Chapter Status: Edited.
Her eyes flicker open, the smell of dirt and death filling her nostrils and she frowns, looking up at the dark sky above her. She slowly sits up, rubbing her eyes, confusion filling her. She wipes her hands on her jeans before looking around. Her eyes widen, graves around her have dug up, rotten corpses and skeletons littered around her.
She screams.
++++
"Are you sure we should do this?" Tahlia questions.
She slides into the front seat of her mother's car, which they got back from the police the previous day.
June sighs, "probably not, but how else are we supposed to find out who did this to Heather?"
"True," Tahlia agrees softly.
She turns the car on and pulls out of the driveway, trying to be as quiet as possible. It is only 6 am, but Steve is being held in the Berrima Correctional Centre, which is an hour and a half away. Berrima only holds up to 75 people and is a minimum prison, the police are holding him there until his trial in May.
"Who would do such a thing?" June asks softly, "they had to keep the casket closed because of how gory her body was."
"I'm not sure... but I have a feeling they might be in Storybrooke, or getting close," she admits.
June frowns, "what do you mean?" she questions.
Tahlia sighs, stopping at a red light. Hardly any cars are around them, the only source of light is the slowly brightening sky above them.
"I mean... Anna said that when she kissed Henry, she didn't remember it, she forgot a whole chunk of time for no reason," Tahlia explains.
June sighs, "don't defend her, she's probably lying to your face, there was always something shady about her."
"I mean, I don't know, June, if I can control minds, who says there aren't other people that can as well?" Tahlia points out.
"True... but do you really believe it? Why would someone do that just to break you and Henry up? And what about Aunt Heather? Do you think they're responsible for her death as well?" June demands.
The red light turns green and she continues forward.
"I don't know June... we'll just have to see what Steve says."
++++
"How could this possibly happen?" Regina asks.
Mary Margaret shakes her head, a blanket wrapped tightly around her as she shakes.
"I'm not sure, I just woke up and there I was, I don't remember anything after I went to sleep," she admits.
"Same thing happened to Anna," Henry speaks up, although Anna is not there.
"When she kissed you?" Emma growls.
"We had cake and then blanked out until Nic tried to beat me up, it's like people are losing chunks of their memories," he explains, ignoring his mother's comment.
"Or someone's controlling them," David suggests.
"Tahlia's the only one in this town that can do it, and she's not even here," Regina points out.
"Unless someone new has snuck in," Hook suggests.
Everyone is silent for a moment before Henry realises something, his eyes widen and he looks at his family.
"Someone killed Tahlia's Aunt, someone that can crush hearts," Henry explains.
Emma sighs, "I guess you're right Killian, there is someone else here."
++++
"What can you remember?" Tahlia asks.
Steve shrugs, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, his orange shirt seems to be ten sizes too big.
"Not much, everything seemed too bizarre to be real," he admits.
"Trust me, we know bizarre, tell us everything, even the weird stuff," June says.
Steve nods slightly, "well, he wanted to know where you guys were, but I didn't actually remember, or I would have told him... sorry," he admits.
Tahlia and June exchange a worried look before looking back to him.
"He made like a ball of fire in his hand, and then Heather showed up with like white balls of energy in her hands, like something straight out of a marvel movie. She called him Ryder, she said something about mind control and then he called her Aunt Heather. But they're the same age, so I'm not sure how that works, her only sibling is your mother, and Tahlia, you're her oldest. But anyway, he grabbed her neck and I tried to get away but he somehow threw me against the wall without touching me, it just seemed like a strange dream," he says honestly.
"Thing is, I'm not the oldest, Mum gave her son away for adoption a few months before Heather was born," Tahlia says softly.
"And everything you remember, it's true, the magic, mind control, all of it," June adds.
"Which means he's probably already in Storybrooke."
"Look, I know you guys will try to get him in trouble and stuff, but if you get him arrested, I'm still going to jail for life for all the drug stuff I did," Steve says.
Tahlia and June both frown, "you were a drug lord?" June questions, confused.
"Not a drug lord exactly, but yeah, I've been associated with them," he admits.
"Okay, visiting time's over," a guard says, walking over to them.
"See ya, Steve," June says softly as the three stands up.
Tahlia and June both leave the room and grab their things, only to find about 100 messages each from their parents.
"I'll call Mum," Tahlia sighs, holding her phone to her ear as it begins to ring.
"WHERE ARE YOU?" her mother's voice booms the moment she answers.
"I'm sorry, we're... uh, visiting Steve," she admits.
"YOU'RE WHAT? DON'T YOU KNOW HE KILLED YOUR AUNT!" she cries.
Tahlia sighs, "mum, it wasn't Steve that killed Heather," she says softly, her mother stops crying momentarily.
"Then who was it?"
"It was Ryder, your son... and I think he's already in Storybrooke."
++++
"So, someone is controlling people's minds?" Anna clarifies.
Henry nods, "yeah, Mary Margret woke up in the cemetery after she dug up bodies, she wouldn't do that unless her mind was being controlled," Henry replies.
He opens his door and instantly hears a scream, inside Granny's diner, Granny herself is throwing plates and everything else she can get her hands on. People hide under tables in fear, workers try yelling at her to stop, but have to duck when a bowl is thrown at them.
"GRANNY!" Henry shouts.
She turns to look at him, she seems normal, all except for the dark look in her eyes. Anna quickly snaps a photo of her before she throws a plate at them.
"GRANNY STOP!" one of the waitresses, Scarlet, screams, before ducking as a cup is thrown at her.
Anna gets an idea, crazy as it seems, she runs forward and grabs Granny's shoulders, staring right into her eyes.
"Granny! You have to stop!" she shouts, shaking her as she speaks.
Granny blinks, and normality seems to fill her, Anna letting go of her as she frowns, looking around her.
"What happened?" she questions, "did I do this?"
People begin to stand up, looking around with fear in their eyes.
"It wasn't your fault," Henry steps forward, "someone new is in town".
++++
Tahlia groans as her phone begins to ring, Anna's name flashing on the screen. She hangs up and rolls back over, trying to go back to sleep, but her phone quickly begins to be filled with messages. She sighs before rolling back over, suddenly not feeling so tired. She sits up and unlocks her phone, her eyes widen as they scan over the messages.
From: Anna
Tahlia, please call me back
I'm sorry if you were sleeping but I know you're awake now
Something really bad is happening in Storybrooke
Apparently, my mind was taken over
Mary Margaret and Granny were controlled as well
It's urgent, please
Tahlia calls her back, holding her phone to her ear whilst tapping on her thigh lightly. Anna picks up almost immediately.
"Tahlia, thank god," she sighs, not bothering to say hello.
"What happened to Mary Margaret and Granny?" she demands.
"Well, Granny was destroying the diner, throwing plates and bowls. And Mary Margaret, she woke up in a cemetery, she had dug up the bodies. I took a photo of Granny, I don't know if you notice it, but her eyes seem... different," Anna explains quickly.
Tahlia places the phone on speaker as she receives a photo. She looks at the picture and gasps, she hears Anna asking what's wrong, but her voice is quiet, Tahlia's shock taking over her. Granny's eyes were black, just like Anna's were at Sandy's party, but she had no idea then. And even Peter's, his were not quite right either.
"It's Ryder," Tahlia says softly.
"Ryder? Who's Ryder? Tahlia, what's happening?" Anna seems to demand.
"Ryder's my brother, and he's been in Storybrooke longer than I thought."
++++
"Ryder what?" Elizabeth gasps.
"He's controlling people's minds, Granny's, Mary Margaret's, Anna's," Tahlia then looks at June, "and Peter's".
"That's why he seemed so different," June says softly, sitting down.
"So... Ryder's the one that killed Aunt Heather?" Caleb guesses.
He appears out of nowhere, and Tahlia frowns, she sees his puffy and bloodshot eyes. The melancholy expression on his face could not be more obvious.
"That's what Steve says, and the way he described him, there's no way it could be anyone else," she says.
"So... when are we going to go and kill the son of a bitch?" June growls, standing up.
"June! Language!" her mother scowls, before turning to look at Tahlia. "Are you sure killing him is the only option?"
"No, I'm not planning on killing him, he's our family, we have to at least try to save him," Tahlia says simply.
"Well he obviously wasn't thinking about family when he killed Aunt Heather," Caleb growls. "And now he's after us, Tahlia probably, and we're just going to let him do his thing until he is deemed as " not saveable"? Why doesn't he have to think about family?"
"Caleb, this prophecy of him becoming evil is because of your mother and I, we need to make this right," Daniel says.
"No, he's like 29 now, the prophecy said 19, he's planning this for 10 years! He's unpredictable, he knows how to rip out hearts for Christ sake! Not even Tahlia can do that properly!" Caleb points out.
"Caleb, we're going to get justice for this, and if he truly is as evil as we think he is, I won't even blink when I kill him," Tahlia says. "Now come on, we have a flight to catch".
A/N:
YEET
QOTD: Do you think they should try to save Ryder? Or do you agree with Caleb?
AOTD: tbh, I'm all about saving people, but if I were in their position, not just writing it, I would agree with Caleb.
I better go tho, see y'all later!
~ chloe x
Word Count: 1761.