Cursed Hearts

Dread Follows

Sleep was her worst enemy. As each day passed since her resurgence, her endurance waned, and it soon became difficult to pay attention to the task at hand. Still, Regina put everything she had into staying focused on getting the rest of her family back. Sleep wasn't only a roadblock with reaching her goal, but also an open invitation for memories from her purgatory to be relived, over and over again. She wasn't interested in being stuck in the past, not anymore.

"Do you want me to make you something for lunch?" Regina asked, looking up from the book she was reading to notice Roland staring off, the sadness still prominent.

Her words made him snap back into reality. "Sure, I guess. I just... I wish this didn't have to be so hard- the whole finding people from the past thing."

Promptly snapping the book she was holding shut, Regina sighed. "I know it is. But nothing worthwhile is easy, right?"

He knew just how true that statement was. As Regina started towards the kitchen, her son following not too far behind, she debated how to get him to properly open up about what was troubling him. Having to tread carefully around him was only adding to her exhaustion.

A pan was soon heating up on the stovetop, slowly melting cheese onto toasted bread- Roland's favorite. She presented him a plate in a matter of minutes, watching him eagerly eat like the teenager he was. It may have been easier to keep the uneasy formality between them going and attend to the bigger problem at hand, but she knew family had to be there for one another. After spending so much time in isolation, it was intimacy she yearned for.

"What happened while I was gone?" She asked gently, "what... really happened."

Putting down his half eaten grilled cheese, Roland panicked inside, knowing the conversation was bound to happen eventually. He was never one to keep things from his mother, yet the secret he harbored refused to make itself known, almost against his will. The words stuck in his throat.

Heat rushed to his cheeks- he knew if he didn't press the breaks then, everything would explode. He then felt his mother's arms tightly around him, bringing him back to reality. Letting out a sob, he allowed his emotions to get the better of him.

"It's okay, everything is going to get better," she soothed, masking her inherent surprise over his reaction. Her son had always been mild mannered in every aspect of life. Henry always had a slight temper when things didn't go his way; it was in his nature, simply how things were. In the midst of his teenage years, Roland was proving to be far more complicated than she thought.

He cried like she had never heard him cry before, his entire body shaking with each jagged breath. Witnessing him in that state practically broke her heart in two, feeling a familiarity to his anguish.

Time seemed to slip away as they both sat on the living room couch. It wasn't until she felt her phone buzz in her pocket that she became aware of her surroundings again- fishing her phone from her pocket, she saw the incoming call was from Henry. She debated whether or not to answer, but knew that right then, Roland needed her.

He cried until there were no tears left, still holding onto his mother like she was the one thing keeping him tethered. Seeing him in that state sent a million questions racing across her mind; whatever it was disrupted him to the core. The words would follow eventually.

The next thing Regina remembered was snapping her eyes open, midday sunlight glaring through the windows. A blanket was draped over her slouched position, her head resting on the edge of the couch. Confused, Regina carefully came to a stand, easing the crick in her neck as she glanced around the room. Her son was nowhere to be found, and for a moment panic began to rise within her. She checked her phone, noticing multiple texts from Rumple stating that he would be there within the hour- forty minutes ago.