Leaving the portal was just as violent as entering it had been. Panting furiously, Baelfire laid in the dirt for several heartbeats, shaken by all that had just occurred. When he finally managed to muster the will to stand up, he was immediately on the defensive.
The land in front of him looked nothing like the one he had left. From what he could see of the people, they wore strange clothes and, in the distance, there was a strange tower with a circle that had numbers on it. "What is this place?"
Seizing his chance, he clambered into the dining room. On the table across the room were several loaves of freshly baked bread and he rushed towards them. Shoveling handfuls of the still warm bread into his mouth and pockets, he stumbled back in fear when a large dog jumped from under the table.
Drawn into the room by the dog's barking, a nicely dressed girl gasped at the sight of the poorly dressed intruder. "Stop!" She ordered, grasping the nearest heavy object and holding it defensively. "Right. Who are you, what do you want?"
"Please, I didn't mean any harm." Bae held up his hands. "I was just..." He trailed off as a piece of bread fell from his open hand, ashamed that he'd had to resort to stealing.
"Oh." The girl paused at the sight of him, sympathy softening her already kind eyes. "You're hungry." Returning the statue to its place, she walked to the table and picked up the tray of bread. "Here," she offered the entire tray. "Take as much as you like."
"Really?"
"Well, I'm not about to let you starve to death." The girl laughed kindly, putting his lingering fears that it was a trick to rest. "What's your name?" She asked as he went to take some of the bread. He stopped, meeting her eyes.
"Bae."
"Bae?" She repeated, head tilted to the side. "How unusual." Her expression warmed with her smile. "I'm Wendy," she gave a little curtsy. "Wendy Darling."
--------Once upon a time------
Opening her eyes, Lillian adjusted herself to the bright light in her face. Turning to see Tamara and Greg standing nearby. She coughed as she closed her eyes again. Opening them again, she looked around herself. There were all kinds of machines around her, a needle in her arm, tapping off blood.
Her head was spinning as Tamara walked into the room. Smirking at the teenager, she moved the chair and sat beside her. ''This is nothing personal. Your kind just doesn't belong here.'' Struggling against the ropes, she tried to fight back.
''When I get out of this, you are going to be sorry. I'll show you just how dark magic can be.''
''Oh ... I'm sure you will.'' Looking at the teen, she moved to her blood scanning her eyes over it. ''That is peculiar, it's almost black, but there is a shimmer over it.'' Moving her eyes back to the teen who was currently struggling to keep her eyes open. ''How is that possible?''
''Well...'' Her voice was tired as she turned her head towards the other black colored woman. ''That is what killing and magic will do to your blood.'' She stared back at her blood. ''It'll be fully dark once i'm finished with you.''
--------Once upon a time------
Taking food from her plate and hiding within her napkin hadn't been the easiest thing to do, but Wendy was proud she'd managed to carry on as such without raising suspicion over the last few weeks. Poor Bae though, stuck in the nursery cupboard like a forgotten toy, crammed in until their parents went to sleep.
Unwrapping the food, she entered the nursery and knocked quietly on the cupboard door. Bae peeked out, face falling in relief when he realized it was her.
"I brought as much as I could." She assured him, handing over the small offering. His answering smile was so grateful it nearly brought tears to her eyes.
"And your parents don't suspect anything?"
"They're grown-ups." She said with a roll of her eyes, smiling gently. "They can't see anything that's not right in front of them."
"We can't, can we?" The man's voice startled them into whipping around to the still open nursery door. Wendy's mother and father stood, arms crossed with severe expressions on their faces. Wendy moved first, half pushing Bae behind her.
"Please, father. Let me explain." George disregarded his daughter's plea.
"How long have you been hiding in my house?"
"Only a few weeks, Father." Wendy answered, twisting her fingers anxiously. "He was hungry on the streets." George held up a hand.
"I was talking to him." He told his visibly upset daughter and forced his tone to gentle when he spoke to the boy. "Where's your family?" Swallowing thickly, Baelfire stepped forward, refusing to cower behind Wendy. "My mother died. My father... he's dead too." It wasn't a lie, not really. "Look, I'm sorry. I-I'll leave right away, sir."
Mary spoke for the first time with a sympathetic expression. "You're not going anywhere. The streets are no place for a boy."
"Please don't send me to the workhouse." He felt his insides seize with panic.
"We'll do nothing of the sort." Mary sniffed, as if the very idea offended her. "You'll stay ... right here. Welcome to our home."
--------Once upon a time------
As Tamara and Greg fled, Lillian freed herself. Letting her magic explode from her body. Cutting the ropes binding her and letting all the equipment fall over. As she looked back at the now empty sack of blood, she felt sick to her stomach.
"BAE!" Lillian's cry came from somewhere nearby, her voice choked with panic. "Bae!" She skidded up towards the hallway, eyes landing on first Emma, then the hole beside her as it clicked in her mind. "No, no, no, no, no. NO!"
Falling to her knees, screaming in sudden agony, she was unaware of the massive shock wave of magic she released, unaware of how a white, shimmering magic protected Emma, even as everything around them was destroyed.
--------Once upon a time------
Standing in the nursery, Mary smiled lovingly at the four children tucked warmly in their beds. "Good night, my treasures." She whispered, gazing down at Nana when the dog whined.
Satisfied all was well, she left the room with another cursory glance, switching off the last of the lights. The moment the door snapped shut and her footsteps receded, Baelfire threw the covers off him and sat up in his new bed. "We have work to do."
The other three sprang into action at his words. Every light within the nursery was gathered and lighted once more. A wicked basket of possible weapons was pulled out, in case the Shadow refused to leave. They prepared the window as Bae instructed, hoping what little he remembered from his father's attempt at magic lessons was correct.
"Okay, don't worry." Baelfire promised once they were finished and gathered in a circle in the middle of the room. "The Shadow's not taking anyone tonight." Wendy, who had been a nervous wreck the last twenty-four hours, sighed and slipped her arms around him.
"Thank you, Bae."
"You can thank me in the morning." He replied with a halfhearted smile that fooled no one. "Okay, everyone to their beds." No sooner had they scattered, reaching their individual beds, that all of the flames in the room guttered out. Startled that it was happening so soon, Bae rose carefully from his own bed.
Bae?" Michael whispered in a trembling voice.
"Don't be frightened," Baelfire tried, wincing when Nana began to bark. "The Shadow he's here." The window rattled violently before slamming open by a sudden gust of air. "Get in the crawl space! Come on! Let's go!" Bae ordered over Nana's increasingly loud barks.Herding them into the crawl space, Bae turned when Wendy's terrified voice reached his ears.
"Where's Michael?"
"Michael?" Baelfire whirled around to see the little boy collecting his teddy bear from the ground, the Shadow looming over him.
"Oh!" Wendy cried when Bae scrambled from the crawlspace toward her frozen brother. "Don't do it! Don't go with him!"
"Michael," Baelfire pushed the little boy behind him and glared up at the Shadow. "Michael, step back. You want him?" He demanded as Nana continued to bark. "Take me instead."
"Bae, no!" Wendy crawled from the hiding spot and ran to him.
"But you have to promise never to bother this family again." Baelfire said as Wendy grabbed his hand.
"No, Bae, you can't."
"I won't let magic destroy this family." He glared up at the Shadow, watching it tilt its head in, had he thought it could feel, what appeared to be amusement. "This is the only way. You have to let me go." Her expression fell, tears spilling from her cheeks as he took the Shadow's hand. "Thank you, Wendy, for making me part of your family." Wendy whimpered when Baelfire's hand was tugged from her own and she raced to the window as they flew from it.
"Bae!" She choked past the tears, her brothers joining her. "Bae!"
--------Once upon a time------
There was a violent gust of air from the room behind them, followed by a burst of magic. Startled, David and Mary Margaret turned to see Emma and Lillian appear in the room with a swirl of purple smoke. The latter fell to her knees, arms wrapped tightly around herself, while the former stood stiffly, expression empty.
"What happened?" David asked, leaning down to press a hand to Lillian's shoulder. She jerked from the touch with a low, keening wail that made everyone flinch. Aware he should leave Lillian be, David turned his attention to his daughter. "What is it?"
Mary Margaret's heart settled somewhere in her stomach at the way her daughter was acting. "Where's Neal?"
"He's gone," Emma whispered brokenly, eyes falling to Lillian. "Tamara killed him."
So, I decided to upload anyways 'cause .... well my head is too full now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and i'm sorry for not putting any Peter in it but there is good news: Only two more episodes until season 3. Season 3 = Peter Pan! Don't forget to comment, vote, follow and maybe even leave a suggestion/theory for my story!
-X Violets-library