The Tie That Binds

Chapter One

She's awake. Wide awake. Unfortunately, before she has a chance to react, the bone-chilling threat of dark magic seeps into her hot flesh and absorbs into every fiber in her body. Maybe she has been achieving too many good deeds as of lately, but the darkness feels hollow, unnerving, much more horrifying than she once recalls. She's no saint, she's well aware, but this type of magic feels so bitter cold and vile that she suddenly feels nauseous.

"Guys, wake up."

She attempts to pry her eyes open and obey the request, but she's immobile, imprisoned in her own body and left for dead. She fights, commanding that her magic awakens and steps to the forefront of her mind, so she can demand that it comes to her rescue. She fights and fights against the heavy weight of dark magic pinning her to the cold hard ground.

Panic festers inside, an icy chill breaking along her neck despite the stifling heat because too many haunting memories of the King are clawing out from their locked closets to torment her once again. She screams in agony, but not a sound escapes her lips, her voice only ringing loudly in her mind. She barely registers the movement, but one finger twitches. She will not allow those disgusting memories to control her, in fact, it's been many decades since she last abolished those thoughts to some dark and lonely place in her mind, never to be seen or heard from again. 

Anger stirs in her dark heart, the black swirls of wrongdoings stretch from being shunned to appease her son. She feels the prickle of magic crackle in her chest before it violently explodes like a bursting pipe, leaking the agitated magic throughout every inch of her until she is springing up from the makeshift bed she has created.

In a frenzy, her eyes scan the perimeter of their camp to discover the two idiots passed out...cuddled together. She could vomit. She sneers as her eyes drift away to find the filthy pirate lightly snoring. He's most likely passed out from the amount of rum he's been consuming and his body doesn't even register the magic keeping him dead asleep. She rolls her eyes again toward the other side of their circle and unexpectedly her heart leaps to her throat.

The Savior's bed is empty.

Her wide eyes frantically drift around the camp once more but she comes up empty handed. Dammit. It would be so like the sheriff to get herself kidnapped by the demonic man-child. That's all she needs right now, to find Henry without his other mother. He will surely blame her, even if the idiot was the one who wandered off in the middle of the night and incriminated herself.

She runs her fingers through her hair and growls under her breath. Her fingers wiggle, the darkness tingling and reminding her that she woke up the power for a reason. She produces a roaring flame in her hand, bright and hot to guide her as she ventures away from the camp in search of her son's insufferable mother. She crouches down, her eyes never straying from ahead in case Pan is lingering around, ready to attack. Her other hand hovers over the mess of dirt and leaves as her fingers twitch, showering the area with her magic.

She smirks to herself as she watches glowing purple footprints light up the pathway. She stands tall, extends her fire blazing hand for protection and begins following the trail. It's quite a few steps, effectively distancing herself with the three morons fast asleep, before she hears the rustling of leaves.

She purses her lips. She doesn't even have to stand on guard because she knows Pan wouldn't be so loud and obnoxious as he creeps through the jungle. She knows right away by the heavy, clumsy footsteps and the sound of a sword slicing through the thick leaves, that her "fearless leader" is near. She rolls her eyes once more.

"Regina," Emma gasps, obviously startled from her presence.

The warm sun tickles her eyelids, urging her to open those beautiful brown eyes and greet the day. Slowly, her eyelashes flutter, stretching from their deep slumber and ready for an early jump to the day. That is until an all too familiar white ceiling comes into focus. Reality brutally crashes against her broken heart and burns the beating organ until it's nothing but ash trickling down to the pit of her stomach.