Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

Chapter 88 - David's Dreamwalk

Red and Peter sat next to one another, beneath a coniferous tree, by the snowy forest, a fire lit next to them.
"You think this wolf-man is me? Red, you know me." said Peter, his hands holding hers.
"I know it's not you really. But I think it's using your body." he voice was hoarse from crying, and there were tears in her eyes.
"Wouldn't I know? Wouldn't I wake up in the woods? Wouldn't I remember something?"
"Maybe. Maybe it makes you forget." she sighed and stared into his brown eyes.
"Oh, my gods." he said after a moment. He gulped. "Those men.....they died....." he shook his head. "If I did that......"
"Forget the past, think of the future. We can go now, Peter!" she smiled. "And have lives. All we need to do is tie you up during the wolfstime. And I know where to get rope."
He shook his head. "No."
He fave fell.
"Not rope." he put his hands into his sack and pulled out some clanking, rusty chains.
"Chains."
"Just in case." he put his hands in her hands again. "Just in case you're right...... I'll show you how to rig it up so that I can't get out. And then you need to get away from me."
She looked up into his face. "No...... I'm staying with you. I'll stay with you all night. And for all the nights to come." she smiled.
"You...... You'd do that for me?"
"I'd do anything for you." she leaned forward and rested her head on his chest, snow flakes in her raven black hair. He put his arm around her.

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Henry put his fairytale book into a draw at a desk in the sherif's station.
Emma walked towards him. "Okay, kid, I don't mean to kick you out......." she threw him the keys for the draw. "........but I gotta go see if David's in some kind of trouble out there."
"It's okay. I'm suppost to meet my mom." he locked the draw. "There." he put the keys in her hand.
"Nice." sherif the keys back in her pocket.
"You know, you can let Ruby do more. She's Little Red Riding Hood."
She smiled. "With the little basket?" she chuckled. "Yeah, she seems like a badass."
"She is. She just doesn't remember how cool she is or want she's capable of. But it's true."
Emma sighed and Henry walked to the door, as Ruby walked inside.
"Hey, Ruby."
"Hey, Henry." she said, her face down. "Got your grilles cheese." she said to Emma, handing her a take away bag with grilled cheese inside.
"Thank you........ You all right?" she asked when she realised Ruby's down face.
"I guess. I mean, this is something I know how to do, so yeay." she held her take away drink, still down.
"Okay. Let's pack these back up." Emma packed the food back into the back again. "And we can eat it in the car." she took the drink for Ruby. "I need to do a little wilderness search, and I need your help."
"I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna screw it up. I mean, I'll screw it up with flair, but......."
"No, you won't. Come on." she held up the take away food. "You can do this."

Emma and Ruby walked through the forest, searching.
"This place is massive. How are we suppost to find one guy?" Ruby asked.
"Shh. Hey, shh. We might be able to hear him." said Emma quitly.
"Its massive."
"I'm following the path because there are boot prints so just stay close."
"I shouldn't even be here. I'm just gonna screw everything up." Ruby stopped suddenly. "Wait."
Emma walked into her back, not realising she had stopped in her tracks. "Ruby."
"I hear him."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. I hear him or something, I mean, I know where he is." she looked at Emma. "Don't you?" she ran, down through the trees ahead.
"No." she stared at Ruby, ducking under a fallen tree, confused. "What are you doing?" she called after her.
"He's over here!"
"Ruby." she ducked under the fallen tree after her and saw her ahead. "Ruby?" she followed her and spotted her behind a tree, next to David, lying face down on the earthen ground.
"David?" said Emma, as she ran towards him, her voice shaking.
Ruby glanced over at her fearfully.
"Oh, God. Come on. David." she turned him over and shook him by the collar of his jacket. "Come on. Wake up. David, wake up!"
David's eyes flickered open and he looked up at Emma.
"Hey."
"Emma?" he looked around him, confused. "What? Ruby?"
"Do you remember who you are?" asked Emma.
"No, I......." he sat up, a bloody scratch on his forehead. "What the hell? I was in your office and......" he breathed ft he'd heavily. "Did you bring me here?" he asked Emma.
"You don't remember anything since you were in my office? Last night?"
Ruby and Emma looked at one another fearfully.
"No." he shook his head. "I don't." he panted heavily.

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David sat in the hospital, Dr. Whale next to him. Emma stood by listening to what Dr. Whale had to say.
"Well, he's bruised, scratched up, a little dehydrated...... What did you expect?" said Dr. Whale.
"He's got a cut on his head." said Emma.
David looked from Emma to Dr. Whale.
"It's superficial. I can refer him to Dr. Hopper for a mental health eval, but it's my opinion that whatever caused this blackouts is the same phenomenon we observed when he came out of his coma. Moving around, acting out, not remembering it later."
David sighed, thinking about this.
"We will figure it out." sais Emma.
"It's so strange. I can even believe it happened."
"How functional could be during one of these episodes?" she asked Dr. Whale. "I mean, he talked to someone."
"Well, people in similar stated, even under sleeping medication, do all sorts of things. Cooking, talking, driving a car."
"You want to know if I could've made that call." said David.
Emma looked at him.
He looked up at her. "Or more..... You want to know if I could've, what, kidnapped her?"
Emma opened her mouth to something, but stopped, her eyes filled of pity and worry.
"Killed her?"
"Take it easy, there." said Dr. Whale.
"No one's saying you did anything bad, David." said Emma.
"No, but it would explain why it didn't seem like I was lying."
Regina then walked quickly into the room where there were.
"I wouldn't know." said David.
"Stop talking, David." said Regina. "What are you doing here?" she asked Emma repulsively. "Why doesn't this man have a lawyer present?" she said loudly yo Dr. Whale.
He raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
"Have you even read him his rights?" Regina said to Emma.
"No. Because he's not under arrest. We're just talking." said Emma.
"Right. Just talking."
"What are you doing here?"
"Mayor Mills is still Mr. Nolan's emergency contact." said Dr. Whale.
"You have to be kidding me." Emma let out.
".....I thought that changed to Kathryn." said David.
"Well, Kathryn is currently unavailable...... Some people haven't found her yet." she glared at Emma. "Stop trying to place blame ans just find her."
"There's a whole lot of Maine to search, Regina."
"Well, you covered this room." she said a little more softly. "I suggest you branch out." she said more firmly.
Emma looked at David, and stepped back out of the room.
Dr. Whale nodded awkwardly and David shook his head.

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Ruby sat in the sherif's station, at the desk. The rang and she picked it up. "Sherif's station, thank you for calling. How may I direct........" she said, smiling.
"Hey, stop. It's me." said Emma on the other end of the line.

Emma walked through the quit hospital, her phone by her ear. "Here's the thing. The last time David went for a dreamwalk, he went to the toll bridge. You know the one?"

Ruby listened carefully to Emma.

"It's a crazy hunch, but I want you to take my Bug and go and see if he was there."

"I.....I couldn't somebody else to." she stammered a little nervously.

"Ruby you were great out there. I still don't know how you found him. You can so this." she stopped in the corridor, near the exit.

"I don't know."

"It's gonna be dark out soon. David's gonna be let out. If something's there, we gotta get there first. We don't have time to argue."

Her eyes became watery with fear.

"Can you do this?"

Ruby looked down at the desk, fearful of what could happen.