Never Letting Go || CS

Chapter 29: The Dark Hollow

Everyone was up at the break of dawn, Hook leading the way once again. This time, though, they had a map to guide them. Their destination was across from the Dark Hollow so they had to go the long way around in order to avoid it.

They walked in an eery silence, even the rustling of the plants as they brushed past sounded muffled. The mood was solemn, and it reminded Emma of troops marching into war. She thought it was because the crew were dreading having to face Pan once more.

The pirates had avoided the Dark Hollow as best they could because it was unknown to them. It was very dangerous, and it was where all the shadows lurked that Pan had took.

They were right in line with the Dark Hollow, so close that they could see where the lush forest ended, and melted into twisted, rotting wood that was the start of the feared Hollow. It had an eery look about it, and amongst the black boughs of the low hanging trees it looked as though there was a strange red mist floating. As Emma glanced towards the Hollow for the umpteenth time, she saw a shadow flying straight towards them. She screamed and pointed In the direction just as the shadow swung at Hook. It caught his arm and dragged him into the depths of the darkness. Hook screamed loudly as he was taken without warning.

"No!" Emma shouted as she headed straight in the direction Hook went. Before she reached the edge of the woods, a crew member grabbed her wrist, restraining her from going any further. "It's suicide, don't do it." He warned. "I have to go get him, I'm not just going to leave him in there!" Emma testified strongly as she tried to free herself from his grasp. "He wouldn't want you to risk your life."

"Are you that stupid to think I would actually listen to him?" Emma said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm going whether he likes it or not. You guys either come with me, or I go alone." Emma pulled free of his grip and entered the Hollow, sword drawn and by her side. The rest of the crew quickly followed, all unsheathing their swords, prepared for what they may face.

Emma wanted to cry. She just wanted to crumple up into a ball and sob, but she couldn't. Hook's life was on the line, so as much as Emma needed to cry, she refused. She was stronger than this. She had to be strong, for Killian. So, as she chopped through dried branches, her mind stayed fully focused on the task ahead.

They finally reached a dark clearing, where Emma saw Hook was pinned against a tree by a shadow. He was screaming, and it looked like Hook's own shadow was being ripped from his body. "What's happening?!" Emma asked frantically as she watched her lover cry out in agony.

"The shadow is attempting to rip his shadow from him! We need to stop it now, because if the shadow succeeds then Hook will die." He explained. Emma refused to let panic consume her as she thought quickly. What would defeat a shadow? Light! Emma took a torch from one of the men and began trying to strike a match.

All her attempts were failing and Hook's cries became more and more desperate. In a fit of pure desperation, Emma ditched the match and brought up all of her emotions for Hook to the surface, causing a flame to ignite in her hands which she used to light the torch. She then swung it towards the shadow, which gave off a loud, high-pitched screech and shielded itself from the light source. It backed away from Killian and he fell to the floor with a thud, breathing heavily. He slumped into a heap just as Emma ran over to him.

"Hey, you're ok now, you're gonna be fine." Emma said reassuringly as she took Killian into her embrace. He was unresponsive for a minute as Emma cradled him in her arms, both on the floor. Emma couldn't help but shed a tear of relief which landed in Killian's hair. This made him look up and smile at her. Killian's face was a bit pale, but the colour was slowly returning.

"I'm glad you're ok." Emma stated before placing a light kiss on his lips. They stood up. "Thankyou for coming to save me." Killian said to the whole group as he approached them. There were grunts if appreciation from them all.

"So the question is; how do we get out of here?" Hook asked as he looked around at their surroundings. "Check the map." Emma suggested. So Killian took out the map and examined it once more. He calculated which direction they were facing, and started walking in the correct direction. "This way." Hook said, and the rest of the crew followed solemnly.

Emma held the torch out to any shadows that approached them, making sure they stayed away. Emma was scared of this haunting place, but she succeeded in hiding it from everyone, except Hook. He knew her too well, so he did his best to comfort her without words, by holding her hand and giving reassuring squeezes every once in a while.

Several hours later, Emma breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the edge of the Dark Hollow. Reaching the edge put Emma at ease a little.

They eventually reached their destination, which was on the coastline of the island. It was a plain cave with nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Still, the men prepared for what they could face by drawing their swords.

Hook took a deep breath before taking a step towards what was about to be their undoing.

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a/n I'm so evil >:) you might as well just call me Satan. Oh the things I've got planned >:)

Also, do you guys think my writing has got sloppy? The reads for the last chapter have gone down to 50, so i was just curious. If you do think th please tell me and I'll try and improve.

THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR 4.2K READS :D I LITERALLY NEVER EXPECTED THIS STORY TO GET EVEN ONE READ, BUT HERE I AM *sheds a tear of joy*