How is it you? (Henry Mills)

Part 1 Chapter 3

Anna feels a little guilty for sneaking out of the house, but she had no choice. Her parents would never let her go find the dark one alone. This was something she needed to do on her own. And she won't come back until her powers are gone so that they can be a normal family again.

Anna walks inside the closest pub in her village. Nobody notices her at first until she walks up to the man behind the bar.

"What is it little lady?" The man is annoyed but Anna is determined so she won't let it get to her head.

"What can you tell me about the dark one?" The drunk man starts to laugh, Anna studies him without even trying she can see the man leaving his wife and kids at night and meeting up with another woman. The feeling is lust but also a mix of guilt. Once out of the trance Anna stumbles a bit, but not much for the man to notice. "Are you serious girl?" He asks.

"Yes."

"It's gonna cost you." He shakes his head wiping down the area with a wet cloth.

"No, if you don't tell me what I want to know then it will cost you. I'll tell your wife that you've been seeing another woman."

The man stops smiling and his eyes get wide. "You listen here, I don't know who you are or how you know that but I don't allow witches in my pub."

"Oops, now spill before I go find your wife." Anna looks him dead on the eye, she's not bluffing.

"Alright, alright fine. His castle sits at the end do the Enchanted Forest, but nobody needs to make the long journey if they wish to make a deal with him. All you have to so is call his name out three times."

"What is his name?"

The man hesitates and looks around to make sure nobody will hear him. He leans to Anna's ear and whispers "Rumpelstiltskin."

It's sends chills down her spin, with a name like that of course people will be scared.

"Thank you." Anna nods her head and rushes out the pub ignoring some stares  she receives. She thinks of the perfect place to summon the Dark One, somewhere where she can make sure she's alone and nobody will be able to here her conversation. It's a long walk but nothing is too far for Anna. By the time she will make it to where she wants to be it will be sun down.
•••••••
Anna reaches her ideal destination at the docs off a near by bay. At night nobody is around, everyone is in their homes sound asleep or out at sea. The only person that could here her are the fish, but that would be silly.

Bracing herself, she takes a big long breath and let's the word come out of her mouth. "Rumplestiltskin." She waits, her heart starts to beat a little faster. "Rumplestiltskin.....Rumple-"

A small giggle erupts from behind her. Anna jumps and turns around facing the water. As a reflex reaction she swiftly aims her arrow to the sound. A tall man stands in from of her with long shaggy hair. He has disgusting looking skin, almost like scales. He's got this big grin that shows off his rotted teeth. Everything about this man is revolting and Anna is staring to understand why people are so scared of him.

"Are you-" Anna is scared, she knows that but she doesn't move her aim.

"In the flesh!" He does and odd movement, his arm in the air with his other hand at his elbow.

"Do you know why I called you?"

"As a matter if fact I do. I can help with your situation."

"No, I want you to take my power away."

He giggles again, "And why would I do that? I didn't just give you the power so that you could give it back. No. You can keep it."

"Please, I don't want it, I want to be normal." She stops being tense and walks forward a few steps, letting her aim go.

"I may not take it back but I can help you try controlling it."

Anna thinks for a moment, it's better than nothing. "How?"

"Oh I'm not going to just help you without making a deal, dearie. That's not how this works."

"I have nothing to give."

"Funny, that's what your mother said before she made the deal with me. Look where that got us." He giggles again, sending chills down Anna's spine. She ignored the awful feeling.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing much. When you learn, it will be easy for you to see inside anyone's past, including mine. I will help you if you promise to never tell a soul about my past."

"Deal." No hesitation, after all, how hard would it be to keep this guys personal life a secret?

"Great! Now tell me how your first discovered it?"

"Um...some girls in my village were making fun of me again and when I stared at one of then I saw her mom dying and her dad drinking. I even felt the emotions."

"Well that's pretty obvious." He gives her a sour and disappointed look.

"How so?"

"You stared at her, you observed her facial features, you must know ones face to be able to see their past."

"How do you know for sure?"

"Practice on me." This whole time Anna was trying to avoid his ugly looking face, now she has to look at it. She lets her eyes linger to his face. His gross scaly skin to his brown eyes, she observes it all and concentrates.

A vision appears of a boy Anna's age. He's holding a bean in his hand with a smile. The bean isn't a regular looking bean, as it's bigger and clear looking. The boy drops it into the soil and a whirlpool of green looking flames form. The man, Rumplestiltskin, is about to go though the whirlpool with the boy but then cowers out and the green is gone along with the shaggy haired boy. A shower of sadness, guilt and regret runs though Anna, then she comes back to reality.

"Well?" The dark one asks. "What did you see?"

"W-was that your son?"

The dark one looks at Anna for a long time, observing her then he speaks in a light tone. "Oh my, you are more powerful than I thought you were."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nobody knows of my son!"

"I-I'm sorry-"

"Your able to look into the dark pasts, the pasts that have an overwhelming affect on the person. The pasts with the most pain."

"Is that why I saw your son? You feel guilty for-"

"Don't! Don't try to contradict how I feel." He points his long bony finger at her, she steps back some.

"I wasn't. Now tell me more. How do I control it?"

"I don't know, it's not my power to control. Everyone must find out a way on their own. Maybe you'll be able to do more with it one day. I just came and taught you how to use it. What you do is entirely up to you." He giggles.

"Will it turn me evil?"

"No, not with that power."

"Okay, thank you Dark One." Anna bows her head giving thanks.

"Remember, don't tell a soul." He's gone the next second with a blink of and eye, leaving Anna alone with her thoughts.

Maybe this power of hers won't be so bad after all. She can use it against people and use it to see if she can trust them. She just has to learn how to control it. But she's never going to be looked at the same by her partners ever again. She won't ever fit in with anyone no matter what. She's a freak and she can't get rid of it the way she hoped.