Cursed Hearts

Gruesome Reality

The weather seemed to fit her mood perfectly- clouds were packed together in the sky, forming a formidable barrier of white and grey. Though stingingly numbing, the air carried a heaviness to it, preluding to a dismal evening of thundershowers. She wondered if the climate change was a result of her magical discovery; it was possible, even though she thought she had tamed it by putting the earrings back on, capping the power.

Was this what it was like to have magic?

If one was to ask Caroline Hood about her perception of magic, she would respond with the same, aimless words: "Only special people have magic- like Mom. Like Rumplestiltskin. It sounds like a huge responsibility. What if someone makes a mistake and does something wrong?"

The thought of her carrying a responsibility so powerful never once crossed her mind. She cursed herself for being so juvenile. Did her brothers know? She didn't care. Wherever she was, running through the depths of the forest, it was where she was meant to be- away from people, particularly her family. Her heart felt like it was about ready to explode from all the emotions within her. Her past, present, and especially her future were just as cloudy as the sky up above. So much for her feeling like an equal. Out of the four other members of her family, plus Emma, Snow, Killian, Charming and Will, not one of them had told her the truth. The truth stung more than the frigid wind pushing against her face. Fear was beginning to catch up to her despite how fast she ran- she hated herself for feeling scared in those woods, but that was her unfortunate reality. Even the trees were beginning to look threatening to her. Heaving her breaths, Caroline desperately looked around for a way out of the maze she had put herself into. She slowed to a stop, her hair draping over her eyes as she bent over, her hands on her knees as she panted. Before defeat overtook her, she spotted a car speeding by, indicating that there was a road not too far up ahead. With that guarantee, Caroline found the strength she needed to continue. She ran and ran, feeling numbness overtake her with each and every passing second. Finally the girl reached the side of the road, halting to a stop when she saw gravel beneath her shoes. She checked for any oncoming traffic before starting down the road, freezing in place when she caught sight of two people walking towards her, hand in hand, both with worried, desperate looks on their faces.

"Oh God- Caroline! What are you doing all the way out here?" Her father called out, running towards her.

Immediately, she turned around and walked away with a heavy scowl, digging her hands further into her pockets for warmth. "Go away!" She yelled back, "I don't want to talk to you guys!"

But, as she suspected, her father ignored her and reached for her shoulder, forcing her to a halt.

"Caroline, what happened?"

She couldn't look at him- instead, she focused on the stray pieces of gravel peppered on the road by his shoes.

"I'm not really in the mood to talk," she muttered, her ears ringing with the sound of her blood pumping.

"It's freezing out here," Regina stated, tightening her scarf, "let's get you back to the house, then we can talk."

She gently set her hand on her daughter's shoulder in an attempt to soothe her- Caroline stepped back and glared at her, looking her mother straight in the eyes.

"No!"

It was a tone of voice neither of them knew existed in their sweet child. Yet there she was, newly ten years of age, with tears sliding down her freckled face and fists balled up at her sides.

"You- you both lied to me!" She continued, her aggressive tone quickly crumbling before her.

Robin and Regina could only stare in a ghostly silence. "Lied about what?"

"Everything! Wh-who I am, what I am, everything!" It took everything she had not to completely fall apart in front of them. She heaved in breaths of crisp air; the entire world seemed to be spinning around her.

"Caroline, let's go to the car at least. You look so pale." Robin offered, his face showing concern.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! Why don't you understand that? You people never bothered to tell me the most important news of my life! That I have... M- magic. I have magic."

Her parents only had about two seconds to register the gruesome reality before Caroline fell forward, her legs giving out from underneath her. Robin quickly caught her limp body and positioned her comfortably in his arms; Regina brought her hand up to her mouth in shock, holding back tears as they silently began their walk back to their car.

--

The house had fallen under an unsettling spell. All of them felt it, the cruel, spiteful feeling of mistrust and wrongdoing that settled quickly in their bones, making it impossible to remember any of the good times they had spent together. Both Henry and Roland paced the halls uncomfortably, terrified to make any comment about their parents carrying their unconscious sister up to her room. After all the years Henry had spent seeing his mother stressed, filled with aguish and a tenuous look look in her eyes, he knew better than to get in her way. Regina was on the verge of tears from the second she arrived home; it only escalated as the minutes dragged on. He and his brother paced back and forth like hyper-energetic children trapped somewhere they didn't belong. It was slightly shameful, considering he was twenty three and living life on his own, but never before has the sanctity of his family been at stake. Part of him almost felt twelve again.

"How the hell did that woman find out she had magic?" Regina asked forcefully, though she felt completely helpless and weak.

"I don't know," the thief replied simply, "but we can't blame Zelena. We don't know what happened."

The comment immediately froze all of the thoughts that were raging in her mind- she gave him a disbelieved look, everything about her demeanor distressed and disheveled. Robin hardly ever saw her this way.

"You're defending her now? Ever since she's been in Caroline's life, our lives have been hell. She has to have some plan, a secret motive-"

"We can't afford to think that way," he told her, "you made me see the good in people, even when things get bad."

She stifled a sob, her vision quickly blurring again. "She'll be awake any second... I can't stand to see her so angry. She-she looked right at me with those eyes. She hates me." Regina's voice promptly shattered to pieces; she felt the shards dig into her skin with intentions of tearing her to shreds.

"Don't say that," Robin insisted, stepping forward and capturing her in his arms. "She doesn't hate you. How could she? You're the most amazing person I've ever met."

He stroked her back and inhaled the scent of her hair as she cried, her body molding into his.

"Everything will be okay. Just wait, you'll see. You should get some rest. If Caroline wakes up, I'll convince her to wait until morning to talk."

"You make everything sound so easy," she managed to say, though his proposition sounded absolutely incredulous. She was still feeling under the weather; her body ached for relief.

"It can be, if you let it." He said, drawing back to look into her eyes. "I promise. And hey," he walked over to a small black pot on the table. "I almost forgot to tell you. Snow left some soup on our doorstep while we were gone. I can heat some up for you if you promise to get some sleep."

She couldn't say no to that, no matter how much her mind refused.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Robin replied, leaning forward to kiss her, "so much. Just trust me on this- things will get better."

As she watched him carry the soup out of the bedroom and down the staircase, she couldn't help but swallow the lump in her throat and climb into bed, still fully dressed, hoping with everything she had that things would get better.