Turn for the Worst

Chapter 58

"EMMA!" Killian calls into what seems like the abyss. The birds on a nearby branch take flight at the sound of his voice. He and Anna had been hiking through the miles and miles of woods, looking for any sign of a cabin. They had found an abandoned barn and a rusty car, but nothing else. Both shiver in the cold, kicking back brush and behind trees to look for any trace of Emma Swan.

"I don't know why you keep calling out, she probably can't call back," Anna grumbles.

"At least I'm bloody trying to find her!" Killian snaps back and he walks ahead of the redhead to get away from her.

Anna sighs. She's been dealing with crap like this for weeks now. Whenever Killian has a mood swing or a fit of anger, she was usually at the receiving end of it. She always tried to remind herself not to blame him, the guy was going through an impossibly rough time, but she was running out of patience. It felt like their searches were a shot in the dark, there was hardly a chance of finding Emma in this vast forests, even if she was in a cabin somewhere. They were only four people in a big state. The days in the cold were peeling her skin and making her feel exhausted and unhappy. The only time she got any form of cheer was when she talked to Kris, who was at home waiting for her. She loved hearing his voice, it made her feel warm all over and forget the awful mission she was on. Part of Anna wished that she had a full-time job in order to be at home with her boyfriend, her sister, and the animals. Instead, Elsa volunteered her for this and though Anna did miss Emma, she felt like there was nothing that she could do. She was only one person and they can hardly make a difference.

Just then snow begins to fall. It looks very pretty on the forest backdrop, their bare branches reaching up into the darkening, gray sky. The silence made it feel like they were in a painting or even a cemetery, not another soul for a few hundred miles, just them, nature and the elements. Ever so slowly, the snow begins to come down harder and harder and the wind picks up speed, sending chills down her spine.

"Killian!" Anna calls out, squinting in the blowing snow. "We have to turn back."

She gets no response from the docks man, his dark figure continues going forward into the trees.

"KILLIAN!" Anna shouts louder. She races as fast as she can towards him. She reaches out and grabs his shoulder. "Killian we need to turn back, the weather is getting worse.

Killian doesn't respond, he just keeps staring into the distance as the snowflakes collect on his jacket and in his hair.

Anna grabs the walkie-talkie from his coat and calls for August and Neal.

"Hey guys, the weather is getting worse, we need to head back to the cars."

There is a lot of static on the other end until Neal responds. "We agree, we'll meet you back on the road."

"Okay," Anna says. She looks up at Killian who continues to stare like a zombie into the woods.

"Killian let's go," she says, trying to grab his hand.

Suddenly, Killian begins running at full speed into a thicket of trees.

"KILLIAN!" Anna yells as she begins running after him.

She runs as fast as her boots can carry her, but she keeps slipping in the snow and her vision is obscured by the wind and ice.

"KILLIAN!" she screams.

The docks man only stops when he comes to the edge of a clearing. Through the blowing snow, he can see the shape of a house. It's a two-storey building and made of wood. Killian hopes that this might be it, that this is where he is reunited with Emma. He pushes forward through the cold and goes up to the door, his heart pounding. As he gets closer, the shape becomes clearer and clearer, but unfortunately, his hope gets smaller and smaller. As he reaches the front porch, he realizes that the place is abandoned. There is no front door and all the windows are shattered. The place is desolated and empty, not a place where a kidnapper would hide his prisoner, especially if she was pregnant. Nobody in their right mind would be living here; then again whoever had Emma was not in his right mind.