Nightmares of a Broken Winchester

Chapter 8: Dangerous Alliance

The ground walls were thick and the ceiling crumbled a bit. Tiny rocks fell to the bottomless, dark pit that would have any kid whimpering in fear of heights. There were endless tunnels, many twists and turns. The only light source for these tunnels were the flame torches that illuminated the path for many who crossed these caverns. Within them, others could hear the endless moaning and groaning of men and women as they harvested many fairy crystals that flickered with light magic and mysterious power. In these mines, the crystals were being collected by Storybrooke residents as monsters crawled and stomped on the ground. Creatures with rocky bodies and glowing red eyes and multiple arms.

Many of the residents complained and whined as they took axes and tried to dig out the diamonds. In this giant chamber, there were diamonds as large as boulders. Some were sharp as swords, while others were wide and huge as tree trunks. Residents were chained by their ankles and arms and their torsos had scars that oozed of blood and bruises that stung as they tried to brush them with their fingers. The monsters would agitate the residents as they snickered sadistically. The dwarf, Grumpy, yelled at the beasts to leave them alone and let them do their work, but the beast only threw him to the ground. Dr. Hopper had demanded to see the guy in charge but the beast only snickered in his face as it shoved him to the wall and told him to keep digging.

Farther into the mines, there was a tunnel that had torch lights on either side of the rocky walls. The farther you walked, the closer you would see a body being dragged down the hall by two deadly looking monsters, both had scaly skin, green eyes, boned wings and lime green saliva dripping from their mouths.

The body they dragged was covered in blood and ash, the clothes scorched as well as the figure's delegate peach colored skin. When they reached the end of the tunnel, there were two cages, both made of a powerful dark metal. One of the monsters unlocked it with the key and opened the barred door. They threw the body in there and the prisoner grunted in pain. "Ah, damnit!"

The mysterious girl pulled her blonde hair back and glared at the monsters in the eyes as they smiled evilly at her. After that, they felt her there and locked the cage. Anger boiling through her, the girl stood up as best as she could and gripped the bars tightly in her bruised and bloody fists. "Hey! Come back!"

But they didn't listen, they only left her in there, weak and valuable as they crawled away into the dark tunnel. "Damn it!" The woman groaned as she pushed herself away from the cell bars and pressed her back against the rocky wall.

"Well, well, look who the big bad monsters dragged in." The lady looked into the other cell to see a man, around his fifties sitting there with a few bruises and cut on his lips and pale skin. He had a short beard of pepper gray strands. "Let me guess, you messed up at your big chance at beating the big dog of this joint. Am I right?"

The woman scoffed and laid her head against the hard stone that had it's sharp edges poking at her head. "That obvious huh?" The woman looked closely to see that this man was wearing a business suit of sorts, but it was ruined and quite bloody, just like her outfit. He was in better condition than her, but he was chained up. Despite his injuries, the woman could tell the man had a smug look on his damaged face.

"Why are you here?" The woman asked as she moved to the bared wall and rested her head on her knees. The man laughed a bit and gazed at the woman with a small smirk. "I'm but a mere servant to the man who is currently trying to turn this entire wasteland of a town to his personal empire."

"Do you know him," the woman asked out of interest.

The man shook his head. "Trust me if I had known him, I would've ran someplace else to escape this bastard's wrath. Or in my best interest, I would've made a deal." He looked at her curiously and asked, "Who are you, sweetheart? Have I made a deal with you before?"