Welcome to a Nightmare

Chapter 56: Familiar Meeting

Light begins to slowly inch its way up towards the sky. While Stygian never truly sleeps, the uneasy feelings would be put to bed for a time.

Regina turns on the lights of her bar. Another night of bills and booze had kept her from sleeping. Even with a couple of glasses of wine, her brain could not shut off no matter how hard she tried. Maybe it was because she still had to replace the glassware that shattered in the earthquake seismic shock... which was bizarre and something that Regina didn't buy for a minute because Maine isn't a place to get earthquakes, but that was the only explanation anyone could draw. What made things worse was that the escaped patient from the hospital also kept her customers in their homes, meaning she wasn't making the money that she'd need to replace everything. On the plus side, her staff was also at home, meaning she didn't have to pay them. The news had also spread that A, one of her waitresses, her husband had been found after more than a year and she was on leave to help him get back on his feet. While she was happy for A, it meant that the other servers and Regina herself had to pick up the slack, leaving them bone tired. Those who braved their ways to the Rabbit Hole anyways couldn't help her if she tried. It had been terrible these last few days and it had taken its toll on the owner. When she looked in the mirror behind the bar, her hair was frazzled and messy and there were the heaviest bags under her eyes. She looked and felt like a mess.

Going behind the counter, Regina pulls out her strongest liquor and some shot glasses. She lines them up and prepares to knock them back.

...

Not too far down the street, a woman of the night barely manages to get out of a car while being brutally beaten up. She stumbles out the door and scrapes her knees on the curb. She is barely able to get out of range of this man's violent punches. She continues screaming and swearing at him before removing one of her heels and holding it up like a weapon to keep him from following her.

"You bastard!" she screams.

"Get the hell out of my sight!" the man shouts from his car door. "If I see your face again, I'm calling the police!"

Zelena swears at him and stands back. The car finally rolls down the street away from her. She throws her purse at the car that just took off on her. The night had started off okay, a call from a new client had come through, a call to the abandoned side of town... the old Storybrooke section. The John picked her up and drove her to an old house. She performed like she was supposed to and he agreed to drive her back to her corner if she gave a little bit of the gas money. She agreed and while they were driving, she gave him $20. However, this didn't seem to satisfy him. He wanted more for gas, despite his vehicle having more than enough to go back to downtown and back. Zelena realized that he was just trying to get back as money as he could after paying her. She began insulting him. He grabbed her purse and a fight ensured, while the car was rolling. He kept trying to attack her and get her rent money. She fought him to the point where she was scratching this man's face with one hand and opening the car door with the other. He had locked it to try and prevent her escape. Finally, she managed to land a strong punch across his face, giving her enough time to unlock the car and get out.

"Likewise," Zelena mutters to herself before hurrying to gather her purse. She wishes that it was a rock that she'd thrown to shatter his back window, but perhaps it would have made everything worse.

Once she's gathered her belongings, she limps over to the sidewalk and sits down to put her heels back on. The one good thing about being a streetwalker was that the heels they wore could be considered lethal weapons and good for protecting oneself.

She counts the money for her night and knows immediately that he didn't pay her the full amount... meaning half would go to Bo$$ and leave her with barely enough. Her heart sinks into her stomach knowing she may have to ask her landlord for an extension, a risky endeavour considering her landlord hated her. She needs this place, and she needs a steady income in order to make a home and gain custody of...