Turn for the Worst

Chapter 28

Both woman's hearts beat very quickly and look at one another. It's as if both are thinking the same thing. They know what this man is capable of...a man with a short temper and unusual sexual fetishes.

Gwendolyn is torn on what to do. Clearly, this woman is being held against her will and Gwendolyn recognizes her from the news the other night. She's the missing woman, Emma Swan. If she lets Emma go, Arthur might catch her and possibly kill her, but if she shoves the woman back into the basement, she's basically kidnapping her too and preventing the woman her one chance of escaping.

Emma wants to immediately hold the woman at gunpoint and force this man to let her go in exchange for his wife's life. Emma knows that this is very drastic and she'd never threatened to kill anyone, but this whole situation is extremely drastic. She just had to get out of this house. She thought that maybe this woman knew that she was down there, but by the look on her face and the man's insistence that she keep quiet, this man's wife is an innocent bystander who stumbled onto her captivity by accident.

The hesitation turns out to be a huge problem. The front door slams shut and thick heavy boots can be heard.

"Honey?" the wheezy voice calls from down the hall.

Both women's hearts drop to their stomachs. Emma fumbles for her gun and raises it. Gwendolyn shrinks against the back wall across from the basement door and curls up into a ball. She drops the screwdriver to the floor and feels tears welling up in her eyes. She begins to hyperventilate and sob at the same time.

"Gwen?" his voice calls out again. "Honey? Are you alright?"

The heavy boots come down the hall and Emma points the gun towards the sound. She takes a strong stance, prepared to protect herself.

When Arthur rounds the corner, he freezes... eyes wide by the scene he sees in front of him.

Something inside him snaps and a fire is lit inside him.

"Don't come any closer," Emma says bravely. "I'm getting out of this hell hole if it's the last thing I do."

Arthur takes in a sharp breath. He looks from Emma to Gwen and back again. He feels his rage growing ever so slowly inside of him. It takes everything he has not to explode, he turns to his wife.

"Gwen..." he says in an eerily calm voice. "What's going on?"

"She helped me," Emma says. She suddenly realizes what this statement could mean for the woman so she adds, "Unintentionally she picked the lock, which was small potatoes to me breaking down the door with an axe. She didn't know I was here and now I'm leaving..."

"Are you?" Arthur says smoothly.

"Don't Arthur..." Gwendolyn weeps from the floor. She's shaking erratically. Her mind is racing, so confused about what her husband has done. What would this mean for her family? Her children? She should've left when she had the chance, but now she knew too much. But if she had left, someone may have never discovered and inadvertently set this poor woman free. She's so afraid of what to do.

"What was that?" he growls.

"Let the woman go..."

"I can't do that Gwen," Arthur says. He takes a step towards Gwen instead of Emma. Emma holds the gun up, having it pointed directly at Arthur's heart. Emma knows she should protect the woman, not knowing what this monster might do to her. She had to stand up for the woman's life, clearly, she was caught in the man's twisted web.

"Don't get any closer to her!" Emma warns.

Arthur turns to look at his captive, very surprised about how fiercely she was holding the gun. She held it expertly, so he assumed that she had some experience with weapons.