The Monster Within

Chapter 1

Emma cradles her newborn daughter in her arms. She's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen in her life, besides Henry. The little one stares up at her with Killian's hypnotic blue eyes and her mother is immediately taken in by them. The infant has very light hair, indicating she will be blonde like her other and it glows in the morning light. The baby gurgles happily and reaches her fist up towards Emma's face. The new mother takes the tiny hand and kisses it gently.

"You're my little princess," she says softly.

"She's very beautiful," Killian says, appearing suddenly in the room. Emma looks up at him, smiling happily. "Just like her mother."

He comes and sits next to her on the couch. He offers the baby one of his fingers and she grabs it with her whole fist, squeezing it.

Emma wipes a few tears from her eyes. She never thought that this is how her life would go and after her unfortunate abduction, she just wanted things to be normal. Yet, she was glad she had the new baby in her arms, a product of her and Killian's love, not the other way around. She would never have imagined a sort of happy family life, but with this new life in her arms, she felt joy and love. It's what made her strong and capable of moving on from her traumatic incident. But now, she had a loving husband, a happy son, a warm home and a precious child... everything felt perfect.

Suddenly the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it," Henry calls. He goes to the door and opens it. Emma and Killian continue fawning over the baby until they hear.

"W-Who are you?"

Suddenly a gunshot rings out and Emma watches in horror as her son collapses on the ground, a bullet hole in his head.

"HENRY!" Emma screams in horror, she wants to jump up but with the baby, in her arms, it's almost impossible. Her heart stops and her entire world collapses as a pool of blood begins to form around her son's pale face. Tears burned her eyes and her stomach twists in agony. Her daughter begins crying at the noise, making Emma's pain all the more intense.

Killian stands in front of his wife and daughter, prepared to protect her at all costs. A man who had fired the shot comes from behind the door and Emma gasps in horror. A face she never wanted to see again, hidden under a ball cap. His thick body was hidden under a sort of trench coat and a silver pistol that killed her son is pointed at them. His dark eyes seem to burn into Emma's soul and he grins, happy at the horrific deed he'd just done.

"I'd thought I'd find you here," he says in the harsh voice that still made Emma's blood run cold. "You can't hide from me forever."

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Killian yells, he grabs a vase and breaks it in half to use as a weapon.

"Sorry, but I've come to collect what's mine..."

"SHE'S NOT YOURS!" Emma shouts angrily. "SHE'LL NEVER BE YOURS!"

"I still deserve a payment, so all that torture wasn't in vain."

Arthur continues to point the gun at the three of them, the only thing drowning out Emma's heartbeat are the terrified screams of her infant daughter. He steps towards her, Killian carefully tries to approach, wanting to use a shard of the vase as a knife.

"KILLIAN DON'T!" Emma screeches.

But it's too late, her husband charges at the man and another dreaded crack echoes through the room. Killian collapses on the ground, a bullet hole in his chest. Emma screams again, her face a waterfall of tears. Her docks man lies on the ground, gasping for air. He looks at Emma helplessly and she tries to reach him, but before he can, Arthur puts another bullet in his head. Killian instantly stops moving.