Damaged Feathers

Chapter 5

Hi! Sorry it's been a while!! 

So quite a bit of dialogue in this chapter. Not much plot. Just a lot of SQ deep & meaningfuls. 

While writing the dialogue I was listening to a song by Missy Higgins (an amazing Australian artist) called "Cooling of the Embers". so ya'll should listen to it while reading it too :) ALSO I was listening to "Safe & Sound" by Taylor Swift. Especially at the end.

(also the metaphor used towards the end I took pretty much straight out of a Paramore song)

It's dark. There is a thin layer of fog covering the dank floor of the forest. A forest in which Emma can't remember entering. Up ahead she sees a flash of purple fabric, immediately recognizing it as Regina's. She only caught a glimpse before it disappeared around the thick trunk of the redwood. "Regina wait!" Emma ran after the other woman, her hot breaths visible in puffs of mist. Just when she thought she'd catch up to the woman ahead, she would disappear around a tree again and fade into darkness. After the three attempts of catching her, begging her to stop running, Emma came to a halt. Grabbing a fist full of her own hair she screamed up at the sky, which twisted and swirled making her feel queasy. She couldn't pull her eyes from the sky. That was until she felt a gush of cool air brush past her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Frantically searching for what just run past her she looked up ahead and squinted. Swearing she saw a grey and red striped scarf in the distance before it rounded a tree trunk, she took off. "Henry! Henry wait!" Chasing the shadow of a boy, she called out to him, pleading for him to come back. It went on for what seemed like hours. Days even. Chasing familiar figures through the woods, almost catching up, just within reach, but never enough. Reaching out but always a few inches away no matter how hard she tried. No matter how fast she ran or how loud she screamed she would always be left alone.

 

As she rounded the next tree trunk she came to a clearing. It was quiet and she was alone. No Regina and no Henry. Emma wrapped her arms around herself, realizing how cold it was when an icy breeze whipped around her body. Suddenly, on the outer brim of the clearing, she heard a stick snap. Spinning around she tried to decipher who or what was there, "Henry?" a pregnant silence is all that followed. The trees were swaying but no rustling could be heard. It was an eerie quiet. It was interrupted by another snap from directly behind her. Spinning again, Emma tried to figure out what the hell was going on, "Regina is that you?"

Then there was snapping from all around, in every direction. Emma spun frantically hoping that a familiar face would appear and explain what the hell was going on. Her eyes darted around, scanning the outskirts of the clearing in a desperate panic. Finally she saw a familiar face. Then another. Followed by a few more. "Regina! Henry! I've been trying to get to you for...for a long time! You kept running! And...Mom? Dad? Where did you guys come from?" Emma was relieved at first. But then she looked a little closer. Looking at Mary Margaret she noticed the hollowness of her eyes. That wasn't right. And David had this dark smile on his face as if he was a schoolyard bully and he was sizing up his victim. The whole situation freaked her out. But when she looked at Regina and Henry...that scared her the most. They were holding hands and they both had matching looks on their face. They looked disgusted at the sight of Emma. Like she was pathetic.

 

They all closed in on her in a circle and Emma had no where to go, "Guys...w-what's going on!" Her voice came out weak and shaky, an audible representation of just how terrified she was. She turned to try and escape somehow, but she was stopped by a silhouette, which began to bubble and thrash about until it morphed into a perfect clone of...herself. Furrowing her brows in confusion she stared at the person in front of her. She was looking straight into her own eyes, only they were darker and emptier. She was wearing identical boots and skin tight jeans, however, her jacket wasn't its signature red. It was a deep black almost casting a dark shadow over the version of Emma. "What the hell is this!" Angling her head so she could see her parents, she could taste bile when they disappeared and reappeared. Flickering on and off as if they were mere holograms.