Chapter 1
Emma and I blew out the candles on our birthday cupcakes, someone knocked on the door. Emma opened the door and there was a little boy on the other side. "Um... Can I help you?"
"Are you Emma Swan?" The boy asked.
"Yeah. Who are you?"
"My name's Henry. I'm your son." Emma looked at the boy for a few seconds before he ducked under her arm and walked into the room.
"Whoa! Hey, kid? Kid? Kid?" Emma shut the door and followed the boy as he walked over to me. "I don't have a son. Where are your parents?" The boy turned and faced Emma.
"Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption?" Emma stared at the boy in disbelief. It couldn't be... "That was me." Emma was clearly really shocked.
"Give me a minute." She left and went into the bathroom. The boy looked at me.
"Are you her girlfriend?"
"No. I'm her twin sister, Cassiopeia Athena Swan."
"I'm Henry Daniel Mills," the boy, Henry, said. "Hey, you have any juice?" I went over to the fridge and took the orange juice out and poured some into a cup. Henry started gulping it down as Emma came back into the room.
"Hey, slow down, kid," I said.
"You know, we should probably get going," Henry said to Emma.
"Going where?" She asked as she crossed her arms.
"I want you to come home with me."
"Okay, kid. I'm calling the cops," Emma said as she walked over to the house phone and picked it up.
"Then, I'll tell them you kidnapped me."
"And they'll believe you because I'm your birth mother." She hung up the number she had started to dial.
"Yep."
"You're not gonna do that," Emma said.
"Try me."
"You're pretty good. But here's the thing. There's not a lot I'm great at in life. I have one skill. Let's call it a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying. And, you, kid, are." She started dialling again.
"Wait. Please don't call the cops. Please. Come home with me."
"Where is home?" I asked as Emma started to cave.
"Storybrooke, Maine," he said.
"'Storybrooke'? Seriously?" Emma asked. Henry nodded his head.
"Mmm-hmm."
"Alrighty, then," Emma sighed. "Let's get you back to Storybrooke." Henry smiled. Emma and I packed a bag each and put a bit of our savings in our purses. We'd probably end up staying the night if it takes a while to get there. Emma and Henry took Emma's death trap she calls a car (I swear that thing's gonna break down soon) and I took my black 2005 Suzuki Boulevard M50. I was gonna take my cherry red 2005 Jeep Commander XK or my black 2005 Mazda MX-5 (NC) but since we're not gonna be there long, I figured I'd take the bike instead of one of my cars.
I, personally, can't wait until Emma's car breaks down. When it does, not only do I get to tell her 'I told you so' but I also get to take her car shopping. Despite being able to afford another vehicle, Emma refuses to own a vehicle that isn't her 'Bug'. Stupid Neal Cassidy reminder. That guy was a selfish asshole. I followed the two to Storybrooke where Emma stopped the car in the middle of the road. I pulled up beside her as she and Henry got out of the car. Emma slammed the door.
"Look, it's been a long night, and it's almost... Eight fifteen?" She asked as she looked at a nearby clock tower in confusion.
"That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's frozen here." Wait, the kid doesn't actually believe that... Does he?
"Excuse me?"
"The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here."
"What?" I asked.
"Henry believes all the stories in his book to be true," Emma explained. Great. Her kid has mental issues. Is he seeing a therapist? He should be.
"Hang on. An Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here?" I asked Henry.
"Yeah, and now they're trapped."
"Frozen in time. Stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with?" Emma asked.
"It's true."
"Then, why doesn't everybody just leave?" I asked.
"They can't. If they try, then bad things happen."
"Henry?" Some guy called as he walked over with his umbrella and dalmatian. I zoned out of the conversation and only picked up bits and pieces. This guy's name is Archie, Henry's the Mayor's kid and lives in the biggest house on Mifflin Street (stupid name), Archie is Henry's shrink (the kid is in therapy. Thank God) who Henry believes to be Jiminy Cricket and all the fairytale characters don't remember they're fairytale characters or about the curse. Sure, kid. Whatever you say. We made our way to the Mayor's house. Henry goes on about how he doesn't want to go back and his only parent is a mother who pretends to love him but is really just evil and doesn't love him. The door to the Mayor's house opened and a cop and a super hot woman came out.
"Henry?" The woman called. She ran over and fussed over Henry before he said he found his real mom and ran into the house. She's just so hot. The cop goes inside. I think he said something before he left and so did the hot chick and Emma but all I can focus on right now is this woman's irresistible body. I ignore what Emma and the hot chick talk about as I check her out. I mean... Damn... This woman's figure is just... She's so hot.
"How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?" The chick asks. Damn. Even her voice is super sexy.
"Got anything stronger?" Emma asked at the exact same time I spoke.
"I can think of something I wanna taste but it's not cider," I smirked at the shocked look on the woman's face as if she'd only just realised I was there.
"And you are?" She asked.
"Cassiopeia Athena Swan. Emma's twin sister. I go by Cassiopeia, Athena, Casey, Case, Ace or Cassie. But you can call me whatever you want, gorgeous," I winked at her. "As long as it's not Cass. I hate that nickname. Bad memories." We stay a little longer and don't find out much, the cop is apparently the town's Sheriff (something is definitely going on between the Mayor and him which, for some reason, makes me really jealous), the Mayor supposedly doesn't know anything about the book or Henry's fairytale beliefs and she's trying her hardest to be a good mom to Henry. When we go to leave town, Emma ends up shifting out of the way to avoid hitting a wolf. I call 911 and Emma ends up being taken to the police station. I tried to tell the Sheriff about the wolf but he wouldn't listen to me. I spend the night sleeping in a chair just outside the cell Emma's in.
"Graham!" I wake up to the gorgeous woman calling for Graham (apparently, that's the Sheriff's name. Not that I care). Henry ran away again. Emma convinces them to let us help find him on the condition she is let out of the cell. I decide to sit this one out and go for a walk on the beach. The kid clearly just wants some time alone. He made it to Boston on his own. He can handle his own town. When walking along the beach, I run into Henry sitting at a rundown, tiny building of a kids play castle. He calls me over.
"Hey, kid."
"Hey, Cassie," he said in a sad voice.
"What's wrong?"
"I just... I don't want you and Emma to leave. I... I get why she gave me up. It was what was best for me--"
"You're right about that, kid. She wasn't in a good place at the time and your father... He wasn't a nice man. Your mom was trying to figure out her sexuality at the time, whether she liked boys or girls or both, and he... He became her friend. Lied to her. Used her for some scams he ran. Manipulated her into stealing with him. She was only seventeen at the time. It caused a huge rift between me and your mom for a while because I didn't like him or how he was treating her. He was out of the picture before she even found out she was pregnant. If she sticks around long enough for your father to come up... She'd probably lie to you about how he's some hero who died saving someone's life or something because she'd want you to have at least one parent to look up to and she won't see herself as that parent. When she had you... She wasn't in a good enough place to look after herself let alone you too. I would've taken you in, kid, but I couldn't put Emma through that. Seeing her son being raised by someone else. Being in her son's life and not as his mother would've torn her apart. Sorry, kid."
"I get it... Do you think she'll stick around?" It was clear the kid was hopeful.
"I'm not sure. It's possible. Especially since she worries about kids easily and you keep running off, which you should stop doing. You have a lot of people worried about you when you do that, kid. But if she does... If we do... She'll probably end up getting attached to you if she stays long enough. I know I'm already growing attached, kiddo. In fact, even if we leave, I'll give you my email so we can stay in touch but don't tell anyone, okay? I don't want your mom to get angry and it might upset Emma if we'd left and I continued to talk to you. But you're still my nephew even if she doesn't choose to stay a part of your life. And... Call me aunt Cassie, kid. Just don't tell your mom or Emma I said that, okay?" Henry grinned at me.
"Got it, aunt Cassie." I stayed a little while longer before making Henry promise to go home before dark and I left. That kid reminds me so much of Emma when she was younger. Emma and I met up a few hours later at a place called Granny's and got a room each. We met this really creepy dude called Mr Gold as well as Granny and her granddaughter, Ruby, who Emma could not stop checking out. I teased her about it as we went up the stairs to find our rooms. Apparently, we're only staying a week but I'm sure Emma will change her mind about that soon. Personally, I'm looking forward to spending more time with Henry and that gorgeous Mayor.
...
I decide to spend the day exploring the nearby woods. Maybe I can find a place in the woods to practice my archery when I bring my stuff here. There's no way Emma's not gonna stay here. Later that day, a few hours after finding a good place to practice, Emma texted me saying we got kicked out because Regina reminded Granny that there's a 'no felons' rule and my arrest for shoplifting when I was thirteen still counts. We spent the night in Emma's car. I'm really regretting not bringing my Jeep now. Luckily, Emma also told me she decided to stay in Storybrooke so, once we find a place, we can immediately bring our stuff here. I'm hoping to get a job as the entertainment for the nearby bar, 'The Rabbit Hole'. Usually, Emma and I spend our time being bail bonds people but I sometimes get some gigs as, unlike Emma, I'm not shy about my singing voice (Emma and I are both great but she's really shy about her voice) and I play guitar.
...