Once Upon A Time - Ocean Of Darkness

VIII

She could feel herself slowly awakening, her eyes were trying hard to open but she vigorously kept them shut, attempting to fall back into slumber. For once her icy blue eyes fluttered open again, it was difficult for her to go back to sleep. But unfortunately, her eyes opened and she was exposed to the room around her. Everything from the night before came back to her, the destructed apartment, the phone call, and the fact that she soon would have to visit the police station. Her eyes rotated to view the glowing digital clock that rested on her bedside table. It was 7:15 a.m, hardly giving her any time to get ready before she made her way to the interrogation. She swept the duvet off her body, feeling it be harmed by the coldness of the room. She arose from the bed and stretched her arms lightly, yawning loudly as she tried to stay awake. Her feet were prepared to step on anything that had been knocked on to the floor the night before, but they were met with nothing. She glanced down at the carpet, seeing it absolutely spotless, viewing the rest of the room, it to had been tidied with care.

Emerging from the bedroom and out into the open plan living area, her eyes were greeted by a clean space. The china that had been broken on the floor was no where to be seen, the furniture had been delicately turned upright and arranged back to where it was before. Every chip of glass, and every piece of damage had all been cleared, fixed, as if the events of the night before had vanished. It was sinister, and seemed to frighten her even more than the original event. The person who's done this had obviously returned to rid the place of any damage. She tried to think of what would happen now, the police would come and she'd have to tell them a completely unrealistic story. The mind of this person was obviously smarter than she was. And than the name came back in an echo through her mind, Ruby. The note, the arrest. She was meant to be seeing the woman at the station in an hour, to interrogate her. But how would Ruby have left the custody in the middle of the night and come back here? Maybe She had gotten this all wrong, maybe suspected Ruby was a mistake. What if she was framed?

She walked over to the kitchen counter once again, finding the red note lying there. But something was different, something that caused her heart to increase its beat rapidly. The writing was different, it was in the same jet black marker, but the text changed.

"You're welcome."

She examined the note, it was the exact same as before, everything about it, the edges cut straightly and finely, the shade of red, and even the style of writing. It was difficult to comprehend the situation, as her fear seemed to overtake her. Someone had forced an entry, tidied every corner of the apartment, left a note, and snuck out without her noticing. They had played her, they were messing with her mind. Maybe Ruby was innocent after all, maybe it being her was too obvious. There was obviously a great deal of malevolence inside the person's mind, with the way they structured their plans to have such a great impact on the person. Belle didn't care about the damage, it was all gone now anyways, nor did she care for the motive. The only thing she focused her anger on was whoever did this, whether it was Gold, one of his accomplices, or someone entirely different. 

She decided it was best to get Ruby out of the cold jail cell she was inside right now, releasing her from her impasse of thoughts which would easily consume her. Belle quickly retreated to her bedroom and toke a navy blue dress out of her closet, continuously checking the time as she quickly put it on. Her hair was a complete mess, so she decided to tightly tie it into a thick ponytail which flowed down her back. Her makeup was old from the day before, as she was too exhausted the night before to even think about taking it off. So she quickly wiped the smudged eye liner off, and continued to wash off her considered imperfections, until she was left with a barren face. There wasn't a tint of eyeliner, nor a dab of blush, her face was vulnerable, and she felt exposed to the people she assumed would judge her. And yet she felt herself feeling carefree, somewhat powerful, as she swooped up her high heels off the ground and quickly put them on, grabbing her purse and collecting her items. And so she confidently made her way towards the door, and opening the door made her jump upon seeing his face.

"Sorry did I startle you?" he said with a smirk. She instantly knew what she had to do every time she saw him, fake a smile and gaze into his eyes that she had no attraction for, and to pretend she cared for him, loved him. It was Gaston again, I suppose he couldn't bare the idea of not speaking to her since Thursday evening. This was a lot like him, stopping by without warning, not considerate that she may actually have a life outside of him. And she did have a life without him, in fact her life with him was nothing but downright lies. She had no feeling of love towards him, even his pretty face meant nothing to her, for he was arrogant, inconsiderate and judgemental. He never let her do the talking, he always felt as if he needed to protect her, like she was a fragile piece of china that would suffer from a single blow. But he was basically her cover, an alibi that would ease her way out of any suspicion . He did the usual thing he would do upon greeting her, place his hands on the sides of her head and gently kiss her cheek. 

He looked puzzled as he glanced up and down every inch of her face.

"No makeup today?" he asked surprisingly. The mere tone of his voice made her blood boil in her veins, the way he projected his views of how she should look.

"No, I'm off out for the day anyways." Before he could reply with any sort of questioning of where she was going, who with and when, she quickly gave him a passionate kiss back on the cheek.

"Perhaps you'd like to get dinner tonight? My father has reservations for us at The Lotus at 8:00, I'd love if we could arrive together."

It was so typical of him to arrange something without her permission, assuming she was free all evening. but maybe that's what she needed, after all,  her police station meeting was preceded by interrogation of Cora. Perhaps it was best to have some time to relax, even if every grin was fake and every giggle was forced.

"I'd love to." she responded quickly, as if it was a simple answer. "I'll meet you there."

"Great. Now, let me walk you to a taxi-"

"No, don't worry love, I'll be quite alright getting down there on my own, I'm in quite a hurry."

"Okay, I'll see you tonight. Do you need anything for the dinner?"

"Maybe you could bring me my pearl necklace? It's too formal for my day but definitely alright for The Lotus."

"Okay," Gaston said "I know where you keep your spare key to your place, so I'll bring it to you at eight."