The Monster Within

Chapter 1

Emma falls to her knees in agony. She's lost the most important things in her life, all that is left is their daughter. She wants to fight, but her body won't move. The baby screams in her arms and she knows she must run, she can't fight. Emma turns and tries to force her body to move, but her feet are like cement. The baby's wails echo in her head as she runs for a possible exit.

A sharp pain hits her shoulder and Emma screams out in pain. She feels the bullet go straight through her shoulder and blood begins flowing through her t-shirt. Her daughter is now covered in blood, still wailing. The sound is inhumane, the worst noise in the world and it chills her mother to her very soul. Emma turns and crumples onto her back on the floor as to not harm her baby. Her entire body is in pain and she feels as if she's lost control. She gasps in agony and she feels something against her chest. She opens her eyes to see Arthur ripping the infant from her arms.

"NO!" Emma yells, but her body cannot do anything to save her child. She's basically a bloody mess on the floor that can only watch in horror and helplessness.

Arthur puts the baby over his shoulder and grins at her.

"She is really beautiful and she deserves a family that is not dead," he says.

Emma struggles to get up, but then Arthur points the weapon in her face and all she can see is the darkness of the barrel of the gun.

The dreaded sound is heard.

...

Emma bolts up in bed, she's panting like crazy. Her entire side of the bed is wet from crying and sweating. Her heart is racing and her head is throbbing in confusion and adrenaline. She turns on the light in a frenzy.

"What's wrong, Swan?"

Emma turns to see Killian squinting in the sudden light of the room. His face raised from the pillow. Emma immediately reaches over to hug him.

"Y-You're alive!" she gasps.

"Of course, I'm alive," he says. The docks man sits up to return her hug.

"Henry!" Emma suddenly says. Without another word, she rushes down the hall of the apartment to her son's room. She looks in to see him fast asleep, snuggled up under the covers.

Emma lets out a sigh of relief. Killian comes up behind her, very worried.

"Emma, are you okay?"

She looks at him and then nearly collapses against the door frame. She sits on the floor and curls up into a ball. She lets the waterworks come.

"Swan...Emma," Killian says, he kneels down next to her and tries to put his arms around her.

"Don't touch me!" she snaps but continues to cry.

He obeys and just watches her. It was only the third night after her return from captivity and the hospital, and Killian felt like he was living with a total stranger. His heart went out to Emma and he wanted to just take her into his arms and comfort her. He knew the horrors that she endured would likely cause nightmares and traumatic memories, but he still suffered too. He watched the woman he loved cry out and be unable to show affection. She is much quieter than ever before, she's emotional, and jumpy and she couldn't stand being alone, which is why he was staying with her and Henry, to be there for them and the baby. She insisted that he sleep in bed with her, but she wouldn't let him touch her. He begins to worry about their unborn child, clearly, this kind of stress was not good for either of them. He wants to help her, but the comfort and reassurance that he offers would just make her uncomfortable and even worse.

"Emma... I'm here Love."

She continues to sob and shake in her tiny ball. The world felt so wrong, so evil. Arthur's face continued to haunt her. She kept dreaming about losing those she loved and it was pure torture. She was tired and always worried about if everyone was safe.

The docks man felt so helpless, it was torture to watch his girlfriend suffer and there was nothing he could do. Gone were the happy moments of reunion and it seemed that this bastard was haunting her every moment of the day. Killian just waits until Emma's sobbing slows down to a whimper and then finally just sniffing.

He cautiously puts his hand out to her shoulder.

She shudders slightly but doesn't resist.

"Emma..." he says quietly.

She looks at him through the dark and even in the dimness, she can still see his eyes. Those eyes that just a few moments ago were lifeless and full of pain.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He couldn't understand what she was feeling. The fear, the pain, the horrors she endured. She felt so weak and she knew he wouldn't understand. She just shakes her head.

"I-I'll be okay..." she whispers as convincingly as she can.

Her bright-eyed boyfriend offers his arms out to her and with reluctance, she leans into them. His strong arms squeeze her tightly and he rubs her bare shoulders.

"Emma, it's all over and I'm here to protect you," he says as soothingly as he can. He knows this is all he can really say to her. There's nothing he can do to make her feel better except to be there for her. He knows she's going to have to get professional help of some kind. The nightmares and stress were not healthy for her or the baby. He knew he'd have to make some calls in the morning.

It felt so strange to see Emma so vulnerable. She always tried to mask her pain and be strong for everyone, build those walls to avoid pain, but now, she was a shivering mess. So, afraid, like a child scared of the dark. Now she was trying to hide that again, but this time the façade was not working.

The two sit in the hall in the dark, it's so quiet that Emma almost feels safe again. She enjoys the feeling of his chest rising up and down, it's almost soothing and the warmth of his body against hers. Emma lets out a conflicted sigh and shuts her eyes.

Soon the two are both fast asleep in each other's arms.

I'M BACK! Here's chapter 1. Special thanks to COTT FAN for inspiring the new title.

Disclaimer 1: Any and all characters, locations and situations mentioned in every chapter and the entire story belong to their prospective owners. Any characters that I create are my own.

Disclaimer 2: I do not own Once Upon a Time, or any of the related characters, locations or scenes/situations. The tv show franchise is created by Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis and owned by ABC and the Walt Disney Company. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. I am not making any profit from this story.