Belonging to the Darkness

Chapter 7

The Sheriff's hands clenched the steering wheel until his knuckles lost color. He refused to look her way. "Those are huge accusations, Miss Swan. You have a lot of evidence pointing your way on the guilty side."

"What happened to giving me a break, huh?" The blonde snapped, glaring at the man.

But the Sheriff blatantly refused to say anymore, and after doing mugshots and locking her in the cell, Emma was left alone.

She was screwed. Redmonde was the only person who had come close to being an ally, and with some convincing Emma was sure she could have gotten her help. Now she didn't know whether she was okay or seriously hurt. And if the Sheriff wouldn't help her for whatever reason, be it blackmail from Sidney Glass or his devotion to the Mayor himself, she had no way out.

Despair filled her whole being as Sheriff Graham entered the room with Regina behind him.

"Thank you, Sheriff," Regina not-so-subtlety gave the man's arm an intimate squeeze as she flashed him a winning smile.

Graham nodded and locked eyes with Emma before quickly dropping his gaze and leaving the two alone. He looked guilty, and strangely worried, though Emma wasn't sure if the concern was for her or himself.

"That didn't last long, did it?" Regina opened up the cell door and entered, shutting them both in.

"You did something. You set me up. But I don't give a damn about that. Is Redmonde okay?" Emma questioned.

"Sit," the brunette ordered, physically pushing the girl onto the small cot before taking a seat in front of her.

She had to admit, she didn't expect Emma to draw attention to herself like she did, put herself in the open. Things were dire, however, seeing as how the blonde was probably panicked as she realized she couldn't leave the town.

Emma reflexively flinched away from the woman's touch as she was examined.

"No internal bleeding, no concussions... a few scratches and bruises here and there, but other than that you're perfectly okay. You're lucky." Regina held her chin still and stared into her eyes. "Do you see now why I wanted to keep you home? So you don't do something stupid like this. This mess is going to be difficult to clean up."

"Good," Emma thought smugly, strangely proud at her destruction.

The blonde tried pulling her chin away, but the Mayor held her firm.

"Were you driving while impaired, Emma?" Regina demanded. "Answer me! Don't think I won't leave you here overnight."

"What happened to keeping me holed up? Locked away from the world like some distressed princess?" Emma snapped.

Regina chuckled darkly. Her princess was very distressed from the looks of it. And things were about to get more dower for the girl.

"Graham," Regina called out.

The Sheriff entered the room, pretending to be interested in the file he was holding. "Yes, Madame Mayor?"

"Was Emma the one drinking?"

"No, Dr. Whale says the waitress was the one drinking the alcohol, and Emma's breathalyzer came up clean. She's clear to go home, and Granny Lucas has the insurance information. You might want to throw in some money for road repair, the town sign is pretty bent out of shape," the man answered.

"How is she?" Emma pleaded, prompting both of them to look down at her as if noticing she was in the room for the first time.

"She's uh- okay. A mild concussion, sprained ankle... Granny's not very happy with her, she's making her man the registers as soon as she gets out of the hospital tomorrow," Graham said.