Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

42 - The Wolf Leads The Way

Henry sat with Graham on his bed ruffling through the pages of his fairytale book.
"When did your flashes begin?" Henry asked.
"Right after I kissed Emma."
"You kissed my mom?" he asked horrified.
Graham said nothing.
"What did you see?"
"A wolf. I saw that I had a knife in my hand, and I was with Mary Margaret."
"Were you about to hurt her?"
"Yes. How did you know that?"
"Because Mary Margaret is Snow White,......." he continued ruffling through the pages. ".........which makes you the huntsman." he turned to a page with a huntsman holding a knife.
"So you really think that I could be another person?"
"Makes total sense. You were raised by wolves. That's why you keep seeing one. It's you friend, your guide. It's trying to help you."
"I'm remembering this because I kissed your mother? How is that possible?"
"Well, you two do have a special connection. When owes you her life."
"How?"
"Snow White's her mother. And you spared her. If you hadn't, my mom wouldn't have been born."
"What happened after I spared Snow White?"
"The queen took your heart....... She ripped it out....... It's kind of her thing....... She never wanted you to be able to feel again."
He thought for a moment. "Let me see that book." he turned the page. "What's that?" he asked pointing to a small building with a simble above the entrance that the queen stood outside of. "I saw that, too. The wolf was howling at it."
"That's her vault. It's where she put your heart."
"The wolf wants me to find it........ Thank you, Henry."
He grabbed his coat and left the room.

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Emma sat in her car outside of the mayors house. When she saw Graham walking from the house she got out of the car.
"Hey." she walked towards him. "I hear you're having a rough day."
"Who says?" he asked staring at her.
"Pretty much everyone...... Maybe you need to go home and get some rest."
"I'm fine." he began to walk away.
"No, Graham, you're not fine. You just went to see a ten year old for help."
"He's the only one making any sense."
"What's going on? What's really going on?
"It's my heart, Emma. I need to find it."
"Okay....... So how are you gonna do that?"
"I just need to follow the wolf."
"What? What wolf?"
"From my dreams. It's gonna help me find my heart."
"I'm sorry. I thought we were talking on a metaphor here. You really think you don't have a heart?"
"It's the only thing that makes any sense. It's the only thing that explains why I don't feel anything."
"Listen to me, Graham, you have a heart....... I can prove it." she stepped closer to him and held out her hand. She placed it inside his coat, on his chest. "See?....... It's beating. It's real."
He shook his head.
She took his hand and placed it on his chest. "Feel that. That is your heart." she stared into his eyes.
"No, it's a curse."
"You can't really believe that's true." Emma stared ahead, fear in her eyes.
"What?" he turned around.
They both stated ahead at the wolf that stood down the road. The wolf growled and ran away.
Emma looked at Graham as began to run after the wolf. She followed him.
They ran after the wolf, through the graveyard until he finally stopped.
"Graham! Graham, be careful." Emma shouted.
"He's my friend. He won't hurt us." Graham reassured her.
Emma looked at him the fear still lingering in her eyes.
The wolf howled, then began to run again. Graham ran too and Emma Emma followed him.
They ran through some trees and the wolf disappeared.
Graham looked up at a small building with the simble of dark branches above the entrance. He stared at it.
"What is it?" asked Emma.
"It's my heart." Graham said. "It's in there."
Emma looked at him then back up at the building.
Graham took his flashlight. "I have to look in there."
"No. Stop, stop." Emma pulled him back.
"I have to go in there. Please."
"Graham, come on. You really think that your heart is in there?"
He nodded.
"Okay. Let's find out." she stepped forward and shook the handles on the doors. "Come on!" she said tugging at it but the doors wouldn't open. She stepped a little back and kicked the it open.
Emma stepped inside and Graham followed shining his flashlight.

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A gaurd led the huntsman through the castle.
"Wait here." said the gaurd when they reached the queens room.
"I see you're still in mourning." the huntsman said when he saw the queen by the entrance of the room, dressed in a dark outfit.
"The time for mourning is over." she said. "I simply found that black suits me." she walked towards him. "Now, tell me, is Snow dead?"
He held up his shachel. "The young girl's heart as you requested."
The queen held out her hand.
"First, there's something I must do." he said and took the sheet of folded parchment from his belt.
She looked at the parchment. "What's this?"
"The girl wanted you to have it."
"Read it to me."
She walked away to the other side of the room and the huntsman unfolded the parchment.
He began to read the letter.
"Dearest Stepmother, by the time you read this, I will be dead. I understand that you will never have love in your life because of me. So it's only fitting that I'll be denied that same joy as well. For the sake of the kingdom, I hope my death satisfies your need for revenge, allowing you to rule my father's subjects as they deserve, with compassion and a gentle hand. I know what you think you're doing is vengeance. I prefer to think of it as sacrifice for the good of all. With that on mind, I welcome the end, and I want you to take my last message at heart. I'm sorry, and I forgive you."
When the huntsman had finished reading Snows message the queen walked quickly towards him, grabbed the parchment from him and crumpled it up. She stomped accross the room and threw it in the fire.
"Don't tell me you're becoming a sheep." she shouted at him.
"She put others before herself and yet you hate her." he walked towards her. "What did she do to you?"
"I shared a secret with her and she couldn't keep it. And that betrayal cost me dearly." she said as she stared into the flames. "Now,......." she walked slowly towards him. ".........show me her heart!"
He took his shachel from around his neck and the queen ripped it from him and walked off. She pushed burst two doors open and stepped into a room filled with small draws and chests. In the middle of the room sat a single chest. She smiled as she opened the sachel and took the heart from it. The huntsman stood outside the room watching as she placed the heart inside the chest. She closed the lid carefully and held it up before a wall filled with little draws. She waited for a moment, eagerly.
"It should open."
She took the heart from the chest again and dropped the chest. She turned on her heel to face the huntsman.
He gulped and stared at her as she stomped towards him, her face full of rage.
"This isn't her heart!" she shouted. "This isn't a human heart! What did you do?" she screamed.