The Modern Fairy Tale Town Book 2: The Price of Magic

Chapter 21: Not So Happily Ever After

The next morning in Storybrooke came rather early for Ben as there was a knock on his door that jolted him a bit. He then snorted as he woke up and rubbed his eye as he opened his door, groaning a bit.

"Good morning, son." Rumple greeted his teenage son.

"Hey, Dad," Ben greeted, his voice a bit thick since he just woke up after all. "What's going on?"

"I'm leaving to collect Miss Swan for our trip out of town," Rumple replied. "I thought you'd like to know before I left."

"Thanks, Dad..." Ben said, still a bit groggy in tone since he was woken up against his will. "I'll keep an eye on your shop while you're gone."

"Very good, Benjamin," Rumple approved. "Just make sure you go when you can and I'll be calling you to check in occasionally."

"Okay, Dad. You have my cell phone number, so call anytime you need to." Ben replied softly.

"No, Benjamin, I'll be calling the shop phone, not your cell phone." Rumple clarified.

"Oh... Aw... Come on, Dad..." Ben groaned slightly.

"So if I were you, I'd stick to the schedule I left for you to follow," Rumple smirked at his teenage son. "Also, please... Check on your mother," he then added tenderly. "I know she won't remember you, but I would prefer it if you continued to check in with her since I won't be able to."

"Don't worry, Dad. I will," Ben promised as he nodded in response. "I'll take care of her just like when Doug took care of his mother during The Dark Curse."

"Good boy," Rumple nodded warmly. "Give my regards to Mal. I didn't want to wake her up because I know how she gets about waking up when she doesn't want to."

"You did the right thing, Dad..." Ben said softly before he soon decided to hug his father. "Be careful out there, okay?"

"I'll be just fine, but thank you," Rumple replied as he hugged his teenage son back, gently patting him on the back. "I'll call you soon."

"Thanks, Dad. See you later." Ben nodded in response.

"See you later, Benjamin." Rumple replied before he left the house and soon went out to his car right away.

Ben nodded his head and shut the door and locked it behind his father as he soon walked inside with a bit of a yawn. "Hm... Maybe I should wake up Mal and give her a special breakfast to make up for what happened after our picnic date before The Jewel-Bilee... Either way, she deserves the prince in me and not The Beast in me, no matter who my father is and what he did..." he then said thoughtfully before he nodded at himself. "Yeah. That's what I'll do... Hopefully she'll be in a good mood this morning or at least will cheer up after breakfast," he then said before he went to the guest room door and knocked on it. "Hey, Mal. You awake?" he then asked while knocking before waiting for an answer.

There was of course no response because of what happened last night while everybody was sleeping.

"...Mal?" Ben repeated. "...You asleep?"

Still, there was no answer heard from behind the door.

"...You at least dressed?" Ben asked, biting his lip as he wondered whether to go on inside or not. He then shrugged before he decided to go inside the room anyway to at least check on Mal, but to his surprise and shock, he gasped and was horror-struck once he saw something very wrong in the room. "What?!" he then asked with wide eyes.

Mal was nowhere to be found in the room.

Ben soon looked around and checked Mal's bed, but it was cold, so he ran upstairs to check in the bathroom and the other rooms before he realized that he was completely home alone. "Where could she be?" he then asked before he took out his cell phone and was just about to call his father to tell him that Mal wasn't in the house, but he decided not to since his father had bigger things to worry about right now. "...I don't wanna bother him while he's already gone to find my brother..." he then said, deciding to ignore his phone before he hit his head on his bedroom door instantly. "But what am I gonna do now?"