Hybrid (A SwanQueen Story)

1. The Call

It was my birthday. A full moon shone through the windows of the Denny's I was sitting in. I had just had a night of transformation and was utterly exhausted. So I ordered my favorite, grilled cheese and coffee, and scarfed it down in a matter of seconds. I paid and left, not prepared for the events that would happen next. 

Call me.

It was my boss.

A private investigator who had been paying my wages for the past 10 years.

Sitting in the car, I drew a sharp breath.

There was a chance that this was about the one target.

The one I had been searching for since I started my career as a Bailbondsperson and undercover Bounty Hunter.

I didn't want to answer for fear of getting my hopes up.

This was my whole life.

I drew another breath and swallowed my doubts.

"August?"

"Emma, I've found something."

I waited for him to continue.

"My last lead, you know the one from that place across the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"And when she said she saw a symbol on the back of the kidnapper's coat? It led me to people who were seen near this town called Storybrooke. It's up in Maine."

"August, please tell me you have more than that."

He hesitated.

"The problem is that the town is super reclusive, they have a border and heavily armed border patrol. No one is allowed in or out."

He paused again. Waiting for me to digest the information.

"So I bribed a guard to know more. I asked him if he had seen the symbol before, and he said it belonged to a gang called the Lost Boys. So I asked if they were still around. He told me that the gang had special permission to enter the town by a member called Mr. Gold. The guard wasn't the one working on that night but he had seen the records and thought it was unusual. I also asked if he knew of any adopted ten-year-olds in the town. Because I figured they wouldn't have many since they're you know walled in."

I usually hated when August told me useless information before his point, but this time I didn't mind it. It was a much-needed distraction.

"He said he only knew of one. The Mayor's son. He couldn't tell me anymore."

"August, can you send me the address?"

"Address of what? Wait-Emma you can't possibly..."

"August you've known me over the course of ten years. You know damn well I'm going to get my son back."

I hung up abruptly.

I didn't realize that I was shaking until I tried grabbing the steering wheel.