A Curse Upon Thee 2-25A

“Too tight…”

The hiss left one Ruby Lucas, the girl’s rasp even lower and rougher than usual. 

From what he’d been told, it had to do with the full moon and the ‘nature of the wolf’ being closer to the surface than normal. The instinct to say that it might have just been the stress of the day had been strong when he heard that, but as soon as he saw Ruby with yellowed eyes and lengthened canines, the young man was forced to simply sigh and admit the facts.

I don’t know a fucking thing, do I? Late afternoon sunlight bled weakly through the high windows of the Storybrooke Free Public Library, long shadows spreading across the empty reading tables all over the space. The sounds of chains clinking and clanking around him filled Chad’s ears as he sat in a straight-backed wooden chair, elbows resting on his knees and face buried in his hands.

He had nothing else to say at this point, nothing else he could say.

All the questions he’d needed to ask had been asked and all he had left was plenty of time to himself to think.

Magic was real.

Werewolves were real.

Finn was…

Finn was gone — His ‘Rowdy Red’ swallowed whole by some demon’s portal to Wonderland or something.

He sighed again as the heavy iron chains clinked again, the noise loud in the dusty quiet of the town library.

“David…”

"I'm almost done with the final pin now, Ruby." A few feet away from him, David Nolan worked hard at systematically chaining Ruby to a cast-iron pillar as thick as three of her put together. "I just need you secure, okay?"

Graham knelt by her ankles, the new sheriff testing the tension of her manacles against the four heavy iron rings bolted to the floorboards. "There's no slack.” He nodded up at David, the mayor looking back at him. “She’s set on my end."

“See, Ruby? Set on his end.” The man pulled one more chain tight around her waist, a heavy padlock securing it shut with a sharp snap. “You’re gonna be safe here.”

“Me?” Ruby sat on the floor, dark hair falling over her face as she picked at the frayed hem of her muddy flannel. “What about everyone else?”

“Be kinder to yourself, Ruby. I mean that.” The girl in chains looked up as a hand clapped her shoulder, Graham smiling her way. “You matter too.”

"No, yeah, I know. Just... just make sure, please." Her voice caught in her chest, the werewolf girl all out of tears after the day had passed her by. "Okay, but—if I start to fight, you don't hesitate, okay? You lock the door and you don't look back."

"Don't you talk like that." Chad raised his head at the sound of Old Lady Lucas snapping at her granddaughter. The old woman stood near the double doors, arms crossed over her chest. “You just stay put and stay safe, girl.”

“...I will, Granny.”

“You better.” A harrumph left the elderly woman as she fixed Ruby with a glare that could only be described as both worried and loving. “And you thank sweet Belle for letting us use her library for this.”

“Oh, oh… um?” Belle blinked up from her place behind the front desk, a smile on her face just on this side of nervous. “It’s no problem, Granny.”

“Even still…” The older woman offered her a smile. “You’re a good girl.”

Chad simply sighed, leaning back in the chair as he dreaded tomorrow’s check-in. How in the hell am I gonna explain this to the family?

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

A half-hour and some passed by in near-silence, everyone but a restrained Ruby milling around the library; everyone trying not to let nerves show as the clock ticked closer to sunset. A James Patterson novel sat in front of Chad on a reading table, his eyes glazing over as he tried to understand something as confusing as magic.

Namely… Who would ever choose to read this man’s books by choice?

"The almanac says it begins just after twilight, you see?” With Ruby’s arms restrained, Belle had gone to the effort of reading to her instead, delicate fingers tracing the text of a thick leather-bound volume. "A lunar eclipse tonight of all nights. Isn't that interesting?"

Ruby's head snapped up from where she sat, a frantic eager hope flashing in those forest-green eyes "So no full moon?"

“I…” Belle’s flinch was almost as loud as Ruby’s chains, the girl’s mouth open for a few long seconds before she found words. "No. It is a partial, not a total eclipse. So... the moon will just turn a bit… red."

Hope drained from her face, the wolf girl slumping back. "Like blood." 

"...more like strawberry," Belle offered, voice even more gentle than usual in a clear attempt to soften the blow. "Or... rose?"

Ruby just looked at the floor as she went rigid against the pillar, the silence once again suffocating.

“Ruby…” Granny turned toward the heavy doors, eyes set behind her glasses. "I have to get back. The diner needs locking down. I said no visitors tonight, and I mean it."

“Okay.” Ruby’s voice was low, but the strength in it was audible — even beneath all those chains. “Love you, Granny.” 

“...I love you too, my little Ruby.”

The heavy doors groaned as Granny slipped out, pulling them shut behind her.

More silence passed them by, the seconds slow to move and the minutes almost glacial. Chad leaned forward in his seat, a ragged breath leaving him as he stared at the floor. I need to wake up. 

That was all that he could hope for at this point, that all this — everything and everyone around him — was just a long dream edging further into a nightmare.

“Chad?”

Blue eyes blinking at the sound of his name, Chad raised his head to see the librarian standing not too far from him. Almanac still in her grasp, Belle French held the over-large book over her chest like a shield almost, the book clutched so tight in those small hands that her knuckles seemed to whiten.

“Can I help you?”

“I…” The woman swallowed. “I have to say something.”

"Belle, no." Ruby rasped from the floor. “Now’s not the time.”

Not the… Chad’s attention slipped from the girl in chains to the woman in front of him, confusion warring with curiosity and both demanding answers. “What is it?”

"I..." Chad stared as Belle's hands tightened around the book, David looking over at the both of them with clear worry in his eyes. "I have to tell you something, something you need to know. It’s rather important.”

“Need to know?” Chad echoed the woman’s words with an attempt at a smile, an attempt that died before his lips could even twitch. “I’m really not sure what else I could need to know at this point. You guys have pretty much told me everything.”

He stared up at Belle. “Right?”

She flinched at the question, one word seemingly a slap. “Not exactly.”

“Belle!”

“Belle, maybe now is not the time.” Ruby’s rasp was worrying enough but the tension in David’s voice sent a warning sign through Chad’s veins. “We can talk about this tomorrow.”

“No, no… Belle.” Chad stood up slowly, the young blond towering by nearly a full foot over the librarian. “I think you should listen to me and talk about it right now. Come clean with what, exactly?”

“Mister Gold…”

The demon. Chad’s jaw clenched at the sound of the name. He remembered that from what they’d told him. The demon Finn worked for. And the same demon Chad was planning to deal with as soon all this wolf mess was over and done with. “What about Mister Gold, Belle?”

“He… he needed Finn.” She nearly stammered through the whole sentence, eyes watering with guilt as she kept her eyes on Chad’s own. “He… I was with him when he used Finn’s magic to break the curse.” Her lips pressed tight together before Belle opened them again, words nearly failing her as she forced them out. “I was there when your cousin went…”

Chad stared down at her, the silence in the library almost absolute. “You…”

“Yes, I was…”

“You… you stood there and watched a man throw my cousin down a well.” The volume of his voice rose with each word, steadiness fracturing the more he spoke. “You watched a-and you did… what, exactly? Handed him a fucking bucket?”

"Chad, please." The chains rattled, refusing to give even as Ruby pulled forward, hands up as high as she could raise them. "She didn’t know.”

“How am I supposed to believe that?” Chad whipped his head around. “When you people all keep lying.”

“I told you I was there too."

“To stop it, you said!” Chad whirled on her, fists clenched at his side as he lost what composure he’d tried to keep. “To fucking stop it! Unless that was a lie too!”

“Chad, it wasn’t.” David stepped forward, the mayor holding both hands up as Graham stood at his back. “Ruby would never do anything like that. But you need to calm down.”

“No!” Those fists clenched tighter, nails pressing painfully into his palm as he stared daggers at the older man. “Shut the fuck up, David! You knew! You all knew! And you had me running around like an idiot when some psycho tossed him down a fucking well!”

 “Chad!”

“I said, no!” One clenched fist snapped up, a single finger pointing at the girl in chains. “I’m done. I am fucking done with this shit town. Have fun with your full moon, Ruby! Try not to eat anyone else tonight!”

Chad turned on his heel, shoes stomping against waxed floorboards. 

"Listen to me, okay. Just listen." David stepped into his path, the big man’s hand reaching for Chad’s shoulders. “I need you to stay here. It's not safe out there tonight. Let u—"

His body acted before anything else; his hand grabbing David’s.

It shouldn’t have worked, not when the man was at least thirty pounds heavier than him and built like he could lift a small cow. But Chad’s body didn’t seem to know the math.

And If it did, it definitely didn’t seem to care.

Because David Nolan flew.

Gravity lost its grip for all of a few seconds as the mayor was tossed through the air like a ragdoll, coming to a hard and violent stop into a heavy reading table. The thick wood shattered beneath the man, dozens of large jagged splinters flying free with a thunderous crack of shrapnel.

Belle screamed, the almanac falling from trembling hands.

"Calm down, mate!" Graham lunged at Chad, the resurrected sheriff tackling him around the waist in a clear attempt to wrestle him to the floor.

The young man just planted his feet and shoved. 

Sheriff Graham was tossed aside the same way David had, boots leaving the floorboard until his back met a bookshelf. The impact toppled the structure, dozens of books toppling over and cascading onto the floor and near-burying the man.

"What...?" Chad stared at his own hands, a bright blue shell of light winking around his limbs for a moment before it vanished. "What the hell did I just do?"

"Chad!" Ruby strained her voice and her body both, the girl pulling against the chains as hard as she could. “Chad!”

He didn't answer or wait for them to get up, and he certainly didn’t bother to look back. Panic overriding his restraint, Chad shoved through the library doors and sprinted out into the cooling Maine twilight.