's synopsis, I think it could be useful."

"I don't want to return," Regina said, suddenly sounding a whole lot more convinced of herself. I smiled and walked toward the brown doors. I pulled a rusty handle, causing a loud screeching sound to fill the room.

Regina pressed her hands against her ears and frowned. I watched as the doors slowly opened and an elevator came into view. I stepped onto it and looked at Regina.

"You want to come along?" I asked. "You don't have to, truly. If you've got claustrophobia, I'd certainly stay away."

Regina joined me in the elevator, but she didn't say anything. I rotated a wheel attached to the elevator, causing it to slowly descend. It was creaking and old, but it worked smoothly and within a few minutes, we'd reached the ground. Regina still hadn't said anything.