Welcome to a Nightmare

Chapter 48: Compromised

"Oh, God!" Henry says in a panic, his eyes widening in fear. "What are we going to do?"

"First thing's first," Crystal says. She pulls both her and Henry into a nearby alleyway to get out of the middle of the street. If anyone saw them turn back to themselves, they wanted to disappear as soon as possible to avoid further questions. The risk of being seen by some of Fiona's minions is another reason to stay out of sight. A third is the panicking sounds of cars and people on the streets, which would also not help with the formation of a new plan. The dark passage between buildings provided them with temporary solace to gather their bearings. "We get out of public view."

"But now what? If you're magic is gone... that means that we can't get access to the underground vault or track down Hook with the locator potion."

Crystal bites her lip, running her hand through her now normal brunette hair. Her heart is pounding as fast as Henry is talking. She knows he's right... everything seemed relatively under control until right this minute, where it all fell apart. The Black Fairy is fighting back with full force and now one of their most powerful assets has been snuffed out in a literal puff of smoke.

"I don't know," she whispers, trying to control her breathing. At least with her magic cancelled out, she knows it won't react to her tense emotional state. Usually when she's panicking her hands are lighting up like road flares, so that is a small bonus that there won't be any further chaos to deal with at the moment.

"And if everything's been reset... My clone will have vanished... and the house is no longer protected."

"Oh god..." Crystal realizes. "BELLE!"

"The sleeping spell would have stopped!"

"And I don't think she'd be sticking around."

"We have to stop her from being noticed. If she's arrested..."

The daughter of Rumpelstiltskin isn't listening anymore. She pulls the hood of her sweatshirt up and rushes out to try and flag down a taxi. Henry reluctantly follows her, trying to remain hidden as well. He cannot believe that the situation changed in the blink of an eye. Now they really are in trouble and they're losing control of everything.

Belle's blue eyes flutter open and she sits up in bed. She looks around, completely confused and wondering where she is. The surroundings are strange, and the darkened room is not comforting at all. She gazes over into the corner and sees a large mass of something covered in shadows, which gets her heart racing. In a moment of panic, she bolts from the bedroom into the dim light of the hall. She leans against the upstairs railing to try and catch her breath and gather her thoughts.

She gazes down at the elegant foyer below, admiring the beautiful crystal chandelier and other ornate decorations. It was a pleasant sight and a relief from the darkness of the room behind her, even if all the curtains in the house were closed and everything was covered in a dim gray hue.

Not wanting to be left in such darkness any longer, the woman walks to the end of the hall and pulls open the curtains, revealing extremely bright light that caused her to squint by the sudden change. She is equally pleased by the lovely garden positioned below the window; the trees, shrubs, and flowers making a spectacle of colours very pleasing to the eye.

With the world now illuminated, Belle tries to wrack her brain to remember where she was and what had happened. It takes a minute or two but then it starts coming back. The three of them... Henry and Crystal, the people who helped her escape the hospital. They had brought her to the house, allowed her to explore and read before going to meet someone... who that was she couldn't quite remember at the moment... and then she remembers being on the street before everything went blank.