Ch 1.

Rumpelstiltskin had been walking across the Enchanted Forest for three days, and all he had to show for it were calloused feet and stubborn determination. He was a man now. He no longer had his powers, so he couldn't vaporize to wherever he wanted anymore. He couldn't use magic to find the new Dark One, nor could he summon a carriage with the snap for his fingers. Given his history, he probably couldn't even find anyone sympathetic to his dilemma. Still, he pressed on.

Because he was a man. And men, real men, fought for love.

Rumpelstiltskin had gathered as much spun gold from his castle as he could. He filled his leather knapsack with potions (mere gusts of wind to someone as powerful as the Dark One, but useful, nonetheless), and began on foot to find Belle.

He felt no fear. He walked without a stick or a hint of a limp. And yet, every passing hour, his heart thudded faster, fear tickling his nerves and disturbing his sleep. Belle had been taken by this obsessive madman, a dark force that had once been a naïve boy. He didn't dare think of what Jack was doing with Belle, but an image here or there managed to seep through. Late at night, when Rumpel was nestled under a fallen tree to rest, he swore he could still hear Belle's blood-curdling scream.

On the fourth day, his provisions low and his legs aching, Rumpelstiltskin made it to Beansville and begged anyone who would listen to help him. Most didn't recognize him as a man, and dismissed him a crazy person talking nonsense. A barmaid at the tavern took pity on him and gave him a pint of ale and some food. When he flashed the spun gold in front of her, the stocky woman gasped and offered him everything in the house. He asked for a horse and received the fastest one in the stables.

As Rumpelstiltskin rode through the village, he was stopped on the road by an old woman in a gray shawl. "Move aside, madam, please!"

"I know what you're doing," the old woman said. "You're looking for my son."

He peered at her from atop his white mare. "Who are you?"

"I'm Mother Hubbard. Jack was my son."

"I have to find him," Rumpelstiltskin said. "He took my—"

"I know," Mother Hubbard said. She had a beaten, down-trodden look, as though she had lost a loved one or even a child. "He's changed. He said he was going to kill the beast, and he became one." Her eyes glossed over and she looked away, far off into the distance. "I was too hard on him. I told him he was weak and that the girl would never love him . . . and now he's—"

"Was she with him? The girl?"

Mother Hubbard shook her head. "No. He asked me to join him at the castle, but I refused. I want no part of his wicked magic."

"Which castle?"

The old woman jutted her thumb over her shoulder. "Lord Buckland's estate. By Lumier Falls."

Rumpelstiltskin knew where that was. He had made a deal once as the Dark One with Lord Buckland, and the mustached Lord had paid his debt timely and without fuss. His estate was also near Belle's father's castle. Rumpelstiltskin took a few strands of spun gold from his knapsack and held them out to the old woman.

"Thank you," he said.

Mother Hubbard eyed the gold, then took it. She studied Rumpelstiltskin's face. "My son killed you to become the Dark One. It was true love that brought you back."

Rumpel nodded. "Aye."

Mother Hubbard stepped to the side off the road. "Let's hope true love can save your girl."

0000000

Everyone was dead.

Belle could still hear the screams of the people who lived in this castle, men and women pleading for their lives as Jack took them out with the sweep of his hand. She witnessed, huddled in a corner with her eyes peering through her fingers, as Lords and Ladies ran from him in a panic.

"Please let us go!" they cried. "Let us live!"

But no one was spared. Not even the children.

Belle sat on the edge of the four-poster bed of Lady Buckland's room, moonlight streaming through the tall windows. It was an old-fashioned room with polished cherry wood furniture and powder-blue walls. The heavy green drapes were open, revealing a large balcony overlooking a tall waterfall off in the mountains. Lumier Falls. Though Belle didn't know the Buckland's, she used to visit the falls with her father every summer and look up at the white-stoned castle with admiration.

Belle felt queasy again. She had been feeling ill every day since being taken by Jack. It was hard enough sleeping in a dead woman's bed, but she had to relive the massacre every night in her dreams. Their pleading. Their tears. The way their bodies just disappeared like smoke. And the children—

Belle rushed to the balcony and threw up over the side. She heaved and cried, tears spilling down her face. It had been four days and still no one had come for her. She could feel herself dying in this castle, with no one but Jack's twisted soul as company. It ate her insides like a maggot feasting on a dead rat.

"Please," she whispered. "Please someone come."

It was useless praying. Even though Rumpelstiltskin was looking for her, he wouldn't know where she was. No one knew, except for the souls of the dead that no doubt lingered in the corners of the castle. She was trapped.

"Still sick, my love?"

Belle gasped and whipped around. Jack was standing behind her, his back to the lattice doors that lead into the bedroom. He had a bad habit of appearing randomly and when she was most vulnerable. His ghost-white skin practically glowed in the moonlight, blue veins wiggling beneath his skin like worms. His red eyes undressed her unsavorily, lips curled in a disturbing smile. He had stayed out of her bedchambers this long, but she could tell he was getting impatient.

Jack held out his ice-cold hand. "Dinner time."

Belle shook her head. "I'm not hungry."

Jack tilted his head to the side. "You're still angry with me, aren't you?"

Belle could have laughed if she wasn't so scared. Angry didn't being to describe her feelings towards him. He tried to kill the man she loved, took her away from her home, and was holding her hostage after killing an entire family. She could have stabbed him right here and now if she had the chance.

Jack smiled wider, almost as if he could read her thoughts. "I'm not much different than him, you know. Your Rumpelstiltskin."

"He's nothing like you," Belle said.

"He's killed before."

"Not like this. Never children."

"It was necessary for us, my dear." Jack moved closer and put his hand on her cheek. "If we want to start a life of our own—"

Belle jerked herself away from him and turned, her stomach souring again. She put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, God . . ."

"Just imagine how powerful our child will be." Jack placed his long, bony fingers on Belle's shoulders. "With your beauty and my magic—"

"Never!" Belle cried. She pushed past the Dark One and ran into her room. "I will never be yours!"

"You'll change your mind," Jack said, entering the room. He moved around the bed and faced Belle again. "If you could love Rumpelstiltskin, you can learn to love me."

Belle shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "This isn't you, Jack. You're not like this. You were kind and decent and—"

"Weak!" the Dark One yelled. "I was weak and cowardly! Never again!"

"Please—!"

Jack wrapped his hand around Belle's throat and lowered her onto the bed. She tried gasping through his clutch but could only let out a sob. Once she was on her back, the Dark One laid his head on her breast. He breathed out deeply, eyes fluttering to a close. Belle's chest rose and fell quickly and her greatest fear came to surface: he was going to defile her.

Instead, Jack released his hand from her neck and slowly trailed his fingers down to her collar bone, then to the valley between her breasts, until finally he rested his hand atop her stomach. The yellow silk of her dress was smooth like buttermilk and she smelled like lavender. Belle held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Just imagine," Jack whispered. "A small one to call our own. He'll be so powerful."

Jack lightly kissed under Belle's chin and raised himself from the bed. Belle lay silently, trembling with just a single tear rolling towards her temple. It would not happen tonight. Tonight, she was still whole.

"Join me for dinner," Jack said. "That's not a request." He flew out the door in one quick, fluid motion, slamming it on his way out.

Belle curled up on her side and cried loudly. Her body shuddered with each gasp of breath. She couldn't endure this much longer. Sooner or later, Jack would find his way to her most private and sacred space, with or without her consent.

"Please," Belle prayed between sobs. "Please find me, Rumpelstiltskin."

To be continued