The Monster Within

Chapter 57

Emma nearly has a heart attack when her phone goes off, vibrating on the table. She looks down at the number, feeling regretful that it was taking away from their date. She wants to ignore it, but she becomes worried that it might be important.

"Go on Love," Killian says, knowing it was better to just let her answer it.

The call is from Henry. At first, all the worst-case scenarios rush through her head, Sophie is sick, Sophie is hurt... Henry is hurt, something happened... After taking a deep breath, she thinks that maybe Mary Margret had a question about what kind of lotion to use when changing Sophie or what time Henry should go to bed again, but the moment she hears her son's voice, her heart drops into her stomach.

"Henry?" she says with worry in her voice. "What's going on?"

"Mom!" he practically yells into the phone, causing Emma to wince at the volume. Her heart begins to accelerate at the fear and panic in her son's voice. "A man is breaking..." there's interference in the call and her son's voice fades in and out. It sounds as though he's going through things and in the background, she can faintly hear Sophie screaming. "...into the house... he has Mary... Margret... I need..."

Suddenly, there's a loud sound on the opposite end.

"Henry! Henry!" she screeches, practically shouting into the phone. She immediately bolts up from the table, knocking the drinks down and begins racing towards the door.

"SWAN!" Killian shouts in a panic as he runs after her.

He grabs her arm at the door. "What's happened? What's going on?"

"A man broke into the house, he has Mary Margret and he now has Henry."

"Is everything okay sir?" the host at the door asks, having seen the sudden rush.

"Someone broke into our house," the docks man explains. "Can you please call the police?"

"Yes sir," the host says, rushing to grab the restaurant's phone. Killian shoves past Emma out of the restaurant to get the car, leaving the blonde in a frenzy. She can hardly breathe at all and she's shaking almost manically. She can barely hear anything over the sound of her own racing heart.

It was happening. Arthur King was true to his word and he was about to take everything from her. Tears well up in her eyes and she's about to run out the door when the host catches her arm. Her stomach burns with anxiety and fear, the monster had her children and her best friend in his grasp, she can't even think straight when she feels the man's hand on her forearm.

"Let go of me!" she shouts, trying to fight his grip.

"Miss, please what's your address so the police can..."

Emma suddenly sees the yellow bug go racing away from the restaurant at top speed and her heart drops into her stomach. In the flurry of the chaos, Killian has left her behind. Whether it was intentional or not was longer important as she runs outside and tries to race after the car as it careens down the street at almost dangerous speeds.

"KILLIAN!" Emma shouts, trying to run after him, but she doesn't see a puddle on the sidewalk and slips in her heels. She falls to the ground becoming soaking wet and ripping her dress. The host seemed to follow her and several of the restaurant staff have come out to help. A female waitress helps the blonde stand up.

"Oh, you're bleeding!" the woman says, looking at her both scraped up knees. However, Emma does not care at all, her boyfriend just left her at the restaurant while he went to face an unknown enemy... the man who'd abducted her. She continues to sob as she tries to fight off the hands that were merely trying to help her.

The seconds turn into minutes as a dishwasher from the back of the restaurant comes out with Emma's purse. The young teenager eventually finds the "If Found, Please Return to..." in her purse and gives the address to the host who is still on the phone with 9-1-1. Several customers and near passersby are starting to gather due to the chaos unravelling before them.

However, Emma doesn't hear any of it. The world seems to stop and everything goes into slow-motion. She has to get home to her children and help Killian. If it was Arthur King, he would kill everyone she cares about just to get even. It had been a while since she'd done pursuits, but she had to get home now.

Running on pure adrenaline, Emma turns to snatch her purse from the dishwasher's hands and then races out into the street and flags a cab that has pulled up in front of the restaurant, likely called in by an intoxicated customer. She shoves her badge in the driver's face, telling him that she had to commandeer this vehicle. She practically must pull the man out of the vehicle as she shouts she's with the Boston Police Department to everyone watching. She ditches her heels and steps on the gas.

She weaves through traffic, blowing through red-lights and honking to tell everyone to get out of her way. Her body is coursing with adrenaline, she has to get home and save everyone she loves. She nearly misses the turn that leads into her neighbourhood.

She careens down the street and stops in the middle of the road. She can see the bug parked on the curb, meaning Killian was already inside. Knowing she doesn't have a weapon, she goes into the trunk of the cab and pulls out a tire iron to use. She then races through the gate and up the wet path completely barefoot. She can see the lights on in the house and the shattered remains of the door. It looks like it was practically torn off its hinges as she goes inside, ignoring the broken glass on the floor.

"KILLIAN!" she shouts. "HENRY! MARY!"

There's no answer, not even the sounds of Sophie crying.

Emma's heart threatens to shatter her chest as her panic starts to take over every part of her body. She can see the mess on the stairs, likely taken during the struggle and she freezes in place when she realizes that her gun is missing. How the man was able to find her weapon it is beyond her, but she hurries upstairs with the tire iron still in hand. She doesn't care that her feet might be bleeding, her children needed her.

She races down to Henry's room and can see there are signs of a struggle on the floor. She hurries into her room and looks down into Sophie's bassinette. Her heart stops when she sees that it's empty. She practically collapses right then and there when she hears what might be muffled sounds coming from her closet. She can see that the door is shut and there's a chair in front of it.

Emma removes the chair and opens the door to find her son and best friend with their arms and legs bound with duct tape and tape over their mouths. They look at her, she can see the sheer panic and fear in their eyes as they struggle against their bonds. Tears are staining their faces and they appear to be covered in grime and dishevelled from the struggle. There also seem to be bruising forming on their necks. Emma is immediately on the floor, ripping the tape off their mouths.

"Emma...!" Mary Margret gasps.

"Mom!" Henry says weakly, his voice cracking from fear.

"Mary... Henry, are...are you okay? What's happened? Where's Killian?"

"He took her Emma," the teacher weeps as the blonde works to free the both of them. "I'm so sorry he took her... I-I tried to s-stop..."

Emma is now fighting her own tears as she painfully rips the tape off their hands. Her entire body shakes with fear as she tries to stay focused on helping those in front of her. The thought of Arthur taking her daughter makes her want to throw up and collapse right then and there. Everything becomes silent around her, no further sound enters her mind as her body goes completely numb, not entirely able to comprehend the situation. Her body seems to seize up with these moments and her heart just seems to stop completely. The only thing that keeps her going is the leftover adrenaline. She knows she has to find Killian, maybe he's cornered Arthur and maybe they can end this now... maybe...

In the distance, she can hear sirens coming closer and closer, as the police come to aid them, but the sound that scares her the most is the sound of a noisy truck revving up and disappearing into the night, taking with it two of the greatest things she ever loved.

A/N: Two chapters n one day. I hope you enjoy it.