Zelena comes upon the young girl curled up under a tree, surrounded by blood. Her milky complexion gone to ghostly pale. Though most people who call for help, Zelena smiles, walking towards her. A soft whimper leaves the small teen's pale lips as Zelena bends down.
"Looks like you're already dying! Great that means less work for me." She laughs, kicking her with her boot. "Wake up, Runt. It's no fun to kill someone in their sleep." Nora is pulled out of her dark haze, pain replacing it and overwhelming her.
"Zelena? H-henry-" Nora tries to get out. She left to early. She should have stayed and helped. She failed again.
"Oh don't worry your little boyfriend got away-" She laughs. "But you're taking his spot." She uses her magic, lifting Nora off the ground and pinning her to a tree. Ropes appear from nowhere, holding her there. Not that Nora cares very much, she's just so tired. She can barely keep her eyes open.
"Actually I don't think I should call him your little boyfriend seeing as he seems to hate you." Zelena says hoping for a reaction but Nora is too far gone, her head bobbing. She's barely even awake let alone alive enough to be angered by Zelena's words. Zelena huffs.
"Well this is absolutely no fun." She says, tapping her foot.
Nora shakes with the effort to stay awake. It hurts to breath, to move, to think, to be alive. A sob leaves her mouth as Zelena wrenches back her wrist to an awkward angle. A sickening snap is heard and Nora cries out, her eyes shooting open. Tears leave her eyes like water from a hose and she tips her head back. Zelena laughs.
"Now that I have your attention, I'd like to let you know this is going to hurt you way more than it's going to hurt me." Zelena smiles as she wrenches her already injured wrist back even further. An even more tortured scream leaves Nora's mouth and she slams her eyes shut. She pushes against the tree but the ropes just tighten. Zelena smiles as she digs her fingers into her side, where the bullet wound is. Nora lets out a pained howl and struggles to get away from her fingers but they just press deeper into her side.
"When I'm done with you, you'll wish that Henry had died." Nora groans trying to think of something else, anything else. Every door she opens just leads back to the same thing.
"Monster, Freak, Useless, Worthless, Stupid, Runt"
The words go on and on and on, and they do little to dull the pain that Zelena inflicts on her. Though Zelena said she would regret Henry not being killed, she knew she never would. Even if Henry thinks of her as a freak and a monster, he has a family, friends, a life, a future to look forward to. What did Nora have? A 10 year gap in her memory, no family to be scene, no friends, and no foreseeable future. Even though she is tied to a tree being tortured by her kidnapper she wouldn't change a thing she did. Even when darkness creeps around the edges of her vision, and her throat is raw from screaming, even when her eyes are heavy and cheeks dry from all the tears; Nora remains sure she did the right thing. Embrace the pain, at least you can feel it. She thinks as Zelena laughs. Embrace it because you're alive to. Embrace it because it's what she doesn't want you to do. As Nora's vision fades to black and her screams cease, she can't help but think.
"Is this what death feels like?"
♥♥♥
After everything died down Henry finally got them all to listen.
"Killian accidently shot Nora is the chaos. I said something stupid and she flew off. And you heard Zelena she's going to go after her!" Henry says panicked. Emma lays a hand on his shoulder. "And what was she even doing here?" He adds as Emma shakes her head.
"It's a long story. We found her in Zelena's Cellar and we were keeping her at the station."
"You kept her in a cell!?" Henry says, his eyes wide.
"Well to be fair I took her out for Ice cream and a book, and look how that turned out." Henry laughs and nods his head.
"Mrs. Spellibody, I should have known." Regina steps forward.
"We shouldn't even waste our time. She's one of her little Monkey minions anyway." Emma goes to stick up for her but Henry beats her to it.
"But she's not, Mom! You don't know her like I do." Regina smiles sadly down at her son.
"You know what she wants you to." This infuriates Henry. He knew her better than anyone else, even if she didn't tell him the full truth, how could she? That's not just something you can tell a normal person.
"I know her better, than she probably knows herself." Henry says completely serious. "And I'm not leaving her to die. With or without you, I'm saving her." He says as Regina stands there dumbfounded.
"I agree with Henry, I've never met this-" Mary Margaret starts but realises she doesn't know the girl's name.
"Nora." Emma says as Mary-Margaret nods determinedly.
"Nora, but we don't leave anyone to die." She finishes as David comes to her side and Regina rubs her forehead.
"Fine, but if this comes back to bite us it's on you three." Regina says as Henry smiles at her.
"Thanks, mom." He said to her, genuinely meaning it.
After regrouping, they headed out to the forest where Henry said he saw her fly off to. As they start to walk deeper in they hear a cry pierce through the foliage. Henry didn't have to guess who's mouth it excaped from.
"Nora." He breaths out, his eyes going wide his heart beat picking up. He goes to take off, but Emma grabs him by the collar.
"I don't think so kid. We are finding her together, and we definitely are going to run into a situation we don't know." The others agree and Henry huffs, asking them to at least pick up the pace. A few seconds later they hear another scream of agony and a hysterical laugh from none other than Zelena. Henry can't stand it. Every one of her cries of pain are like a punch in stomach and he's done with walking. Taking off in a sprint, this time not being caught, they all yell after him. Henry doesn't care. All he can think about is saving Nora. This was all his fault, and it was up to him to fix it. Ducking between trees, Emma, Regina, Mary-Margaret, David, and Killian chasing after him, all he knew was he had to get to her. The faster he pushed, the closer he got, the louder her screams became, and he could start to make out Zelena's taunts.
"Worthless, Useless, Spineless child!"
"Why don't you let me know how much this hurts."
"Don't you wish your little boyfriend died now?"
"Oh wait he hates you!" Zelena laughs. Henry shook his head. He could hear his mom's and every one else yelling after him but he didn't care. He could also hear, Nora. He was so close, he could feel her pain rolling through the forest in waves. A few moments later he pushed through some shrubbery to see her, Nora. She is bruised and bloody, tied to a tree. Her head limp, like she can't bare to hold it up. Her long hair is knotted and matted with blood. Her clothes are torn, and her left wrist is twisted the complete wrong way. Not to mention a few fingers on her right hand look like they were bent in directions they shouldn't be. Zelena doesn't seem to notice him and he looks at her from actoss the way in complete and utter disbelief. Only seconds pass but it feels like eternity as she looks up, just knowing he was there. Their eyes lock. He expected her eyes to told pain and desperation but it's like when she saw him on the other side of that clearing, all of that didn't matter. Nora's eyes just held happiness that he was there, a little disbelief maybe. After all how could anyone want to save her. She smiles at him from across the way, tears trickling down her cheeks and onto her lips. Henry can't believe how strong of a person she is. Even being tortured she smiled at him, because that's just who Nora is.
"Nora!" He calls out in desperation, as he starts to run towards her, but Zelena is having none of that. She sends him flying back, hitting a tree trunk.
"HENRY!" Nora shrieks, struggling more in her ropes than she ever had before. Zelena heads towards him smirking.
"Come here to save your little girlfriend then?" She asks as she picks him up off the ground, with a sneer.
"You can't kill her, I'm here to stop you." Henry says, in a determined voice.
"And what are you going to do? You can't save someone when you're dead." With that she wraps her hands around his neck for the second time that day and squeezes. Nora's eyes go wide and she screams.
♥♥♥
Kay so cliff hanger! XD Don't maim me or murder me please! I have the next part already written but you know I could use some motivation to post it ;) ;) -nudge nudge- Sooo comment your opinions on stuff that's happened, vote up, star, share it with all the people XD Because if you do that I will love you forever- I already do- but you know forever and stuff! Anyway read on, flying fans!
-Xox
Claire and Alona