Written for Spooky OQ Day 4: Cemetery
Regina glanced up and down the country road, watching for any cars that might be coming. She knew none would drive down this way, especially not this late at night. It wasn't used much anymore, not since the town built the main road that connected Storybrooke to its two closest towns years before her birth. The only people who now used the dirt road they were on were those who wanted to go on a long drive or who wanted to visit the old town cemetery, like them.
She looked over her shoulder to see how her friends were doing. Her boyfriend, Robin, was crouched down picking the lock on the gates to the cemetery while their friend Emma held her flashlight to give him light. Killian stood nearby, peering through the fence into the dark graveyard. "This is going to be so amazing," he said.
"I know," Emma replied, grinning. "Do you think the stories are true?"
"Of course not, Emma. Ghosts don't exist," Regina scoffed, trying to sound braver then she felt.
Emma's grin turned into a scowl. "Why are you even here then? If you're going to be a wet blanket, you could've stayed with Mary Margaret and David."
Regina seethed, seeing red as she turned around. "I'm a wet blanket for not wanting to break into someplace where we are clearly not wanted. Nor am I one for wanting to disturb sacred ground and the resting place for so many souls. It just seems...wrong."
"Admit it, Regina, you're just scared," Emma shot back. It sounded like she was close to clucking at her.
Straightening up, Robin sighed. "Emma, leave her alone. If she doesn't want to come in, that's fine. You and Killian can go in while I take her home."
"Come on, mate, we agreed to do this together. Regina can wait in the car." Killian clapped him on the shoulder, shaking his arm.
Regina frowned, crossing her arms. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here."
Shaking off Killian, Robin approached her and gently gripped her arms. He crouched down a bit to make sure he was looking in her eyes. "If you want to go home, just say the word. I don't want you to do anything you don't want."
Melting under his gaze, she almost asked him to take her home so they could cuddle and watching movies together. But Regina caught sight of Emma over his shoulder, flapping her arms as if they were wings. She was calling Regina out and that couldn't stand.
Squaring her shoulders, Regina met Robin's eyes again. "I'm fine. Let's go in, prove that this stupid ghost doesn't really exist and get out of here."
"That's the spirit," Killian said before chuckling at his own stupid joke. He swung the gate open, its creak echoing around the empty graveyard.
Robin took Regina's hand, giving it a squeeze. "You give me the word and we can go, lovely. It'll be okay," he told her.
"Thanks," she whispered, her bravado already failing as they followed Killian and Emma into the graveyard. She swallowed, reminding herself that there was nothing to worry about.
The dead couldn't hurt them.
Regina didn't have a good grasp of time but she had to guess they had been wandering around the cemetery for almost an hour. They passed by several tombstones and she stopped to read them, marking the ones from back when the town was founded back in the early 19th century. "Imagine what life was like for them back then," she said.
"They definitely wouldn't recognize Storybrooke now," Robin replied, standing beside her. "Imagine trying to explain cars to them? Or television? Or any modern device?"
"There's probably a lot they could still tell us about, though." Regina glanced over at another tombstone—1868. "This one experienced the Civil War. Wow."
"Stop geeking out over there, Regina," Emma called out from a nearby hill. "We're almost at the part of the cemetery they say the ghost inhabits. The one where they put the prisoners and those executed for crimes."
Killian motioned for them to follow. "Come on, you two."
Regina glanced back at the tombstones, deciding that she would come back another time—during the day—to study the history in this place. She took Robin's hand. "I guess we shouldn't keep them waiting."
He gave her hand a squeeze as they headed down the broken stone path leading down to the derelict section of the graveyard. Tombstones there were knocked over, some were crumbling and most were so faded, whoever was buried beneath them were lost to time. Bare, gnarled trees grew among the stones, all radiating out from one weeping willow whose branches waved in the cold wind that now blowing through the area. They brushed against the imposing mausoleum at the very end of the cemetery, marble gargoyles perched at the edge as they smiled wickedly at them.
Cold seeped into Regina's bones and she felt like she would never be warm again. She struggled to breathe as she inched closer to Robin. He wrapped his arm around her. "It's okay," he whispered.
She tried to believe him...until all their flashlights all died at once. With the moon shrouded by clouds, it became difficult to see and everything turned into blobs in the darkness.
Killian frowned, shaking his. "Bloody useless torch."
"Guys, they say when a ghost tries to manifest, it pulls energy from electrical items, draining batteries. Maybe a ghost wants to show itself to us," Emma said, her voice full of excitement as she looked around.
"Do we want to meet a ghost from down here?" Robin asked, frowning. "What if it tries to kill us?"
Killian rolled his eyes. "Ghosts can't kill you. They're dead and have no bodies."
"They can't kill you because they aren't real," Regina insisted, though her body was trembling and she had the distinct feeling they were being watched. She continued, though. "Our flashlights died because you got cheap batteries."
"We all can't have rich parents who can buy the good kind," he snapped back at her.
Robin stepped between them, giving Killian a push. "Leave her alone, mate, or you we'll be having a conversation."
"Come on," Emma said, pointing to the mausoleum. "The ghost is supposedly in there. We have to go in to see him."
Looking at the mausoleum, Regina felt pure dread. Despite the chill still wracking her body, she broke out into a sweat and her gut told her to not go into the mausoleum. Her feet felt rooted to the ground as her heart beat wildly in her chest, keeping her in place. Shadows moved all around her, pushing her away from the imposing building.
"Regina? Are you coming?" Robin asked. She tried to answer him but no sound came out of her mouth. Tears pricked her eyes and he gathered her in his arms, holding her close.
"Well? Is she in or is she out?" Killian called out.
Robin looked over his shoulder. "We're both out. I'm taking her home."
"Let her go back to the car and wait for us," he argued. "There's no reason why you should miss out on this."
"I'm not leaving her, not for some stupid ghost story. You two have your fun, we're leaving," Robin said, wrapping his arm around Regina. "Call me in the morning, yeah?"
Emma smirk. "Oh, yes. We'll tell you about everything you missed."
"Come on, Regina." Robin pulled her forward and her feet finally worked again once she was moving away from the mausoleum. She looked back, watching Emma and Killian disappear into the darkness of the building. An eerie red light glowed from the eyes of the gargoyles overhead and she gasped, looking away.
It had to be her mind playing a trick on her.
She and Robin made it back to the main part of the cemetery and a feeling of peace washed over her. Regina felt safe and the pressure was lifted from her chest, allowing her to breathe normally again. Warmth from Robin finally crept into her limbs as she curled closer to him. "Thank you. I know you were looking forward to that..."
"Yeah, but it got a little too creepy," he said, the two walking back toward the gate. "It was like something didn't want me to go in there."
"I felt the same way," she admitted. "I think it was our preservation instinct."
He chuckled, kissing her head. "My little scientist."
They left the cemetery and returned to Robin's car. As she reached for the door handle, she noticed the sky by the back of the cemetery glowed red, as if something was on fire. She pointed it to Robin. "What do you think that is?"
"What?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.
Regina blinked and the sky returned to normal. She frowned. "Never mind. My eyes must be playing tricks on me."
They climbed into the car and Robin started it as Regina turned on the radio, eager for some music. A loud shriek came from the speakers and they winced. She reached out to turn it off, a chill going through when she thought she heard what sounded like a laugh. With a flick of the switch, she plunged the car into silence again. "Let's just get out of here," she said.
"Agreed," Robin replied, flooring the car and pealing down the road.
Emma and Killian never called to say they got home safely as they never returned home after that night. The police investigated, talking to Robin and Regina about the last time they saw the couple. Both spoke about seeing the couple go into the mausoleum before they left the cemetery. When the police went to the cemetery, they found Killian's beat up truck but no sign of the two teenagers.
Despite several of their friends—Robin and Regina included—testifying that neither Emma nor Killian mentioned running away, the police concluded that's what had happened. After all, both were in the foster care system and had ended up in their current group home after previously running away. While the police weren't too sure why Killian and Emma didn't take the car, they figured the two were long gone.
No one in their social circles believed that though. Even if they had run away, all of them believed that either Emma or Killian would've reached out to let them know. They would've wanted them to know they were safe and probably would've wanted the items they had left behind, which just reinforced the idea they hadn't run away. Regina held Emma's beloved baby blanket—the only thing she had from her parents—and knew her friend would never leave without it. She took it home with her, cherishing it forever.
Robin and Regina never spoke about the other things they experienced that night—the strange feeling that told them they needed to leave, the cold, the flashlights turning off, the glowing red eyes, the red sky or the strange sounds that came from the radio. After graduating from high school, they moved far away from Storybrooke and married after college. They started their own family and went on with their lives.
Still, Regina looked for Emma and Killian whenever they went some place new, wondering if their friends had created a new life for themselves. However, deep in her heart, she knew she would never see them again. Something supernatural had happened in that cemetery that night and had taken her friends.
Forever.